Naturally, the theft of so many carriages from the royal castle of Rossi was discovered immediately.
The fact that no attack was launched on the castle itself—and that Rei had simply flown off into the sky on Set—was likely the reason the theft was noticed so quickly.
Under normal circumstances, delaying the enemy to prevent pursuit would have been an effective move.
However, Rei chose not to do so, partly because he felt an all-out attack would risk involving innocent people, but above all... because Rei genuinely wanted to be pursued.
How much the security commander and the upper echelons would actually believe a report about someone flying on a griffon was something of a gamble for Rei. Still, as the leaders of a nation whose royal castle had been brazenly raided and whose pride had been wounded, they could hardly let it slide. Rei predicted there was a high probability they would order a pursuit.
And if they did, it would naturally be high-mobility cavalry rather than infantry—that much was a given.
Above all, though Rei himself was unaware of it at the time, one of the carriages he had stashed away... the one he found oddly luxurious, belonged to the royal family of Reblurina.
A royal possession had been stolen. There was absolutely no chance they would let that go.
"So with that said... I hoped they'd come, and they hit the mark perfectly."
"My, what a bad person you are."
As Rei muttered this from the rear of the Resistance and former prostitutes' column, Marina spoke up to chide him.
Despite her words, however, a smile played across her face.
"Cavalry, huh... If it's Reblurina's cavalry, I can't say I have high expectations."
Vihera predicted the weakness of the approaching enemy and murmured with open disappointment.
Setting aside Jaya's soldiers, Vihera had no experience fighting Reblurina's army. But even so, having heard the stories from Rei, her honest assessment was that they weren't worth getting excited about.
Rei had pointed out that the soldiers they fought in the forest were essentially disposable pawns, and that the real troops might not be so weak... but since that was pure speculation, Vihera's motivation remained unkindled.
"Mm."
Byune, on the other hand, had been deemed more than sufficient against soldiers of Reblurina's caliber and was assigned to intercept them.
Perhaps because the night had grown late, she was rubbing her eyes, looking slightly drowsy.
(Well, once combat starts she'll wake up whether she wants to or not, so it's fine.)
Rei trusted—no, had faith in Byune, who always carried out her duties properly despite appearances.
"Hmm. The target is not the horses but the soldiers riding them... or rather, knights, perhaps. That is acceptable, yes?"
Beside Rei, Elena asked, holding Mirage in her hand.
Like the others, she showed not the slightest sign of nervousness despite the impending battle.
But that was only natural. Rei and his companions, Elena included, had survived countless battles.
There was no reason for them to tense up over a skirmish of this magnitude.
"Please do. We have a decent number of carriages, but the more horses we have to pull them, the better."
With Set, even if Rei hitched the stolen carriages together, the griffon could likely pull them.
It might not manage all of them at once, but it could certainly handle several.
However, Rei couldn't stay with this group forever.
Without a doubt, Daskar would eventually request that Rei and his party return to Gilm alone.
Given how much the expansion work in Gilm had fallen behind due to Rei's absence, such a request was only natural.
And when Rei returned to Gilm, he would need to travel using Set and the Set Basket.
Which meant horses to pull the carriages were an absolute necessity.
"You there! Who are you people?!"
A man at the head of the cavalry formation shouted.
From the cavalrymen's perspective, a group of this size moving through the night—their true numbers impossible to estimate—looked highly suspicious.
Even if they hadn't been searching for whoever had broken into the royal castle, they would have undoubtedly stopped to question this group.
"Why are you moving away from Rossi as if fleeing? Explain yourselves. If you have circumstances you cannot speak of... we will show no mercy!"
Thrusting the tip of his spear toward Rei, his posture radiated suspicion and irritation.
Naturally so. The night was still young... and among those who had been planning to visit Mejougo, or at least heading to a tavern or brothel in Rossi, many had been hit with a sudden summons with no warning.
With their evening plans ruined, it was hardly surprising that they openly displayed their frustration.
The man's words carried more than a hint of displaced anger, but...
"That's right. If you're asking who I am... I suppose I'd put it like this: I'm your enemy."
The instant Rei finished speaking, Elena and the others sprang into action.
The first to strike was Elena, Mirage already in its whip form.
The blade extended far beyond what anyone would expect of a longsword and slammed into the torso of the man who had been speaking with Rei.
That he survived was not due to exceptional skill or high-quality armor.
Simply put, the part of Mirage that struck him was not the blade.
(What we want are the horses, not the lives of these men.)
The range of Mirage in its whip form was enormous.
So much so that from her current position, nearly half the cavalrymen fell within Elena's reach.
And she wasn't the only one attacking.
Vihera, looking thoroughly irritated, closed the distance with the cavalry and swung her fists at the legs of those mounted on horseback, while Byune used Hakumo to slash at them with precision.
But the crowning blow came from Marina, who wielded Spirit Magic.
Rather than Wind Blade, she struck with concussive bursts of wind, dealing damage while avoiding lethal force.
The cavalrymen hadn't the faintest idea what was happening... but they clearly recognized that staying here meant danger.
They tried to wheel their horses around and retreat toward the castle.
Whether they intended to call for reinforcements, realizing they were hopelessly outmatched, or simply fled out of terror, or had some other reason entirely—none of it mattered.
What proved fatal was that the horses refused to obey.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
Set's cry echoed high across the summer night sky.
Only a handful of those present knew it was the skill known as King's Intimidation.
The cavalrymen—the vast majority—could only stare in shock and bewilderment as their trusted mounts suddenly froze or stopped responding to commands entirely.
By the time the cavalry arrived, Set had already circled behind them. The moment that happened, it was already over.
That they failed to realize this sealed their total defeat then and there.
...Though it was a total defeat, not a single man had died.
Of course, no deaths didn't mean no injuries.
More than a few had sustained serious wounds.
The horses, unlike their riders, had been frozen in place by Set's King's Intimidation—which worked in their favor. A greater number of horses came through unscathed.
"Alright... We're taking the horses. Anyone experienced in handling them, step up!"
At Rei's words, the Resistance members who had been watching from a distance... along with women who simply knew their way around horses, each moved toward the animals.
Beside the horses, soldiers who were still conscious noticed their mounts being taken and tried to resist, but their bodies could barely move from their injuries.
A few managed to grab the legs of those trying to lead the horses away, only to be kicked off immediately.
The horses obtained this way totaled about thirty.
Though slightly short of what was needed to pull all the carriages, it was a sufficient number considering they could acquire more in villages and towns along the way.
"Alright, let's hurry. If they realize these men haven't returned, we'll have reinforcements to deal with."
"Lord Rei, wouldn't more horses be better? If we keep luring enemies in and taking their horses like this..."
One of the Resistance members asked Rei.
Having seen Rei's abilities—and those of his companions—up close, her words carried a note of reverence.
...Though for Rei, neither the battle against Jaya in Mejougo nor this clash with the cavalry had been anything close to an all-out fight.
"That might not be a bad idea. But if we spend too much time here, the danger will only grow once I have to leave."
In truth, the Resistance woman's proposal wasn't entirely bad.
Horses—especially those trained for battle—were extremely valuable.
Given that Reblurina was a small nation, such horses were worth even more to them than they would be to the Kingdom of Mireana.
Furthermore, horses possessed overwhelming mobility compared to people on foot, making them incredibly useful creatures in any situation, not just war.
In that sense, continuously seizing horses to deplete Reblurina's resources wasn't a terrible strategy for weakening the enemy.
"But if we weaken Reblurina too much here, they could end up losing to Jaya. And if that happens, things will get complicated for everyone going forward."
"Ah... you're right. I'm sorry."
"It doesn't matter. When I'm not around, you'll all need to discuss things among yourselves and act accordingly. For that reason, it's best to think ahead about what you would do in a given situation."
At Rei's words, the Resistance woman looked at him with open admiration.
"Yes!"
Rei didn't think of himself as a particularly admirable person, nor did he aspire to be one.
At the very least, he wasn't as fair and just as Elena, and while he wasn't completely devoid of helping people the way Marina did despite her protests... it was a fact that he rarely went out of his way to do so.
That was exactly why being on the receiving end of such reverent looks from the Resistance woman felt vaguely uncomfortable.
"Let's move. We need to keep walking for a few more hours and get as far from Rossi as possible."
With only that, Rei turned and headed toward the front of the column.
"Hehe."
Beside him, Marina let out an amused laugh.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just thought your attitude is unusual for you, Rei."
Rei considered firing back at Marina, but unable to imagine winning a verbal sparring match against her in this situation, he held his tongue.
It was the right call.
Marina had been thinking that if Rei said anything in return, she would tease him a little.
Deciding the current atmosphere was getting dull, Rei opted to change the subject.
...Though in truth, it was probably what he should have addressed first.
"So, when do you think the pursuit will come? Or rather—do you think they'll pursue us at all?"
"Who knows. This pursuit was carried out largely because they didn't know who had broken into the castle, right? If so, this incident has just revealed our involvement. In that case, for Reblurina, which wants to earn favor with the Kingdom of Mireana..."
There's a high chance they won't pursue us, huh.
Rei murmured that under his breath and nodded in agreement.
Indeed, what Marina was saying was by no means idle speculation—it was entirely plausible.
If so, as a nation that wished to strike Jaya alongside the Kingdom of Mireana, Reblurina couldn't afford to act so rashly.
Furthermore, needlessly exhausting their forces here would only make things harder when the real fight against Jaya came.
With the backing of their suzerain, the Kingdom of Mireana, Reblurina wouldn't lose.
Even so, to preserve some measure of dignity, they needed to marshal appropriate forces and produce results on the battlefield.
To that end, it was only natural they would want to avoid wasting strength here—let alone antagonizing Rei and his group, who were agents of the Kingdom of Mireana.
"Well, if they act on emotion without considering any of those circumstances, then there's a chance they'll come after us."
Rei nodded in agreement with Marina's assessment.