Brissa Plains, where the punitive force and Mercurio’s army clashed head on.

With four times the number of soldiers, the punitive force should have almost certainly won.

However, that outcome had been overturned by the exceptional strength of individuals like Rei, Vihera, Gurgast, and Widele.

In particular, Rei had sought even greater strength in his fight against the S rank adventurer Noiz, the Immovable, ultimately succeeding in forcing him back.

Thanks to them, this final battle of the civil war had ultimately ended in Mercurio’s victory.

Under Mercurio’s orders, he and Shurus, the loser of the war, were preparing to head back to the Imperial Capital after a few days, giving enough time for rest and for the injured on both sides to be treated.

Of course, the soldiers had been fighting each other not long ago.

As a result, there was naturally a lot of anger from the death of friends and comrades in the war. The only reason that there hadn’t been any major disturbances as a result was mostly due to the strict patrols enforced by nobles from both Mercurio’s side and the punitive forces’ side.

Gurgast, a particularly famous example among Mercurio’s army, patrolling around with his subordinates. As a result, most of the soldiers knew they would be dead if they tried to start any trouble.

(Better to patrol what’s left after the battle than to go to the Imperial Capital and be buried in petty politics.)

He thought to himself as he spun the battleaxes in his hands.

The sound they made as they swung through the air was enough to make the injured soldiers, who had been glaring at each other over who would received treatment first, straighten their backs and wait obediently.

Gurgast snorted in annoyance when he saw that as he continued his patrol.

「Boss, boss. We’ve taken care of the guys making trouble over there.」

「……I’ve told you this already, don’t call me boss! How many times do you need me to tell you that, damn it!」

A fist slammed into the man’s head as the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed out into the surroundings.

A punitive force soldier, quietly waiting for their treatment a short distance away, flinched at the sound……a sound that could almost be described as a crunch.

Such a blow would undoubtedly have resulted in serious injuries to any ordinary soldier.

But……as the soldier focused their gaze on the man who had just been punched by Gurgast and was now clutching their head while shouting in agony.

「Ouch-! Boss, that’s horrible! It’s my brain, boss, not yours!」

「Don’t try to screw around! You think you have such a sensitive brain! You think you can just get away with saying ‘it hurts!’ when I hit you!? Seriously, how many times have I told you not to call me boss?」

「But……I’ve called you boss all this time. Why stop now?」

「Why stop now! How many times have I told you not to call me boss!? I’ve had enough!」

Gurgast’s already intimidating face was now glowing with rage.

This only served to make him even more intimidating as the soldiers around him awaiting treatment, both from Mercurio’s army and the punitive force, quietly stayed where they were.

It wasn’t that they no longer held any grudges against each other.

But, it was clear that if they did anything now, they would end up like the man who had had just been smacked by Gurgast.

Everyone wanted to avoid that. If they were to take a hit like that, it would probably fatally injure them, let alone their current injuries for which they were awaiting treatment.

Neither Gurgast nor the man he hit on the head had the intention for their exchange to have this effect.

Still, it was fortunate that it had a positive effect on the surroundings as they continued on their patrol to the next area.

Seeing him leave, everyone present seemed to understand that making any sort of fuss would just bring Gurgast back and there were no further disturbances, even when no patrols were around.

 

 

Near the headquarters of Mercurio’s camp. In a location where people were celebrating as they started to clean up the camp, Rei and another person could be seen.

「……I see. So their lives aren’t in danger then.」

Rei gave a sigh of relief after hearing from the man before him.

Pelnyx, the vice captain of the guerrilla unit, gave a slight smile when he heard Rei’s words before replying.

「Yes. They were injured as during their rampage, but we used magic and potions to heal them after subduing them.」

「I’m glad no one died. ……Sorry, I never thought that the Wyvern hides would be tainted. I thought it was strange for them to attack me for no reason, as if just giving me materials.」

Rei had a frustrated look on his face as Pelnyx shook his head.

「No one would have thought of Dragon Knights as disposable. And, considering it would have only taken effect if a specific magic item was use……normal tanning methods wouldn’t have caused anything to happen at all. So, it really was just a matter of luck.」

「Throwing away Dragon Knights for a plan that relies on luck?」

The Wyverns that Dragon Knights rode on where typically hatched and raised by the Dragon Knight themselves.

Considering that, the person who came up with the plan would have been making a practically inhumane decision.

(No, if it were Kabajid, maybe it would be a decision he’d be comfortable making.)

Recalling the face of the man who had outwitted them so many times, Rei sighed.

Still, since Kabajid was dead, there was no point in thinking about that any further and he shook his head before speaking again.

「All the guerrilla soldiers who wore the Wyvern leather armour are in the medical clinic, right?」

Rei asked, remembering what Theorem had told him previously. Pelnyx nodded in response.

「Fortunately, Digma-dono is on our side now.」

「……Well, to be exact, he’s only helping out with treatment in order to receive better treatment as a prisoner.」

「Still, it’s true that thanks to Digma-dono and his water spirit magic, our casualties have been surprisingly low.」

「I guess that’s true. I’m honestly envious of that.」

Rei thought back to the water spirit magic that Digma could use.

It was very versatile, able to provide healing and support in addition to attacking.

In comparison, Rei’s magic was mostly offensive.

There were some special use cases, such as using the purifying properties of fire to purify undead, or spreading it thinly to detect traps, but while the latter didn’t use much of his magic power, the former used quite a bit.

This seemed to be because Rei was what one could call a fire attuned person.

(Fire is known for its destruction, but it’s also known for regeneration. Considering that, I should be able to use fire based healing magics.)

However, even if that was true, Rei intuitively felt that he couldn’t use any form of healing magic at all.

He wondered if it was his personality or nature that pushed him towards being an attack specialist or if it was because of the body that Zepairu’s group had created for him.

Putting those thoughts and questions aside for the moment though, he asked Pelnyx another question.

「Would it be okay for me to go and meet them?」

「Yes, that would be good. Some of them said they felt they couldn’t face you any more, but it would be a great help if you could see them. We were expected to be one of the strongest forces in this battle, but in the end we ended up basically doing nothing.」

「……That doesn’t mean you were completely useless though, right? From what Theorem told me, you still took out a number of enemies. Not just soldiers, but commanders, knights, and nobles as well.」

Rei asked again, more for confirmation of his guesses than to encourage him, but Pelnyx shook his head helplessly.

「As elite soldiers, we’re not satisfied with such small victories. ……Not just because of the expectations of others, but our own expectations. That’s why the guerrilla unit feels ashamed that we didn’t manage to do what we were supposed to do. ……I would like to hear Captain Rei speak to them about that.」

Nodding back at Pelnyx, Rei continued towards the area the guerrilla unit was within the medical clinic.

They hadn’t received typical injuries, it had been something more akin to a curse.

That was why, just to be safe, they were grouped into a separate area away from the other injured.

While they were likely fine at this point, there was always the possibility that something like that could recur again.

The Wyvern leather armour they had been wearing had been removed, but they still wanted to be sure.

Rei went over to them, seemingly without any concern, as he called out.

「You guys okay? I heard you went through a lot of trouble.」

At first, the injured didn’t seem to realise who was calling out to them.

They looked stunned, then panicked, as they looked around.

「Captain Rei! If you come over now……」

「That’s right! What if there’s a chance some bad effect might still be lingering!?」

Hearing those words, which carried more concern for Rei than themselves, Rei smiled as he spoke again.

「Don’t worry about it. You know how strong I am, right? Even if you guys are still suffering from some aftereffect, it’s highly unlikely that it will have any effect on me.」

「Yes, but we might go out of control again……」

As one of them started to speak, he noticed Rei looking at him with a smile and stopped himself.

However……it was already too late and Rei grinned as he responded.

「Hm? You think your rampage is enough to put me in danger? I didn’t think you were that good. Okay, now that the civil war is over and things have settled down, let’s test our skills tomorrow. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?」

「There definitely is!」

The man who had just spoken immediately replied without any hesitation.

Rei shook his head with a different smile from the one he had just before.

「Nope. I’ve already decided.」

「Uwah, why does Captain Rei have the brightest smile on his face!?」

「You idiot, you idiot! You idiot! You idiot!」

The others all yelled at the one who had put them in this situation.

Meanwhile, Rei took out his prized Gamelion meat skewers from the Misty Ring.

The Gamelions which the meat came from had been killed and cooked last year, but as time didn’t pass inside the Misty Ring, the Skewers were still freshly grilled.

「Here, have this for now and cheer up. I need you all to get back to being the usual guerrilla unit.」

「Captain……I’m glad to hear you say that, but now that the civil war is over, our unit will be disbanded.」

That was right, the guerrilla unit had been formed by gathering the best soldiers, adventurers, and mercenaries in Mercurio’s army into a single unit, they were a mixed bunch to put it bluntly.

Naturally, they had only been grouped together because of the civil war, so now that it was over, their unit would naturally be disbanded.

「That’s true. The guerrilla unit will definitely be disbanded. However……only after the victory parade.」

「……Victory parade?」

「Yes. Apparently it’s necessary to tell the entire Bestir Empire that the civil war is over. ……Well, not just the Bestir Empire. I heard that the neighbouring countries are also very interested in the result of this civil war. I think it’s mostly to show off to them.」

「But this parade, can we join it?」

As one of them asked Rei nervously, Rei nodded back.

「Our guerrilla unit is one of the most elite units in Mercurio’s army. With that said, you absolutely need to be in the parade. Besides……in this battle, as your commanding officer, I was doing completely different things from you. So it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to celebrate together at the very end at least.」

「Captain Rei……you’re not going to ask Prince Mercurio for this, are you?」

「Well, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, you understand right? Intend for all of you to be present in the victory parade. Prepare yourselves accordingly.」

The fact that Rei averted his gaze seemed to show them that they had hit the nail on the head.

Realising that, the guerrilla unit all looked at Rei with gratitude.

「Captain, if you don’t mind, can I come with you when you return to the Mireana Kingdom?」

「Ah, you’re getting ahead of me. Captain Rei, let me come with you as well.」

「You guys……please consider Captain Rei’s position at least. Oh, and I’ll come too, so please take care of me.」

「That’s great……I was thinking of quitting being a soldier and becoming an adventurer instead.」

Rei was stunned by their sudden words.

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