"Gururururururururu!"
As they flew through the sky, Set suddenly let out a happy purr.
From his demeanor, Rei could tell it wasn't anything like an enemy attack, but he had no idea why Set was so pleased.
Set must have spotted something, but Rei's vision—no, all five of his senses—were inferior to Set's.
Whatever Set had managed to find, Rei couldn't detect it himself.
However... the fact that Rei's vision was inferior to Set's meant that once whatever it was drew closer, it would become visible to him as well.
And given Set's flight speed, it didn't take long for Rei to understand what Set had seen and why he was rejoicing.
Even though his senses were inferior to Set's, Rei's were still overwhelmingly sharper than the average person's.
"Gilm, huh."
Yes, there on the far horizon was the walled city of Gilm.
...Though those walls were currently partially demolished for the Expansion Construction.
From Rei's vantage point, the destroyed section was on the far side, hidden from view.
Gazing at Gilm, Rei felt it deeply—he was home.
He'd felt the same way when entering the Hidden Base in the Forest of Magic, which only went to show how important Gilm had become to him.
"Gurururu."
At Rei's words, Set purred happily too.
Set had spotted Gilm before Rei had, but he still wanted to share the joy of finding it together.
(Come to think of it, I didn't get lost once.)
After using the six Magic Stones, Rei had climbed onto Set's back and headed straight for Gilm.
Normally, given his slight tendency toward directional incompetence, it wouldn't have been surprising if he'd gotten lost along the way. But this time he'd arrived without a single wrong turn.
...For a moment—truly just a moment—he wondered whether what he was looking at might be a different city entirely rather than Gilm. But no matter how you looked at it, he'd never mistake Gilm for somewhere else.
What lay before his eyes was undoubtedly Gilm.
Even as he pondered this, Set kept flapping his wings, flying steadily toward the city.
In front of Gilm's Main Gate, a fairly long queue had formed.
"Oh."
Rei's exclamation came from spotting, slightly apart from the queue, a group transporting felled logs loaded onto carriages along the highway.
Until recently, logs cut in the Treant Forest had been stored by Rei inside his Misty Ring.
Placed in the Misty Ring, they naturally had no weight, whereas a carriage—no matter how hard anyone tried—couldn't manage more than ten logs per trip.
By comparison, Rei could transport not just ten but a hundred logs at once.
What's more, while Fleeing Adventurers sweated over hauling logs by carriage, Rei could fly from the Treant Forest to Gilm on Set's back in barely a minute, if that.
In that sense, transporting felled logs was trivial for Rei.
But that was solely because he had the Misty Ring and a partner like Set.
Without such exceptional advantages, one had to transport them painstakingly, one load at a time.
(You'd think the Alchemists would create some kind of convenient transport Magic Item.)
Rei recalled the people who swarmed him every time he delivered felled logs—asking if he had any good materials, demanding Set's feathers or fur, telling him to show them rare Magic Items—and harbored that thought.
They were a fairly self-serving bunch, not hesitating in the slightest when it came to researching things that interested them. But from Rei's perspective, since they were undeniably capable, he figured they might as well be put to use.
Treant Forest lumber was a critical building material for the Expansion Construction.
As such, the Alchemists surely wanted as much of it brought in as possible.
That said, if too much arrived at once, they wouldn't be able to process it all magically, so there was a limit.
"Right. For now, when I go report to Lord Daskar, I'll ask him about that."
Daskar would welcome anything that sped up the Expansion Construction.
Rei's suggestion to prepare a cargo-carrying Magic Item to secure even a little more building material would surely earn a nod from him.
Then again, without needing to develop one specially, the odds were quite high that such a Magic Item already existed somewhere.
"Set, let's head down soon."
"Gurururu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a cry of joy at the prospect of returning to Gilm, and began his descent toward the ground.
Among those processing their entry into Gilm and those walking the highway toward the city, a few noticed Set's figure flying overhead.
Of those, the ones visibly rejoicing were probably the people who had bet on Rei passing the Promotion Exam.
Or perhaps they were simply members of the Set Enthusiasts, delighted at the sight of Set.
Rei couldn't tell which it was, but either way, they showed no sign of hostility.
As Set descended, the commotion on the ground grew louder and louder.
Into that commotion, Rei and Set made their descent.
"Rei, Set! Over here!"
Rei and Set's absence from Gilm this time hadn't been for the Expansion Construction but for the Promotion Exam.
Given that, rather than entering the city through the simplified procedures used when working construction, they needed to go through proper formalities.
That was why Rei had been about to line up at the very back of the entry queue, but a Guard called out to them instead.
Naturally, Rei had quite a few acquaintances among the Guards.
The one calling out was a familiar face.
"What is it?"
"You come this way. I've been told to process your entry with top priority when you get back."
"That's... well, I'm not complaining, so it's fine."
Rei did wonder whether such preferential treatment was acceptable, but since the Guard said so, he went ahead and completed the procedure.
That said, Rei and Set were extremely conspicuous.
Because of that, what the Guards were on alert for—specifically, someone disguising themselves as Rei or Set to slip into the city—was practically impossible.
There might be someone capable of impersonating Rei, but Set was another matter entirely.
After all, there were very few people who could command a Gryphon.
Beyond that, the possibility of someone smuggling in something suspicious—contraband, in other words—was also difficult to check in Rei's case, given that he possessed a Misty Ring.
If they truly wanted to inspect him, they'd need him to empty out everything inside the Misty Ring for examination, but going through everything stored in Rei's ring would take days.
Given that, they had no choice but to trust him on that front.
And above all else...
"Lord Daskar has left instructions that Rei is to be granted priority entry when he returns today."
"From Lord Daskar...?"
It wasn't that Rei didn't wonder whether the lord governing Gilm should be issuing such orders, but waiting in the queue for his turn was admittedly a hassle in more ways than one.
There was also the concern that people in line might resent being cut in front of, but those queued up seemed accustomed to High-Rank Adventurers, Nobles, and prominent Merchants receiving priority. They showed no particular sign of annoyance.
...If anything, some even looked pleased to catch a glimpse of Set up close.
(Looks like there's no problem here.)
Judging so, Rei let the Guard process his entry.
"Still, the fact that you're back means you passed the Promotion Exam, right? You did, right? Tell me you did."
"Huh? Wait... hey?"
The Guard who had just finished processing Rei's entry fixed him with an earnest gaze—more intense than anything he'd shown while actually working—and for a moment, Rei was at a loss for words.
But he quickly grasped why this Guard was pressing him so hard.
(So he's one of the ones who joined the betting.)
Rei had also bet on himself passing the Promotion Exam, so he could somewhat understand the Soldier's feelings.
He could sympathize, but if he answered here, that information would undoubtedly spread through the crowd in a flash.
Since the Promotion Exam that was the subject of the betting was already over, there was no particular need to forcibly stop rumors from circulating.
After all, for anyone who had bet on Rei fleeing the Forest of Magic in under two nights and three days, their loss was already guaranteed.
(Then again... maybe there are people who bet that even in that scenario, it just took him longer to get back to Gilm, and he actually failed on the first or second day?)
That was reading too much into it, but the possibility that someone, unable to accept their loss, clung to a sliver of hope and reasoned that way couldn't be entirely dismissed.
In fact, scanning his surroundings, Rei noticed that not only the Guard but also those processing their entry... and even other pedestrians walking near the Main Gate had stopped in their tracks upon seeing Rei and Set, their faces a mix of expectation, sorrow, and joy.
"Hey, Rei! So how did it go!"
At Rei's continued silence, the Guard demanded impatiently.
But Rei shook his head, refusing to answer.
"If I said something like that here, it'd kill the excitement, wouldn't it? The whole fun of betting is everyone finding out the results at the same time. Wait for the official announcement from the Guild and the Bookmaker."
The Soldier opened his mouth to press further, but before he could, another Guard cuffed him on the head.
"Ow! Hey, what was that for!"
"'What was that for' is my line. What are you thinking? You're free to participate in the betting, but right now you're on the clock. Forget about your bets and finish your work first. ...Sorry about that, Rei. He's not usually this bad, but he bet almost everything he had on you passing."
"That's, uh..."
Rei wasn't sure whether to be exasperated or grateful that the Guard had believed in him enough to do that.
One thing was certain: normally, staking everything on a single all-or-nothing bet was nothing short of suicidal.
"Just keep the betting in moderation, alright."
A Guard's salary in Gilm was by no means low.
After all, they maintained public order in Gilm, the only city in the Frontier.
Drunk Adventurers going on rampages wasn't uncommon, and the range of duties was vast.
Of course, even so, the average Adventurer still earned more.
Being a Guard was demanding work, but the Fleeing Adventurers lived day-to-day risking their lives even more than the Guards did.
Moreover, this was the Frontier—even a B-Rank Monster appearing without warning near Gilm wouldn't be out of the ordinary.
That was precisely why request rewards were high, and the buyback prices for gathered materials and slain Monster parts were equally substantial.
But being a Guard was less dangerous than being an Adventurer, and the pay was good.
For a Guard to bet everything he had... Rei couldn't even imagine how much that amounted to.
"Ahem."
Subjected to exasperated stares not only from Rei but also from others processing their entry and passersby near the Main Gate, the Guard finally seemed embarrassed about having wagered his entire savings. He cleared his throat, trying to brush it off.
...Incidentally, among the passersby, more than a few were desperately suppressing their presence and trying not to stand out. Rei decided to avert his gaze from those apparent kindred spirits of the Guard for the time being.
"And one more thing. It's a message from Lord Daskar. When you return, he wants you to go to the Guild before heading to the Lord's Manor."
"From Lord Daskar? Understood."
It had been an exam in the Forest of Magic, and more importantly, since the arrangement was for Daskar to provide a proxy agent once Rei became an A-Rank Adventurer, Rei knew he'd need to meet with Daskar before long.
But even so, given that this was about the Promotion Exam, he'd been planning to visit the Guild anyway.
That was why, even when the Guard told him, he could reply with a ready acknowledgment.
In any case, Rei headed toward the Guild, as if fleeing from all the eyes watching him.