Having finished exchanging information with Gail, Rei promptly set out for Count Relduct's territory with Set.
However, this time he wasn't heading there openly. Instead, he was infiltrating by air.
Given the retaliation mission Rei had accepted, that was only natural.
Of course, operating in secret was only necessary until the retaliation was complete.
(Destroying the mines came as an added bonus... but once night falls, there shouldn't be anyone there, right?)
Rei wouldn't hesitate to take a life if his opponent was hostile, but killing people who were merely working at the mines was something he was reluctant to do.
With that in mind, waiting until nightfall when the mines would likely be empty was the plan.
Of course, it wasn't guaranteed that everyone would be gone—some people might remain—so he would need to scout the area thoroughly beforehand.
"Anyway, Jazz's brother... Dostri, was it? The one living in a city called Hazlui. Even if I'm going to meet him, it'd be better to wait until after dark. ...Sneaking in should be easy enough."
In the frontier city of Gilm—or really, most other places—such a thing would be unthinkable, but in Count Relduct's territory, defensive walls and the like were apparently neglected.
This was because the heavy taxes, barely enough for people to survive on, left no budget to spare for repairing defensive structures.
It wouldn't have been surprising for damage from bandits and monsters to be severe, but Rei had heard from Gail that Count Relduct was apparently mindful of this and encouraged the subjugation of bandits.
(With taxes that harsh, it wouldn't be surprising if people couldn't make a living and turned to banditry... but that hasn't happened? That's something I wonder about.)
As he flew through the sky, surveying the landscape below, a relatively large city eventually came into view in the distance.
Hazlui—Rei's destination.
"Set, let's kill some time nearby until night falls. Want to find somewhere to sit down and have a proper meal?"
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred happily.
Even while Rei had been talking with Gail, soldiers and maids who had succumbed to Set's cuteness had given it dried meat and grilled meat, but even so, it was probably far from enough for Set.
Purring happily, it began its descent toward the ground.
Set's destination was a spot a fair distance from Hazlui, where several large boulders were scattered across the terrain.
Thanks to Set's speed, they arrived in no time, but traveling on foot from Hazlui to this boulder field would easily take more than half a day.
For Rei and Set, who planned to sneak into Hazlui once night fell, it was an ideal hiding spot.
...Or so it should have been.
"Tch, someone beat us here?"
The several figures in his line of sight must have noticed Set descending. Rei could see them hastily scrambling from a resting state into combat readiness.
(What should I do?)
For a moment, Rei thought it might be better not to approach the boulder field and simply fly away. But come to think of it, the more sources of information he had, the better.
In that case, rather than flying off, it would be faster to swoop in and subdue them all at once.
Making that decision, Rei gave a small nod to Set, who was looking at him as if asking what to do, and spoke.
"Go for it. Right now, I want every source of information I can get."
"Grururu!"
Set looked slightly disappointed, having expected to get something to eat, but still cried out in acknowledgment of Rei's words and descended toward the ground.
As Rei and Set descended, several people on the ground nocked arrows and loosed them.
However, those arrows were effortlessly slashed aside by the Death Scythe Rei drew from his Misty Ring.
Arrows shot at Rei and Set while they were airborne would have lost their momentum by the time they reached them and probably wouldn't have even pierced Set's hide if left alone.
Even so, Rei deflected them, not wanting to take any chances.
"If that's how they want to play it, then I'll respond in kind. Let's go, Set."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set beat its wings and dove rapidly toward the ground.
The men at the boulder field must have already realized that bows were useless. Even those who had been carrying them switched to spears, longswords, Battle Axes, and the like.
"Heh."
A hint of amusement crept into Rei's voice as he watched.
They might not know who he was, but seeing Set should have told them it was a powerful monster.
Despite that, the fact that they made no attempt to flee and instead stood their ground waiting for Set to land stirred just a little bit of satisfaction in him.
"Well, even so, I might need to hold back if I want to question them... right!"
Watching Set descend to about ten meters, Rei leaped from its back.
Naturally, falling from a height of nearly ten meters would mean certain death for anyone else.
But Rei was different.
He activated the Sleipnir boots, decelerating midair as he descended toward the boulder field.
Even so, he was still falling at a speed that would unquestionably shatter an ordinary person's legs, but Rei's physical abilities were fundamentally different from those of a normal human.
Just before landing, he bent his knees—and that alone absorbed the entire impact, allowing him to touch down without making a sound.
"Wha!?"
The men who had been about to attack probably never expected to witness such a feat up close.
Everyone froze for a moment, stunned—and that was more than enough time for Rei.
"Ha!"
With a sharp exhale, he swung the Death Scythe.
Even so, he made sure to strike with the shaft rather than the blade—after all, it was better to keep the people he intended to question alive.
A sensation like crushing something ran through the hand gripping the Death Scythe, and in the next instant, a man was sent hurtling through the air.
"Ah."
Seeing the man slam into a nearby boulder, a sound slipped from Rei's mouth—a small admission that he'd miscalculated slightly. But the others, seeing their companion sent flying, quickly snapped back to their senses and tried to launch their attack at Rei.
"Grururururu!"
Set swooped right past the men who were raising their weapons.
It didn't actually attack—it simply flew past—but a three-meter-long Set beating its wings generated a considerable gust of wind.
At the very least, it was enough to send the men who had been about to attack Rei tumbling off balance from an unexpected direction.
"Whoa!"
"What the—!?"
"Tch!"
The men shouted in alarm as they desperately tried to regain their footing, but there was no way Rei would let such an opening slip by. In the next moment, the Death Scythe swept through the rest of them, and in under a few minutes, all twenty or so men were unconscious.
"...Phew. Somehow managed not to kill any of them. They are alive, right?"
Stowing the Death Scythe in his Misty Ring, Rei turned his gaze toward the first man he had sent flying.
The men who had attacked somewhat desperately toward the end had lost consciousness easily from a single blow of the Death Scythe, but the first man had taken the additional impact of slamming into a boulder, meaning his injuries could be more severe.
"Using it on someone who attacked us feels a bit questionable... well, I guess it can't be helped that they'd panic seeing Set out of nowhere," he muttered, pulling a potion from his Misty Ring and pouring it over the man—the one lying a short distance away.
Of course, it was a common potion, the kind sold in shops that any adventurer in Gilm would normally buy and use.
It was certainly not a rare item crafted from World Tree materials.
"Gruu..."
As if it had heard Rei's muttering, Set, who had been keeping watch over the unconscious men, let out a slightly sorrowful purr.
Rei gave Set a look that said it couldn't be helped and spoke.
"These guys didn't know you, so it's understandable. If they actually knew you well, there'd be no reason for them to be afraid."
"Grururu?"
Set tilted its head as if asking, Really?
Rei nodded without a moment's hesitation.
In truth, many people had been frightened by Set's appearance at first, but once they actually interacted with it, a great number of them fell completely under its charm.
Even those who didn't go that far often softened their attitude toward Set considerably.
So, as Rei was encouraging Set not to feel down, a groan eventually escaped from one of the unconscious men.
It was the man Rei had sent flying first—in other words, the one whose restraint he had botched and slammed into a boulder.
Even so, the fact that he was the first to regain consciousness was likely because Rei had used a potion on him.
"Ugh, uhh..."
"Come on, wake up. I've got a lot I want to ask you."
He gave the groaning man a light kick to the ribs to jolt him awake.
Several dozen seconds later, the man Rei had sent flying opened his eyes blearily.
"Me...?"
"Looks like you're awake. Do you remember me?"
"Huh? Wh... what!? Ow!"
The man caught sight of Rei and frantically tried to scramble to his feet.
But the next moment, pain shot through his body, and a cry of anguish escaped his lips.
Rei had used a potion on him, but it was a cheap one.
The cuts and scrapes from hitting the boulder had healed, but it was far from enough to recover from the damage dealt by the Death Scythe's strike.
For Rei, the man's current condition was actually quite convenient.
"I'll ask again—do you remember me?"
"Wh... who are you?"
It wasn't evasion or deflection. He genuinely, from the bottom of his heart, had no idea who Rei was.
Whether it was from the shock of taking the Death Scythe's blow, or because he had lost consciousness before getting a good look at Rei—regardless of the reason, Rei hadn't expected the man before him not to remember him.
"Ah... then look over there. Recognize that?"
Rei pointed at Set, who was keeping watch over the other unconscious men a short distance away.
"...!?"
Seeing Set, the man must have recalled what had happened just before he blacked out.
He glared at Rei with a gaze so fierce it was hard to believe he was injured, and spat out his words in frustration.
"Damn it, that Relduct bastard... I'd heard he was hiring skilled fighters, but to think he'd even brought in a monster like this..."
"What?"
Rei murmured in surprise at the words that had just left the man's mouth.
He had been certain these men were some kind of bandits.
But that muttered remark seemed somehow different from what bandits would say.
Of course, even bandits—no, precisely because they were bandits—wouldn't find it strange that Relduct, who ruled this land, possessed powerful military forces.
But the words that came from this man's mouth were somehow different from what such people would say.
No, the content was the same, but the atmosphere, the impression—it was different.
"Who exactly are you? You don't seem like ordinary bandits."
"Bandits?! Why the hell would we be scum like them?! They steal from people, they kill people!"
Seeing the man scream with such visceral disgust, Rei let out a small sigh.
It was now clear that the person shouting before him was, at the very least, not his enemy.
Since they had attacked the flying Set without a second thought, calling them enemies felt wrong even to Rei. But he had more or less figured out the true identity of the people before him.
Count Relduct, who imposed crushing taxes on his people. The men's high alertness, having attacked the flying Set on sight. And the man's words just now.
Putting it all together, it wasn't difficult for Rei to guess who these people were.
No—given Count Relduct's reputation, it would have been stranger if such people didn't exist at all. In other words...
"Rebel Army. Or perhaps the Resistance."
At those words, the man's eyes went wide—as if wondering how their true identity had been seen through.