By the time the sun was halfway below the horizon, Rei and the rest of the Crimson Lotus Wings were traveling along the highway.
Rei rode Set, while Marina, Vihera, and Byune each rode horses. The remaining horses were led by their reins as they moved.
Along the highway, many people were hurrying to reach Gilm before the main gate closed.
Thanks to Gilm's expansion, the main gate now remained open well into the night, and those with special permission could enter even in the middle of the night.
Even so, it was only natural that most wished to arrive before dark. Anyone who understood the frontier knew why.
The biggest reason was likely that monsters became more active after nightfall.
Those who wanted nothing to do with fighting such monsters naturally hurried—and who could blame them?
This tendency was especially common among merchants and those heading to Gilm seeking work.
...Though among them were a handful who had come to make their fortune as adventurers and actually wanted to fight monsters themselves, they were a very small minority.
In any case, though their circumstances varied, their shared goal was reaching Gilm. Yet when such travelers saw the members of the Crimson Lotus Wings, their eyes went wide.
Naturally. Nearly thirty men were bound with rope, and to prevent even a single one from escaping, they were all tied together in a daisy chain.
Their legs were left unbound so as not to impede their movement, but their hands were pulled behind their backs, ensuring they couldn't build up speed even if they tried to run.
Traveling with that many captives, it was impossible not to stand out.
"Hey, are those slave traders?"
"No, that's different. Those are the Crimson Lotus Wings. So probably bandits or something."
"...Bandits? In the frontier?"
"Oh, come to think of it, I feel like I might have heard rumors about that... or maybe not."
"Which is it?"
Such conversations reached Rei's ears, and he tilted his head slightly.
Normally, he wouldn't be able to hear exchanges between companions, but Rei's five senses were far sharper than a normal person's, which was why he caught those words.
(What's going on? This should be the first time the merchants' attacks were made public.)
That was precisely why Rei had been dispatched on this Emergency Request.
But from what he just heard, it sounded like the attacks had been known about in vague terms for some time.
Of course, Rei knew that was probably the truth.
After all, the materials inside the cave were far too abundant to have been transported by a single merchant caravan.
Stroking Set's neck as he rode, he turned his gaze once more toward the horses Marina and the others rode at the head of the column.
These horses had been stabled at the hideout Rei's party had raided.
Wagons and similar vehicles had also been found nearby.
Since they had been attacking merchants and stealing materials, it was only natural they would have preparations in place to transport those goods.
The horses were likely kept inside the hideout because they understood that leaving them outside would make them monster food.
For that reason, Rei had stored the wagons in his Misty Ring and confiscated the remaining horses as well.
However, since the Misty Ring couldn't store living creatures, they naturally had to bring the horses back themselves.
He couldn't just release them randomly, so here they were, traveling with horses in tow.
Naturally, the horses were terrified of Set.
That was why Marina and the others' horses led the way at the front, while Rei rode Set at the rear of the column of bandits... no, private soldiers.
In terms of watching to make sure the private soldiers didn't escape, that arrangement worked out perfectly.
Traveling at such a pace, Rei's party was naturally slower than the other merchants and adventurers on the road.
They were overtaken one after another, and eventually, well after full darkness had fallen, they finally arrived at Gilm.
"Oh, Marina-sama, and the rest of you. We've been waiting."
A guard spotted Marina and called out happily.
The fact that he called Marina's name rather than Rei's, the party leader, was because Marina had been leading the column at the front.
Rei himself had been riding Set at the very rear of the line, moving at a leisurely pace.
...Incidentally, Set had jerky in his mouth, and Rei also held jerky in his hand.
Rei's party had eaten before departing from Gilm, but Set had not yet been fed. Feeling hungry, he had pleaded with Rei.
Unable to resist Set's begging cries, Rei had eventually taken some jerky from his Misty Ring and given it to him.
Though giving it to Set was one thing, the fact that he was eating some himself was very much like Rei.
"Hey, Rei. Come over here."
Leaving the negotiation to Marina, Rei had been savoring jerky with Set when he was called over.
He would have preferred to leave it to Marina, but being summoned like this meant he couldn't very well not go.
"What is it?"
"We need to hand over the people we captured in this incident, and we need your signature."
"Ah... right. Figured as much."
With no other choice, Rei headed toward Marina.
...Naturally, this meant Set passed near the horses, and the horses stiffened as he approached.
(Well, at least they're not thrashing around.)
The honest truth was the horses didn't even have the composure to thrash about, but for Rei, anything that reduced hassle was no problem at all.
"Oh, Rei. Sounds like you've had a busy day today."
"Ah... yeah."
His demeanor was quite different from how he addressed Marina, but given everything Marina had accomplished in Gilm, it was neither surprising nor strange.
Rei didn't particularly mind the other man's attitude, and signed the document he was handed.
Then, as he handed the document to the guard, he asked about something that had slightly puzzled him.
"That document was drawn up on the assumption that we'd be bringing captives from the start."
"Yeah, that's right. ...Well, since we entrusted this request to you, they probably figured bringing back captives was a given."
The clause stating that the reward would increase in proportion to the number of captives was clearly based on reading Rei's actions.
(If they're offering a reward, might as well take it.)
Normally, when bandits were captured, they could be sold as slaves.
That would provide additional income, but the ones Rei had captured this time wouldn't be sold as slaves—the Knight Order would take custody of them.
Where they came from, what they were after, what actions they had taken up to now... they needed to extract as much of that information as possible.
In particular, who they served and what weaknesses that party had were critical pieces of information.
Given the need to extract such information, they couldn't be sold off as slaves.
The handover conditions reflected that consideration.
Moreover, the reward was quite high even compared to what they would fetch as slaves.
Since Rei had nothing to lose, there was no need to hesitate.
With the procedures complete, the captives were led away by the guards...
"Wait, hold on!"
Rei called out to the departing guards.
"Hm? What is it? ...Oh, this is fine. Just take them away already, will you?"
After telling his fellow guards that, the one who had handed Rei the document came back toward him.
"No, what about the horses? And we've also secured the wagons those guys were using?"
"Horses? Ah... I haven't heard anything about that. Nothing was written in the document either, so wouldn't it be fine for you to dispose of them however you like?"
"Easy for you to say..."
At the guard's words, Rei looked at the horses with a puzzled expression.
As for the wagons, if it came down to it, he could always ride Set and drop them from the sky as a Mass Weapon, or use them as firewood.
...The fact that the idea of simply using them as wagons never occurred to him was probably because Rei possessed a Misty Ring.
Watching Rei's reaction, Vihera stroked a horse and made a suggestion.
"Why not just sell the horses? ...Well, worst case, we could always process them into meat."
Vihera's gaze was directed toward Set, who was being regarded with curiosity by those going through entry procedures into Gilm, and being petted by adventurers who had clearly been based in Gilm for some time.
At Vihera's words, Rei thought he saw the horses tense up for a moment... but decided it was probably his imagination, and reconsidered the proposal to sell them.
The horses the private soldiers had brought were not warhorses worthy of being called great steeds.
But conversely, they weren't poor horses either.
Since they were perfectly serviceable animals, there would be no shortage of buyers.
Especially now, with Gilm's expansion, there could never be enough horses, carriages, and other means of transportation.
"Ah... I see. Got it. Let's go with that for now."
"Please do. Oh, and take the materials to the Guild, not the material storage. They want to properly verify them over there before accepting them."
With those final words, the guard departed.
What remained were Rei's party, those still completing entry procedures into Gilm, and the guards processing them.
"Alright then, let's get going. ...Vihera, can I leave the horses to you?"
"Sure. What about the price?"
"I'll leave that to you. Just don't let them lowball you."
"Oh my, who do you think you're talking to? I'm fairly good at that sort of negotiation, you know?"
Vihera's words were filled with confidence.
Before meeting Rei's party—back when she had been active with Byune in the Labyrinth City Exil—shopping for consumables and the like had naturally been Vihera's job.
Of course, in her hometown of Exil, Byune had people she could communicate with to some extent, but it was still quicker for Vihera to go shopping.
Having heard about those circumstances from Vihera before, Rei raised a hand in a small gesture of apology and spoke.
"Got it. I'm leaving it to you, then."
With that, they split into two groups—Rei, Marina, and Set in one, and Vihera and Byune in the other—each going their separate ways.
"Shall we be going, too? It's gotten dark, and the Guild should have settled down by now... or so I'd normally say."
Marina offered a wry smile as she said this. The surroundings had already grown dark, and normally the peak busy hours at the Guild would have passed by this time.
But that was only "normally." The current situation, with adventurers flocking to Gilm due to the expansion, was far from what could be called normal.
Demolition of buildings in areas slated for expansion, transportation of construction materials, pre-shaping wood, stone, and metal so they could be assembled immediately once construction began—there were numerous such requests, and adventurers were working quite late into the night.
Of course, since they lacked specialized knowledge, they mostly did work that anyone could do.
In any case, many adventurers were working late.
Naturally, there were also plenty who finished their work as soon as evening came.
Thanks to those adventurers, the Guild was currently expected to have a fair number of people inside.
"Well, can't be helped. Anyway, we completed the request, so we need to hand it in."
And so, Rei's party walked through the increasingly lively streets—bustling with the growing population—and headed for the Guild.
"Rei-san! We did receive word from the Guard Force, but it's already resolved!"
Having parted from Set in front of the Guild, Rei entered with Marina. Lenora spotted them immediately and waved happily as she called out.
Inside the Guild, there were indeed a fair number of people as Rei had expected, lined up at the counter to receive their rewards for the day. But Lenora ignored them and called out to Rei and Marina.
"Hey, wait! What about my reward?!"
Naturally, the Adventurer Man whose paperwork Lenora had been handling voiced his dissatisfaction.
Flustered, Lenora asked a nearby Guild Staff Member who was working on another task to take over, and then came over to Rei.
"Good work. Well then, the requestor is waiting for you, so let's go right away."
"...Waiting?"
"Yes. The Crimson Lotus Wings are a skilled party, so they wanted to wait for your return... though I never imagined you'd be back this quickly. They're waiting in the second-floor conference room right now, so let's go."
With those words, Rei and Marina were led by Lenora upstairs.