"Uwoooooooooh!"
Seeing the Set Basket that Rei pulled from his Misty Ring, the woodcutters and villagers cried out in awe.
In a rural village like this, almost no one had ever seen an Item Box. It was only natural. That was exactly why the sight unfolding before their eyes drew such gasps of surprise from everyone.
"Now then, I'm glad to see you were surprised. But we don't have much time, so I'd like to head to the next village if possible... is that alright?"
"Are we... getting on that?"
The one who asked was one of the woodcutters heading to Gilm. His voice carried a note of unmistakable anxiety, as if he couldn't quite believe he'd be riding in the thing.
Appearance-wise, he had the solid, rugged musculature typical of a woodcutter, which made his nervous tone feel somewhat incongruous. Then again, in this world, flying through the sky was something that almost never happened—save for special exceptions like Dragon Knights. In that sense, no matter how tough a build these men had, it wouldn't be strange for them to feel intimidated.
"Yeah, that's right. Don't worry. I've used this Set Basket a fair number of times before, and there's never been any kind of problem. Especially this time, the distance we're traveling isn't all that far, so you don't need to be too scared. If anything, I'd say you're lucky to experience flying through the sky."
In a way, it came down to a difference in perspective. The act of actually flying through the sky was extraordinarily rare, and for an ordinary person living a normal life, whether they'd ever experience it even once was... no, it was almost certainly something that would never happen. In that sense, being able to fly through the sky was, without a doubt, good luck—just as Rei said.
"R-really? Well, now that you mention it, I suppose that might be true."
Whether he took Rei's words at face value or simply thought it would be embarrassing to show fear in front of everyone—there was no telling which. But when the woodcutter who had been speaking with Rei... the one who seemed to act as the leader among the woodcutters heading to Gilm from this village... said as much, the other woodcutters going along nodded as if somewhat convinced.
Huh? Could that have been the intent?
Rei vaguely thought so from the woodcutters' demeanor, but for now, pressed for time as he was, he needed to get moving as quickly as possible. Even if it were only for today, he still had to visit several other villages and towns.
"If you understand, then get on. We're heading to the next village. ...Kirares, take care of yourself."
"Shut up."
Rei had said it out of goodwill, but Kirares, on the receiving end, probably thought Rei was making fun of his actions—specifically, the fact that his legs had given out. Having barely recovered from his collapse, Kirares shot back with a distinctly disgruntled tone.
Beside Kirares, the Old Man Rei had met inside the village... the village's Village Chief... watched Kirares's reaction with amused interest.
"Well then, now that I've confirmed Kirares is back in good spirits, all woodcutters heading to Gilm, please get in the Set Basket."
"...Hey, um, it was Rei, right? Are you sure our tools will be okay?"
One of the woodcutters asked Rei, his face clouded with worry. The concern was understandable. For a woodcutter, tools like axes were extremely important. On top of that, since they'd be living in Gilm for several months, they needed to bring changes of clothes and all sorts of other luggage.
However, given that they'd be visiting several more villages and towns to gather woodcutters, naturally they couldn't put each person's luggage in the Set Basket. For that reason, the woodcutters' belongings had been stored in Rei's Misty Ring. This was probably one of the reasons Rei had been chosen for the recruitment mission.
"You saw me take the Set Basket out of the Misty Ring, right? Then I don't think there's any need to worry."
"No, I suppose that's true, but... it really is okay, right?"
Whether he couldn't trust Rei's words or, more precisely, because it was his first time seeing an Item Box and he couldn't fully grasp how it worked—that was why he still had doubts. To put the matter to rest, Rei pulled out the Plain Man's luggage from inside his Misty Ring, as if to say the proof is in the pudding. Seeing that, the woodcutters finally showed signs of relief.
"That should settle it. Now then, get in the Set Basket. I need to visit other villages and towns from here on, so I'd like to hurry."
"Y-yeah. Understood."
At Rei's words, the woodcutters climbed into the Set Basket, looking at last at ease.
Since that woodcutter was the last one, Rei called out to Set, who was still playing with the children.
"Set, it's about time we head to the next place!"
"Gruu!"
At Rei's voice, Set let out a cry and purred at the children he'd been playing with. Goodbye, the sound seemed to say. Whether the children understood or not, they pulled away from Set, looking disappointed.
A few of the children still threw tantrums, wanting to keep playing, but their parents pulled them away. That said, it wasn't out of consideration for Set—it was because they worried that if their children bothered Set, he might lash out and hurt them. In reality, Set, who loved children, would never do such a thing, but given that they'd only just arrived at this village, the parents' wariness was understandable.
Set understood that as well, so he moved to Rei's side, still feeling a twinge of disappointment.
"Alright then. I'll deliver the woodcutters safely to Gilm, so I'd like you to take it easy and wait until we come back."
"Umu. I'm counting on you."
The Village Chief nodded, and the others—whether they were family members of the woodcutters or simply villagers who'd come to see them off—each called out to Rei with words of farewell.
It's nice that they came to see us off, but I wonder what they're doing about their work. Well, with farming and such, I suppose there's a certain degree of flexibility.
Having done farming back home in Japan, Rei understood that much. Of course, farming in this world was largely done by hand, and in that sense, it was considerably harder work than in Japan. The fact that people managed was probably because this world's inhabitants had fundamentally higher baseline physical abilities than Japanese people—or rather, than anyone from Earth. Even so, whether farm work made your back ache wasn't all that different.
At any rate, after exchanging a few brief words, Rei mounted Set's back. With Rei on his back, Set took a few running steps and launched himself into the sky, flapped his wings, made a wide turn in midair, and dove straight toward the ground. Like a hawk swooping down on its prey, he snatched up the Set Basket in an instant and soared back toward the sky.
"Ooooh..."
Voices of astonishment rose from the villagers who had been watching the whole sequence. It was a sight worthy of awe for anyone watching—there was even something in it that felt close to a performance.
Before the eyes of those villagers, Set, now carrying the Set Basket, flapped his wings and departed.
"...Ah."
The Set Basket's ability made Set invisible from below. That was the moment the villagers finally understood that Set and Rei had left for other villages and towns with the woodcutters in tow.
Looking just a little disappointed, they each returned to their own work. Even among the woodcutters' family members, a few who still looked worried seemed to be wondering whether everything would truly be alright, but when prompted by the other families, they too went back to their daily tasks. And finally, after one last glance at the sky where Set had disappeared, the Village Chief leaned on his cane and made his way back into the village.
"Mmm... Good weather. So good I'd almost want to keep flying through this sky forever."
"Gruu."
As Rei murmured from Set's back, Set purred as if in agreement.
Inside the Set Basket that Set had been carrying until just moments ago, many of the woodcutters had been raising their voices. Whether those had been cries of terror at flying through the sky or exclamations of joy at seeing the ground from above—Rei couldn't say for certain. But they hadn't kept it up indefinitely, and by now it had gone quiet.
I hope it's not that some of them have acrophobia and actually passed out... or something like that. Ideally, they're just so captivated by the view of the ground below that they've been moved speechless.
His thoughts on the woodcutters, Rei turned his gaze toward the ground. What filled his vision was a vast green carpet spread across the earth. A highway cut through that green carpet, and strangely enough, no matter how many times he saw it, the sight never failed to captivate him. The clear, rainless weather was probably also a reason he was able to enjoy the spectacular view more than enough.
"Now then, I wonder how many villages and towns we can visit today."
He murmured and checked the map he'd received at the Guild from his Misty Ring. The villages and towns they were to visit this time were clearly marked on it. Naturally, a map was an extremely precious thing in this world, treated almost like a strategic resource. The map Rei had received at the Guild showed the villages and towns to visit, but almost nothing else was drawn on it.
"If only there were some kind of landmark or something drawn on it, it would make things a lot easier."
Getting lost with a map like this couldn't really be helped—or so Rei said. In reality, even with a map this sparse, it was more than enough to reach the destination under normal circumstances. After all, Rei had actually managed to reach the first village with Set. ...That said, the fact that it had been a village along the highway was probably a big factor too.
Thinking such thoughts as he traveled above the green carpet, in less than thirty minutes, the next village came into view.
"Let's see... that village should be Pasura. Well, if it's wrong, I can just search for it. Set, descend. Don't forget to put down the Set Basket first."
"Gruruu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a cry as if to say "Understood!" and descended toward the ground. The sensation—according to Rei, like riding an elevator going down—was probably the reason the voices of the woodcutters making a commotion inside the Set Basket could be heard from outside.
"Rest easy, we've just arrived at the next village! I'm going to set the Set Basket down on the ground for a moment!"
Whether they heard Rei's voice or were too agitated to hear it, Rei couldn't say. But at any rate, Set followed Rei's instructions and lowered the Set Basket to the ground, then flapped his wings and rose back toward the sky.
At the village that appeared to be Pasura, just like Kirares at the first village, a villager was standing guard to prevent monsters, animals, and suspicious individuals from entering. Naturally, that villager displayed sheer astonishment at the sight of Set. ...Or perhaps, if it had been only Set, they might not have been quite so startled.
But seeing a Set Basket suddenly materialize on the ground with Set flying right beside it, wings flapping—it would have been unreasonable to expect them not to be shocked. The Set Basket shifted its pattern to match its surroundings, which was why the gatekeeping villager likely thought it had simply appeared out of thin air.
"Eh? What?"
The villager stood there in confusion, but from the Set Basket in his line of sight, several burly men suddenly emerged. Even seeing their figures, he couldn't immediately identify them as enemies. If it hadn't been for the Set Basket and the men had simply approached Pasura on foot, he would have pegged them as threats from their intimidating looks and clearly muscular, well-trained physiques.
But the situation was so far beyond the man's comprehension that it dulled his judgment altogether. In this case, that worked in everyone's favor—they might have looked like bandits at a glance, but in reality, these men were a group of honest woodcutters.
While the villager stood there in confusion, Set, who had returned to the sky once more, came descending back toward the ground. The sight of Set, roughly three meters in body length, swooping down with wings spread wide was undeniably impressive. At the very least, it was enough to make the villager, even watching from a distance, unconsciously stumble a few steps backward.
Then, before the astonished villager, Rei dismounted from Set, said a word or two to the woodcutters, and approached him.
"I'm Rei, from Gilm. I'm going around gathering woodcutters to head to Gilm. I believe word was sent ahead—have you heard about it?"
"Eh? Ah, yes. Yeah. I've heard about that."
At Rei's words, the villager nodded several times. Seeing that, the woodcutters who had come to Rei's side nodded with understanding, sympathizing deeply with how the man felt. For someone who had never set foot on a battlefield and had lived entirely within the village where they'd grown up, the existence of a creature like Set was simply that astonishing.