"All right, that's all of today's felled logs, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. Man, still... having Rei around really makes the job easier, doesn't it?"
Watching Rei store the logs felled in the Treant Forest into his Misty Ring, an adventurer hired as a guard murmured earnestly.
Indeed, eliminating the task of transporting felled logs was an immense help to the Fleeing Adventurers.
...Additionally, Rei also went out of his way to uproot the stumps of felled trees along with their roots from the ground, so to the adventurers and Woodcutters, he was nothing short of a savior.
However, when it came to uprooting stumps, Rei's part only went as far as using Terrain Manipulation to mound up the earth.
Actually pulling out the stumps along with their roots was the Fleeing Adventurers' job.
Even so, the Fleeing Adventurers had no complaints.
The sight of countless stumps spread across the area was quite an obstacle when moving around.
But even if they wanted to remove the stumps, with the roots firmly spread out, pulling them out was a struggle.
If they were the likes of High-Rank Adventurers, they might have been able to pull out stumps effortlessly, but those here were adventurers whose abilities were not that high.
If such people were to try dealing with the stumps, they would need to dig the ground to expose the roots to some extent, make them easier to pull out, then tie a rope or something to the stump, and have everyone pull together — that kind of effort.
When Rei did it, thanks to Terrain Manipulation, the roots would be torn apart underground, and the stump could be pulled out effortlessly.
There was no way the other Fleeing Adventurers wouldn't be grateful for that.
"I'm doing it because there's something in it for me, though," Rei replied to the adventurer expressing his gratitude.
In truth, Rei was not helping remove stumps out of kindness alone.
Through discussions with the Woodcutters, he had been told that he could do whatever he wanted with the removed stumps.
For the Woodcutters, stumps left after logging were nothing but a nuisance.
Left as they were, they got in the way of walking and other activities, and even if pulled from the ground, they took up space.
If Rei would take them and store them in his Misty Ring, they would be grateful rather than dissatisfied.
Rather, they could even be thankful.
...There were some who found Rei disagreeable and voiced complaints about it, but when told to handle it themselves, they could do nothing about it.
At most, they could carry them somewhere out of the way to dump them — but even as Woodcutters, carrying all the stumps alone wasn't impossible, just extremely exhausting.
Even if they asked the adventurers for help, nobody would agree to help transport stumps to an out-of-the-way place when Rei would normally just store them in his Misty Ring and be done with it.
Of course, if they offered pay, that might be a different story.
"Stumps as profit, huh... What do you use them for? Drying them for firewood?"
An adventurer who had been listening from a short distance away asked, but Rei shook his head.
"No. I've already got firewood stored separately, so that's not an issue. These are... let's see. Just as a hypothetical, but what do you think would happen if stumps started falling from the sky during a battle?"
Rei asked casually, but upon hearing that, the Fleeing Adventurers felt chills run down their spines.
Stumps raining down while you were focused on fighting the opponent in front of you.
A stump's weight varied depending on its size, but was generally around one hundred and fifty kilograms.
With stumps of that weight falling, taking a direct hit without knowing any better could easily snap your neck in one blow.
And the number of stumps stored in Rei's Misty Ring was nearly a hundred.
In other words, he could drop that many stumps from the sky onto the ground and launch a one-sided attack.
Of course, that attack was not all-purpose.
Depending on the shape of the stump, air resistance during the fall could alter its trajectory, causing it to miss the targeted spot.
In that sense, it would be most effective to use in a place where large numbers of people were gathered and fighting, like in a war.
...Furthermore, though Rei didn't bother saying it aloud, wood naturally burned.
The stumps were still raw wood, but with the flames from the Fire Whirlwind Rei could produce, they would burn without any issue.
Of course, the fact that they burned meant that over time they would turn to charcoal, but conversely, that also meant there was a high likelihood of burning stumps being sent flying their way.
For those fighting on the ground, there was no doubt that stumps would be an unexpectedly troublesome weapon.
However, the Fleeing Adventurers were somewhat startled and intimidated by this realization — but as adventurers belonging to Gilm, the likelihood of them ever opposing Rei was essentially nonexistent.
In that sense, the Fleeing Adventurers working alongside Rei like this could consider themselves fortunate.
Glancing at the Fleeing Adventurers who were half-consoling themselves, Rei called out to Set, who had been keeping watch on the surroundings from the sky.
"Set! Time to head back to Gilm!"
"Gurururururu!"
At Rei's words, Set flapped its wings and descended toward the ground.
The Fleeing Adventurers nearby showed no particular sign of fear at seeing Set's behavior, already accustomed to it.
"All right, I'm heading back to Gilm, so the Woodcutters' guard duty is in your hands."
"Yeah, leave it to us. Well, nothing dangerous has ever happened in this Treant Forest so far, though."
The adventurer said with a smile.
Those words were not necessarily wrong, but at the same time, it did not guarantee safety going forward.
Especially now, as it was getting colder, and soon enough it wouldn't be strange for snow to start falling.
And once snow fell, monsters that only appeared in winter would begin to show themselves.
For now, this Treant Forest was still safe, but if such monsters appeared, absolute safety was not guaranteed.
The Fleeing Adventurers serving as guards probably understood that — but having entrusted the transport of felled logs to Rei while they themselves were tasked with guarding the Woodcutters in this forest, it was only natural for them to put on a brave front.
Rei half-understood the Fleeing Adventurers' feelings, gave a light wave, and flew away from the area with Set.
Seeing off the pair of one person and one creature, the Fleeing Adventurers resolved to at least do their own job properly, and listening to the sound of axes the Woodcutters swung against trees, each went into a state of alert.
"Definitely a lot fewer people around now, huh."
"Guru?"
At Rei's words, Set tilted its head quizzically, as if asking "Really?"
After completing simple procedures at Gilm's Main Gate, Rei muttered while walking down the main street with Set.
Compared to a few days ago, the number of people going through entry procedures at the Main Gate had clearly decreased.
That was also clear proof that the season was transitioning into winter.
It had been several years since coming to Elgin.
He had already grown accustomed to spending winters in Gilm, and that was precisely why he could look at this situation and think that winter was near.
Of course, due to the Expansion Construction, there were more people coming to Gilm this year compared to usual.
"Now then, I just need to take the wood I brought to the usual place and... hm?"
Today's work was done.
Rei had been about to say just that, but before he could finish, he noticed a crowd of people gathered ahead of them.
Moreover, what could be heard from that direction was unmistakable shouting.
It was clearly not a peaceful situation.
Of course, if that were all, Rei wouldn't have paid it much attention.
Gilm attracted large numbers of people, including adventurers, and among them were naturally those with hot tempers.
But... when Vihera's voice was mixed in among the shouts coming from that crowd, Rei couldn't just ignore it.
"Let's go."
"Gururururu."
At Rei's voice, Set rumbled and stepped forward.
Perhaps noticing Rei and Set's presence, the people forming a wall around the commotion began making way.
Thus, without any particular trouble, Rei made his way to the front row of the crowd, and what he saw was exactly the scene he had expected.
Lying on the ground were hot-blooded-looking men.
However, what surprised Rei was that those men were unarmed.
If they were adventurers, they would at least carry minimum equipment when going out.
Even if they didn't wear Leather Armor, they would carry a longsword or short sword of some kind.
Of course, some didn't carry polearms and similar long weapons since they took up space.
In any case, the men who had been knocked unconscious by Vihera's fists, kicks, or throws and were lying on the ground had absolutely none of that kind of equipment.
If it had been one or two people, one could have assumed there were simply careless individuals like that, but if all of them were unarmed, it was highly likely they were people who had come to Gilm seeking work rather than adventurers.
"Uwoaaaaah! Don't mess with me, you bastard!"
"Oh my, 'bastard'? I'm a woman, you know?"
The only man still standing and not unconscious threw a punch at Vihera, his face bright red from anger — or perhaps desperation.
(Not gonna work.)
Seeing the movement of his body, Rei made that judgment in an instant.
Whether from doing physically demanding work daily or not, the man's body had visibly apparent muscle.
It was enough to tell even through the long-sleeved clothing he wore, appropriate for this season as winter approached.
But his footwork was far from what one would expect from a battle-hardened adventurer.
Seeing him in a brawl with Vihera, he was probably used to fighting, but Rei couldn't imagine him being able to do anything about Vihera.
However, contrary to Rei's expectations, the fight — though calling it that felt questionable — dragged on.
It wasn't that the man was unexpectedly strong; it was simply that Vihera had no intention of taking him down quickly, her purpose being to torment him.
Dodging the man's formless, swinging fists, Vihera lightly tapped her gauntlet-covered fists against the man's face and body.
It wasn't really punching; it was simply touching her fists to him, an attack that could barely be called an attack.
But the man had watched with his own eyes as his companions lost consciousness from a single blow by a woman who looked like nothing more than a prostitute or Dancer.
If Vihera got serious, the man would immediately join those lying on the ground.
The only reason that hadn't happened was clearly because Vihera was not trying to bring him down.
And yet, by touching her fists to him, she was demonstrating through her attitude that she could take him down at any time.
"...That's pretty mean, even for Vihera."
Rei muttered, but Set tugged at his Dragon Robe with its beak, drawing his gaze to a spot slightly away from where the fight was taking place.
Following that gaze, Rei saw Byune standing beside a woman.
And the woman beside Byune had her clothes torn, exposing her white skin.
She had been given someone's clothes to drape over her torn ones, but that couldn't completely hide the woman's white skin.
Seeing such a scene, the reason for this brawl — and why Vihera was this angry — was obvious without even needing to think about it.
(Ah... what were these guys thinking, pulling something this stupid on the main street... no, maybe they were trying to assault the woman in the gap between buildings and Vihera and the others caught them?)
He never expected that someone would still dare to do such a thing openly in Gilm.
Thinking that, Rei watched the spectacle that could hardly be called a fight, an action more aimed at breaking the man's spirit.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah..."
No matter how much he attacked, none of his blows landed on Vihera.
Meanwhile, Vihera's fists had struck the man's body more times than was even worth counting.
Full-power exertion was not something that could be sustained for very long to begin with.
Moreover, this man was on his way home from work, so naturally his stamina was not at full capacity.
...Of course, even at full stamina, he would have been no match for Vihera.
As another ten minutes or so passed, eventually drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, the man collapsed onto the ground.
It wasn't that Vihera had attacked him; his stamina had simply reached its limit, his spirit thoroughly broken.
Glancing with contempt at the man lying on the ground and breathing heavily, Vihera handed him over to the nearby waiting Guards.