"Wait."
En route to Gilm, Rei suddenly muttered the word.
Perhaps because his voice was sharper than expected, the coachman pulled on the reins half-reflexively.
Since they were in a carriage, the horse stopping didn't mean the vehicle itself could halt immediately. Still, slowing down was possible.
"What is it?"
"…Looks like these Black Garb members are pretty important to the other side after all."
From those words, the coachman seemed to understand what was happening—or rather, what was about to happen. He looked startled.
"They're attacking? Here?"
The carriage was currently traveling through an area that hadn't yet merged with the main road, though the road was visible at a distance. Naturally, the figures of those traveling along it could be clearly made out.
Especially now, with many heading to Gilm for the Expansion Construction, there was a steady stream of people using the main road. In fact, even from Rei's vantage on Set's back, he could see what appeared to be merchant caravans, as well as groups of adventurers and ordinary folk likely seeking work in the city.
For someone to launch an attack in a place where such people were present was a considerably unexpected development.
"From their perspective, they must have circumstances they really don't want us learning about."
More precisely, while not wanting their circumstances known was part of it, the bigger concern was organizational. The ones who had taken this job were an organization that had only recently established a foothold in Gilm—one with no ties to existing groups, which had carved out its place through sheer strength.
Naturally, they had also suffered casualties in those power struggles.
For an organization like that, the combat forces currently at their disposal were scarce—and those forces had just been captured en masse. It was a blow that could prove fatal to their operations. Despite finally gaining the ability to operate in Gilm, they now faced the threat of being crushed immediately. To prevent that, they had no choice but to somehow rescue the ones Rei had captured.
They understood the danger, of course. But they had to act. Furthermore, if they could land a blow on Rei, it would serve as a powerful demonstration of their organization's strength—a significant gain in its own right.
"What will you do?"
"They're completely intent on killing us. …Well, what to do."
What troubled Rei was simply a lack of manpower. The allies present were Rei, Set, and the coachman—and in terms of combat power, the coachman didn't count.
He probably had enough skill to defend himself, but from what Rei could see, he was far from a seasoned fighter. In other words, he couldn't be relied upon as genuine combat power.
In terms of sheer quality, Rei had no intention of losing to the attackers. With Set at his side, there was no scenario where they'd lose a head-on fight. The problem was that the enemy surely understood this too, which meant they might not attack head-on. Since they couldn't win in a direct clash, they were likely to employ some kind of underhanded tactic.
There was also a source of concern inside the carriage.
The Black Garb members were currently bound inside. They'd been tied securely to prevent Rope Escape, but that precaution only went so far with a single prisoner. Given how aggressively they'd been stuffed into the carriage, the Black Garb members were packed closely together—meaning they could touch each other and coordinate.
While the carriage was moving, Rei had been right beside them, ready to handle any such situation. But having the captives make suspicious moves while under attack was an entirely different matter.
(Then again, would someone normally pull a stunt like attacking here? There are people on the main road. It'd definitely stand out…)
(…Stand out?)
Reaching that thought, Rei suddenly recalled the incident at the Lord's Manor—how he'd stopped the man disguised as a merchant from killing the knight.
By any reasonable measure, attempting to murder a knight in the Lord's Manor in Gilm was suicide for an organization. Leaving the assassin unchecked would make them appear intimidated, so Daskar would naturally retaliate against whoever had sent him. And given that Daskar commanded both knights and soldiers, his military strength was formidable.
The attackers had to know all this. Which meant it wouldn't be surprising if they appeared to be acting without any thought for the consequences. Of course, they might actually have a plan for dealing with Daskar's retaliation. But either way, the fact remained that an enemy willing to attack here, right next to the main road, overlapped with that assassin in Rei's mind.
He had no concrete evidence. But he simply couldn't shake the feeling that the two were related.
(Well, that's not for me to figure out. The Knight Order's interrogators will handle it. What happens after is Lord Daskar's call.)
Judging that there was no point dwelling on it now, Rei leaped from Set's back and broke into a run alongside the carriage and his gryphon.
"Set, if the enemy attacks, I'll handle them. You watch the Black Garb members inside the carriage and make sure they don't try anything. …Got it?"
"Gruu?"
Set purred, as if asking whether Rei would be all right. The gryphon didn't think for a second that Rei would lose to opponents like these. But if enemies struck from multiple directions simultaneously, that changed the equation.
"I'll be fine. As long as you're guarding this carriage, I can focus on intercepting."
"Ah… um, I'd appreciate it if you could protect me too, if possible."
The coachman, who had been watching the exchange between Rei and Set, slowed the carriage. Once he brought it to a full stop, he addressed Rei with that request.
As Rei had already discerned, the coachman was by no means strong. He had a certain level of skill—enough to win against an ordinary person—but he knew full well he couldn't defeat trained fighters.
"I know. But keep a close eye on the carriage too."
"…Wouldn't it have been better not to slow down and just get on the main road?"
"No good. If there was no one on the road, that might've worked. But given the current situation, we'd risk dragging bystanders into the crossfire."
Rei left it there, but he was also considering the possibility that members of the Black Garb organization were lurking among the travelers on the main road. From their perspective, this attack was an all-or-nothing gamble. If they had a card to play, they wouldn't hold it back.
"Ah, I see. Pull something like that in Gilm right now, and it'll get harder to bring people in."
Rei nodded in agreement. Currently, the Expansion Construction was the only major project underway, and even that faced a crippling labor shortage. Going forward, there would be Land Ship research and construction, tending to the spices, matters related to the lake and the Birth Tower—and if all the smaller tasks were factored in, they needed manpower by any means necessary.
If people heading to Gilm got caught in a battle and were killed or injured, it could discourage the many workers who would otherwise come seeking employment.
"Well, with that being said… here they come."
Perhaps concluding that the stopped carriage meant their presence had been discovered, the Black Garb members revealed themselves—those who had been lurking in the grass, those hiding behind trees and rocks.
(Same Black Garb as the ones in the carriage—definitely comrades. But while Black Garb makes sense at night, in broad daylight it only draws attention. Maybe they just want to hide their faces?)
For blending into the darkness of night, Black Garb was effective. But right now it was daytime. They stood out unmistakably, and the people on the main road were already casting curious glances toward Rei's group.
(No—maybe that's exactly what they're after?)
Facing the Black Garb members surrounding the carriage, Rei harbored doubts. But there were more pressing matters at hand.
He withdrew Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring and assumed his usual Twin Spear Style stance.
The Black Garb members' faces were hidden, but Rei could sense from their bearing that they were startled. This was hardly unusual. The fact that Rei fought with a scythe and a spear—a combination of weapons that was frankly absurd—meant a corresponding amount of information circulated due to its sheer novelty. But facing him in person, the raw intensity was not something one could simply absorb from hearsay.
It was a scene that perfectly illustrated the old adage: seeing is believing.
Rei's height was by no means tall, but Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear were both long-shafted weapons. Rei wielding the pair was not an opponent who could be easily brought down.
That said, the Black Garb members had acted knowing full well that Rei was a formidable enemy. If they lingered, someone on the main road would send word to Gilm, and the guards would come. Or perhaps not guards but soldiers—possibly even knights. Either way, they couldn't afford to waste time here, no matter how great a threat Rei posed.
One of the Black Garb members gave a light wave of his hand. That was the signal. Everyone surrounding the carriage surged forward at once.
Their target was not Rei. It was the carriage.
The Black Garb members' objective had never been to defeat Rei—it was to recover their captured comrades. They'd probably hoped to take him down if the opportunity arose, but that thought vanished the moment they laid eyes on him. When he readied Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, they were forced to accept it was impossible.
Still, it was precisely because Rei had been guarding the carriage so deliberately that they were now certain their allies were inside. Complaining about him at this point served no purpose.
"Flying Slash!"
A slash of energy erupted from Death Scythe and tore into one of the Black Garb members. The attack should have been powerful enough to sever a limb—or at the very least, inflict a deep gash. But while the man's clothing was shredded and blood spurted from his shoulder, the wound was far from life-threatening.
(What—? Does the Black Garb itself have high defensive power? Or are they wearing something like chainmail underneath?)
Even as the question formed, Rei's movements didn't falter. Using the recoil from Flying Slash to pivot, he hurled the Twilight Spear—not with his usual right hand, but with his left. Even so, it flew with more than enough speed, punching straight through the abdomen of a Black Garb member charging toward the carriage.
Their armor had resisted Flying Slash—though it hadn't blocked it entirely—but Flying Slash was still just Flying Slash. It wasn't a direct strike from Death Scythe itself. The last attack, however, was a thrown Twilight Spear. They might withstand Flying Slash, but they couldn't possibly block a spear enhanced by Rei's magic.
"What!?"
One of the Black Garb members cried out in disbelief. He'd clearly never imagined their armor could be pierced so easily.
That cry of surprise was unexpected enough to make the others hesitate for a split second—
"Grrrrrrrrl!"
Set's roar thundered across the clearing.
King's Intimidation activated. Several Black Garb members froze in place entirely, and even those who could still move found their speed drastically reduced.
"Good work, Set!"
The most dangerous thing in this situation was the carriage being attacked—more precisely, the Black Garb members inside being freed. Under these circumstances, Set's King's Intimidation was nothing short of devastating.
Closing on the nearest Black Garb member, Rei recalled the Twilight Spear to his hand and swung it wide. The haft, not the spearhead, caught the man square and sent him hurtling into a companion. Only when he crashed into his ally did his momentum finally stop.
Had Rei used the spearhead, it would have easily punched through the Black Garb and whatever armor lay beneath, dealing a fatal blow. But right now, what mattered most was reducing the enemy's numbers. Blowing one man into another—ideally two—was far more efficient than making sure a single kill was certain.
It was only possible because of Set's King's Intimidation. But that strike unquestionably disrupted their formation, and within minutes, the attacking Black Garb force had been wiped out to the last man.