"Rei, wake up. The City of Abuelo should be coming into view soon."
"Hm? Mmm... ah..."
At the sound of the voice, Rei's consciousness rapidly surfaced from sleep.
He opened his eyes and looked around, and the first thing he saw was the interior of a carriage.
"...Ah, right."
He surveyed his surroundings with half-asleep eyes and nodded as if finally grasping where he was.
The scenery outside the carriage window was in motion, confirming that the carriage Rei rode in was currently traveling.
(So I ended up sleeping ever since we departed.)
He muttered to himself and stretched broadly. Only then did his mind finally clear, and he remembered why he had been sleeping in the carriage.
At last night's camp, he had produced meals for five thousand people from the Misty Ring and had similarly prepared tents for the encampment. After that, collecting the enormous pots and frying pans that had held the food was another ordeal in itself.
The massive pots that had contained the meals had been washed with the cooperation of those who could use Water Magic, so retrieving them wasn't that much trouble—but they were still numerous pots that had held meals for five thousand people. Naturally, storing them all in the Misty Ring took a fair amount of time.
The one fortunate thing was that each soldier was required to manage their own tableware. If that hadn't been the case, Rei's fatigue would have been even worse.
Aside from the meals, the encampment tents had been folded up as small as possible, then stuffed into other large bags, and those bags into even larger ones. Since they had been stored that way, producing about ten of those massive bags was enough to handle it.
And while his physical fatigue was one thing, the mental exhaustion from spending long hours dealing with unfamiliar people during the supply operations—something he wasn't used to—had sent him into a deep sleep to recover. But that respite was brief. He was soon roused by the duty soldiers to prepare breakfast.
Thinking about it, it was only natural—those who prepared breakfast had to wake up earlier than everyone else.
Driven to help with breakfast preparations before the previous night's fatigue had fully worn off, and then immediately setting out the moment it was done—even Rei had reached his limit. At Daskar's instruction, he had ended up resting inside the carriage.
However, Rei was the only one resting in the carriage. Set, who always acted alongside Rei, was at the head of the column with the other adventurers, keeping watch on the surroundings just as it had the day before, owing to its keen senses.
If these had been adventurers from another city, they might have been thrown into confusion at the sight of Set. But since they were adventurers from the City of Gilm who were already accustomed to Set's presence, the Larkus Territorial Army proceeded along the highway without any particular commotion.
No—for the other adventurers who had long been interested in Set, the chance to fuss over the friendly creature was perhaps exactly what they wanted. They had somehow produced dried meat and nuts from who knows where to feed Set.
"Rei? Something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing. More importantly, we've arrived at the City of Abuelo?"
"Yeah. Though that said, we won't be stopping at the city—we'll keep moving right away."
Luno directed his gaze toward the City of Abuelo, which had come into view ahead on the highway, as he spoke.
That's right—Luno, who would normally have been at the head of the Larkus army keeping watch on the surroundings, was riding in the same carriage instead. Other members skilled at reconnaissance were handling the scouting, and with Set's presence as well, he had been ordered from above—more precisely, by Daskar's order upon learning of Rei's high mental fatigue—to guard Rei while he slept.
This was of course partly because Luno was acquainted with Rei, but there were other reasons too. There was no guarantee the Bestia Empire wouldn't seize the opportunity to make a move while Rei was asleep, and it also served as a precaution against anyone within the Larkus Territorial Army who might be blinded by greed at the sight of Rei's various magic items.
Given all that, it wasn't just Rei and Luno inside the carriage—two knights were riding along as well, and they were all keeping watch on one another.
"...Hm? There's a military force in front of the City of Abuelo."
At the sight through the window, Rei muttered involuntarily.
Rei's gaze had clearly caught the group gathered in front of the City of Abuelo. Their numbers were far too large to be city residents who had come to watch the Larkus Territorial Army pass through, and a great many of them were equipped with armor and weapons. Yes—just like this Larkus Territorial Army.
Rei's suspicion was confirmed when the knight sitting across from him gave a nod.
"The City of Abuelo belongs to the Neutral Faction, same as Lord Daskar. Being of the same faction, they probably intend to march together."
"Huh, so the City of Abuelo is part of the Neutral Faction too. Then what about the City of Sablusta?"
"The City of Sablusta is part of the Noble's Faction. However, we've received word in advance that they wish to march together, so they should be heading to the battlefield alongside us."
"...Is there no problem with different factions operating together?"
To wake himself up, Rei retrieved some cold fruit water he had bought the previous summer from the Misty Ring and asked the question while taking a drink.
Though his eyes widened at the fruit water that had appeared from thin air, the knight gave a small nod.
"For Lord Daskar, wasting military strength by fixating on factional differences when fighting a powerful nation like the Bestia Empire would be absurd—and the same goes for those dispatched from the City of Sablusta. Marching alongside the Larkus Territorial Army, which boasts some of the finest fighting forces in the Kingdom of Mireana in terms of quality if not quantity, gives the soldiers a sense of security. ...Oh, sorry."
While listening, Rei produced three more of the same fruit water he was drinking and handed them to the two knights and Luno.
"But up to the City of Abuelo, it's the frontier, so I understand there's a fair chance of monster attacks... From here on out, though, monsters won't appear as often as they do around Gilm, even at night, right?"
"That's certainly true. But once you leave the frontier, bandits start showing up instead of monsters. Of course, the likelihood of bandits carelessly attacking an army is low, but among them are bloodthirsty mad dogs who kill for pleasure. You never know what those types are thinking. They might even charge in prepared to go down with you. When dealing with such people, they'd surely judge it better to stay with us than go it alone. Especially since Duke Kerebel, a central figure of the Noble's Faction, is said to be a meritocrat who promotes even commoners if they prove useful. ...Well, I haven't heard very good things about the acting lord of the City of Sablusta, though."
Luno, who had been listening to the knight's words, suddenly tilted his head with a puzzled look.
"He's a central figure of the Noble's Faction, but he promotes commoners based on ability? Wouldn't the other nobles object? The whole point of the Noble's Faction is that they pride themselves on being literally noble houses."
"Even idiot nobles whose brains are filled with nothing but family boasting can't defy Duke Kerebel. That's precisely what makes him so formidable. And that's exactly why Lord Daskar is wary of him."
"...If that's true, then Duke Kerebel really is something."
With Luno nodding in admiration beside him, Rei was lost in his own thoughts.
(The bandits who enjoy killing are probably the ones who attacked us when we passed through this area on an escort job. There could be others like them, but... having large numbers of those types around seems unlikely. No, wait. Bandits. That's right—bandits. Once we pass the City of Abuelo, we'll naturally enter the Prairie Wolves' area of operation. In that case, getting in touch with Egg shouldn't be too difficult... right? If I can make contact, I figure I can have them repay the debt they owe me from before. Since this is a war, intelligence operations are critical, and as a highly skilled group among bandits, I can expect solid results from them in that area as well. At worst, I can just count on their combat strength.)
Having decided on his course of action, Rei turned to the knight and spoke.
"Sorry, but I'd like to have a word with Margrave Larcus. Could you get a message to him? Tell him I might be able to bring in some unexpected reinforcements."
"Hm? What's this all of a sudden? I know you're an important figure in this war, so it's not impossible, but... right now won't work. Look."
At the knight's words, Rei directed his gaze toward the City of Abuelo and spotted Daskar conversing with a smile with a knight wearing ornate full plate armor.
"He's the one commanding the army from the City of Abuelo—Viscount Vipere."
"...Is he the lord of Abuelo by any chance?"
"No, I believe he's a subordinate of the acting lord. Deputy commander of the knight order, or something along those lines."
"Even for the Neutral Faction, they've got some surprising talent."
Looking at the man called Viscount Vipere, Rei muttered involuntarily, impressed by his relaxed bearing despite wearing full plate armor.
(From what I can see, he's probably in his late twenties to early thirties. Being deputy commander at that age, he must be skilled enough to become the next knight commander.)
As Rei watched with these thoughts, the army that had emerged from the City of Abuelo eventually joined forces with them and they resumed their march along the highway.
The journey had never been particularly fast to begin with, but Rei could feel that this merger had slowed their travel speed even further.
Since there had been no need to transport supply wagons, the Larkus Territorial Army's marching speed had been considerably faster than a typical army. But because the Larkus Territorial Army was the first force Rei had ever traveled with, moving alongside wagons loaded with supplies inevitably felt sluggish to him.
(Well, even so, I have no intention of increasing my burden any further.)
Just dealing with the Larkus Territorial Army alone was already mentally exhausting enough. Taking on the Abuelo Army's supplies as well was completely out of the question for Rei. He would have refused even if Daskar had requested it.
About thirty minutes after joining with the Abuelo Army and resuming their march along the highway, one of the knights judged the timing was right and stood from his seat.
"I'll go contact Lord Daskar first. Knowing him, you'll probably be summoned soon, so be ready."
"Got it. I'm counting on you."
The knight nodded at Rei's words and left.
After seeing the knight off, the remaining Luno called out to Rei with a puzzled expression.
The other knight was also tilting his head at Rei's sudden meeting request.
"So, Rei. What made you suddenly want to meet with Margrave Larcus?"
"I have a certain connection. It might be possible to bolster the Larkus Territorial Army's camp a bit."
"...Bolster?"
"Well, the details are a secret. I can't really say without Margrave Larcus's approval. ...Hm? That was fast. He's already back?"
Even over the sound of the moving carriage, Rei could hear the metallic clinking of approaching armor.
The knight, who had been eyeing Rei with some skepticism, immediately wore a look of astonishment when the carriage door opened.
Luno, on the other hand, showed no particular surprise—perhaps because he already understood through his ability to perceive magical power that Rei was beyond the bounds of an ordinary person.
"Lord Daskar will see you. Come to his carriage."
"Understood. ...What about these two?"
"Including myself, we're your guards. You're bringing us along."
"Alright."
Rei had no particular objections, so he simply led the three of them toward Daskar's carriage.
"Good of you to come. Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes. Fortunately it was mental rather than physical fatigue, so a deep sleep took care of it."
Replying to Daskar, Rei's gaze swept across the interior of the carriage.
The carriage Rei had been riding in had a decent enough ride quality, but this one swayed so little that no vibration could be felt at all.
Catching Rei's reaction, Daskar wore a somewhat proud smile.
"This carriage was built using materials from monsters that only inhabit the frontier, processed through Alchemy—it's a type of magic item."
"...Ah, I see."
Rei understood. It was something similar to what he had used when traveling to the Dungeon with Elena.
Of course, since Margrave Larcus didn't have the same financial resources as Duke Kerebel, its grade was considerably lower.
"So, what's your business? I heard something about possibly bringing in unexpected reinforcements?"
As the one leading the Larkus Territorial Army, he likely didn't have much time to spare. Directing the troops, coordinating with the Abuelo Army, gathering intelligence—there were many things that demanded his attention.
He normally wouldn't have the time to spare for a conversation with a hired adventurer like Rei, but he had granted permission nonetheless. That was no doubt because of Rei's Item Box and his Tamed Monster, Set. Though his position was that of a hired adventurer, his role—being able to personally transport roughly half the supply cargo—was already close to the backbone of this Expeditionary Force.
Prompted by Daskar's words, Rei allowed a thin smile to cross his lips and spoke.
"Lord Daskar, are you familiar with a bandit group called the Prairie Wolves?"
At those words, Luno wore a dumbfounded expression. The two knights simultaneously turned looks of astonishment toward Rei for attempting to recruit a bandit group as allies. And Daskar himself—the very person addressed—wore an amused smile.