That day, before leaving the room that had been his for the winter, Rei cast one last glance back at it.
(Well, it wasn't really my room the whole time. I got attacked by Stigma, after all.)
Recalling the battle that had taken place on a winter night, he turned his gaze toward the room once more.
After that fight, Rei had ended up moving to a different room.
Fortunately, there were several other vacant rooms in the staff dormitory, so finding a new one hadn't been a problem—a stroke of luck, really.
"Thanks for everything."
He left the room with only those brief words.
Erinde, the Academy Headmaster, had told him ten days ago that today would be his last as an instructor.
In other words, today's class would be his final one.
It had been about two months since Rei was hired as an instructor at the Officer Academy. The first half-month had been turbulent due to the Stigma situation, but after that, he had passed his days in peace without any particular disturbances.
...Though whether daily mock battles with the S-Class students could be called "peaceful" was debatable.
(Well, for me it was peaceful enough, considering no one was trying to kill me.)
Exasperated by his own turbulent life, Rei made his way to the staff dormitory stables.
Set had destroyed the interior twice over, but Rei had properly paid for the repairs each time.
Duke Quento's House had offered to cover the costs, arguing that—especially in the case of the second incident—their own failure had led to Rei being attacked by Stigma, which in turn caused Set to break out of the stables. But Rei had shaken his head and refused.
Partly because money wasn't an issue, and partly because he was the one responsible for the trouble Set had caused, he insisted on paying the repair costs himself.
In the end, Duke Quento's side—or more accurately, Erinde acting as his proxy—had conceded, and Rei covered the repairs.
"Guruurururuu!"
Sensing Rei's arrival, Set rumbled happily the moment it saw him enter the stables.
When Set had first been placed in these stables, the surrounding horses would have undoubtedly panicked. But after nearly two months of sharing the same space, the horses had apparently grown accustomed to Set's presence.
The fact that Set never showed any aggression toward the horses probably had a lot to do with it.
These days, Set was hardly what you'd call an approachable presence for the horses, but they seemed to understand that as long as they left it alone, it would do the same. They had established what could only be described as a "touch not the god lest ye be smitten" relationship.
...Set would have loved to play with the horses, but that had been entirely too much to hope for.
"Alright, Set. It's the last class—let's go together today."
"Guruu!"
Set let out a happy cry at Rei's words.
Even before the Stigma situation was resolved, Rei had occasionally brought Set along to mock battles.
There were days he left it behind, but now he brought it along roughly one out of every two days—no, if anything, even more than that, about two out of every three days.
That was partly because Set had pleaded with its round eyes, clearly wanting to be with Rei, and partly because Rei didn't mind having Set around at all.
...Though as a result, the Third-year and Fourth-year S-Class students had ended up fighting Set more times than they could count.
On the upside, the students' fear of Set had faded considerably, and a few had even fallen victim to its charm.
Even so, it couldn't match Set's popularity back in Gilm—which was only natural, given that these students had to actually fight it.
Once you fought Set, you couldn't help but realize it was overwhelmingly stronger than you. The students simply couldn't approach it as casually as the residents of Gilm did.
"Guruu, Gurururururuu!"
Set was clearly pleased that, despite the initial fear, there were now a few people willing to play with it.
Rumbling contentedly, it followed Rei—not toward the gymnasium, but toward the school grounds.
There was barely any snow left, and the grounds were perfectly usable for physical activity now.
...In a typical year, it would still be a while before all the snow melted and the grounds became available. But thanks to good weather, this year they were already usable... or so it seemed.
In reality, Rei had used magic to forcibly melt the snow in preparation for this day, then used Death Scythe's Terrain Manipulation skill to get the grounds into shape.
It was a bit heavy-handed, but he had talked Erinde into it by saying it was for the final class.
When Rei and Set arrived at the grounds, every student Rei taught was already there—both the Third-year and Fourth-year S-Class.
Grink, who provided support during Rei's classes, was present, as was Samarun, who handled lifestyle support. Erinde, the Academy Headmaster, was there too, and naturally, so were Maruka and Koan.
(Sardat is probably lurking somewhere nearby, too.)
Since the Stigma incident, Rei hadn't seen Sardat at all.
He was an S-Rank Adventurer—and one who specialized in long-range attacks, no less. Rei had hoped to spar with him if possible, but Sardat seemed to have read his intentions and had stopped showing himself entirely.
(Then again, he is an S-Rank Adventurer. It's entirely possible he's just genuinely busy.)
Given Sardat's personality, Rei couldn't help but take the man a little less seriously in his own mind.
In any case, he wasn't here now, and dwelling on it wouldn't change anything. Rei opened his mouth to speak.
"Now then. I've gathered all of you from the Third-year and Fourth-year S-Class today because this is my last class."
A stir ran through the crowd at those words.
Many had initially looked down on Rei, but by now, every student here fully understood that he was a fighter standing in a place far beyond their reach. ...No—it would be more accurate to say they had been made to understand.
They had been doing mock battles with such an opponent almost every day for over two months. Naturally, their abilities had risen several levels compared to before winter, and because they could feel that improvement firsthand, many of them wished Rei would stay on as their instructor.
...Though among them, a few lamented that they would no longer get to see Set's cuteness, and some eccentric souls were simply sad they wouldn't see Rei anymore.
Listening to the commotion, Rei continued.
"The final class is simple. ...All of you, versus me and Set."
A brief silence fell over the grounds before an even louder uproar erupted than before.
Watching the commotion in silence were the non-students, starting with Erinde.
They already knew what kind of mock battle the final class would entail.
When first told about it, they had raised various objections—but in the end, Rei had gotten his way.
"Calm down. How much you've grown over these two months... show me. If all you can manage is a pathetic display, then S-Class is wasted on you. You'd be better off as some common foot soldier than a knight or an adventurer."
It was a blatant provocation, and it hit its mark perfectly.
Fighting spirit blazed in the eyes of nearly every student.
...A few, who knew Rei's true strength, wore expressions of fear, but the vast majority were fired up and ready.
"Alright, grab your weapons. I haven't faced all of you at once like this since the first class. ...Well, back then it was one class at a time, so today's the first time I'm taking on both classes simultaneously."
At Rei's words, the students each picked up their mock battle weapons.
Normally, there wouldn't have been enough mock battle weapons for both classes to use at the same time, but Rei had asked Erinde to have them prepared for this occasion.
Rei himself picked up his usual mock battle spear and raised his voice.
"Come at me! Show me what you've got!"
With those words as the starting signal, the battle of Rei and Set versus the Third-year and Fourth-year S-Class began.
The first to charge at Rei was a man from the Third-year S-Class, known for being hot-blooded.
He swung his halberd wide, intent on landing a blow on Rei.
"I tell you every time. Your swings are too big—it's obvious where you're aiming."
Rei's spear shaft struck the man well before the halberd could come down.
The man would probably want to argue it wasn't about his swing size.
Such was the overwhelming difference in speed.
Sent flying, the man crashed into a woman approaching from behind with a longsword, and they both tumbled to the ground.
"Don't panic! Everyone, follow my orders! Scattered attacks against Rei won't accomplish anything! Focus on coordination—coordinate with each other! Third-years, don't fall behind the Fourth-years—press the attack! Even Rei can't watch everything around him at once!"
Insula's voice rang out across the grounds. Hearing his commands, the students fell in line and launched a coordinated assault on Rei.
"Hoh? I recall that student, Insula, being arrogant... a noble who was noble-like in the worst sense of the word, if I'm not mistaken."
Erinde murmured with genuine admiration while watching the mock battle.
The Insula that Erinde remembered would have exuded arrogance even when issuing orders.
It had been grating enough that some students refused to follow even correct commands, or obeyed only with a noticeable delay... but there was no trace of that arrogance in his commands now.
"He's been getting beaten down by Rei-san for the past two months... I suppose you could say the nose he'd been looking down on everyone with got broken, too."
Samarun nodded at Grink's words.
Though Samarun was a magic instructor rather than a mock battle instructor, he had felt firsthand how the students' awareness had visibly shifted just days after Rei arrived at the Officer Academy.
"Rei is impressive, but Set is quite remarkable as well."
At Maruka's words, the gazes of those watching the mock battle turned toward Set.
There, a man was being sent flying along with his spear by a single sweep of Set's tail.
At the same time, a longsword swung by a woman charging Set head-on was deflected effortlessly by its sharp beak—and the blade snapped in half.
"Whoa, a gryphon's beak... no, I suppose it's only natural for Set, but even so..."
"...The frequent weapon replacements since Set started joining mock battles have been a real headache for me, too. Though I know it's a small price to pay—under normal circumstances, you'd never get the chance to fight a gryphon like this."
Grink muttered with a sigh at Samarun's remark.
As a mock battle instructor, he was thrilled that the students had the opportunity to fight a gryphon, but a budget was finite, not infinite.
Set held back against people to avoid fatal injuries or serious wounds, but it couldn't afford the same restraint with weapons.
Not just its beak, but its claw strikes also left mock battle weapons battered and broken.
On that front alone, Rei—who used the same mock battle weapons—handled things more deftly than Set.
Even as they talked, the students were being rendered combat-incapable one after another.
Twenty minutes after the mock battle began... the only ones left standing on the grounds were Rei, Set... and Insula, barely, swaying on his feet.
"That about does it."
Glancing at the students collapsed on the ground, unable to stand from exhaustion and pain, Rei continued.
"Compared to two months ago, you've all gotten stronger, without a doubt. ...However, as you can see from Set, it's also a fact that beings exist in this world far beyond your imagination. ...As a final parting gift, I'll show you something interesting."
With that, Rei's gaze shifted to Erinde.
Erinde, on the receiving end of that look, had been briefed beforehand but still wore a somewhat reluctant expression as they nodded back to Rei.
Confirming that, Rei began channeling his mana while the students fixed their eyes on him, wondering what he was about to do—or rather, what was about to be done to them.
The Ring of the New Moon concealed his mana, but the overwhelming pressure radiating from Rei could not be hidden, and it instilled awe in the students... Then, in the next instant, Rei's body was enveloped in something crimson. At the sight, nearly every student's legs gave out.
Insula, the only one still standing, was no exception, and more than a few students lost consciousness entirely at the sight of Rei clad in Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.
"This is a dimension of power you have yet to know. Someday, you may face opponents with this level of strength. I expect you to build your power so that you won't lose your composure when that day comes."
And so, Rei's final class at the Officer Academy came to an end.