It had been a few days since Gimekara appeared before Rei and the others. During that time, they stopped by a village, but there was no sign of Gimekara, let alone any of the things Rei's group desired—horses, carriages, fodder, escorts, food, or clothing.
Mind you, what they were demanding was supplies for a thousand people.
They could understand, as a matter of course, that such quantities couldn't be prepared immediately.
Additionally, perhaps largely due to the fact that they were now able to sleep inside the Sand Ship instead of outdoors every night, no longer having to worry about rain, wind, insects, monsters, or bandits allowed the party's fatigue to fully heal—a significant factor indeed.
Moreover, with their fatigue easing, continuing to walk every day meant many of the women had grown accustomed to the road and built up their stamina, making for steady progress.
And so, when night fell that day as well, Rei and the others were naturally camping out as usual.
...Though Rei's group had the Magic Tent and everyone else had the Sand Ship, it was hardly what one would normally imagine when hearing "camping out."
Despite being outdoors, they didn't have to worry about wind and rain... combined with the food Rei produced from his Misty Ring and the exquisite water created by the Dagger of Flowing Water to soothe the day's fatigue—if any traveler or adventurer heard about it, it wouldn't be strange for them to get angry and ask what part of this was camping.
"Come to think of it, Gimekara still hasn't come," Rei said.
"Most likely, things are still in turmoil on their end. I can somewhat understand how they feel," Elena replied with a smile as she savored the fruit water in her cup.
"I did tell them that if they took too long, helping us would become meaningless for them, so I figured they'd make a move sooner or later."
"Oh? Going by what you just said, Rei, you thought they'd move quickly?"
Despite Rei saying "sooner or later," Marina, who had been listening to the conversation, called him out on it.
In response, Rei nodded while eating a bite-sized pear-like fruit.
In truth, his prediction was that even if it didn't happen the very next day, supplies including carriages would be prepared within a few days.
It was undoubtedly an optimistic expectation, but he still thought it was a very real possibility.
Since that prediction had turned out completely wrong, it was only natural for Rei to feel a little disappointed.
"In other words, the Zorgeh Merchant Guild never seriously intended to leave Reblurina?"
"Leave? You mean relocate their headquarters... their main branch, right?"
"That's the same as leaving, isn't it? Or is it different?"
When put that way, Rei couldn't deny it.
Based on Gimekara's explanation, there was no mistaking that escaping from Reblurina was the primary factor.
But... that was exactly why they should have needed to provide supplies to Rei's group as quickly as possible and curry favor with them.
"Well, the Zorgeh Merchant Guild is a large company even in Reblurina, so getting everyone to agree unanimously right away... is probably difficult," Marina said.
"True. Besides, the people who had never traveled long distances before have gotten fairly used to it by now. You know that too, Rei, right?"
"Yeah. They've even gotten to the point where they can butcher deer, bears, and boars."
The first prey Set caught was a deer, but he had also successfully hunted other animals like bears and boars.
At first, the women were bewildered by the butchering, and the well-bred ones even threw up.
However, thinking about the road ahead, it was naturally necessary to have as many people as possible capable of doing the work.
Among the women were some who had lived as hunters, and these individuals took on the role of instructors, teaching the others how to butcher animals.
Naturally, the butchered prey went into their bellies as meals.
The pelts and hides were kept to sell when they stopped by villages, and were currently stored inside Rei's Misty Ring.
The quantity wasn't that large, so they could have just left them in a carriage... but considering the possibility of emergencies, they likely judged it safer for Rei to hold onto them.
Through such tasks, a sense of solidarity and camaraderie had also begun to grow among the women.
Organizing them into groups of ten was surely a factor, and above all, the shared experience of everyone having been brainwashed and forced to work as prostitutes was undoubtedly another reason they had grown close.
"Will it rain tomorrow, I wonder?" Marina murmured, gazing up at the night sky.
Usually, even if there were some clouds, moonlight would shine through the gaps and illuminate the ground, and one could see the starlight.
But the current night sky was completely covered by clouds, and not a single moon or star could be seen.
And considering the warm, damp wind blowing through, it wouldn't be strange for Marina to expect rain tomorrow.
"Rain, huh... Since we departed from Mejougo, we've been blessed with good weather up until now, despite everything."
Naturally, they had been caught in rain during the journey.
Even so, the rain would weaken after a few minutes... or at most about an hour, and there had never been a downpour so heavy that continuing the journey became impossible.
However, given the current conditions, it was certain that it would rain tomorrow without fail... or perhaps, if things moved quickly, even tonight.
The situation showed such clear signs of impending rain that such a judgment was easy to make.
"If it starts raining