Naturally, the appearance of Set, whose body length exceeded three meters, caused an uproar.
Among the crowd, there were even those who shouted that Rei and his group were bandit accomplices who had already slipped inside the city, but Rei paid it no particular mind. He simply showed his Guild Card to a soldier who appeared to be in his fifties and seemed to be the representative of the group.
Upon seeing the Guild Card and learning that the young man before him was the adventurer with the alias of Crimson, the soldier immediately declared to those present that Rei was an adventurer, then said he wanted to make a request.
"Crimson Rei. I never expected an alias-holding adventurer to be here at a time like this. Though I suppose I should have realized it the moment I saw you riding a gryphon."
"It can't be helped given the situation. We don't mind, so don't worry about it either."
"That helps. So, about the request..."
"I know. You want me to annihilate the bandits heading for the city, right?"
"No, I was going to ask you to defend the city. Of course, it wouldn't be a problem for us if you defeated the bandits. However, it's difficult for us to prepare a reward substantial enough for an alias-holding adventurer."
Thinking about it normally, hiring an alias-holding adventurer would cost a considerable sum.
An alias holder was that special an existence.
Rei didn't care about such things at all, but if someone were to hire him, the fact that he held an alias would mean his reward would be higher than that of an average A-Rank adventurer, despite his being a B-Rank Adventurer himself.
This city was an average town with a decent amount of savings, but even so, whether they could immediately come up with enough money to hire Rei was questionable at best.
If they had some kind of specialty product, it might have been a different story.
The soldier negotiating with Rei desperately exercised self-control to keep his eyes from being captivated by Vihera's beauty and figure as she stood beside Rei, and pressed on with the negotiation.
He needed somehow to get Rei to accept the request. And at the lowest possible fee.
That was what he was thinking, but...
"As for the fee, let's see. Five bags of flour. How about that?"
"...Huh? Flour?"
The words that came out of Rei's mouth were likely completely unexpected for the soldier, and for the onlookers observing the negotiation around them.
For a moment, they didn't understand what had been said, and after a few seconds of silence, they asked as if to confirm they hadn't misheard.
"That's right. This area is somewhat known for its flour, isn't it?"
"Well, yes, that's true enough, but it's not really anything worth highlighting. We're proud of the quality of our flour, or rather our wheat, but there are plenty of places that produce wheat of similar quality and sell it as flour."
They had confidence in the quality of the wheat they produced, but it wasn't quite a specialty product.
Hearing the soldier say so, Rei nodded, indicating he didn't mind.
"There are plenty of dishes that use flour. Besides, for money, I can just take the treasure the bandits are carrying. And the bandits we capture alive, I'll have the slave trader in this city buy them. That way, there's no need to worry about money at all. How about it? I don't think it's a bad deal for your side either."
At Rei's question, the soldier nodded readily.
It was far from a bad deal for the city—in fact, the benefits were overwhelmingly in their favor.
It was unfortunate that they wouldn't be able to confiscate the bandits' treasure, but if it meant not having to fight the bandits themselves, the money was something they never had to begin with, so it was easy to give up.
On top of that, Rei was offering to sell the bandits as slaves, so looking at the overall picture, it was clearly a profitable transaction for the city.
Even after handing over five bags of flour, the profit would far exceed the cost.
"Why would you go that far?"
"There are various reasons. We came to this city to buy potions, but the townspeople were also kind to us. Besides, the children in this city weren't afraid of Set even when they saw him."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a cry as if to say that was right.
The people around them were startled by Set's reaction, and some took a few steps back.
However, hearing that the children hadn't been afraid, they apparently felt they couldn't afford to show fear either. They somehow held their ground.
Looking at the townspeople, Rei opened his mouth as if it were an afterthought.
"Besides, bandit hunting is my hobby."
"...Hobby?"
Just as when Rei had asked for five bags of flour as a reward, the soldier negotiating with Rei initially showed an expression of not understanding what had been said.
However, Rei appeared completely calm, as if to say that having bandit hunting as a hobby was nothing particularly strange, looking at the soldier as if to ask if there was some kind of problem.
In truth, for Rei, bandit hunting was both a hobby and a practical pursuit.
Moreover, no matter how many bandits he hunted, they would never disappear.
No matter how many he defeated, how many he hunted, how many he killed—bandits would never vanish.
There would always be people drawn to the easier path.
For such people, the life of a bandit—being able to live by taking money and belongings from others without working—was likely an attractive prospect.
Those who found such a life appealing would never disappear from among the human population.
As long as that was the case, Rei's hobby of bandit hunting would never become impossible.
"Ah, Bandit Eater!"
One person among the crowd shouted that upon seeing Rei.
Bandit Eater was the name given to Rei, who hunted bandits as a hobby.
It was something like an alias, carrying a different meaning from Crimson.
"Yeah, it seems I'm called that among bandits sometimes. Though I have no idea why a regular civilian would know that."
At Rei's words, the gazes of those around him gathered on the man who had said "Bandit Eater."
It was because Rei had stated that was what bandits called him.
Perhaps some were looking at the man wondering if he might be a bandit accomplice.
"Well, I'm not really hiding the name Bandit Eater, so it wouldn't be strange for a civilian to have that information."
At Rei's words, those listening finally showed expressions of relief.
And the man who had said "Bandit Eater" was also relieved to escape those stares.
It wouldn't be strange to have someone with a bit of a past. An ex-bandit or something. From what I can see, he doesn't seem to be connected to the current bandits.
Since there was nothing suspicious about his behavior, Rei made that judgment for the time being and turned his gaze to the soldier.
"So? What's it going to be? We'd like to settle this as quickly as possible."
"Understood, I'll leave it to you. Five bags of flour, I can manage that with my authority."
"Got it. Deal. Normally it'd be more reliable to have you file the request through the Guild, but we can't do that in this situation. Let's treat it as a personal request."
With a request that didn't go through the Guild, if they claimed after the bandit subjugation that no request had actually been made, there would be no recourse through the Guild.
Of course, against Rei, Vihera, and Set, who together possessed more than enough strength to defeat all the bandits, anyone could understand what would happen if they tried such a thing.
Moreover, with a reward of five bags of flour, refusing to pay and making an enemy would lead to the worst possible outcome.
Naturally, if the soldier had a cunning personality, things might have been different.
But fortunately, this soldier was not that kind of man.
"Then the request is settled. Now, give me information on the bandits. I heard they're coming for the city, but specifically, where are they, and how many are there?"
Personally, the larger the bandit group, the better, Rei wanted to say, but given the current situation, he decided to stay quiet, thinking it would provoke not just the soldier but the townspeople watching nearby.
From Rei's perspective, a large bandit group was proof that they had carried out that many more raids, and it was safe to assume they had hoarded a substantial amount of treasure.
Beyond that, a larger number of bandits also meant more captives to sell to the slave trader.
"There are about twenty of them. They're currently heading this way."
"That's a fair number."
A bandit group of twenty, judging from the bandits Rei had hunted so far, seemed like an average-sized group.
Those who heard Rei's words questioned what he meant by "fair number," but between someone like Rei who was accustomed to fighting bandits and ordinary people, there was naturally a difference in perception on such matters.
"If they're coming this way, then the timing is perfect. Vihera, Set, let's go take them out quickly. We need to find out where they've hidden their treasure, too."
At Rei's words, Vihera and Set nodded in unison.
Normally, challenging twenty people with just two fighters would be nothing short of suicide.
However, for Rei, fighting against multiple opponents was nothing unusual, and the same was true for Vihera and Set.
After getting more detailed directions from the soldier about which way the bandits were coming from, Rei promptly set out from the city.
"Gruu!"
Less than a minute after leaving the city, Set, who had been flying through the sky, spotted the bandits on the ground.
Given Set's flying speed, finding the bandits heading for the city in such a short time was not difficult.
"Even so, for that many people to storm the city... maybe things would have been fine even without me?"
To Rei, who muttered this from atop Set's back, Vihera, who was holding onto Set's front legs, replied.
"They probably didn't intend to occupy the city. They likely planned to rampage around, loot what they could, and then escape right after."
"That makes sense. How they planned to get inside the city is another question in this case, though."
There was probably a bandit collaborator or someone who had infiltrated the city.
Thinking this, Rei recalled the person who had called him Bandit Eater.
Then again, from what Rei could see, the man might have been a former bandit, but he didn't seem to be an active one.
Since that was the case, Rei judged that the man was probably not affiliated with the current bandits, and concluded that all he needed to do was land on the ground and defeat the bandits to settle the matter.
"Set, take us down."
"Gruruu?"
Shouldn't we attack first? Set let out a questioning cry at Rei's instruction.
However, Rei simply nodded at Set's reaction.
"Ultimately, those people are bandits. If they take significant damage from a preemptive strike, they're highly likely to flee immediately."
Given that they were bandits, it wasn't unreasonable to assume that their own survival was their top priority.
In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if they even attacked their own companions to slow down the enemy and facilitate their own escape.
Bandits hurting each other wasn't a problem for Rei, but since he intended to sell them as slaves, he honestly preferred not to injure them too much. For the sake of the slave prices.
Even if the slave trader agreed to buy the bandits, injuries would mean having to use potions on them, and that cost would be deducted from the price.
Furthermore, having purchased a large quantity of potions, Rei preferred not to waste them unnecessarily.
When Rei explained this, Set accepted the reasoning and began descending toward the ground.
Naturally, there were sharp-sensed individuals among the bandits as well.
Some of them noticed Set descending toward them and began to raise a commotion.
However, Rei showed no concern for the bandits' reactions as he dismounted from Set's back after it landed on the ground.
Vihera also let go of Set's front legs once Set's altitude dropped low enough, landing on the ground as well.
"What the hell, who are you!?"
One of the bandits who hadn't noticed Rei's presence shouted with wariness, but the moment he saw Vihera, his face broke into a lecherous grin.
It was only natural. Standing before his eyes was a woman to whom the word "peerless" could be applied.
And she was dressed in the flimsy garments of a prostitute or dancer.
Vihera, subjected to the man's lustful gaze, merely frowned slightly in displeasure.
As if to block that gaze, Rei stepped forward alone to face the bandits.
"Now then, I have a proposal."
Seeing Rei show not the slightest sign of fear despite being surrounded, the bandits grew irritated.
However, a few of the more observant ones who had first spotted Set realized who Rei was from the fact that he was accompanied by Gryphon Seto, and their faces contorted with fear.
The others should have noticed this as well, but that was just how captivating Vihera's presence was.
"What? You're going to ask us to spare the city? Too bad, but..."
"Surrender. Do that, and you'll be spared a beating."
Cutting off the man's words, Rei made his declaration.