That day, Rest had taken a break from his academy classes and traveled to the County of Valery in the northern part of the kingdom.
The purpose was to help out his prospective father-in-law, Albert Rosemary, with his work.
Specifically, it was to subjugate a type of monster called "Locust Imps" that appeared year after year in and around the County of Valery.
Locust Imps were the bane of farming communities. They would appear before the harvest and ravage the crops, causing devastating damage.
The County of Valery, which boasted vast granary lands, suffered massive outbreaks of these monsters every year.
For that reason, they had been requesting aid from House Rosemary, whose domain was close by and which fielded a large number of magicians.
"In exchange for subjugating the Locust Imps, we get to purchase grain at below-market prices. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement, you could say."
...That was the explanation Albert had given him on the way here.
So Rest had filed a request with the academy for a leave of absence, and come to the County of Valery together with Albert, Diebl, and the others.
As it happened... at an academy attended by many noble children, taking a leave of absence due to domain or family affairs was nothing unusual.
The faculty were well aware of such things, so as long as you filed in advance, you'd be marked as present — and a kind instructor would even hand you a handout summarizing the lesson material.
"Fire!"
At Albert's command, the magicians hidden in the bushes unleashed their magic in unison.
There were just under twenty of them — private soldiers belonging to House Rosemary, a prestigious family of mages.
They were normally stationed back in the domain, but in times of emergency, they were mobilized under Albert's command.
"GYAAAGH!"
"That's it! Keep it up — we'll annihilate them all!"
"HA!"
At Albert's command, the magicians who had been hiding in the bushes charged out.
The magicians launched spell after spell, taking down the locust imps that had been ravaging the fields.
The locust imps had been swarming and devouring the crops, but… struck by the magical assault, they scattered and tried to flee.
"Rest! Go on ahead!"
"Understood… [Body Reinforcement]! [Acceleration]!"
Rest reinforced his body with magic and lunged forward.
By stacking two enhancement spells, his leg power soared dramatically. He kicked off the ground and closed the distance to the locust imps in a single burst.
"GYAA…"
"[Wind Cloak]!"
Before one of the locust imps could even let out a death scream, Rest's hand blade severed its head.
Wrapped in wind and granted cutting power, his hand blade had the striking force of an impeccably sharp knife. It killed the locust imp in an instant.
"Hah! Yah!"
Two, three, four — he felled locust imps one after another.
By then, the allies who had arrived late were catching up, turning the battle into a chaotic melee of friend and foe.
"[Wind Blade]!"
"[Earth Spear]!"
Across the vast fields, fights broke out everywhere between the fleeing locust imps and the magicians of House Rosemary.
Locust imps had low combat ability, so there was little worry of being overwhelmed — but they made up for it with their prolific breeding.
If any escaped here, they could very well trigger another massive outbreak.
"[Presence Detection], [Amplification]"
Rest enhanced his detection magic, expanding his sensing range to nearly three hundred meters.
From the expanded area—pushed to the very limit of what his brain could process—he pinpointed a locust imp trying to slip past the magicians' eyes and escape.
"There you are...!"
"Gyagya!?"
He located a locust imp crouching low to hide, then severed its head.
He picked off the enemy one by one as they lurked and fled the same way, cutting them down in rapid succession.
Within not even an hour, the battle was over. The vast majority of the locust imps had been exterminated, and silence returned to the sprawling fields.
"Good... battle's over. Everyone, great work!"
Albert clapped his hands together and commended the allied magicians.
Voices of relief rose from all around, and magicians began gathering around Albert.
"Hoo... that's done, then."
"This year the numbers were so large, I wasn't sure what would happen... but it turned out surprisingly manageable."
"We managed to hunt them all down without letting any escape, and that's thanks to the son-in-law, isn't it? As expected of Master Diebl's apprentice."
Several of the magicians approached Rest and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Once those young ladies took a sudden liking to you as their partner, I wondered what sort of fellow you'd be—but you've got real skill. Impressive work."
"Thank you."
Rest bowed politely to the elderly magician who praised him.
One of the reasons Rest had been brought out here was to meet these people face to face.
House Rosemary maintained residences in both the royal capital and their domain. The one in the royal capital—where Viola and Primula lived and where Rest had been employed as a butler's apprentice—was their capital estate.
The domain was basically left in the care of stewards, with Albert and his wife Irish occasionally returning to oversee things.
The magicians gathered here were all private soldiers stationed in the domain, and they had rarely had the chance to meet Rest until now.
"Hmph... for a commoner."
While many of the magicians were praising Rest's magic, there were a few who wore displeased expressions.
Most of them were male magicians around his age.
They didn't seem to appreciate Rest's accomplishments, clicking their tongues in discontent.
"Well then... everyone, good work. This year's locust imp subjugation is now complete. Thanks to you, we've fulfilled our obligation to the allied House Valery. My thanks."
Albert clapped his hands once more and addressed the assembled magicians.
Standing beside him, having appeared at some point, was a middle-aged man in butler's attire—Diebl.
"I'll greet Count Valery here alongside Diebl, then return to the Marquisate of Rosemary. You all can head back first. Don't worry—I'll distribute your rewards later. Of course, I'll cover the carriage fare home as well... but if you're tight on coin, you're welcome to run back using body reinforcement?"
Laughter rippled through the magicians.
Though Albert was a son-in-law who had married into the family, he was clearly well-regarded by his subordinates.
"Alright then, see you later... dismissed."
It seemed the job was done.
Rest had made another contribution to House Rosemary.
Letting out a breath of relief, Rest decided to return to the Marquisate of Rosemary's domain as Albert had instructed.