"Set-chaaaan!"
The people nearby had braced themselves at the sudden sound and impact, but the first to spring into action was, as expected, Mirene.
With the Set Basket dropped to the ground, Set's figure became visible from below, and she was the first to spot him soaring overhead.
Mirene had already deduced from the cry she'd heard moments ago that the approaching creature was Set. That was why she'd been so quick to act.
Surnin and Ekril — two of Mirene's companions — showed no particular surprise at her behavior. Unlike the others present, they fully understood just how razor-sharp Mirene's instincts were when it came to Set.
The other escorts, including one of the envoys who had stepped down from a carriage, could only stare at her in dumbfounded silence. They'd been making a commotion about it being Set, but none of them had likely believed it actually was.
No — the man from the envoy delegation, who had been briefed on Rei and his group's existence, recovered his wits the fastest.
"They are not enemies! That is Set, whom you all know — Crimson Rei's Tamed Monster! I repeat, they are not enemies! You are not permitted to attack Set!"
At his shout, the adventurers outside of Scorching Wind finally lowered their guard. Even so, they remained ready to respond at a moment's notice — just in case. While the order had come from one of their protectees, they couldn't truly feel at ease until they confirmed with their own eyes that the gryphon circling above was indeed Set. Of course, nobody actually believed a High-Rank Monster like a gryphon would be found just anywhere.
Watching the adventurers' reactions, the man from the envoy delegation breathed a deep sigh of relief.
(Thank goodness. This way I won't have to face Serena's or Cromu's wrath.)
He knew all too well that his wife and son, both back in Gilm, adored Set. If his orders had led to an attack on Set here, and word of it reached them — he shuddered to think what would happen. The outcome was obvious without even thinking about it. His wife was usually gentle, but he knew from their long history together, from the days of courtship through marriage, that she was terrifying when angered.
He felt genuine, heartfelt relief that things hadn't come to that.
As the man watched, two women emerged from the Set Basket. Both were beauties to whom the word "peerless" seemed wholly fitting — and naturally, the man from the envoy delegation knew exactly who they were.
One was Marina, the former Guild Master of Gilm. The other was Elena, who bore the alias of Princess General. Both were unquestionably key figures even from Gilm's perspective.
While the man hesitated over which of them to address, a short distance away a scene unfolded that could, in a sense, be called a touching reunion.
"Set-chan, Set-chan, Set-chan! Have you been well? Are you hungry? You're not tired, are you?"
Mirene peppered Set with questions as she stroked his body, having descended to the ground.
"Don't say such terrible things. You make it sound like I never feed Set at all."
"What, you're the one who's always with Set-chan, Rei. I think it's only fair I get to be with him once in a while."
Embracing Set's neck, Mirene made no effort to hide her dissatisfaction with Rei.
But for Rei, on the receiving end of those complaints, it would have been perfectly understandable to feel the accusation was more than a little unreasonable.
"Even so... Set is my Tamed Monster to begin with, so it's only natural that he travels with me, right?"
"Ugh... Throwing perfectly sound logic at me is cowardly."
"Since when is stating the obvious cowardly?"
"Guruu."
Mirene had been about to say more, but when Set purred, she immediately abandoned her argument with Rei and lost herself in doting on him instead.
Watching her, Rei suddenly thought of the group of women he was leading.
Even though they now had carriages as a means of transport, back when many of them had been on foot, a great number of the women — and the Resistance men and women among them — had drawn strength from Set's charm to push through their hardest moments. In fact, when Rei had announced that he would be separating to join up with this envoy delegation, more people had looked saddened by Set's absence than by Rei's — a clear testament to how deeply he was loved.
But what would happen if Mirene were added to that group?
Rei could more or less predict the outcome. After all, Yohanna — who matched Mirene's level of devotion to Set — was on the worst possible terms with her. If he brought Mirene along to merge with that group, it could, at worst, escalate into a blood-soaked feud.
As that thought crossed his mind, a chill ran down Rei's spine.
(The one saving grace is that Mirene is an escort for the envoy delegation, and we're heading to Gilm. Even if we do travel together, it shouldn't be for too long. It shouldn't be... right?)
While Rei racked his brain trying to figure out how to prevent an all-out Set custody battle, the man who had been speaking with Marina and Elena approached him.
Or more accurately, it should be "men." The other members of the envoy delegation, who had been riding in their carriages for safety, had judged the situation secure enough to disembark.
"Rei, got a moment?"
The voice belonged to the same man who had first stepped down from a carriage earlier. He appeared to be in his forties, with a rather stern expression.
"Um..."
"Ah, forgive the late introduction. I'm Ronitas. I serve as the person in charge of this envoy delegation."
"I see, so it's you. I'm Rei. I'm sure you know, but I entered Reblurina ahead of time on Lord Daskar's request."
"Lord Daskar informed me of that beforehand. However, from what Lady Elena and Marina-sama have told me, it sounds like things have gotten rather complicated?"
Ronitas showed no concern about differences in age or manner of speech as he addressed Rei with a smile. But that was only natural. Ronitas was merely one of Daskar's subordinates, whereas Rei was an Alias-Holding High-Rank Adventurer — one who had a gryphon, a High-Rank Monster, as his Tamed Monster, and who partied with skilled individuals like Elena, Marina, and Vihera.
The fact that Byune's name didn't come to Ronitas's mind was partly because she was less conspicuous, and partly because, compared to the other members, she inevitably appeared to be the lesser in skill.
Regardless, Ronitas held the firm conviction that if Daskar had to choose between Rei and himself, Daskar would unquestionably choose Rei. For better or for worse, Gilm was a city that attracted skilled adventurers, and Ronitas was well accustomed to that culture.
"Yeah. It's gotten a little... no, quite complicated, actually."
Bringing nearly a thousand people — most of whom had never been seasoned travelers — all the way to Gilm was far from a simple task.
"So I've heard. We'll be discussing the matter with Lord Daskar shortly, so come along, Rei. If anything comes up, it'd be better to have you there. Besides..."
Ronitas paused, glancing over at Mirene, who was still doting on Set. Rei followed his gaze and immediately understood what he meant.
(So as long as Set is here, Mirene is useless as an escort, huh? Or rather, should I say that since Set is here, there's no need for her to keep watch on the surroundings?)
Regardless, given the current situation, they could hardly continue traveling as they were. Rei's group moved the carriages to a position slightly off the highway — close enough to respond immediately if anything happened, but far enough to avoid drawing the attention of passersby.
The Set Basket could simply be stored in the Misty Ring, but the carriages couldn't be handled the same way. Well, it would be possible if he really tried, but given the envoy delegation's standing, such a course of action was out of the question.
"Here? Or is it this spot that itches?"
Mirene, still petting Set — scratching him, more accurately — followed the carriages as they were moved.
Seeing her like that, many of the escorts other than Surnin and Ekril wore expressions of open surprise. For those who didn't know Mirene well, the composed, capable female adventurer they usually saw — said to be among the most promising of the younger generation — looked vastly different from the woman before them now. Given Mirene's attractive features, there had been those who hoped to get closer to her during this escort mission. But seeing her fawning over Set like this, many lost interest entirely.
While observing the exchange among the men, what actually caught Rei's attention was the horses pulling the carriages.
He had heard that there were those who had departed from Gilm earlier than his group, and that their carriages could achieve considerable speed. Yet the horses pulling them showed no signs of panicking or cowering, despite Set being right there. Among the horses Gimekara had prepared, there were still many that remained frightened of Set. By comparison, these had clearly undergone training as rigorous as those pulling Elena's carriage.
(Well, no matter how high-performance a carriage is or what special abilities it has, if the horse pulling it is a broken-down nag, it's meaningless. Come to think of it, given they came from Gilm, it wouldn't have been surprising if they used Tamed Monsters instead of horses.)
Rei had been watching the horses that showed not the slightest fear of Set, but was called over by Ronitas and headed in that direction.
Gathered near the carriages were nearly ten people, including Ronitas. Given the circumstances, there was no doubt that all of them were members of the envoy delegation.
"Rei, I gave them a brief overview of the situation."
"...That was fast."
Rei had assumed he would be the one doing the explaining, but he hadn't expected it to be done for him already. Still, if asked whether Rei or Marina could explain things more concisely, even Rei would have acknowledged that Marina could relay it more accurately.
"Better to be quick about it, right? So, we're going to contact Daskar now. Elena."
"Yes."
Elena, given a look by Marina, gave a small nod and produced a Paired Orb, activating it.
Within seconds, Ara appeared on the Paired Orb.
"Lady Elena!"
"Ara, I am glad to see you are well."
After exchanging a word or two with Ara, who had happily called out Elena's name, Ara's figure vanished from the Paired Orb. Since everything had already been arranged the day before, she had likely gone to fetch Daskar.
Normally, daytime would be a busy period for Daskar, but the matter Rei's group was involved in was one that would bring significant benefit to Gilm as well.
Within a few minutes, Daskar's face appeared on the Paired Orb.
Those most surprised to see him were, naturally, Ronitas and the others. They had heard of Paired Orbs but never seen one directly, and having Daskar himself projected before them was another source of astonishment. If it had been Rei, his experiences from his time in Japan wouldn't have made this particularly surprising, but a Magic Item with such capabilities was exceedingly rare in Elgin.
"Ronitas, I see. It appears you've safely joined up with Rei's group."
"Yes. And, well... I heard the account from Marina-sama, but is it truly as she says?"
Ronitas couldn't bring himself to address Marina without an honorific — she had served as Gilm's Guild Master for many years — and so added the "-sama" to her name. Though the fact that Marina was someone who could be assertive even with Daskar likely had much to do with it as well.
"Yes, it's true. As you know, there have been various developments regarding the Jaya matter. Have you heard the details?"
"For the most part. But I never imagined that retaliation would lead to something like this..."
Ronitas trailed off, but the other members of the envoy delegation nearby — no, even the escorts who had only heard the account — found themselves unable to do anything but agree with his sentiment.
Who would ever think that retaliating against a criminal organization would result in leading a thousand-strong group on a journey from Mejougo to Gilm?
Though, that was likely precisely why they were a B-Rank party, everyone reasoned. And so, all those present began to exchange information.