"Well, I've got to say, you certainly stay busy."
"No kidding. Personally, I would have liked to rest a little longer."
"Guruuu."
Rei shrugged his shoulders slightly as he replied to the gate guard's exasperated remark.
Beside him, Seto let out a cry as if to voice his own agreement.
After leaving the Lord's Mansion and reuniting with Seto, who had been playing in the garden as usual, Rei had headed straight for the Dusk Wheat Inn. He informed the landlady, Lana, that he would be away from Gilm for a few days on a request, then immediately made his way to the main gate.
The reason he bothered to tell Lana he would be away, despite having already paid for several days, was to ensure she could leave a message for the many visitors who came specifically to see Seto.
Rei used the Dusk Wheat Inn as his regular base, but since nearly all of his belongings were stored within the Misty Ring, he didn't have much to move.
Ordinarily, an adventurer would need time to pack up or dispose of luggage when checking out of their regular lodging. Rei, however, had no such concerns. He could leave at a moment's notice.
Of course, in this instance, he was only going to be away for a few days, so there was no need to be particularly fastidious.
"Well, in any case, if Rei and Seto are heading out for a bandit subjugation, we have no complaints. In fact, we couldn't be happier."
A grim expression clouded the guard's face as he spoke.
As a guard—and more importantly, as a resident of the frontier city of Gilm—he understood the gravity of the ongoing attacks on the caravans.
Naturally, since merchants hired escort adventurers, not every single group was successfully attacked.
Many managed to repel their assailants, but as the season turned toward late summer, the number of merchants heading for Gilm increased significantly.
Among them were many who underestimated the dangers of the frontier, often trying to save money by refusing to hire proper guards.
As a result, the number of merchants falling prey to bandits was on the rise.
Furthermore, the bandits currently causing problems were cunning enough to slaughter everyone they targeted, hiding their tracks with ruthless efficiency.
"Give my regards to Captain Ranga."
"Will do."
Having finished the formalities, Rei was seen off by the guard as he stepped outside the gates.
"Ah, look, it's Seto. Still as cute as ever."
Watching an adventurer processing their entry into Gilm catch sight of Seto and offer a small smile, Rei walked with the Gryphon until they were a short distance away from the highway.
(Seto is so well-known now, I feel like they could probably get rid of this rule already.)
While thinking such thoughts, Rei confirmed they were sufficiently far from the main gate and the highway before mounting Seto's back.
"Alright, shall we go, Seto?"
"Gururururuuu!"
Seto gave a sharp cry at Rei's command. After a short head start, he flapped his wings and soared into the sky.
"...Guru?"
While they were flying toward Abuelo, Seto let out a suspicious-sounding cry.
Hearing the tone, Rei looked down and discovered a startling sight—or perhaps, in some sense, a sight that was to be expected.
Three carriages were being pursued by a group of men on horseback.
It was a common enough scene in this world, but the truly surprising part was the sheer size of the mounted group.
Counting quickly from above, there were nearly thirty riders.
That was no longer a number associated with a simple bandit gang. It was more accurate to call them a mercenary band or even a small army.
"I see. A mercenary band, then."
The words came to him suddenly, and Rei felt a deep sense of conviction.
It wasn't uncommon for mercenary bands with no work to turn to banditry.
However, because powerful monsters lived in this frontier, even if a group became bandits, they usually ended up being wiped out quickly by the local wildlife or the many adventurers who hunted them.
"But what if they're a mercenary band with enough combat power to handle the monsters? If that's the case, they would be too much for the city's guard force, and even the small number of knights dispatched to Abuelo might find it difficult. ...Well, that's just my speculation, though."
"Guru?"
What should we do? Seto asked, looking back. Rei thought for a moment and told him to head toward the carriages.
Heeding the request, Seto descended toward the side of the carriages, which were fleeing desperately from the cavalry group.
The first to notice Seto's presence wasn't the merchants in the carriages, but the cavalry pursuing them.
Given the distance and their orientation, that was only natural.
As soon as they realized that the creature descending was a Gryphon, the cavalryman at the lead gave a signal.
The cavalry responded instantly; rather than continuing to chase the carriages, they turned sharply and began moving away from Rei, Seto, and the caravan.
(Disciplined movements. That makes the possibility of them being mere bandits quite low. ...Well, unless they happen to be a very well-regulated group of bandits.)
With that thought, Rei called out from atop Seto to the driver, who was still frantically whipping the horses.
"Hey! The bandits are gone!"
"Eh? ...Hiiih!"
At the voice suddenly coming from right beside him, the driver let out a cry of terror.
It was understandable. Just as he was being chased by bandits, a voice had suddenly called out from right beside his carriage.
Furthermore, Seto wasn't flying in the air but running on the ground so that Rei's eyes were level with the driver's.
In that state, it was only natural for the man to think he had been overtaken by his pursuers.
Rei immediately noticed the driver's face twisting in terror. Then, catching sight of a merchant in his 40s holding a bow and pointing it toward him with trembling hands from the back of the carriage, Rei let out a small sigh.
"Calm down... though I suppose that might be asking for too much. I'm not a bandit. I'm an adventurer of Gilm."
Having said that, he stroked Seto's neck as the Gryphon ran alongside the carriage.
"Haven't you heard? There's an adventurer in Gilm who has a Gryphon for a tamed monster."
"...Ah."
That single sentence must have jogged his memory. The merchant muttered a soft exclamation and lowered his bow.
As the speed of the first carriage dropped, the other carriages following it also slowed down.
"I am so sorry!"
The merchant bowed his head toward Rei. He was the same man who had been pointing the bow at Rei a moment earlier.
"Don't worry about it. In that situation, it's only natural to mistake me for a bandit. ...Regardless, you're quite few in number."
Since there were three carriages traveling together, Rei had assumed there would be about fifteen people in total, but only five merchants stepped down.
It hardly seemed like a caravan that could adequately manage three carriages.
"...Well, that's..."
A merchant other than the one who had pointed the bow at Rei spoke up with some hesitation.
"We just didn't think the bandits would have that many horses. We thought we could manage against a few riders..."
"So you didn't hire an escort."
"...Yes."
The merchants likely had various reasons, but in the current climate, traveling with this many carriages and no escort made them look like a duck walking into a pot with its own garnish. They were practically inviting disaster.
(Regardless, that's such a large bandit gang. They were strangely disciplined, too. I doubt two or three guards would have made much difference anyway.)
While Rei was thinking this, one of the merchants spoke up hesitantly.
"So, about that... if possible, would you be able to escort us as far as Abuelo? We would be very grateful. Of course, we will pay a proper reward."
"Hey, we don't have the money to—"
"But if we're stingy with the escort fee and lose everything as a result, it won't matter!"
"...Damn it."
Watching the merchants argue, Rei considered his options.
He understood from their conversation that they were in a tight spot, but he also needed to join up with Ranga and the others in Abuelo as quickly as possible.
Then, an idea occurred to him.
(Essentially, the reason they're having so much trouble is because of that bandit gang. If that's the case, it wouldn't be a bad idea to thin out the bandits' strength even before I meet Ranga. Or, if things go well, I might even be able to wipe them out in one fell swoop.)
Rei called out to the merchants, who were still bickering over whether to hire him.
"I'm willing to guard you for free if you accept my conditions... What do you say?"
At the word "free," the merchants' argument stopped instantly, and every gaze turned toward Rei.
Then, the merchant who had drawn his bow against Rei spoke up tentatively.
"Those conditions... what would they be? I'm sorry, but we have almost nothing left to give."
"I'm not asking for payment. Actually, I was already heading to Abuelo to deal with the bandit gang that was attacking these carriages. So, I thought I might as well reduce their numbers now."
"But if you're here, they won't attack, will they?"
At another merchant's words, Rei nodded while looking toward Seto.
As for Seto himself, he was lying in the grass at the side of the highway with his eyes closed, keeping watch on the surroundings.
To someone who didn't know better—like the merchants in front of Rei—it probably looked as though he were just sunbathing, despite the blistering heat exceeding thirty degrees Celsius.
"Exactly. If I'm—or rather, if Seto is here—the bandits won't show themselves. That's why I'll have Seto follow from a distance. Meanwhile, I'll hide inside the carriage and wait for the bandits to strike."
"...Wait a minute. Doesn't that mean you're going to use us as bait to lure them out?"
"That's right."
Rei agreed without hesitation.
A vein popped out on the merchant's forehead, but before he could shout, Rei continued.
"Don't you think it's better to have me as a guard, even if you're used as bait, than for me not to take the job at all? I promise that if the bandits appear, I will strike them down."
"Gi... th-that's..."
The man who was about to shout choked on his words.
It was exactly as Rei said. Since they couldn't afford a proper reward, their only options were to give up on having Rei's protection or to follow his lead and act as bait.
The former carried the risk of death, while the latter meant enduring the humiliation of being used as lures.
"I thought merchants were the type to make choices that resulted in their own profit?"
At Rei's words, the group fell silent. Finally, the timid merchant who had pointed the bow at Rei spoke up.
"I understand. I will take you up on that proposal."
"Hey!"
One of the merchants shouted instinctively, but the timid merchant shook his head.
"What he says is correct. Since we can't afford to pay a reward, we absolutely need his strength to protect ourselves. The strength of the adventurer known as Crimson."
"That..."
Information is the lifeblood of a merchant.
In Gilm, the news that Rei—and more importantly, Seto—had returned had spread quickly.
Since no other adventurer existed who had a Gryphon as a tamed monster, it was easy to identify the person standing before them.
"Besides, if you think about it, we can wipe out the bandits targeting us in one move. As long as he's here, even if those guys attack again, their total destruction is guaranteed. ...Right?"
"That's the plan on my end."
While Rei intended to use the caravan as bait, he naturally had no intention of letting them come to harm.
"...Can we really trust you?"
At the merchant's words, Rei shrugged his shoulders.
"You don't have to trust me if you don't want to. It's not like I'm particularly attached to you people. There are plenty of other caravans traveling between Gilm and Abuelo."
"That..."
Glancing at the merchant who was at a loss for words, Rei turned his gaze back to the timid merchant, who seemed to be the caravan leader.
"So, are we agreed? You'll accept my proposal?"
"Yes, please."
Despite his timid personality, the merchant made the snap decision and bowed his head.
Rei felt a sense of respect for the man's decisiveness.