「Ahh……what nice weather.」

Rei muttered to himself after waking up to to the sunlight pouring in through the window.

Looking out the window, he saw a clear blue sky, a stark contrast to the rain the day before.

The sun was unusually asserting it’s dominance in this season as changed from autumn to winter.

Rei gazed out the window for a moment before pulling himself together and getting ready to leave.

Two days had passed since he left the castle. He’d spent that time busily using the Misty Ring to store the luggage of the former guerrilla members who were following him back to Gilm as well as mediating arguments or discussions between the families and girlfriends of the members who had decided to head to Gilm……or more specifically, the Mireana Kingdom, on their own.

「Set must be feeling lonely as well.」

Even among inns in the Imperial Capital, there weren’t many who could take care of a Griffon like Set.

Such places usually also required reservations and had various strict rules.

Of course, Rei understood why.

No matter how docile Set was, he was still a Griffon, which meant many places couldn’t handle the responsibility if anything were to happen.

Many places thought that way.

In fact, several inns had refused to let Set stay there because of that. As a result, Rei had given up on letting Set stay at an inn.

What could he do then? Rather than staying at an inn in the Imperial Capital, Rei decided to let Set go out instead.

The guards at the main gate all frowned a little, but it was well known by this point that Set was Rei’s familiar and that he wouldn’t attack people for no reason, so they didn’t do anything to stop him.

……However, Rei was also told that if he let Set run about and something happened……they wouldn’t be held responsible if an adventurer tried to hunt Set.

「Still, I don’t think anyone is capable of doing anything to Set, who is now considered to be a rare species of Griffon. Even if they’re not a soldier who fought in the civil war, they should know what will happen if they try and mess with Set.」

To the soldiers who had fought in the civil war……especially those who had been on the side of the punitive force, it had been truly devastating to be on the receiving end of long range attacks from the sky, like fire breath, where their attacks couldn’t reach. Even when Set did land, they were then battered by his powerful attacks.

Most of the punitive force soldiers had since paid their fines and were free, so it was only natural that word about Set would have spread from them.

With such well known risks, Rei couldn’t imagine anyone going out of their way, risking their lives, to do anything to Set.

……That said, although Rei didn’t know it, there were indeed a few people who heard that Set was running about outside the Imperial Capital and tried to find him.

However, they were merchants, not adventurers.

In addition, their goal wasn’t to capture or kill Set, but to get some of his fur and feathers.

Of course, finding Set wasn’t that easy and most people never even saw him. However, there were a few that did manage to find Set, trading food for some materials. As materials from a Griffon……and a rare species at that, the fur and feathers they got brought in significant income.

The blacksmiths, weapon smiths, armour smiths, and alchemists, all of which had increased in recent years due to national policy, were all caught up in the market fluctuations as a result of the materials from Set. This even had a slight impact on the Imperial Capital’s economy……but Rei never found out any of this.

「It’s 7am now. If I have breakfast and start heading over, I should be just in time for the meeting time specified.」

Rei left the room after checking the time on the pocket watch he took out from the Misty Ring.

He then ate breakfast in the dining room on the first floor, as was standard of inns of this type, before getting ready and leaving the inn.

 

 

「Crim-! ……Please submit your adventurer card.」

As Rei handed over his guild card at the main gate to complete the procedures for leaving the city, the soldier in charge twitched for a moment.

He naturally knew who Rei was, but never expected to actually meet him.

While Rei was at the main gate, there were many other merchants, adventurers, and travelers leaving the Imperial Capital, so with the hood of his Dragon Robe up, no one recognised him and caused a fuss.

Taking the opportunity, Rei completed the brief procedures and headed out of the Imperial Capital, walking a short distance away to where eight carriages were parked.

Since it was just outside the main gate, there were several other groups similar to the one Rei was headed for.

While it would have been easier to leave as a group, there were a number of people in similar situations to Rei who couldn’t do that.

Regardless, Rei headed over to the group without hesitation after seeing several familiar figures.

Most importantly, he saw Set among them, receiving sandwiches, skewers, and dried meat from some of them.

(Well, it’s not that strange to see Set here.)

While Set was merciless towards his enemies, he was usually quite friendly.

As a result, it was only natural that Set would go over to people he knew with a “pay attention to me, pay attention to me” attitude.

While the members of the guerrilla unit were preoccupied with pampering Set, the others who were going with them……the ones who hadn’t heard about Set, kept their distance apprehensively.

As Rei approached the rather strange group to outsiders, he was spotted by a member of the guerrilla unit who was standing guard.

With their large number of carriages and low number of people for that number of carriages, the group was likely to attract the attention of bandits and unscrupulous mercenaries. If they were very unlucky, they might even draw the attention of nobles.

That was why there was someone standing guard.

「Captain Rei, good morning.」

The first to respond to the guard’s words after they saw Rei wasn’t the rest of the guerrilla unit……but Set.

Set, who had been munching on the food he had been given, gave a cry as he immediately ran over to Rei.

「Gururururu~!」

Set, with his beak still covered in sauce from the food he had been eating, rubbed his head against Rei.

Rei called out to the familiar faces who came over to him as he patted Set’s head.

「There are quite a number of carriages for the people we have.」

「Yes. We thought the carriages and horses would be considered part of our reward for fighting in the civil war, but these were all given separately. This is all thanks to Captain Rei.」

A member of the guerrilla unit spoke up happily.

That was only natural.

Carriages were expensive and the horses that pulled them were equally so.

Rei could see that the horses were quite good as well……he wouldn’t call them top class, but they definitely weren’t poor quality either.

Judging from their fear of Set though, they probably hadn’t undergone any special training.

「Theorem and Mercurio really spent money on this.」

「You are right. To be honest, I wonder if we really deserve this. It does mean we’re being recognised for our efforts though.」

Just as they said, this was an exceptional reward.

Having both a horse and carriage was a great advantage for an adventurer. As for those who couldn’t afford to keep them, they could still make a decent amount of money by selling them.

(It’s really generous……maybe a little too generous.)

Since they had already received their original compensation as well, Rei felt that the rewards were a little excessive.

「What do you think?」

Rei asked the person he sensed approaching from behind him.

「Well, I guess it’s a sign that they want to stay on friendly terms with you.」

Vihera, dressed in her usual outfit, spoke with a smile.

「I would be happy for them to do that, but is it really worth all this? Horses and carriages aren’t cheap, right?」

「You know, Rei. He’s now the next in line to the throne to the Bestir Empire. If this can help maintain your friendship, I think it’s actually a rather small price to pay.」

「You think so?」

「Yes. ……Good morning, Rei. You too, Set.」

「Yeah, good morning. ……This is all a bit out of order, but are you ready?」

As they exchanged greetings, Rei looked at Vihera’s horse.

Her horse appeared to be of very high quality.

That much was clear from the fact that it didn’t seem intimidated by Set’s presence.

Vihera also had a pile of luggage behind her which, despite the weight, the horse didn’t seem to have any issue carrying.

Of course, that was only for now. As they kept moving, the luggage would eventually become a literal burden.

Vihera naturally understood that……

「Rei, could I ask you to help?」

Nodding at Vihera’s words, Rei lightly patted Set before going over to Vihera’s horse and storing her luggage into the Misty Ring.

As he did so, Rei suddenly realised that the horse looked familiar.

「This horse……」

「Oh, you noticed?」

「Is this the horse you rode during the civil war? The same horse you rode during the victory parade?」

「Yes. It’s a horse Mercurio prepared for me. It’s smart, fast, and strong. It’s a top class horse.」

Rei was convinced by her words.

Mercurio cared greatly for his sister. Naturally, he would only give the best horse to Vihera.

As he thought about that, a sudden memory came to his mind. During the civil war, hadn’t someone fallen in love with Vihera at first sight……or rather, first fight?

「What happened to Digma?」

「……You’re asking me that?」

Rei didn’t seem to understand why Vihera was glaring at him for a moment, but soon realised why.

(Oh right. Vihera has feelings for me. It’s not a pleasant thing to hear me ask about.)

Even so, Digma was highly skilled and his Elven water spirit magic would have been useful on this journey.

Even with the Dagger of Flowing Water, it would be difficult to provide water for nearly 30 people, not to mention those who would join them along the way.

Not in terms of magic power of course, but the amount of effort required.

That was why Rei felt it would be a little easier if Digma had come along, but……

「No, it’s nothing. You’ll be with us until we get to the Mireana Kingdom, so I’ll be in your care.」

「Yes.」

Perhaps bringing up Digma had displeased Vihera, she only nodded and gave a brief response to Rei.

But, that was only natural.

While Rei had been storing the luggage of the the various people coming with him, replenishing his food and supplies, and even buying some spears for throwing, Vihera had been approached by Digma several times.

Vihera understood that she had the looks and body that attracted men.

But, even for her, Digma’s passionate advances were becoming a bit of a hassle.

It was only natural as Digma didn’t seem to care for her rejections.

In the end, all she could really do was to ignore him.

Sensing Vihera’s mood, Rei judged that it would be dangerous to broach the subject any further and called out to the other guerrilla unit members who had used the time to shift away from them.

「So, is everyone ready to depart?」

「Ehh……we’re still missing a few people. The rest are waiting at a village on the way to the Mireana Kingdom, so we’ll meet with them there.」

At their words, Rei took out his pocket watch from the Misty Ring.

It was currently 9:13am.

It was past the agreed time, but since clocks were extremely rare in this world, he wasn’t too particular about the exact time.

They would be scolded if they were a few hours late, but he would tolerate this level of lateness.

Of course, it was always better to arrive early.

「In that case, we’ll leave as soon as those who have yet to arrive get here, so just make sure you’re ready to go at any time.」

「Yes. ……Well, I’ve left most of my luggage with Captain Rei, so there’s no need to organise much. We can just hop into a carriage and get going when we are ready to leave.」

Rei agreed as he spoke again.

「Oh, that’s right. From here until we reach the Mireana Kingdom, you’ll be in charge of managing the group we’re traveling with. ……Sergio, right?」

「Eh? Me?」

「Yes. This isn’t the guerrilla unit any more and Pelnyx, who was my vice captain, has gone back to Theorem. That means we need someone aside from me to help lead the group.」

「……Wouldn’t Her Highness Vihera be better?」

Sergio asked as he glanced over at Vihera, who was playing with Set. However, Rei shook his head.

「No, Vihera will be leaving us once we enter the Mireana Kingdom. So it would be better for me to ask you do to this from the beginning, right?」

At those words, Sergio reluctantly agreed to take on the role of group leader.

Just in time as well, as the few remaining people emerged from the main gate and the group set off for the Mireana Kingdom.

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