"Mmm... great weather today."
I said that while looking up at the sky in front of Marina's house.
Perhaps because it was early morning, there were few people around. Then again, Marina's house was on the outskirts of the Noble District, so there weren't that many people to begin with.
Still, during the day, there would be people passing by the house for one reason or another, and patrols making their rounds.
Precisely because it was on the outskirts of the Noble District, it wasn't uncommon for someone with less-than-legitimate purposes to sneak in from this kind of out-of-the-way area.
"I'm sure you'll be fine, Rei, but be careful."
"Take care, then. Stay safe, okay?"
"Golems, huh. If they're strong, I'd be a little interested... but I still have work left here, so I'll stay behind."
I received farewells from Elena, Marina, and Vihera, followed by Ara and Byune.
Though Byune, as always, offered only a single word.
"Well, if we stay here too long, the nobles might spot us, so it's about time to go. ...Seto."
"Gruu."
At my words, Seto, who had been saying his goodbyes to Ielo, came over to me with a purr.
Normally, I would need to go to the Main Gate and go through the proper procedures to leave Gilm, but in my case, Daskar had granted a special exception allowing me to leave the city as I was, without any paperwork.
This was only possible because the barrier covering Gilm had been removed for the Expansion Construction.
If the barrier were still active, even I couldn't get away with something like this.
"Alright, I'm off."
With that, I mounted Seto's back.
Once I was settled, Seto took a few running strides and then flapped his wings, racing up into the sky.
As the ground rapidly fell away below us, I could already see people beginning work at the Expansion Construction site.
To be precise, they weren't so much advancing the construction as preparing for the day's work.
(After yesterday's festivities, I wonder how many of them are actually fit for work.)
Perhaps because it was a suddenly decided festival, many people had enjoyed themselves to the fullest yesterday.
So much so that it wouldn't be surprising if some had been drinking late into the night—no, even until the early hours of the morning.
Those people, unless they were like Dwarves with a racial tolerance for alcohol, were undoubtedly suffering from hangovers.
In that condition, they naturally couldn't work.
There might be some who forced themselves to show up, but they would be spotted by the supervisors on site and forcibly sent to rest.
If this were individual work, a hangover wouldn't be a problem.
But this was a job commissioned by Daskar, the lord of Gilm.
If they put hungover workers on a site like this and it led to cut corners or mistakes made without anyone even realizing, the consequences could be irreparable.
Even if there were no immediate problems, if the defensive walls collapsed years after the Expansion Construction was completed due to that shoddy workmanship, it would be no laughing matter for the residents of Gilm.
That was why the work had to be done properly.
Incidentally, among those who came seeking work, there were naturally some who figured they could do the bare minimum and earn easy money. But the majority of such people were assigned not to critical construction but to work anyone could do—specifically, simple physical labor like hauling cargo.
Those lucky enough to notice this had initially tried to slack off, but upon realizing that such behavior would get them reassigned to heavy labor, they started working in earnest.
(Come to think of it, I remember hearing from Egg's subordinates that agents—whether from the Noble's Faction, the King's Faction, or possibly foreign powers—had infiltrated the workforce.)
From the perspective of the Neutral Faction, or those bearing grudges against Daskar, there were some who planned to intentionally weaken the construction so it would cause damage to Gilm down the line. I recalled hearing that several such individuals had already been caught.
It was information that hadn't yet been shared with Elena, but as far as I was concerned, I hoped it wasn't the Noble's Faction's doing.
"Grurru."
Seto, who had been watching the Expansion Construction site just like me, suddenly purred and shifted his gaze to the ground below.
In that direction, several people were looking up, and some were pointing at Seto.
Some had apparently noticed him taking off from the ground.
"Yep, just as I thought."
Amidst all that, I could see a considerable number of people gathered near the Noble District and the upscale residential area nearby, and I muttered it under my breath.
Not all of them were necessarily there for that reason, but many were probably people who had been trying to make contact with me.
Even at a time of day when it was questionable whether it had even reached six in the morning, that many people had already gathered.
From my perspective, all I could think was, "Thanks for the hard work."
That said, I could afford to think so leisurely now because Marina had worked things out with Daskar. If she hadn't gotten permission for me to fly freely out of Gilm, I would have had to push my way through that crowd.
When I thought about it, I had nothing but gratitude for Marina.
"Well, it'd be troublesome if those people spotted us... let's get going. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of place Egginis is."
"Grururu."
Seto purred in agreement with my words.
From Seto's perspective, it wouldn't be strange for him to be wondering what kind of delicious food awaited in a place called Egginis.
In my case, I was looking forward to the golems and Magic Items, but Seto had no interest in either.
That being the case, food was about the only thing that could hold his interest.
Purring in response to my words, Seto flapped his wings.
Gilm rapidly shrank behind us.
(Ah, should I make a quick detour to the Treant Forest? No, that would take time, and more importantly, there's a chance merchants might come all the way there.)
By Daskar's order, only those with permission were allowed to approach the Treant Forest.
But for merchants, nobles, and alchemists seeking to obtain materials from a new species of S-Rank Monster—the Crystal Dragon—it wouldn't be surprising if they went rogue, acting as though breaking the rules didn't matter.
Of course, doing so would likely result in severe punishment later, but given the current situation, it wouldn't be strange for them to feel they had to do whatever it took.
"Yeah, I think it's better to just head straight to Egginis like this. The route is fairly complicated, so I need to travel carefully."
I had been told the general location of Egginis.
But naturally, I hadn't received any kind of map.
In Elgin, maps were essentially equivalent to strategic resources.
Naturally, I couldn't just buy a detailed map somewhere like in Japan.
Knowing this, I had asked Elena and Marina about the route to Egginis, but without any maps, I had to navigate based solely on what I'd heard.
"Let's see, first I need to travel along the highway for a while, huh. If possible, I'd rather just fly without worrying about the highway at all."
"Grurururu!"
At my words from on his back, Seto let out a cry as if to say, "I think so too!"
Highways connected towns, villages, and cities, but those roads didn't necessarily run in straight lines along the shortest distance.
Mountains, hills, rivers, lakes—all manner of natural obstacles meant that highways had to be built to avoid them.
A small hill could be carved down to flatland, but a mountain... no, even a large hill would be better to detour around rather than carve flat.
As a result, highways were quite winding in many places.
But naturally, for Seto flying through the sky, he could completely ignore such ground conditions and take shortcuts.
Whether there were mountains, rivers, or cliffs below—none of that mattered at all to Seto soaring overhead.
That said, I also knew that both Seto and I were slightly... yes, truly only slightly, prone to getting lost.
If we traveled based on a vague sense of "Egginis is probably this way," there was a possibility—a real, if slight, possibility—that we might end up lost.
And judging from my past experiences of getting lost, those were precisely the times when I would get caught up in some kind of trouble.
If it were something like a carriage being attacked by Bandits, I'd actually welcome it.
Bandit hunting was, for me, a hobby with practical benefits.
It also helped people, so as a hobby, there was nothing better.
"Still, I want to arrive at Egginis as quickly as possible... so I guess I won't think about any weird shortcuts and just follow the directions I was given. I could consider taking shortcuts on the way back to Gilm, though."
The dissection of the Crystal Dragon was underway at the Guild warehouse.
I would need to return to Gilm before long to collect those materials.
That said, I didn't look particularly troubled about it.
Thanks to the permit Marina had obtained from Daskar, I could now dive directly into Gilm from the sky without going through procedures at the Main Gate.
If I descended straight into the courtyard of Marina's house, even if someone spotted me, they wouldn't be able to make contact so easily.
(Well, I don't know how the spirits will react to us dive-bombing in, though.)
I knew that Marina's Spirit Magic was set up to eliminate beings with malicious intent.
But that applied to entering the premises on foot. I was descending from the sky.
Naturally, in such a situation, even I couldn't predict how the spirits would judge us.
(I guess I'll just have to test it out. If I descend slowly toward the ground instead of dive-bombing, I can react in time if they try to repel us.)
Even so, since it was Marina's Spirit Magic, I couldn't help but feel that it would somehow work out without me worrying about it.
My deep trust in Marina was probably what made me feel that way.
"Seto, we're going to take it slow and head to Egginis reliably, even if it means taking a detour. I'd rather not get lost, if possible. ...Though I don't think Elena and the others would find out even if we did."
"Gruu!"
Leave it to me, Seto purred as he flew along the highway through the sky.
His speed was incomparably faster than anyone walking on the ground.
(Plenty of people heading toward Gilm today too. ...But those folks are going to be disappointed when they arrive.)
The reason for their disappointment was, naturally enough, yesterday's Festival.
When it came to a festival, many people loosened their purse strings.
Because of that, for merchants running their own businesses rather than belonging to large trading houses, it was the absolute perfect time to make money.
And those who had gotten swept up in the festive atmosphere and spent lavishly would, naturally enough, tighten their purse strings the next day once they came back to their senses.
Of course, those working on the Expansion Construction received pay almost daily, so they wouldn't end up so poor they couldn't even afford meals.
Beyond that, quite apart from business concerns, it wouldn't be at all strange for people to deeply regret not being able to see the Crystal Dragon's corpse.
After all, it was a new species of dragon—an S-Rank Monster that inhabited the Forest of Magic.
Ordinary citizens aside, even merchants who traveled to all sorts of places, and even adventurers, might see such a creature only once in their lifetime, if that. It was that rare.
If someone had charged admission for a viewing, it wouldn't have been surprising for spectators to come not just from across the Kingdom of Mireana but from the Bestia Empire and other nations as well. It was that kind of spectacle.
Because of that, anyone who heard about it would surely regret it from the bottom of their heart... and those who had seen the Crystal Dragon's corpse yesterday would undoubtedly seize upon that overwhelming sight and talk it up at every opportunity.