「It’s Gilm, I can see Gilm!」


  Such a cry echoed out from the Rowlocks army that was travelling along the highway.

  It had been about 2 weeks since they had split from Daska’s group that was heading for the Royal Capital. As they made their way to Gilm, the forces belonging to other nobles split off one after the other. They continued all the way to Abuero, where they stayed the night before splitting up with the last army there. With Gilm in sight, it was no surprise that the Rowlocks army was filled with joy.

  It had only been about a month since they had left Gilm for the war, but everyone was still smiling nostalgically.

  In the midst of all this, the carriage that Rei was in was naturally filled with smiles.

  「We’ve finally made it back. I have to say, it’s a real relief to see Gilm again.」


  Runo murmured as he looked towards Gilm from the carriage window.

  Naturally, there was a smile of relief on his face.

  「That’s right. It’s not until that I’ve come back that I realise. This city is our home.」


  The knight looked at Runo with a similar expression of relief as he nodded in agreement.

  However, for Rei, who was inside the carriage with Runo and the knight, it had been less than a year since he had come to Gilm, so he didn’t have that strong sense of returning yet.

  Feeling that it would be somewhat impolite to say that out, Rei didn’t say anything as he went back to a book about different monsters in his hands.

  Of course, he was happy to be back in Gilm, but he was also not looking forward to the trouble that would come after he returned. That was why he couldn’t be completely happy about it.

  The others might have noticed Rei’s expression. The knight’s smile of relief changed to a wry smile as he called out to Rei.

  「Rei, why don’t you seem to happy about this?」


  「It’s not that I’m unhappy. However, if I think about all the troublesome things that are going to come after this, I can’t help it.」


  「Ah, is it handing back all the supplies in the item box?」


  After hearing the two of them speak, Runo looked at Rei with a sympathetic smile.

  Yes. Inside Rei’s Misty Ring, there was still a large number of supplies that were thought to be needed in this war. Weapons like bows, arrows, swords and spears. There was also a large amount of other supplies such as food, drink, tents, awnings and various medical supplies.

  Fearing a shortage of supplies, Daska had prepared a few months worth, however the actual battle had ended after a day. Naturally, this meant that less supplies had been consumed and most of them were still inside the Misty Ring, having never been taken out.

  When they had headed for the Selemous Plains, many supplies had been distributed among the various carriages as a precaution. But, since the war had ended, and it had been an almost complete victory, there hadn’t been that many injured people. Most of the surplus supplies had ended up being passed to Rei.

  OF course, the supplies weren’t Rei’s so he would have to return them after getting back to Gilm. Rei looked quite annoyed after thinking about all the trouble it would be.

  「Weapons aside, it might be better to leave the food preserved inside the item box as much as possible. In particular, there are still a lot of freshly prepared dishes.」


  When told by the knight, Rei went through the list in his mind before nodding with a sigh.

  The Rowlocks army’s high morale was due to many reasons. Aside from their pride of being the most elite adventurers, it also included their ability to eat freshly prepared food.

  The looks of envy directed at them by the other armies may have also played a role in their high morale. Of course, if the envy had been left to grow, there was a high chance that disputes could develop, so they did share their food to some extent.

  Anyhow, a few months worth of freshly prepared food was still sitting inside Rei’s Misty Ring. If he took it all out, it would naturally go bad. With that in mind, Rei couldn’t just carelessly take out all the food.

  「That may have to wait until Daska-sama gets back from the Royal Capital. No, maybe we could ask whoever is in charge while he is away? Anyhow, for now, it will be best to take out the medicine, weapons, tents and foods that have already been preserved. If it’s stuff that doesn’t last too long, you should still keep them inside the item box. Even then, would it be easier for you Rei if you divided the items out into several batches instead of taking everything out at once?」


  Rei nodded at the knight’s words.

  「That would be a great help.」


  As they continued their conversation, the carriage eventually came to a stop.

  They could see the main gate of Gilm from the window. The residents of the city lined up around the main gate and welcomed them with cheers.

  「Even if we didn’t go to the Royal Capital, this is fine.」


  「Well, there is a large difference in the number of people living in the Royal Capital compared to Gilm.」


  As Runo was talking with the knight, there was a knock on the carriage door.

  Judging that it was safe to do so, Rei opened the door and was met with a familiar face.

  「Rei-san, Runo-san, knight. You’ve come back a lot sooner than expected.」


  Despite his stern face, Ranga, the captain of the guards in Gilm, greeted them casually.

  「Ranga, it’s been a while. Has Gilm been okay?」


  Although Ranga held a relatively high position as the captain of the guards, maybe because they were familiar with each other, the knight started talking with him without caring for honourifics.

  「About that. As expected, there have been various problems because there haven’t been as many adventurers. But fortunately, there haven’t been any major problems. Rather, since you’ve all made it back safely……?」


  The knight smiled as he nodded back at Ranga.

  「Ah. We’ve driven the Bestir Empire off the Selemous Plains. This adventurer and his Griffon played a big role.」


  「……I see. Then all the rumours……」


  At the knight’s words, Ranga glanced at Rei.

  Since the knight had mentioned a Griffon, it was clear who the adventurer was. Ranga nodded in understanding. Rei was bothered about what the rumour could be, but before he could ask, Ranga immediately spoke up again.

  「Anyway, I’ll quickly run through the procedures. Please pass me your IDs or guild cards. I don’t really want to do such a pointless check, but rules are rules.」


  「I understand. We’ll let the people who have completed the procedures enter the city first. There’s a lot of festivities right?」


  「Yes, it’s been a while since we found out that you were all coming back. At first, some people said that we might have lost for you to come back so soon, but seeing how you look, that doesn’t look like it was the case. The only other possible result is that we had an overwhelming victory to end the war so soon. And……」


  Ranga smiled meaningfully for a moment. As he spoke, the other guards checked the guild cards and IDs of people in the other carriages as well as the adventurers, soldiers and knights who were walking.

  Thanks to the efforts of the guards, the procedures were completed in less than 30 minutes and they were finally able to enter Gilm.

  「Well, the procedures have been completed. Everyone, welcome back.」


  Ranga handed over a Necklace of Subservient Monster to Rei before smiling at everyone inside the carriage.

  Rei poked his head outside the carriage and hung the necklace on Set. Everyone smiled back at Ranga as the carriage entered Gilm.

  『WAAAAAAAAAA-!』


  As soon as they entered the city, they heard a large number of voices.

  From inside the carriage, all they could see were people, people and more people. It was a scene that could only be called a sea of people.

  Rei’s eyes widened at the unexpected scene.

  However, in a sense, he should have expected this. Runo and the knights looked at the crowd from the carriage window with happy and satisfied smiles.

  「This is……amazing.」


  Rei, who had finally recollected himself, muttered at the vast number of people.

  It felt like the entirety of Gilm’s residents had gathered on the streets.

  Of course, that was just an illusion. There was no real way for 100,000 people to be gathered here and most of the people were actually the adventurers, soldiers and knights that were part of the Rowlocks army.

  However, there were still many people in the crowd who were cheering for Rei and the others. Many voices and cries could be heard everywhere as they blended together.

  「We had quite a big welcome when we came back from dealing with the Orc settlement, but this is even bigger than that time.」


  「That’s right. The Orcs might have been a big problem then……but in the end, they are just monsters. This time was a war with a neighbouring country. We were also the ones being invaded. Given that, it’s no surprise everyone is so happy. What’s more, thanks to Rei, the death toll of those who came from Gilm was significantly reduced. Look, wave your hand as well.」


  Runo waved through the window in the carriage as he spoke. Giving a small sigh, Rei also waved through the window.

  Originally, Rei didn’t like to grab that much attention, so unlike Runo and the knight, he had an awkward smile on his face.

  「Hey, look, next to that carriage. It’s a Griffon. Does that mean he’s in that carriage?」


  「Ah, it was said he played a big part in this war……what did they call him? Red? No, that wasn’t it. It was definitely Crimson.」


  「Oh right, wasn’t he still in his mid-teens? He’s a genius.」


  「Set-chan! Thank you for bringing my dad back safely!」


  「Set, here. Eat this. It’s a reward for your hard work.」


  A lot of noise could be heard, even from inside the carriage. Of course, Runo and the knight couldn’t hear everything, but for Rei, who had sharper sense, he could hear everything without any problems.

  And of course, he noticed some information that most people normally wouldn’t be able to hear.

  「Well, regardless, we won the war. But……how has the title of Crimson spread all the way here?」


  Runo and the knight looked surprised for a moment at Rei’s words, but they soon nodded in understanding.

  「The information network of merchants is amazing. While we were still preparing to withdraw from the Selemous Plains, the armies of other nobles as well as merchants had already gone back. Maybe that information spread from them? But even then, I didn’t think it would spread to the frontier so quickly……」


  「It’s exactly as Runo said. Merchants are smart. Of course, they are also smart at collecting information. Isn’t Rei, an adventurer, someone who should be more familiar about that than us?」


  The words of the knight reminded Rei of the merchant he had escorted previously. It had been about the Flame Crystal ore that Gilm had been able to obtain due to Rei. The merchant had somehow managed to find that information from nowhere.

  「I see, so it’s like that.」


  「And, as long as they live in this city, people will probably know of Set as well. They’re happy that Set, who is quite popular in this city, played an active role in the war.」


  From the window of the carriage, Runo looked at Set, who was happily eating the dried meat thrown at him by the gathered crowd.

  Whenever a child gave a shout and threw a piece of dried meat at Set, he would dexterously catch in his beak and swallow it down.

  「Looking at it now, Set has become quite popular. When he first came to this city, everyone was scared of him.」


  「That’s right. He’s a Griffon after all. No matter how many Necklaces of Subservient Monster you put on him, it won’t provide any immediate relief. Rather, it’s more suprising that Set has managed to fit into the city in less than a year.」


  「That’s true. Even the guards who patrolled the city were scared at first.」


  The knight chipped in at Runo’s words as he turned to look at Rei with a sense of surprise.

  「In the first place, it’s strange that there would be someone with a Griffon as a tamed monster. Normally, I wouldn’t even thinking of such a high ranking monster as a tamed monster.」


  While glossing over the knight’s words, Rei and the Rowlocks army disbanded after the representative of the knights briefly greeted the adventurers guild.

  The official celebrations were only supposed to start after Daska’s return, but even so, the city was already buzzing with victory celebrations.

  In addition, at the orders of the representative of the knights, most of the remaining food and drink that was inside Rei’s Misty Ring was served out.