Bathed in the spring sunlight, Rei flew through the sky on Set's back.
The warmth of the air made him want to ask what had happened to the winter cold just a short while ago. It was that warm.
Rei flew together with Set through that gentle breeze.
...Their destination was a village and town located far from Gilm.
Normally, Rei would have no reason to visit such places.
But in order to bring woodcutters back with him, this trip was absolutely necessary.
Of course, he wasn't going to drag woodcutters along by force.
Before Rei's arrival, Daskar's messengers had already visited each village and town, recruiting beforehand from among the skilled woodcutters those who were willing to go to Gilm. Rei was there to transport those people.
Under ordinary circumstances, a carriage would have been sufficient. This time, however, the situation was different.
Traveling by carriage would inevitably take far more time than traveling with Set.
What's more, Daskar had made arrangements not with just one village or town, but with several.
That was precisely why Rei—who possessed the Set Basket and could use Set's mobility to carry everyone at once—had been chosen for this mission.
If each person traveled by carriage, it would undoubtedly take a considerable amount of time.
Measured against the travel time to Gilm, perhaps the difference wasn't that large... but even that slight amount of time was something they couldn't afford to waste right now—a sentiment shared by Daskar and the rest of Gilm's leadership.
"Gruu?"
Rei had been flying along, basking in the soft sunlight, when Set suddenly let out a cry.
At the sound, Rei looked below... and judged that they had likely reached their destination village.
Since they had been following the highway, the fact that they hadn't gotten lost was probably fortune on Rei's side.
...If they had been heading to a village off the main road, there was a real chance they could have gotten lost.
That said, at times like those, for whatever reason, he usually ended up finding bandits or the like. The result was that he'd defeat them, making the surrounding area at least somewhat more peaceful.
"Yeah, that's the place. Let's land. Not directly in the village—somewhere a fair distance from the main gate, alright?"
By now, Gilm's guards and those who frequented the city were well aware of Set's existence, so far fewer people were startled by him.
Fewer, but not none—and as long as Set was a gryphon, that was simply unavoidable.
Because of that, Rei could easily predict that if Set landed inside a village that knew nothing about him, or right next to the main gate, it would almost certainly cause a panic.
"Gruu."
Set looked only slightly disappointed as he obediently followed Rei's instruction.
He probably understood that in most of the many places he had visited beyond Gilm, he had initially been feared.
With that, Set flapped his wings and began descending toward the village.
As was only natural, the villager posted at the village entrance to watch for suspicious figures was startled by the sight of Set descending from the sky.
Observing this, Rei dismounted from Set's back after it landed on the ground and headed toward the village alongside his gryphon.
"Heh."
The villager, startled by Set's appearance, gripped the spear in his hands firmly and pointed its tip toward Rei.
What came from Rei's mouth at that sight was a voice of admiration.
The villager surely didn't think for a moment that he could win against Set—against a gryphon—through his own skill.
Set, whose body length exceeded three meters, was not an opponent that anyone short of a High-Rank Adventurer could handle.
Despite that, the fact that he hadn't fled and instead stood his ground to defend the village was, from Rei's perspective, more than enough to earn his goodwill.
That said, the spear-wielding villager's hands were naturally trembling, and that trembling traveled down the shaft to the tip.
As if to reassure him, Rei spoke.
"Relax, I'm not an enemy. I'm Rei, come from Gilm to recruit woodcutters. You should have been informed, right?"
"Eh? Ah? Eh? Eeeh...?"
Perhaps he never expected such words to come from Rei's mouth—the villager let out a bewildered sound.
He had been completely convinced that the person before him was an enemy who had come to attack his village.
Granted, this wasn't the villager's fault.
For a villager living in such a rural area to suddenly encounter Set, his reaction was only natural.
Rather, the fact that he hadn't screamed and fled or been overcome by terror and attacked Rei was actually quite impressive.
"Calm down. I'll say it again—I came from Gilm. Right now, Gilm is in the middle of expansion construction, but we're short on woodcutters... skilled ones, to be precise. You've heard about this, right?"
Perhaps those words finally brought him back to his senses. The villager sat down on the ground as if relieved and spoke.
"Y-yeah. I heard. But... um, it's really you?"
The villager looked to be in his twenties.
Normally, a man of that age would be a major asset in farm work. The fact that he was instead serving as a gatekeeper meant there had to be a good reason for it.
(Probably to keep animals and monsters from wandering out of the forest and into the village... something like that, I guess.)
Rei glanced at the forest situated not far from the village and nodded in understanding.
Since it was a village with skilled woodcutters, forestry was naturally thriving here as well.
(Wait, is it still "forestry" if it's in a forest?)
The question crossed his mind briefly, but he decided not to worry about it and asked the villager.
"So, which woodcutters from this village are heading to Gilm for work? Sorry, but I need to stop by several other villages and towns after this, so I can't spend too much time at any one place."
"W-wait a moment. ...Huh? Eh? Ah, uhh..."
The villager tried to stand up from where he sat on the ground, but his movement stopped midway.
He struggled to rise, but was unable to, and several dozen seconds passed...
"My legs gave out."
He muttered in a voice that sounded truly pathetic.
An ordinary villager—no different from anyone else who had never been through a battlefield—had seen Set without any mental preparation whatsoever.
Looking at it that way, it was only natural that his legs had given out.
"Ah, right. Well then, what do you want to do? If it's all right for me to enter the village on my own, I can go call someone."
"...Sorry. Please do."
The villager told him apologetically.
It went without saying what his current situation looked like.
Moreover, to be seen in that state by someone from outside the village—and then to have to ask Rei to go call for help—was extremely embarrassing for a man who took pride in defending this village.
That said, given the circumstances left him with no other options, he had no choice but to rely on Rei.
"What about Set? If you stay near him, you won't be able to relax, right?"
At Rei's words, the villager thought for a moment before answering.
"No, even so, please don't let him into the village. There'll probably be a lot of people who'd get startled."
"Gruu..."
At the villager's words, Set let out a disappointed purr.
That was probably why.
Seeing that behavior up close, the villager thought for just a fleeting moment that perhaps Set wasn't actually scary.
That said, the sheer presence Set projected was overwhelming, and above all, his size was the real problem in this case.
Having seen Set up close like this, the villager simply couldn't accept letting him into the village.
Even while entertaining the thought that perhaps the monster before him might not be such a bad fellow after all.
"Got it. Then how about you go play around a bit, Set... no, that'd probably scare people. Just lie down and stay put, okay? Good boy."
"Gruruu!"
As if to ask what had happened to that disappointed look from just seconds ago, Set let out a happy cry at Rei's words.
After giving Set a pat, Rei headed into the village... and then stopped in his tracks.
"Come to think of it, what's your name? I'll need it when I explain the situation."
"Kirares."
Noting the name of the villager—Kirares—Rei resumed walking into the village.
It went without saying that Rei stood out.
Even though this village was of a moderate size, it was clearly rare for outsiders to visit.
With that in mind, Rei called out to an old man sitting on a stone in front of a house, enjoying the spring sunlight.
"Got a moment?"
"Hm? ...And who might you be? I don't recall seeing your face in this village."
"Ah. I came from Gilm. I'm here to recruit woodcutters for work. But..."
With that, Rei explained the situation.
Hearing this, the old man nodded in understanding.
"I see, so you're the one... Mm, I've heard the talk. I did tell Kirares that someone from Gilm would be coming soon, but... that was remarkably fast."
"I can travel by riding Set. Anyway, I think you should have someone move Kirares somewhere, since his legs gave out, and arrange a replacement for him. Also, it'd help if you could get the woodcutters ready. I need to visit several other villages and towns, not just this one."
"Mm, I shall let them know at once. ...Still, to come all the way out here to such a distant place... We're grateful to have a place to go for work, I must say."
The old man murmured contemplatively, picked up the cane resting nearby, and stood up.
Hearing those words, Rei had a general sense of who the old man was.
After standing, the old man looked at Rei once more and spoke.
"Once more, thank you for coming all the way to Girie. You're welcome here. I would gladly hold a welcoming feast if I could, but I suppose you don't have that kind of time, do you?"
"Right. Like I said earlier, I need to go around to other villages and towns and gather people willing to work in Gilm, same as here."
"Indeed. Then please wait at the village entrance. I'll bring the woodcutters who are ready to go to Gilm right away, and... a replacement for Kirares as well."
With those words, the old man—likely this village's Village Chief—departed with a surprisingly energetic gait for someone carrying a cane.
Seeing him off, Rei returned to the village entrance under the curious gazes of the onlookers... and was startled.
There, around Set, were several Children.
But he immediately wore an expression of understanding. Of course.
Adults who understood that monsters were enemies... or children above a certain age, upon seeing Set, would naturally judge him to be a powerful threat based on that understanding.
But for Children who hadn't yet been taught such things—or who had been taught but hadn't truly grasped the reality—Set wasn't scary at all.
Set had a friendly personality, so he wouldn't frighten Children who wanted to play with him. If anything, he happily joined in.
That was how the scene now spread out before Rei's eyes had come to be.
Even from Rei's perspective, it was clear that the people who appeared to be the Children's parents were at a loss over what to do.
Normally, they would have had to protect their Children from the monster. But right now, the monster was playing together with them.
The atmosphere made it utterly impossible to tell the Children to get away from it.
Moreover, watching Set play with the Children, he was nothing at all like what came to mind at the word "monster."
If anything, some people were even beginning to think that Set, at play, looked rather cute.
When confronting enemies, Set displayed the sharp gaze befitting a gryphon. But at any other time—when being played with, or savoring something delicious—Set radiated an almost endearing charm.
Even his massive size, once someone found him cute, ceased to be much of a concern.
"W-wait, hey, Rei. Is this situation okay? Is it really safe!?"
Noticing Rei returning near the gate, Kirares called out in a panic.
Personally, he wasn't thrilled about other villagers seeing him in a state where his legs had given out, but right now the Children's safety mattered more.
...The fact that he prioritized the Children's safety over his own embarrassment was probably exactly why Rei had taken a liking to him.
"Relax. Set will fight back against anyone with hostile intent, but he won't do anything to normal people."
Rei told him as much, but Kirares, who didn't know Rei well and only knew him by rumor, couldn't take those words at face value.
Then again, even if he couldn't quite believe it, seeing the scene unfold before his eyes, he had no choice but to believe.
Their exchange continued until the woodcutters arrived.