"W-wait! Wait, please! I'm begging you!"
Under normal circumstances, the man would have been used to intimidating others with his rough appearance, but with the blade of the Death Scythe pressed against the back of his neck, he couldn't summon his usual bravado.
The image of the Death Scythe's blade effortlessly slicing through a longsword was seared into his eyes.
This should have been just another job — attacking a passing merchant caravan, nothing more.
In fact, they had already killed the coachman of the lead carriage with an arrow, successfully bringing it to a halt.
With the lead carriage stopped, the ones behind naturally had no choice but to halt as well.
There were a few escort adventurers, but given the number of bandits under his command, a small escort was something they could easily deal with.
...That far had gone according to plan, but after killing all the escorts and just as they were about to get down to business, despair arrived.
From there, with no time even to think, the bandits lost their lives one after another.
Some were severed by the scythe, others had their necks snapped with ease, and still others were shot dead by arrows. Many were killed in an instant, and before he knew it, only he remained — on the verge of having his neck reaped by the Death Scythe.
Judging that he had absolutely no chance of winning, it was only natural for him to cry out in surrender.
The moment he shouted, the scythe's blade lifted from his neck, and the man breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he was saved.
But whether he was truly saved depended on the mood of the man before him — Rei.
The man thought this, and as if reading his mind perfectly, Rei spoke.
"Tell me where your hideout is. And how many of you are there? Answer truthfully, and I might let you live for now."
"R-really? You mean it? You're not lying, right?"
The sight of a man in his thirties desperately shouting at Rei, who looked barely mid-teens, was almost comical.
But with his life on the line, he had no room to worry about such things.
"Yeah. Though I'll hand you over to the merchants over there, and you'll probably be sold to a slave trader."
"!? ...Even so, that's better than dying."
The man caught his breath for a moment at Rei's words, but in the end, he obediently confessed the location of their hideout.
Hearing that the bandits here were everyone and that no one was left at the hideout, Rei left the negotiation over the captured bandits' treatment to Marina and headed for the hideout with Reliu.
As expected of an Alias Holder, Reliu showed no particular distress even while flying by hanging from Set's legs.
"...I know it's late to ask, but why did you bother coming along, Reliu? It's already been decided that all the income from this request goes to us, so there was no need for you to tag along. Wouldn't it have been easier to stay with the merchants?"
Landing in front of the cave the bandits had used as their hideout, Rei asked Reliu, who had just jumped down from Set's legs.
As Rei had said, it truly was a belated question, but... Reliu glanced around before replying.
"Nothing special, honestly. Just a whim, really."
Rei had assumed there might be some important errand only Reliu needed to handle.
But judging from his demeanor, Rei concluded that there truly was no particular business.
Returning a brief "I see," Rei headed into the cave.
Inside, just as the man had said, it was unmistakably a bandit hideout.
However, it was a rural bandit hideout.
The Magic Items Rei had secretly hoped for were, of course, nowhere to be found.
For that matter, there weren't even any spears he could use for throwing.
Though since obtaining the Twilight Spear, the frequency of using ordinary spears for throwing had dropped considerably.
There were still large quantities of discarded spears in the Misty Ring, but when it came to ammunition, more was always better.
(Well, they're spears, not bullets, but still.)
He rummaged through the cave looking for anything useful, but all he found were some Gold Coins, Silver Coins, and Copper Coins, along with bags of wheat that were likely stolen from merchants and not even used for cooking.
The wheat bags in particular were piled haphazardly in considerable numbers — enough to make him think they wouldn't run out of wheat-based dishes for a while.
Among Rei's group, Marina did a fair amount of the cooking.
Considering that, the most valuable thing the bandits had this time was the wheat.
Of course, with Gold Coins and Silver Coins, they could simply buy wheat, so ultimately those might have been more valuable.
"Well, no hostages or anything. The weapons don't look like they'd be much use either."
Even so, he stored daggers, longswords, and clubs one after another into the Misty Ring.
The club had been reinforced in various ways, but since it was fundamentally made of wood, the thought even crossed his mind that it could serve as firewood.
After storing anything that looked worth money from the hideout into the Misty Ring, he stepped outside to find Reliu stroking Set with a smile.
Reliu had worn a smile of pure happiness, but upon seeing Rei emerge from the hideout, he immediately straightened his expression.
(Ah... I see.)
Seeing Reliu's demeanor, Rei finally understood why he had come along.
Fundamentally, the demographic of Set enthusiasts consisted mostly of women and children, but it wasn't as though adult men were absent.
This tendency was particularly notable among people like stall owners.
Of course, for stall owners selling skewers, bread, and the like, the sight of Set eating near their stall served largely as a draw for customers.
Those who wanted to adore Set would come because he was eating there, and passersby who saw Set enjoying the food would buy various things from the stall.
Less a customer-drawing panda and more a customer-drawing Set... or perhaps a customer-drawing Gryphon.
"...What is it?"
"Nothing. I'm just glad it seems Set was kept entertained so he wasn't bored."
"!? ...Yeah. I was bored too, so I didn't mind."
There was no hiding the fact that he'd been caught playing with Set, but since Rei showed no inclination to tease him about it, Reliu answered with relief.
Seeing this, Rei wondered whether Reliu had accepted this request from Daskar — technically a repayment of a debt — because of Set.
In fact, that guess wasn't entirely wrong; Reliu had certainly accepted the job on the spot because of Set.
The man himself was undoubtedly completely captivated by Set's charm, but he believed that for a grown adult — and an A-Rank adventurer bearing the alias Gale — having it known that he wanted to fawn over Set would be embarrassing.
Reliu genuinely believed this.
In reality, there were men who were older or tougher-looking than Reliu who still adored Set.
But Reliu couldn't accept that.
"I see. Set, I'm glad you got to play."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred happily.
Understanding that he wouldn't be teased for having played with Set, Reliu felt slightly relieved.
From Rei's perspective, he was actually relieved because he understood why Reliu had cooperated with them, even if that was the reason.
"So, was there anything good in the hideout?"
"Unfortunately, nothing I was hoping for. But there was a large amount of wheat, likely stolen from merchants, so it's quite helpful in terms of food."
"Huh. Well, when it comes to things like wheat, it can definitely be sold off if needed. And for someone like you with an Item Box, not having to worry about weight is a nice perk."
"Right. Though I have no intention of selling it. ...More importantly, we're done here, so I'm thinking of heading back soon. That alright?"
"Yeah, fine by me."
Reliu nodded readily, and together with Rei, headed on Set to where Elena and the others were waiting.
"Ah, Rei. And Reliu too. That was fast."
"Was it?"
Marina called out to Rei as he climbed down from Set's back.
The reason Rei responded with a question was likely because the merchant caravan they had rescued was already gone.
From Rei's standpoint, it was easier to avoid troublesome words of gratitude, requests to escort them partway, or negotiations about handing over the bandit leader... but even so, with the caravan already gone, he couldn't simply nod along to being told he was fast.
"Yeah. More importantly, let's get moving soon. At this rate, animals and monsters might be drawn by the smell of blood."
"That's right. Let's move out quickly."
The one who said that was, surprisingly, Vihera.
Normally, she would consider the possibility of fighting strong opponents and suggest staying — but as expected, the mock battle with Reliu at midday must have had a positive influence.
With Vihera — the one most likely to voice a desire to stay — saying that, Rei and the others left the area.
They proceeded toward their destination of Golts... and eventually the sun set, and night fell.
During the day it was still quite hot, but with autumn settling in, the sun inevitably set earlier.
As a result, Rei and his party ended up camping outdoors, but...
"Whoa, what is that?"
Reliu, looking inside the Magic Tent Rei had produced, showed clear surprise.
The Magic Tent was a fairly rare Magic Item, but it wasn't something like the Item Box, of which only a few existed in the world.
An Alias Holder adventurer shouldn't have been surprised to have seen one before...
Unfortunately, this seemed to be Reliu's first time seeing a Magic Tent.
"It's a Magic Tent."
"No, I can tell that much without you saying it. Still, actually seeing one in person — it's surprising."
"Is that how it is? By the way, I know it's late to ask, but what about you, Reliu? We'll be sleeping inside the Magic Tent."
If told they'd be sleeping in the same tent, one would normally imagine something romantic.
But the inside of the Magic Tent was a fairly spacious room, and Elena and the others would sleep in beds, while Rei often slept on the floor or sofa.
...While they would indeed be under one roof, there was no doubt that depending on who heard it, they would significantly misunderstand.
"Hm? Oh, me? Outside is fine for me. I'm used to it."
As an adventurer who operated solo, sleeping outdoors was something Reliu was accustomed to.
Without a creature like Set, when Reliu slept outdoors as a solo adventurer, he naturally slept as-is in the open.
If he were sleeping in a tent or using a sleeping bag and a monster or bandit attacked, he'd have no way to respond.
(Besides, staying outside the Magic Tent means I can play with Set to my heart's content.)
From what Rei could see, that was likely the biggest reason Reliu had decided to spend the night beside the Magic Tent.
Of course, since Reliu was trying to hide it, Rei had no intention of bringing it up.
Moreover, the members of the Crimson Lotus Wings that Rei led included many people with various circumstances, and above all, Elena — an outsider — was present this time.
Given that, sleeping together in the same room — Magic Tent though it was — would indeed be awkward for various reasons.
Under such circumstances, Reliu's offer was genuinely appreciated.
"Sorry about this."
"Don't worry about it. It's not like there's nothing in it for me either."
Smiling at Reliu's consistently unshakeable demeanor, Rei began taking out various items for dinner from the Misty Ring.