The day after accepting the mock battle request—no, the favor—Rei brought Vihera and Byune along to the training ground he had visited the previous day.
Notably, Set was not with Rei today.
Set had decided to spend the day playing leisurely in Marina's yard with Ielo.
When Rei had asked what they wanted to do today, Set had hesitated a little... but Ielo had cried out, wanting to play with Set, so Set must have decided to stay and play with Ielo.
There was no doubt that being with Rei was the most important thing for Set, but the desire to play happily with a friend like Ielo, who was in the same position, was also undeniably true.
"There it is. ...Well then, I wonder what kind of people are here. It'd be nice if there's at least someone worth watching."
Spotting the nikuman stall, Vihera murmured.
The fact that the nikuman stall served as a landmark for the training ground meant it was still in the same spot today, which in turn meant yesterday's sales hadn't been good either.
(I did point out a few things that seemed like areas for improvement. ...But expecting him to fix everything overnight is unreasonable.)
Rei had advised adding ingredients with different textures and including bite-sized pieces of meat rather than just minced meat. But just because he'd received advice didn't mean he could put it into practice the very next day. That was difficult.
A professional cook with years of experience might be able to make such adjustments, but unfortunately the owner running the nikuman stall lacked that kind of experience.
"Hello. Um, today... thank you very much."
Upon spotting Rei's group, the Abuelo Stall Owner stepped out from the stall and bowed.
It was originally a request that had nothing to do with Rei's party, yet they were accepting it, so he must have been deeply grateful.
Though in Rei's case, strictly speaking, it was for his own benefit. He had accepted this matter simply thinking it would be nice if he could casually eat nikuman at a stall.
"Um, here. Please, if you'd like. ...The taste hasn't changed much from yesterday, though."
The owner said this, handing a nikuman to each of them.
Vihera and Byune accepted theirs and promptly took a bite, but... both made subtle faces.
If it was bad, they could have outright declared it bad.
If it was delicious, they could have honestly said so.
This nikuman was neither bad nor good—an extremely ordinary taste that made it difficult to even evaluate.
The owner must have understood their impressions as well. As if trying to gloss over something, he scratched his head and let out a laugh.
"Ahahaha. So it was no good after all. I did try changing the seasoning a bit, you see."
"...That's a different approach from what I told you yesterday."
What Rei had suggested yesterday was to vary the size of the ingredients to add texture.
But what the Abuelo Stall Owner had chosen was to change the seasoning blend.
Of course, Rei's opinion wasn't absolute, and the stall owner was ostensibly a professional who sold food—though whether that description was fitting, even Rei wasn't sure.
"Anyway, once today's mock battles are over, we'll apparently be able to get help from someone who truly knows cooking, so just bear with it a little longer."
Rei also ate a nikuman and headed toward the training ground.
Naturally, Rei too could only form the single impression of "ordinary" about the nikuman he ate.
In any case, upon entering the training ground, they found a fairly respectable dojo.
Of course, since it was a place for combat training in this cold weather, it went without saying that it wouldn't be outdoors or somewhere with drafts coming through.
Be that as it may...
"Whoa."
Such a murmur slipped from Rei's mouth almost involuntarily.
Because there, nearly thirty men and women had gathered.
On top of that, everyone was staring intently at Rei's group.
Despite it being a training ground, not a single person was currently training.
They were simply watching Rei and his party in silence.
Eventually, one of them—a man who seemed to be the leader among those gathered today—stood up.
Around thirty years old, his body had a fair amount of muscle that was visible, but rather than showily building up pointless bulk, he had a physique with what could be called taut musculature that prioritized agility.
"Thank you for coming. Welcome. I am Edwald, the one who manages this training ground. I apologize for Schval's unreasonable request today. However, all of us here were very much looking forward to directly experiencing Lord Rei's power."
Rei, who had been fully expecting a much blunter way of speaking, was slightly surprised by the man's attitude.
"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm doing this because there are benefits for me too."
"Yes, I understand. It's about the stall running in front of the training ground, right? Besides Schval, there are a few others who were born into dining hall families or worked at dining halls, so I'll have them help out as well."
Rei quickly understood that Schval referred to the bald man from yesterday.
So he offered words of gratitude in response.
"Sorry, that'd be a big help."
"Not at all. To have Lord Rei, Bearer of the Crimson Moniker, grant us mock battles—this much is no trouble at all. And so, those two are..."
Edwald's gaze turned toward Vihera and Byune, who were alongside Rei.
The two of them didn't seem particularly bothered by the attention. Vihera returned the stares directed at her with keen interest, while Byune returned them with her usual expressionless look.
"Doing mock battles by myself would take time, and I figured it'd be better to have as few idle people as possible. Many of you probably know Vihera, but I can say her strength is the real deal. Byune is several levels below Vihera, but still stronger than your average adventurer."
At Rei's words, several of those listening stirred.
They knew Rei and Vihera's strength, but probably didn't know how strong Byune was.
Of course, Byune conducted patrols of Gilm alongside Vihera.
There was no doubt she had the ability to be permitted such a role, and those who knew just how much combat power Vihera possessed accepted it without any commotion.
"I see, understood. In that case... if you're all ready, I'd like to begin right away. Is that alright?"
Rei nodded at Edwald's words, and Vihera and Byune likewise nodded.
Confirming this, Edwald began issuing instructions to the group that had been looking forward to mock battles with Rei.
There were about thirty adventurers present, and Rei's group was three.
Naturally, each of them would take on about ten, but the people currently gathered were those who had assembled hoping for mock battles with Rei.
If left to their own devices, everyone might line up in front of Rei, so Edwald divided them on the spot—some to Rei, some to Vihera, some to Byune.
A few looked dissatisfied, but when Rei firmly declared that he would without a doubt have mock battles with everyone, that dissatisfaction settled.
Some even voluntarily went last, hoping to observe even a little of Rei's techniques before their own match.
And so the mock battles began promptly, but...
"You're first?"
Looking at Edwald standing before him, a voice of disbelief slipped from Rei's mouth.
But Edwald smiled at Rei's words as if to say it was only natural.
"Being able to fight first at times like this is the biggest reason I lead everyone here."
Rei accepted this from Edwald, who said it so boldly.
The number of people gathered here was quite large.
Trying to manage all of them would become extremely troublesome for Edwald.
Understanding that, it was no mystery that Edwald would have the privilege of fighting first in such a situation.
"What about weapons? Um, I do have a spear with a blunted tip, but a scythe, which is your specialty... as expected..."
"Figured as much."
Rei accepted Edwald's hesitant words without any particular anger.
To begin with, those who used a scythe were extremely rare.
Among those who had heard of Rei's exploits through rumors or seen his combat firsthand, there were some who tried to use a scythe like Rei did.
That tendency was especially common among those who had just become adventurers, but a scythe, contrary to its menacing appearance, was extremely difficult to handle.
Most gave up quickly, realizing it was not a weapon they could use.
With a weapon like that, no one among those gathered here used a scythe, and there was no way one could be prepared overnight.
Knowing this, Rei didn't blame him.
"In that case, if you have a spear with a blunted tip, that'll do."
When Rei said this, one of the adventurers immediately brought a spear with a blunted tip.
Of course, just because the tip was blunted didn't mean it was absolutely safe.
Aside from the blunted tip, it was otherwise an ordinary spear, and as such possessed more than enough power to serve as a weapon.
Moreover, the one wielding that spear was Rei.
With this spear, he could easily kill ten or twenty monsters without breaking a sweat.
Edwald, perhaps understanding this as well, faced Rei with a serious expression, holding a longsword that likewise had its blade blunted.
With everyone else cleared from their surroundings, watching the two intently from a distance...
"Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
With a sharp shout, Edwald instantly closed the distance to Rei and swung his longsword in a wide arc.
The sharpness of the strike was greater than Rei had expected. However...
"Hmph!"
Rei easily evaded the blow that was swung straight down—a strike that would have unquestionably crushed him if he hadn't dodged, a blow whose blade would have connected.
Yes, it was only faster than Rei had expected, nothing more.
Using the motion of his evasion, Rei swung the spear with just the movement of his wrist.
A strike using his entire body would have allowed him to unleash a powerful blow. But in exchange for that power, it would also become a sweeping, exaggerated strike.
Compared to that, Rei's strike launched with just his wrist had an initial movement that was overwhelmingly harder to read.
...And yet, thanks to Rei's physical abilities, that strike—despite being launched with only his wrist's movement—became an extremely powerful blow.
"?!"
Seeing the horizontal sweep aimed at his legs, Edwald instinctively leapt...
"Guh!"
But because he jumped just slightly too early, Rei adjusted his wrist movement and changed the spear's trajectory, landing a strike on his thigh.
"Your read was way too fast. Depending on the situation, you can get countered like this, so be careful. ...Now, you can still stand, right? I didn't put that much force into that strike."
At Rei's words, Edwald somehow managed to stand up.
Even so, the fact that his legs were trembling slightly meant the strike had been more effective than expected.
(Hmm? That shouldn't have been such a powerful strike...)
So Rei thought, but what he considered a light blow was, after all, measured against mock battles with Elena and the others.
No matter how skilled Edwald might be, there was no way he possessed the same level of strength as Elena and the others.
That was why Edwald had taken this much damage from Rei's strike.
"H-hahaha... I never expected a single strike to affect my legs this much."
"I attacked the thigh directly. ...In that sense, it was a safe attack."
What Rei recalled as he said this was an interview with a martial artist he had seen on TV while in Japan.
When fighting an opponent weaker than yourself—especially one who had just started martial arts—a low kick to the thigh would be more than enough.
By kicking the thigh, you could avoid causing injuries that might be life-threatening or leave lasting aftereffects, while still stripping away their combat ability.
Rei recalled anew whether the words of the martial artist who had answered so in that interview had been true, as he looked at Edwald—who had managed to stand but was trembling, barely able to stay on his feet.