After Marina returned, Elena immediately told Ara that they would be heading to the dungeon as early as tomorrow.
Naturally, since they were going to the dungeon, she also needed to explain the reason.
However... perhaps because Elena had already briefed her, Ara accepted the existence of Grimm so readily that Rei found himself wondering if she truly understood what was going on. She immediately set about preparing for tomorrow.
Ara was somewhat undecided about what to do with her room at the Wheat Inn at dusk, but since she had heard that—unlike before—they could instantly reach the lowest floor once inside the dungeon, she decided to leave it as is.
Part of it was courtesy toward the person who had kindly given up the room for her, but a larger factor was the doubt over whether they would be able to secure a room again once they returned, given the current situation.
In any case, having immediately begun preparing supplies, Ara went from shop to shop, making various purchases.
As for luggage, Rei had promised to use his Misty Ring, so there was no need to limit the amount.
...Not that she had any intention of buying pointless things, of course.
When Ara returned, Rei stored the items she had purchased one after another into the Misty Ring, and they finished a pleasant meal in the dining hall for the first time in a while. Then, a message came from Marina, and they were informed that everyone would gather in front of the main gate when the six o'clock bell rang the next morning.
"Whoa, it's pretty dark out here."
"That is only natural. Winter is nearly upon us, after all. I would prefer to return to Gilm before the snow begins to fall, though."
Rei, who had arrived at Gilm's main gate and stepped down from the carriage, muttered in displeasure at the dimness of his surroundings.
In response, Elena spoke up, Set cried out, and Ielo followed suit.
Early in the morning—and though the surroundings were not yet fully bright—doing something like this naturally drew attention.
The gazes of merchants and adventurers alike, who were planning to leave Gilm the moment the main gate opened, gathered on them, but Rei and his party showed no sign of caring.
Both Rei and Elena were accustomed to drawing people's attention.
Because of that, they were completely unfazed by the stares directed their way. However...
(Is that idiot still tailing me?)
For just a moment, Rei turned his gaze toward a nearby building... or more precisely, toward the presence harboring hostility toward him, lurking in the shadow of that building. But it was truly only for a moment.
Since they were about to leave Gilm anyway, he figured that even if someone was plotting something, there was nothing they could do about it right now.
"It may be dim, but didn't you say it was already dark when we left the inn? It's not as if there's a great distance from the inn to here, so if it was dark then, it's only natural that it's still dim now."
Ara, who had climbed down from the driver's seat, muttered with a hint of exasperation.
Since her words were perfectly reasonable, Rei couldn't argue any further.
"Do you think Elk and his group will come?"
Unable to retort, he changed the subject instead.
The one who answered that question was neither Elena nor Ara... and naturally, neither Set nor Ielo.
"Of course they're coming."
When they turned their gazes toward the source of the voice, they saw a single carriage.
The horse pulling the carriage was inferior to the one pulling Elena's, but it still possessed the size and presence that could adequately be described as first-rate.
The carriage itself, while not quite on the level of Elena's Magic Item carriage, was clearly built with a considerable amount of money spent on it. However, the fact that the investment was focused on durability was only natural for an A-Rank adventurer.
The man sitting on the driver's seat of that carriage wore his usual innocent smile, like a mischievous child who had simply grown up, as he looked toward Rei and his party.
"Elk."
"Yeah, thanks for having us this time."
Elk replied to Rei's words.
Elk's demeanor showed no sign of someone who had been agonizing over Rhodos.
That was likely surprising to Rei as well.
From beneath his hood, he cast a slightly startled gaze toward Elk.
However, telling Elk not to act cheerful would have been impossible.
From the day Rhodos lost consciousness until today, they had struggled desperately to somehow restore it, yet had produced absolutely no results.
Rhodos's body was gradually weakening from the effects of remaining asleep.
While they had managed to somewhat mitigate it with a Magic Item obtained through connections, Rhodos's body had still grown so thin and frail... no, so small that he could no longer be recognized as someone who had once operated as a C-Rank adventurer.
For Elk and Min, who had been forced to watch this unfold, the proposal Marina brought them this time was something truly worth jumping at.
...Had this proposal come from an untrustworthy individual rather than Marina, Elk and Min would have been far more cautious.
Elk was an A-Rank adventurer and an alias holder.
If word got out that someone like him was searching for a Magic Item to restore consciousness, it wouldn't be strange for someone to appear with the intent to swindle him out of his money.
Of course, anyone attempting such a thing against Elk knew that failure would result in painful consequences, but the money to be gained if they succeeded was enough to make honest work seem pointless.
Additionally, since Elk had a comparatively mild temperament for an A-Rank adventurer, one man had judged that even if he failed, he wouldn't be killed, and made contact with Elk.
In the end, that man met the consequence of having the bones in all four limbs shattered as an example to others.
Even so, the fact that it ended with merely shattered bones rather than severed limbs was probably Elk's mercy.
"Still, I didn't expect you to prepare a whole carriage. I figured we'd travel together in Elena's carriage."
"I planned on that at first too, but Min pointed out that even if your carriage is a Magic Item, having two unconscious people lying around inside would get in the way."
"Naturally. If they were just sitting, it would be one thing, but if people are going to sleep, even two takes up quite a bit of space. Besides..."
Min, who had stepped down from the carriage, paused before turning her gaze toward Elena's carriage.
"As a woman, having an unfamiliar man sleeping next to me while I'm unconscious... isn't exactly pleasant."
While describing her speech as masculine might cause some misunderstanding, those words coming from Min—whose manner of speaking was androgynous—caused Rei and his party, as well as several bystanders who had been listening in, to display expressions of slight confusion.
However, as women, many could understand Min's words.
The women waiting for the main gate to open silently nodded at Min's statement.
"No, but during requests and stuff, don't people normally sleep together?"
"Idiot! You absolute idiot! That's exactly why you can never get a girlfriend!"
"Ow! What's that for, all of a sudden!"
Listening to that exchange drifting over from a short distance away, Rei kept his mouth shut, sensing that if he said anything careless, he too would end up in various troublesome situations.
Elk, having likely already been warned by Min about such matters, silently averted his gaze from the commotion.
In that regard, he had probably experienced similar situations before.
As a result, a somewhat awkward atmosphere drifted over the surroundings... and as if to remedy it, a certain figure appeared.
"Oh, you prepared a carriage too, Elk?"
"Guild Master... I'm grateful you reached out to us this time."
"Marina is fine. We'll be traveling together for a while starting today, so calling me Guild Master every time is a bit cumbersome, don't you think? Besides, it draws attention."
"I see. Then I'll call you that. Though considering Marina's appearance, I imagine you'll stand out no matter what."
At Min's words, everyone who had heard the explanation nodded.
There was no mistaking that Rei's party stood out enormously, no matter how you looked at it.
Both carriages were clearly not the kind used by ordinary merchants, and the horses pulling them were on a completely different level from the horses of other carriages.
The horse pulling Elena's carriage was accustomed to Set, and the horse pulling Elk's carriage, despite meeting Set for the first time, hadn't caused any commotion either.
...This despite the fact that many of the horses pulling other carriages were cowering in terror at the sight of Set.
"It can't be helped that we stand out. I suppose we just have to accept it."
Ara, who had been sitting on the driver's seat of Elena's carriage, muttered with a wry smile.
No one could argue with her words, and a vaguely uncomfortable atmosphere settled in.
Amidst all that... eventually the sound of a bell rang out, and it was probably fair to say the timing was just right as the main gate opened.
"Well then, shall we be off?"
Everyone nodded at Marina's murmured words and boarded their carriages.
Those who had been waiting in front of the main gate yielded their turn... and before long, Rei and his party exited Gilm without any real wait.
Several hours after leaving Gilm. Autumn had deepened, but as long as the sun hung in the sky, it still illuminated the ground brightly.
Though, considering the presence of a few rain clouds, it was by no means a clear autumn day.
Still, compared to traveling on foot, the carriage ride was considerably easier.
Elena's carriage in particular was a Magic Item, so whether it was somewhat cold or hot outside, it was no problem at all.
The carriage Elk was riding in was an ordinary one, not a Magic Item, so it wasn't as comfortable as Elena's, but it was a luxury item nonetheless, and such considerations were properly accounted for.
It was a carriage built with an emphasis on defense, but eliminating elements of discomfort while riding was a given.
Currently, there were two carriages, with Set walking alongside them. And Ielo, chirping happily atop Set's head—this bizarre group, whose combat power could be called overwhelming from an outsider's perspective, proceeded onward toward the dungeon.
"Huh... compared to before, the road has become quite well-maintained."
Looking out the window, Rei muttered.
Naturally, where the dungeon was located, there was no paved highway; only a trodden path existed.
It had been quite some time since Rei had passed through here, but the road bore the marks of that passage of time.
"That's right. The dungeon over there hasn't been cleared yet, so there are many merchants who buy materials and magic stones, as well as merchants doing business with adventurers. People like that walk this path every day. ...Look."
Marina pointed something out to Rei, who had been peering out the window.
Rei looked in the direction she was pointing and spotted five figures who appeared to be adventurers walking toward Gilm.
They seemed to be fairly skilled adventurers, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings even while conversing.
They also eyed the two approaching carriages, scanning for anything suspicious.
...What was unfortunate for these adventurers was that, as usual, Ielo and Set were conversing with purrs and chirps as they walked, and before long they had hidden their forms behind the carriage.
Looking at the carriage with its splendid horse, Set suddenly emerged from behind it.
These adventurers, operating in the dungeon, had confidence in their own skills.
Even so, it was understandable that they froze, unable to comprehend the situation when Set suddenly appeared before them.
Normally, when walking along a road, one doesn't expect a gryphon to emerge from behind a carriage that had been traveling ahead of them.
"Huh? Hey... is that?"
"Yeah... you'd think so."
The adventurers exchanged such words, but neither the carriage nor the gryphon paid them any mind and simply continued forward until they passed each other.
Elk and Ara, on the driver's seats, looked as though they wanted to say something about the adventurers having stopped in their tracks, but they must have decided there was no point in speaking up. In the end, they passed by in silence.
"Hey, do you think it's fine to just leave them like that?"
"I wonder. But if they were from Gilm, I wouldn't expect them to be surprised by Set."
After passing the adventurers, the two carriages once again moved forward side by side.
From the driver's seats, Elk and Ara exchanged those words.
In truth, those operating in the dungeon they were heading to were, to a greater or lesser extent, people who had ties to Gilm.
More precisely, it was standard practice to stop by Gilm first to prepare before heading to the dungeon.
That was exactly why they didn't understand why those adventurers had been surprised.
However, they quickly decided it didn't matter and resumed driving their carriages toward the dungeon.
While not on the level of Elena's horse, they had still prepared well-trained, expensive horses in order to reach the dungeon even a little faster.
By any means necessary, to restore Rhodos's consciousness.
The reins gripped in Elk's hands creaked with a tight sound... and with his resolve on full display, the two carriages, along with Set and Ielo, hurried onward down the road toward the dungeon.