While Johanna, Rent, and the others were processing the Gamelion’s internal organs alongside Beast’s Fang, Rei was naturally flying through the sky on Set’s back.
Since Set, who had originally been left behind to keep watch over the carriage, was now flying in the sky, there was naturally no one left with the carriage.
However, because Set had been there until just a short while ago, hardly any monsters would dare to attack the carriage as long as his scent remained on it.
Of course, it wasn’t absolutely guaranteed that nothing would attack the carriage, but it was highly likely to be fine for the time being.
「Besides, since I’m up here, if there’s any suspicious movement down below, it won’t be difficult to spot.」
「Guru~?」
At Rei’s muttering, Set turned around as if asking what was wrong.
Stroking Set’s head, Rei shook his head to indicate it was nothing.
At a height of close to 100m above the ground, it was the perfect vantage point for Rei and Set to look down over the ground.
Even now, several adventurer parties engaged in combat with Gamelions were visible within Rei’s line of sight.
Some parties were having a hard time, but none of them were in any real danger.
「……Ah, it got away.」
Rei muttered as he watched a party below lose track of the Gamelion they were fighting as it shook them off.
They had succeeded in inflicting a certain amount of injuries on the Gamelion, but because of that, the Gamelion had instinctively judged it stood no chance and fled.
Gamelions were fundamentally ferocious and highly aggressive, but it seemed there were also intelligent individuals among them that understood what would happen to them if they continued to fight a losing battle.
「Those kinds of Gamelions are the ones that survive……while ones like that one over there will die.」
Next, Rei turned his gaze towards a Gamelion that was launching a one-sided attack against an adventurer party.
With its fangs, blade-like ears, a tail that served as both a whip and a spear, and its massive body, it was a sight that made it look as though it was completely trampling the party.
However, if one looked more closely at the battle, they would notice that while the adventurer party under attack had sustained minor injuries, no one had suffered fatal hits.
Although they were being subjected to a one-sided assault, the party was entirely focused on defence, deflecting, evading, and blocking the attacks with their shields, which was precisely why the Gamelion appeared to have an overwhelming advantage.
Furthermore, two groups were moving to encircle the Gamelion, which was completely absorbed in its one-sided attack on the enemy before it.
Gamelions possessed an exceptional sense of hearing, so it normally wouldn’t be strange for it to notice something unusual immediately.
However, this Gamelion was ferociously attacking the enemy in front of it, and each time it did, the high-pitched sounds of impact against shields, armour, and weapons echoed through the area, drowning out the Gamelion’s hearing.
It also helped that the Gamelion was completely lost in its bloodlust.
「Rather, that flashy defensive display probably has that exact purpose in addition to drawing the Gamelion’s attention.」
Rei’s assessment was proven correct less than a few minutes later.
The two parties that had circled around from behind launched an attack on the Gamelion from its rear.
Perhaps because it was completely focused on the party directly in front of it, the Gamelion failed to notice the threat approaching from behind at all……and only realised their presence when a hammer slammed into its back.
But, even when it realised the presence of the foes behind it after taking a hit, making a comeback from that position was impossible.
When it tried to flee, its movements were sluggish due to the heavy damage from the initial strike.
Once things reached that point, there was nothing the Gamelion could do anymore.
Surrounded by three adventurer parties and subjected to a one-sided assault, it lost its life.
Watching the scene, Rei was impressed by the excellent coordination of the three parties.
Although Rei simply called them three parties, the parties within his line of sight consisted of at least four people, and up to seven for the largest one.
The sight of so many adventurers coordinating, precisely inflicting damage on the target without getting in one another’s way, meant that these three parties were well accustomed to fighting together.
「They’re probably parties that hunt Gamelions every year. Or maybe they regularly team up to go after big game.」
「Gururu~!」
Set gave a cry in response to Rei’s mutters, but it wasn’t his usual cry of agreement with Rei’s words.
Rei found Set’s behaviour unusual, but the moment he followed Set’s gaze, he realised what Set was trying to say.
Set was looking at the carriage Rei and the others had used to get here.
That was fine, but the problem was that several people who appeared to be adventurers were gathered around the carriage.
At first, Rei thought the adventurers had simply spotted the carriage and come over to take a look, but when he saw them opening the carriage door to inspect the inside and touching the horse to check its condition, he immediately knew what they were up to.
「Carriage thieves, eh. Well, carriages sell for quite a high price. I suppose it can’t be helped that they’d target it if they don’t know any better……but they’re incredibly unlucky. Set.」
「Guru~!」
At Rei’s words, Set gave a sharp cry, flapped his wings, and began his descent towards the ground.
They were only 100m above the ground, which meant next to nothing once Set flapped his wings.
They closed in on the carriage in the blink of an eye, and Set touched down on the ground before the thieves rummaging through it could even notice anything unusual.
That said, fact that he could land with barely a sound spoke volumes about Set’s incredible capability.
Dismounting from Set’s back, Rei patted patted his back with gratitude.
After that, he pulled the Death Scythe out from the Misty Ring and called out to the adventurers who had gone inside the carriage.
「You petty thieves in there, get out.」
His words made it perfectly clear that he knew they were inside.
The adventurers who had been rummaging around inside the enclosed carriage in search of valuables likely realised it was impossible to play dumb after hearing his voice. Giving up, they emerged from the carriage.
However, their cooperation didn’t mean they intended to apologise to the carriage owner. Rather, it meant they had given up on stealth and decided to intimidate the owner into surrendering the carriage.
In other words, instead of settling things peacefully, they had resolved to seize the carriage by force.
Four men emerged from the carriage as they directed intimidating glares towards whoever was outside.
……However, those four men tasted pure despair the moment they laid eyes on the person standing outside the carriage.
In the hands of the petite figure clad in a robe was a scythe larger than he was tall.
Furthermore, a Griffon stood right behind him, glaring at them with a sharp gaze.
At that exact moment, the men realised exactly who was standing right before them.
A very individual famous in Gilm, known as someone you could absolutely never cross.
「……Eh?」
「Hey, wait a minute……」
「Why is that guy in a place like this?」
「No, it’s not strange for him to be here, but then this carriage is……」
They each muttered under their breath, their hostility instantly evaporating.
This was because they had heard countless rumours that the person before them showed no mercy to anyone he deemed an enemy.
If they were to antagonise him in this situation, they would undoubtedly face a terrifying outcome.
Their reaction was born from that understanding……but it was a little too late.
「Now then, why exactly were you rummaging through the carriage I rode in? I’d like you to tell me all the details.」
「W-Well……since a carriage was just left out in a place like this, we thought someone might have forgotten it.」
「……Forgotten a carriage, you say.」
Rei let out a wry smile at the explanation, or rather, the excuse, offered by the man who seemed to be the leader of the group.
「Do you honestly think there’s anyone here who would believe that?」
When Rei questioned them while pointing the blade of the Death Scythe towards them, the men reflexively took a few steps back.
The reason they still didn’t reach for their weapons was precisely because they wanted to avoid any true confrontation with Rei.
Antagonising Rei here would mean fighting him.
Facing Rei alone left them with next to no chance of victory, and with Set present alongside him, the situation was utterly hopeless.
That was why the men desperately racked their brains to find a way out of this situation……yet, in the end, they understood there was absolutely nothing they could do.
The most damaging factor, after all, was that they had been caught red-handed rummaging through the carriage.
In a situation that could only be described as a catastrophic blunder, the only thing the men could do was……
『We are terribly sorry!』
All they could do was honestly admit their guilt and apologise.
Since they stood no chance in a fight, taking any hostile action against Rei here was something they absolutely had to avoid.
On top of that, when they thought about how they could escape this situation……since offering a clumsy excuse would only worsen Rei’s mood, their only remaining option was to apologise honestly.
「Haah……」
Looking at the men who had bowed their heads all at once, Rei let out a sigh.
Since just standing there like this achieved nothing, he needed to find a compromise.
Truth be told, Rei wasn’t as angry as he appeared.
It was true that he felt unpleasant about the fact that the carriage his party had ridden in was on the verge of being stolen.
However, in the first place, Rei’s presence here was an irregular occurrence.
If Rei hadn’t come along this time, there was a very high probability that the carriage would have been stolen.
(If I say Johanna and the others were lax in their vigilance, that’s all there is to it……well, since they asked Set to guard the carriage, it’s only natural they’d assume there was no need to worry about it. In that sense, it was also careless of me to take Set up into the sky to look for Gamelions. If I was going to take Set with me, I should have brought someone along to act as a guard instead from the start.)
Even though he felt his own mistake played a major role, Rei wasn’t soft enough to simply let carriage thieves off without any punishment..
He hesitated for a few seconds. The fact that they hadn’t attacked him in a fit of rage but apologised instead because they didn’t want to antagonise someone like him made it hard for him to make the first move and attack them back.
The conclusion he reached after wondering what to do was……
「Right, then as an apology, I’ll have each of you hand over one platinum coin. If you do that, I’ll pretend as if this never happened.」
A fine of one platinum coin from each of them.
Hearing his words, the men reflexively voiced their protests.
「That’s impossible, we don’t have that kind of money!」
「Y-Yeah, exactly! If we had that kind of money, we wouldn’t be doing something like this!」
「This is tyranny! Absolute tyranny!」
「No matter if you have a title, taking it this far isn’t right!」
As they began to make a fuss like that, Rei opened his mouth before the men.
「Then should I capture you right here and hand you over to the guards? Or would you rather fight me as bandits? I don’t care either way, so feel free to choose whichever you prefer.」
「Gurururu~!」
Rei questioned them with the Death Scythe in hand, while Set stood beside him, scratching at the grass with his claws as he gave a belligerent cry.
Choosing either option was guaranteed to end poorly for them.
On the other hand, if they handed over their scarce money to Rei, surviving the winter would become incredibly difficult.
They would undoubtedly have to take on requests in the freezing cold just to get by.
Yet if they were handed over to the guards, they would face either a fine or a whipping……and if any other crimes came to light, in the worst case, they faced a future of falling into slavery.
And fighting Rei was something they absolutely refused to do.
That was practically equivalent to being told to die.
In the end, what the men chose was……
「Four platinum coins, I’ve received them.」
With the platinum coins the men had reluctantly handed over in his palm, Rei gave a grin.
While it wasn’t life ending cost for the men, there was no doubt that it was a massive expense.
They would definitely fall short of the funds required to get through the winter.
Turning to the men, who wore bitter expressions, Rei spoke while stroking Set.
「Just so you know, don’t even think about making up for this financial loss by committing similar criminal acts. If I catch you next time…… let’s see, what should I do? Should I strip you of a few more platinum coins, hand you over to the guards without question, or……have your bodies experience the sharpness of the Death Scythe firsthand?」
Hearing Rei’s words, a cold shiver ran down the men’s spines.
This was because they realised that Rei truly meant what he was saying.
If they were caught attempting to steal and sell off a carriage or cart in the same manner again, Rei would undoubtedly carry out his words.
Setting aside losing platinum coins or being handed over to the guards, they would never survive if they truly angered Rei.
Precisely because they realised that, the men nodded quickly and repeatedly.
「……I see, as long as you understand, that’s fine. Don’t do anything stupid again. Of you go.」
At Rei’s words, the men quickly left the area, not wanting to remain there for even a second longer.
Watching the men leave, Rei let out a sigh before taking to the sky once more with Set to search for Gamelions.