"Oooooooh!"
That was the collective exclamation the woodcutters let out the moment they laid eyes on Gilm after stepping out of the Set Basket.
The Set Basket was designed for roughly five people, yet ten men — and brawny woodcutter men at that — had been crammed inside it. No doubt they felt a rush of relief at being freed from such tight quarters.
But more than that, it was only natural for their gazes to be captivated by the city of Gilm sprawling before them.
Most of the woodcutters hailed from small villages.
A few had come from proper towns, but even lumping both under the same label of "town," comparing an ordinary settlement to Gilm was simply unreasonable.
Naturally, living in the Kingdom of Mireana as they did, they at least knew of Gilm as the sole city in this frontier region.
But even so... yes, even so, beholding it firsthand with their own eyes delivered an extraordinary shock.
For several minutes the woodcutters stood transfixed, either moved or simply overwhelmed by the sight — until Rei, deciding they'd had long enough, stowed the Set Basket in his Misty Ring and spoke up.
"Get a good look at Gilm from the outside? Good. Then it's about time we took care of the entry procedures."
Snapped back to reality by his words, the woodcutters whirled around in a panic.
They'd been so thoroughly entranced by Gilm that they'd completely forgotten Rei was even standing there.
Good thing we landed off the main road.
Rei mused to this as he stroked Set, who was nuzzling against him.
It was spring, and a great many people were currently flooding into Gilm seeking work — some for the Expansion Construction, others merchants looking to sell construction materials and all manner of other goods.
Carriage traffic in particular was heavy, with one vehicle after another rolling along the highway.
Under those circumstances, if the woodcutters had been standing on the road, utterly oblivious to their surroundings with their jaws hanging open at the sight of Gilm, they would definitely have been in the merchants' way.
...Though merchants lived and died by information.
Any merchant heading to Gilm would certainly know who Rei and Set were.
So even with Rei and Set beside the woodcutters, no merchant would do something as brazen as plowing through them with a carriage.
If anything, they'd more likely show every courtesy to leave a good impression on Rei and Set.
If it were children standing there gawking at Gilm, people might find it endearing. But these are woodcutters.
And the woodcutters were anything but endearing to look at.
Appearance mattered, even at a time like this.
Brought back to themselves by Rei's words, the woodcutters looked faint