Daska’s group made their way along the highway.

It had been about half a month since they had entered the Bestir Empire and it wasn’t uncommon for them to see others that had also been invited to the tournament like Daska on the highway.

There were Bestir Empire nobles, nobles from other neighbouring countries, and there were merchants riding in carriages that were even more luxurious than the nobles.

「Well, that was fast.」

Looking around, Rei could see other groups also heading for the Imperial Capital.

In particular, the carriage decorations differed from country to country and group to group. Their guards were also a sight worth seeing.

The knights that were escorting the various nobles all wore armour with similar designs, which Rei found nice to look at.

The merchant carriages were not guarded by knights but mercenaries, so their equipment differed between individuals. There were even some that seemed to be wearing magic equipment, which Rei also found nice to look at.

Hearing a knights murmurs, Rei turned to look at him.

「Hm? Oh, sorry. I was just talking to myself.」

「No, it’s find. Rather, what do you mean by ‘that was fast’?」

「How long it has taken us to get to the Imperial Capital. Of course, I’ve never been myself. But, I’ve heard from merchants in GIlm that it would still take a month to reach the Imperial Capital after entering the Bestir Empire no matter how fast you traveled.」

「……There are merchants who do business with the Bestir Empire?」

Rei was surprised.

The Mireana Kingdom and Bestir Empire had long been hostile to each other, so naturally, their citizens also didn’t have the best feelings for each other.

With all that in mind, Rei could help but be surprised that merchants from the Mireana Kingdom would go out of their way to do business in the Bestir Empire.

However, the knight just gave a wry smile at Rei’s question and shrugged his shoulders.

「Well, merchants gather wherever there is money.」

The word ‘gold’ suddenly reminded Rei of Requim’s Toll.

(In the end, they only attacked us once. They haven’t done anything since. I wonder what they’re planning, are they trying to set something up in the Imperial Capital? ……Well, that’s certainly a possibility.)

Once they entered the Imperial Capital, Daska’s party would be splitting up.

Daska, along with Elk and Min, would be representing the nobility of the Mireana Kingdom while Rei and Rhodes would be entering the fighting tournament. As for Set, he would be staying in the stables.

In that situation, it was true that Requiem’s Toll would have a lot less to deal with.

「Rei? What’s wrong?」

「No, it’s nothing. So, one month at the earliest. That’s because merchants have to move with carriages filled with goods, right? Compared to them, all three of our carriages, including the one Daska is in, are of high quality and are being pulled by top class horses.」

As he replied to the knight, Rei turned to look at the three carriages moving a short distance from them.

Compared to the other carriages along the highway, they were inferior in terms of luxury. However, that was because Daska preferred simplicity and sturdiness rather than extravagance, that much was clear.

Especially when it came to the quality of the horses, which determined the speed of the carriage, the horses pulling nearby carriages and the horses the knights and mercenaries were riding on all acted somewhat fearfully of Rei……or more precisely, Set, who Rei was riding on. On the other hand, the horses that were pulling Daska’s carriage showed no sign of fear at all.

Of course, that was because they had gotten used to Set after travelling here from Gilm.

Naturally, some horses would be able to adapt while others wouldn’t. The fact that all of Daska’s horses had adapted went to show that they were all top class horses.

「Gururu~?」

Set didn’t fully understand Rei’s thoughts, but he turned his head around to look at Rei while giving a cry.

What’s wrong? Set seemed to ask. Rei shook his to say it was nothing as he gently reached out for Set’s neck.

「Well, it’s only natural for us who have lived on the frontier.」

The knight’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment at Rei’s unexpected praise.

From the outside, the sight of a young, reasonably good looking knight looking embarrassed drew a lot of gazes.

The knight seemed to notice the gazes directed towards him and cleared his throat before looking at Rei again.

「That’s right. When nobles from various countries gather like this……including us, it’s naturally easy for trouble to occur. Especially for you, since you’re prone to that kind of trouble, so be careful.」

「……No, it’s not like I enjoy causing trouble.」

Even though he said that, Rei understood that his own words weren’t the most persuasive considering his own experiences so far.

It seemed to be the same for Set. Even Set, who usually took Rei’s side, gave a questioning cry towards Rei.

And……

「Set, even you……hm?」

Rei tried to reply to Set, but inadvertently trailed off.

The reason was because there were many carriages stopped along the highway in front of them, resulting in a traffic jam.

At a quick glance, there were nearly 20 carriages ahead of Daska’s group.

「What?」

「Huh? Has a carriage overturned and blocked the highway ahead?」

The knight who had been talking with Rei muttered his thoughts.

However, Rei shook his head to reject the idea as he replied.

「It’s not like you can’t pass along the road side. Even if a carriage has rolled over on the highway, you can just go off the highway and around the carriage.」

「……Well, that’s true.」

The knight agreed as he turned to look at the ground around the highway ahead.

There were some weeds growing around, but it wasn’t to the extent that a carriage couldn’t pass through.

「Then, what could it be?」

「Who knows?」

It was true that some sort of issue had to have occurred, but Rei had no way of knowing what it was.

「We’ll just be wasting our time if we get stuck here. Hold on a minutes, I’m going to ask Daska-sama for instructions.」

「Understood. Well, it’s only a few more days to the Imperial Capital and, looking at the surroundings, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be late for the tournament.」

Hearing Rei’s words, the knight shrugged his shoulders lightly as he headed for Daska’s carriage.

Seeing him off, Rei, who had nothing to do in the time being, looked at his surroundings as he stroked Set’s head.

「Guru~?」

Can you play with me? Set tilted his head as he gave a cry to ask. Rei smiled as he stroked Set’s head, beak, and throat.

Surrendering to Rei’s touch, Set narrowed his eyes comfortable.

If they hadn’t been on the highway, or if there hadn’t been so many carriages around, Set might have already been lying on the ground.

Hearing Set give louder and louder purrs, Rei smiled and continued to move his hands as if it couldn’t be helped.

A carriage was already parked behind Daska’s group and there were a few people complaining about the current situation.

Even so, nobody approached Set and Rei, probably because of their awe and fear of the Griffon.

However, such awe and fear gradually disappeared as they saw Set being stroked by Rei.

It was a sight that the people around Rei had definitely not expected when they heard of an A rank monster.

A warm feeling passed through the hearts of those who were watching the scene.

If things continued as they were for another 10 minutes, so of them might have even approached them.

With a Griffon present, they could probably draw the conclusion that the person with it would be Rei, the adventurer known as Crimson.

But, not all the carriages present carried people from the Bestir Empire. Considering that many of them were from small countries neighbouring the Empire, there probably wasn’t a need to be too concerned.

In the end though, fortunately or unfortunately, the knight who had headed to Daska’s carriage returned earlier than expected.

Seeing what had gone on while he was away, the knight spoke with a small sigh.

「You know, you really shouldn’t be doing this here.」

「Is that so? I mean, we can’t move at the moment, so we have some time.」

「No, that’s not the point. ……No, anyway. About orders from Daska-sama. He wants you to go check why the highway has gotten blocked.」

「Me?」

Why bother? Rei asked with that thought in mind, but the knight answered immediately.

「That’s right. According to Daska-sama’s prediction, there’s probably some kind of trouble ahead, so please go deal with it.」

「……I see.」

From the knight’s words, Rei understood Daska’s intentions.

In the first place, his role was to stand out and draw the attention of the upper echelons of the Empire attending the tournament. So he needed to stand out as much as possible.

The fact that they could stand out here would be a big benefit to them.

「Understood. Then, let’s get going Set.」

「Guru~!」

Hearing Rei’s words, Set gave a happy cry as he stood up and passed through the gaps between the carriages and left the highway.

Moving onto the grass alongside the highway, Rei made his way towards the cause of the congestion.

He wasn’t in a particular hurry, so he proceeded in a slowly so as to not scare the surroundings with the sight of a Griffon running about……and before long, he reached the point of congestion.

There was a group of about 20 people there.

They were all wearing green and blue armour, seemingly part of the same group.

That wasn’t a particular surprise.

After all, there were various groups around that were all wearing matching sets of armour.

It was true that their group was slightly larger than others, but that was all there was to it.

So what was the difference? They were blocking the highway.

Rei saw a conversation between what appeared to be a representative of the group and the carriage driver at the very front. The carriage driver handed something over and the men in armour cleared and opening just wide enough for the carriage to pass. For a moment, Rei thought it was a checkpoint.

However, the next carriage also just handed something to the person before proceed through a gap in the blockade, just like the previous carriage.

(It’s not a checkpoint?)

If Rei hadn’t misunderstood, the carriage driver had just handed over some silver coins.

It wasn’t a lot, but it didn’t seem like something that would be done at a checkpoint.

If that was the case, there weren’t many other reasons Rei could think of.

The most obvious one was that someone was robbing people passing through without official permission.

However, was that really possible? Rei couldn’t help but wonder.

This was a highway leading to the Imperial Capital, it would be strange if such a blatant act wasn’t quickly reported.

And, like Daska, whom Rei was travelling with, these carriages all carried people personally invited by the Empire’s upper echelons.

If anyone tried stealing money from such people, they would definitely lose their head.

That didn’t mean they would be fired, they would quite literally lose their heads.

That’s why Rei couldn’t believe they were doing something like this in such a conspicuous place.

Judging that, Rei called out to a merchant in his 40s who looked like he had just chewed on a bitter bug.

Rather than being part of a merchant caravan, the merchant seemed to be an individual doing business.

「Hey, what is going on?」

「Haah? That’s obvious……」

The merchant was about to finished when he realised what Rei was riding.

Because it was a Griffon.

He turned to his surroundings as if asking for help, but there was no way anyone would give him a hand.

He let out a sigh, as if giving up, before speaking without trying to hide his disgust.

「As you can see. They’re taking money from anyone passing through.」

「……Hasn’t anyone reported this to the higher ups? I think you know what will happen to people doing something so stupid near the Imperial Capital at this time of the year.」

「I know. I’m sure something……」

After saying that much, the man suddenly looked behind Rei and left in a panic.

The reason was clear.

「Hey, you there. Let’s talk for a moment.」

A person in green and blue armour came over.

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