About two hours after leaving the city of Gilm as a bodyguard. With no particular monster attack, Alektor's merchant force was making steady progress along the highway.

"There aren't many monster attacks compared to when I went to the city of Gilm,"
"Not at all. I've been attacked by monsters so many times on my way, aspire to be cursed by something."
"Well, if it hadn't been for that number of attacks, the bodyguard's physical exhaustion would have been reduced. And then they'll be it."
"Don't tell me now, it's no use saying it. We've survived more than that, so we'll enjoy our lives to the fullest extent possible. of course in business."

　From the carriage just in front of Ray, I hear the merchants talking like that.
　A little interested in the content, Ray moved right behind the carriage and spoke to the merchants.
　Given the sheer range of enemy searches, Ray is no match for Sett. And as long as he was wary of the people around him as he walked, he knew that even if monsters attacked him, he would not be attacked by surprise.

"When you came to the city of Gilmoo, were you attacked by monsters.

　The merchants were momentarily surprised by the sudden call, but soon they knew that the owner of the call was Ray, they spoke with relief.

"Oh, three times from Abuero to Gilm?"
"Well, it's four times with iced birds. However, basically there are a few goblins, Soldiers and Sword Bee. I couldn't reach ten at most, so what did I do?"
"I never thought I'd get over fifty in the last ice bird."
"Oh,"
"... a lot,"

　Ray muttering to the merchants.
　Of course Ray has never walked straight down the road. Basically, when Ray gets out of town, he travels on a set. When you walk down the road properly, you'll only be able to defeat the thieves during the rank-up. Even so, they were moving off the road to head for the robber's castle. When I headed to the dungeon with the oak villages and Elena, it was a completely different direction from the city of Abuero, so the road only existed halfway.

"Well, there were certainly a lot of attacks, but it's not unusual."

　One of the merchants calls out to Ray, who is thoughtful.
　All the merchants around me nodded to the merchant's voice as if it were the same.
　In fact, there is no small chance of being attacked by monsters or bandits on the road. That's why we hire adventurers as our bodyguards, and it's only natural in a way that monsters attack more often than they do in the first place, given that it's a remote area.

"That's not the way it usually is." ...but in this case you don't have to worry so much about the monster attack itself."
「……？」

　I guess he didn't understand what Ray was saying. Each of the merchants listening to the story looked strange or tilted their heads.
　Watching this, Ray caresses Seto on the head as he walks near him.

"Grull".

　A set that makes a happy throat sound at the feeling of being stroked. Watching it, Ray opens his mouth again.

"Well, this trip will involve Seto. Monsters with a certain level of intelligence will instinctively perceive the difference and hesitate to attack them."
"...but the Icebirds fought with no regard for Seto's coming as a cheer?"
"I suppose it was because they were already in a state of battle and

　Ray answers the merchant's question, but it is true that the sight of a tornado of flames used by Ray stimulated his fear and caused him to become extremely excited. Ray, however, had not noticed it himself.

"Then a monster with less than a certain level of intelligence will attack you?"
"Oh, more specifically, goblin is a typical example." It seems contradictory to what I said earlier, but I sometimes don't understand the difference between me and Seto because I'm so intelligent. And..."
"And?"

　When the merchant says something, Ray continues, looking at the way the carriage goes, as if confirming something.

"Human beings, if they are not so sharp, are hardly aware of the signs of Seto's emission. If you don't look at Seto with your own eyes... you don't recognize him as having a Gryphon. In other words, it is more thieves than monsters that you should watch out for along the way."
"Well, if you say so, it may be so," Abuero aside, there are quite a few bandits in the neighborhood of Subursta."
"...are there so many?"

　Passing Ray's mind was the face of a band of thieves he encountered on his way to the city of Barr and was about to be attacked. I didn't know that the band of robbers was called The Wolf of the Grassland or one of the most militant bandits in the neighborhood of Subursta.
　It's not scale, it's strength that counts for wolves in the grass. The larger the scale, the more varied the quality of the robbers to which they belonged, and there are many who say that farmers only carried arms. But Egg, the leader of the wolves of the meadow, did not add such amateurs to his companionship, but carefully selected only those with a certain fighting power. Furthermore, they conduct rigorous combat training every day, distinguishing themselves from the rest of the band of bandits who enjoy themselves.

"Oh, it's a town very close to the frontier. In other words, a carriage loaded with rare goods from the frontier is a treasure trove for thieves. There is no reason not to attack."
"...doesn't the lords and deputy lords of the city of Subursta send out punitive forces when they know it?"

　It was Ray's obvious question, but the merchants shook their heads with a sigh.
　His face was filled with stupidity, ridicule, and sympathy.

"We certainly send knights on a regular basis." But it's more of a nominal thing than a superior one. I don't think I'm going to get rid of the thieves at all right.
"Why? The more thieves there are, the fewer people on the highway. That would affect the city's tax revenues."
"Well, there are many reasons for this, but perhaps the biggest reason is that there is a connection between the deputy lord and the robber behind the scenes."

　Ray opens his eyes to what the merchant says as if nothing had happened. The next moment, however, he nodded convincingly.

"It's true that you've been bribed...." But, as far as I can tell, he is a surrogate, and if he is known to the nobles, the lord of the city, he will be sentenced to death rather than imprisonment."
"It's possible that tax revenues will decrease significantly, but... this is the only road leading to the town of Gilm. In other words, you've got to go down this road to get to the frontier, and you've got more than a certain number of merchants and merchants. Even if tax revenues fall to a certain extent, they won't fall to the point where aristocrats can pay attention to themselves.
"... I see,"

　Ray nods to the merchant's words and frowns at the slyness of the acting lord, but one of the merchants, who sees this and thinks it's unpleasant to thieves, reaches out of the carriage and pats Ray on the shoulder wrapped in dragon robes.

"Well, you don't have to worry this time. Because I don't think there's much of a person other than Mr. Alektor who heads for the frontier at this time of winter. Then he would never imitate his long awaited prey, which he did not know when it would he?
"I hope so. ... well, I understand what you mean. I'll be as careful as I can with thieves. Even though it's very unlikely, I don't know when it's going to happen."He told the merchant so, and left the carriage and went down the road with Seto on guard.





　about six hours after leaving the city of Gilm The sun, which had been in the morning, had already reached just above.

"I'm hungry," Isn't it about time we had lunch?"
"It's a bad place," We must at least find a place like a rock where monsters find it difficult to find."

　Ray heard the merchants talking from a carriage moving near Ray and Sett.

(It's true that I'm getting hungry soon.)

　I look at Seto walking next to me, thinking like that inside. There, too, a hungry Seto gurgled his throat and glanced at Ray to ask for something to eat.

"I can't help it. You know, hold on to your lunch."

　Serving Seto with the dried meat taken out of the mistling, he continued for another half an hour... until he passed to a place with a huge rocky mountain about five meters high beside the road. And as soon as the rock came into sight, the horse-drawn carriage slows down.
　and Alexander got out of the carriage in front of him...

"Hey, let's have lunch here. Get ready for each of us!"

　He would call out to the cab near them.
　When the merchants hear this, they get out of the carriages one after another, quickly get ready for a bonfire, boil water, and distribute sandwiches to each of them that they must have bought in the town of Gilm.

"Look, Ray,"

　It was Seto who received it from one of the merchants and then turned his eyes.

"Glu?"
"Oh, wait a minute," Mr. Alektor has his meals ready. I'm sure...
"Thank you for waiting."

　Alexander must have been looking for them, too. He approached the laymen with a large bag about a meter in his hand. . . .

"Here you go," This is Seto's meal."

　I'm going to put a lump of meat out of the bag, weighing about 1kg, into the set.

"Gruly!"

　Perhaps too hungry, Ray looked sideways at Seto, who was gurgling at the raw meat.

"That bag..."
"Yes. It's a simplified version of the item box. But this is only a matter borrowed from the nobility."
"...this case? Didn't you come to the city of Gilm at the discretion of Alexander?"
"There are many dark things there,"

　Ray's expression of surprise and then a bitter smile as he proudly declares that he is doing something dark.
　Just as Alexander looked at Ray with a smile and tried to lure him to a place where merchants and the faces of beautiful drops of water were gathered.

"Grull".

　In no time, Seto, who had eaten up the meat, turned to Alektor with a purring voice for more.

"...what? Wait a minute. Did you eat that amount of meat in such a short time?

　A normal person would take about half an hour to eat 1kg of meat. Rather, it's more likely that we'll leave that much meat uneaten. However, given the size of Seto's body, about 1kg of meat was only a snack.
　Alexor hurriedly took out the next piece of meat, but the meat soon fell into Seto's stomach... and ended up doing the same thing about five more times before Seto's lunch was over.
　At that time, Alexor's cheeks could not have been more cramped, but in a way he would have been happy not to know that Sett was only about five minutes hungry, let alone eight minutes pregnant.





　We all got together and had a simple sandwich and tea, but of course it wasn't that we weren't off guard. After all, as long as there is a presence called Set in this party, it is impossible to approach Set without being caught up in the sense of Set unless you are a monster or a thief. This had enabled the party to eat with relative ease. ...however, Alektor's appetite was greater than Sett's expectations, and his cheeks were cramped with the thought of the cost of food to come.
　Of course I don't leave everything to the set. Ray and the adventurers of the beautiful drops of water still pay some attention to the vigilance of their surroundings, as they eat and talk.
　In the meantime, the conversation of merchants led to the war between the kingdom of Milliana and the Empire of Bestia, and Ray, interested in the topic, turned to it.

"In terms of military power, the Empire of Bestia is advantageous, but our country is also one of the great powers. I think it's going to end without a clear settlement."
"But this time, they're preparing a lot of things, right? Actually, there's been a lot of trouble with the spread of the hands of the Westian Empire to the city of Gilm."
"No matter how the Empire of Bestia prepares, it will be safe to have a princess general with the Duke of Quelebel."
"But I wonder if the princess has made the same mistake many times before?"

　Ray was watching the merchants having conversations while eating sandwiches, but suddenly entered the conversation.

"I'm sorry, but may I ask you a question now?"
"Huh? What is it?"

　One of the merchants turns to Ray, pouring ham and cheese sandwiches in warm tea.
　Ray tells the merchant what he's been curious about.

"In the first place. Why does the Empire of Bestia invade this country over and over again? I think it would cost a lot of money if it started a war."
"...you don't know?"

　The merchants opened their eyes as if they were genuinely surprised, but fortunately or unfortunately, Ray had not been able to understand why the Empire of Bestia was so entrenched in the kingdom of Milliana. Of course, you might have found it out right away, but it was delayed because it wasn't related to monsters, magical stones, or guild requests.

"Oh, I don't know if I know, but I haven't been in the town of Gillum for a year. I had lived like a hermit all along in the mountains."

　Eventually, he uses his usual excuses to mislead the public and encourage merchants to continue their conversations.

"Well, to put it simply," The Empire of Bestia is surrounded by mountains and land. That's why it's a very wealthy country where agriculture is flourishing and there are a lot of mines. I've been working on alchemy for nearly a decade. But there has always been something that the Westian Empire has always wanted for ten, a hundred years, or even more. That's the sea."
"Sea?"
"Oh, the landlocked Empire of Bestia does not face the sea. And the sea... the harbour brings a great deal of wealth to the country. There are other things like salt and marine resources. They have been attacking our country facing the sea for it."
"... I see,"

　Ray nodded to the merchant's words, but in his mind there was a figure of a demon soldier fighting in the streets of Gilm. Mystery soldiers made from monsters' magical stones, such as crab crusts and scales, that are believed to live in the sea. It must have been very cost‐intensive to make them without the sea.

(No, if the goal of the Vestian Empire is indeed the sea, then it is only natural that they should have prepared in advance a soldier of demons adapted to it.)It was Ray who finally understood why the Vestian Empire was invading the kingdom of Milliana.