"Gururururururururu!"
Set let out a loud cry, as if determined to make it echo across the entire landscape, and flapped its wings.
Thirty minutes had already passed since they set off toward Gilm, and Set was now flying freely through a sky dotted with cumulonimbus clouds.
Until now, they had been traveling alongside the carriages, which meant moving on foot.
It wasn't that Set disliked walking, but as a gryphon, its instincts seemed to make it naturally prefer flight.
In that sense, getting to fly at full speed toward Gilm was the ultimate change of pace for Set—no, it was practically playtime.
They were carrying the Set Basket, but that much weight was of no concern whatsoever to Set.
Set was relishing the chance to fly to its heart's content for the first time in a while. The pitiful ones, however, were likely the animals and monsters scattered throughout the forest below.
As they slept, drank, or wandered the woods foraging for food, Set's cry had suddenly torn through the air around them.
The instant they heard it, the animals and monsters understood they were facing something utterly beyond them. They held their breath, desperately trying to wait out Set's passing.
...Naturally, there were some whose panic at the sheer overwhelming force of Set's cry sent them running in senseless circles, crashing headlong into trees.
Blissfully unaware of the commotion it was causing on the ground, Set pressed on, flapping its wings.
"As long as we stick close to the highway, we shouldn't get lost, right?"
"Guruu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a cry that signaled there was nothing to worry about.
...Though Set had cried out to reassure him, Rei couldn't bring himself to believe it entirely.
With Set, whenever it spotted something interesting—or someone—it wasn't uncommon for it to veer off course without a second thought.
Though, to be fair, that wasn't so different from Rei himself.
The only difference was that in Rei's case, it was usually bandits rather than anything interesting, making his detours far more bloodthirsty.
"Wait, could those be bandits?"
Rei muttered, spotting a group of nearly ten men moving through a copse below.
But the sight of ten men traveling together didn't automatically mean they were bandits.
They could just as easily have been adventurers from a nearby village or town, or perhaps hunters out in the woods.
If someone were actively under attack, that would be another matter entirely. But under the current circumstances, he had no desire to swoop down into the copse just to ask if they were bandits.
(Thinking about Gimekara and the others, I should probably exterminate any bandits I come across if I can.)
He thought as much, but descending to check whether every suspicious group was a bandit gang every time he spotted one would be incredibly tedious.
What's more, right now they weren't just carrying Rei—they had the Set Basket as well.
If they landed, he'd have to set the basket down on the ground first, and only then could he actually investigate.
If asked whether he wanted to repeat that process over and over, Rei's honest answer, no matter how he looked at it, was that it would be a massive pain.
"Well, whatever. The escort situation has stabilized, and some of the women have gotten decent enough at fighting. Besides, if they treat it as stress relief from Set being gone, they'll manage."
"Guruu?"
Whether it had caught its name on the wind or not, Set turned its gaze toward Rei on its back as if asking what was wrong. Rei just shook his head to signal it was nothing.
"Don't worry about it. Just fly as hard as you can, Set. Get us to Gilm as fast as possible. Of course, if anything pops up, you're free to mess with it."
"Gururururururu!"
Hearing that it had permission to fly at full tilt, Set beat its wings with renewed vigor.
Its speed now far surpassed anything before; had anyone been watching from the ground, it would have vanished from their field of vision in an instant. Though, thanks to the Set Basket's camouflage function, it was invisible from below regardless.
Several hours passed since Set had begun flying with abandon. By the time noon approached, they had covered a considerable distance from their starting point.
"Rei, Byune says she's hungry. Shouldn't we break for lunch soon?"
Vihera's voice drifted up from inside the Set Basket.
A glance at the sun confirmed it was already directly overhead, so Vihera's suggestion wasn't off the mark at all.
"Got it. I'll look for a good spot to rest, so hang on a little longer!"
Rei called back to Vihera and the others inside the basket, then scanned the area once more. The ground below was currently an unbroken expanse of grassland.
Under the harsh summer sun, eating in a spot with no shade was best avoided if possible. Rei searched for a grove—or at the very least, a cluster of trees large enough to provide some cover.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to the terrain, no such trees presented themselves.
"No mountains in the area, either..."
If there were mountains nearby, there would naturally be trees.
But no mountains existed anywhere near their current position.
Strictly speaking, peaks were visible in the far distance, but even at Set's speed, reaching them would take considerable time. Going out of their way just for lunch didn't seem worth the hassle.
"Hmm... is that a river over there?"
It wasn't close by any means—it was actually quite far away—but still nearer than the mountains. He could make out the glint of a river flowing in the distance.
And where there was a river, there would naturally be trees growing along its banks.
He couldn't be sure there'd be large enough trees for proper shade, but being near the water would at least offer some respite from the summer heat.
With that in mind, and also considering they hadn't had fish in a while, Rei signaled Set to head for the river.
It was a simple signal—just a light tap on Set's neck—but it was more than enough to get the message across.
Set flapped its wings and veered away from the highway, soaring toward the river.
(Summer river fish, huh. Ayu come to mind first, but there probably aren't any around here.)
Back in Japan, during the summer, he would swim in rivers and use a spear to catch ayu, iwana, yamame, and kajika.
He'd bring them home, and it wasn't uncommon for them to end up on the dinner table as part of lunch or supper.
...Uncommon was an understatement—it happened so often that his parents would occasionally complain about being tired of fish.
That was just how they'd lived, sharing their catches with the neighbors now and then.
Remembering those days, Rei found himself craving ayu. But there were no ayu in Elgin.
At the very least, he'd never seen them sold in shops or spotted any while playing in rivers here.
(Maybe I'll try looking for some after lunch. With the Misty Ring, I can store as many fish as I catch without worrying about preservation.)
Or he could dry them. That would work too.
As his thoughts wandered, the river drew steadily closer.
A place that would have taken a significant amount of time to reach on foot or by carriage.
But with Set flying, even a considerable distance was covered in no time at all... and before long, they arrived at the riverbank.
The river was about five meters across—not particularly wide.
But the water flowing through it was crystal clear and looked perfectly safe to drink.
"Gurururu!"
Set seemed just as pleased by the sight of the river, purring with evident excitement.
"What's wrong? Is it an enemy?"
Catching Set's cry, Elena called out to Rei from inside the Set Basket, wondering if perhaps an enemy had appeared.
"No, I spotted a river a little ways ahead. That's probably why Set got so worked up. So lunch won't be long now—tell Byune to hold on a bit."
"Understood. But please, make it quick."
Rei acknowledged Elena's words with a nod.
Of course, saying he understood wouldn't actually get them to the river any faster.
A few more minutes passed... and finally, they reached the river.
The flowing surface of the water caught the sunlight, sparkling in a way that somehow made it feel cooler just from looking at it.
In reality, simply looking at water didn't lower one's body temperature—it was all in the mind.
(Wind chimes probably work the same way. "When the mind is stilled, even fire feels cool." Or maybe "Illness begins in the mind." The exact nuance aside, it's something like that.)
While Rei watched the river, Set began its descent toward the ground, and the water drew nearer.
The Set Basket that Set had been clutching was released, and the thud of its landing echoed through the area.
After letting go of the basket, Set soared into the sky once more... before eventually touching down on the ground.
"Mmm, this cold soup is delicious. Normally with cold soup, the fat from the meat congeals and makes it unpleasant to eat, but there's none of that here."
What had been prepared for lunch was, as Vihera had noted, cold soup.
During the cooking process, the fat that rose to the surface had been meticulously skimmed off. As a result, even when chilled, no meat grease or cooking oil floated on top.
The pot itself had been stored in the Misty Ring while still thoroughly chilled, so its temperature hadn't risen at all. It was the perfect dish for a summer day.
"Cold soup and freshly baked bread... Not bad, but it's an odd combination."
"I see what Elena means. Normally the soup is hot and the bread is cold. I never realized just swapping the two would feel so strange."
The one speaking was Marina, who was using Spirit Magic to keep the soup pot chilled.
While stored in the Misty Ring, it wouldn't warm up—but naturally, once exposed to the open air, especially during the midday heat of summer, it wouldn't stay cold on its own.
That was where Marina's Spirit Magic came in.
...If other Spirit Magic users ever learned she was using it for something like this, they would undoubtedly be left speechless.
"Here, the fish is ready."
Rei announced, lifting the skewered fish that had been grilling by the campfire and placing it onto a plate.
He had originally planned to catch fish after the meal. But when he'd noticed a large stone—no, a boulder—in the river, he suddenly remembered a fishing technique he'd seen in a manga back in Japan.
The idea was simple: punch the boulder hard enough to stun the fish nearby with the shockwave.
He'd asked Set to deliver a blow with its front leg—just strong enough to stun without shattering the rock—and just as Rei had predicted, they managed to catch about ten fish.
The smaller ones were returned to the water as they were—stunned, they simply drifted away with the current—but the larger ones were more than enough for Rei and the others.
Not enough to stuff themselves silly, mind you, but plenty for a light bite.
With that taken care of, everyone dug into the salt-seasoned grilled fish.
The innards had been removed and the fish washed before grilling, so there was no concern on that front.
True to river fish, the clean, mild flavor brought an easy smile to the faces of those eating.
"Salt is the way to go. Nothing beats salt for grilled fish."
"Agreed. Herb-steaming is delicious too, but... for a meal like this, salt is the best choice."
Vihera replied with a smile to Rei's comment.
For river fish, salt-grilling was probably the most standard preparation.
Above all, the fact that it was quick and simple was a major advantage.
The herb-steamed approach Vihera mentioned, being a steamed dish, naturally required more time.
He did have herbs stored in the Misty Ring, so it wasn't as if it would be impossible.
At any rate, after finishing lunch amid such conversation, a brief midday break began.
And with a break came the inevitable: Rei and Set immediately threw themselves into catching fish.
They stunned fish by punching boulders, just as before. Rei waded into the river to swiftly spear them or knock them flying onto the bank.
With a person and a gryphon both hard at work, it was only natural that the others would find it intriguing.
Elena, rarely one to indulge in such things, waded into the river with evident interest. Marina, born and raised in a forest, caught fish effortlessly with Spirit Magic. Vihera relied on her sheer physical prowess, snatching fish barehanded.
But the most serious fisher among them all was, without a doubt, Byune.
Rather than her usual Long Needles, she picked up stones from the riverbank and hurled them at swimming fish, knocking them senseless before scooping them up.
And amidst all of this, Ielo was having the time of its life playing in the water, locked in a fierce and glorious battle with a river crab.