It had been roughly two hours since the caravan had departed the City of Gilm. Alektor's caravan was proceeding smoothly along the highway, with no signs of monster attacks.
"There are far fewer monster attacks compared to the trip into Gilm," a voice remarked.
"Tell me about it. On the way there, I thought we were cursed. We were getting hit by monsters every time we turned around."
"Yeah. If we hadn't been picked apart like that, the guards wouldn't have been so exhausted. And if they’d been at full strength, then maybe those guys would have..."
"Leave it be. There’s no point in dredging that up now. We’re the ones who survived, so the best we can do is live our lives to the fullest for their sake. That goes for our business, too."
Rei heard the merchants conversing from the wagon immediately ahead of him.
Becoming curious about the subject of their conversation, Rei moved to the rear of the wagon and called out to them.
When it came to pure detection range, Rei knew he couldn't hold a candle to Set. Since Set was already walking beside the caravan and keeping a sharp eye on the surroundings, Rei judged that even if monsters did attack, there was almost no chance of them being caught in a surprise attack.
"Did you really get hit by that many monsters on your way to Gilm?"
The merchants were momentarily startled by the sudden voice, but they relaxed as soon as they realized it was Rei.
"Oh, yeah. Between the City of Abuelo and Gilm? Was it three times? No, I think it was four."
"That’s right. Four times, including the Icebirds. Most of them were manageable—just a few Goblins, Soldier Ants, or Sword Bees. There were usually fewer than ten of them at a time, so we made it through, but..."
"We never dreamed that the final group of Icebirds would number over fifty."
"Yeah."
"...That’s a lot," Rei muttered.
Rei had never actually walked the highway properly before. Usually, whenever he left the city, he traveled on Set's back. The only time he had spent any significant time traveling the highway on foot was during his rank up exam to subjugate bandits. Even then, they had deviated from the road halfway through to head toward the bandit stronghold. When he had dealt with the Orc settlement or headed to the dungeon with Elena, they had gone in a completely different direction from Abuelo, where the highway only existed for a short distance.
"Well, the frequency was high, but it wasn't exactly unheard of."
One of the merchants spoke up to the contemplative Rei. The others nodded in agreement.
In truth, the possibility of being attacked by monsters or bandits while traveling the highway was never low. That was why they hired adventurers as guards in the first place. Since this was the Frontier, a high frequency of monster attacks was, in a sense, only natural.
"I suppose that’s standard... but in this case, I don't think you need to worry too much about monster attacks."
"...?"
The merchants wore puzzled expressions, clearly not understanding his meaning. Rei reached out and patted the head of Set, who was walking alongside him.
"Guruuu."
Set purred happily at the touch. Rei spoke again as he watched the Gryphon.
"Set is with us on this journey. Any monster with at least a modicum of intelligence will instinctively sense the gap in their power and hesitate to attack."
"...But those Icebirds fought him without hesitation when he showed up as reinforcements, didn't they?"
"They were likely already in a combat frenzy," Rei explained. In truth, their fear had been stimulated to the point of extreme agitation by the sight of the Flame Tornado Rei had used, but Rei himself hadn't realized that.
"Then you're saying monsters below a certain intelligence threshold will still attack?"
"Yeah. Goblins are a prime example. It might sound contradictory, but because their intelligence is so mediocre, they can't fully grasp the difference in strength between themselves and Set. Furthermore..."
"Furthermore?"
At the merchant’s prompting, Rei continued while looking down the road as if confirming something.
"Unless a human is exceptionally sharp, it’s difficult for them to notice the aura Set emits. They won't realize he's a Gryphon until they see him with their own eyes. That means the real threat on this road isn't monsters, but bandits."
"I see. Put that way, it makes sense. Putting Abuelo aside, I’ve heard there’s a significant bandit presence near the City of Sablusta."
"...Are there that many?"
The face of the bandit leader he had encountered on the way to the City of Baar crossed Rei’s mind. At the time, he hadn't known that the group was called the 'Prairie Wolves' or that they were one of the most powerful bandit gangs in the Sablusta region.
The Prairie Wolves were notable not for their size, but for their quality. Large groups naturally had a wide variance in skill, often including peasants who had simply picked up weapons. However, Egg, the leader of the Prairie Wolves, refused to take on such amateurs. He strictly selected only those with a certain level of combat ability and subjected them to rigorous daily combat training. They were on a completely different level of lethality compared to other bandit gangs who spent their time in hedonistic pursuits.
"Yeah. It’s a city right on the edge of the Frontier, after all. To a bandit, a wagon loaded with rare goods from the border is a literal mountain of treasure. They have no reason not to strike."
"...If they know that, why don't the Lord of Sablusta or the Acting Lord send out a subjugation army?"
It was a natural question, but the merchants only sighed and shook their heads. Their faces were masks of exasperation, ridicule, and sympathy.
"They do dispatch the Knight Order periodically, but it’s mostly just for show to satisfy their superiors. They have no real intention of wiping out the bandits."
"Why not? If bandits increase, the number of people using the road decreases. That would directly impact the city's tax revenue."
"Well, there are a few reasons... but the biggest one is likely that the Acting Lord and the bandits are connected behind the scenes."
Rei's eyes widened at the blunt revelation, but he nodded a moment later as the pieces clicked into place.
"Bribes, then. I suppose that makes sense. But he’s only an representative, right? If the noble who actually owns the city found out, he’d be lucky to just end up in prison. He’d probably be executed."
"Tax revenue would have to drop significantly for that to happen. But this is the only road connected to the City of Gilm. If you want to reach the Frontier, you have to use this highway. That guarantees a steady stream of merchants and caravans. Even if the revenue drops a bit, it won't fall enough to attract the noble's attention."
"...I see."
Rei frowned at the Acting Lord's cunning. Misinterpreting his expression as one of anxiety regarding bandits, one of the merchants reached out from the wagon and patted the shoulder of Rei's Dragon Robe.
"Well, I wouldn't worry too much this time. I doubt anyone besides Mr. Alektor would be heading to the Frontier in the middle of winter. The bandits aren't going to sit around in the cold waiting forever for prey that might never come."
"I hope you’re right. ...Anyway, I appreciate the information. I'll keep a sharp eye out for bandits. Even if the odds are low, you never know what might happen."
After finishing his talk with the merchant, Rei moved away from the wagon and resumed guarding the caravan with Set.
About six hours had passed since their departure from the City of Gilm. The sun had long since left the horizon and was now directly overhead.
"I'm starving. Can't we stop for lunch soon?"
"The terrain is bad here. We need to find somewhere with a bit of cover, like a rock formation, so it’s harder for monsters to spot us."
Rei overheard the merchants discussing their hunger from the nearby wagon.
It’s true that I’m starting to get hungry myself, Rei thought. He glanced at Set, who was walking beside him. The Gryphon purred and looked back at him, his eyes silently pleading for a snack.
"Fine, fine. Here, hold yourself over with this until lunch."
Rei pulled some dried meat from the Misty Ring and gave it to Set. They continued for another thirty minutes until they reached a point where a massive rock, about five meters high and looking like a small mountain, stood by the side of the road. As soon as the rock came into view, the wagons slowed down.
Alektor climbed down from the lead wagon. "All right, let's have lunch here! Everyone, start your preparations!"
The merchants, who had clearly been waiting for this moment, hopped down and quickly set about starting a campfire to boil water. They began distributing sandwiches that they had evidently purchased back in the City of Gilm.
"Here, Rei."
Rei accepted a sandwich from a merchant and then looked toward Set.
"Guruu?"
"Yeah, just a second. Mr. Alektor is bringing your food. I think..."
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Alektor had been looking for them. He approached carrying a large bag about a meter in size. "Here we go. This is for Set."
He reached into the bag and pulled out a lump of meat that must have weighed a full kilogram, offering it to the Gryphon.
"Guruu!"
Set was clearly famished; he let out a happy trill and immediately began devouring the raw meat. Rei looked at Alektor with surprise.
"That bag..."
"Yes. It's a simplified version of the Item Box. Though, I’m only borrowing it from a noble for this specific mission."
"...This mission? Didn't you come to Gilm on your own initiative, Alektor?"
"Well, even I have a few dark secrets, you know."
Rei was taken aback for a moment by the merchant's bold admission of 'dark things,' but then he gave a wry smile. Alektor smiled back and was about to invite Rei over to where the other merchants and the Beautiful Drops were gathering when—
"Guruuu."
Set, having finished the meat in the blink of an eye, turned toward Alektor and purred, asking for seconds.
"...Eh? Wait—wait a minute. He finished that much meat already!?"
It would take a normal human thirty minutes to eat a kilogram of meat—if they could finish it at all. But for a creature of Set’s size, it was little more than a light snack.
Alektor hurriedly pulled out more meat, but that, too, vanished into Set's stomach almost instantly. In the end, Alektor had to repeat the process five more times before Set was finally satisfied.
Alektor’s face twitched as he watched the meat disappear, though it was perhaps a mercy that he didn't realize Set was still only about half-full.
The group gathered to eat their simple meal of sandwiches and tea. Set's presence allowed them to relax, as no monster or bandit would be able to sneak up on them without being detected by the Gryphon’s senses. While Alektor sat there with a twitching cheek, likely calculating the future food costs, Rei and the members of the Beautiful Drops kept a casual watch on their surroundings while they ate.
The conversation eventually turned toward the war between the Kingdom of Mireana and the Bestia Empire that was certain to break out next spring. Intrigued, Rei listened in.
"The Bestia Empire has the advantage in numbers, but our kingdom is still a major power. It’ll probably end in another stalemate without a clear victor," one merchant said.
"But I heard they’re making serious preparations this time. I mean, they’ve already sent agents as far as Gilm, causing all those incidents."
"Doesn't matter how much they prepare. As long as we have the Princess General under Duke Kerebel, we’re safe."
"But hasn't the Princess General beaten them time and again? Do you really think they’ll just keep making the same mistake?"
Rei listened to the merchants as he ate his sandwich, then decided to interject.
"Excuse me, but could I ask a basic question?"
"Hm? What is it?" one of the merchants asked, washing down a ham and cheese sandwich with warm tea.
Rei voiced the question that had been nagging at him. "Why does the Bestia Empire keep invading this country over and over? Starting a war must be incredibly expensive."
"...You don't know?"
The merchants stared at him in genuine shock. Fortunately or unfortunately, Rei had never managed to learn the specific reason for Bestia's obsession with Mireana. He might have found out if he’d looked, but since it didn't involve monsters, magic stones, or guild requests, he had always pushed it to the back of his mind.
"Yeah. I haven't even been in the City of Gilm for a year. Before that, I lived like a hermit deep in the mountains."
He used his standard excuse to cover for his lack of common knowledge and prompted the merchant to continue.
"I see. ...Well, to put it simply: the Bestia Empire is landlocked, surrounded by mountains and other nations. It’s a very wealthy country with thriving agriculture and plenty of mines. They’ve even been pouring resources into alchemy for the last decade. But for ten years, a hundred years, or even longer, there is one thing the Bestia Empire has always craved. And that is... the sea."
"The sea?"
"Yeah. Being landlocked, they have no coast. And the sea—specifically, a port—brings immense wealth to a nation. Then there’s the salt and the marine resources. They want the coast, so they attack our country to get it."
"...I see."
Rei nodded. His mind flashed back to the Beast Soldiers he had fought in Gilm—monsters with crab carapaces or scales, creatures that clearly originated from the water. Creating them must have been incredibly costly for a nation without a sea.
(No, if their goal is truly the sea, then it only makes sense that they would prepare Beast Soldiers adapted for it in advance.)
Thanks to the merchant’s explanation, Rei finally understood why the Bestia Empire was so determined to conquer the Kingdom of Mireana.