Having taken flight from the place steeped in the stench of rust and decay, Rei turned his gaze back toward the ground from atop Set's back.
They had put some distance between themselves and that previous location, but the smell still seemed to have seeped into its body — Set was looking somewhat miserable.
Even so, there was no time to leisurely wash off the stench here. They had no choice but to wait for it to fade naturally.
"Sorry, Set. The smell should go away once some time passes, so just bear with it for now."
"Guruu..."
Having witnessed that scene with its own eyes, Set could understand Rei's words.
That was precisely why it kept flying despite the foul stench clinging to Rei, enduring it.
"Maybe I should try using that censer after all? ...No, that won't work."
The censer Rei had obtained earlier, despite taking the form of a censer, didn't actually have the effect of dealing with foul odors.
From what he could see, it seemed to contain smells within a certain area. And since Rei and the others had been able to detect it even while flying through the sky, it hadn't even been completely effective.
Given how a censer is typically used, that was rather ironic.
"Besides, I haven't investigated how to use it or exactly what effects it has yet. I don't think it's likely, but there's always the possibility that it could explode when I try to use it."
A self-destruct mechanism — a man's romance. Rei didn't hold any such sentiment, but it wouldn't be strange for such a mechanism to be in place simply for the sake of secrecy.
(Someone capable of creating that kind of scene wouldn't think it strange to have a method for destroying evidence. Considering they're an alchemist from the Bestia Empire who can produce that many Magic Items, it's not like they'd lack the technical skill.)
As Rei, having decided to have the censer examined after returning to Gilm, considered this, Set rumbled from its throat.
"What is it?"
"Gurururu!"
Set rumbled while directing its gaze toward the ground.
Could there be another scene like the one from before? Rei thought so, but there was no smell of decay or rust at all.
"Umm... hmm? Ah, over there!"
Rei turned his gaze in the direction Set was facing and let out a delighted voice upon finding what appeared to be a cave.
"Guru."
Set rumbled as if to say that's right, in response to Rei's words.
"Got it. Let's head down, then. Stay cautious, just in case. It'd be troublesome if they were lying in wait for us."
"Gururu."
Flapping its wings, Set descended toward the ground.
Fortunately, Set didn't require much distance when landing.
Rei suddenly recalled the word VTOL — vertical takeoff and landing aircraft — from something he had seen while in Japan.
Of course, he didn't have detailed knowledge on the subject, so he couldn't say for certain.
(Besides, whether landing or taking off, it still needs a running start, so it's probably different in a lot of ways.)
While thinking about such things, Set finished landing on the ground.
Stepping off Set's back, Rei tilted his head while gazing at the cave ahead.
If this cave was the alchemist's base, then they would naturally be aware that Rei and Set had landed here.
And yet, the complete lack of any response was enough to make him tilt his head in puzzlement.
(What's going on? Are they confident about mounting a defense inside? ...I see, that's a possibility.)
Whether or not they knew Rei was coming, an ambush was an overwhelmingly advantageous method of attack for the defending side, and choosing it wouldn't be unusual.
(And also...)
Turning his gaze to his right hand, Rei furrowed his brow slightly.
He had been inside once before, and the interior of the cave was far from spacious. There wasn't enough room to wield Death Scythe, the weapon Rei was most proficient with.
"Lately, I've been using this weapon quite a bit for one reason or another."
What he retrieved from the Misty Ring was a deep green Magic Spear from tip to butt — the Thorn Spear.
Just as Rei said, it was a weapon that had seen a lot of use recently.
"Ideally, something like a shortsword would be better, but this is better than a weapon I'm not used to."
Sweeping attacks would be difficult to use inside the cave, but thrusting — the most common method of attack for a spear — could be used without issue.
Moreover, if the inside of the cave was narrow, the opponent wouldn't have the spatial freedom to dodge either, which would unquestionably work to Rei's advantage.
"Set... sorry, but wait for me at the cave entrance. No matter what, there's not enough space for you and me to attack freely side by side."
"Guruu..."
Set let out a slightly disappointed cry at Rei's words, but it knew better than anyone how spacious the inside of the cave was, having teleported there once before.
Because of that, Set obediently complied with Rei's words and turned its attention to keeping watch on the surroundings.
"I'm leaving my back to you. It's precisely because it's you, Set, that I can entrust my back to you."
"Gururu!"
Unlike the disappointed cry from moments ago, it let out a happy cry.
It was disappointing that it couldn't go inside the cave together with Rei, but it clearly had the sense that protecting Rei's back was its own role.
Leaving Set, who had psyched itself up, at the entrance, Rei proceeded into the cave.
The cave itself was neither particularly wide nor particularly long.
It was an extremely short cave, but even so, Rei could find traces suggesting human presence everywhere he looked.
Rei wasn't a bandit, but he still wouldn't overlook things like human footprints or fragments of metal.
(This is the place that the spies we captured back then had designated as their teleportation destination, so it's possible these are traces from when they set up the Magic Circle. Or maybe they're traces from when Ranga or someone came to investigate?)
Advancing through the cave with the Thorn Spear in hand, Rei reached the far end in less than a few minutes. However...
"A miss, huh? Or rather, should I say a hit that turned into a miss?"
He muttered with a sigh as he took in the scene spread out before him.
There was no sign of anyone in Rei's line of sight.
But traces that people had been there until recently remained strong.
So much so that even Rei, who wasn't a bandit, could clearly tell.
"The question is when they abandoned this place. It would be interesting if it turned out someone other than an alchemist had been using it, but judging from what I see here, it's definitely an alchemist."
The reason he could state that so confidently lay in the center of this space at the back of the cave.
There, a Magic Circle he recognized existed, emitting a dull glow.
The pedestal at the center of the Magic Circle was the same composition as the one Rei had seen the censer placed on earlier.
The only difference was that what sat on the pedestal was not a censer, but a jar.
"...Why a jar? Given that there's a Magic Circle here, it must have some special meaning, but..."
The moment Rei muttered those words, the Magic Circle suddenly shifted from a dull glow to a blinding light.
As if Rei's words had been the trigger, he took a few steps back and readied the Thorn Spear.
He didn't know what had happened, or what was about to happen, but he understood that it was something troublesome.
Near Rei, a small stone fell from the ceiling.
"Collapse!?"
What flashed through Rei's mind was a scene from a movie he had seen while in Japan.
In that movie, the protagonists ventured deep into a cave in search of treasure, only for a trap to trigger a cave-in the instant they obtained the treasure at the end.
Instantly judging that staying here was dangerous, Rei whirled around and broke into a sprint toward the cave entrance.
The Thorn Spear had already been stored in the Misty Ring when he turned around, so it wouldn't get in the way of running.
Rei, possessing physical abilities far surpassing those of an ordinary person, felt the cave walls streaming past his vision as he ran.
Even as he did, stones and rocks continued to fall one after another from the cave ceiling, and it was clear that the cave would collapse completely at any moment.
Amidst all that, Rei kept running while dodging the falling rocks and stones. Since the cave itself wasn't very long, the light from outside came into view.
Diving into that light and the cave behind him collapsing completely happened almost simultaneously.
"Phew... I made it in time, I guess."
"Guruu!?"
Set, who had been keeping watch on the surroundings outside, approached with a worried cry as Rei came running out of the cave in a panic.
Rei reached out and lightly patted Set, who was looking at him with round eyes as if asking, Are you okay?
Looking behind him while stroking Set, what spread out there was the completely collapsed cave.
Gathering those stones and rocks and digging out the area where the Magic Circle had been would require considerable effort.
On top of that, whether there was even any need to go that far was something Rei would have to wrestle with.
After all, the other side had set things up so that the Magic Circle would activate and the cave would collapse when someone entered.
(I would think there's a possibility of animals or monsters wandering in too... ah, so that's what the Magic Circle was for.)
He concluded that the Magic Circle had probably been making that kind of judgment, and found himself nodding in understanding.
At any rate, an enemy that well-prepared wouldn't deliberately leave behind clues that could lead back to them.
If so, digging through the cave here would be meaningless.
Making that judgment, Rei thought about returning to Gilm, feeling regretful that he hadn't been able to find any clues after all, when...
"Guruu!"
At that moment, Set — who had been purring with delight like a cat despite being a Gryphon as Rei petted it — snapped its gaze toward the collapsed cave and let out a sharp, vigilant cry.
Unlike the round eyes from when it was being petted, its gaze was razor-sharp, as if it were unleashing its full capabilities as a Gryphon.
With such a gaze directed that way, naturally Rei wouldn't fail to be on guard either.
Drawing his weapon from the Misty Ring, Rei turned back toward the cave.
What he held in his hand was not the Thorn Spear he had carried inside the cave, but the Death Scythe — Rei's signature weapon.
The area in front of the cave had a fair amount of space, and at the same time, there was no one else around, just like when he had fought the Cobolts.
If anything, Set was there, but Set was a partner that had no issue with Rei swinging the Death Scythe to his heart's content.
Set too lowered its body slightly, ready to attack at any moment, and Rei readied his Death Scythe.
Under the gaze of the two of them, the pile of stones and rocks created by the cave's collapse began, ever so slightly, to tremble.
"...What? There shouldn't have been any monsters or creatures of any kind."
Since he had advanced all the way to the dead end of the cave, he had confirmed that no living creatures were inside.
But the fact that the stones and rocks were trembling now meant there was some moving presence...
Before long, in full view of Rei and Set, the stones and rocks were sent flying into the air as if a volcano had erupted.
The stones and rocks sent skyward naturally came crashing back down, bearing down on Rei and Set.
"Tch, Set, be careful!"
"Guruu!"
Set cried out in response to Rei's words.
Since Set possessed high physical abilities as a Gryphon, it dodged every single falling stone and rock.
Watching that, Rei activated a skill just in case.
"Magic Shield!"
A Shield of Light formed — a skill of the Death Scythe that would block any attack, but only once.
Taking precautions for the worst case, Rei also continued to evade the raining stones and rocks.
Those stones and rocks that were certain to hit, Rei cut, deflected, and smashed with swings of the Death Scythe.
After continuing such actions for over ten seconds, the deluge of stones and rocks finally ceased, and...
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Such a roar echoed throughout the surroundings.
"Hmm. So we don't need to worry about someone entering that cave? We did erase the evidence that we were using it as a base, but it wasn't a complete cover-up."
"Yes. If someone carelessly enters that cave... that person will likely be buried alive. Under normal circumstances, escape from a cave collapse would be impossible. And besides..."
Zboz paused, a faint smile forming on his lips.
That smile was cold, and for just an instant, a cold yet sweet shiver ran down Adria's back.
"And besides... what?"
"Even if someone somehow survived the cave collapse, there's a high probability they wouldn't escape unscathed. What awaits such people next is a Golem that I painstakingly crafted."
The man, whose expression seemed to say he would show no mercy to anyone who interfered with his revenge, wore a smile that evoked sheer obsession.
...However, the man did not know.
That the one who had charged into that cave was Rei — his greatest enemy.
And that Rei had a partner named Set.
That would prove to be something far beyond what the man had anticipated.