They continued flying on Set's back for several days.
Eventually spotting the familiar city of Sablusta, followed by Abuelo, and finally Gilm, Rei at last felt that he had returned.
In reality, he hadn't been away from Gilm for all that long, but this time as well, he had been caught up in all sorts of—yes, truly all sorts of—trouble, which left him feeling as though he had been away for a very long time.
Rei gazed out over Gilm with a sense of nostalgia, but he could see a number of people working at the expansion construction site.
However... they were not doing expansion construction.
"Monsters!?"
That was right—just as the words had left Rei's mouth, a battle between monsters and what appeared to be adventurers was currently taking place at the expansion construction site.
Rei panicked for a moment, but looking closer... no, he didn't even need to look closely to see that the adventurers had a one-sided advantage.
Adventurers in Gilm were, to begin with, stronger on average compared to those in other cities.
On top of that, when Rei examined the battlefield again, the adventurers there were fighting a pack of Cobolts.
Cobolts, while not quite as weak as Goblins, were still a fairly weak type of monster, and to the majority of adventurers in Gilm, they were nothing more than trash mobs.
There was no way Cobolts like those could fight Gilm's adventurers head-on and win, even in a pack.
Feeling relieved by that fact, Rei still had one question.
Why would a pack of Cobolts go out of their way to attack Gilm?
Cobolts were stronger and smarter than Goblins.
Why would Cobolts, who could never win a direct fight against Gilm, do something like this?
That was what bothered Rei.
"Well, no point thinking about it here. Set, land us in front of the main gate."
"Gruu?"
Set purred as if asking whether they weren't going to help, but Rei stroked him and spoke.
"Even watching from here, they're winning one-sidedly. In that case, there's no need for us to force our way directly in there."
Rei had also been told to avoid descending directly into the city from the sky whenever possible.
If the adventurers fighting had been at a disadvantage, diving down from the sky would have been no problem... but doing something like that in the current situation would definitely cause issues.
Moreover, in such a one-sided battle, they might well be accused of stealing someone else's prey.
Considering that, it was clearly better to return through the main gate like normal.
"Besides, we have the Set Basket, right? ...Well, if we did something like dropping the Set Basket in an area where only Cobolts are, it would certainly deal considerable damage to the pack."
At that explanation, Set purred as if convinced and began descending toward the ground.
Naturally, Set had continued flying even while Rei was observing, thinking, and talking to him, so they had already drawn close to Gilm.
Then, Set dropped the Set Basket in a spot not far from the main gate.
Normally—say, from spring through autumn—doing something like this would have earned a reprimand from the guards.
But right now it was winter, and foot traffic was sparse.
In fact, there was no one in front of the main gate at this moment.
That was precisely why they could get away with doing this.
After lowering the Set Basket to the ground, Set steadied himself in the air and then landed on the ground himself.
Right at that moment, Elena and Ara, along with Ielo—two people and one creature—emerged from the Set Basket and approached Rei's group.
"We've finally arrived. ...But do you sense a strange atmosphere coming from Gilm?"
Being able to detect the air of battle even from this distance was Elena's special skill, born from having spent so long on battlefields.
"Apparently, a pack of Cobolts has gotten into the expansion construction area. When I looked from the sky, they were fighting."
"I see."
The fact that she didn't ask whether they should go reinforce them was likely because Elena also knew the skill level of Gilm's adventurers.
Ara knew that as well, so the three people and two creatures headed toward the main gate without any particular urgency.
Naturally, the guards must have noticed them when the Set Basket was lowered. A guard came out immediately to handle things.
"You took quite a while. I thought you'd be back sooner."
While Rei went through the procedure to enter the city, a guard struck up conversation.
Having passed through this main gate countless times, and being a well-known figure in Gilm to boot, Rei had naturally become friendly with the guards.
...Though admittedly, part of the reason was that they looked forward to feeding Set.
In fact, several guards who weren't processing Elena's or Ara's paperwork were placing a tamed monster collar on Set while feeding him dried meat—a routine they clearly enjoyed.
Watching those exchanges, Rei hesitated over what to say.
He had been harassed by nobles, targeted by assassins, fought mock battles against knights and soldiers serving nobles, and battled the boss of the largest organization in Anesis's underground world who had tried to release a sealed monster... truly, all sorts of things had happened.
There wasn't enough time to explain all of it, and more importantly, it wasn't the kind of thing he could easily tell just anyone. And so...
"A lot of things happened."
He left it at that.
Even so, that brief phrase was apparently enough to easily imagine how much turmoil Rei had been caught up in, as the guard didn't ask anything more.
He simply looked at Rei with a gaze full of something like tender compassion and nodded.
Rei had some thoughts about the guard's reaction, but right now there was something more important to ask.
"So, from the sky it looked like there was a flashy battle going on with a pack of Cobolts at the expansion construction site. Do you know what happened?"
"Ah... yeah. It started right around when the new year began, I think. Since around then, packs of Cobolts have been coming in through the expansion construction site from time to time."
Even as he said that, there was no sense of desperation on the guard's face, likely because he understood that Cobolts were no great threat to the adventurers in Gilm.
Of course, if High-ranking Species or Rare Species of Cobolts appeared, they might struggle somewhat... but as far as the guard knew, no such information had come in so far.
That was why he wore that expression.
Whether one saw it as being lax or as having faith in the strength of Gilm's adventurers probably depended on the person, but for now Rei judged it to be the latter.
"Since the new year, huh... In that case, there must be a lot of adventurers who aren't happy about it."
As a general rule, adventurers took extended breaks during the snowy winter.
Those who hadn't managed to save up money before winter would indeed need to keep working through the season, but the majority of adventurers were the long-vacation type.
And right when they were resting and taking it easy, a pack of Cobolts suddenly attacks.
Moreover, even when defeated, since they were Low-Rank Monsters, the materials, Magic Stones, and Subjugation Proof Parts were cheap.
For adventurers who had come to Gilm and saved up enough funds to get through winter, defeating them and going through the trouble of harvesting parts felt like a nuisance.
...Though for adventurers who hadn't been able to save up winter funds, even Cobolts were preferable—there was no need to go outside Gilm to fight monsters, and since it counted as an Emergency Request issued by the Guild in response to monsters invading the city, the reward came with a bonus. Some considered themselves lucky.
That said, even if the Cobolt incursions were being stopped at the expansion construction site, the fact remained that monsters had entered the city.
No one could openly call that situation lucky.
"Yeah. Even so, the Cobolts haven't made it to the residential districts, so there aren't many Gilm residents who are unhappy about it."
The residents of Gilm understood the fact that they lived on the frontier.
Not everyone felt that way for certain, of course, so there were some who felt dissatisfied or anxious about the Cobolt attacks... but such people were mostly those who had come to Gilm within the past few years, or those who had arrived for this expansion construction.
The frontier was a place where one could obtain extremely rare materials and Magic Items made from them, along with various other things, and in terms of earning money, it was easier than in other villages, towns, or cities... but that was precisely because it was the frontier.
It was, in a manner of speaking, the very definition of high risk, high return.
Since the majority of people lived in Gilm fully understanding that, there was no reason for them to complain in this situation.
Of course, that was only possible because the Cobolts were being entirely defeated near the expansion construction site.
If they failed to wipe out the Cobolts, even people who understood the risks would start to voice complaints.
"I see. At first I considered heading over there, but it seems there was no need to worry. I came straight here instead... looks like that was the right call."
"It helps us that you did. Thanks to that, we don't have to go through any complicated procedures. ...Alright, your paperwork is done. You can go on in."
At the guard's words, Rei's group entered Gilm.
Naturally, there were few people near the main gate.
Even so, there would normally be at least a few people around, but today, whether by coincidence or not, there was no one.
(Could this be related to the Cobolt incident?)
For residents who had lived in Gilm for years, something like this might not be all that alarming, but for those who had come to Gilm for some reason including the expansion construction, it wouldn't be strange for them to want to flee a place under monster attack as quickly as possible.
However, that feeling was limited to the area immediately around the main gate; a little further in, the familiar sights Rei was used to seeing spread out before him.
"Rei, sorry, but I'm going to go report to Lord Daskar. Though I can't guarantee I'll be able to meet with him right away..."
As someone dispatched to ensure that Noble's Faction members didn't try anything suspicious regarding Gilm's expansion construction, Elena needed to report to Daskar, who governed this land, now that she had returned to Gilm.
Rei knew that as well, so he nodded.
"Should I come too? Would it be better if I did?"
"No, there's no need for you to come specifically. I'll inform Lord Daskar about matters concerning you myself."
"Are you sure? Sorry for making you go out of your way."
Normally, when it came to informing Daskar about Rei, it wouldn't be strange to worry that she might report something odd.
But when the other party was Elena, there was no need to worry about such a thing; he could trust her without concern.
"You don't need to worry. That... we're close, after all."
Perhaps feeling slightly embarrassed at her own words, her cheeks tinged red as she said that, averting her gaze.
Seeing Elena like that, Rei also felt slightly embarrassed and averted his gaze as well.
It was then that he noticed: the number of children who would normally gather if Set was around was clearly smaller.
(Is this also because of the Cobolts, same as at the main gate? ...If anything, the fact that so many still gather wanting to play with Set even in this situation is, in a way, impressive.)
In Rei's line of sight, Set was surrounded by people of all ages and genders.
Given that Set was treated as Gilm's mascot, there were probably many who had been disappointed that he had been away from Gilm for a while.
"Gururururu!"
Set ate the offered skewer and purred happily.
Even in this cold... or rather, perhaps precisely because it was cold, the freshly grilled skewer showed an exquisite flavor.
Watching that skewer, Rei suddenly thought of Georgima.
In the end, the ramen that Georgima had made was different from what Rei remembered.
Even so, it was delicious enough to be called a proper dish, so Georgima had said he would continue refining it and improving its quality going forward.
He had said that, but... what worried Rei was that Georgima had declared he would eventually come to Gilm and make Rei eat his ramen and admit it was delicious.
Rei thought he had said it only half-jokingly, but considering Georgima's personality... it wouldn't be strange for him to show up in Gilm at some point.
(If that happens, I can't help but feel it might cause a major commotion in Duke Kerebel's Territory... well, I'll think about that later.)
Setting aside troublesome matters—or so he thought—Rei walked toward Set, who was being swarmed by a crowd of people.