The day after Rei spoke with Elena through the Paired Orbs, Frizione’s army packed up camp early in the morning as the set out to join up with Mercurio’s rebel army.
They were able to pack up quite quickly as the army only comprised of 500 people or so.
If they had been a force of several thousand or several tens of thousands, it would have been a struggle just to prepare to leave.
The fact that Frizione’s army were all trained elites also played a large part.
「Rei-dono, you seem calmer than I expected.」
「Marquis Lognos? Why have you come all the way out here……」
It was about an hour after Frizione’s army had set off. Rei was riding on Set’s back as they made their way along the road when someone called out to him. Turning around, he saw a figure with a magnificent beard.
It was Marquis Lognos, one of the leaders of Frizione’s army.
Unusual for a noble, he had the peculiar character of being quite understanding with regards to Rei’s attitude towards nobility and royalty.
Rei’s way of speaking often made other nobles frown, but Marquis Lognos didn’t seem to mind. Even Rei, who usually didn’t like nobles, couldn’t help but feel somewhat comfortable speaking with him.
「No, it’s nothing major. I heard the situation from Her Highness Frizione last night. Rei-dono can be considered as a second army within our army as well as our greatest strength. That being said, some things will probably happen today, so I just wanted to see how things were with you before then.」
「Gururu~!」
I doing fine! Set seemed to say with a cry. Marquis Lognos smiled beneath his beard.
「I see, I see. You’re a Griffon, so you seem to be reliable. I have high hopes for you.」
Seeing Set’s reaction, Marquis Lognos laughed in high spirits, feeling relieved inside.
With Kabajid making a move on the rebel army, Rei could be worried for them and not be in his best form. That was what Marquis Lognos had been concerned about.
But, after talking with Rei, he didn’t seem that different from usual.
Of course, he didn’t know Rei well enough to be able to say for sure.
「Well, I’ll head back soon. I’m sure you have a lot on your mind, Rei-dono, so I’ll leave you to your thoughts.」
Rei nodded slightly in response to Marquis Lognos’ words.
Seeing Marquis Lognos head back to where the main army was marching behind him, Rei stroked Set’s neck.
「It seems I’ve worried Marquis Lognos. You were worried too, weren’t you, Set?」
「Guru~……」
Set shook his head to tell Rei that he was fine.
Rei thanked Set as he started petting Set’s head.
「Guru~, Gururururu~!」
That seemed to make Set very happy and he gave a cry in high spirits.
「Well then……I wonder how the rebel camp will look like when we arrive today? If the plan was to starve them out over time, I think they’d still be doing okay for now. What do you think?」
Rei asked as he sensed a presence approaching them from behind. The owner of the presence……Widele had her eyes go wide in surprise.
「You noticed, did you? That’s impressive, Rei-dono.」
「No matter how you look at it, there’s no way I wouldn’t notice a horse approaching. That aside, what do you think?」
「If they just plan to starve us out, it won’t be a problem. ……But it doesn’t seem that effective to hold us back to starve out the rebel army.」
Rei nodded at Widele’s words, as if getting the answer he wanted.
「That’s right. No matter how many bandits, mercenaries, or soldiers they send at us, all they’re doing is stalling us……it sounds effective, but it’s nothing more than just harassing us. Since we’ve already defeated most of the ones who were lying in wait, they should be well aware that sending forces to waste our time won’t do anything to us.」
Harassment was nothing more than harassment after all.
No matter how many times the bandits attacked them, they would only slow down their advance. It was impossible for them to inflict heavy casualties to Frizione’s army to the point that they would give up on joining the rebel army.
No, if they were able to inflict that much damage, Frizione’s army would probably speed up in an attempt to join up faster.
「Someone has a completely different idea……huh?」
As he muttered his thoughts out loud, Rei suddenly looked behind him……specifically towards the Imperial Capital, as if he had just thought of something.
「Rei-dono?」
「No, I was just thinking that even if Shurus and Kabajid joined forces, it’s quite possible that they wouldn’t work well together.」
Widele thought over Rei’s words for a few seconds before speaking.
「I think that’s a possibility if you think about it normally. However, since both Prince Shurus and Prince Kabajid consider Prince Mercurio to be the enemy that needs to be defeated first, I don’t think there would be that many disagreements.」
「That may be true for those two and their direct subordinates, but that doesn’t mean that the people lower down will be able to communicate properly, right? In particular, from what I heard from Vihera, there are many people among Shurus’ subordinates who were unable to join Kabajid’s faction……that is to say, there’s quite a number of incompetent people.」
That much was clear from the battle between the rebel army and the first punitive force.
In fact, many nobles had been captured in that battle and ransom negotiations were still ongoing.
If that hadn’t happened, the Second Prince’s faction’s strength would have been even higher.
「Taking that into consideration, it’s lucky for us that they had so many incompetent people.」
「Yeah, I guess so.」
Widele wanted to agree with Rei, but she had a strangely bad feeling in her heart.
「Well, that’s beside the point. I’d like to go out and scout again. Is that okay?」
Rei and Set had gone out and annihilated most of the ambushes lying in wait two days ago, but since time had passed, more ambushes might have been prepared.
(That said, news spreads among bandits quite quickly. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if they’ve all found out that I’m escorting Frizione’s army.)
Rei laughed wryly at the fact that he had earned the title of Bandit Eater without even knowing, but that title had now become a repellent of sorts, chasing away thieves that would otherwise be wasting his time.
Of course, he couldn’t deny the possibility that more elite forces, such as mercenaries, adventurers, or soldiers had been sent out.
「Hmm. It’s true that some time has passed since we packed up camp, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, Rei-dono isn’t technically under our army’s command. We can’t order you around if you don’t want to do something. Scouting ahead is in line with our goals though.」
「Sorry about that, I’ll leave it to you to let the others know then.」
Seeing Widele nod in response, Rei stroked Set’s neck as he spoke.
「In that case, Set, I’ll be in your care.」
「Gururururu~!」
At Rei’s words, Set gave a happy cry and ran a few steps forward before flapping his wings and soaring into the sky.
Set’s cry caused people to look over for a moment, but they didn’t pay any more attention after realising it was Set.
Though it had only been four days since Rei and Set had started traveling with Frizione’s army, everyone had become strangely used to Set’s presence.
This was partly because many of the White Rose Knights, the most elite force in Frizione’s army, had become quite attached to Set, and partly because they had fought together the first time they had been stopped by Shurus and Kabajid’s forces.
Also, although they barely suffered any injuries from them, Rei and Set had taken care of all the annoying bandit groups that had been waiting for them.
For those reasons, the fear and awe that people had towards Rei and Set had started to fade away.
「Oh, Set is flying away.」
「Ah, you’re right. Come to think of it, before he left today, he ate the dried meat I had prepared for him. It made me really happy.」
「Uwah, I’m so jealous. I want to lure Set with food as well.」
「Don’t say lure, say feed.」
Widele heard those exchanges as she headed towards the front of the army.
She felt that Princess Frizione would probably be sad after finding out that Set had flown away for now.
「Gurururu~」
Set gave a happy cry.
Playing with people who paid a lot of attention to him was fun, but Set found the time alone with Rei to be the most fun and relaxing.
Rei stroked Set’s neck with a smile.
「Our goal this time is to scout, so don’t be too casual about it.」
「Guru~!」
Of course! Set responded to Rei’s words with a cry.
Rei enjoyed the sightseeing flight with Set as they scouted.
Although it was somewhat a form of relaxation for them, they were by no means slacking.
Rei looked over the ground alongside Set as they searched for enemies.
「Hmm……I guess there aren’t any bandits around anymore.」
There had been many bandits around two days ago, but not a single bandit group could be found now.
As expected, the majority of the ambushes that had been created to harass them were comprised of bandits and they seemed to have retreated after hearing about Rei.
The thought crossed Rei’s mind.
「Well, it’s easier for us since we can just move on normally.」
「Gururu~?」
Is that so? Set seemed to ask as he tilted his way at Rei’s words.
「Yeah. Anyway, lucky for us, there aren’t any enemies. All that’s left is to look around a bit more……huh?」
Let’s hurry back. Rei was about to say that when something caught his eye.
It was a large number of cavalry chasing a lone rider.
They formed two distinct groups due to the distance between them.
The pursuing cavalry almost seemed like they were playing around.
They seemed to be chasing the fleeing rider like a hunter stalking their prey.
Even so, they weren’t shooting any arrows from horseback, probably because they lacked the skill to do so.
「……Well, what should we do? No, this isn’t a situation where we can really stop to think about it. Set.」
「Gurururu~!」
At Rei’s words, Set let out a cry as he dived towards the ground.
He didn’t use King’s Awe, but a Griffon’s cry was more than enough to have an effect.
The pursuers’ horses were clearly affected by Set’s cry.
As an unfortunate side effect, so was the horse of the lone rider.
Because it was a basic cry, it wasn’t like King’s Awe, which could selectively target enemies.
Still, the confusion it caused among the pursuers was ultimately enough to keep the lone rider safe.
In the midst of all that, Set landed between the two groups.
「W-What are you doing!」
A voice shouted out from the pursuing cavalry, but Rei ignored them as he took the Death Scythe out form the Misty Ring and gave it a swing.
A loud woosh could be heard, a sound that one would normally never hear from a weapon the size of the Death Scythe.
「I’m an adventurer working with the rebels.」
「R-Rebels?! Then you’ve come to help him!」
A voice shouted out from the pursuers.
There was unmistakable fear in their voice.
That meant that Set’s earlier cry had been effective.
(Should I have used King’s Awe instead?)
Ignoring the thought that flashed through his mind for a moment, he turned to glance at the rider who had been chased.
If he were to believe the words of the pursuers, that would mean that the rider belonged to the rebel army……in other words, they were Rei’s ally.
「That’s right, I guess that’s how things are……so, what will you do? Since you were chasing them, that means you’re part of the punitive force, right? Are you going to fight me here? I don’t mind, but……are you prepared?」
Rei spoke arrogantly as he brandished the Death Scythe.
Still riding on Set, Rei pulled his hood down to firmly hide his face as he held the Death Scythe out.
「Hey, he’s probably……」
「Yeah. He’s riding a Griffon, so there’s no doubt.」
「No, why are we still here then!?」
「Anyway, we can’t take him on.」
「Should we retreat>」
As they whispered among themselves, they immediately turned their horses around.
「We’ll retreat quietly, so please let us go!」
They shouted out before running off in the direction they came from without waiting for Rei’s reply.
Even Rei was surprised at the speed of their retreat.
He had thought for sure that they would try to fight, so he just watched in amazement as they beat a hasty retreat……before turning around after hearing footsteps behind him.
The lone rider had gotten off his horse and was running straight to Rei.
He spoke to Rei with a tense expression.
「Rei-dono, the rebel camp is under attack by a punitive force!」