Chapter 28 (1/2)

Adventurers who were participating in the Orc subjugation were inside each wagon, aside from the coachman, the figure of at least one adventurer dispatched by the guild was with them in case of an attack by monsters or bandits.

Meanwhile, only the coachman was outside the wagon that Rei was riding in.

「Being able to rely on the searching ability of a Griffon was a good miscalculation. Though I heard that you had tamed a monster, I’d never thought it would be a Griffon. When he asked Gran about the story, he doubted his sanity when he heard it.」

「Gahahaha~. It seems to be so. When I also got to the front gate to meet, I thought the same when I saw Rei using the Griffon as a pillow a bit further away.」

「It’s unexpected that the horses that are pulled the wagons are calm. When Set appeared, the horses at the inn’s stables were in a restless state.」

If the horses pulling the wagons were afraid of Set, then it wouldn’t be possible for them move, Set would have had to move away from the wagons and travel by himself. And because Rei wouldn’t be able to be with him, travelers and merchants who saw Set would submit a subjugation request to the guild, after the Orc subjugation would be a Griffon subjugation……though that flow of thought wasn’t really a possibility.

「I heard from Gran that the monster you tamed was a Griffon. I had to prepare war horses in a hurry. ……Well, it was worth it.」

Hobbes looked out the window of the wagon while smiling wryly. Set was walking quietly next to the wagon.

Even if Set was near, the horses pulling the wagon were not frightened at all compared to the horses in the stable of the Dusk Wheat, they pulled the wagon indifferently.

War horse. They were produced by crossbreeding pedigrees of horses that had high performance, they were also trained to not be frightened or confused in combat. Their bodies were about 1.5 times larger than a normal horse, it had the fighting power to stomp to death monsters the level of Goblins. Naturally, their price was several times the cost compared to the normal horses travelers and merchants use. For the 8 wagons, there were a total of 16 of these expensive war horses. From that alone, you could tell how serious the Adventurers Guild was about the Orc subjugation.

「But, it seems the people riding the other wagons don’t trust Set so much.」

Though Rei said that they could leave the watch during the journey to Set for the time being, the other adventurer parties didn’t like it. He didn’t push further after Hobbes said that they could handle their own security.

「It can’t be helped. After all, hasn’t only been a few days since you registered with the guild?　Not all the other parties have the same track record as Elk, it’s something they can’t bear.」

「While the guards of the other wagons are vigilant, I think the biggest reason is the Griffon and not other enemies attacking.」

Rhodes connected Hobbes’ words. Elk also nodded.

「Well, to those guys, it’s nothing but a nightmare to be attacked by a Griffon. It can’t be helped. Though Min and I aren’t worried since we get along with Set……Rhodes, it’s a bit dangerous for you at the moment.」

Grinning, Elk made fun at Rhodes while smiling.

However, Min, who was sitting across from Rhodes, thrust out her cane and buried it into Elk’s belly.

「Guh!　M-Min……you can’t just thrust with the cane in this narrow wagon, though it might not pierce……if it wasn’t me, others would be injured.」

「Shut up, idiotic husband. It’s because you’re purposely threatening Rhodes.」

「Mum……」

To Min’s words, Rhodes had a happy voice.

(I guess the mother complex is going to show much heavier symptoms from this.)

While looking at the situation, Rei took the meat skewers, which were still hot, from the Misty Ring and carried it to his mouth.

The texture was close to chicken, but it was actually the meat of the Poison Frog. Previously, it was a Poison Frog that Rei had encountered during the Goblin subjugation quest. Once the poison is extracted from the meat, the meat can be steamed, he discovered it being cooked with a special sauce and sold in a store on his way to collect the goods in the guild, he bought a few out of curiosity and stored them in the Misty Ring. Inside the Misty Ring, the flow of time is stopped, because of that, the skewers were still steaming hot even though they had been bought a few hours ago.

「Uoh~, something smells good……Rei, what are you eating?」

Maybe he had recovered from the pain of the blow from the cane, Elk, who smelled the sauce, stared enviously.

His eyes were already sparkling to the extent you wouldn’t think he was a middle aged man, the atmosphere of wanting to eat spread into the surroundings.

And Rei, who no longer endure the looks, couldn’t help it and took out a Poison Frog skewer out of the Misty Ring before giving to Elk.

「Oh, sorry about this……wait, it’s still burning hot. How come?」

「It’s a function of the Misty Ring. The flow of time stops inside. If you store things, hot things will stay hot and cold things will stay cold when you take them back out.」

「Heh~……as expected, it’s worthy of being called a rare item in the world.」

Min nodded, impressed at Rei’s explanation. And Rhodes, who saw that, naturally entered a bad mood.

「Hmph. Even if the quality of the magic item is good, if the person’s ability is low, there’s no point in coming to the Orc subjugation.」

Like that, the Orc subjugation force advanced in the wagons with seeds of unease left around.

One of the wagons. A three person adventurer group were riding in the wagon, one was keeping watch at the driver’s area……cautious mainly of Set than the surroundings.

「Hey, what are we going to do. I participated in this dangerous request for a chance to steal the item box. I didn’t here about a tamed Griffon!」

「Wait Al. Don’t get so flustered, it’s unbecoming.」

「Sunyi, do you really understand the situation?　It’s a Griffon, a Griffon!　It’s an A rank monster, the shinigami of the skies!　It’s not something we as a D rank party can fight!」

「Be quiet Al and Sunyi. Even if you say that the Griffon is tamed, it doesn’t mean that it follows that rookie 24/7. Especially while fighting and camping……」

The argument between the male and female adventurers in their twenties was stopped by a women in her thirties.

「But big sis. Wouldn’t the Orc subjugation fail then?」

「So what then?」

The woman replied frankly to the man’s voice.