「This……it looks to have been a very fierce battle.」

Mercurio murmured as he walked through the battlefield and surveyed his surroundings.

Many dead soldiers were laid across the ground before his eyes.

The civil war might now be over, but if the bodies weren’t cleared, they would eventually draw the attention of monsters or become undead.

Still, considering it was now autumn……and close to winter, this meant that the rate at which bodies decayed was slower than if the battle had taken place in spring or summer, meaning that disease wasn’t a major concern.

Of course, if the bodies weren’t cleared away before snow fell, they would still rot by spring, risking potential disease outbreaks.

「This fighting amongst the Bestir Empire……no, it’s now our place to say this, as the ones who caused this war.」

Frizione, who who was headed to the punitive force’s main camp to bid farewell to Kabajid, also murmured to herself, holding similar feelings to Mercurio.

Her eyes were filled with sadness, befitting her kind character.

This battle couldn’t have been prevented, there was nothing she could have done.

But, even knowing that, she couldn’t help but feel sad.

「Your Highness Frizione……」

Angela, the commander of the White Rose Knights, spoke with concern.

The fight between the White Rose Knights and Shurus’ cavalry, which had taken place on the right wing, had already ended with the cavalry retreating on Shurus’ orders.

As a result, Angela had joined up with the group heading for the punitive force’s main camp.

The group was currently made up of Mercurio, Frizione, Theorem, Angela, several nobles, their guards, and lastly Rei and Set, who served as deterrents against any rogue punitive force soldiers.

In the end, there were about 20 people in total.

Normally, traveling with this many people across a battlefield would be a dangerous affair.

That was why Rei and Set’s presence was so important.

Almost everyone on the battlefield had seen Rei and Set’s strength on the battlefield, etching it deep into their hearts.

While the psychological trauma they caused to soldiers wasn’t as widespread as it had been during the Spring War, there were still many soldiers who had been crushed by Rei’s use of Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, leaving many seriously injured or half dead. There were also those who had been burned badly by Rei’s wild charges.

Then there was Set.

An ordinary Griffon was already an A rank monster, far beyond what adventurers could handle. Word had now spread that Set was a rare species who could use multiple skills and magic, so no one was foolish enough to attack Set or the group.

Naturally, Mercurio’s army had also heard about Set……

「Rei, about Set……」

Theorem, who was on horseback, questioned Rei, who was riding on Set.

As the group needed to pass through the battlefield as quickly as possible for the safety of everyone, they were all on horseback, except for Rei, who was riding Set.

The horses were scared of Set, but they didn’t run from him due to their training.

「Yeah, I know what you want to ask. I know it was a bad idea to keep the fact that Set was a rare species a secret, but Set was already greatly feared, right? On top of that, I was also worried that letting people find out would also cause me more trouble. ……Well, a lot of things happened this time, so I had to reveal it.」

It was all because of Noiz. Theorem could only agree with Rei’s reasoning.

Just having a Griffon was already enough to cause a big fuss, so a rare species Griffon, equivalent to an S rank monster, would inevitably invite more trouble to Rei.

Now that Set’s skills had been shown off in front of so many people, it was impossible to stop rumours from spreading.

(Well, if people just think of Set as a rare species, that will be fine. It’s better for them to think that than to associate Set with the Magic Beast Art.)

The Magic Beast Art was something that had only been popularised for a short period of time, when Zepairu had still been alive.

It was a form of magic that would usually have been long since lost in the rivers of time.

However……Zepairu and the group of mages he led were all monsters in magic.

They were geniuses among geniuses.

Any single one of them could supposedly take down an entire armies or even countries on their own.

As a magic used by such a legendary group of mages, it was impossible for it to have been truly lost to history.

The only fortunate thing for Rei was that as a magic created by Zepairu and his group legendary mages using all their knowledge, it was basically impossible for anyone else to inherit the magic.

As a result, while the Magic Beast Art could be easily learned of by those who studied history, it was safe to say that no one actually knew what kinda of magic it was.

Only those like Grimm, who had lived at the same time as Zepairu and since become a Lich, were aware of such information. And, with Grimm being a reclusive figure, the likelihood of information regarding the Magic Beast Art spreading was minimal.

(In that sense, it was a good thing that I was summoned to Elgin in this era, far into the future from when Zepairu and his group were still alive.)

Rei thought of that as he stroked Set, who had been created from the Magic Beast Art.

「Looking at things now, at least we are all working together as citizens of the same country now.」

Frizione murmured as she rode alongside Angela.

Mercurio and Theorem giving out orders. Soldiers could be seen lending their shoulders to the wounded, regardless of whether they had been from the punitive force of Mercurio’s army.

Of course, it wasn’t just done by the soldiers voluntarily.

It had been an order given by Mercurio and Theorem as a means of minimising any bitterness that might remain between soldiers after the war

Some soldiers did do that voluntarily, but there were also those who watched the punitive force soldiers murderously, ready to attack and the sign of any strange actions.

All that said, most soldiers were still doing the best they could.

「That’s right. It’s inevitable that there will be bitterness and resentment among soldiers after the battle, but even so, we’d prefer to address as much of it now as we can.」

Angela spoke from next to Frizione.

Of course, she knew that it wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

Despite that, nothing would change unless they started the change themselves……

「I don’t believe that grudges will be resolved so easily. But, I thought it was still worth a try.」

Mercurio, who had been listening into to Frizione and Angela’s conversation, voiced his own thoughts as Theorem nodded in agreement.

Indeed, as a civil war fought between fellow citizens, it was easy for resentment to remain after all was said and done.

As the victor of the civil war, and now the likely successor to the throne, Mercurio had no choice but to take that into consideration.

「From what I can tell, it seems that most people are happy that Mercurio won.」

Rei spoke as he looked around from Set’s back.

Many soldiers from Mercurio’s army cheered as Mercurio made his way through the battlefield.

It might have been because they were still feeling the rush from battle, but to Rei, they appeared to be very happy.

……Of course, there were also those who were cheering for people other than Mercurio.

There were those who looked up to Frizione, those who admired Theorem and Angela, those who were smitten by Set’s cuteness, those who were awestruck by Rei’s strength, and so on.

As they passed through the battlefield like that, Rei suddenly thought of something as he spoke.

「By the way, how did the guerrilla unit do? I don’t know which front they fought on, but they must have made great achievements, right?」

Rei asked casually……very casually.

He had trained them well, so he had no doubt that they had made great contributions. But, as he asked Theorem, he got back a silent head shake.

「……What happened? They were all well trained, so it’s not an exaggeration to call them the most elite force in Mercurio’s army. It would be strange for them to not achieve any major contributions.」

「Yes. Of course, it wasn’t like they didn’t achieve anything at all, they did inflict a fair amount of damage on the punitive force. But……」

As Theorem hesitated, Rei gave him a sharp look and urged him to continue.

Seeing Rei’s expression, Theorem knew that there was no point in evading the question any further. In fact, it might cause unnecessary trouble down the line, so he spoke with a gloomy expression.

「It was a while after the fight against the punitive force started in earnest. Apparently, some members of the guerrilla unit suddenly went berserk, attacking both enemies and allies, resulting in widespread confusion.」

「Did they betray us?」

「No, they didn’t. But the situation was even worse. It seems that the ones causing trouble were in a state of confusion, to the point where they couldn’t tell friend from foe.」

Theorem’s words made Rei realise how bad the situation had actually been.

His initial guess was that some of them might have turned traitor from the promise of rewards or because their family had been held hostage.

In addition……

「From what you’re saying, it wasn’t just one or two people?」

「That is right. The exact number still isn’t known, but it seems to have affected a large number of them.」

「Why?」

Theorem seemed to hesitate at Rei’s question again before speaking firmly.

「Everyone affected was supposedly equipped with the leather armour made from the Wyverns you killed while guarding Princess Frizione.」

「Wyverns? No, but……how could that be?」

「It seems the Wyverns had been trapped beforehand. Tainted with something that would only trigger a reaction when used with a specific magic item.」

Rei frowned at those words.

He knew what Theorem was referring to when he spoke of specific magic items.

It would normally take a long time to turn Wyvern hide into leather, but there was a magic item that could shorted the time needed, Dream Drops.

「So they had that plan from the beginning.」

「It seems to be the case. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, but only the Wyvern hide appears to have been tainted. The claws and fangs were unaffected. Thanks to that, we were able to manage the chaos eventually.」

「He really is a troublesome opponent. ……No, he really was a troublesome opponent.」

Rei changed his words to past tense, revealing who he believed to be the culprit of the trap.

Someone who had caused him so much trouble, but was no longer with them.

(Kabajid. What a mysterious man.)

Perhaps he wasn’t the same as Rei……or maybe he was.

Rei already had the thought stuck in his mind because of Kabajid’s last words.

「……So, what happened with the guerrillas who were affected?」

「We managed to contain them, so they should be in the medical clinic by now. ……Didn’t you see them?」

Didn’t you see them when you went to check on Rhodes? Theorem asked implicitly, but Rei shook his head.

While he had gone to the medical clinic, Rhodes had still been unconscious and he had ended up talking with Digma until a soldier came to call him back.

「I see. Well, knowing those guys, it shouldn’t be too big of a deal for them. They’ll be back to normal soon enough.」

「That isn’t too good, is it? Pelnyx seemed quite shocked about the whole affair.」

The face of the typical military soldier flashed through Rei’s mind.

He was a man who cared deeply about his comrades.

「……I see.」

Rei repeated his previous words, but with a more serious emotion this time.

He stayed silent in deep thought for several seconds before spotting some vaguely familiar figures ahead of them.

The punitive force’s main camp.

It had taken them some time to arrive, having to keep an eye out on the battlefield, but they had reached their destination at last.

Soldiers from both armies could be seen waiting at the distance with Kabajid’s body between them, alongside Shurus and Vihera.

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