After finishing Third-year S-Class instruction and lunch, the break ended and afternoon classes began.
Normally, Rei would have no afternoon classes, but there he was inside the gymnasium with Grink.
Before them, Third-year B-Class students were engaged in mock battles against adventurers.
Their skill level, however, couldn't be called high even compared to the Third-year S-Class students.
(Well, S-Class is where the elite are gathered, so that's only natural.)
As Rei muttered this to himself, one of the adventurers approached and struck up a conversation.
"Ah, so you're Crimson. I've heard about you. To think there'd be someone eccentric enough to want to sit in on this class."
Rei was slightly surprised by the words of the man, who was older—late teens, by the look of him.
Despite knowing Rei's alias "Crimson," the man carried himself with a perfectly ordinary attitude.
That stood out, considering many other adventurers were present, yet nearly all of them avoided any association with Rei as if to say "let sleeping dogs lie."
"So, what do you think of the class?"
"Well, for one thing, I'm surprised by how many adventurers there are. In the S-Class sessions I teach, I take on the entire class by myself. Compared to that..."
Rei paused and cast another glance around the gymnasium.
Inside, mock battles were underway in all manner of combinations—one-on-one, group-versus-group, one-against-many, and many-against-one.
"Having so many different formats running at once is refreshing."
"Yeah, well. Though that's not just for the students' sake—our circumstances factor in too."
"Hm?"
Not understanding what the man meant, Rei turned his gaze toward him. The man offered a wry smile before continuing.
"For a famous alias holder like you, maybe it's different. But us? We took this request because we need the money."
"……Ah."
That brief explanation was all Rei needed to understand why so many adventurers were serving as mock battle instructors.
(In other words, part of the purpose is to help out adventurers who couldn't save up enough to get through the winter. And on the students' side, they get to keep doing mock battles without any downtime.)
Continuing mock battles without rest had to be grueling for the students. But purely in terms of training efficiency, it seemed like a sound approach.
(Though if they just keep moving nonstop, they'll be more prone to injury. They'd need moderate breaks.)
He thought this while watching several students in the corner of the gymnasium, down on one knee and breathing hard.
"Well, anyway, that's the situation. …So, class aside, what did you come here for?"
"Well, it's not the best thing to say, but there's likely to be some trouble. I can't guarantee something will happen within the Officer Academy, but there's a chance it might. I figured I'd give you a heads-up, since you could end up caught in the middle."
At those words, the surrounding adventurers who had overheard—including the man who'd been talking with Rei—wore displeased expressions.
Naturally. No one wanted to voluntarily get dragged into someone else's problems.
The only reason none of them complained was largely because the alias "Crimson" had become quite well-known for various reasons.
Much to his own dissatisfaction, the rumor had spread that Rei mercilessly crushed anyone who got on his bad side.
The adventurers who took that rumor seriously probably figured that complaining to Rei here would only earn them a world of hurt.
Amidst all this, the adventurer who had been talking with Rei finally spoke up.
"Uh… so basically, we're gonna get caught up in your trouble, right?"
"There's a possibility, yes."
"Even if you say it's just a possibility, the fact that you're here saying it means it's pretty much certain, doesn't it?"
The man looked at him for confirmation, and Rei nodded.
"Yeah. Probably… no, surely, perhaps… I'd say certainly. Though of course, it's also possible nothing happens at all."
"Huh… well then, since we're the ones getting dragged into it, would you humor a little request from me?"
"……Money?"
If they could be satisfied with a modest sum, that would be ideal as far as Rei was concerned.
He asked with that in mind, but the man silently shook his head.
His gaze was directed at the adventurers and students still running their mock battles.
What the man wanted. There was no need to ask.
"You're quite the eccentric one, aren't you."
"Really? If it means I get a mock battle with an alias holder with no risk to my life, I'd almost be willing to pay for it myself. Right?"
The man called out to the other adventurers nearby, and those asked apparently shared the sentiment, nodding in agreement, albeit with a hint of bewilderment.
"So with that said, how about it? If you're willing, would you do mock battles with us too? If I could say I had a mock battle with Crimson, I could brag about it to my comrades."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm all for it too. Never thought I'd get the chance to spar with an alias holder. The guys who turned down this request would be kicking themselves if they found out, right?"
Another adventurer nearby chimed in, and no small number of others nodded along.
True to their words, the prospect of a mock battle with Rei was extremely appealing to the adventurers.
Under normal circumstances, sparring with an alias holder was simply not something one got to experience. It was only natural.
At the same time, there were a few who looked at Rei and wondered whether he was truly a powerful alias holder.
The number of people casting such dismissive or skeptical gazes was small, but that only made them stand out more.
Being on the receiving end of such looks was nothing new for Rei, though. Without paying it any mind, he turned his gaze toward Grink.
At that inquiring look—asking whether he could do mock battles—Grink hesitated briefly, then nodded.
Part of it was knowing that students outside the third- and fourth-year S-Class had expressed interest in seeing just how powerful an alias holder could be. But more than that, Grink himself wanted to see Rei take on adventurers rather than students.
"Understood. Watching Rei-san's mock battles would be educational on its own. Would that be acceptable?"
The person Grink looked to was the instructor supervising the Third-year B-Class mock battles.
That instructor, unable to resist the temptation of seeing the alias holder Rei fight firsthand—and believing the mock battle would certainly benefit the students—smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I don't mind. I get to see Rei's skills with my own eyes, too."
And so, though somewhat swept along by the momentum, Rei found himself doing mock battles with the adventurers.
Naturally, since this was a mock battle, Rei couldn't use his signature weapon, the Death Scythe.
Instead, he held the spear he had used countless times in recent mock battles.
The man across from him wielded a claymore.
"……Hey, wait. Given the weight of that weapon, not putting a blade on it for a mock battle doesn't really mean much, does it?"
"Ha! If you're going to say that, your weapon's in the same boat. Might be lighter than this claymore, but it's a mock-battle spear swung by an alias holder. No way anyone could normally block that."
At the man's words, the adventurers who had gathered to watch nodded in agreement.
The slightly bewildered looks on the students' faces were, as expected, due to Rei's appearance.
"Hey, is this really gonna be okay? That Rei guy's supposedly an alias holder, but..."
"Hmm, probably. I mean, all the adventurers have serious expressions. Look, even that guy."
"Oh, you're right. He's usually anything but serious, but..."
"Besides, when they say Crimson, they're talking about someone who might become the second S-Rank Adventurer in the Kingdom of Mireana, right? If he's got that kind of ability, I'm sure it'll be fine."
The students' gazes were drawn to a female adventurer—a fox beastman.
Her ears, perched atop her head, were twitching busily, a clear sign of her intense interest in how Rei would fight.
From the students' perspective, Rei didn't look strong at all.
He was short, with no visible muscle to speak of.
If anything, watching him face off against an adventurer like the one before him, it seemed like he'd go down in a one-sided beating.
…However, some of the students had connections with the Third-year S-Class students and had been told that Rei was, if anything, deceptively harmless-looking.
Those who had heard such talk found themselves nodding at the description as they watched Rei stand with his mock-battle spear at the ready.
Only the students thought this way. The adventurer standing across from Rei, along with the others watching from the sidelines, could keenly feel that Rei was far from what his appearance suggested.
The one who felt this most acutely was, without a doubt, the man facing him.
Even though it was a mock-battle version, his claymore—a weapon he was thoroughly accustomed to—felt extraordinarily heavy in his hands.
No, in reality it probably wasn't that heavy. But simply standing face-to-face with Rei was rapidly draining his stamina and mental fortitude.
This was despite the fact that Rei wasn't radiating any killing intent or fighting spirit. He was just standing there, spear at the ready.
"What's wrong? This is a mock battle, isn't it? Standing here staring at each other won't get us anywhere. If you're not coming, I will."
It wasn't quite a provocation—more of an invitation to act.
Hearing this, the man judged that if he didn't make a move now, he'd simply lose without being able to do a thing. He surged forward.
"Uwooooooh!"
Steeling himself, the man let out a battle cry as if to crush the fear rising within him, closing the distance to Rei with claymore in hand.
Taking advantage of his height, he delivered a single overhead strike—swinging the claymore down with everything he had.
Seeing this, Rei judged it the perfect opportunity to test a counter technique he'd been practicing lately, and kicked off the floor with spear in hand.
His speed was clearly something the man hadn't anticipated at all.
Before he knew it, Rei was already inside his guard—not only that, but slipping past his side and moving behind him. The moment Rei's movement stopped, the man suddenly realized that a spear tip was pressed against him, not from his left where Rei had dashed past, but from behind on his right.
If that spear tip had been a real blade rather than a mock-battle one, Rei need only have the slightest intention and his carotid artery would have been severed on the spot.
And if it had been Rei's Death Scythe with its blade already touching his neck, even a slight shift in position would have sent his head flying.
"……I yield. When you're beaten this completely, all you can do is surrender honestly. I've learned firsthand that the alias Crimson isn't just rumor—his ability is the real deal."
"Were you doubting me?"
At Rei's words, which seemed to say he found that unreasonable, the man continued speaking while inwardly relieved that the spear had moved away from his neck.
"Of course I was. No offense, but being able to look at you and recognize you as an alias holder—that'd be the strange part."
"……Are all the S-Rank Adventurers in this country like that, too?"
At Rei's quiet murmur, the man caught his breath.
True—Sardat the Heavenly Bow, the S-Rank Adventurer of the Kingdom of Mireana, was practically the polar opposite of what one would normally picture upon hearing "S-Rank Adventurer."
(Well, in my case, the first S-Rank Adventurer I ever met was Noise, so maybe that makes me feel that way even more strongly.)
Perhaps in the Kingdom of Mireana, when someone said "S-Rank Adventurer," they pictured a lighthearted elf like Sardat.
Rei thought that for a moment, but the man shook his head as if to say that was beside the point.
"Well, I understand that he's strong. And it's true that he's good at looking after people—women only, though. If you're asking whether he's respected or not, I'd say he definitely is."
"Hm? I heard Sardat is based in the Royal Capital. Does he come here often too?"
"Huh? You didn't know? Apparently he's friends with the Academy Headmaster here. Drops by to visit sometimes."
"Now that you mention it..."
The exchanges in the Academy Headmaster's office flashed through Rei's mind.
They had certainly seemed friendly with each other. And besides, without a certain degree of closeness, one wouldn't be able to casually ask someone to serve as a bodyguard.
"A-Are you finished talking!? Next, have a mock battle with me—please!"
As if she'd been waiting for Rei's conversation with the man to end, a female adventurer called out to him.
And it wasn't just her. Many other adventurers—and even students—were directing expectant gazes at Rei, hoping for a mock battle.
Having witnessed that series of movements, they now understood that Rei possessed ability worthy of his alias.
Rei glanced at Grink as if to ask, "What should I do?" But all he got in return was a helpless shake of the head.
In the end, Rei let out a sigh and found himself doing mock battles until class was over.