At the Adventurer's Guild in the City of Gilm, Marina sat in her office, pouring magic power into a crystal ball roughly the size of a person's embrace.
She continued for about a minute until a familiar face finally flickered into view on the crystal's surface.
It was an elderly man in his fifties. He wore heavy robes and a long beard, and a deep intelligence radiated from his eyes. This was Seis, a mage who had been in a party with Marina several decades ago.
Currently, he served as the Guild Master in the City of Baar, where their former party leader, Dialogo, was the Acting Lord.
"Marina? Contacting me at this hour... is it about the Aurani Grass powder?"
The former comrade, who usually maintained a perfectly stoic mask, wore a pained expression. That alone told Marina exactly how dire the crisis in Baar had become. However, knowing that a grim face wouldn't change their circumstances, she gave a small nod and a faint smile.
"Yes. My kid just left the city a few moments ago, carrying plenty of Aurani Grass powder."
"...I see. Even so, it will take ten days at the earliest to arrive. I only hope the Magic Fever patients can hold out until then."
"Oh, you've got it all wrong."
"What?"
A seasoned adventurer, prepared to ride their horse to death, would still need ten days. Knowing that shortening such a journey was practically impossible, Seis's eyes widened in surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"I know it takes ten days to travel from the City of Gilm to the City of Baar by land, no matter how much you hurry. But... what if he didn't run across the earth, but flew through the sky instead?"
"...Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Marina, you were always prone to reckless stunts, but what have you done this time? As far as I know, there isn't a single Dragon Knight in the City of Gilm. Did Margrave Larkus hire one recently?"
Seis leaned closer to the crystal in a panic, a flicker of hope in his eyes. If they truly had a Dragon Knight, even if they couldn't transport enough Aurani Grass powder for the entire city, they might at least save those in critical condition.
However, Marina’s next words were nearly unbelievable, even to a veteran mage like Seis.
"No. We have a kid who registered at my guild a few months ago, and he has a flying monster as a tamed monster."
"You don't say..."
Seis looked stunned for a second before shaking his head. "No, even if an adventurer has a flying tamed monster, they wouldn't be able to carry much of the powder, would they? It would help, certainly—even a small amount could save those in the terminal stage—but..."
"Fufu, you're still being naive. I gave that boy almost every bit of Aurani Grass powder we had in Gilm. I also threw in whatever other supplies looked necessary."
"...What?"
"Don't be so shocked. After all, the boy is an Item Box User."
"What did you say!?"
Seis reflexively shouted, his shock reaching its peak. But Marina wasn't finished.
"By the way, what do you think his tamed monster is?"
"...If he's an Item Box User, he must be a high-rank veteran. So, perhaps a Harpy or a Wyvern?"
"Wrong. The answer is a Gryphon."
"What!?"
Seis took a sharp, reflexive breath at the sheer absurdity of it. He took several deep breaths to settle his racing mind before speaking again.
"Impossible. I've never heard of an adventurer taming a Gryphon. If such a person existed, the rumors would have reached even here."
"Fufu, it's a special case. Apparently, he was raised in total isolation by a mage mentor... who was supposedly a self-proclaimed mage. In truth, he only arrived in Gilm a few months ago. He's been skyrocketing through the ranks ever since—he's actually the shortest time record holder for reaching D-Rank after registration."
"...Good heavens. Well, having an Item Box User is a godsend. I have a thousand questions, but for now, stopping this Magic Fever is the priority. I'll pray for his early arrival."
"Yes. And... tell Dialogo to stay healthy."
"I will."
"Also, remind him that I expect to be repaid for this favor."
"...Understood."
"Well then, my magic power is running low, so I'll leave it at that. Don't go dying on me. If you two die, I'll have even fewer old friends left."
As she spoke, Seis's face vanished from the crystal.
"..."
Marina silently stroked the now-blank crystal. While this magic item was a precious relic of the guild that allowed free conversation across vast distances, it consumed a staggering amount of magic power. Even for a dark elf like Marina, who possessed far more magic power than a human, a ten-minute conversation drained her almost completely.
"Magic Fever depends on the individual's magic power. If that's the case, Dialogo and Seis should be safe. ...Assuming it really is ordinary Magic Fever, that is."
She whispered to herself, her expression shifting from the one she showed Seis to one of deep melancholy, before lightly flicking the crystal with her finger.
"Tch! Monsters had to attack now, of all times, when I'm in such a hurry!"
Aboard Seto, Rei spat out the words as he swung his Death Scythe.
The blade, thrumming with magic power, sliced a giant bee nearly thirty centimeters long clean in half. The monster, its magic stone, and its materials fell toward the ground, but Rei couldn't afford to stop and collect them. Grinding his teeth in frustration, he swung his weapon again at the swarm.
These were Sword Bees. As the name implied, they were insect monsters with longsword-like stingers. They were E-Rank monsters and weren't particularly strong individually, but adventurers detested them for their tenacity once they targeted prey.
Currently, nearly twenty Sword Bees were buzzing around Rei and Seto as they flew, darting in to strike whenever they saw an opening.
"Seto!"
"Guruuuuu!"
Seto instinctively understood the command. The Gryphon took a deep breath and unleashed a Fire Breath from its beak.
A roar of flames filled the air. Several Sword Bees were engulfed instantly, their wings incinerating as they plummeted to the earth in balls of fire. Seto swept its head to the side, and the gout of flame followed, charring several more bees just like the first.
"Wind Hand!"
As one bee tried to close in on Seto's blind spot, Rei activated his skill. A transparent tentacle extended from the Death Scythe's shaft, lashing out and grabbing the Sword Bee by its signature blade-tail.
"Hah!"
Despite being "giant" for a bee, it was only thirty centimeters long. It stood no chance against Rei's superhuman strength as he swung it around like a flail.
"Shaaaaa!"
Ignoring the high-pitched vibration of its mandibles, Rei whipped the tentacle around. The Sword Bee he was holding accidentally sliced through a comrade's wings with its own tail-blade, then buried that same blade into another bee's torso.
"Shatter!"
With a final swing, the Sword Bee in the tentacle's grip collided head-on with another. Both their carapaces buckled and cracked, and their corpses were cast down to the ground.
"Flame, burn my enemies according to my will."
Rei quickly chanted, and a fireball roughly thirty centimeters wide materialized at the tip of his scythe. With its short chant and respectable power, this was one of Rei’s favorite spells for quick combat.
"Fireball!"
The sphere of fire streaked downward, engulfing the bees that had been trying to ambush them from below. They were turned to ash before they could even let out a death cry.
Ten remained. Though their numbers had been cut in half, the Sword Bees showed no sign of retreating. However, they did stop their direct assault, choosing to circle at a distance and watch for a better opening.
"...Tch, I don't have time to play games."
Rei glanced down at the ground. Fortunately, the highway below was empty of people, horses, or carriages.
"Now's the time. They won't make a move yet. Seto, King's Intimidation!"
"Guru!"
Seto gave a small chirp of understanding and took a massive breath.
"Guruuuuuuuuuu!"
The roar thundered across the landscape, radiating an overwhelming, regal pressure. Usually, this would have been the first move, but the skill required a few seconds to charge. The bees had attacked so suddenly that Rei and Seto had been forced into a running battle until this moment of stillness.
Against an E-Rank monster, the skill was absolute.
"Flying Slash! Flying Slash! Flying Slash!"
Rei hammered the stationary targets with consecutive flying slashes. The remaining Sword Bees, frozen in mid-air by the intimidation, were torn apart and pulverized by the blades of compressed air, their remains raining down onto the road.
"...Phew. Hm?"
As the dust settled, Rei spotted several figures on the ground, and beyond them, a fairly large town. Acting on a hunch, he pulled the map Marina had given him from the Misty Ring.
According to the map, the first town from Gilm was called Abuelo.
"Is that Abuelo? Well, I might as well ask. Seto, land a little ways away from those people."
"Guru."
Seto flapped its wings and began its descent.
The figures on the ground looked up, realizing a Gryphon was coming their way. They started to flee for a moment but stopped once they saw Rei on its back.
(Adventurers, huh?)
Rei noted their armor, thick clothes, swords, and bows. He jumped from Seto's back while they were still several meters up and landed gracefully on the highway.
As he approached the group, he realized they were quite young—likely in their late teens, around the same age as Hasta.
"Stop right there!"
The man at the front, a warrior in deep blue scale mail, shouted while reaching for his sword. The armor, made from snake monster scales, was quite distinctive. Rei stopped in his tracks to avoid a pointless fight.
"Relax. I'm an adventurer from the City of Gilm."
"...What?"
The name of the city made them murmur. The frontier city was famous in many ways; if an adventurer hailed from Gilm, even a Gryphon-tamer wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.
The leader relaxed slightly but kept his hand on his hilt—a wise move for an adventurer.
"Sorry, but let's see your Guild Card. If you're really from Gilm, you won't mind, right?"
"Fine."
Rei reached into his robes and pulled the card from his Misty Ring, tossing it to the man. He chose to hide the ring's function for now to avoid being bogged down by questions about being an Item Box User.
After checking the card, the men finally dropped their guard. Naturally, curiosity took over.
"Is that really a Gryphon?" "Why is a Gilm adventurer all the way out here?" "Wait, is he actually younger than us?"
They bombarded him with questions while carefully avoiding eye contact with Seto. Eventually, the leader spoke up.
"Give him some space! ...Sorry about them, they're just excited. More importantly, what about those Sword Bee corpses? Their materials are worth a little something if you want to harvest them."
The warrior's eyes kept drifting to the carcasses littering the ground. Rei realized what he was hoping for and thought for a moment.
"Just tell me one thing: Is that town over there Abuelo?"
"Hm? Yeah, that's Abuelo."
"Good. Then I'm on schedule."
Rei walked to a nearby Sword Bee corpse and used his mithril knife to carve out its heart and claim the magic stone. He did the same for a second one, then looked back at the party.
"I only need these two stones. Consider the rest payment for answering my question. You can have the materials and the proof of subjugation parts."
"...Are you serious?"
"Yeah. I'm in a hurry. Seto, let's go."
"Guru!"
Rei mounted the Gryphon and took off, leaving the stunned adventurers behind as he flew toward the horizon.
"Who the hell was that?"
"Oh..." The archer woman suddenly remembered something. "I think I heard from a traveling merchant once... that there's a Gryphon in Gilm that's become a sort of mascot character."
The party stood in silence, watching the Gryphon shrink into a tiny speck in the distance.
In their minds, they all had the same thought: "The frontier is a terrifying place."