"Thank you!"
"Come again, will ya!"
"Bring us another chance to make some money next time, too!"
Those voices drifted up from behind.
They came from the residents of the village of Emisma, where Rei and his group had stopped — voices that carried a hint of reluctance to see them go, yet brimmed with unmistakable joy.
For the people of Emisma, Rei and his group were extremely welcome guests.
While the village's supplies — food included — had taken a temporary hit, they had earned more than enough to restock without the slightest concern.
"Honestly, did we let them profit too much?"
Walking at the head of the group as always, Rei posed the question to Marina nearby.
Since Marina had handled the negotiations with the Village Chief, the fact that the other side walked away with such a hefty profit meant it was exactly as she had intended.
...If they had been outmaneuvered at the bargaining table, that would have been another matter entirely. But as far as Rei knew, Marina had held the upper hand throughout every dealing with the Village Chief.
In terms of sheer life experience, Marina surpassed the Village Chief in both quality and quantity by a wide margin.
On top of that, several men had been caught trying to peep on the women bathing in the river, which tilted things even further in Marina's favor.
Under those circumstances, Rei couldn't possibly imagine Marina losing a negotiation.
"You're right. But because we showed them how generous we are, they were more than happy to part with all sorts of supplies, you know?"
Marina's gaze drifted to the carriages — more than they had originally planned to purchase.
They should have run short on horses, but the village, apparently unwilling to let this business opportunity slip through their fingers, had somehow managed to scrounge up the animals.
Naturally, doing so left the village with a horse shortage.
However, since Marina had purchased them at above market price, both sides walked away from the deal satisfied.
(Well, I did front the payment out of pocket, but once we reach Gilm, it'll be reimbursed as a necessary expense.)
In that sense, the one who stood to lose the most from this trade was Gilm — and by extension, Daskar.
Still, successfully concluding the trade also meant that the group's travel speed had improved, making it an undeniable net positive overall.
"Yeah. It was a big help for us, too. Especially..."
Rei paused, then cast his gaze back over his shoulder.
What he saw were the women who made up the bulk of their traveling party.
Before reaching the village, many of them had still been dressed in prostitute attire. Now, quite a few were wearing ordinary clothing.
Some had bought clothes in the village; others who could sew had fashioned garments from cloth while Rei's group conducted their negotiations. This was the fruit of those efforts.
They had only stayed in the village for about half a day, so the clothes sewn during that time were by no means well-made.
Even so, for women who loathed wearing prostitute attire, the quality was more than satisfactory.
Of course, between the merchants they had encountered along the road and the cloth and clothing purchased in the village, they hadn't been able to outfit all roughly one thousand people.
But it was a fact that a fair number of the women were no longer dressed in what could be called prostitute attire.
Following Rei's gaze, Elena, Vihera, and Marina nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. If we continue stopping at villages and towns along the way to purchase clothing and cloth, eventually everyone will be able to wear normal clothes. And if we keep acquiring horses and carriages, it may ultimately become possible for all to travel by carriage."
"That would significantly increase our travel speed. ...Though with nearly a thousand people riding, we'd need a considerable number of carriages. Do you think it's all right to bring that many to Gilm?"
"I don't see why not," Marina replied with a smile, answering Vihera's blunt question.
"Gilm is in the middle of expansion construction and whatnot right now. They can never have too many carriages."
"Ah... well, yeah. You can never have too many carriages. And it's not like Gilm is so cramped that we'd struggle to find a place to put them."
Transporting goods. Transporting people.
In present-day Gilm, there was no such thing as having too many carriages.
Nor was Gilm so narrow that they'd struggle to find parking space for them.
In that sense, it wouldn't be unreasonable for them to be thanked for procuring carriages.
"Right? ...Well, the price might seem a bit steep compared to the quality of the carriages. But they can live with that much."
Marina said it without a care in the world, but there weren't many people who could be that assertive toward Daskar.
In Marina's case, the fact that she knew about his childhood was undoubtedly her trump card.
"Fair enough. I'll leave those negotiations to you. Just don't fleece them too hard."
"Hehe. I know."
Marina flashed a smile, but whether she truly understood that was beyond Rei's ability to judge.
As if to brush off a vague sense of unease, Rei looked up at the sky.
Partly due to spending nearly half a day in Emisma, the sun was already beginning its descent toward evening.
(Would it have been better to make camp near that village? No — right now I want to cover as much distance as possible. In that case, it was still the right call to push forward, even if only for a few more hours.)
A few hours in a single day might not seem like much, but repeated over and over, it could shave an entire day — two days, maybe three — off the journey.
It was still summer, so the road wasn't particularly harsh. But summer wouldn't last forever.
Traveling with this many people, even under the best conditions, they wouldn't reach Gilm until autumn — late autumn at that.
In the worst case, they might even run straight into winter.
Of course, Rei and the rest of the Crimson Lotus Wings were all highly skilled adventurers.
They would have no trouble earning enough money to see themselves through the winter.
Even Byune, the least combat-capable among them, had ample savings. And above all, once they completed this request from Daskar, the reward would be substantial indeed.
"Grrrul!"
As Rei walked along the highway, lost in thought, Set suddenly let out a cry and bolted.
For a split second he wondered if it was an enemy. But watching Set plunge into the forest just off the road, it was immediately clear from his demeanor that this wasn't about an enemy — it was about prey.
And when he caught a brief glimpse of a deer fleeing deeper into the woods through the gaps in the trees, there was no question about what had sent Set charging into the forest.
"Rei-san, what's wrong with Set!?"
One of the women, startled by Set's sudden dash, called out to him.
The slightly flustered woman — Rei recalled — was one of those who had been doting on Set. With that thought, he shook his head, hood still drawn, signaling that it was nothing.
"He probably spotted a deer in the woods and went after it. Nothing to worry about. ...Look."
Even as he spoke, Set emerged from the trees.
Clutched in his beak was a hornless deer.
(No horns means it's a female? Well, I've heard that depending on the species, females can have antlers too.)
The deer that appeared on the mountain near Rei's house back in Japan only grew antlers on the males.
But he recalled reading somewhere that reindeer grew antlers on both males and females.
"Well, fresh meat is always welcome. ...Let's store it away for now."
Ordinarily, with a common animal rather than a monster, you'd want to drain the blood and butcher it right away.
But while on the move like this, that was out of the question.
Well, with carriages at their disposal, it technically wasn't impossible — but right now the women were frantically sewing clothes inside those carriages.
He couldn't very well butcher a deer in the same space where they were doing that kind of work.
Fortunately, time didn't flow inside Rei's Misty Ring.
That was why he chose to store the deer away for now and butcher it after the day's march was done.
Set trotted over carrying the deer in his mouth and laid it at Rei's feet.
It was a gesture that made clear he understood exactly what Rei was thinking.
Rei, for his part, knew that if their group stopped, the pace behind them would slow as well. So he paused for only a moment to stow the deer in his Misty Ring.
"Gruu? Grrrul."
Good boy? Good boy? Set purred, and Rei gave him a gentle stroke.
It wasn't a particularly large deer, but a deer was still a deer.
It might not feed a hundred, let alone a thousand, but it could fill the bellies of several dozen — no, a dozen or so.
Of course, appetites varied from person to person, but Rei estimated it would provide roughly that many meals.
...In the end, it was only enough meat for a dozen or so people. But as a hunting catch, deer were remarkably valuable.
The hide, naturally, could be put to use. The tendons served as cooking ingredients and bowstrings alike. And while the female Set had caught lacked them, antlers could serve as ornaments as well as medicinal ingredients.
"Good job bringing it back."
Praised by his beloved Rei, Set purred with delight.
Watching him, the woman who had spoken to Rei earlier gazed at Set with an enraptured expression.
(The number of Set fans just keeps growing.)
Looking at her... and at the other women nearby wearing similar expressions... Rei couldn't help but think as much.
In truth, it was only natural that so many of the women were growing fond of Set.
Fundamentally, this group spent the entire day walking.
Under those conditions, the hobbies and work one might normally pursue were simply impossible. Finding other sources of entertainment was inevitable.
And when it came to entertainment on the road, the options were limited.
Some of the women enjoyed chatting with Resistance men who happened to be walking nearby, and a subtly romantic atmosphere had begun to develop between a few of them.
But at its core, this group had been brainwashed and forced into prostitution.
Having experienced their bodies being violated by men they didn't even like — men they had only just met — and carrying those memories intact, many found it difficult to talk casually with men.
A considerable number suffered from something close to mild androphobia.
...The fact that they could still speak to Rei normally was likely because his feminine face didn't register to them as distinctly male.
Also significant was that, given Rei's personality, he never directed overtly lustful gazes at the women dressed in prostitute attire.
In that regard, traveling alongside Vihera — whose attire was worthy of being called that of a prostitute or dancer, if not even more provocative — probably helped put them at ease.
At any rate, for women like these, doting on Set had become their greatest pleasure during the journey.
At first, many had been afraid of him. But seeing how adorable Set was when Rei gave him attention, recognizing his charm wasn't difficult.
And it didn't take long before a few curious women, timidly — truly timidly — tried calling out to him.
Set showed no mercy to those he judged as enemies or prey, but he was fundamentally a sociable creature.
Naturally, toward women who showered him with attention, he purred happily and made no secret of his desire for more.
Once that happened, other women grew curious about Set as well, and some wanted to pet him too.
As a result, doting on Set had become the primary entertainment for many of the women during the march.
"Here, Set-chan. Come here. You've got blood on your beak — let me wipe it off. This is leftover cloth from making clothes, so it's clean."
"Ah, let me pet you! Thank you for catching that deer for us."
"Come on, you want to pet Set-chan too, don't you? Then be a little more proactive about it."
"Y-yeah, but... o-okay. I'll try. ...Hey, Set-chan. Could I touch that soft-looking fur a little?"
"Then I call the tail!"
Listening to their chatter, Rei watched Set, now surrounded by women.
(If we head back to Gilm like this, I have a feeling Mirene and Yohanna are going to cause all sorts of incidents... but it should be fine, right? Yeah, if Set makes it clear he's not interested, they won't kick up any stupid fuss. ...I hope.)
Rei found himself vaguely anxious about what awaited them after they returned to Gilm.