Rei lowered Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, releasing his grip on both weapons just as Gaga dropped his own to the ground in a gesture of surrender.
"Zozo, let me confirm just to be sure—him letting go of his weapons means Gaga has acknowledged his defeat, right?"
'Yes, that is correct. ...However, to think you defeated my brother Gaga...'
Even from the text displayed on the Stone Tablet, Rei could sense Zozo's astonishment.
But Rei simply smiled as he stored Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear in his Misty Ring.
"Zozo, you lost to me and ended up serving me, right? In that case, my being strong should be a good thing, shouldn't it?"
'That is without a doubt. However... um...'
Zozo trailed off, but Rei understood what he was trying to say. He had fought Gaga and probably never expected Rei to win. If he had known Rei better, he might have predicted it to some extent, but not that much time had passed since Zozo began serving Rei.
In fact, the knights and adventurers who had been watching the bout showed no particular surprise at Rei's victory. If anything, they were impressed by Gaga for having fought him evenly.
...In contrast, Gaga's subordinates could do nothing but stare in shock that their living symbol of strength had been defeated. Gaga would win no matter who he fought—that was undoubtedly what they believed. Yet when the actual clash came, he had lost to Rei. They couldn't process it at all. Among the Lizardmen, some were frozen in place, unable to even move.
Zozo gazed at those Lizardmen with a complicated look in his eyes.
As a prince of the Gran Dragonia Empire—and above all, as Gaga's younger brother—Zozo knew Gaga's strength intimately. He also knew that Gaga's subordinates adored him. That was precisely why Gaga's defeat came as a surprise even to Zozo.
But at the same time, serving Rei, who had defeated Gaga—one of Zozo's own symbols of a powerful figure—was something he could feel proud of.
"Zozo, I need you to translate. For now, since I won, tell him not to lay a hand on the Green People while he's here. Understood?"
When Zozo conveyed Rei's words, Gaga nodded with a strangely refreshed expression before speaking.
'He says he understands. However, he requests that you hold mock battles with him occasionally.'
Mock battles with Gaga would undoubtedly benefit Rei as well, so there was no reason to refuse the offer.
"There's someone named Vihera who enjoys fighting strong opponents. Tell him he'll be doing mock battles with her, too."
Zozo nodded at Rei's suggestion and relayed the message to Gaga. Given Gaga's strength, Vihera would undoubtedly want to spar with him. And it was highly unlikely she would be dissatisfied with his level of power. Gaga possessed that much strength.
(Well, as for what happens to Marina's garden... honestly, I have no idea.)
If Vihera and Gaga fought seriously, the damage to Marina's courtyard would be considerable. Given that Gaga fought with his massive body, greatsword, and tail—driving the latter into the ground as a third limb—the terrain would inevitably be torn up. That said, Rei knew Marina's Spirit Magic could repair the damage without much difficulty. Still, just because it could be fixed quickly didn't mean she'd be happy about her garden being trashed.
Deciding he should warn Marina beforehand, Rei glanced back at Gaga and... suddenly realized something.
(Ah, so even if Gaga loses, he doesn't become a follower?)
When he had fought Zozo, winning had resulted in the Lizardman agreeing to serve him. Gaga, however, showed no sign of submitting despite his defeat. Personally, Rei felt that Zozo alone was more than enough as far as Lizardman tamed monsters went. So the fact that Gaga hadn't offered to follow him was, if anything, a relief.
(In that case, is this something unique to Zozo? Or maybe it depends on how low their Right of Succession to the Throne is? I should ask about that later.)
Setting the thought aside, Rei addressed Zozo.
"Zozo, could you ask Gaga if I could borrow his greatsword for a moment?"
Rei's interest had shifted to the greatsword Gaga carried. It had clashed head-on with Death Scythe without so much as a single chip in its blade. An ordinary weapon would have been cut clean through, yet this one hadn't sustained a scratch. It was only natural for Rei to be curious about such a weapon.
(Maybe I should have wagered weapons from the start? From the looks of it, there's no doubt it's a Magic Item. ...Wait. Does that mean the Gran Dragonia Empire has alchemists capable of crafting Magic Items?)
Given that the empire was roughly the same scale as the Kingdom of Mireana, it wouldn't be strange for them to have an alchemist or two. Even so, Rei couldn't picture Lizardmen and alchemists together. If it were a mage, he could at least somewhat understand.
While Rei was pondering the concept of a Lizardman alchemist, Gaga heard Zozo's relayed request and handed his greatsword over.
Under normal circumstances, Rei would never be able to lift that greatsword. It was large enough to still qualify as a greatsword when held by Gaga, who stood roughly three meters tall. For Rei, who was barely half that height, it should have been impossible. In fact, some of Gaga's subordinate Lizardmen worried that Rei would drop the weapon—not out of concern for Rei's safety, but fear that the blade might get scratched.
The surrounding knights and adventurers also watched Rei with evident concern.
But Rei lifted the greatsword without any visible strain.
It was a weapon so massive that even Gaga made it look like a greatsword. When Rei held it, the impression it gave was less that he was wielding the greatsword and more that he had become an accessory attached to it.
Whether he understood the stares from those around him or not, his expression suggested difficulty—not from the weight or size of the weapon, but from some other factor entirely.
Regardless, he held the greatsword and swung it.
He had handled a longsword before in a playful manner, but a longsword and a greatsword were two very different things. Still, a sword was a sword, and he could swing it better than some amateur off the street. Rather than slicing through the air like Death Scythe, Rei got the impression of a blow that shattered the atmosphere itself as it was swung.
After swinging the greatsword about ten times, he was satisfied and returned it to Gaga.
Gaga accepted the offered weapon straightforwardly, though there seemed to be something on his mind. This was a weapon that had taken him years of training to master after initially being unable to wield it at all, and seeing someone use it so effortlessly clearly left an impression.
"This is a Magic Item, isn't it?"
'Yes. My brother Gaga's greatsword is undoubtedly a Magic Item. However, as far as I know, it has no particularly special abilities. It is simply extremely durable, never chips—that is the extent of it—along with the ability to regenerate minor scratches using my brother Gaga's magic power.'
'That's... a Magic Item with quite a vicious effect, depending on who wields it.'
It didn't have abilities like firing slashes or wreathing the blade in flames—things one could recognize at a glance. But a greatsword that was simply and thoroughly indestructible was, while unassuming, an extremely powerful weapon in the right hands. And Gaga was undoubtedly worthy of wielding it.
'Yes. It is a weapon that bears a portion of my brother Gaga's power. ...Um, Lord Rei. My brother Gaga says he would like to borrow your scythe.'
"Ah... right. Well, I borrowed his weapon, so I can't really refuse, can I? But the scythe—Death Scythe—is quite heavy, you know."
For Rei and Set, wielding Death Scythe came with virtually no sense of weight, but for anyone else, the full brunt of its hundred kilograms would bear directly down on them. Gaga's greatsword was also quite heavy, so perhaps he might be able to manage Death Scythe as well. With that in mind, Rei retrieved Death Scythe from his Misty Ring and handed it over.
"!?"
The moment Gaga received it, his hand was instantly dragged toward the ground by Death Scythe's weight. Even so, his raw strength prevented it from hitting the floor. Having clashed directly with the greatsword, Gaga knew Death Scythe was heavy. He knew that—and yet, seeing Rei hold it with one hand, he must have inevitably underestimated it.
Even so, the fact that he could hold Death Scythe at all was a testament to Gaga's literally superhuman strength. He actually managed to swing a weapon that would crush most people just from holding it.
Naturally, since this was his first time wielding a scythe, his swings lacked sharpness. Even so, the fact that he could swing Death Scythe at all proved Gaga's tremendous strength and his mastery of body mechanics.
(Ah, he's using his tail.)
Rei caught sight of Gaga driving his tail into the ground, anchoring himself so the recoil from swinging Death Scythe wouldn't shift his body. He was genuinely impressed by how skillfully Gaga employed his tail.
After a few more swings, Gaga's form improved, if only slightly. Still, a scythe was apparently an awkward weapon to use, and once he was satisfied, he returned Death Scythe to Rei. Rei took it back casually with one hand, leaving Gaga more exasperated than surprised.
Once Death Scythe vanished into the Misty Ring, Gaga said something to Zozo.
'My brother Gaga asks why you use such an unwieldy weapon. He says that if it's Lord Rei, surely a spear or a longsword would have served just as well.'
Rei wasn't sure how to answer. From Gaga's perspective, Rei was strong enough without relying on such an awkward weapon. Any other weapon would have served him just as well. In fact, the Twilight Spear he used alongside Death Scythe was already wielded more than proficiently.
But Death Scythe was a Magic Item born from Rei's own magic power through Beast Magic. Having it, he never had the option of not using it. It possessed numerous special abilities and, as expected of something created through Beast Magic, could even acquire new skills through Magic Stones.
However, only a handful of people knew about Beast Magic, and this wasn't the place to discuss it. So Rei delivered his usual cover story.
"This Death Scythe is a weapon I received from my master. As you could tell from seeing it clash with Gaga's greatsword, it's in a completely different league from ordinary weapons."
Feeling that he'd been explaining his master more often lately, Rei conveyed this. Gaga, though not fully convinced, offered a nod in return.
"More importantly, about what happens from here on..."
Judging that continuing the topic of Death Scythe would be unwise, Rei shifted the conversation. That said, what Gaga and his men would do going forward was a critical matter.
Given the size of the Lord's Manor, housing Gaga's group for the time being was feasible. But considering how their numbers had swelled in a single day, more Lizardmen could continue arriving one after another. If that happened, eventually even the manor wouldn't be enough to shelter everyone.
(As I thought, the best option would be to have them settle in the Treant Forest with Lunora's group... but there's the question of whether that's even feasible. Lord Daskar probably has his own plans regarding Lunora's people. Or rather—why did the Gran Dragonia Empire persecute the Green People instead of putting their abilities to good use?)
Rei knew the Gran Dragonia Empire was roughly the same size as the Kingdom of Mireana. If that were the case, it only made sense for them to harness the Green People's abilities for state-level agricultural work, just as Daskar was doing. It was a natural conclusion for Rei to reach.
But for some reason—truly for some unknown reason—the Gran Dragonia Empire had chosen to persecute the Green People rather than utilize them. Asking Zozo about the circumstances yielded nothing beyond the fact that it was an imperial decree, so there was nothing to be done about it.
(Don't tell me the emperor of the Gran Dragonia Empire is going to teleport over next... that won't happen, right?)
Harboring a vague sense of unease, Rei continued his conversation with Gaga.