Returning to the forest, Rei and his group headed straight for the cave.
As they walked among the trees, Ryutas turned to Rei.
"So, what are you planning to do from here? Jaya's going to be busy fighting the nation, I'd imagine."
"Even if you say that. My job here is, fundamentally, to retaliate against Jaya."
"Mn."
At Rei's words, Byune murmured quietly, Ielo perched on her head.
From atop Byune's head, Ielo let out a small chirp, as if unsure whether it understood the conversation.
Seeing the two of them and their little companion, Ryutas wore an exasperated expression and spoke up.
"Look, normally, retaliating against an entire organization isn't something an individual can pull off so easily, you know?"
"Even so. What can be done, can be done."
In fact, it was precisely because Rei could pull it off that Daskar had entrusted him with the retaliation in the first place.
But whether Ryutas could accept that was another matter entirely.
As if understanding his feelings, Rei looked away from Ryutas and spoke while gazing at the surrounding trees.
"For now, I'd say we've dealt a significant blow to Jaya in terms of retaliation."
"I'd say so. The giants' nest in Mejougo was destroyed, the Black Crystal—which was extremely important to Jaya—was smashed, and on top of that, you even came to the cave where they kept giants on standby. If anyone told me the damage was minor after all that, I'd have to seriously reconsider my opinion of the organization I used to belong to."
Giants' nest? Rei tilted his head for a moment, but from the context he quickly realized Ryutas meant the Underground Facility in Mejougo.
Though in terms of a "nest," wouldn't the cave be more fitting than the Underground Facility in Mejougo? After all, the vast majority of the giants were in that cave... hold on.
Reaching that thought, something suddenly occurred to Rei.
"Ryutas. Were all the giants in that cave? Is there any chance they had standby locations elsewhere?"
"...I wonder. At least as far as I know, the giants in that cave were all of them. But it's not as though I was completely trusted by the higher-ups, either."
Despite holding the position of a successor candidate within Jaya, there were several others who shared his rank.
As such, he wasn't naive enough to believe he alone had the higher-ups' full trust.
There were undoubtedly those who had earned greater confidence from above, and if such a person were involved, then perhaps... truly perhaps, there was a chance that giants had been transported somewhere else as well.
"I see. Well, even if that were the case... that place would probably just suffer major damage."
"...Yikes."
At Rei's quiet words, Ryutas let out a sound, forgetting even to compose his expression.
But in truth, Rei's words were an undeniable fact.
According to what Ryutas had heard from Rei, the giants inside the cave had gone on a rampage—no, had run wild as if driven by instinct—due to the destruction of the Black Crystal.
If so, it was absolutely impossible that such a rampage would only occur within the cave they were now heading toward.
If someone had been freely using the giants, then unless that person was exceptionally strong, they would undoubtedly have been devoured by the instinct-driven giants.
The odds were very low, but there was a chance that someone with enough strength to defeat giants, or someone who managed to survive through sheer luck, could exist.
However, there was no way a small nation like Reblurina had anyone that powerful.
"For now, I'll just pray it doesn't turn into a major incident. ...Ah, there it is."
Shaking his head as if to dispel the image of rampaging giants, Ryutas spotted the cave ahead and muttered with visible relief.
Ryutas's guards were stationed around the entrance.
Seeing Ryutas return, they showed obvious relief.
"Young master, you're safe. Any injuries...?"
"None. To begin with, there was hardly any need for me to fight at all."
Had he actually fought the escort soldiers, Ryutas might well have been hurt.
But in reality, no proper combat had occurred.
...To be precise, there had been a minor skirmish with the nobles and their Flunkies, but from Rei's perspective, he could hardly call something like that a battle.
The same went for Ryutas, who reported in a casual tone that there was no need for the guards to worry.
Sure enough, they breathed sighs of relief at his words.
"So, how have things been here? Anything unusual?"
"No, sir. After you left, nothing of note happened... oh, a few soldiers wandered over, apparently separated from their unit while on the move. That's all."
The guard who had been speaking shifted his gaze toward a spot a short distance away.
There, several soldiers lay unconscious on the ground.
It was obvious even from a distance that they weren't dead—merely stunned.
"Getting separated in this forest... honestly, what kind of soldiers are they?"
As the word "forest" implied, the area was fairly dense—far too large to be called a mere grove.
But it wasn't frontier territory like Gilm. There were no High-Rank Monsters about, and simply moving through it required no particular effort.
Under those conditions, getting separated from one's unit spoke to a fundamental lack of aptitude as a soldier, even before questions of insufficient training arose.
It was only natural for Ryutas to harbor such doubts.
Of course, given that the soldiers had little real combat experience—and above all, that the unit had been dispatched with the expectation of losing—their quality likely hadn't been a consideration at all.
"Well, that's not really for us to say. More importantly, what do we do now? I think it's safe to assume Jaya already knows about your situation, young master. If so, the safest option would be to flee to another country."
Figuring he probably wouldn't listen even if told, the guard offered the suggestion anyway. As expected, Ryutas shook his head and rejected it.
"Even if I did that, I'd spend the rest of my life cowering in fear of when they might send assassins. Rather than live like that, it's faster to crush Jaya here and now."
"...For the record, if you were to leave this country, we'd intend to follow you."
"I appreciate the offer. I do, but... playing defense isn't very interesting. And rather than living with the anxiety of not knowing when an attack might come, I'd rather strike first."
Hearing this, the guards sighed as if in resignation.
Yet the absence of any displeased expressions on their faces was proof enough of how well-liked Ryutas was.
"Well then—"
"Oh my, it's already taken care of? Just as expected."
Cutting into the guard's words, Vihera emerged from within the cave and called out to them.
'!?'
At the sudden appearance—and from directly behind them, no less—the guards all drew a sharp breath in unison.
Naturally so. It was only because the ones who appeared were Vihera and Elena that things were fine, but none of them had sensed their presence at all.
Had it been assassins instead, they would likely be dead.
Though if they were up against Vihera and Elena, there wouldn't be much they could do anyway.
He felt a flicker of sympathy for the guards' shock.
Ielo, which had been perched on Byune's head, took flight and landed on Elena's right shoulder as she surveyed the area—the unconscious soldiers, and the massive number of soldier corpses scattered across the ground.
Stroking Ielo as it rubbed its face against her affectionately, Elena spoke.
"I came to check on things just in case, but... it seems it was a wasted trip. We should have gone to check on Marina instead."
"Right. The soldiers who attacked weren't exactly elite, either. ...Well, maybe by Reblurina's standards they were... no, probably not."
"To begin with, I doubt they'd staff a unit meant for annihilation with that many elites."
Ryutas remarked with a hint of exasperation at Rei's words.
At his attitude, Elena and Vihera briefly showed surprise.
But only for a moment.
Quickly deciding that pressing Ryutas on the matter here was inappropriate, Elena spoke up.
"Annihilation was the premise?"
"Yes. According to Ryutas, the plan is to use that to get the Kingdom of Mireana and Reblurina to cooperate in fighting Jaya."
"...Ah, I see."
Apparently grasping what Reblurina was scheming from Rei's words, Elena muttered in disbelief.
"The aim isn't bad. It isn't bad, but... that should only work on the absolute condition that we don't know the nation's upper echelons are involved in this incident. Now that we do know, any further scheming should be meaningless, wouldn't you say?"
Met by her gaze, Ryutas found himself momentarily captivated by Elena's beauty as their eyes met.
But he quickly recalled their current situation and spoke.
"Either it was the only method I could think of to resolve the situation, or perhaps there was another move to make. I don't know."
"Besides, this is ultimately just Ryutas's speculation. It's not as though we could ask the attacking soldiers or their commanders whether they were an annihilation-bound unit."
"True. ...Though it wouldn't have been strange for someone among them to have known the truth. If we'd asked around, things might have gotten rather interesting. I almost wish I could have seen it."
Vihera, who had been listening, remarked with a smile.
If she had actually been there, there was a real possibility she would have done exactly that.
"More importantly... the fact that the two of you are here, does that mean the giants..."
It wasn't so much an attempt to change the subject as it was Ryutas voicing what had been weighing on his mind.
And there was no doubt he had been genuinely curious.
That nearly a thousand giants had gone berserk, and that the two who remained to handle them—Elena and Vihera—now stood before them, was strange... no, abnormal.
A thousand giants should have possessed a threat of that magnitude.
But the fact that the two assigned to deal with them had emerged here meant the situation was resolved.
Since the giants hadn't simply stopped their rampage and calmed down on their own... the conclusion was obvious.
They defeated them? All of those giants?
Ryutas had seen where the giants were gathered.
Nearly a thousand giants, hugging their knees, motionless... asleep.
That alone had been enough to inspire awe at the sight of the giants and, above all, their sheer numbers. To challenge them in battle while they rampaged freely and annihilate them all—
How extraordinary that was became clear precisely because he knew the reality of giants.
For just a moment... yes, the briefest instant, Ryutas perceived the two beautiful women before him as monstrous beings beyond belief.
Of course, he already knew their power exceeded his imagination. After all, Rei had single-handedly dealt with hundreds of soldiers.
But the combat power of soldiers and giants was worlds apart.
Despite that, defeating them without so much as a real injury was nothing short of astonishing for Ryutas.
"Well then, the giant situation is settled. All that's left is... what we do from here. Letting Reblurina's scheme play out as planned isn't very appealing, either."
Naturally, Rei didn't believe Reblurina's scheme could actually succeed.
But at the same time... the possibility that it might somehow work through some accident could never be entirely dismissed.
If so, this situation needed to be resolved as quickly as possible.
For now, I need to inform Lord Daskar about this incident.
Since they had originally come here on Daskar's request, it was essential that they report the current situation.
Moreover, this incident had extended beyond simple retaliation into political territory.
In that case, it was definitely better for Rei and his group to avoid acting recklessly on their own.
"For now... let's go pick up Marina."
So he murmured.