"Come on, why not? Take me with you to the City of Emocion. I might not look it, but I'm a B-Rank adventurer. My skills are the real deal, I guarantee it."
Egret slapped Rei on the shoulder as they walked through the streets.
Rei was wearing his Dragon Robe, so he didn't feel any pain, but the physical force of the impact still reached him. He opened his mouth to speak, a slight frown creasing his brow.
"You guys basically travel without taking on jobs, right? Then there's no reason for you to accompany me. Now that the suspicion of you being a bounty has been cleared, why don't you just head off to some other city?"
"That's why I'm saying we should make that 'some other city' the City of Emocion. You'd be better off with more combat power on your side anyway, right? Wouldn't you? Come on!"
"I don't need it. Besides, the target is a monster out at sea. Can either of you fly through the sky or walk on water?"
"Huh? As if we’d have a trick like that. But if the enemy is in the sea, we’ll be fine as long as we rent a boat."
"Wait a second, Egret. I'm not interested in picking a fight with a monster like that."
Realizing she had been drafted into a monster hunt without her consent, Miroir planted a kick in her partner's back.
However, such treatment must have been a daily occurrence for him. Egret didn't seem to mind at all and continued pestering Rei.
"Come on, it'll be fine, right? It's not like we chose not to take requests. It was just a series of coincidences. So, what do you say?"
It had been about an hour since Rei had treated them to a meal as an apology for suspecting them. Rei, who had been listening to Egret’s endless badgering the entire time, finally let out a heavy sigh as if he couldn't take any more.
"Fine. I won't stop you."
"Really!?"
A wide grin broke across Egret’s face, while Miroir’s expression soured.
Miroir had plenty of confidence in her own skills. However, if asked whether she could handle a monster that lurked in the ocean and sank multiple ships, she couldn't help but be skeptical.
As Rei had pointed out, the moment an enemy was underwater, their means of attack were severely limited.
"Yeah. It's true that I won't stop you. You’re free to head to the City of Emocion however you like. I'm going on my own, though."
Rei’s solution to the persistent following was to part ways with the duo as quickly as possible.
"Wait, what? Hey, hold on. There's no reason to split up. We should just go together."
"Rejected."
"But why..."
Egret started to argue further, but Rei cut him off, his eyes fixed on the city's main gate.
At the end of his gaze was the guard who had handled their entry procedures earlier.
"Think about it. My method of travel is flying through the sky on Seto. How exactly do you plan on keeping up? You aren't suggesting I walk the whole way just to stay with you, are you?"
"T-That’s..."
Egret faltered, clearly having been caught off guard. However, after racking his brain for a few seconds, his face brightened as if he’d had a stroke of genius.
"Then wouldn't it be fine if Miroir and I rode on Seto, too!?"
"You idiot! How many times do I have to tell you not to involve me!"
Finally reaching her limit, Miroir delivered a front kick to Egret’s back, much more powerful than the previous ones.
Since he was wearing plate mail, he likely didn't take any real damage, but the force sent him stumbling forward several steps.
Regardless, Egret ignored her and turned back to Rei with a triumphant expression. But...
"Rejected."
"Why the hell not!?"
Egret’s face flushed red, perhaps because he hadn't expected his "perfect" suggestion to be shot down. It was hard to tell if it was anger, indignation, or pure frustration.
Rei let out another sigh at Egret’s outburst.
"For one thing, Seto has his hands full just carrying me. It might be different if the two of you combined were lighter than me, but you're each heavier than me individually."
Being told she was heavy made Miroir turn away in a huff.
Even as an adventurer, she was still a woman, and being called heavy wasn't exactly a compliment—especially when compared to a person who looked like a slender boy in a robe.
In contrast to Miroir, Egret was strangely convinced by the logic. Considering the pole-axe on his back, his heavy plate mail, and his own massive physique, it was obvious that he weighed twice—if not three times—as much as Rei.
"...I see."
Just as Egret nodded, they arrived at the main gate. The guard took their guild cards and processed their departure with unusual speed.
The guard likely wanted anyone traveling with a high-rank monster like a gryphon to leave the city as quickly as possible, so the paperwork was finished in record time.
Aware of the guard’s ulterior motives but not particularly bothered by them, Rei tucked his guild card inside his robe and stored it within his Misty Ring.
"Since our travel speeds are different, I won't stop you from going to the City of Emocion. But like I said, we won't be traveling together. Honestly, why are you so desperate to go there anyway? It’s not like you’re desperate for money, right?"
He had already heard that they had plenty of funds from their previous work as B-Rank adventurers. He couldn't understand why they wanted to go out of their way to challenge a monster powerful enough to sink ships. Egret’s answer was perfectly simple.
"Because there's a strong enemy there."
He stated it as naturally as a mountain climber saying they climb a mountain because it is there. Rei could only sigh at the response.
He realized that further argument was useless. While Egret puffed out his chest with pride, Miroir held her hand to her forehead as if nursing a headache.
Rei decided that staying with them any longer would only result in more trouble for himself.
"Fine. We're definitely traveling separately. If you arrive at the City of Emocion before I've defeated the monster, I don't mind cooperating then."
By air, the trip would take less than two days on Seto. By foot, it could take as long as half a month. Rei made the offer with these travel conditions in mind. Miroir, who had no desire to fight the giant monster in the sea, gave a small smile, and for some reason, Egret smiled as well.
(Whatever...)
He didn't know what they were thinking, but as long as they stopped following him, it was fine. He didn't bother asking for the reason behind their smiles and instead moved a short distance away from the highway.
Interested in what Rei was doing, Miroir and Egret followed him.
Once he reached a meadow that had become a lush green carpet under the spring sun, Rei told the two of them to cover their ears. He took a deep breath and...
"Seto—!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice carrying across the entire area.
Even with their ears covered, the volume made the duo flinch. Soon, the sound of powerful wings beating the air reached Rei's ears.
"Guruuuuuluuuuu!"
Crying out a greeting, Seto spread its wings and descended.
Rei moved to welcome Seto as it landed, but the gryphon’s momentum pushed him down onto the grass. Seto purred loudly and rubbed its face against him.
"Guruuuu, guru, guruuu."
While stroking the affectionate gryphon’s head, Rei pulled a cloth from his Misty Ring and began wiping Seto's beak.
It was stained with the blood of whatever monster Seto had caught for lunch.
Since no announcement of a new skill acquisition appeared in his mind, Rei assumed the prey hadn't been anything particularly powerful.
"...There, all clean."
Still petting Seto, he turned back to the two adventurers who had been watching the scene with curiosity.
"I'm heading out on Seto now, so this is where we part ways."
"Guru?"
Seto tilted its head as if asking, Is it over already? Rei scratched Seto's head and nodded.
"Yeah. Just like your intuition told you, they weren't bounty criminals. They were... a lot to handle, though."
"Wait! Egret might be a handful, but I'm not that bad, am I!?"
"Is that so? ...Well, I guess... maybe?"
"I'm not!"
"...I see."
Rei nodded, somewhat overwhelmed by Miroir’s intensity.
In his mind, anyone who used a whip as their primary weapon was eccentric enough, though he was completely ignoring his own situation. Compared to a whip and a great scythe, a whip was arguably the more conventional weapon. A great scythe might look intimidating, but its shape made it incredibly impractical for actual combat.
The only reason he could use it so effectively was because the Death Scythe was a powerful magic item, and because of his own extraordinary physical ability.
"Anyway, I’m leaving. If you really plan on coming to the City of Emocion, you’d better hurry. Try to get there before I kill the monster lurking in the sea."
"You bet! I’ll make sure to get there before you're done, so don't you leave me behind!"
Egret took the words as a challenge and gave a boisterous laugh, while Miroir simply sighed beside him.
With Rei on its back, Seto took a running start across the meadow and flapped its wings, soaring into the air.
The gryphon climbed higher as if kicking the sky itself, while Miroir and Egret watched from the ground.
Once Seto had disappeared from their sight, Egret shouldered his pack.
"Alright, Miroir. Let's get moving so we don't lose to Rei!"
"I can't believe you're serious. Well, I’m already this far in, might as well see it through."
She had been teamed up with Egret for a long time, and she let out a sigh that had become a reflex over the years as she followed him.
"Guru?"
As they flew through the sky under the gentle spring sun, Seto suddenly turned back to purr at Rei.
Was it okay to let them go? Rei nodded while stroking its head.
"If we stayed with people like them, we’d definitely get dragged into a mess. Egret is the type who charges headfirst into trouble."
Rei spoke with absolute certainty. Seto tilted its head slightly but seemed to accept the explanation.
"More importantly, we lost a bit of time. Can you pick up the pace?"
"Guru."
At Rei's request, Seto flapped its wings with newfound power.
With every massive stroke, their speed increased visibly.
Admiring the speed once again, Rei pulled a map from his Misty Ring. The city they had just left was the first checkpoint; after passing two more towns, they would reach their destination, the City of Emocion.
"Come to think of it, this is the first time you'll see the sea, isn't it, Seto?"
"Guruuuu."
Seto nodded enthusiastically.
Back when Rei was in Japan, he had lived deep in the mountains, but even then, the ocean was only a two-hour drive away. He had gone there often during the summers, so the sea wasn't exactly a novelty to him.
...Though the coast he knew was mostly jagged rocks rather than the sandy beaches most people pictured.
"Gilm is inland, so we only ever had river fish. But in the City of Emocion, we’ll be able to eat all sorts of things—fish, shellfish, crabs, maybe even shrimp."
"Guruuuuuluuuuu!"
Seto let out a joyous cry.
For a creature that had almost never tasted seafood, the City of Emocion sounded like paradise.
Rei smiled as their speed increased yet again, all while keeping a sharp eye out for any flying monsters.
Fortunately, even in the frontier, flying monsters weren't incredibly common, and this region wasn't even the frontier. Their journey through the sky felt more like a pleasant excursion than a dangerous trek.
With the luxury of a magic item tent to rest in at night, Rei and Seto traveled in total comfort.
Three days after leaving the City of Gilm... the horizon finally came into view.