The backyard of the inn where Rei and his companions were staying.
No—judging from the overgrown vegetation and complete lack of upkeep, calling it a garden would be generous.
An abandoned lot would be more accurate.
Even so, perhaps because spring had only just begun, there weren't many weeds yet. Instead, tree branches snapped under the weight of snow lay scattered across the ground.
In that space that could barely pass for a garden, Rei and Magita faced each other.
A short distance away stood Vihera, Byune, and the two merchants.
Under normal circumstances, the merchants at least would have wanted no part in this. But Rei, as payback for having Magita foisted on him, had pointed out that since they were the ones who wanted to see his true strength, they could damn well watch. And so here they all were.
"Now then. We ended up doing this because of your selfishness, but... let me ask you again. Isn't this more trouble than it's worth?"
"Hah? What do you mean, trouble?"
"I just figured there's no point going through with a match when the outcome is obvious."
At Rei's words—delivered as pure, unvarnished truth—veins bulged on Magita's forehead.
"Heh? You're saying I'll lose?"
A voice with enough force to make an ordinary person flinch had zero effect on Rei, who had once fought Noise to a standstill.
"Yeah. No matter how you slice it, I don't see any way I lose."
Had he said it to provoke, that would be one thing. But Rei stated it matter-of-factly, with no such intention.
Magita must have sensed this, because the veins on his forehead stood out even more prominently.
"...Fine. Then if I lose, I'll follow any order you give. In exchange, if you lose, you follow one order from me. Anything I want. Deal?"
"You sure? Well, I don't have anything I particularly need... actually, having someone run out and buy food for me could be handy. If it's that kind of thing, I won't mind fighting."
Rei spoke already operating on the assumption of victory, and Magita's anger flared hotter.
There was even an air about him—confident in his win, graciously offering Magita a handicap.
"Ha... haha. It's been a damn long time since anyone mocked me this thoroughly. Fine. I'll make you eat those words!"
With a roar of frustration, Magita kicked off the ground and closed the distance to Rei in a single explosive burst.
His speed was considerable—enough to justify his self-confidence.
Being a wolf beastman no doubt contributed to that quickness. But...
"Too slow."
Through the eyes of someone who had survived countless battles, it was undeniably slow.
Even without activating Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, tracking the movement in his base state was effortless. He casually deflected the fist hurtling straight at his face with his right palm.
Rather than meeting fist with fist, Rei slapped it aside with an open hand, producing a sharp crack that echoed through the air.
A sound that didn't resemble flesh striking flesh at all.
Magita had probably expected to be dodged or blocked. Having his punch slapped away by a bare palm clearly hadn't crossed his mind.
Precisely because it caught him off guard, Magita winced at the pain in his fist and pulled it back.
As if matching that motion, Rei stepped forward.
"Wha—!?"
Magita never expected Rei to advance on his own—and perfectly timed to the instant he withdrew his fist, no less. Completely wrong-footed, Magita could only watch as a hand reached out and pressed flat against the torso of his leather armor, which he wore for mobility.
"Hah!"
Driven by a sharp kiai, the blow launched Magita three meters through the air. His back slammed into a nearby tree, and he crumpled to the ground.
"...Not good enough."
Despite having sent Magita flying, Rei's expression held no satisfaction.
If anything, there was a hint of frustration.
He had just thrown a man larger than himself, yet instead of looking pleased, he looked annoyed. The two merchants watched with puzzlement. Vihera beside them, however, did not.
"Oh my. ...Still not there yet."
"Mm."
Vihera smiled with amusement as she critiqued the strike. Byune, who had seen Vihera use that skill several times since their reunion, gave a small nod of agreement.
What Rei had attempted was an imitation of Vihera's skill—Magic Impact Palm.
But the strike he delivered could hardly be called that.
The technique was supposed to use mana to bypass leather armor, clothing, and skin, driving shock directly into the body. What Rei had just done was simply shove Magita away with his palm.
Still, being able to send a man considerably larger than yourself flying like that with a mere push is impressive enough on its own.
If he could produce that much power using raw arm strength alone, was there even a need for Magic Impact Palm?
That was what Vihera thought—but in the next instant, her eyes widened as Magita, who had been sprawled on the ground, climbed back to his feet.
"Again... and he's not even a bear or boar beastman. Quite durable."
"Mm."
Byune nodded in agreement.
From where they stood, Magita was no match for Rei by any measure.
If Rei had been serious, Magita would have lost consciousness in a single blow. The gap in power between them was overwhelming—impossible to bridge by any means.
Given that, even if what Rei had used was a failed attempt at Magic Impact Palm... or rather, not even that—just a pure shove—they never expected Magita to take it and get back up.
"From what I overheard in the dining hall, he'd been going around Sablusta looking for people to fight. I figured it was just some fool who'd gotten a big head after beating someone slightly strong. To think he could take one of Rei's strikes and stand back up, even if Rei wasn't serious..."
Vihera had fought Rei and lost. She had also fought alongside him through the civil war in the Bestia Empire last year, on the same side. She knew exactly how powerful he was.
That was why Magita rising after taking one of Rei's blows—even an unserious one—was a genuine surprise.
And Rei, just like Vihera, wore an expression of surprise as he turned his gaze toward Magita.
"I don't think that was a light blow. For you to get up after that... I guess you weren't all talk."
"Heh, hehe... I can't lose. I absolutely cannot lose! Right now I can't beat someone at this level, but I will never accept defeat!"
Being dismissed as "someone at this level," Rei let out a small smile.
He hadn't expected Magita to say something like that after taking a hit that made standing up a struggle in itself.
He definitely doesn't know I'm an Alias Holder. Still... an opponent who gets back up like this is a little refreshing.
The strike Rei had delivered hadn't even reached the level of a proper Magic Impact Palm. It was just a shove. Even so, the speed at which Magita was sent flying and the impact of hitting the tree must have been considerable.
"You won't lose to me, huh. Fine. Interesting. You've caught my interest."
What circumstances drove the man before him—trembling on his feet yet still standing—Rei didn't know. But his interest had undeniably been piqued.
Whether that was fortune or misfortune was unclear at this point, but it would certainly have some impact on the man's life.
"Let me see how much more you can take. Show me."
Muttering, Rei began walking toward Magita.
His pace was deliberately slow—nothing like the explosive step Magita had demonstrated.
Yet Magita, faced with Rei's approach, couldn't bring himself to act.
He could do nothing but watch the opponent drawing closer.
His legs trembled and refused to obey, but more fundamentally, he was paralyzed—overpowered by something indefinable radiating from the approaching figure, as if his body had decided that moving meant death.
What? Why can't I move? What's going on? Move—come on, move, my legs! He's coming toward me! Move, you damn legs!
He cursed his unresponsive legs inwardly, but they refused to budge.
Rei closed the remaining distance and reached out a hand.
"You can't move? ...Looks like that's all you've got."
Seeing that Magita showed no reaction even when touched, Rei felt he may have misjudged him. He pressed his hand against the abdomen beneath the leather armor.
"Sleep."
With that single word, his right fist drove forward.
But this strike was different from the last—not a thrust. He clenched his fist and hammered it into Magita's gut through the armor.
The blow shook Magita's innards, and he folded to the ground without resistance.
"Geh—cough—"
He emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground, but Rei had already lost interest.
"If you're looking for strong opponents, come to Gilm. People who can beat the likes of you are everywhere. I'll forget about the bet, though—consider it a favor for taking that first hit and getting back up."
Leaving Magita retching on the ground, Rei walked back toward Vihera and the others.
His gaze landed on the merchants—the ones who had orchestrated this whole affair.
"You said you wanted to see my strength. Satisfied?"
"...Y-yeah."
"Glad we're on the same page. I'd appreciate it if you skipped this kind of pointless spectacle from now on."
With that, Rei left the two merchants standing there and headed back inside the inn.
"It can't be helped. ...Well then, shall we?" Vihera said.
"Mm."
"...Oh? What's wrong?"
Despite her words, the two merchants remained rooted in place. Vihera asked out of curiosity, but was met with silence.
She waited a few seconds. When they still showed no sign of moving, she found it odd—but with Magita's will to fight clearly broken, leaving them outside shouldn't cause any problems. Perhaps they just wanted to talk among themselves as men. Making that judgment, Vihera collected Byune and went back inside.
About ten seconds after the two disappeared, the rougher merchant finally spoke.
"He was strong."
"Any chance the other guy was just weak?"
"No way. Besides, could you even follow his movements?"
"No, no, I'm a merchant. I can't read the movements of someone at that level."
"I suppose not. ...Still, Crimson, huh. Rumors usually get more exaggerated the further they spread, but in his case, they're spot on. If anything, the rumors are tamer than the reality."
"True. But hey—if someone like that is willing to guard us, isn't that a good thing?"
"...I guess."
The trailing off was because Vihera was still on his mind.
The good-natured merchant had also harbored feelings for her, but he'd apparently accepted the situation completely and showed no outward sign of lingering attachment.
Both fell silent and turned to look at Magita, still hunched on the ground. He'd finally stopped heaving, having run out of anything left to bring up.
"...Shall we go?"
"Yeah, let's. We haven't finished eating, and tomorrow's an early start. Better to get a proper night's sleep."
They figured staying would probably be fine, but there was a chance Magita might accost them. Given his attitude from the moment they'd first crossed paths, the concern wasn't unfounded.
The two merchants left the scene. It was also true that they'd been in the middle of their meal, and the pull of an empty stomach made lingering pointless.
They departed to resume eating—but they never noticed Magita staring intently at their backs as they walked away.
Nor did they hear the words leaving his mouth.
"I see... tomorrow morning, huh... morning, tomorrow morning... I see."
'Hoh. Once again, quite the string of coincidences piling up.'
That voice echoed in Rei's room at the inn.
A clear, pleasant tone that lifted the spirits just hearing it. Yet despite its commanding presence, today it carried a complicated hue—a blend of happiness and jealousy intertwined.
The cause of that voice sat near Rei, smiling as she spoke.
"Fufu, it's been a while, Elena. I'm glad you seem well. Byune was worried about you, you know?"
"Mm!"
Vihera sat beside Rei, with Byune perched on her lap.
Being able to speak with both of them—especially Byune—was a joy. But for Elena, the fact that Vihera had reached Rei before her stirred a sharp pang of envy.
'It's good to see Byune well too. I would head your way as soon as possible, but various matters have piled up. It seems I'll be delayed.'
"Is that so? Well, I'm happy to have more time with Rei, at least... but if you take too long, I might just seduce him, you know?"
Vihera flashed a bewitching smile that would make nearly any man stop and stare.
Elena sputtered a complaint, then softened as she savored the long-awaited reunion with Byune.
'So not only Rei, but you were also attacked by someone suspected to be a Holy Light Religion assassin?'
"Yes, though I failed to capture them and couldn't confirm their identity. But leaving Byune in Exil was too dangerous, so we decided to head to Gilm together."
'...I haven't been attacked.'
"You're probably just harder to target than an adventurer or a renegade imperial."
They talked through the night—about the Holy Light Religion, about everything that had happened over the winter—until...
"Master! Take me as your disciple!"
The next morning, at first light, just as Rei's group was about to depart Sablusta, that voice rang out.