They had already traveled far from what could be called the frontier — so far, in fact, that it would not have been surprising for a horse-drawn carriage to take several days to reach Sablusta.
The sun, which had been shining with all its summer strength, was now sinking into the west as though exhausted from the day's activities and drained of its power.
Squinting against the last rays the setting sun strained to unleash, Rei stored the dismantled Orc materials, Magic Stones, Subjugation Proof Parts — and most importantly, the meat, which had been his primary objective — into his Misty Ring and headed toward where Set was waiting.
Normally, Set would have wanted to stay by Rei's side, but this time he had stayed behind because Rei had asked him to guard the woman who had been captured by the Orcs.
He could have dismantled the Orcs beside the woman, but he figured that when she — who had presumably been abducted by the Orcs — woke up, having someone dismembering Orc corpses nearby would be a severe shock.
For Rei, who was accustomed to Set, this was obviously the best choice, and in practice it was certainly the right call. But for someone who knew nothing about the gryphon, it meant suddenly finding one of the most fearsome monsters in existence lying right beside them.
Under normal circumstances, that would be far more startling than finding Orcs nearby.
However — fortunate as it may have been — when Rei returned, the woman did not appear to have woken yet.
...Even if she had, upon learning a gryphon was nearby, there was also the possibility she would have simply continued feigning unconsciousness.
"Set, anything unusual?"
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set, who had been lying on the grass, cried out as if to say, "Of course not."
With Set exposing himself like this, any monster with a reasonable degree of intelligence would not approach on its own.
Though there were exceptions like Goblins.
"I see. Then shall we get a meal ready so she can get something in her stomach as soon as she wakes?"
"Grururu!"
The mention of a meal must have pleased him.
Set cried out happily...
"Nn... nnn..."
...and that voice roused the woman from her unconsciousness.
Hearing the sound come from the woman's mouth, Rei turned his gaze toward her once more.
Rei knew that looking at a woman's sleeping face was ill-mannered.
But as long as he did not know who she really was, he could not let his guard down so easily.
(There's a chance she's actually an assassin who'd self-destruct and take everyone around her down the moment she wakes up... It's not like that possibility is zero, right? ...No, probably not.)
He immediately dismissed the thought he had just had.
In the first place, Rei passing through here was something decided by chance today.
If he had not accepted Daskar's request to retaliate against the Noble Faction Nobles, he would not have passed through here at all, and depending on Set's flight path, there was a very real possibility he would never have encountered the Orcs.
If that was the case, then this was not something arranged — it was purely coincidental.
"From what I can see, you're around twenty?"
In Rei's eyes, she appeared to be about that age.
Of course, in the world there were certainly no small number of people whose actual age differed greatly from their appearance.
Long-lived races such as Elves and Dark Elves were prime examples.
In terms of apparent age, Rei was no different.
Elena had inherited the Magic Stone of an Ancient Dragon, extending her lifespan to an extraordinary degree, and Vihera had absorbed an Unbris, becoming biologically more than human.
(Wait. If that's the case, then within the Crimson Lotus Wings, is Byune actually the only normal human? ...Well, despite that small body, the fact that she eats about as much as I do isn't exactly normal, though.)
Rei ate a lot for his size, but the same was true of Byune.
While he was thinking about all this, the woman finally woke up, looked around at her surroundings, and pushed herself into a sitting position.
As she did, the sheet that had been draped over her — because catching a chill would be troublesome, even in summer — slipped off.
Normally, he would have covered her with a blanket, but right now it was summer.
It was not yet midsummer, but even so, the temperature was warm enough that one would often feel hot during the day.
Covering her with a blanket in these conditions would be practically harassment.
That was why Rei had used a thin sheet instead.
Of course, if he truly had her best interests in mind, he would have let her rest inside the Magic Tent... but Rei still did not trust the woman that much.
"Umm... why was I sleeping in a place like this, I..."
The woman apparently did not understand her current situation and tried to ask the person nearest to her — Rei.
But her words stopped midway, most likely because the figure of a gryphon lying a short distance away had caught her eye.
"Relax. Set is docile as long as you don't try to harm it."
"...Um, is it really safe?"
"Yeah."
"Really? But... wait, a gryphon? Hold on a moment. Could you be Crimson Rei?"
"You've heard of me?"
Rei was slightly surprised by the words that came from the woman's mouth.
To Rei, she was not wearing armor or anything of the sort — she looked like what you would call an ordinary person.
Having become an Alias Holder, Rei knew his name was spreading.
But that was primarily among those who favored rough work — adventurers, soldiers, mercenaries — and he never thought he would be known by someone in the countryside like this.
If this were around Gilm, near Abuelo or Sablusta, it would not be strange for an ordinary person to know...
"Yes, bards have been singing about the war with the Bestia Empire."
"...I-I see."
Rei had not expected bards to come up rather than simple hearsay. But with the source of the information now clear, he nodded in understanding while still wearing a somewhat indescribable expression.
Bards were those who earned their livelihood by singing in taverns, squares, dining halls — all sorts of places.
And bards, by turning various events into song, also served as a kind of information transmission medium for this era.
As long as things like Paired Orbs were not commonplace, bards played a major role among the means by which those without a certain social status could learn about the world.
Of course, since bards made their living through song, they had to earn money.
As a result, it was not uncommon for the content of their songs to be far flashier than the actual events.
Knowing this, Rei wore a subtle expression even while understanding how the woman had learned of him from a bard's song.
"Hey, hey. So is it true you defeated the entire Bestia Imperial Army all by yourself?"
"That's a lie."
Just as I thought.
Rei sighed and denied the woman's words, looking as though he had expected exactly that.
The woman opened her mouth to speak again, but Rei cut her off first.
"More importantly, why were you in a place like this? It's quite a distance from the nearest village or town."
"Eh? Now that you mention it...! That's right, I remember! I went to a nearby grove to gather berries, and someone hit me... and the next thing I knew, it was now."
"...I see. Lucky, or unlucky. Hard to say."
Most likely, she had been so absorbed in gathering berries that an Orc had struck her and knocked her out.
Rei made that judgment, then directed a somewhat exasperated gaze at the woman.
"It's fine to get absorbed in picking berries, but not even noticing an Orc? Honestly."
"Ugh... th-that's... it can't be helped! My friends tell me that when I focus on one thing, I lose sight of everything else, but that's just how I am!"
"No, if you know that, then fix it. Or at least come in a group with a few others instead of going alone. The best option would be to hire an adventurer as an escort."
"Don't be ridiculous. Do you think I can hire an escort every time I go picking berries?"
"Well, I suppose that's impossible."
Rei knew that too.
But even so, going out into a forest or grove all alone and defenseless was nothing short of suicide.
This might not be the frontier, but that did not mean monsters were nonexistent.
And Bandits, who were absent from the frontier, would be a common enough presence in these parts.
Despite all those dangers, going out to pick berries alone was nothing other than a suicidal act.
"In your case, it's a good thing the ones who caught you were Orcs. No — considering that Orcs have all sorts of personalities, I should say it's a good thing it was those particular Orcs."
"...What do you mean?"
The woman muttered, looking as though she did not understand what Rei was getting at.
"It's simple. If they'd been bandits, it wouldn't have been surprising for them to lay their hands on you the moment they caught you. Compared to that, those Orcs earlier didn't try anything on the spot. It looked like they were planning to take you back to their lair or somewhere first."
The woman's face went pale.
She could evidently imagine what "laying hands on her" specifically entailed.
"Looks like you understand."
The woman gave a small nod to the question.
Seeing her like that, Rei decided that frightening her any further probably was not a good idea. He took a cup filled with Fruit Water from his Misty Ring and handed it to her.
"Well, you're safe in the end. Consider yourself lucky this time and be careful from now on. Here, drink this and calm down."
"Ah, thank you. ...Eh? This is cold!?"
The moment she put the cup to her lips, the woman cried out in surprise.
Naturally. If it had been winter, that would be one thing, but it was summer.
Unless it was water drawn from a mountain stream, she had probably never expected to drink something this cold out in the middle of nowhere.
Completely unaware of the existence of the Misty Ring — let alone where Rei had produced the cup from — the woman looked at him again.
"Where did you get that!?"
"Well, for an Alias Holder adventurer, being able to do this much wouldn't be unusual, would it?"
If another Alias Holder adventurer — say, Elk, who held the alias of the Axe of the Thunder God — had heard that, he would have been furious without a doubt. Rei said it without flinching, drank some of the cold Fruit Water himself, and poured some into a deep dish for Set.
While watching Set drink happily, Rei turned back to the woman.
"So, what are you going to do from here?"
"Even if you ask me what I'm going to do..."
The woman looked around with a troubled expression.
Naturally, this was not the place where the Orcs had captured her.
Finding herself in an unfamiliar location, she turned a helpless gaze toward Rei.
"Um, if it's all right... could you take me back to my village? I can't do much to thank you, but..."
Whether she knew that hiring an adventurer cost money or not, she pleaded with Rei in a somewhat weak voice.
And since Rei was a High-Rank Adventurer and an Alias Holder, hiring him would certainly require a fitting sum — one far beyond anything the woman was imagining.
Rei could understand how she felt.
In fact, if he left her alone in this field, she would simply be attacked again by monsters or bandits.
Unfortunately for her, the woman had reasonably attractive features.
To bandits, she would be the perfect prey.
"Let's see... if your village has some kind of delicious dish..."
"Ah, there is! Well, I don't know if it's delicious or not, but if you're talking about our village's specialty, we definitely have one!"
"...Huh."
Rei's expression brightened slightly at this unexpected piece of information.
Originally, he needed to complete the request Daskar had given him.
But considering Set's speed, it was also true that taking a slight detour would not matter much.
It was already evening, and the sun would soon disappear completely, with the moon taking its place.
Daskar would not expect Rei to travel through the night.
Of course, Daskar wanted Rei to hurry as much as possible. If it were up to him, he would honestly prefer Rei to travel overnight.
As long as they did not know what means Count Relduct — who had been pulling the strings behind the Bistol incident — was using to gather information, the urgency was real.
If Rei truly needed to rush — if it were a matter where every second counted — he would have traveled through the night.
However, he had judged that this particular matter did not require that level of urgency... and the woman's invitation came at just the right time.
"All right, then. I'll take you there, for the sake of that specialty dish. ...So, what's the name of your village?"
"The village is called Zakunya. And I'm Schiller. It'll be a short trip, but nice to meet you."
The woman — Schiller — offered a smile as she told Rei this.