After checking on the earth wall, Rei and Set made their rounds to observe the adventurers still fighting Cobolts.
This was driven by the faint hope that perhaps many of the Cobolts they were fighting might be Rare Species or High-ranking Species.
Of course, since adventurers were already engaged with them, even if the Cobolts were Rare Species or High-ranking Species, they couldn't simply steal the kills.
Alternatively, given that the number of adventurers had thinned out, there was a chance—a real, faint chance—that a Rare Species or High-ranking Species Cobolt might just be wandering around somewhere nearby.
"In the end, they were all just ordinary Cobolts."
"Gruu."
At Rei's mutter, Set purred, sounding disappointed.
Stroking Set as if to encourage him, Rei continued.
"They probably got lucky and managed to cross the earth wall by stepping on fallen comrades. Or... maybe the ones that weren't killed yesterday were hiding in the construction materials and got discovered."
Whether or not Cobolts would stay quiet for an entire night was uncertain, but as a possibility, it couldn't be ruled out.
However, considering that more Cobolts had crossed the earth wall than Rei had anticipated, it wasn't entirely out of the question either.
"Looks like this isn't entirely a bad thing for those guys who were in front of the earth wall, either."
There had been a man who voiced his dissatisfaction to Rei about the reduced number of Cobolts to kill.
For that man, the current situation was by no means a bad one—or at least, it would be fair to think so.
Granted, compared to when there was no earth wall, the number of Cobolts would certainly decrease.
While musing on this, Rei and Set were about to head back to the Gigant Turtle dissection site when Set suddenly stopped in his tracks and fixed his gaze forward.
Within seconds of Set stopping, Rei also noticed the shouting drifting from ahead—and above all, the hostile atmosphere.
(What is this? Judging by the situation, it doesn't seem like a fight against Cobolts... Could it be a dispute between adventurers over Cobolts? No, but the presence...)
For a moment, he thought it might be a scuffle over the diminished number of Cobolts, but even so, the number of people was clearly too large.
No, far too many.
Rei didn't understand what was happening, but sensing the bloodthirsty aura drifting from ahead, he naturally couldn't just leave it be.
Well, as adventurers, they were fundamentally responsible for themselves, but even so, if he left things as they were, several people could end up dead before any questions of personal responsibility even came into play. Abandoning them to that fate would leave a bad aftertaste.
Above all, the bigger concern was that if something troublesome happened here, it could negatively impact the Gigant Turtle dissection as well.
"Let's go, Set. Let's wrap up this trouble quickly... ah, but if I go straight back to the Gigant Turtle dissection site, Vihera is probably already angry. In that case, maybe I should kill a bit more time before heading back? Either way, let's just get this over with."
"Gruu!"
Purring at Rei's words, the pair took off running across the ground toward the source of the voices—and toward those radiating a dangerous atmosphere.
What came into view was a larger group than expected.
A group of about ten and a group of about thirty were facing each other.
What surprised Rei most was that the group of ten consisted of the very people who had been in front of the earth wall earlier.
The group of about thirty facing them had a visibly hostile air about them.
Rei's gaze shifted to the group of about thirty.
That group consisted entirely of young men in their late teens to twenties, and every single one of them was armed with an axe.
It was clearly a weapon ill-suited for fighting Cobolts.
Cobolts were fundamentally quick on their feet, which was why heavy weapons like axes and clubs were a poor match for them.
If they had considerable skill, that would be a different matter, but from what Rei could see, all thirty or so men were undeniably weak.
(A tactic where they use their numbers and just need someone to land even a single hit on a Cobolt? No, but these are Cobolts. Their numbers are already reduced by the earth wall as it is. Even with that many people, there's no way they'd make any decent profit from killing them.)
Thinking this, but also considering that perhaps they had come to verify their coordination, he called out to the two confronting groups.
"You're giving off quite a dangerous atmosphere. What exactly happened here?"
At that moment, both groups reflexively directed their gazes at him as if to say don't interfere—and upon realizing that the one who had called out to them was Rei, their expressions shifted to astonishment.
The group of ten showed surprise that Rei, who should have left the front of the earth wall earlier, was still here. The group of thirty wore expressions suggesting they feared their plan had been seen through and Rei had gotten ahead of them.
"W-Why are you still here?!"
The first to snap back and shout was the man who had voiced his dissatisfaction to Rei in front of the earth wall.
Rei stroked Set beside him and spoke.
"When you say 'why'... I was just checking how many Cobolts were still around here at the expansion construction site."
To be precise, he had been looking around with the faint hope that there might be Rare Species or High-ranking Species Cobolts, but he had no intention of mentioning that here.
"And? I know I'm repeating my earlier question, but what are you all doing, radiating such a dangerous atmosphere?"
"T-That's..."
The man talking with Rei hesitated for a moment, glancing at the axe-wielding men as he tried to say something—
"Y-Y-Y-You're so damn loud! This has nothing to do with you! Just get lost already!"
Before the man talking with Rei could open his mouth, one of the axe-wielding men shouted.
The axe wielders—those who should be called Former Red Cloth, currently not wearing their signature red cloth—naturally knew who Rei was.
No, more than that, some of them had even been captured by Rei when they were rampaging as Red Cloth. They hadn't been considered particularly important figures, and since there had been several similar individuals, Rei hadn't noticed at all that among the Former Red Cloth were people he had personally captured.
That was precisely why they acted on the judgment that if Rei caught on to their identity here, it would absolutely become troublesome.
Their anxiety curdled into irritation, and as if forgetting they were facing Rei—an opponent they could never possibly defeat—they shouted.
The fact that they had numbers on their side was probably also a factor.
However, the man's attitude aroused Rei's suspicion.
If they knew who he was, it was understandable that they would want him gone quickly, since they'd have no chance of winning if a brawl broke out here.
He could understand that much. But watching them, there was clearly some other emotion at work beyond mere self-preservation.
"Why do you want me gone so badly?"
"Of course he does."
The one who answered Rei's question was the man who had voiced his dissatisfaction in front of the earth wall.
Unconcerned by the axe-wielding group glaring at him and telling him to shut up, he continued.
"It seems you haven't realized, Rei, but those guys... they're the Red Cloth who were rampaging through Gilm before the snow fell."
"...What?"
A twitch.
At those words, Rei's movement stopped.
These were the very people Rei had suspected—half on intuition—of using a Magic Item or something similar to draw in the Cobolts.
At the man's words, Rei looked at the axe-wielding men... the Red Cloth men... and suddenly realized something.
(Wait. Why are they here?)
When he had first seen the two groups, he had assumed the axe-wielding group had come to verify their combat coordination or something along those lines.
But if they were Red Cloth, that changed everything.
Red Cloth. Axes. A Magic Item that draws Cobolts. An earth wall that prevents Cobolt intrusion.
Combining all of those, Rei arrived at a conclusion and turned his gaze toward the Red Cloth group with a smile on his face.
However, that smile was not an ordinary one—it would be more accurate to describe it as ferocious.
The Red Cloth men upon whom that smile was directed—no, not just them, but even the group that had been arguing with the Red Cloth until moments ago—felt a chill run down their spines.
As if the snow that still lay scattered around had been poured straight down their backs.
If they moved even slightly, Rei might attack them.
Amidst that tension, Rei suddenly spoke.
"I'll ask just in case... you're not about to tell me you came here to destroy the earth wall I built, are you?"
Even as he asked, judging from the information he possessed and the appearance of the men before him who primarily wielded axes, Rei was already certain his prediction was correct.
In fact, the Red Cloth men could say nothing in response to his words.
"What's wrong? If that's not it, say so. If it is, say so. Can't you just be honest? Otherwise, it'll be difficult for us to decide what course of action to take."
What exactly that course of action would entail was obvious to the Red Cloth men without even thinking about it.
Being told that, they realized they could no longer claim they had been ordered to destroy the earth wall—but even if they denied it here, it was clear from Rei's demeanor that he would never believe them.
"Gruu!"
Perhaps finding the Red Cloth men tedious, Set, who had been observing the situation from beside Rei, let out a sharp cry.
"Hiih!"
They were people who had terrorized Gilm's residents as Red Cloth, but even so, they had ultimately been committing petty crimes.
If a gryphon like Set turned hostile, it wouldn't be strange for their legs to start buckling on the spot.
Among the Red Cloth, some had seen Set playing with children in the city streets, but the Set standing before them now showed no trace whatsoever of that innocent demeanor.
Looking at the Red Cloth group, Rei smiled and spoke.
"What's wrong? You'd better be honest. Otherwise, Set's mood is only going to get worse."
"I-I get it! I'll talk! I'll talk, so please call him off!"
"Hey, you idiot! You understand what'll happen if you do that, don't you?!"
As one of the men, subjected not to Set's usual round eyes but a sharp, predatory gaze, cried out reflexively, another man right beside him shouted in rebuke.
They of course knew that the person who had employed them was no decent human being.
An ordinary person wouldn't go out of their way to hire people to worsen public order.
Naturally, anyone who did such a thing had circumstances that couldn't be brought to light. That was the given rule.
They understood this—and that was precisely why they could predict what would befall them if they betrayed their employer.
At the very least, it was absolutely certain that it wouldn't end with just a verbal warning.
That was why they were infuriated by the man's outburst. But now that he had clearly said something implying there was more to the story, it was already far too late.
"Hoh. Then... let's see. By all means, tell me what you were planning to do."
Tell me.
The one subjected to that gaze was the man who had just shouted that he would talk.
Having been the first to betray his comrades, he felt that no matter what he said here, they would never trust him again. Aware that several people around him were glaring daggers at him, the man nonetheless opened his mouth.
"Um... we were told to come destroy the earth wall you made."
Those words were not particularly surprising to Rei, but to the group containing the man who had complained to him in front of the earth wall, the content was unbelievable.
"Are you insane?! Destroying the earth wall means letting Cobolts back into Gilm!"
The one who shouted that was the man who had voiced his dissatisfaction to Rei.
If anything, Rei was the one surprised by that man's words.
This man should have been dissatisfied with Rei for building the earth wall, too.
Considering what he had said at the time, it would have made more sense for him to be pleased by the Red Cloth's words rather than outraged.
However, Rei quickly judged that there was something more important to press the Red Cloth about right now, and turned his gaze back toward them.