Taking Rei’s provocation, the thug thrust the knife in his hand. As he watched the movements of the thug, Rei gave a sigh in his mind.
(There’s no proper movements. He’s just trying to stab his knife into the enemy, his actual movements are dull.)
「Slow.」
Rei swung the Death Scythe when his pitiful prey came close enough.
However, because he had taken a request from Galahat not to kill them, he struck them with the other side of the blade.
If it was a sword, it would have been fine.
However, the Death Scythe was swung with Rei’s strength……no, it was because it was not a slas.h.i.+ng but a blunt weapon that he used all his strength. The attack casually struck against the thug’s left foot with a bang.
Crack-!
Like that, the man had his thigh bone broken with an unpleasant sound. It was fortunate that he had his thigh bone crushed and not the more fragile knee bone. With the complex bone structure at the knee, if it had been broken by the Death Scythe……even if it was treated, it would be questionable whether he would be able to walk like before.
「Gah-! Gaaaaah-! It hurts, it hurts-! d.a.m.n. d.a.m.n iiiiiiiiiit-!」
Dropping his knife, the thug fell to the ground and rolled in pain.
Rei looked away from the thug, which was like a rock on the roadside, as he turned to look at the people surrounding him.
「Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. I have a request for that. However, injuring you and killing you are two different things. Breaking an arm or a leg……no, only those that are prepared should step forward.」
Raising the Death Scythe again, he pointed it towards them with an eerie sound.
The thug rolled on the ground while holding his legs and shouting ‘It hurts, it hurts’ in pain. Everyone looked at the thug and then at Rei with his Death Scythe.
Regarding the number of people they had, they had overwhelmingly more people, so they thought they could finish this request without an issue. But, the result was the man crying in pain in front of them. They didn’t want to suffer the same way as well. The feelings of the men around Rei were the same, without doubt.
However, even so, they couldn’t run away from here. As a result, the people in the surroundings could only keep their current state. At least, until the higher ranking adventurers in the mansion came to help them.
Although Rei watched silently for a few seconds, he gave a sigh when one came forward and the man who just had his legs broken was still crying out in pain.
「Right now you’re too noisy. Shut up.」
Saying that, Rei jabbed the handle of the Death Scythe at the man who was rolling on the ground shouting, knocking him out.
「So, how long do you guys plan to watch from the surroundings? I can’t spend so much time here. If you don’t come to me then I’ll go to you.」
『……』
Even though Rei provoked them like that, none of them stepped forward. Did I overdo it on the first guy? Thinking to himself, Rei finished talking and took a step forward. At that moment, a shadow appeared from inside Bolton’s mansion……
「Eeeeh-, all you lot are in the way! Move!」
Because of the thugs and low ranking adventurers surrounding Rei, he couldn’t move forward and yelled at them to get out the way.
「……Mm?」
Rei tilted his head slightly at that voice.
(That voice, it sounds familiar……)
As Rei thought about that, he temporarily stopped moving forward as he guessed how the situation would progress and waited for the owner of the voice to step out from the crowd.
A man in his twenties with a rough looking appearance broke through the crowd. He advanced while despising all the people around him.
「……?」
Looking at the face of the man who stepped forward, Rei looked puzzled at the familiar looking face.
Rei didn’t know who the person was, but that man was different. Stepping out of the crowd and holding a battle axe in his hands, he spoke with a brutal smile on his lips.
「I’ve been looking forward to seeing you here, Rei. The humiliation from last time, I will clear it here!」
Voom~, the man swung his battle axe. You could see the power behind it just from that swing. It was to that extent. At the very least, it was not a sound that could be made by low rank adventurers.
(But……where have we met? If he knows me and hates me so much, was he involved with something I did?)
Thinking in his mind, Rei tried to recall the face of the man before him……any how, he only had his appearance to go by. The number of people that had tried to mess with him was quite a few and Rei wasn’t kind enough to remember all the faces of people he didn’t care about.
Because of that, these were the next words he spoke.
「……Sorry, but I can’t remember who you are. Could you tell me your name? Maybe I might remember if you tell me your name.」
Naturally, Rei’s remarks basically meant that man was not worth remembering, making his face go red in anger.
「Hey, could it be……」
「Ah. It’s Vargas who led Claws of the Hawk. They got crushed by Rei in front of everyone.」
(……Ah, that reminds me, that did happen.)
Hearing the mutters in the surroundings, Rei finally remembered who the person before him was.
「Sorry, I remember now. That’s right. You’re the one who leads Goblin Drool. The Power Axe which I got from out bet was a pretty high quality item.」
「Don’t joke around! That, that was a magic item I got after desperately diving into a dungeon! You took it away all of a sudden……」
Vargas shouted out in an angry voice, or rather a roar. But Rei just replied with a sigh.
「In the first place it was because you messed with me. Don’t you know the saying, getting what you deserve?」
「……All this talk is fine. But the Power Axe you took from me? I will take it back today.」
At those words, Rei averted his eyes slightly.
「Ah, sorry. About that axe, there was some circ.u.mstances and I gave it to party member in a temporary party I was in. ……No, rather, I sold it.」
「What-! You, do you know the value of the Power Axe when you said that?」
「Ahh. Don’t worry. Their talent with the axe was much greater than yours. Even as a magic item, it would be happier with someone who could master it.」
「D-D-D……Don’t joke around!」
Vargas raised his voice, swinging his axe as he closed in on Rei. As expected of a D rank adventurer. Compared to the thug who had attacked with a knife earlier, everything was different, both in speed and body movements.The disadvantage was that the aim of his self taught attack was easy to see, while its advantage was in its power.
The attack seemed to be impossible for an ordinary D rank adventurer to block. In strength alone, Vargas was said to be equal to that of C rank. However……Vargas’ misfortune was to make an enemy out of Rei.
「Not good enough.」
Blocking the axe that was swung down at his left shoulder with the handle of the Death Scythe.
Gakin~, a metallic sound echoed into the surroundings. The people around them saw Vargas swing the axe down with both hands while Rei blocked using the Death Scythe with one hand. The fact that Rei hadn’t moved a single step even after blocking Vargas’ strike gave the surrounding people a terrifying impression.
「Hey, that’s not a lie right? It’s an attack from Vargas-san you know? He stopped it with one hand.」
「……Isn’t Vargas just weak?」
「You idiot, don’t you know about Vargas!?」
「No, I’m not an adventurer.」
「Seriously, this is why……okay, listen carefully. Speaking of just skill, Vargas could be called C rank. However, because of various issues with his personality, he’s still rank D. ……Because of this, the rumors that Rei had overwhelmed the Claws of the Hawk by himself might be true.」
Hearing the voices of the adventurer and thug talking near him, Rei turned towards Vargas, who was desperately pus.h.i.+ng the axe down with both hands.
Pressing down with the axe with all the strength he had, even though he was using both arms, Rei blocked it with just one and with no change in expression. Although it was an bad situation, there was still no sense of dismay in Vargas’ expression. Rather, he was aware of the difference in their abilities, had settled his anger and calmed down.
(It’s strange. The last time I saw him, he was a person who easily let his blood rush to his head.)
While thinking to himself, Rei slowly pushed forward with the Death Scythe against the axe.
「D-D-d.a.m.n it! But you know-!」
Vargas must have known that lose in pure strength if he didn’t do something. Pus.h.i.+ng away the handle of the Death Scythe away with his axe, he leapt back. And……
「Now-!」
As soon as he moved away from Rei, he gave a shout. At the same time, the sound of something cutting through the air at night could be heard.
「Tch, petty tricks.」
Hearing the sound in the air, Rei poured magic power into the Death Scythe as he swung it.
Kin~!
The sound of metal sc.r.a.ping against each other was heard and the next moment, an arrow near Rei was split in two right down the shaft.
「……That was extremely underhanded. Was that the reason for your calmness?」
At Rei’s scornful eyes, Vargas smiled, as if convinced of his advantage even though his trump card had been dealt with easily.
「Heh, you’re really a monster. But you can’t cut every arrow that flies towards you. In addition……」
Vargas glanced towards Galahat.
「I heard. You, I heard your injury hasn’t healed yet. Can you dodge arrows like that?」
「……Hostages, is it.」
Rei gently rubbed his eyebrows. However, in the present situation, taking Galahat hostage with his dulled movements was a valid tactic. Rei didn’t know how many archers there were. If it was just a single person, Rei could deal with it, but it was hard to say if there were multiple archers and he had to defend a person.
「I won’t make it so easy to get to Galahat-san!」
Murt shouted, but actually, he was the weakest in the group. As long as Murt was dealt with, the probability that Galahat would have to move to protect himself would be high. In fact, there was no doubt that his injuries would suffer from adverse effects if he did that.
Knowing that, Vargas spoke lightly of Murt.
「Heh, whatever small fry like you does, the result won’t change. ……Rei, don’t you understand the situation? Let me chop you up quietly.」
Although Vargas had convinced himself that victory was just a step away……
「Your execution is poor, idiot.」
Saying that, Rei swung the Death Scythe in the direction the arrow had come from.
「Flying Slas.h.!.+」
The swing of the Death Scythe produced a slash that flew through the air……hitting the branches of a tree growing in the garden of the mansion. The next moment, the branch was cut and a man fell towards the ground while holding on to the branch and screaming.
「There, Flying Slas.h.!.+」
A Flying Slash was released again. This one went towards a window on the second floor of Bolton’s mansion. It cut a slit in the window and the walls, literally slas.h.i.+ng through it rather than breaking it, blasting away the archer at the window.
「What!?」
Vargas raised a voice of astonishment at Rei’s consecutive Flying Slashes. He must have though Rei had any long range attacks. However, he immediately turned his eyes towards the mansion with a smile as he gave a short shout.
「Shoot!」
An arrow left the mansion at Vargas’ signal. That’s right, there weren’t just the two hidden archers dealt with by Rei. There was still one more. One of the few remaining C rank adventurers in the mansion. Vargas didn’t know, but it was the adventurer who had shot arrows at Murt as he was running away through the back streets.
(It’s your mistake that you couldn’t see it!)
As he gave a cheer in his mind, Vargas gave a smile in victory……when he saw the figure of a Griffon intercepting the arrow with his claws. And……without noticing, Rei had moved up to him with the Death Scythe raised.
The next moment, a thud was heard and Vargas consciousness faded away from the impact of the attack.