Two days after collapsing the mine, Rei found himself in the city of Jawa, the heart of Count Relduct's territory.
To be precise, he was in a grove some distance away from the city itself.
Alongside Rei and Set were the members of the Rebel Army.
"Then we'll head into the city. We start once it gets dark, right?"
The man speaking—the one leading the Rebel Army—received a nod from Rei.
"Yeah, go ahead. Ideally, I'd enter the city with you, but... right?"
"Gruu."
At Rei's words, Set, beside him, purred apologetically.
A gryphon roughly three meters in length naturally stood out.
If Rei, commanding such a monster, tried to enter Jawa, it would inevitably become a topic of discussion, and the information would likely reach Relduct.
And when it came to someone commanding a gryphon, Count Relduct of the Noble's Faction would understand who it was without needing to think.
...Yes. The strongest blade of Daskar, the central figure of the Neutral Faction: Crimson Rei.
Furthermore, Relduct bore a guilty conscience, having dispatched private soldiers to interfere with Daskar's expansion of Gilm.
If he were to learn that Rei had come to the city he ruled, what that would signify required little thought.
Battling Relduct's subordinates inside Jawa before Rei and the Rebel Army could even launch their attack was something Rei wanted to avoid—and naturally, the Rebel Army members felt the same.
As a result, Rei and Set waited outside Jawa for night to fall.
Seeing off the man from the Rebel Army, Rei leaned his weight against Set, who was lying down in the grove.
"Gruu."
Set purred happily and nuzzled his face against Rei.
"Now that I think about it, it feels like it's been a while since I've had this kind of relaxed time with Set."
"Grururu."
Set cried out and rubbed his face against him.
In reality, they often spent time together outside the Magic Tent when camping, but having a leisurely day with Set like this had been rare lately.
That was probably why Set was so happy.
The branches of the trees growing in the grove softened the intense sunlight, creating a scene before them that could fittingly be called dappled sunlight.
Normally, it would be hot since it was summer, and even in a grove, one would likely sweat.
Moreover, leaning against Set, who was covered in soft fur, would make enduring that heat difficult.
However, Rei had the Dragon Robe, which could be called a simplified air conditioner.
Summer or winter—no, even in midsummer or midwinter—it made no difference at all. He could spend time outdoors without a care.
"Here, Set. Want something to eat?"
What Rei retrieved from his Misty Ring was a whole roasted Mountain Bird, purchased at a dining hall in Gilm.
The Mountain Bird, slightly smaller than a chicken, was stuffed with various vegetables and slowly roasted.
If cooked for a long time, the flavor of the meat would transfer to the vegetables stuffed inside, but that also meant the meat itself would lose some of its taste.
Even so, the Mountain Bird meat now placed on the plate before Set was sufficiently delicious.
"The texture isn't dry at all. If anything, it's moist? And yet the flavor of the meat has transferred properly to the vegetables inside. ...I wonder how they cooked this."
Dividing a portion for Set while tasting it himself, Rei tilted his head.
Rei had spread dishes like udon, okonomiyaki, nikuman, and pizza in Gilm and Emosion, but he was by no means knowledgeable about cooking itself.
He had merely explained based on the knowledge he gained while in Japan, and many of those explanations were clumsy. It was safe to say the cooks had gone through extensive trial and error to properly complete the dishes Rei had taught them.
Given that, Rei didn't know what kind of preparation went into creating the dish before him.
"But the one thing I do know... is that it's delicious."
"Gruu!"
Set cried out as if agreeing with Rei's words and nudged the plate toward Rei with his front leg, asking for more.
The Mountain Bird was only about the size of a small chicken, so Rei ended up retrieving two more of the same dish from his Misty Ring.
The sounds of insects echoed through the grove.
One could even describe it as noisy—such was the volume of the chirping.
As the surroundings grew dark and the moon was half-hidden by clouds, Rei woke up.
"Gruu?"
Perhaps noticing that Rei had awakened, Set—who had been serving as a substitute sofa... no, a substitute bed—shifted his face from his half-asleep vigilance of the surroundings and looked at Rei.
"Yawn... hh, Set. Thanks. That was easy to sleep through."
"Grururu."
As Rei stroked Set in gratitude, Set purred contentedly under the attention.
Rei typically didn't think clearly for a while after waking up, but that was only when he could sleep with peace of mind, like at an inn.
In a place like this, which could rightfully be called enemy territory, he could spring into action the moment he woke.
"Set's body really is the perfect size for sleeping, huh."
"Grururu!"
At Rei's praise, Set purred proudly, as if to say "Of course!"
In truth, Set's fur was soft, and his body was unbelievably soft and supple considering his strength.
Disregarding the heat of being buried in Set's fur during summer, one could obtain an extremely comfortable sleep.
...Though that heat would normally be unbearable.
"Well, if I told Mirene and Yohanna that they could sleep cuddling Set even in summer, they'd probably be thrilled."
Thinking this, Rei retrieved the Dagger of Flowing Water from his Misty Ring, lightly freshened up with water created by his magic, and cleared his head.
He had only taken a short nap of a few hours, but his mind felt refreshed.
"...Alright, let's get going then. The others are probably tired of waiting inside Jawa."
"Grururu."
Set purred in agreement.
They had agreed beforehand to launch the raid at night, but hadn't set a specific time.
No—even if they had tried to set a specific time, Rei had a clock, but the Rebel Army had no way to tell time.
If it were daytime, bells would ring at six, nine, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen o'clock, but that was only during the day.
Since it was already dark, no bells would ring.
That being the case, they had no choice but to decide roughly when to move beforehand and act accordingly.
"It'd be nice if clocks were more common."
"Gruu?"
Set tilted his head as if asking what was wrong at Rei's mutter.
Rei shook his head to indicate it was nothing and immediately took action.
Exiting the grove, he mounted Set and headed toward Jawa.
It was a city, and moreover, Relduct's base.
Naturally, there would be some kind of barrier... While Gilm was on the frontier and had powerful monsters, here they weren't nonexistent, but far fewer compared to the frontier.
Setting up a barrier required a massive amount of funds.
For something like Gilm's, which prevented monster invasions from the sky, it would be difficult with the assets available in Count Relduct's territory.
It wasn't impossible, but it would consume much of those assets.
Moreover, whether such a barrier would even be useful was questionable.
"Is it like building a nuclear fallout shelter at a house in the Japanese countryside?"
Rei himself felt the analogy was slightly off the mark, but it was still the comparison that fit best.
Regardless, since there weren't that many high-rank monsters, Relduct—no, Relduct's ancestors who built Jawa—must have decided there was no need for a barrier like Gilm's.
And successive heads of the Relduct family all shared the same view, resulting in the barrier covering Jawa not being one that repelled enemies, but rather one that detected those entering from the sky.
In truth, that wasn't necessarily a mistake.
A powerful barrier like the one used in Gilm required considerable resources just to maintain.
Considering the monsters that existed in Count Relduct's territory, such a barrier had been sufficient until now.
...Yes, until now.
"Set!"
"Gurururururu!"
At Rei's word, Set cried out loudly and dove straight toward Jawa.
Without slowing down, he headed directly for Jawa... for the Lord's Manor at its center.
Even though it was nearing midnight, multiple lights burned in the Lord's Manor.
Magic Items for lighting normally couldn't be used so freely.
The fact that they could suggested Relduct possessed that much financial power—in other words, he was likely collecting exorbitant taxes.
Normally, places like taverns and brothels would have many lights burning, but at least from what Rei could see from above, Relduct's mansion had them beat in sheer numbers.
"Gruu."
During the descent toward the ground, Set suddenly purred.
Rei wondered what it was, but in the next moment, he sensed something and understood what Set had reacted to.
At the same time, he realized that was probably the barrier.
"Someone... or something has invaded from above Jawa. They're probably in an uproar right now."
Thinking this, Rei kept his gaze fixed on the ground as it gradually approached... and in the next moment, Set flapped his wings wide, killing his falling speed in an instant.
When Set landed in what appeared to be a garden, Rei, on his back, felt no particular shock.
Not only that, but despite a three-meter-long Set plummeting while flapping his wings, the sound of his landing barely echoed at all—demonstrating just how skillfully Set had touched down.
But even landing without a sound, Set was still massive.
The intimidation radiating from him—the aura naturally emitted by an S-Rank equivalent monster—was impossible to conceal.
If they were playing, as often happened in Gilm, that kind of aura wouldn't be emitted.
Regardless, within a few minutes of Set landing in the garden, his figure was discovered.
"The garden! Something's in the garden!"
"Apparently something broke through Jawa's barrier. It's probably that!"
"Heh."
From Rei and Set breaking through the barrier to landing in the garden, not even a few seconds had passed.
From landing in the garden to being discovered by the soldiers, knights, private soldiers, and various other personnel in the Lord's Manor took several minutes.
Despite that brief time, the information that the barrier had been breached had already spread. This indicated that the chain of command here was solid and that many of those present were fairly skilled.
"Well, the chain of command aside, whether they're actually skilled is debatable."
Glancing at the people surrounding him, Rei thought this.
In practice, from what he could see, there didn't seem to be anyone strong enough to impress him.
Of course, this wasn't all the combat power in the Lord's Manor.
Those who were truly skilled would naturally be placed near Relduct as his direct escort.
"Who are you!"
One of the people surrounding Rei and Set shouted.
Facing the man who shouted, Rei took a step forward with a smile.
"Who am I? Looking at the current situation, can't you tell? Did you think the one your master crossed would just be beaten down one-sidedly?"
"What? What do you mean by that?"
Whether it was because of the sudden night raid and he couldn't connect the dots even after seeing Set, or because his mind wasn't fully working due to the surprise attack, he couldn't deduce Rei's identity even after seeing Set.
In any case, having him fail to reach that conclusion even after seeing Set was a miscalculation for Rei.
For a moment, the thought of going on a rampage while hiding his identity crossed his mind, but he had come here strictly for retaliation.
Since that was the case, he needed to properly reveal his identity.
"If you see this, will you know who I am?"
Saying this, he retrieved the Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring.
The Twilight Spear was one thing, but there weren't many who used a scythe as a weapon. No, it was safe to say there were only a handful.
Some who heard tales of Rei's exploits used one out of admiration, but wielding a scythe in actual combat was extremely difficult.
Because of that, seeing the Death Scythe, the people finally realized who stood before them.
"You're..."
"Looks like you finally understand. I'm Rei, an adventurer from Gilm. ...Or would 'Crimson Rei' be easier to grasp?"
Saying this, he swept the Death Scythe horizontally.
At the strike that seemed to tear through the air itself, those watching caught their breath.