CH 550

「……Is this really enough?」

The knight asked Rei.

At Rei’s feet were about 50 spears.

Some of them had missing tips or cracks in the shaft, but most were ordinary spears, the type Rei liked to buy from blacksmiths and weapons shops.

Those were the spears that the Bloody Blades stored in their hideout.

Although they were a mercenary group centered around a cavalry force, they also had fighters on foot. Spears were available for use by those on foot.

In addition to the pocket watch, which was a magic item, Rei requested the spears used by the bandits……no, the Bloody Blades, as part of the request reward.

「Yeah, there aren’t any other magic items I can use and I already have enough money. As for weapons, the Death Scythe is normally enough and I have several knives for stripping materials, including spares. I have a number of spears stored up, but since I use them as throwing weapons, it’s always nice to have more.」

Rei glanced at the spears at his feet with a small smile.

「Most of these spears aren’t the broken ones I usually collect, but ordinary, usable spears. Besides throwing, I can also pass them to my allies in cases of emergency.」

「If you’re okay with it, then that’s fine with me……you really aren’t greedy.」

The knight muttered in amazement as Ranga gave a wry smile. Shrugging his shoulders at the two of them, Rei stored all the spears into the Misty Ring before looking back inside the tent.

The soldiers had managed to gather as much of the goods stolen by the Goblins as they could and brought them back.

However, according to Everogi, it still seemed like have of all the goods had been stolen away.

As Rei thought about that, his eyes stopped on a gem in the tent.

It was a large green gem, illuminated by the sunlight that passed through the trees as the sun set.

It was a large emerald, about 5cm in size.

Picking up the emerald that caught his eye for some reason, Rei suddenly thought of Tradia.

Although he hand’t asked why, Tradia had seemed quite desperate for money.

That was the reason they hadn’t hired adventurers as an escort.

(……That’s right. I guess I do owe those guys a favour.)

Thinking to himself, Rei spoke to Ranga and the knight.

「I think I’ll take this emerald as well. So, just out of curiosity, how’s the merchant caravan that I used as bait doing?」

「Hm? I have some men standing guard for them outside the forest. We might have caught the bandits causing trouble lately, but there are still monsters around.」

「Understood. I would like to check in on them, if you don’t mind.」

At Rei’s question, Ranga and the knight looked up into the sky.

The summer sun was already setting as the sunlight shone through the trees into the Bloody Blades’ hideout.

Looking at the two of them, Rei quickly took out pocket watch and flipped open the cover.

It was past 6pm. The time people would normally have dinner.

「Well, what should we do? Even if we start heading back to Gilm now, it will be difficult, considering the current time. In that case, I would rather spend the night here without moving about carelessly and leave early tomorrow morning.」

Ranga nodded in agreement to the knight’s words as he replied.

「In that case, I would really like Rei-kun and Set to help us out……is that okay?」

「That’s fine. How about I come back here after meeting back with Tradia?」

Hearing Rei’s words, Ranga and the knight looked at each other and conversed with their eyes before eventually nodding.

「Yes, that’s fine. Sorry for putting so much pressure on you, but we’ll be relying on you.」

「Don’t worry about it. I’ve received enough rewards, so this isn’t a problem.」

Playing around with the mithril pocket watch in his hand, he stored it back into the Misty Ring before leaving.

After seeing Rei off, Ranga and the knight began to give instructions to their subordinates to set up camp for the night.

「Set, can you fly us back out of the forest for a moment?」

「Gururu~」

Hearing Rei’s words, Set turned to look at the Bloody Blades, who had been tied up with rope, as he gave a cry.

Rei understood what he meant and spoke while patting Set’s neck to tell him it wasn’t a problem.

「We’ve cleaned up a lot of mess here, the soldier have a lot more breathing space now. We won’t have to worry about them trying to escape since they’ll probably just be killed.」

Rei’s gaze towards the Bloody Blades was surprisingly cold.

One of the reason was because of how the women who survived the caravan attacks were treated. Furthermore, he had heard from the soldiers, Ranga, and the knight about what had happened to woman after the Goblin attack and how she finally died because of it.

「Also, even if they run away……you and I can always find them, right? If that happens, I’ll given them an experience that will make them regret being born.」

Sensing the anger and murderous intent contained in Rei’s words, the tied up members of the Bloody Blades almost all froze up.

No, it wasn’t just them, even the soldiers who had been watching them had froze for a moment.

「……Ahh.」

A voice leaked out from one of the soldiers and the suppressive aura emanating from Rei disappeared.

「Sorry, I got a little too emotional.」

「N-No. It’s fine. Considering what these guys have done, it can’t be helped.」

The soldier who’s voice had leaked out shook his head and told Rei not to worry about it before tapping the shoulder of a fellow soldier, who was still frozen.

That seemed like a signal of sorts. The soldiers who had frozen up came back to their senses as they showed some embarrassment due to their reaction.

「I guess I’ll leave it to you guys for now.」

After briefly saying those words, Rei got onto Set’s back before flying up into the sky.

Looking up at them from the ground, a soldier spoke in a somber tone.

「……To be honest, I thought I was going to die.」

「Yeah, me too.」

「Seriously, he looked horribly angry.」

「……Well, considering what they’ve done, it’s not surprising.」

Such voices could be heard, but none of the Bloody Blades showed any reaction.

Not even Everogi, their leader.

Just earlier, when he felt the blood lust and anger unleashed by Rei, all he felt in his heart was absolute death.

It was an overwhelming fear that made him realise that if he so much as moved his fingertips……no, even if he didn’t do anything, he would still die.

(……I can’t believe I tried going against such a guy.)

Even though Everogi was still frozen in fear, he still managed to have those thoughts in his mind as he contemplated his own misfortune.

He had already lost all desire to escape.

Because he knew that even if he did escape, Rei would definitely come for him.

A few minutes of flying on Set later, Rei saw three carriages parked next to the road.

Soldiers were stationed around it, keeping a look out for monsters and bandits.

As Rei came down, the soldiers naturally pointed their weapons at him, but after seeing who it was……or rather, seeing it was Set, they lowered their weapons.

「Rei, don’t scare us like that. We thought you were a monster or something.」

One of the soldiers, who knew Rei, gave a grin and sheathed his sword as he pretend to complain.

Seeing the rest of the soldiers put away their weapons as well, Rei headed over to Tradia, who seemed somewhat absent minded as he stood at the front of the carriages.

「Rei-san, since you’re here, is everything done?」

「Yeah. Everything’s been cleaned up.」

Hearing Rei’s words, it wasn’t just Tradia and the other merchants, but the soldiers as well, who let out a sigh of relief.

No matter how much they trusted their superiors and fellow soldiers, along with someone as strong as Rei, they still weren’t sure how things would turn out in an actual fight. For that reason alone, the soldiers standing guard here were grateful to be informed of how things had gone.

「I see, congratulations. Did you come out this way to let us know?」

「No, there’s one more thing I came back for. ……Here, this is your share.」

Saying that, Rei handed over the large……no, giant emerald.

The gem was clearly a very expensive item as it reflected the light of the setting sun.

Yes, it was something of enough value that it couldn’t have been bought easily by the merchant caravan led by Rei.

It wasn’t something people would normally give away easily either, like what Rei had done.

Realising the value of the emerald, Tradia and his fellow merchants eyes’ went wide.

「Eh? This, Rei-san. This is……」

In response to Tradia’s question, as he looked at the emerald, Rei took a sandwich out of the Misty Ring to give to Set as he replied.

「I told you didn’t I? It’s yours……your share, to be precise.」

「No, I mean. Were we supposed to have a share?」

「You acted as a decoy to find the hideout of the Bloody Blades, didn’t you? Thanks to that, we were able to finish them off in one go, so you’re fully qualified to receive a share.」

At Rei’s words, Tradia’s face shifted in a complicated manner.

If asked whether he was happy, he was definitely happy, but he was also suspicious that they would be asked to do something for it later.

Tradia’s complex expression continued for another 30 seconds before he firmly gripped the emerald and bowed his head towards Rei.

「Thank you very much. With the horses you gave us and this……my family……」

「Well, no need to think too hard about it. If it weren’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have been able to lure out the Bloody Blades. If that happened, it would have taken even more time to resolve this issue. Just think of it as your reward and take it.」

Rei didn’t know why Tradia’s caravan had been so desperate for money.

There might have been a long story tied to it, but he had no intention of getting involved.

However, since they were in need of money and had just solved a major problem, he thought that they should be given a suitable reward.

「……Thank you very much. We will pay this favour back one day.」

Tradia bowed his head again as tears fell from his eyes.

Rei looked at Tradia for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and turned to the soldiers standing guard.

「So what’s your plan now?」

「Oh……that’s right.」

The soldier had been surprised by the series of events but looked up into the sky as if remembering something.

But, before he could say anything, another soldier spoke up.

「Anyhow, the matter has been settled, right? In that case, we’ll send these guys to Abuelo. That was what Captain Ranga ordered us to to do at the beginning.」

「Is that so? Then, I’ll leave it to you.」

「Yeah, leave it to us. Even though we’re part of the subjugation force, we basically didn’t do anything. If we don’t at least do this, we won’t be able to face Daska-sama.」

Hearing the soldier’s words, who let out a sigh due to their minimal contribution, Rei spoke with a smile of his own.

「I see, then here. ……If you’re hungry, please eat these.」

Rei gave them a basket full of sandwiches, enough for about 10 people, from the Misty Ring.

「Oh, thank you very much. But, is this okay? How about for yourself……no, I don’t really need to ask.」

「That’s right, mine is in here.」

Rei showed the Misty Ring on his right wrist.

As a soldier from Gilm, he knew that Rei had an item box, so he understood what Rei meant from his gesture. The soldiers smiled happily as they accepted the basket.

「So, I’ll be heading back, be careful on your way to Abuelo.」

「Yes, and, uh……thank you very much!」

「I had many doubts, but I’m glad I trusted you.」

「I’ll just say thanks for now. ……You were a great help.」

「Please tell Ranga-san to leave this to us.」

As he received thanks and well wishes from the merchants and soldiers, Rei got back onto Set’s back as he returned to where Ranga and the others were waiting.