"Brrrrrrr!"
The horse the Guild had prepared for Zakat was quite imposing, as was to be expected of one intended to operate alongside Set.
It was the kind of horse that looked like it could effortlessly trample any ordinary monster under its hooves before the mounted adventurer even had a chance to act. A horse truly deserving of the term "battle-hardened veteran"—and it showed not the slightest sign of fear when facing Set.
Normally, a horse would unquestionably cower at the sight of him. It would take several days together before one recognized that Set meant it no harm and stopped being afraid. But the horse the Guild had provided showed no fear of Set from the very start.
That was probably fortunate. For Rei, it meant he didn't have to deal with a horse panicking while traveling alongside Set, forcing them to maintain an awkward distance apart.
"Gruu?"
Facing such a horse, Set naturally showed no particular sign of tension either. From his perspective, the horse before him was one that didn't fear him—unusual, certainly, but not unprecedented. After all, the horse pulling Elena's carriage, currently kept at Marina's house, was also unafraid of Set. That was precisely why Set showed no particular surprise at the sight of this one either.
"Hm? Is that all the luggage you need?"
While Set and the horse paid each other no mind, Rei voiced his question upon seeing that Zakat was more lightly equipped than expected.
Rei traveled light because he possessed the Misty Ring. Inside it were various tools necessary for daily life. If, for some reason, the contents of the Misty Ring were to come spilling out, it would be no joke—nearly ten houses could be crushed and it still wouldn't be surprising, given everything stored within.
Setting that aside, Rei had the Misty Ring, so even when taking requests outside Gilm, he had no particular need to carry any notable baggage. But unlike Rei, Zakat needed to carry camping gear and various other tools on his own.
"Normally my party members are with me, so we split the load. But it's just me today, so I brought this."
So saying, Zakat showed Rei a pouch hooked onto his belt.
A pouch? Rei wondered, but quickly realized it was a simplified version of the Item Box.
That the Item Box was an extraordinary magic item was common knowledge among many. Given that, it was only natural that people would try to mass-produce it. In fact, even among Rei's companions, Elena possessed a mass-produced Item Box.
Naturally, being a mass-produced version, it fell far short of Rei's Misty Ring. The storage capacity was limited, and time flowed normally inside it. Even so, it was undeniably convenient, and not only among high-rank adventurers but also merchants and nobles, many desired one.
That said, even a mass-produced Item Box was still an Item Box. It was naturally extremely expensive and not something easily obtained. That Zakat casually possessed such an item was, as expected of an A-Rank adventurer.
However, what surprised Rei was not only that Zakat had a mass-produced Item Box...
"You're in a party?"
"Hm? Man, I never expected to be surprised by that. It's not really that strange a story, is it?"
Put that way, Rei had no choice but to agree. Among adventurers in the first place, those who operated solo were the rarer ones. Naturally, it was not unheard of for an A-Rank adventurer to be in a party. Rei himself, taking the promotion exam now, was in a party called Crimson Lotus Wings.
"Zakat was always alone, so I thought he was solo."
"I see. Originally, I'm in a party called Moonlight of Ruin."
"That's a rather ominous party name."
Rei was slightly surprised that the word "ruin" was included, but then again, his own party name contained a word like "crimson lotus." Considering party names, "Moonlight of Ruin" wasn't particularly surprising.
"Really? When you've used it for a long time, you stop thinking of it that way out of familiarity... Anyway, only I was called this time, so my party members are each doing their own work."
Since Zakat was here, it was only natural that his other party members were acting separately. Crimson Lotus Wings, which Rei belonged to, was also currently split up—Rei on his promotion exam, Marina at the clinic, Vihera and Byune watching over Nielson—so it wasn't anything to be surprised about.
"Is it just Zakat going to the Forest of Magic?"
"That's how it is. My companions are reasonably strong too, but even so, when it comes to approaching the Forest of Magic... they're a bit hesitant. More importantly, if the luggage situation is settled, shouldn't we get going? The stares are getting to me."
For Rei, drawing gazes from many people when he was with Set was par for the course, and he was already used to it. But for Zakat, being in front of the Guild and drawing the stares of so many people was apparently something he wasn't accustomed to.
Then again, Zakat is an A-Rank adventurer too. It wouldn't be strange for him to be used to attention from those around him.
An A-Rank adventurer was, for ordinary adventurers, a figure akin to a hero. Given that, it wouldn't be strange for Zakat to be accustomed to receiving various looks from those around him.
However, the nature of the gazes in this case was slightly different. The majority of the looks being directed their way were aimed primarily at Set and Rei, with Zakat receiving attention only incidentally. Most of those staring were Set Enthusiasts or people who knew Rei was about to take his promotion exam. That was why they were looking at Rei and Set rather than Zakat, who would normally draw gazes as an A-Rank adventurer.
"Understood. Then let's go. Set."
"Gruu!"
Set, who had been observing the horse, immediately came over when Rei called. Rei mounted Set's back, and Zakat mounted his horse. Seeing this, the people gathered around the Guild quickly cleared a path. They no doubt felt they couldn't get in Rei's way.
Rei and Zakat proceeded boldly down that path.
"We've gotten quite far from Gilm."
The one who muttered that was Zakat. Having traveled a considerable distance from Gilm on horseback, he spoke while looking back at the now-small city.
"Yeah. But there's still quite a distance from here to the Forest of Magic, right? Set can fly to get there, but traveling overland takes that much longer."
"This horse is a remarkably powerful one, so even running overland... let's see, I think we'll arrive around noon tomorrow. A normal horse would take two days, and that wouldn't be surprising."
"When you put it that way, the Guild really sent us a fine horse."
"That's how big their expectations are for Rei. After all, they're saying it's certain you'll become an A-Rank adventurer. I bet on you passing the promotion exam too."
"Zakat's joining the bet too, huh? For the record, I also bet on my own success, naturally."
At Rei saying he bet on his own success, Zakat shot him a look of exasperation. That said, from Rei's perspective, passing the promotion exam was a certainty, and above all, the only thing he could bet on was passing—which was the decisive factor. If he had bet on failing, anyone could have told him he'd simply fail on purpose to win the bet, and Rei wouldn't have been able to argue against it.
"Anyway, I want to cover as much ground as we can today. The route to the Forest of Magic isn't particularly complicated, but if we waste time unnecessarily, that just means more monsters will show up. The only saving grace is that bandits won't appear."
"Really? Personally, I'd like the bandits to show up. You can get your hands on all sorts of treasure."
For Rei, who counted bandit hunting among his hobbies, the stronger feeling was that bandits could attack him as much as they wanted. Especially with a combat asset like Zakat besides himself, he should be able to defeat them even more easily than usual.
Of course, they were currently in the frontier, heading toward the Forest of Magic. The likelihood of bandits being in such a place was, first of all, nonexistent.
Generally speaking, bandits mostly operated around the cities one or two stops before Gilm—places like Sablusta and Abuelo. As bandits, they couldn't easily enter cities, so they fundamentally lived outdoors. Given that, operating as bandits in the frontier meant they could be attacked by high-rank monsters at any time without it being surprising.
Bandits came from various backgrounds—those who couldn't make it as adventurers, those who wanted to live idly, those from poor families with no work who had no choice but to turn to banditry. But precisely because they were such people, winning against the high-rank monsters that appeared in the frontier was no simple matter.
For the bandits as well, attacking merchants coming from Gilm would likely yield great profit, but considering the danger to their lives, they simply couldn't do such a thing. At the very least, if there was anyone among them with even a minimum of sense, that would be their conclusion.
There were some who lacked even that minimum of sense and ended up committing banditry in the frontier. However, such people generally died in short order. In many cases, they were attacked by monsters and became monster fodder before they could even attack merchants or travelers.
"Bandits, huh. They won't appear, so you don't need to worry about that. But did you know that among monsters, there are some with the nature to steal things from you?"
"There are monsters like that?"
"Yeah. As we get closer to the Forest of Magic, there's a monster that appears that looks like a squirrel. It basically never attacks us. But when we're making camp, it sneaks up quietly and steals food and small items."
"That's quite the unusual monster, isn't it?"
Fundamentally, monsters were hostile beings toward humans. There were some that were friendly to humans, and taming them or forming contracts through summoning magic was not uncommon. However, it was still an undeniable fact that the majority of monsters were hostile to humans. Of course, monsters that stole food and items like the one Zakat described were undoubtedly hostile as well.
If possible, I'd want that monster's magic stone. If it's stealing from adventurers and the like, there's a possibility I could acquire a steal-type skill through Beast Magic. Well, this isn't a game, so things probably won't be that convenient.
If this were a game Rei had played back in Japan, he might have been able to steal items or money from monsters. But this was reality. Monsters didn't carry money, and it was rare for them to possess any kind of tool. Well, considering that some used weapons stolen from adventurers, it could be said they did possess a fair number of tools.
In any case, even if he acquired a steal-type skill like those in games, stealing money and the like would be virtually impossible.
If I had to guess, stealing materials from opponents? Like cutting off a horn or something by some means and bringing it to me. That would be a pretty vicious skill in its own right.
If the material being stolen was a horn, it wouldn't be that big a problem. But if it were an eyeball or an internal organ, and it was suddenly snatched away by some means—that could only be described as vicious.
That said, for Rei, as long as he could acquire a powerful skill, there was no problem whatsoever, so it was only natural that he would want to learn that skill if possible.
"If possible, I'd want that monster's magic stone. I'd be happy if it came to attack us tonight."
At Rei's muttering, Zakat directed a look of exasperation at him.