The day after spending a night in Saburusta, after Rei finished his procedures to leave the city, he saw that everyone was gathered in front of the gate, fully prepared to depart at any time.

「Everyone wants to go to Gilm? You really are a curious lot. Do you understand that the place we’re heading to is the frontier?」

As Rei muttered while stroking Set’s head, Sergio opened his mouth with a wry smile from a carriage driver’s seat.

「We came all the way from the Bestir Empire because we wanted to spend time with you, Rei, right? Don’t you think it’s impossible for us to go out of our way to live in Saburusta because of that?」

「……Just so you know, it’s not like I’m going to be in Gilm forever, alright? If there’s a request, I’ll go to another city, and I might even go to another country like this time.」

「We understand at least that much. But, don’t you think there’s a big difference in being by your side, Rei, when something happens?」

At Sergio’s words, the people riding in the other carriages nodded as if to say they agreed.

「Besides, if we lived in Saburusta, we wouldn’t be able to see Set.」

At the words of a woman sitting in the driver’s seat of another carriage, many people nodded in agreement to this as well.

「Do as you like. Seriously, there really are a lot of curious people here.」

「Rei, you already said that earlier, you know?」

「That just means there are that many curious people here. ……So, Sergio, what happened with the matter regarding the bandits?」

「Ah, yes. That matter has been properly resolved. At first, I thought we would have to come back to this city to receive the money, but there’s a high chance you’ll be too busy for that once we arrive in Gilm, right? Therefore, we paid some money to a caravan that plans to go to Gilm in ten days to have them bring it to us.」

「You did something quite risky. It’s not my problem if they run off with the money, alright?」

Rei offered those words of warning just in case, but what returned was Sergio’s wry smile.

「Rei, you should think a little more about how famous your name is, alright? We are a group brought along by you, Rei. If someone were to steal the reward money for the bandits you captured and the sales from selling them as slaves from a request they received from such a group, that person probably wouldn’t be able to do business around here anymore. ……If it were a much larger amount of money, there might be people who would consider doing such a thing though……」

Judging from those words that the amount of money probably wasn’t as large as he had thought, Rei shrugged his shoulders.

「If you guys are fine with that, I have no complaints either. Then, no one has left anything behind, right? Even if you did, we’d have to go through the procedures to enter again, so I can’t wait for you.」

「Rei, there’s no point in asking in that case.」

At Dietz’s words, everyone nodded with smiles on their faces.

Confirming that the faint tension among the group had been broken by those words, Rei opened his mouth again with a smile.

「Then, let’s depart!」

At the words that came out of Rei’s mouth, Set stepped forward.

As if following behind him, the group of carriages also began to move.

The guards working as gatekeepers in Saburusta saw off the group, which could be called a single herd led by Rei, only speaking when their figures were far away.

「They’re gone.」

「Yeah. ……Honestly, I didn’t think it would be this busy after the caravans’ active movements had settled down.」

「Ah-……true. Well, there are people who want to head to Gilm before it snows every year, so it’s not like it’s completely impossible, but……considering that, it feels somewhat strange.」

「Even so, it’s not as busy as a little while ago, so it’s not too bad, right?」

In the period before it started snowing, Gilm both welcomed and saw off many caravans.

Their goal was to purchase goods in Gilm before traveling became difficult due to the snow.

If they misjudged the time it snowed, at worst, they would be trapped in the frontier until spring.

Considering that, it would normally be best not to go to Gilm at this time of year, but starting with Gamelion meat, there was prey that could only be caught in the frontier at this time of year, and many people thought to stock up on rare materials and magic stones that were in short supply in anticipation of that.

Weighing the risks and returns, those who chose the option of higher returns gathered in Gilm at this time of year.

However, that commotion had already mostly settled down, it wouldn’t be strange for it to snow at any time, so no one would head to Gilm at this time of the year unless they had very special circumstances.

……Or, people returning to Gilm like Rei.

In any case, heading to Gilm naturally meant passing through this Saburusta, and until recently, the guards in Saburusta……especially those doing the procedures to enter the city, had been spending their days very busily.

Since Rei’s group had come just as that had settled down, it was certainly true that it was easier compared to a little while ago.

「Look, caravans still come, so it’s not like we’re completely free, you know!」

When one of the guards present shouted that, the other guards also returned to their respective jobs.

 

 

「Ah, I can see it. Is that Gilm?」

Two days after leaving Saburusta, having spent the previous night in Abuero, which was halfway between Saburusta and Gilm, and having travelled along the highway since early morning today as well, Rei’s group caught sight of the walls surrounding the city at the end of their line of sight.

One of the people in the driver’s seat of a carriage raised a voice of joy at the sight.

That was only natural. From leaving the Imperial Capital of the Bestir Empire to Gilm on the frontier of the Mireana Kingdom.

This journey was something that people living normally would rarely be able to experience.

The fact that they had been able to travel safely despite that was definitely because Rei and Set had been guarding them, and because the members of the former guerrilla unit had been there.

Rather, a group with such powerful guards was quite rare.

「In the end, the bandits that attacked us before we arrived in Saburusta were the last ones we would run into.」

Sergio muttered deeply, but depending on who listening, they might have sensed a somewhat regretful tone in his voice.

Sergio was polite man, but as an adventurer, he didn’t dislike rough business.

「Well, that’s how things should be normally. Anyway, since we’ve arrived safely in Gilm like this, the complaining can wait.」

「That’s right. It wouldn’t be funny if you said something weird here and it became reality. ……More importantly, the walls surrounding Gilm are quite thick, aren’t they? It might not even lose out to the Imperial Capital.」

A woman driving one of the carriages muttered in admiration as she gazed at Gilm’s walls, which could be stood out even from afar.

「That’s only natural. Since it’s the frontier, powerful monsters will naturally appear. If they were to attack the city, thin city walls would be breached immediately, wouldn’t they?」

「Because it’s the frontier, huh. We’ll be living there from now on too, so isn’t it good that it’s reliable?」

「Yeah, yeah, it’s good to know that the place you live in has ironclad defences.」

「Come to think of it, I heard a strange rumour in Abuero. Something about a dungeon……」

「Ah, I heard that too. But, the story about there being a dungeon near Gilm was from a while ago, right? Why bring it up now?」

「Who knows? Maybe there’s some new movement or something in the dungeon.」

While they were conversing in such a manner, the city of Gilm steadily approached.

Around this time, they started to come across increasingly more adventurers, caravans, merchants, and travellers on the highway leading to Gilm……and their reactions were split neatly in two.

On one side were the people who knew Rei and Set.

These were the people who rejoiced that Rei and Set, who had been away from Gilm for a while, had returned, and gave Set any dried meat or bread they had on them.

And on the other side were the people who didn’t know Rei and Set……or, those who knew them only through rumours and had never seen them directly with their own eyes.

Such people were surprised at the figure of Set, a Griffon, and even more surprised at the figure of Rei riding on his back.

There were also quite a few people who almost collapsed to the ground at the sight of an A rank monster that had suddenly appearing before their eyes.

……However, those who knew the circumstances lent a hand to such people.

The reactions towards Rei and Set were split into two groups like that, but their reactions to the group of nearly twenty carriages Rei was leading were basically the same.

All of those carriages were expensive box carriages, they wondered why such a group being led by Rei.

In the end, they just assumed he had been hired to escort it or something.

There were some people waiting to enter the city in front of the gate, but those people also turned surprised eyes towards Rei’s group, which suddenly appeared behind them.

「Huh? We haven’t been passed by anyone since we left Abuero, right?」

「Yeah. Well, there probably aren’t many people who can catch up to our speed.」

Not to mention Rei and Set, there were only people riding in the carriages. Furthermore, the horses pulling the carriages weren’t first-class, but they possessed above-average abilities.

Because of that, the travel speed of Rei’s group was extremely fast.

Despite that, there were people lined up to enter the city ahead of them……Rei spoke up to answer that question.

「It’s not that strange. We stayed a night in Abuero, but the guys over there probably travelled through the night, or camped out.」

「……At this time of year?」

「Everyone has their own circumstances. Not everyone has full pockets like us.」

Rei’s group had received a massive amount of reward money for the matter regarding the civil war, and naturally, their pockets were quite full.

Also, on their journey here, whenever they were attacked by bandits, they would capture the bandits, make them spit out the location of their hideout, and then attack the hideout in reverse to steal their treasure, doing this multiple times.

Naturally, even if their earnings were split among the people who participated in the combat, it was be a considerable amount of money so they had cash to spare.

However, normally, most people wouldn’t have that buffer.

That was why there were also people who camped out on the highway, prepared for monster attacks and the cold, without staying at an inn in the city.

「Hmm……well, it’s true that I also thought quite a bit about saving money when I was an adventurer in the Bestir Empire, so I understand that feeling.」

「Pfft, you, saving money……that’s not something a guy who was engrossed with prostitutes should say.」

「Ugh……」

While they exchanged such words, Rei’s group finally arrived at the front of the line, and……

「Rei! You guys don’t have to line up! Come over here first!」

Called by one of the guards, they headed straight for the gate from the end of the line.

Naturally, the carriages followed behind Rei, and for the people lined up, they didn’t find that amusing.

However, shouting that it was unfair in a place like this had almost no meaning, and in the first place, if they knew who Rei was, they could probably guess that there were some special circumstances.

Because of that, although the people lined up seemed somewhat dissatisfied, no voices of complaint came out.

「That would be a great help, but is it okay?」

At Rei’s words, the guard nodded in return.

「Daska-sama told us to let you through immediately when you return.」

「Ah-……I see.」

Rei had an expression of understanding on his face, figuring that Daska probably wanted to hear the report regarding the civil war directly from his own mouth.

Although a rough report had already been given through Elena, it was only natural for Margrave Rowlocks, a central figure of the Neutral Faction, to want to know more detailed information.

In the first place, this civil war in the Bestir Empire was a plot planned in cooperation between the Neutral Faction and the Aristocratic Faction.

If it became known that Rei, an adventurer from Gilm who was recognized as being on close terms with Daska, had returned, it wouldn’t be strange for people to think of ways to get in contact with Rei before Daska did.

「Got it. Then I’ll go right away. ……Come to think of it, what about these guys?」

As Rei asked while turning his gaze to the people in the carriages behind him, the guard nodded in return.

「Yes. Everyone who came with you, Rei, was told to go to the Lord’s residence.」

With a brief exchange, they each immediately began the procedures to enter the city.

As Rei also handed his guild card to the guard, he suddenly noticed that Ranga was nowhere to be seen.

Ranga, the captain of the guards, had become somewhat like Rei’s exclusive handler.

Normally, if something like this happened, he would have gone straight over to Rei……

「What happened to Ranga?」

「Captain Ranga is currently away on work. To the dungeon.」

「Dungeon? You mean, the one near here?」

What crossed Rei’s mind was the dungeon with the Altar of Inheritance that he had delved into together with Elena and the others.

It was a dungeon he had bitter memories of in various ways, but if he was told there was a dungeon near here, that was the only one he could think of.

However, the guard shook his head at Rei’s question.

「It’s not the one you’re thinking of. No, it is near here, but it’s a different dungeon to the other one. ……It was newly discovered a few days ago.」

The guard’s words were more than enough to shock Rei.

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