"Uwaaah!"
The one who let out such a scream was the Village Gatekeeper at the Lord's Manor.
The reason for his outcry was partly that Set had suddenly flown down from the sky in the middle of the night, but more than that, it was the thing Set carried in its front talons—something that could only be described as a lump of flesh.
At first, they couldn't tell what that lump of flesh was. But Set, wanting to minimize even the briefest moment of contact, had hurled it the instant it landed—and right in the path of that throw were the gatekeepers.
The gatekeepers had already been briefed by Marina and Vihera, so they'd been told that Rei and Set might come to the Lord's Manor even in the middle of the night. That prediction had proven spectacularly correct.
"R-Rei! What the hell is this!?"
One of the gatekeepers shouted at Rei as he leaped down from Set's back.
Given his role, the man was naturally acquainted with Rei. That was precisely why he asked who this lump of flesh—this man with all four limbs missing—was. Though "shouted at" would be a more accurate description than "asked."
"What do you mean? It's the perpetrator of this incident. Specifically, the one behind the Zolgela Count House affair. You've heard about that much, right? ...Ah, was I not supposed to say that?"
"Hey, you! Why are you suddenly blurting out classified information!?"
"I mean, you're the ones who asked what this was."
"Ugh..."
Since Rei's words were fact, the gatekeeper couldn't argue back. Still, when it was unclear whether something should be said or not, he honestly would have preferred Rei keep it to himself.
"Hey, calm down. I heard it too, so if anything comes of it, I'll take the punishment with you. More importantly, go report to Lord Daskar. Once he hears Rei is back, he'll want to see him right away."
Prompted by his partner, the man who had been voicing complaints at Rei seemed to come back to his senses. He left the scene to his partner and immediately broke into a run toward the manor.
Naturally, he had gone to announce Rei's arrival.
"Still... this is pretty brutal, huh."
The other gatekeeper, who remained at the scene, muttered earnestly as he looked at the figure before him—at Antelme, with all four limbs severed.
The fact that he showed no sign of blaming Rei was likely because he understood what Antelme had done. The incident in which even innocent maids and butlers had been killed was something that made you feel disgusted just hearing about it. If the one who carried it out had his limbs severed as punishment, that was only a natural consequence.
From the man's words, Rei could tell he wasn't particularly repulsed by what had happened. Without any apparent concern, Rei turned his gaze toward Antelme, who was still unconscious... or perhaps still asleep.
If he were a powerhouse like an A-Rank adventurer, he should have noticed even being lifted and carried through the sky. Or at the very least, being thrown onto the ground like that and still not waking up was strange.
(Breaking his spirit... did I go a little too far?)
Looking at Antelme's condition, Rei thought to himself.
He had shattered Antelme's confidence-filled strength head-on. He had effortlessly snapped the blade of his beloved Magic Sword right before his eyes. He had severed his limbs, leaving him barely able to move at all. Being captured by Rei... and knowing about the fairies meant a death sentence was virtually certain.
Considering all of this, it wouldn't be strange for his spirit to be broken.
"Still, this guy... just looking at him, he doesn't seem like the type who'd do something like that."
Looking at Antelme's face, the gatekeeper muttered earnestly.
At those words, Rei glanced at the man again. In this unconscious state, Antelme—being of noble blood—had well-proportioned features. Even if you described him as handsome, not many would disagree. On top of that, being an A-Rank adventurer—a highly capable one—there should have been no shortage of women for him.
...Though when conscious, Rei felt his inner nature showed through his expression, making his features ugly.
"But no matter how he looks, there's no doubt he actually did it. They say you can't judge a person by appearances, right?"
"That's true. Looking at Rei, I really feel that way."
Judging people by appearance is wrong. Moreover, Rei was a textbook example of that. At the very least, judging Rei purely by appearance, he didn't look like someone possessing overwhelming power.
But... the undeniable fact was that many people had judged Rei by his appearance and ended up suffering terribly as a result.
"Me... well, whatever. Hm? They're here."
Mid-sentence, Rei spotted the gatekeeper who had gone to the manor... along with several knights approaching.
The knights approached Rei's group with serious expressions, but upon seeing Antelme lying on the ground, they were naturally startled. They had heard the circumstances from the gatekeeper who came to report. Still, being told not to be shocked when actually seeing a man with all four limbs severed was asking the impossible.
"Rei, go inside. Lord Daskar is waiting. We'll take Antelme into custody. There's no bleeding, so I'd assume there's no immediate issue, but he's going to be alright, isn't he?"
"Yeah. I've stopped the bleeding with a potion and made him drink it too, so it should be fine."
Having said that much, Rei briefly wondered if the reason Antelme remained unconscious was because of the potion's taste—but quickly decided that an A-Rank adventurer losing consciousness just from drinking a potion was absurd.
"I see. Then we'll take him. It goes without saying, but you are not permitted to speak of this matter to anyone. Understood?"
The knight addressed this to Rei and the two gatekeepers.
Rei knew that Antelme's incident involved many... truly many delicate matters, so he nodded readily at the knight's words. The two gatekeepers, working as Daskar's subordinates, figured such instructions were only natural and nodded without particular objection.
Seeing their response, the knight finally looked at Set...
"Gruu?"
Receiving that gaze, Set tilted its head as if asking "what is it?" while purring.
"Well, I suppose there's no need to worry about Set."
The knight knew that Set was friendly with many people, but regardless of whether it could communicate through nods or head shakes, doing something like telling others about Antelme's situation was simply impossible for it. The knight understood this.
"Alright then, we'll take custody of Antelme. Rei, go see Lord Daskar. Set... the courtyard, I assume? Even though it's night."
"Grurru."
Set nodded at the knight's words. Strictly speaking, the biggest reason was simply that it had nowhere else to go. Given Set's size, entering the Lord's Manor was out of the question. Or rather, if it weren't the middle of the night, there might have been somewhere Set could wait, but at present such places were virtually nonexistent.
Also significant was the fact that the courtyard was the place Set was most accustomed to staying in. For those reasons, Set readily nodded at the knight's words... and each person present proceeded to take their respective course of action.
Rei would enter the Lord's Manor and head to the room where Daskar was. Set would wait in the courtyard for Rei's business to conclude. The knights would take Antelme to the dungeon. And the gatekeepers would remain at their posts to carry out their duties.
"Alright then, Set. Wait a bit. I don't think you'll get to eat any food today."
Set was, incidentally, quite doted on by the staff working in the Lord's Manor kitchen. That was why, whenever the kitchen staff learned Set was in the courtyard, they would often whip up a dish from leftover ingredients or share portions of food they'd made in excess to feed it.
But that was strictly a daytime occurrence. At an hour like midnight, naturally, there was no one in the kitchen.
...In reality, they were always ready to cook at a moment's notice if something came up, but under the current circumstances, firing up the kitchen solely to feed Set was unreasonable.
"Grurru."
After patting the disappointed Set's head, Rei headed into the Lord's Manor.
Then, as if they had been waiting for Rei—no, they actually had been waiting—a maid bowed and led Rei to the room where Daskar was.
If Daskar had been in the office as usual, the maid wouldn't have bothered guiding him. But since Daskar was currently somewhere other than the office, the maid guided Rei so he wouldn't get lost.
The place she led him to was one of the guest rooms. The Lord's Manor naturally had several such rooms. The same kind of room was the one Rei and the others had used when they first brought Nielson to the manor.
Upon entering the room...
"So you're here too."
Seeing the figures inside, those words slipped from Rei's mouth. The ones he said that to were not Daskar... but Marina and Vihera.
He had originally heard that Marina was going to the Lord's Manor to explain the situation, but even so, he hadn't expected them to still be there by the time he returned from dealing with the Antelme affair.
"Fufu, surprised? Knowing you, Rei, we figured you'd be back in no time, so we waited here like this. I also had some things I wanted to talk to Daskar about for the first time in a while."
"...That's right."
Daskar, receiving Marina's gaze, showed a faintly exhausted expression as he said this. Seeing his demeanor, Rei could understand that entertaining Marina's conversation had worn him out. That said, delving into that matter seemed likely to catch Rei in the crossfire as well, so he turned his gaze to Vihera.
"So, I get why Marina is here, but why are you here, Vihera?"
"I was hoping to get intel on a strong opponent... but from the looks of you, Rei, it seems like there's no need for that anymore."
"Well, I won't deny that."
Replying thus to Vihera's words, Rei recalled the opponent he had fought—Antelme. Doing his best not to remember that near-abysmal personality, he focused on Antelme's combat capabilities.
Antelme's strength was undoubtedly worthy of being called an A-Rank adventurer. His combat prowess in wielding his Magic Sword was unquestionably first-class. The Magic Sword's abilities—firing slashing attacks and, above all, instantly extending its blade—were also highly capable. Though that Magic Sword had been effortlessly snapped by Rei's Death Scythe.
"He was certainly worthy of being called an A-Rank adventurer."
"...Right."
Acknowledging Rei's words, Vihera nonetheless cast an envious gaze. She surely wished she could have fought such a formidable opponent herself. That said, there was no way Rei could have taken Vihera along in that situation.
...Well, if they had done something like having her cling to Set's front legs during transit, it might not have been impossible to bring her. But even so, considering the circumstances at the time, there was absolutely no leeway for that.
If anything, if he had moved just a little—truly just a little—faster, the wolves might not have died. Thinking of that, it was only natural to feel regret.
"Rei. I ask that you keep the matter regarding Antelme strictly confidential."
"I don't mind, but... is that alright?"
Rei responded this way to Daskar's words because of the incident Antelme had caused at the Zolgela Count House. If that incident hadn't occurred, Rei would have had no further interest in Antelme and wouldn't have cared how he was dealt with. But if everyone in a noble's mansion had been massacred, this incident couldn't simply be swept under the rug.
"That won't be a problem. I will contact the Zolgela Count House directly. ...The fairy matter was exposed, wasn't it?"
Rei wasn't particularly surprised by what Daskar said. In the first place, this whole incident began when Nielson used a Magic Item to notify Rei that danger was approaching the fairy settlement in the Treant Forest. Given that, it was hardly surprising that the perpetrator, Antelme, had learned about the fairies.
...Though he was surprised when a subordinate's report revealed that Antelme was behind this.
At Daskar's words, Rei nodded in acknowledgment.