With a green carpet spread out below, Set soared through the sky.
Its massive wings beat the air as it flew. From the ground, its silhouette could have been mistaken for either bird or beast.
Even as it cruised through the springlike blue sky, Rei kept his eyes fixed on the ground below.
He was searching for any sign of those who had escaped the forest. But the Cyclops had originally been lurking deep within the woods, and simply getting out of that forest would take a considerable amount of time.
What's more, since each person had scattered on their own, encountering a monster in the forest meant dealing with it alone.
Granted, the odds of survival were still far better than facing a Cyclops single-handed.
"Guruu!"
Set let out a sharp cry, its gaze locked on a patch of grassland just shy of the main road, still some distance from the forest's edge.
At that sound, Rei followed Set's line of sight—and spotted a lone adventurer running across the ground below.
"That's..."
The figure was someone he recognized. Naturally, one of the Former Mobile Unit members.
Even after breaking free of the forest, the man was still running at a desperate pace, pushing past his physical limits to reach Gilm as fast as possible and warn them of the Cyclops threat.
"Set."
That single word was all it took. Set understood exactly what Rei wanted and began to descend, wings beating as it dropped toward the ground.
"Gururururururuu!"
Set called out loudly, drawing the attention of the man running below.
Naturally, the cry reached the ears of the man, who had been sprinting while staying alert to his surroundings.
Hearing the sudden sound, he immediately stopped and scanned for any sign of danger.
But he must have realized quickly that the voice was familiar. He looked up at the sky with an expression of sheer disbelief.
And there, at the end of his upward gaze, was Set—carrying Rei on its back, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Rei-san! Set!"
The man shouted, his face alight with joy.
His leather armor was caked with dirt from his full-speed sprint through the forest, but such grime didn't matter in the slightest. The delight on his face said as much.
It was only natural. The man from the Former Mobile Unit had witnessed Rei's strength countless times, etched deep into his very bones.
"Actually, in the forest—"
"It's about the Cyclops, right? Don't worry, that's already been taken care of. ...Well, I can't say it's completely resolved, since there might be more Cyclops beyond what you saw. But Yohanna and the others are all safe."
"...Huh?"
The man stared at Rei, unable to process what he'd just heard. His expression said it all—What is he talking about?
Given that Rei's words seemed to have anticipated everything they'd done, it was hardly surprising the man felt that way.
But then understanding dawned. If it was Rei, accomplishing something like this was perfectly plausible.
To clear up the misunderstanding, Rei elaborated.
"When I went to the Guild, Deetz had come rushing in. I heard the situation from him."
"...Deetz made it in time, huh."
The man let out a long breath of relief.
He'd been bracing himself for the possibility that Gilm would suffer casualties from the Cyclops—and worse, that he and his comrades might not survive. The fact that Deetz had returned to Gilm and successfully brought back reinforcements, and not just any reinforcements but Rei himself, was more than enough to ease the man's mind.
Though his relief was short-lived, cut short by Rei's next words.
"Yeah. Vihera was there too, so we had more than enough firepower."
"Vihera-sama!? Wait, that Vihera-sama? The one I know? From the Bestia Empire..."
"That's right. Aside from the Vihera you're thinking of, I don't know anyone else who goes by that name."
"Why is Vihera-sama... oh, wait. When we were heading to Gilm, she did say something about coming once spring arrived."
Now that he understood why Vihera was in Gilm, the man silently gave thanks for the coincidence.
Thanks to Vihera, they had been saved.
Of course, he was just as grateful to Rei and Set, who stood right before him.
Without paying any particular mind to the man's reaction, Rei pressed on.
"At any rate. You don't need to worry about the Cyclops for now. The thing Mirene mentioned—going to inform Gilm—you don't have to do that. That's why I flew out here on Set, to pass that message along. But shouldn't you be with the others?"
"Huh? Yes, well... everyone scattered and fled in different directions. So in that sense, it's pretty impressive you managed to find Mirene, Rei-san. Was she running through the forest too, like me?"
Rei blinked, momentarily confused by the man's words. But then it clicked.
In other words, Mirene and the others had told no one and stayed behind as a rear guard, drawing the Cyclops away so the others could escape.
"No. The ones I met were Mirene, Surnin, and Yohanna. Just the three of them. They were holding the Cyclops back."
"...Huh?"
Now it was the man's turn to wear the same blank expression Rei had just moments ago—completely unable to process what he was hearing.
But as a former member of the Mobile Unit, he was no slow thinker.
Once the meaning sank in—why Mirene and the others had stayed behind—he couldn't find the words. He simply looked up at the sky.
What spread above him was a springlike blue sky.
"Good grief... Soft-hearted idiots, the lot of them."
He muttered it, but a wry smile tugged at his lips.
A few seconds passed before he finally lowered his gaze from the sky back to Rei.
"So... the three of them are safe, right?"
The certainty in his voice came from trusting in the strength of Rei and Vihera.
Rei nodded.
"Yeah. Some scrapes and bruises, but nothing fatal. No serious injuries."
"I see... Thank god. Once I get back to Gilm, I'll treat them to a meal or something. Not that I have much money to spare..."
"Treat them well. I'm heading to Gilm now, but..."
"Ah, right. Good idea. I might not have been the first one out of the forest, so that's probably for the best. Besides, forming a Subjugation Force costs money and all."
The fact that the man could respond so promptly showed he understood the practical issues involved in assembling a Subjugation Force.
"Then I'll be on my way. If you manage to link up with anyone else, I'll leave it to you to explain the situation."
With that, Rei settled back onto Set's back.
Set let out a cry of encouragement to the man, then broke into a run.
After a few strides, it beat its wings and soared back into the sky.
The man watched from below until Rei and Set dwindled to specks. Then he steeled himself and set off toward Gilm, praying he'd cross paths with comrades who had fled in other directions.
"Well, if we could run into the others too, it'd save us the trip back to Gilm. ...But I doubt things will be that easy."
"Guruu!"
Set let out a sound of agreement as Rei murmured, gazing down at the green grasslands.
They continued flying, wings beating steadily—until the sound of a stomach growling broke the silence.
Come to think of it, it was already past mid-afternoon, edging toward evening.
But Rei had bolted out of Gilm to rescue Mirene and the others, skipping lunch entirely.
So it was hardly surprising that his stomach was now making its demands known.
He'd snacked on various things while showing Vihera and the others around, but it clearly hadn't been enough to satisfy either Rei or Set.
"Guruu..."
Hearing Rei's stomach, Set seemed to remember its own hunger and let out a plaintive cry.
It twisted its head back, fixing Rei with round, pleading eyes from atop its own back.
Faced with that look, Rei couldn't help wanting to feed Set something.
The fact that he himself was starving probably had more than a little to do with it.
"Once I finish my business in Gilm, we'll grab a proper meal at a shop somewhere. This is just to tide us over. Here."
What Rei pulled from the Misty Ring was a sandwich.
If he had his preference, he'd have liked to give Set a hearty meat stew or something served in a pot—and he wouldn't have minded one himself.
But dishes like that were purchased in pots, which meant that to eat one, he'd either have to land and make time for a proper lunch, or risk spilling the entire pot onto the ground while trying to eat it on Set's back.
Wasting food—especially ruining a meal he'd gone out of his way to buy in bulk—just to satisfy a craving right now? The answer to that was a firm no.
Besides, the sandwiches had been stored fresh in the Misty Ring, so there was no loss of quality.
The freshly made sandwiches combined the soft texture of the bread with an assortment of fillings, and the moment they hit the tongue, the hungry stomach demanded more—wanted to keep eating.
Suppressing the urge to devour them all himself, Rei held one out for Set.
Set deftly snatched the sandwich from Rei's hand with its beak, chewed, and purred at the taste.
"Gururururuu!"
Just like Rei's stomach, Set wanted more—more, more, more.
Rei fed Set while eating himself, and before long, Gilm came into view.
Given Set's speed, it was no surprise. At Rei's signal, Set angled its descent toward Gilm's gate, wings beating.
...The fact that it was still munching on a sandwich even then was quintessentially Set.
At the gate, as expected, there were people going through entry procedures.
It was close to evening, so a fair number of adventurers who had finished their requests were lined up as well.
Thanks to that, hardly anyone batted an eye at Set touching down on the ground.
Though...
"Rei-kun! I told you to land somewhere away from the gate, didn't I!?"
Ranga had come out, drawn by the commotion, and promptly scolded him.
"Sorry, Ranga. It was something of an emergency. ...Actually, if you're already here, this might work out."
Ranga caught the shift in Rei's expression—this wasn't a joke. His annoyance gave way to concern.
"Did something happen?"
"I assume you know I went as reinforcement for the Cyclops subjugation..."
"Yeah, of course. ...Don't tell me the Cyclops got away?"
A ripple went through the crowd.
The moment Ranga said it, the adventurers who'd been watching the exchange began to murmur among themselves.
Astonishment was written across every face.
It was only natural. Among the adventurers based in Gilm, there was hardly anyone who didn't know the strength of Rei and Set.
If there were any, it would be newcomers who had only heard rumors but never seen Rei in person.
...And even they wouldn't make that mistake, not with Set standing right there.
"No, that's not it. The Cyclops have already been dealt with. A different problem came up."
At Rei's words, Ranga's expression tightened with a flicker of distaste.
From years of dealing with Rei, he knew full well that problems involving Rei tended to spiral into something major.
That experience was exactly why he braced himself for bad news.
His instincts were half-right—and half-wrong.
To be precise, there had been problems: the red Cyclops, the fact that there were actually seven Cyclops instead of five, and the possibility that even more were still out there. But the vast majority of it had already been resolved.
Only the lingering possibility of additional Cyclops remained unresolved.
"And that problem would be...?"
"There weren't five Cyclops—there were seven. And among them was an individual that appeared to be either a Rare Species or a High-ranking Species."
"—!?"
Even expecting bad news, hearing it stated directly was still a shock.
Cyclops were C-Rank monsters. Seven of them, plus something that looked like a Rare Species or a High-ranking Species—
The onlookers who overheard reacted the same way.
"Yeah, don't worry. We took down all of them. It's just that it seems the members of the Subjugation Force scattered and fled before we arrived. Those people might show up here to report that the Cyclops were beyond their ability to handle."
"Ah, I see. You want to get ahead of that."
"That's right."
Ranga exhaled a breath of relief at Rei's explanation, thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Then you can rest easy on that front. Among everyone who's returned to Gilm since your group left, none of them were part of the Cyclops subjugation. If someone like that does show up, we'll know the moment they come through the gate."
At those words, Rei let out his own breath of relief. Deciding it would be best to inform the Guild as well, he proceeded to complete his entry into Gilm.