The night of the day he encountered Stigma, Rei was near the stables.
Not a single cloud dotted the night sky. A beautiful moon displayed its elegant form, showering the earth below in gentle moonlight.
Under that moonlight, despite the late hour, Rei was playing in the snow with Set.
For Rei—someone being targeted by Stigma—to do such a thing would normally be tantamount to suicide. But they were within the grounds of the Officer Academy, and more importantly, he knew that Sardat was standing guard somewhere nearby.
"Well, I have no idea where Sardat actually is, though."
"Gurururu?"
Set tilted its head as if asking what was wrong.
Having been left alone all day—not exactly, but the end result was the same—Set was showering Rei with as much affection as it pleased.
It ran through the snow with Rei on its back, flopped down together with him to leave their shapes pressed into the powder, and caught snowballs Rei threw in its beak—enjoying the snow to the absolute fullest.
Had it been daytime, someone might have screamed at the sight of Set.
But it was night. A winter night, at that. Hardly anyone was outside.
The few exceptions were Rei and Set—and presumably Sardat, somewhere out in the snow, guarding Rei.
"Does it seem like anyone else is around?"
"Guruu..."
At Rei's words, Set pressed all five senses, its mana detection ability, and even its Sixth Sense into service to scan the surroundings. But it could not locate Sardat, and let out an apologetic rumble.
Rei stroked Set's head as if to say not to worry about it.
That clearly pleased it. Set rubbed its face against Rei again, making its desire to keep playing perfectly clear through body language alone.
"Yeah, you're right. I left you alone today, so let's take our time. ...Well, there's still a time limit, though."
With classes again tomorrow, Rei couldn't afford to stay up too late.
Set seemed to understand that as well. Looking slightly disappointed, it nonetheless bounded through the snow at Rei's side.
"Too soft. I think I've told you before, but you don't commit enough when you attack. Striking while ready to bolt is just for show. No momentum, no power."
Rei deflected a longsword blow aimed at him with his mock battle spear and drove the tip straight toward his opponent's face.
Four students had already gone down. The fifth was now counted as dead from that last strike.
Showing no trace of fatigue or sleeplessness from playing with Set until the middle of the night, Rei ran today's mock battles just as ruthlessly as ever.
Just how intense that was—anyone could have grasped it at a glance from the sight of the Third-year S-Class students scattered across the floor in heaps.
"Alright, you're the last group. We're taking a break, so think hard about what went wrong in that round. And anyone who repeats the same mistakes will see it reflected in their grades."
All forty students acknowledged Rei's words in unison.
...Though the ones who had fought Rei early on were one thing, those who had faced him near the end could barely move, their responses coming out as little more than groans not unlike Zombies.
Rei cast a glance at the students, then walked over to Grink, who had been observing nearby.
More accurately, he wanted to put some distance between himself and the students.
It was true that his presence would keep them on edge even during their rest, but the more pressing reason was that he didn't want them overhearing what came next.
"Good work. As always, strict yet genuinely valuable for the students. Even I learn a thing or two just from watching."
"What are you talking about? I'm just a temporary instructor. Compared to the proper instructors at this academy, my lessons are bound to be less efficient."
"Not at all. It's true that we plan our lessons around efficiency. But that approach also means we end up running the same kinds of sessions over and over. Rei-san, your methods are fundamentally different from what we've always done. Watching alone is instructive."
"Instructive, huh... I'm literally just running mock battles nonstop. Anyone could do the same thing."
Even as he said that being praised for something anyone could do was puzzling, the compliment clearly pleased him.
Perhaps unwilling to let his embarrassed expression show, Rei pulled his hood back up over his head.
Grink watched him with warm amusement, the corners of his lips curving just slightly.
For the students who had just been pushed to their absolute physical limits, it was undoubtedly a scene that would make them want to scream, "What are you talking about? What are you doing?"
Perhaps tired of being regarded so warmly, Rei cleared his throat softly and steered the conversation elsewhere.
"What happened with Ealand's situation yesterday? We handed the attackers over to the city guards, right?"
"Yes. However, it seems those captured were what you'd call disposable pawns... None of them had any significant information. Ealand is adamant that they're his uncle's men, but without evidence, it amounts to nothing more than an accusation."
"So for now, there's nothing to do but swallow it."
"That's correct. But the city guards had their reputation damaged by this incident as well. They'll likely scramble to find even the smallest lead. ...It will be an uphill battle, though."
"They went out of their way to cause trouble in Duke Quento's home territory. You should assume they've taken precautions to smooth things over quickly if anything goes wrong."
Grink nodded, his expression tightening slightly.
Having one of his students targeted by someone was, after all, deeply unpleasant.
He had even seen the aftermath of the attack firsthand. ...Though by the time he arrived, Rei had already dispatched every last attacker.
"So, what about my situation?"
Rei already understood that those who had crashed his fight with the attackers yesterday were Stigma—the Holy Light Religion's elite combat unit.
And it was easy enough to deduce that the poison arrow tipped with the Tears of Heaven was likewise the work of the Holy Light Religion.
But the Tears of Heaven was still only a deduction, not a certainty.
Perhaps... and it was a genuine possibility, the attacker behind that could have been someone entirely unconnected to the Holy Light Religion.
(It feels strange saying it myself, but I've made more than my share of enemies. I can't rule out the possibility of other attackers entirely.)
Sensing the weight behind Rei's question, Grink shook his head.
"I'm told they also questioned the captured individuals about the Tears of Heaven incident, but apparently none of them knew anything about it."
"No luck, huh. ...Nobody would think they could keep hiding it at this point, so they genuinely must not have known."
"Correct. There's no doubt on that front. Still, I never expected the Holy Light Religion to surface here, let alone with Stigma. When operatives of that caliber appear, honestly, I..."
Grink shook his head apologetically, but Rei had no intention of blaming him.
Sardat had already told him that Stigma members possessed combat strength on par with an A-Rank adventurer.
Coming from the sole S-Rank adventurer the Kingdom of Mireana took pride in, he had no choice but to believe it. ...Though Sardat's personality did give Rei some reservations.
Regardless, that meant the enemy fielded at least three A-Rank adventurer-level fighters, and it was painfully clear that Grink—currently just one academy instructor—would be hard-pressed to handle them.
(Three... the fact that there are three is a small mercy, at least. With three of them, we've got me, Sardat... and Set. If things go well, I might be able to borrow Koan from Maruka. With that lineup, we should be able to match their combat strength. No—our side would actually come out on top.)
If asked whether he could take on Stigma alone, Rei would have no choice but to shake his head.
One-on-one, he could manage. But all three at once was more than he could handle.
With help from others, though, it was a different story entirely.
(Maruka... no, should I meet with Duke Quento and arrange to borrow Koan in case of an emergency? Isukerudo is already serving as the Duke's guard, so Koan could probably be spared.)
The face of the knight commander of Duke Quento's Territory crossed Rei's mind.
Title aside, from having met the man in person, Rei had a general sense of Isukerudo's capabilities.
He fell short of S-Rank. Rei was confident he could win against him. But the man's strength was likely on par with an A-Rank adventurer.
"The real question is how they'll make their move... huh."
A quiet murmur.
Rei had meant it as a soliloquy, but Grink apparently took it as directed at him and nodded in response.
"True. But as long as they're inside the Officer Academy, I doubt they can act too brazenly. We may not have anyone at A-Rank adventurer level, but we do have instructors who are former B-Rank adventurers. And if it comes down to it, there's the Academy Headmaster. Plus, Samarun—judged purely as a mage—possesses considerable ability."
"So I've heard. And right now, there are plenty of adventurers inside the academy. With all that in mind, unless they have a serious death wish, they won't attack. ...Though dragging adventurers into it is a little questionable."
As adventurers, they would be expected to respond if the location they'd come to for a job came under attack.
Strictly speaking, there was no formal obligation. But anyone who fled while people were under assault would face serious social consequences going forward.
Moreover, it wasn't just commoners who attended the Officer Academy—the children of nobles and merchants were enrolled here as well.
If someone abandoned those kinds of people to die, they might not be able to remain in the City of Gracial—or potentially even the Kingdom of Mireana—afterward.
Of course, if no students were harmed during the attack, there wouldn't be a problem.
But when it came to whether students—still mere academy students—could survive against assassins far more experienced than themselves, no one short of a relentless optimist could answer that with confidence.
"Right. Maybe I should introduce myself to the other adventurers at some point. If things went sideways and they didn't even know my face, that'd be a disaster."
"Good idea. There happens to be a Third-year B-Class mock battle this afternoon where an adventurer will be serving as the opponent. Why not show your face there? I'll accompany you, of course."
"Sounds good, I'm counting on you. ...Now then."
With the conversation at a natural stopping point, Rei's gaze shifted from Grink back to the students.
They were huddled in groups, discussing what had gone wrong in the previous mock battle and how they might manage to land even a single hit on Rei.
(It's probably partly just getting used to it, but they've gotten better at recovering their stamina in a short time. ...Or maybe this is their real ability, and until now they were just tense from facing someone like me? ...Yeah, that seems entirely plausible.)
Whatever his internal musings, the fact that the students he was teaching were gradually growing stronger gave Rei a strange feeling.
In terms of purely being a student, he had taught Basrero as well.
But with Basrero, it had been nothing more than the absolute fundamentals.
It hadn't been full-scale combat training by any stretch.
...Though in terms of full-scale training, he had done exactly that with the Former Mobile Unit members during the Bestia Empire's civil war.
"Then, it's about time..."
Prompted by a glance from Grink, Rei nodded.
"Right. Break's over."
Leaving Grink behind, Rei strode back to where the students were gathered.
"Now. Has everyone properly reviewed what they did well and what they did poorly? You did, right? You're not about to tell me you didn't, right?"
Pressed by Rei's relentless insistence, the Third-year S-Class students nodded, a creeping sense of dread washing over them.
They had a vague sense of what was coming. They just desperately hoped they were wrong.
With that thought, they turned their gazes toward Rei...
"Alright then. Since you've all finished reflecting, we'll resume the mock battles. Fair warning—anyone who makes the same mistake again... let's see, this time instead of a group exercise, how about a one-on-one mock battle against either me or Set?"
"Ehhhh!"
The students erupted in protest.
Set wasn't in the gym today, but many of them figured that if Rei called, it would come running in an instant.
Their groans of dismay came precisely because they knew that if Rei meant what he said, he could make it happen at any moment.
Hearing their reactions, Rei cracked what could only be described as a grin.
"I see, I see. Glad you're all so thrilled. In that case, I'll raise the stakes—instead of me or Set, how about a mock battle against me and Set together? Don't worry, this is the Officer Academy. Someone who can use Recovery Magic is standing by. And if anything happens, I've got potions."
At those words, the students raised their voices in despair... and threw themselves into the mock battles with desperate resolve.