On the evening of the day after playing by the river — or more accurately, fishing — Rei, riding on Set's back, finally spotted the group he was looking for.
He caught sight of a large number of carriages lined up near the entrance to one of the towns along the highway.
With nearly a thousand people traveling in carriages, it was naturally impossible to bring all of them inside the town.
Well, depending on the size of the town, it might have been possible. But the town currently in Rei's line of sight wasn't that large, so such a thing was out of the question.
Naturally, simply leaving the carriages outside the town would invite people with ill intentions.
That was why several guards were stationed around the carriages and horses, doubling as caretakers for the animals.
(Monsters aside, it would be a real headache if bandits came targeting the horses.)
The monsters that appeared around here were, without a doubt, fundamentally low-rank monsters.
Compared to such weak or unintelligent creatures, bandits — who could employ crude tactics despite their lack of sophistication — were far more troublesome.
"I found Sura's group. We're descending!"
Squinting against the summer sunset, Rei called into the Set Basket and asked Set to head toward the ground.
Tapped lightly on the back of the neck, Set immediately complied with Rei's words and descended toward the ground, flapping its wings.
Concealed by the setting sun, the guards keeping watch around the carriages and horses were slow to notice Set's descent.
Their misfortune was that the first to spot Rei and Set was a guard who had been hired after Rei and Set had left the group.
Noticing something amiss from the sound of the Set Basket being lowered to the ground, he looked up at the sky and saw the silhouette of a gryphon.
Naturally, the guard had heard about Rei and Set, but hearing information from others and seeing it with his own eyes were two entirely different things.
That was why a sound that was neither quite a scream nor a war cry tore itself from the man's throat.
"U-Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"
And naturally, when such a voice echoed across the area, those nearby tensed up, wondering what had happened.
They had certainly felt the impact of the Set Basket being set down, but the scream that followed stole all their attention.
"Stay on aler—...?"
The adventurer man who had been about to shout "Stay on alert!" was, unlike the one who had just screamed, someone who had been hired as a guard from the time Rei's group was still present, arranged by Gimekara.
That was why he correctly judged that the figure descending from the sky was Set.
The setting sun had made it hard to see, but even so, he didn't miss Set's silhouette.
...Perhaps there was also the thought that if he were to mistake Set for an enemy and attack, the women — who could be called Set enthusiasts, or rather, believers — would undoubtedly make him suffer terribly.
At any rate, the adventurer man who recognized the descending figure as Set quickly shouted.
"Cease attacks! Do not attack! The one coming down is Set! It's friendly!"
At those words, those who had heard the earlier scream breathed sighs of relief and lowered their readied weapons.
"What, it's just Set. Seriously... who was it that let out a scream like that?"
"Ah, see. It's a guy who joined the guards after Rei and the others left."
"Oh, I see. ...Then I guess it can't be helped that he was startled by Set."
Several of the guards exchanged words among themselves as they relaxed.
Amidst all that, Elena and the others emerged from the Set Basket.
Naturally, the guards were captivated by the sight of Elena and her companions.
Even though they had been traveling with nearly a thousand beautiful women who had been taken to be used as prostitutes, Elena and the others possessed beauty striking enough to steal one's breath all the same.
To the men who were captivated — whether they were seeing them again for the first time in a while or for the very first time today — Rei, having dismounted from Set's back, called out.
"It looks like coming here was the right call. I'm glad to see you've made quite a lot of progress while we were away."
"R-Rei-san!?"
The man who had been particularly mesmerized by Marina — who, among Elena and the others, was clad in a blue party dress with a deeply plunging neckline — finally came back to his senses at Rei's words.
This man, a former member of the Resistance, naturally knew Rei's face.
Rei, too, seemed to remember the man, as he nodded before speaking.
"You were one of Sura's subordinates, right? Sorry, but could you bring Sura, Gimekara, and Rocks here?"
"Y-Yes. Right away!"
Saying so, the guard headed into the town.
Given that he quickly completed the procedures to enter, it was clear the townsfolk were accommodating them accordingly.
In the first place, it was rare for a group of nearly a thousand people to stop at a small town like this.
That alone was enough to cause a massive uproar, without a doubt.
However, Sura's group were not bandits, and since they were stopping at the town, they would spend a corresponding amount of money — money that the Zorgeh Merchant Guild would pay — so to the townsfolk, they were not an unwelcome presence but a welcomed one.
Seeing the man off as he headed into the town, Rei approached another person whose face he also recognized.
He didn't remember the name, but she was a woman who had been hired as an adventurer guard.
Originally, this group was mostly composed of women... and ones who had been brainwashed into working as prostitutes at that, so the guards hired were primarily those who wouldn't cause problems with such individuals.
In that sense, it was natural that they ended up hiring female adventurers more often than men.
"Did any major problems occur while we were away?"
"Huh? Let's see. A few people parted ways at villages and towns we stopped at along the way, but other than that, nothing in particular... Oh, but we did spot what appeared to be bandits once."
Hearing the word "bandits," Rei's lips curved into a slight arc — perhaps because Rei, who was often called the Bandit Eater, had found new prey.
But even that ferocious smile subsided when the woman unconsciously took a few steps backward and spoke.
"It's just that, um... given our numbers, they ultimately didn't do anything and just moved away."
"...I see."
That Rei's muttered words sounded slightly disappointed was by no means the woman's imagination.
"Anyway, I'm glad you're all safe. Were there any other problems?"
"Um..."
At Rei's words, the woman quietly glanced at Set.
Seeing that, Rei seemed to vaguely understand what had happened. He offered a small smile and told her not to worry about it.
For those who had relied on Set as their spiritual pillar, having Set vanish from before their eyes could not possibly have been a positive thing.
Given that, it was certain that something had happened in that regard — and even Rei could understand that much.
(It was the right call not to bring Yohanna.)
Rei had already heard about the hair-trigger situation that had developed between Mirene and the women of this group.
If Yohanna — whose devotion to Set rivaled Mirene's — had been brought into that situation... it was easy to imagine what kind of uproar would have erupted.
Incidentally, when it was decided that Rei's group would return here once and bring along several female adventurers as guards, Yohanna somehow caught wind of it and volunteered.
She did... but given Mirene's situation, they couldn't hire Yohanna as a guard. Moreover, Yohanna held a position akin to the coordinator of the Former Mobile Unit members.
For that reason as well, the talk of hiring Yohanna ultimately fell through... but at that time, her expression was one that the word "despair" fit perfectly, without exaggeration.
She herself probably wanted to go with Rei's group no matter what, but in the end, it was a matter of her position being what it was.
Whether or not she had been lamenting something along the lines of "Mirene gets everything..." was anyone's guess.
Then again, Mirene had technically managed to see Set, but since she was hired as one of Ronitas's escorts, she couldn't possibly travel with Rei. It was a near-miss at best.
If anything, since Rei's group traveled back and forth between this group and Gilm, Yohanna actually had more opportunities to meet Set.
Even so, to Yohanna, the fact that Mirene had seen Set before her must have been exceedingly enviable.
"Rei-san!"
Turning his gaze toward the voice, he saw three figures: Sura, Gimekara, and Rocks.
The one who had called out was Gimekara.
He was genuinely happy that Rei had returned. His face bore a full smile.
"Gimekara, huh. It seems you all made it through safely too. I'm a little surprised you managed to progress this far in such a short time."
"Ahaha. We were able to move forward more smoothly than we expected. Of course, there were various problems, but they were things we could manage on our end."
His words sounded as though he was truly, from the bottom of his heart, happy that Rei had come.
However, he was a sharp-minded man dispatched by the Zorgeh Merchant Guild.
Naturally, his words and expressions did not necessarily always reflect his true feelings.
But even so, considering the current situation, his words and his true feelings were likely not far apart.
"I'm glad to hear you say that. It helps us too. But I don't think I'll be able to stay here for very long this time either. Probably just a few days."
"I see. Even so, having Rei-san and your group here would be a great help to us."
For Gimekara, someone like Rei and his party — highly skilled and unlikely to cause problems — was someone he wanted as badly as a drowning man wants air.
...In Rei's case, he wouldn't cause problems with the women, but there was more than enough potential for him to cause problems in other areas.
"Also, Rocks. I brought some female adventurers from Gilm as guards, so put them to use."
"That'd be a big help. No matter what, the number of guards is just too small for this many people."
"The number of guards has increased compared to before, right? I saw some guys I didn't recognize."
Rei asked, recalling the man who had been startled by the sight of Set, but Rocks shook his head.
"No, it's not enough. In the first place, escorting a group of nearly a thousand people with this many guards is reckless. The guards we can hire are selected for personality over skill. ...Of course, I understand the reason for that."
Rocks was also aware that the women were directing wary gazes at him.
Even so, the fact that they were merely wary looks and not gazes filled with revulsion was likely due to Rocks's conduct up until now.
Being chosen as an escort for the envoy delegation, Rocks was someone whose character, not just his skill, had been taken into consideration.
"I'll bring some more guards when I return to Gilm next, so bear with it until then."
"Yeah. Just... please make it as soon as possible. Also, once we get close to Gilm, I'd like you to escort us the rest of the way, if possible. How about it?"
"Ah... yeah."
Rei nodded in understanding at Rocks's words.
Near Gilm — or more accurately, around the towns of Abuelo and Sablusta, which were close to Gilm — there were many bandits.
Targeting the merchants traveling to and from Gilm, a place that could be called a money tree, various bandits gathered there.
As if killing them didn't reduce their numbers at all.
Among the bandits that gathered, there were many weak ones, but those bandits were culled by adventurers and merchant escorts, monsters, and conflicts between rival groups.
As a result, the remaining bandits were those who possessed a certain level of skill.
When passing through such an area, this group was clearly nothing but a prime target.
To prevent that, a deterrent strong enough to make the bandits think twice about attacking was necessary.
"Understood. ...But it might be better to just wipe out the bandits in that area all at once. For now, when I head back to Gilm, I'll annihilate any I come across."
"...R-Right."
Rocks was surprised by the words that came so casually from Rei's mouth about annihilating the bandits.
Of course, Rocks knew how powerful Rei was. Living in Gilm, that information naturally reached him.
But even so, hearing him say it so boldly up close, it was only natural to be surprised.
"Well, um... yeah. Go easy on them. ...No, wait, should I be telling you to go ahead and do as much as you can?"
Noticing that he had somehow ended up expressing concern for the bandits, he hurriedly tacked that on as an afterthought.