The night of the day they departed Gilm, Rei and his party were, naturally, sleeping outdoors.
Of course, as long as they had the Magic Tent, even a campout meant sleeping under a proper roof.
For the meal, Rei produced freshly baked bread from the Misty Ring, along with freshly made stew, simmered dishes, and a vegetable salad. The main attraction, though, was a hearty dish of Orc bacon skewered on branches and roasted over the campfire.
Gathered around the fire, Rei and the others ate while chatting about various things.
"Hmm. Being stuck in that basket the entire time really is exhausting, in the sense that we can't move our bodies at all."
Elena was tired despite having barely moved—a fatigue that was clearly mental rather than physical.
Setting her bread down on her plate, Elena stretched with visible relief.
The others nodded in agreement.
Sitting still inside the basket for so long had clearly taken its toll in more ways than one.
Byune, however, showed no signs of fatigue—perhaps because she had spent part of the trip napping with her head in Marina's lap—and was thoroughly enjoying the food.
"Bear with it a little longer. We should reach Reblurina in a few more days or so."
"......It takes over a month by carriage. With Set, it only takes a few days."
"Guruu?"
Perhaps catching the admiration in Marina's murmur, Set glanced her way.
He was working through a chunk of meat that had to weigh at least five kilograms—not raw, but firmly wrapped in large leaves and steamed with herbs. Pausing mid-bite, he looked at Marina and purred, as if asking what was wrong.
Marina shook her head, signaling it was nothing. Tilting his head in puzzlement, Set returned to his meal.
The sight of Set and Ielo eating so earnestly had a soothing effect on anyone watching.
In reality, Set was three meters long. Under normal circumstances, no one would be able to stand this close and watch him eat without a trace of worry.
The fact that everyone could do so spoke volumes about the trust they placed in him.
As they ate together, the conversation turned to the day's events.
The topic that came up most was the river where they had stopped for lunch.
It was a wonderfully refreshing spot, as one would expect of a summer river, and fish could be seen swimming in the current.
Seeing river fish in summer, Rei briefly wondered if they might be sweetfish. But they matched none of the representative river species he knew—sweetfish, char, or trout—and were an entirely unfamiliar kind of fish.
Set, meanwhile, had been snatching river fish with his beak and swallowing them whole, eating them on the hop.
"Precisely because it's hot, having a meal by a cool river is a real luxury."
No one disagreed with Marina's assessment.
Indeed, eating lunch amid the murmur of the flowing river, the swaying of branches in the breeze, and the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves to soften the summer heat had been deeply enjoyable for Elena and the others, who otherwise had nothing to do while in transit.
Inside the basket, the women had chatted amongst themselves, Marina had used Spirit Magic to scan the surroundings, and Elena had spoken with Ara through the Paired Orbs. But fundamentally, moving their bodies—in the sense of actual exercise—had been nearly impossible.
"That's unavoidable as long as we're limited by the basket's size. It would be ideal if we could fit a Magic Tent inside the Mirage Basket, like Rei mentioned at lunch."
"I understand what you mean, Vihera, but......"
Rei glanced toward the Magic Tent pitched a short distance away.
"The Magic Tent is essential for our work as adventurers. Repurposing it for the Mirage Basket is...... well, if I could carry the Mirage Basket around with me on a regular basis, that might be one thing, but......"
Currently, the Mirage Basket could only blend into its surroundings by consuming Magic Stones. But Rei had already extracted a promise from Daskar and Amaros that it would be remodeled once this mission was over.
With that in mind, expanding it enough to fit a Magic Tent and modifying it to run on magical power rather than Magic Stones was already a half-settled matter.
(Like a fence around a house, I could surround the Magic Tent with the Mirage Basket. ......Or actually, would "placing it inside the Mirage Basket" be the more accurate way to describe it?)
With the Magic Tent as it currently was, anyone catching sight of it from outside would immediately recognize it as a tent.
But by using the Mirage Basket, it would take on the colors of the surrounding scenery, eliminating any worry of being discovered by monsters or bandits while making camp.
The fact that it only replicated the scenery from one minute prior was a known flaw of the Mirage Basket. But if it were used as an enclosure for the Magic Tent, there would be no need to move, rendering that limitation moot.
......Naturally, the campfire still posed a risk of detection. But more importantly, Set stood guard around the Magic Tent anyway, so in practical terms, there was no real issue.
"If possible, I'd want a second Magic Tent specifically for the Mirage Basket. It doesn't need to be as well-equipped as the one Rei has, of course. Even something the size of an empty, unfurnished room would be fine."
"You're right. The main complaint is not being able to move around. If there's nothing in it, we could simply bring in furniture ourselves......"
Elena said this, but her expression lacked the enthusiasm her words suggested.
The Magic Tent itself was an exceedingly rare item.
Naturally, it couldn't compare to Rei's Misty Ring—the Item Box—but even so, crafting a Magic Tent required an extraordinarily high level of technical skill.
It wasn't simply a matter of having sufficient magical power; that power had to be controlled with extreme precision.
The slightest failure wouldn't just mean falling short of the desired result—a botched Magic Tent could very well explode.
Given the degree of precise magical control required, mass production was obviously out of the question.
And since it wasn't something money alone could buy, even Rei and his party couldn't simply purchase one on a whim.
If one were willing to resort to force—violence, intimidation of the maker or those around them, or outright theft—it wouldn't be an issue. But while such methods might be acceptable against bandits or hostile opponents, using them against anyone else was unthinkable.
If they did, Rei and his party would end up with bounties on their own heads.
"In that case, we'll just have to search for that kind of Magic Item steadily, or find someone willing to part with one. Ajas's organization has fairly advanced Magic Item research, so we might be able to count on them."
The others nodded in agreement with Rei's murmur.
The primary objective of this mission was to make the organization that had meddled with Gilm pay the price.
That would naturally deal a devastating blow to the organization.
One of the reasons Rei had accepted the mission was his strong interest in the Magic Items the organization possessed.
Even if they were cheap, limited-effect goods, they had managed to procure Slave Collars in massive quantities.
The organization undoubtedly held a large number of Magic Items.
If so, it wouldn't be at all surprising for them to have something like a Magic Tent.
"You're right. If they have that sort of Magic Item, it would be a real help to us."
Marina said this with a smile.
Part of that sentiment was simply the desire to acquire Magic Items, but Rei could tell that an equal or greater portion of her joy stemmed from the prospect of attacking the organization that had dared to meddle with Gilm.
Though she had already stepped down as Guild Master, Marina had served in that role for a very long time.
Her attachment to Gilm ran deep.
What's more, Ajas and his group—or more precisely, the organization that had been trading with Ajas—had identified adventurers as kidnapping targets. Several adventurers had already been stripped of their freedom with Slave Collars.
Naturally, that did not sit well with Marina at all.
Watching her expression, Rei spoke up without making anything of it.
"If we can get it remodeled into a Land Ship, we might not even need a Magic Tent."
"......Well, that's......"
Vihera offered a wry smile and a noncommittal nod.
But in truth, actually researching the Sand Ship and building a Land Ship would be a project spanning years.
And since success wasn't even guaranteed, the consensus among everyone—including Rei, who had brought it up—was that it was best viewed as a pleasant surprise if it ever came to pass.
As the conversation about the Mirage Basket continued, Elena suddenly noticed something.
"Forgive me. It seems Ara is trying to reach me."
She took out her Paired Orb.
'Lady Elena, are you well? It seems you were flying through the sky all day today—have there been any problems?'
"Ara, there's no need to worry so much. I've had no particular problems, so please don't fret. Though I do wish the Mirage Basket had been a bit more spacious."
'Understood. I'll contact Amaros about that.'
It was precisely because they had the Paired Orbs that they could immediately report any defects or concerns about the Mirage Basket.
However, Elena shook her head at Ara's words.
"No. Amaros is busy with various things right now as well. You understand that, don't you, Ara?"
'That's...... yes, I do.'
Even from Ara's perspective, it was clear that Amaros, with the dark circles under his eyes, was exhausted.
If asked whether there was any need to push him harder right now, the answer would be no.
Besides, even if they identified areas of the Mirage Basket that needed fixing, the actual item was currently here with Rei and the party.
It was only natural, then, that he should focus on the expansion work for now.
"By the way, I'll ask just in case—did anything noteworthy happen in Gilm today?"
'Nothing in particular. The biggest news was Set carrying off the Mirage Basket with Lady Elena and the others inside.'
'......I suppose that was to be expected.'
Of course, Elena knew full well that Gilm had its share of minor daily disturbances.
In fact, given that the town was in the middle of an expansion, it was absolutely impossible for a full day to pass without some sort of problem arising.
Even so, the incident with the Mirage Basket—carried off by Set—had clearly been the biggest talk of the town.
For anyone who knew nothing about it, the sight of Set carrying an enormous object like the Mirage Basket through the sky would have been impossible not to gawk at.
And if the Mirage Basket had been changing color to match its surroundings on top of that...... if even bigger disturbances than that were happening on a regular basis, that would be a problem in itself.
Of course, this was Gilm on the frontier. If asked whether disturbances larger than that one would never occur, the answer was still no.
'Yes. But more importantly, how are things on your end, Lady Elena?'
"What do you mean, how? As I said, no particular problems have occurred. If anything, I'd be more concerned about your end. Even if it's Vihera's room, it's still an inn at the end of the day. Compared to Marina's house, I imagine it's far more prone to...... incidents."
'Ah...... yes, that's true.'
Ara's response was conspicuously evasive.
A sure sign that someone had already come knocking at her door.
Of course, if anyone underestimated Ara because she was a woman and tried to resort to force, that person would undoubtedly regret it.
Her position as commander of Elena's Escort Knight Order was no mere title—it was earned through pure, undeniable ability.
Elena seemed to understand this as well. With a faintly exasperated look, she spoke.
"Don't go overboard if things get rough."
"......Hey, just to be clear—you haven't broken any of the luggage in the room, have you?"
Since it was her room Vihera had lent out, she couldn't help worrying about it.
All the supplies deemed necessary for this mission had been stowed in Rei's Misty Ring, but that didn't cover everything.
The items that hadn't been needed for the trip had been left behind at the Wheat Inn at Twilight and at Marina's house. Whether those had been damaged was what Vihera was concerned about.
'Ah, that's fine. No problems there.'
Vihera fixed Ara with a distinctly skeptical look.
Be that as it may, the first night after departing Gilm passed in this lively, convivial fashion.