He had the confidence to back it up.
That was what Rei thought as he watched the man charging straight at him.
Not that Rei had completely dropped his guard against the man. To begin with, there was no reason he would let his guard down when someone was trying to oppose him. Even so, the caution Rei felt toward the man wasn't particularly strong.
Rei's expectations were slightly off in that regard—but rather than panic or despair, what stirred inside him was something closer to anticipation.
His running speed was fast, but not so fast that the eye couldn't follow. However, seeing him sprint with barely any shift in his balance made it clear the man's skill wasn't just talk.
"Sha!"
With a sharp exhale, a short sword thrust forward.
Rather than aiming for the face or neck, he targeted the torso head-on—likely because it presented the largest target and was easiest to hit.
It wasn't a strike meant to kill in a single blow. It was designed to incapacitate first, then claim his life with certainty.
But even seeing that, Elena and the others didn't particularly react.
It wasn't that they were frozen by an unexpected turn of events—they didn't move precisely because there was no need to.
As if to prove it, Rei took a step back and swung his foot, encased in the Sleipnir boots.
What echoed through the area a moment later was the sound of flesh crushing and bones snapping.
A beat after that came the clatter of the man's short sword hitting the ground.
"..."
At this unexpected outcome, the men who had sided with their fallen comrade couldn't utter a single word. Silence filled the area.
The only sounds were leaves rustling in the forest wind and the distant cries of birds, beasts, or perhaps monsters.
"Undeniably good technique, but that's all it is in the end—good technique. I wouldn't go so far as to call it beyond imagination."
From Rei's impression facing him directly, the man's skill was only moderately above Byune's level.
Thinking about it that way, Byune's technique has been improving in her own way too.
Though not as intensively as during winter, Byune was still doing combat training even now.
Plus, as a member of the Crimson Lotus Wings—a group composed of highly capable fighters—she could constantly observe the battles of those with exceptional combat prowess up close.
Being able to watch mock battles between people like Vihera and Rei from such proximity was an invaluable combat reference, almost extravagantly so.
Moreover, Elena had now joined them as well.
...Marina also possessed considerable combat power, but since she primarily specialized in attacks using Spirit Magic and a bow, there wasn't as much for Byune to learn from her.
All of this crossed Rei's mind in a fleeting instant. The man whose wrist had been shattered had stopped moving from the shock and pain, but immediately began to move again.
Deliberately ignoring pain—that method was extremely useful in a situation like this.
It was an action taken with the intent to somehow bring Rei down.
But... just because he could ignore the pain didn't mean it had no effect on his body's movement.
His speed closing the distance was undeniably slower than at first, and the impact of the previous strike was evident in his movements.
The man certainly knew that too, but having said what he did to Ryutas, there was absolutely no way he could give up just because he'd taken one hit.
Closing the distance with Rei, he swung his unarmed left hand wide to the side.
In that instant, several Long Needles shot out from it.
An assassin, huh?
Rei instinctively used the Dragon Robe to block the Long Needles.
Crafted from dragon scales and leather, the Dragon Robe possessed powerful defensive capabilities even against physical attacks.
Every single Long Needle was effortlessly deflected by the Dragon Robe.
If Rei had been standing somewhere else, he wouldn't have bothered blocking them—he would have simply dodged.
But directly behind him stood Elena and the others.
Given their skill, it was obvious they wouldn't be troubled by such an attack. Even so, considering the slim chance of the worst-case scenario, Rei couldn't afford to dodge and leave them exposed.
The man had naturally anticipated that Rei would take such an action—it was exactly the opening he'd been waiting for.
"Nuoooooh!"
The man had served as Ryutas's escort for many years. No, to be precise, it was more accurate to call him an escort for Ryutas's clan.
Because of that, despite being an escort—or rather, precisely because he was one—he thoroughly understood how an assassin operated.
An excellent escort could also become an excellent assassin. At the very least, this man's clan received assassin training in order to gain an assassin's perspective.
For a man like that, killing an opponent even with one hand disabled was something he could do with ease.
...Provided his opponent wasn't Rei, that is.
No—even if it had been Elena or the others, dealing with it wouldn't have been particularly difficult.
In any case, the man's scheme was effortlessly shattered by Rei's fist.
"Gogaaah!"
Rei deflected the hand reaching for his throat with his left, then drove his right fist forward.
An ideal counter landed clean. The man's jaw shattered under the fist's unexpected power, and he was sent flying backward.
He slammed into the rocky wall of the cave, and the impact snuffed out his consciousness.
"...Alright. Is it safe to say that's over for now? The rest of you showed yourselves in agreement with that man—does that mean you're looking to fight me too?"
Rei drew the Death Scythe from his Misty Ring and readied it.
The last exchange had been barehanded. This time, if they came at him, he would face them armed with the Death Scythe.
Against Rei, who had made that unmistakably clear through his actions, the men backed down without another word.
Even the most skilled among them hadn't been able to beat an unarmed Rei. Asked whether they could manage anything against such a monster now that he was armed and even stronger, the answer was an absolute no.
Beyond that, seeing the man go down—dispatched so casually it seemed like an afterthought—many concluded that the person before them was simply on an entirely different level.
"I see. Glad to see you're sensible. ...Now then, Ryutas. The rest of them have quieted down, so how about you tell me everything."
"...No, I knew you were strong, but this is..."
Ryutas, addressed by Rei, could only mutter in sheer disbelief.
Having been escorted by the man for years, he naturally knew exactly how capable he was. And he had also gathered ample intelligence on Rei's strength.
Even so, he had never imagined the gap between them would be this vast.
There was a significant difference between knowing something as a fact and witnessing that ability firsthand.
"True enough. But it was Jaya that picked a fight with Gilm—the guild we belong to. ...Well, even without this incident, there's a high chance we would have gotten our hands on information about Jaya sooner or later."
Mejougo was an entire district that functioned as nothing but an entertainment quarter. Naturally, rumors about it had already spread quite far, and it wouldn't be strange for people in Gilm to know about Mejougo even if Rei himself didn't.
And then there were the Giants.
If a large number of Giants roughly three meters tall all sharing the same face were gathered in one place, that wasn't something that could stay hidden forever.
In fact, even here in Reblurina, when the Giants attacked the Resistance, they failed to completely wipe out their forces, and the existence of the Giants had already become known.
Information was extremely difficult to suppress completely. At the very least, it was impossible for the Dark Organization called Jaya and the small nation of Reblurina alone to completely bury information about the Giants.
"That may be true. But honestly, I didn't want to make an enemy of Gilm... or rather, the Kingdom of Mireana."
"From what I've heard, most of them aren't satisfied with being a vassal state. If that's the case, it was inevitable you'd end up fighting eventually, wasn't it? ...Though winning with just this country's military strength would be difficult, I imagine."
In truth, if the Giants Rei and his party had fought were deployed against the Kingdom of Mireana's common soldiers, they would be trampled.
But among the soldiers, there were those with considerable skill, and combat specialists such as Knights as well. And above all, a High-Rank Adventurer could handle any number of Giants without issue—that much was certain.
Having experienced fighting Giants firsthand, Rei could state that with conviction.
"Probably. Honestly, even I don't think something like that is truly possible. But the higher-ups genuinely believe it."
"...The higher-ups, huh. Your escort earlier called you 'Young Master' or something. I'd like you to tell me your status already."
At Rei's words, Ryutas briefly looked as though he didn't understand what had been said to him. The wind blowing through the forest ruffled his hair.
After several seconds passed, Ryutas finally grasped what Rei was getting at and opened his mouth.
"Ah, I see. You didn't know who I was yet. ...Seeing as you have a High-Rank Adventurer and Alias Holder like Rei, I just assumed you already knew who we were."
Ryutas laughed brightly. "Ahahaha."
Of course, Rei didn't think Ryutas was an ordinary merchant. But at the same time, he didn't know exactly what kind of person he was, either.
"So? Who are you, in the end?"
At Rei's words, Elena and the others, who had been silently watching the exchange behind him, also turned their gazes toward Ryutas.
Until now, since he was an acquaintance of Rei's, they had judged it faster to leave things to him rather than interject themselves. But depending on what status the person calling himself Ryutas held, they determined it might be necessary to speak up.
"Let's see—would it be quickest to explain it to Rei and the others like this? One of the sons of the man leading Jaya."
The words that left Ryutas's mouth were something they had half-expected, yet still astonishing.
Being called "Young Master" and having this many escorts meant he couldn't be some run-of-the-mill merchant, and it was unlikely he was simply one of Jaya's executives. But even so, hearing him state it so boldly from his own mouth was unexpected.
"Facing us, who are hostile to Jaya, you sure had the nerve to say that so openly. Didn't you think you'd be killed?"
"Hmm. I figured that if we quietly surrendered, we'd probably be fine. Based on how things felt when we made contact before."
He said it without any particular tension—likely because Ryutas genuinely believed it. That was the impression Rei couldn't help but get.
Of course, whether he truly felt that way was something Rei couldn't know without reading his mind.
"Well, fine. So why would someone like you surrender so easily?"
"Because I can't beat you, of course. Besides... what my father is doing looks like nothing but racing headlong down the path to self-destruction."
From the way Ryutas said "my father," it was unmistakable that he was referring to the man who led Jaya.
This must mean there are power struggles within Jaya as well. ...Though even if there are, whether they'd surface on the outside is another question.
Jaya was a Dark Organization cooperating with the nation of Reblurina. No—Rei was even considering the possibility that it was actually a direct subsidiary of the nation itself.
Given that, even if Ryutas were to turn against Jaya, whether it would lead to an internal schism was doubtful at best.
"And? Your father is trying to destroy himself, but you, his son, aren't going to do anything about it?"
"Of course I've told him that many times. But unfortunately, he shows no sign of listening whatsoever."
Ryutas sighed as he said it, and to Rei, he appeared to genuinely find it regrettable.
"I see. ...Well, that's fine. More importantly, tell me about this facility. The Giants shipped from the Mejougo Underground Facility are brought here, right? How many are there currently?"
"Let's see. I don't know the exact number, but it's over a thousand."
"...So there are that many after all."
From the number of prostitutes in Mejougo, Rei had easily imagined as much. If anything, a thousand might even be too few.
Even so, there's no mistaking it—over a thousand women who were forced into prostitution have died.
Suppressing the anger welling up inside him, Rei considered what he should ask next.