The sun had passed four in the afternoon, its downward tilt plain to see, and yet the sky had not yet taken on the hues of dusk as Set soared through it.
The slight difficulty in its flight, however, had everything to do with Set's current situation.
Rei on its back was the same as always and posed no problem. Vihera and Marina clinging to its front legs was fine as well.
But this time, perhaps because Byune was clinging to one of its rear legs, Set's balance was subtly off mid-flight.
This was Set, of course — the creature that could casually snatch up and carry off a bear larger than itself.
In terms of raw strength, there was no issue whatsoever. But with Byune hanging from only one rear leg, it could not fly as freely as it would have liked.
...Though "as freely as it would have liked" was strictly from Set's own perspective.
To anyone who knew no better, it would appear to be flying without the slightest hindrance.
They were one body and soul... while that may have been a slight exaggeration, Rei could read what was in Set's heart, and he understood the constriction it was feeling.
(I need to do something about this. Should I have a cage made for Set to carry with its legs? But then again, that would make it easier to spot or attack from the ground. ...Well, whether anything could even reach the altitude Set flies at is another matter entirely.)
At a height of about a hundred meters like now, even an attack from the ground would fall short unless something extraordinary happened.
Siege weapons like catapults might reach that high, but Set could easily dodge something as simple as stones — and with Rei and Marina present, interception would be effortless.
"Hey, Rei. Isn't that it!?"
At Marina's words as she hung from Set's front leg, Rei looked toward the ground.
There, the wreckage of a carriage lay abandoned in a spot slightly off the main road.
Whether the driver had veered off the road while fleeing from bandits, or had deliberately left it to slow their pursuers, Rei could not say. But there was no doubt this was the place described in the information — the site where one of the carriages transporting construction materials had been destroyed.
The bodies of what appeared to be adventurers who had been escorting the materials, as well as bandit corpses, were scattered around the area.
"Set, take us down."
"Gruh!"
It had been only a matter of minutes since they had taken off from Gilm, but Set immediately began its descent toward the ground.
With all three — Byune included — clinging to Set's legs, it beat its wings to maintain balance.
"Good thing we left changes of clothes in Vihera's room."
Marina murmured earnestly, having spotted what appeared to be several adventurers in a spot slightly away from where Set was descending.
Marina normally wore a party dress, but if she had been wearing one now, everything under her skirt would have been fully visible from the ground.
At this height, and with the sun above Marina as the light source, there was fundamentally no need to worry about anyone peering underneath.
But that was only under normal circumstances.
There were Beastmen whose five senses — including vision — were sharper than those of ordinary humans, and Elves and Dark Elves possessed inherently high eyesight as well.
Even humans without such racial gifts could easily reinforce their eyesight with magic or skills, provided they had the magical power to do so.
Flying through the sky in a party dress under such conditions would have been mentally taxing in more ways than one.
(If it were Rei, that would be one thing, but I have no interest in showing my underwear to anyone else.)
While Marina was thinking this, Set continued its descent.
The moment it drew close enough, Marina, Vihera, and Byune timed their release and let go.
The grassland was soft and cushioned their landing, but Byune alone stumbled slightly — unlike the other two.
This was where the gap in skill between Byune and the others manifested most plainly.
Rei, naturally, leapt from Set's back and landed without the slightest wobble.
"Mm..."
Byune, who had been watching, let out a quietly frustrated murmur.
Rei did not notice. He had already turned his gaze toward the carriage wreckage.
"It's been thoroughly destroyed. ...They said the materials were stolen, but they wrecked the carriage that was carrying them. How did they transport the goods?"
"...Perhaps the bandits brought their own transport? If so, it would mean they didn't just coincidentally target these particular merchants."
In response to Rei's question, Vihera murmured her thoughts.
But Marina shook her head.
"Gilm has massive amounts of materials brought in every day for the expansion. If that was the target, there's no reason they had to go after any specific group. ...More importantly, Rei. The dead adventurers and the bandits—"
Rei knew what Marina was hoping for.
Still, he had some reservations about burning the bandits' corpses alongside the rest.
Even so, it was this season.
If they didn't process the corpses quickly, there was a real danger of them rising as Undead, attracting monsters with the stench of blood, or worst case, sparking an outbreak of plague.
This location was not that far from the main road, which meant the consequences of leaving bodies here would be severe.
I suppose there's no helping it, Rei sighed inwardly, and used his magic to burn the corpses.
From those who appeared to be adventurers, he collected their Guild Cards and equipment — keepsakes, for what it was worth.
He intended to submit them to the Guild later so they could be returned if the adventurer's family or loved ones came forward.
...The Guild Cards aside, if no one came to claim the personal effects, Rei planned to claim them himself.
But since these were meant as mementos, he left the leather armor and similar gear on the bodies.
Even Rei had no desire to strip armor off corpses.
The acrid stench of charring drifted through the air.
Rei's senses were sharper than most people's to begin with, and Set's were sharper still.
Because of that, neither could help but feel grim about the task.
Perhaps sensing Rei's mood, Marina and Vihera did not force conversation.
Byune, unconcerned with Rei's state, had already begun investigating the direction the bandits had fled.
This was a grassland, though.
It was unclear exactly how much material had been stolen, but it was undoubtedly heavy.
Given that, traces were bound to remain on the ground.
An ordinary person might not be able to read those traces, but for a thief like Byune, it was easy enough.
...Perhaps because she had been leaning more toward warrior than thief lately, Byune herself may have wanted to prove she was still very much a thief.
And so, after what was not quite a moment of silence — but a brief mourning for the adventurers who had died defending the carriage — Rei and his party moved on to what came next.
"Byune, can you track them?"
"Mm!"
At Rei's words, Byune nodded with a look of pure confidence.
She apparently had great faith in her tracking ability.
"Then we're counting on you. Set, keep quiet from here on."
"Gru."
At Rei's words, Set purred in acknowledgment.
Given that Set exceeded three meters in length, even the slightest movement inevitably produced sound.
Let alone when moving through mountains or forests — avoiding contact with bushes and tree branches would be nearly impossible.
(Well, they're hauling materials, so it's probably a place of considerable size.)
With that thought, Rei stroked Set and followed behind Byune as she led them forward.
"What do you think?"
As they walked, Marina suddenly posed the question.
"About what?"
"This whole situation. Don't you think it's suspicious in more ways than one?"
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."
The one who cut into Rei and Marina's conversation was Vihera, who had been watching the surroundings with an air of boredom about her.
When it came to standing watch, having Set around meant nobody else was really needed.
The fact that Vihera was still scanning the area was likely just because she had nothing else to do.
In truth, Vihera had absolute confidence that whatever came their way, they could handle it — and Rei and Marina felt exactly the same.
"It's true that the number of merchants has increased because of Gilm's expansion, but..."
"Ah, that matter."
Rei recalled the conversation he'd had with Lenora.
In reality, this incident could only be described as suspicious in any number of ways.
If the target was the materials being brought to Gilm, there was no need to attack near Gilm specifically.
They could have struck near towns like Abuelo or Sablusta instead, and then they wouldn't have had to worry about frontier monsters at all.
"Well, there's definitely something going on. ...If possible, I would have liked to question the merchants and their escorts who escaped, but..."
"Even if someone knows something, it would be the merchants, wouldn't it? The escort adventurers would..."
Vihera cut off mid-sentence and directed her gaze behind them — toward the place where Rei's fire had reduced the corpses to ash.
"That's true. With some of them dead back there, even if someone was plotting something, it doesn't mean everyone involved was in on it. ...Though this is all just speculation."
"You're right. When we get back, it might be a good idea to have a word with Worker. If the merchant carriages passing through here keep getting attacked, it could lead to all sorts of problems."
"Mm!"
Even as Rei and the others talked, they had been advancing under Byune's guidance when she suddenly gave a brief signal.
At the end of her gaze was a grove of trees.
A perfect location for bandits to set up a hideout — if this weren't the frontier.
"I wonder how they're dealing with the monster threat. In a grove like that, all sorts of monsters would come out at night."
And indeed, because this was the frontier, there were naturally many monsters about.
When night fell, most of them became active.
In the dark, the only light would be from a campfire. Moonlight would help too, but if they'd set up their hideout inside the grove, they couldn't count on much of that.
Under such conditions, spending the entire night on alert, never knowing when monsters might attack, would undoubtedly take a toll — both physically and mentally.
Even a High-Rank Adventurer would prefer to avoid camping outside Gilm, more for the mental fatigue than any shortfall in skill.
Of course, if a request required them to camp out, they would have no choice.
But at the very least, not many would volunteer for it.
(Well, in terms of monsters attacking, Vihera who loves a good fight might not mind it so much.)
Though if asked directly, Vihera would likely pull a face.
She enjoyed fighting monsters, but only those that possessed a certain level of strength.
If a horde of Goblins came swarming at them, Vihera would not be pleased at all.
"They must have some reason for doing this. ...Though this pretty much eliminates the possibility of them being ordinary bandits."
"Right. Well, for now, if we just defeat the bandits, things should become clear enough, don't you think?"
Vihera murmured in agreement with Rei's assessment.
In truth, if this was the work of a bandit group with some hidden agenda, capturing one of their members and questioning them would be the quickest path to answers — that much was certain.
"True. ...Alright then, let's go. To recover the materials, we need to pinpoint their hideout first. ...Byune, can you do it?"
"Mm!"
At Rei's question, Byune nodded to signal she had it handled.
Rei had considered relying on Set if it proved too difficult, but seeing her nod with such confidence, he decided to trust her with the task.
The sun had not yet set, but it was already hanging low.
They had departed Gilm at around four in the afternoon, so that was only natural.
...The flight from Gilm to the attack site had taken only a few minutes.
The time it had taken to leave the Wheat Inn at dusk and get out through Gilm's gate had been considerably longer.
And the journey from the attack site to this grove had taken longer still.
(Gilm's expansion and all — aside from transport using the Misty Ring, I figured there'd be almost no need for me in terms of actual combat. But it seems like there's going to be far more trouble than I expected.)
Thinking thus, Rei stepped into the grove.