Once Rei and the merchants had finalized their plan, they immediately moved on to the specifics.
Treidia, the timid merchant leading the caravan, addressed Rei directly. "So, you mentioned luring the bandits out... how exactly do we go about that?"
"Let's see. First... Seto."
"Guruuu?"
Seto, who had been lounging in the grass beside the highway while the group talked, quietly raised its head. It gave a soft trill, turning toward the boy who had called its name as if to ask, What's up?
"We need to bait those bandits back, but if you're out here, they'll be too wary to make a move. I need you to leave the caravan for a bit and hide somewhere they won't spot you. Once the bandits attack, swoop in from behind to cut off their retreat."
"Gururuuu?"
Seto tilted its head in inquiry, and Rei, understanding the unspoken question, gave a small nod.
"I know. Since they're on horseback, even if you take the rear, they'll probably just scatter to the sides. But as long as you can throw them into enough chaos, that'll be plenty."
Satisfied with that answer, Seto lowered its head again and closed its eyes.
"As for the rest of us, we'll wait here for a while."
"Wait a minute," one of the other merchants interjected. "Why so suddenly—"
"I told you," Rei said. "It's to lure the bandits out. We're going to pull over and pretend the carriage broke down during our escape. We'll stage the repairs right here by the highway to draw them in."
"...I understand," Treidia said.
"Treidia!?"
While the other merchants hesitated, Treidia was the one who made the decision to accept Rei's proposal.
"Calm down, everyone. Even if we head for Abuelo without him, there's a high chance those bandits will just catch up and attack us again. It's better to do as he says. If we can eliminate the threat now, the rest of the trip will be much safer."
Not everyone was convinced. Several of the merchants still wore looks of blatant dissatisfaction. However, since Treidia was the leader of the caravan, they didn't voice any further complaints. Following Rei's instructions, they pulled the carriages to the side of the highway.
Watching them work, Rei walked over to the reclining Seto.
"Alright, Seto. Like I said, move away from here and keep watch. When the bandits attack..."
"Guruuu!"
Seto stood up, trilling to signal its understanding. It rubbed its head affectionately against Rei, letting out another cry, and after Rei gave it a few pets, it finally moved away.
With a short run-up and a powerful flap of its wings, Seto took to the sky. Rei watched it disappear before turning his gaze back to the parked carriages. From an outsider's perspective, they looked exactly like a group struggling to fix a mechanical failure.
(Now, all that's left is for that bandit gang to send a scout to find us.)
With that thought, Rei climbed inside one of the carriages as a precaution. If anyone in the bandit gang happened to recognize his face, Seto's absence wouldn't matter.
Was he being overconfident? Perhaps, but he had raided more than enough bandit gangs in his time, and the rumors that spread between such groups were not to be underestimated. There was always the chance that a survivor from a gang he’d wiped out had been picked up by another.
Under the circumstances, it was better not to show his face at all.
"I'll be hiding in this carriage," Rei called out. "Just act like you're busy with repairs for a while. And if anyone passes by, don't mention I'm here."
"Understood," Treidia replied. "We'll begin the work immediately."
"You don't actually have to fix anything, you know?"
"True, it may be a ruse, but we pushed these carriages quite hard today. The frames are definitely showing some strain. I'll take this opportunity to do some actual maintenance."
Despite being the head of the caravan, Treidia was clearly a man of action. Rei watched him crawl under the carriage before taking a seat inside. He closed his eyes, focusing his hearing to detect anyone approaching.
"Hey, can we really trust that kid?"
"Shhh! Not so loud. Didn't you hear Treidia? That brat is an adventurer famous enough to be called 'Crimson.' His skills have to be the real deal."
"But..."
"I know what you're thinking—he's just a kid. But he had a Gryphon as a Tamed Monster. You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah, that part was true."
"Even if only a quarter of the rumors are true, he'd still wipe out a pack of bandits without breaking a sweat."
"Hmm... I guess I'll believe it for now. But I'm keeping everything ready so we can bolt the second things go south. We don't have enough coin left to take any chances."
Rei heard the voices drifting from a short distance away. The speakers likely thought they were out of earshot, but Rei's five senses were naturally sharper than those of any normal human. Given that he was specifically focusing on his hearing to watch for the bandits, he heard every word.
(Maybe it would have been faster to just hunt them down... No, that's not right. That group was too well-coordinated. They aren't like the typical trash I've dealt with. If anything, they're more like the Prairie Wolves.)
As Rei pondered this, the face of a tough-looking man with a scarred skinhead came to mind.
Egg. The man who had once led the Prairie Wolves was now a key figure in Daskar's Intelligence Unit.
(I didn't see him back in Gilm... If he's working for the Margrave, wouldn't he have been dispatched to Abuelo for this? Based on what I saw earlier, this enemy is very disciplined. If it's just a Mercenary Band playing at being bandits like I suspect, I can just crush them and move on. The real problem is if someone hired them specifically to stir up trouble here... Hm?)
While reflecting on the bandits through comparisons to Egg, Rei suddenly caught the sound of something approaching.
For a heartbeat, he thought the bandits had returned, but he soon heard the turning of wheels and the slow, steady rhythm of horse hooves. It was another carriage, moving at a leisurely pace. Rei allowed himself to relax slightly.
The merchants outside also tensed for a moment before looking relieved.
"Well now, what seems to be the trouble in a place like this?"
A man in his forties with a seemingly good-natured face called out to the merchants.
"Oh, just a bit of trouble with the carriage. Luckily, it's an easy fix, so we're just handling it now."
"Hmm, I see. I've heard things have been dangerous around here lately... Are you all right?"
"So it seems," the merchant replied with a weary sigh. "In hindsight, I really wish we’d hired an escort."
"Passing through here without an escort at a time like this... I don't know whether to call you brave or just reckless..."
The merchants gave a wry smile at the man's words, which were a mix of surprise and pity. If they'd had the gold, they would have hired guards, but they were desperate to save every copper.
They had also assumed they could outrun any bandits they encountered... they had never imagined a gang would have nearly thirty mounted cavalrymen.
"But I don't see any guards on your end either?"
"Hm? Oh, they're inside the carriage."
The driver lightly tapped the side of his carriage twice, and a man with sharp eyes—clearly a seasoned adventurer—peered out from the window.
"Hmm, he looks quite capable."
"Well, naturally. He is an escort, after all. ...Well then, sorry, but we'll be heading off now. We want to reach Abuelo before dark."
"Yeah, got it. Take care."
"Right, same to you. Since you're out here without protection, you never know when the bandits might strike. I'll pray you finish your repairs quickly."
With that, the driver set his carriage in motion.
The merchant who had spoken with him scratched his head as he watched them go. He couldn't help but wonder if staying here was really the right move. The man had just said it himself: you never know when the bandits might strike.
He knew this was exactly what Rei wanted, but his instincts as a merchant told him that the only sensible choice was to get moving as fast as possible. Caught between wanting the bandits to show up and wanting them to stay far away, the merchant watched the receding carriage with a complicated expression.
"...What did you think?"
The speaker was the driver who had just been talking to the merchant. Once they were far enough away that the parked caravan was out of sight, the pleasant, good-natured mask he had worn vanished. His eyes were sharp and cold as he addressed the man sitting in the back of the carriage.
"There were only merchants. Like I said, you're overthinking it."
"You idiot, you saw it too, didn't you? That thing that descended earlier was definitely a Gryphon. That's not something you find wandering around the frontier. If there's a Gryphon, then that boy must be Crimson—the one responsible for the conclusion of the Spring War. The intel saying he was based in Gilm was true... Do you really want to pick a fight with an Alias Holder? Because I sure as hell don't."
"...I know that. But that Gryphon wasn't there just now, was it? It probably left after helping them. It was likely just a passerby."
The driver thought for a moment and nodded. Since the Gryphon was nowhere to be seen, it stood to reason that its appearance had been a mere coincidence.
"Whether it's a coincidence or not, if Alias Holders are starting to show up, maybe it's time we pulled out of here."
"Huh? Are you serious? We're making a killing. Just a little more..."
"That 'little more' is exactly how people get killed. 'Just a little more... one more time, one last time...' While you're blinded by profit and missing the window to retreat, what are you going to do if a monster like that catches us? This place pays well, but the quality of adventurers here is high."
"...Fine. I won't argue with you."
The driver clearly held the superior position, and the person in the back conceded.
Needless to say, these two were members of the group that had tried to attack the caravan earlier. Their true identity was a Mercenary Band called the Bloody Blade. Or more accurately, they were a mercenary group that doubled as bandits.
They participated in wars as mercenaries when there was work and switched to banditry when there wasn't. Because they were active soldiers, they possessed extensive combat experience and a high level of training. Furthermore, thanks to their raids, they were able to maintain nearly thirty warhorses—an incredibly expensive asset.
The reason such a group had come to the frontier was simple: they were short on funds. With thirty cavalry, thirty infantry, and assorted support staff, they were a Large Group exceeding seventy people. The cost of maintaining them was staggering, and they had intended to earn a fortune in the Spring War. However, the Neutral Faction led by Margrave Larkus had ended the conflict too quickly.
As a result, the Bloody Blade had barely seen any action before the war ended, leaving them with only the minimum participation fee. It was difficult to maintain a band of that size without loot, and so, both to secure operational funds and as a form of petty revenge against the man who had ruined their payday, the Bloody Blade had come to the Margrave's lands.
Their gamble had paid off so far. By attacking caravans transporting frontier goods, they had successfully amassed a fortune in coin and supplies, including rare items unique to the region. For the members of the Bloody Blade, encountering the being who had ended the war single-handedly was the one thing they wanted to avoid at all costs.
That was why they had fled so quickly when the Gryphon appeared. Or rather, that was the judgment of the leader and the high-ranking members like the driver.
"Hey, send word to the boss. Crimson is gone. Tell him to attack now."
"Got it."
Nodding at the driver's words, the subordinate tied several colored strings to the leg of a small bird—a messenger tamed by the Bloody Blade Tamer—and released it into the sky.