"...Rei? What on earth are you doing out here?"
About ten days had passed since the incident with Stigma, and the Officer Academy had finally begun to settle down. For once, Rei was strolling through the academy grounds alone.
The culprit behind the Tears of Heaven used on Rei was still unidentified, but nearly everything else had been resolved—enough for him to walk around at ease.
Fortunately, the mock battle classes for both the third-year and Fourth-year S-Class had wrapped up that morning, leaving the afternoon entirely free. He had been wandering the grounds to kill time when a voice called out to him.
Rei turned toward the sound, but with no wariness in his movement.
He recognized that voice.
Standing where his gaze landed was Ealand, a nobleman's son.
"What about you? Isn't it still class time right now?"
"No, apparently something urgent came up, so we got self-study instead."
Since Ealand showed no signs of hiding anything, Rei concluded he wasn't simply skipping class.
Though, given the kind of person Ealand was, Rei hadn't seriously suspected him of it in the first place.
"...Come to think of it."
In the silence that fell between them, Ealand suddenly spoke up.
"Hm?"
"No, it's just that I dragged you into my troubles before. I thought I should at least give you a report."
Rei looked at Ealand, unsure what he was talking about... and after a few seconds, finally recalled their reunion.
"Ah, back then..."
"Did you actually forget? Getting attacked by that huge group?"
"Well, just like you had a lot going on, I had plenty going on too."
Rei shrugged, but being attacked by a group of assassins who weren't particularly skilled wasn't exactly a major event for him anymore.
(Even I have to admit, trouble seems drawn to me. Getting attacked by assassins and filing it away like some everyday occurrence... Well, in my own defense, the impression left by those three Stigma members who showed up right after was probably just overwhelming compared to that rabble.)
Rei let out a small sigh at his own misfortune—somehow getting caught up in trouble wherever he went—then turned back to Ealand.
"So, what happened on your end after that? You weren't targeted again... right?"
"Hm, good guess. I certainly haven't been attacked since that day. I've also been making sure not to set foot outside the grounds."
"...I see."
Rei acknowledged the words, but having heard from Academy Headmaster Erinde that suspected assassins had killed the Officer Academy's guards, he couldn't simply take them at face value.
"I can only feel deep gratitude toward Duke Quento."
"Hm? Why? Well, having him shelter you here is certainly appreciable enough."
"Of course, that too. But what really saved me was that, through Duke Quento's power, the ones after my life lost their positions. Along with their titles, no less."
"Ah... I see."
Rei understood exactly what that meant.
It was likely connected to what he himself had just been thinking—those who had sent assassins to the Officer Academy.
Sending assassins to an institution designed to nurture the next generation of talent. If they had only been after Ealand's life, that would have been one thing, but pulling a stunt like that would naturally lead Ronald to conclude they had made an enemy of him.
The knight overseeing the operation had acted after being more or less coerced by Stigma, but given the underlying circumstances, there was no way Ronald would go easy on them even knowing that.
As a result, the organization targeting Ealand's life had been reduced to ruins.
From there, the investigation had followed the chain straight to Ealand's uncle... and the outcome was probably what Ealand had just described.
(Personally, I would have preferred they wipe out the Holy Light Religion entirely...)
Thinking about the Holy Light Religion Incident, a sigh slipped from Rei's lips.
After the Stigma incident, Rei had initially harbored a glimmer of hope that the Holy Light Religion might be purged from the Kingdom of Mireana... but that hope had quickly soured into disappointment.
It had been a major disturbance on the heels of last year's chaos in Labyrinth City Exil, yet for some reason, no subjugation effort against the Holy Light Religion had materialized at all.
This was despite the fact that they had sparked such an uproar in the very heart of a leading figure's domain—the King's Faction being the largest power in the Kingdom of Mireana.
Needless to say, Rei couldn't simply let that slide.
However, according to a letter Ronald had sent through Koan, the Holy Light Religion had sunk its roots deep into the Kingdom of Mireana.
When word was even circulating that the death of those called Stigma—saints—in this city was being treated as problematic, even Rei could see that nothing could be done under the current state of affairs.
(If the Kingdom of Mireana gets swallowed by the Holy Light Religion as things stand... I might have to leave Gilm and relocate my base elsewhere.)
Gilm, Rei's home base, sat in frontier territory, and with Daskar's title of Margrave, it maintained a strong degree of autonomy.
Even so, it remained territory belonging to the Kingdom of Mireana. That fact was unchanged.
So long as that held true, if the Kingdom of Mireana fell to infiltration by the Holy Light Religion, the effects would be unavoidable.
(I think in the other world too, there were cases of religions taking over countries during the Middle Ages or something. Is this what that's like?)
If it came to that, Rei—branded a great enemy by the Holy Light Religion—could expect nothing but the worst outcome no matter how he looked at it.
If it came to fleeing, he could seek refuge in the Bestia Empire, or head to the Magic City Ozos, which he had heard about but never once visited. Or perhaps some other country entirely.
Lost in such grim thoughts yet still managing to imagine a bright future, Rei suddenly noticed Ealand beside him staring with exasperated eyes.
"You're spacing out while someone is talking to you... It's fine since it's just me, but if you pulled that with an ordinary noble, their impression of you would plummet. At worst, they might even try to cut you down for insolence... no, there's no way anyone would dare try something like that against you, is there?"
What flashed through Ealand's mind was the image of a noble drawing a weapon to strike Rei down for insolence, only to be sent flying by Rei's fist in return.
No—getting sent flying would be getting off lightly. It could easily cost them their life.
"...Be careful, alright? Seriously, be careful."
Those words stemmed not from concern for Rei... but from concern for whatever noble might end up on the receiving end of Rei's hands.
The King's Faction Nobles losing members because someone recklessly laid hands on Rei was not something Ealand would welcome either.
Especially lately, when not a few nobles had lost even their standing—like Ealand's own uncle, who had been targeting his life—through disciplinary purges.
With the ranks of King's Faction Nobles already thinning, a further reduction was by no means someone else's problem for Ealand.
"Hm? Well, I don't really have much to do with nobles in the first place... yeah, no, you're right."
At Rei's vague response, Ealand cast a genuinely worried look at him.
On the receiving end of that gaze, Rei quietly looked away.
Despite the fact that he neither enjoyed nor sought out associations with nobles, he forcefully hurled the reality—that he somehow ended up tangled with them constantly—into the farthest reaches of memory.
"Anyway, my situation is settled. Since I caused you trouble, I thought I should at least let you know."
"...I already got paid properly for it, so I don't think you need to worry about that."
A few days after the attack, Ealand had visited Rei and handed over his reward.
Since he had been properly compensated, Rei couldn't quite grasp why Ealand was still so hung up on it.
Though, being on the receiving end of such concern wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling.
(There are nobles like this guy too, which is why I can't just say "may every last noble perish.")
The faces of several nobles he could honestly call close drifted through Rei's mind.
Elena. Daskar. Even Vihera, who was no noble of the Kingdom of Mireana and had already abandoned her Imperial Registry.
A few other nobles' faces surfaced and faded as well.
"Even if you say that, it's just how I am. ...So, well... um..."
As Ealand spoke with visible difficulty, Rei opened his mouth, puzzled.
"What is it?"
"Well, you see... I know it's a presumptuous request, and I'll pay whatever compensation is needed. But... would you do a mock battle with me?"
"That's quite a sudden thing to spring on me."
"...Is that a no?"
His gaze—while not quite pleading—still carried enough weight that Rei wavered on what to do.
But given his current position as an instructor at the Officer Academy, he judged that even a request from someone outside his assigned classes was something he should try to accommodate.
"Alright. Fortunately, no class should be using the gym right now. Let's go."
"R-Right!"
Ealand knew he was asking for too much.
A mock battle with Rei was something many people would pay a fortune for the chance to have.
To press for one through sheer persistence despite only a tenuous connection naturally left him feeling somewhat guilty.
If he had seen Rei's movements during the fight with the assassins, he would understand just how powerful the man was.
...No, to be precise, he could grasp that Rei was far stronger than himself. What he couldn't comprehend was the sheer magnitude of that gap.
He wanted that strength for himself. He would continue living as a noble, and strength was absolutely essential.
Especially for a noble trained at the Officer Academy, destined to stand on the battlefield.
Clenching his fists, Ealand followed after Rei toward the gym.
"Hah, hah, hah..."
Ragged breathing echoed through the otherwise empty gym.
The source, naturally, was Ealand, slumped on the floor. Rei stood holding the mock battle spear he always used, watching him in silence.
Several minutes passed. Once Ealand's breathing had finally steadied, Rei spoke.
"Come on. Let's continue. You're the one who asked for this. You're not going to call it quits at this, are you?"
"O-Of course not!"
His breathing had somehow settled, but Ealand's legs still trembled faintly as he rose to his feet, gripping his mock battle longsword.
The trembling wasn't from fear of Rei—it was pure exhaustion.
Less than ten minutes had passed since the mock battle began, yet Ealand's body was already wrung dry.
Under normal circumstances, ten minutes of fighting wouldn't drain him this badly.
But Rei was a different story entirely.
Even a casual swing carried tremendous force.
When Ealand first blocked one of Rei's spear sweeps with his longsword, he was literally blown off his feet, unable to even process what had happened.
Before any question of technique, there was an overwhelming gap in raw physical ability at the foundation.
Rei's strength—he knew it from watching his fight with the assassins up close. He had also heard about it from the third- and fourth-year seniors as a fellow S-Class student.
But seeing and hearing about it... was worlds apart from experiencing it firsthand.
Rather than meet Rei's spear head-on, Ealand didn't block or parry—he focused entirely on evasion. Even then, the strikes he couldn't fully dodge, he redirected.
Somehow weathering Rei's onslaught like that, Ealand would lash out with his longsword whenever an opening seemed to appear... only to have each strike mercilessly swatted aside by Rei's spear.
"There's a world of difference between having an opening and deliberately showing one. It's a useful tactic for baiting your opponent into attacking where you want, but don't fall for it so easily. Watch carefully as you fight. If you carelessly walk into a trap..."
Sensing something ominous in Rei's pause, Ealand desperately pulled his deflected longsword back to guard... and in the next instant, without the faintest idea what had happened, his body was airborne.
There was pain from the impact, but he had no clue what had been done or how.
Still, he had no intention of being slammed into the floor without resistance. He somehow twisted himself right midair—clumsily, but successfully avoiding a back-first crash.
Rolling across the floor over and over, he cut a figure that few would believe belonged to a noble.
Yet he had avoided unconsciousness. Ealand rose on unsteady legs.
He leveled his longsword at Rei... and charged once more.
Rei spent his days like this, and time passed... until at last, the day his instructor contract came to an end arrived.