"Well then, I hope they're still safe."
A few minutes had passed since the meeting with Daskar via the Paired Orbs, and Rei was now in the sky.
Of course, he wasn't flying under his own power; he was riding Set, as usual. And dangling from Set's talons was the Set Basket, carrying Elena and the others.
Originally, Rei had not intended to bring Ryutas and his group to the battlefield. From Rei and his companions' perspective, Ryutas and his guards—stronger than the average person, yet hardly exceptional—were nothing but a hindrance. If they were to head into battle alongside Rei's group, the honest consensus of the Crimson Lotus Wings, Rei included, was that they would want at least someone with Byune's level of skill.
Despite this, Rei had brought Ryutas along, and the reason came down to the man's position. Daskar had given Rei an additional request: to protect Ryutas from Jaya assassins and the like, as Daskar deemed him a useful asset. Since they were returning to Mejougo, leaving Ryutas and his group behind in the forest wasn't an option, not with the possibility of assassins lurking about.
While the battlefield—where Jaya soldiers and the Resistance were currently clashing—was far from safe... Rei still judged that it was safer for them to be by his side rather than left behind in the forest.
(If I leave them with Marina in the rear, their original guards are there too, so they should probably be safe.)
That calculation also factored into his decision.
"Ah, I can see it now. ...What a nuisance. Well, I suppose it's to be expected, though."
Less than a few minutes after taking off from the forest, the sight of Mejougo came into view. And with Mejougo visible, the battle taking place near its gates was naturally apparent as well. Seeing this, Rei furrowed his brow slightly—no doubt because the battlefield had devolved into a chaotic melee.
When Rei and his group had escaped Mejougo and dropped carriages from the sky, the two sides had not yet made contact. That was precisely why they had been able to pull off a stunt like dropping carriages in the first place. But now, the battle was a full-blown melee, with both sides intermingled. In other words, if Rei used his specialty—wide-area annihilation magic—it would cause casualties not only to Jaya but to the Resistance and the women as well.
Since Rei had been tasked with bringing the Resistance—or more precisely, the women the Resistance was leading—to Gilm, he could not possibly do such a thing. If he did, the Resistance and the women would never trust him again. To prevent that, he couldn't just burn everything to ash in one sweep.
"Can't be helped. Set, land somewhere away from the battlefield."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a cry of understanding and descended toward the ground to set down the Set Basket. After lowering it to the ground, he briefly returned to the sky before descending again.
If the Set Basket had still been with them, its camouflage ability would have made even such an appearance inconspicuous. But because Rei had left the basket on the ground, Set's figure was spotted by some even from within the battlefield. This held true whether they were Resistance or Jaya soldiers.
...If they had known that Rei's group was the one who dropped the carriages, the Jaya soldiers would have been thrown into major confusion. However, when Rei had dropped the carriages from the sky, the Set Basket had been present. While that sight was visible from the Resistance's side, it was invisible to the Jaya soldiers. Therefore, at this point, the Jaya soldiers had no understanding whatsoever that Rei's group was responsible for the massive damage and chaos inflicted on them at the start of the battle.
Under the gazes of such people, Rei and his group sprang into action. Of course, if they barged into the battlefield without a word, at worst they might be treated as enemies by both sides. To avoid that, they needed to clear things in advance.
"I'm going to talk to Sura, who's leading the Resistance. Marina, you stay here and guard Ryutas while providing support. Elena, Vihera, and Byune—head to the battlefield. However, you are to attack only Jaya soldiers."
"How are we supposed to tell them apart?"
Elena, who asked the question, had her eyes fixed on the battlefield.
Naturally, the Resistance's forces consisted mostly of women. But not all Jaya soldiers were men, nor were all Resistance members women. Given that, attacking carelessly carried a very real possibility of hitting Resistance soldiers instead of Jaya soldiers.
"Simply put, wouldn't it be fine to just ask? Also... you can assume that the beautiful ones are mostly on the Resistance side."
Naturally, as prostitutes, beautiful women were more popular. If you were looking for a lover, personality would matter too, but prostitutes were essentially companions for a single night, so beauty was an absolute requirement. Moreover, since Jaya could brainwash people with Slave Collars, personality was irrelevant. In other words, they must have prioritized kidnapping those considered beautiful or cute.
(Being judged beautiful by them must be... rather complicated, I'd imagine.)
Watching the three who had immediately plunged into the melee, and then looking at Rei as he rode Set toward the Resistance headquarters, Ryutas could not help but think this. Elena and the others, who were searching for beauties, were themselves incredibly beautiful—so much so that they could steal someone's breath even in the middle of combat. Being searched for as a beauty by such individuals would be enough to wound any woman's pride. In that sense, being searched by Byune was somewhat better than by Elena or Vihera. Though that was only because Byune was still small, with an appearance better described as cute than beautiful—and what she would look like in the future remained uncertain.
(In that case, the fact that Marina didn't go over there is... a small mercy, at least.)
Gazing at Marina, who was using Spirit Magic to slash several men suspected of being Jaya soldiers with Wind Blade, Ryutas remained vigilant of his surroundings alongside his guards, ready to respond to whatever might happen.
"Wh-what is that!"
Seeing Set suddenly descend onto the battlefield, Sura, who had been commanding the Resistance, was startled.
Of course, she knew what that griffon signified, but it returning to the battlefield must have been unexpected. Since they were technically in a cooperative relationship with Rei's group, she hadn't considered them turning into enemies. Still, the fact that Rei and his companions, who had once left, had returned to the battlefield—there had to be some meaning behind it. And perhaps... just perhaps, there was a possibility, however slim, that they had come to cooperate with Jaya for some reason.
That was why she had been on guard, but upon seeing Rei ride Set toward the Resistance headquarters, she concluded that he likely had no hostile intent. If he were hostile, he would surely be armed.
...Of course, in Rei's case, he could draw weapons from his Misty Ring at any moment, and even bare-handed, his inhuman physical prowess gave him lethal killing power. Above all, even bare-handed, considering Set's abilities, assuming he wasn't hostile would be terribly naive. Even so, the reason Sura held back her allies who tried to take up positions to intercept the approaching Rei and Set was because she had at least some degree of trust in him.
"Let him through! That griffon is friendly!"
Strictly speaking, it wasn't confirmed to be friendly yet, but Sura shouted anyway. She did so because she feared that the sudden appearance of a High-Rank Monster like a griffon might cause confusion. In reality, those who knew they were coordinating with Rei were only the members of the Resistance. The many women freed from prostitution had not been informed of Rei's cooperation. Given that, they might mistakenly conclude that a High-Rank Monster was attacking them, panic... and at worst, even attack Rei. Sura's shout was meant to prevent that.
Fortunately, her cry reached everyone's ears before confusion could set in, and those in Set's path quietly cleared the way. Having a griffon—an A-Rank monster—pass right beside them made everyone break into a cold sweat despite it being summer. Naturally, Set made no move to attack any of them and arrived before Sura without incident.
"Looks like you're still safe, at least."
"...Safe or not, you suddenly showed up riding a griffon and charged right at us," Sura said with evident displeasure, but Rei offered a fearless grin.
"When we escaped from here, we backed you up, didn't we?"
"That's true. That was a lifesaver."
In truth, the damage inflicted on the Jaya soldiers by several carriages falling from high above had been considerable. Beyond the direct damage, being caught off guard from a direction they never could have anticipated dealt a significant psychological blow as well. In the middle of battle, what if the same kind of attack came again? With that thought lingering, even the unscathed Jaya soldiers couldn't fully focus on the fighting before them. That was undoubtedly one of the reasons the Resistance, inferior in Combat Power, could fight on roughly even terms despite being somewhat pushed back.
"But if you truly intend to side with us... Rougue and Sharia's units are about to be surrounded! Go provide support!"
Even while talking with Rei, Sura's eyes kept darting across the battlefield. Issuing instructions as she went, she turned back to Rei.
"As you can see, we don't have time for idle chatter. Tell me straight. Why did you come back?"
"To cooperate with you."
"That's..."
At Rei's words, Sura faltered for a moment. Among those around them, the ones who knew Rei's identity broke into expressions of joy. Naturally—an adventurer with enough power to take on an entire army single-handedly was offering to cooperate with them. With that, it would be no exaggeration to declare the battle already won.
But Sura, who led the Resistance, could not so easily take Rei's words at face value.
"We're grateful for the help, but then why didn't you back us up right then, when you attacked them earlier?"
It was a veiled implication that he must have some other motive.
Since she wasn't wrong, Rei nodded without particularly trying to hide it.
"Right. I bring a message from my employer. It seems you're planning to escape Mejougo, but where exactly do you intend to go with this many people in tow?"
"That's..."
Sura was at a loss for words. Naturally—she had never anticipated such a situation arising in the first place. That all the Slave Collars would suddenly be destroyed, and the women forced into prostitution would come to their senses... Though, in truth, Rei was the one who had set events in motion to make it happen.
"Even if you escape from here, you have nowhere to go. At the same time, staying in Mejougo is problematic for various reasons. Am I wrong?"
"...You're right."
In the end, Sura acknowledged Rei's words. In fact, such opinions had been prevalent even within the Resistance, but the women themselves overwhelmingly refused to stay here. Beyond that, the possibility of being attacked by Jaya forces if they remained was also a major factor. Even so, there was no denying that even if they escaped Mejougo, they had nowhere to go.
"I bring good news for people in your situation."
"Good news?"
At Rei's words, Sura looked at him quizzically.
"Yeah. He told me to be straightforward, so I'll be blunt. Lord Daskar, the lord of Gilm in the Kingdom of Mireana, is willing to take you in. And not just the freed women. That includes you, the Resistance, as well."
"Why?"
It was a quick retort, but it was the question that had sprung to Sura's mind upon hearing Rei's words. "Why would a noble of the Kingdom of Mireana go that far for us?"
The conditions were far too favorable. The same doubt was shared by the others around them who were listening in.
"Fair enough. Honestly, I think the same. But there is a reason. I don't know if you're aware, but Gilm is currently undergoing expansion work. Because of that, they can never have too many hands. Also, I can't go into detail, but even after the expansion work is finished, there will still be plenty of jobs."
Those words were an undeniable truth. The disassembly of the Gigant Turtle, the modification and new construction of Sand Ships, and so on. Furthermore, Gilm would expand through the construction work, so naturally they wanted more residents.
"...So, what'll it be? From here on, it depends on your answer."
At Rei's words, Sura thought for a moment... and then, as if steeling her resolve, she opened her mouth.