To go back a short while, to the time when Rei Saiki first sensed the anomaly in the air and woke up.
Inside the stables, Seto had similarly sensed a disturbance through its sixth sense and awakened. It rose from where it had been lying in its assigned stall.
Normally, such a movement from Seto would have caused the other animals to panic and wake in a frenzy. However, since Daskar had chartered the entire inn, the only other animals present were the warhorses and carriage horses belonging to Daskar's entourage.
Naturally, the inn staff had placed Seto at a distance from the other horses. Furthermore, the horses themselves were well-trained; having shared the journey from Gilm to this city, they had grown accustomed to the gryphon’s presence. They remained asleep, barely reacting to Seto’s movements.
"Guruuu?"
Seto purred low in its throat while scanning the area. While nothing seemed out of the ordinary at the moment, that peace was fleeting. Letting out a soft cry, it used its strength as a gryphon to step out of its stall.
With perfect—or perhaps imperfect—timing, the sound of several sets of footsteps reached its ears, drawing closer to the stables.
"Hey, are you sure about this? It’s a gryphon, right? If we make a thing like that angry..."
"It'll be fine. Look at the time. No matter how much of a gryphon it is, it’s bound to be fast asleep at night."
"But it’s a gryphon. I’d think it would escape the moment it realized the stables were on fire."
"Listen to me. Can you really forgive that monster? It's Crimson's tamed monster—the one that killed our people at the Seremuse Plain."
"I get that, but if we go that far, we'll be the ones being hunted, won't we?"
"Look, the moment we attacked an inn housing nobles, we lost the right to stay in this city. All we can do now is make sure their mouths are shut and play dumb."
"What, getting cold feet? It'll be fine. At the end of the day, a tamed monster is just a monster. We're setting fire to it while it sleeps; it’ll die before it can even react. Besides, there's the magic stone, right? If we cut that out and sell it, it’ll be worth a fortune..."
"Hey, I didn't come here to make money. I came to avenge my son."
"I know. But you know not everyone in this raid is as single-minded as you, don't you?"
Hearing this conversation with hearing far sharper than any human's, Seto realized the speakers were almost at the stables. It turned its gaze toward the horses sleeping inside.
At the start of the journey, they had been terrified of it, but they had grown comfortable enough to rest in its presence. They weren't exactly friends, but they were companions who had shared the road. If the stables were set ablaze, Seto would be fine, but the other horses would undoubtedly burn to death.
Having reached its decision, Seto walked slowly toward the stable door. Some of the horses noticed the movement, but Seto ignored them, using its massive body to push the door open and step out into the night.
The first things it saw were more than ten human figures. To a human, their faces would have been mere blurs in the dark, but for Seto, whose night vision was aided by the moonlight, identifying them was easy.
The figures held fire-lighting magic items and carried bundles of straw and other flammable materials. Combined with the conversation it had just overheard, there was no doubt about their intent.
"Guruuuuuuu!"
Seto activated its skill, King's Intimidation. The roar vibrating from its throat washed over the group, freezing them in place. They were rendered unable to move a single muscle.
"Guru, guruuu?"
Having successfully halted them, Seto hesitated. It wondered what to do next. Should it use King's Intimidation again to knock them unconscious, or should it simply...
As Seto debated its next move, it suddenly leaped sideways. A moment later, several arrows thudded into the ground where it had stood an instant before.
"Guruuu!"
It growled with a sense of menace toward the source of the attack. High up on a tree branch in the inn's garden, an archer ignored the growl and fired again.
The arrows were incredibly fast, far swifter than those fired by an average adventurer. However, the accuracy was abysmal; it wasn't uncommon for the shafts to fly off in completely the wrong direction. It felt like an attacker who possessed raw power but had almost no experience with a bow.
"Guru?"
Seto was confused by the discrepancy between the arrows' power and their lack of precision, but it couldn't ignore someone harboring such blatant malice. Shaking off its hesitation, it charged toward the tree.
Its speed increased with every stride. Arrows struck the earth behind it as if in pursuit. On the way, it barreled through the paralyzed rioters, sending them flying, but Seto paid them no mind as it pressed the attack.
"Guruuuuuuu!"
Upon reaching the tree, Seto roared and leaped. It pounced directly toward the figure targeting it from above. The sound of air whistling through the night echoed...
"Guru!"
A shockwave generated by the Magic Eye of Shock deflected the incoming arrow mid-flight.
"Die, die, die!"
The man seemed completely unfazed. He threw his bow at Seto and simultaneously drew a dagger from his waist.
"Guruuu!"
Seto batted the bow away with its right forepaw and slammed its left forepaw into the man brandishing the dagger.
"Dieeeeeeeee!"
The man tried to block the blow with his blade, but a mundane dagger was no match for a gryphon's strength. The metal snapped instantly. The man was sent hurtling through the air, and the broken dagger tip spun away into the darkness.
With eyes full of pure hatred, the man was knocked out of the tree and skidded several meters across the ground before coming to a dead stop.
"Guru... Guruuu?"
Seto began checking for other threats when it heard footsteps approaching the stables. They were familiar.
"Seto, are you all right!"
"Guruuu!"
At Rei’s call as he emerged from the inn, Seto let out a cheerful cry. Though Rei had assumed his partner would be fine, seeing Seto unharmed allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Whew. Looks like they really did come this way. You did a great job."
With a small smile, Rei gave Seto a firm, praising rub and then turned to the knights who had caught up.
"Sorry, but those people lying around are part of the attack. Could you bind them for us?"
"Yeah, no problem. Even so, they actually targeted the stables just like you said, Rei."
"Saved our hides, truly."
"Thinking about it, security is thinner at the stables than inside the inn. It’s a logical target."
"Definitely. And considering Seto, they have more than enough reason to come after this place."
"We can always have the local governor find us new carriages, but we can't replace our partners..."
To a knight, a horse was a companion to whom they entrusted their lives on the battlefield. Many treated them with deep affection. If their horses had burned to death in an arson attack, the psychological blow would have been immense. The knights wanted no such tragedy, especially while deep within the Bestia Empire.
"Well, we managed to avoid the worst thanks to Seto. Thanks, Seto. You saved us."
One of the knights threw a piece of dried meat to Seto as a reward.
"Guruuu!"
Seto caught the treat in its beak and ate it happily, purring in its throat. Rei and the knights felt a brief moment of warmth at the sight before heading into the stables to verify the safety of their horses.
"…Well? What do you think?"
At a location far from the inn, well beyond the reach of Rei's vision, a voice whispered. Mura, the owner of that soft voice and a master of brainwashing, spoke while staring into a crystal ball.
"More than I expected. Though not beyond the realm of imagination."
The man who murmured this, Shistoi, also watched the crystal ball. This magic item allowed Mura to project the sights seen by those she had brainwashed. While it seemed convenient, it carried strict usage restrictions. It couldn't be used if she was physically separated from the target by too many barriers—for instance, she couldn't use it while locked away in a room. In this case, with the inn door open, there was no issue.
Additionally, the crystal consumed a significant amount of magic power. With Mura's reserves, a single use left her plagued by magic power depletion, making her body sluggish for several days. Above all, the item had a fixed number of uses and was incredibly expensive, costing the equivalent of several high-paying jobs. Despite the drawbacks, Mura was glad she had used it.
"Was Crimson's strength within expectations as well?"
"…No, he is an exception," Shistoi whispered after a moment of silence.
Sensing the bitterness in his tone, Mura agreed with a wry smile. The rioters Shistoi had gathered and whose hatred Mura had amplified were not as deeply brainwashed as their primary pawns, but a human's spirit could often force the body beyond its limits. A strong-willed person could endure a knockout blow or agonizing pain to sink their teeth into an enemy's throat. Yet Rei had neutralized them with effortless ease. They had managed to surprise him initially, but that was all.
"As for the escorting knights, I think we can manage. They're skilled, but they still operate within common sense. However..."
"Right. In the end, it’s Crimson, isn't it?"
"Yeah. As long as that man is guarding him, reaching Margrave Larkus will be difficult. Besides, you noticed, didn't you?"
Mura understood Shistoi’s meaning immediately. She let out a soft sigh.
"The Axe of the Thunder God."
"Exactly. The leader didn't show his face at all. Only the son came out."
He recalled the images from the crystal ball. The young warrior protecting the stairs alongside the knights. Even in the cramped interior of the inn, he had held the line without much trouble.
"According to my intel, his skills weren't supposed to be anywhere near his parents'."
"He seemed only slightly better than the average knight, I suppose."
"True. But our information is outdated. At his age, skills can improve by the day. Especially with the Axe of the Thunder God and Crimson nearby. He is blessed with the perfect environment to forge himself."
Sensing a hint of envy in Shistoi’s voice, Mura smiled playfully.
"Are you jealous?"
"I won't deny it. Besides..."
Shistoi stopped mid-sentence. Mura looked at him curiously, but his expression had suddenly turned grim.
"We're leaving."
"Eh?"
She was bewildered for a split second, then the reality hit her.
"No way... you're saying they found us from this distance!?"
"Yeah. They're heading straight for us."
Shistoi didn't wait for her to respond. He reached down and scooped her up into a princess carry.
"Wait, Shistoi!?"
"You can't outrun them."
"I know that, but still, this is a bit..."
"Be quiet."
He cut her off and vanished into the darkness of the night, melting away with Mura in his arms.
A few minutes later...
"Tch. They got away."
"Guru."
Seto hovered in the night sky with its wings spread, Rei seated on its back. Having deduced the attack was a probe to test their strength, Rei had assumed someone was watching. Using Seto's and his own extraordinary five senses and sixth sense, they had pinpointed this location.
However, the enemy was no amateur; by the time they arrived, the watchers were already gone.
"…Should we pursue? No, we shouldn't stray too far from the inn. And given how fast they bolted... I guess it can't be helped. Seto, let's head back."
"Guruuuuuuu!"
Seto purred in response to Rei’s command, and the one man and one beast returned to the inn.