"Rei!"
Elena moved with frantic speed the moment she saw Rei collapse.
She gathered the boy, who lay flat and completely unconscious on the sand, and began a swift assessment of his condition.
While Elena possessed no formal medical knowledge, nor could she employ recovery magic, her experience as the Princess General on the battlefield provided her with the basics of emergency first aid.
Yet, as she held him, she could find nothing outwardly wrong. His breathing was steady, and his magic power showed no signs of violent fluctuation. To her eyes, he looked as though he had simply drifted into a deep sleep.
"Guruuu?"
Is he okay? Set asked, tilting its head with a worried trill. Elena gave a reassuring nod.
"He is fine. I can’t find any particular abnormalities... though I am at a loss as to what to do next."
Elena had two choices: she could carry Rei and retreat from the dungeon immediately, or she could stay here and wait for him to wake up.
After several seconds of deliberation, she chose to stay. Transporting Rei across the scorching desert would be an arduous task, and an ambush by monsters while heading back to the small room with the magic circle could lead to a disastrous situation.
While Set's presence as a gryphon might ward off some threats, creatures like the Bandit Goblins proved that some monsters would attack regardless of their opponent's status. She judged that the site of their recent victory was likely the safest place for the moment.
The fact that they were at an oasis also influenced her decision. Although she had a canteen in her magic pouch filled with water Rei had produced using his Dagger of Flowing Water, it was better to conserve their supplies. The nearby spring would be invaluable for nursing him back to health.
"He fell in agony the moment he performed the magic stone absorption. The cause must be that stone. Since the Bandit Goblin stones were fine, the issue likely lies solely with the Bandit Goblin Mage's magic stone. I’ve heard that Beast Magic creates a link between the caster and the beast... Set, are you all right?"
"Guruu."
Set, who stood watch beside her while staring anxiously at Rei, let out a low rumble from its throat to signal it was unharmed.
"I see... Then what happened? Regardless, I can't just leave him lying in the dirt."
Muttering to herself, she lifted Rei’s limp body.
She was momentarily taken aback by his weight—or rather, the lack of it. She lifted him into a horizontal carry with effortless ease, as if he weighed nothing at all.
Elena’s physical ability and magic power were already far beyond those of an average human after she inherited the Ancient Dragon magic stone, but even so, Rei was unexpectedly light.
(I suppose it makes sense, given that he is shorter than I am,) she mused silently. She knew that if Rei heard that particular thought, he would surely scowl in annoyance.
She carried him toward the oasis, with Set following close behind, the Death Scythe held firmly in its beak.
As a watering hole for the local wildlife, the oasis was a prime spot for monster encounters. However, with her own strength and Set’s formidable presence, she wasn't particularly concerned.
"Set, I’m going to tend to Rei. Can I count on you to keep watch?"
"Guruu... Guruuuuu."
Set cried out as if protesting, wanting to stay by the side of its partner—its other half. Elena gently stroked the gryphon's head, speaking in a persuasive tone.
"Listen, it would be difficult for a gryphon to nurse a human, wouldn't it? As a fellow human, I am better suited for the task. You are a high-ranking beast; the monsters on this floor shouldn't be a match for you. Please, leave this to me."
"...Guruu."
Set looked between the unconscious Rei and Elena for a few long seconds before finally giving a small trill and moving away toward the edge of the spring. The gryphon took up a defensive post, determined to protect the Rei it loved so much.
Elena moved quickly to settle into her role as nurse, though her options were limited in the middle of a desert.
She moved Rei to a patch of shade under the trees near the spring and lowered him gently. She took a cloth from her magic pouch, soaked it in the cool water, and lowered Rei’s hood. She settled his head onto her lap and placed the damp cloth across his forehead.
With that, her preparations were complete.
"...I must have been more rattled than I thought."
Rei possessed such overwhelming strength that he was virtually without peer, yet he had suddenly collapsed. It would have been stranger if she hadn't been shaken. After all, Rei had already become irreplaceable to her.
"Honestly, making me worry like this. When you wake up, I shall expect a proper apology."
She whispered softly as she wiped his forehead. In truth, there was hardly any sweat on his face. Despite the desert heat, the shade and the nearby water kept the temperature bearable, but Rei's physique was also fundamentally different from that of a normal person. Like Elena, he was an outlier.
(Not that I regret becoming one myself. Especially not now that I know his secret.)
Rei was an exceptional existence, someone far removed from the limitations of humanity. To stand beside such a person, a normal human would likely find it impossible.
(I never imagined I would think such womanly thoughts. Heh... the Princess General. Perhaps I will eventually have to discard that title.)
She continued to wipe his face occasionally, finding a strange sense of contentment in the self-appointed task.
Time passed slowly. Though they were in the middle of a potential emergency with Set fending off nearby threats, Elena felt a peculiar peace while stroking the deep red hair of the boy on her lap. She worried for him, certainly, but she also understood that the Rei she knew was not so fragile that he would be defeated by a single magic stone.
About thirty minutes after they had moved to the shade, the eyes of the boy on her lap twitched.
"...Rei, are you all right?"
"Ah... Yeah. No... what happened? Where am I? Is this my room?"
Elena couldn't tell if he was simply dazed or if he had genuinely forgotten the immediate past, but she continued to stroke his head gently.
"Do you not remember? The moment you slashed the Bandit Goblin Mage's magic stone with the Death Scythe, something went wrong and you lost consciousness."
"I... lost consciousness...?"
He repeated her words vacantly, his memory still foggy.
"Yes. How much do you remember?"
As she spoke from above him, Rei closed his eyes, trying to piece together the day's events. He remembered the fight at the oasis, defeating the Bandit Goblins and their leader, and then the absorption...
"—!?"
His eyes snapped open as the memory returned. The moment he had cut the magic stone to absorb it, a violent shock had surged through the Death Scythe. The phenomenon, which could only be called a magic power backflow, had knocked him senseless.
He covered his face with his hands, partly to organize his thoughts and partly to hide his embarrassed expression from Elena.
Thirty seconds later, he heard the familiar sound of beating wings.
"Guruuuuuuuuu!"
Set, sensing through their magic power line that Rei was finally awake, could no longer restrain itself. Seeing no monsters in the immediate vicinity, the gryphon rushed over.
It landed and immediately began rubbing its face against Rei, who was still resting on Elena's lap pillow.
Rei couldn't stay lying down with Set being so affectionate, so he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He finally realized he had been using Elena's lap as a pillow and felt his cheeks flush slightly. He began to pet Set, who was still nuzzling him, with both hands.
"Guruu, guruuuuu!"
"Yeah, sorry. I made you worry. Look, I’m fine now. Besides, I’m just glad it was me who collapsed and not you, Set."
"Guruu!"
Set let out a sharp, reproving cry. To the gryphon, it would have much rather suffered itself than see Rei in pain. Rei understood the sentiment and stroked Set’s head again in apology.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Don't sulk, now."
"Guruu?"
Are you really sorry? Set trilled. Rei nodded firmly.
Elena watched the pair for a moment before deciding that Rei was stable enough to answer questions.
"So, do you have any idea what happened back there?"
"...Yeah. It’s just a guess, but there was something wrong with that magic stone. When I cut and absorbed it, an abnormal surge of power flowed into me through the Death Scythe, and the shock knocked me out. I’m lucky the feedback stopped with me and didn't reach Set. The scythe and Set are connected, but it’s an indirect link through me, so I acted as a buffer."
"I see. I could carry you, but if Set had collapsed as well, we would have been stranded. I also doubt I could have guarded the oasis against monsters so easily without him. Do you have any theories on the nature of that magic power? Can certain normal stones cause this?"
"Who knows? But I have a pretty good idea. You’ve probably guessed it too, right, Elena?"
"...An Anomaly Species?"
"Exactly. The Bandit Goblin Mage must have been an Anomaly Species as well. That explains why there was no record of it in the information from Pleiades. I still don't know where the rest of the pack came from, though. Maybe it summoned them?"
Rei stood up and picked up the Death Scythe, which Set had dropped nearby. He gave it a few experimental swings to check the balance. Satisfied that nothing felt off, he let out a sigh of relief.
The real test, however, was whether his skills still functioned. He leveled the great scythe toward the open desert, away from the oasis trees.
"Flying Slash!"
With the shout, a blade of compressed air erupted from the scythe.
Now at Level 3, the Flying Slash was faster, larger, and carried significantly more weight. It tore through the desert air exactly as Rei expected before vanishing into the distance.
"Phew. It looks like it’s working fine."
"So it seems."
Rei lowered the Death Scythe, relieved that his primary long-range skill was still operational. Elena, however, voiced one more concern.
"Can you describe what the absorption felt like? How was it different from usual?"
"Well... normally, magic power flows into the scythe as a single stream. But this time, it felt like several different types of magic power were all mixed together. The ordinary Bandit Goblin stones didn't feel that way. Set, did you notice anything?"
"Guruu."
Set trilled a negative, indicating it hadn't felt anything unusual during its own absorptions.
"Then it's almost certain that Anomaly Species are 'abnormal' in a very literal sense. Wait..."
Rei trailed off as a thought struck them both. They recalled the moment Set had swallowed the magic stone from the Queen Bee—the Anomaly Species variant of the Sword Bee.
Nothing had happened then.
"Rei, what about when Set absorbed the Queen Bee’s magic stone? That was likely an Anomaly Species as well, wasn't it? Is Set truly all right?"
"—!?"
The realization hit Rei hard, and he turned a panicked gaze toward his partner. Set merely tilted its head in confusion, wondering what the fuss was about. Rei rushed over to check on it.
"Set, do you feel weird anywhere? Is anything wrong?"
"Guruu?"
What is it? Set tilted its head further.
(He seems fine... but why?)
Rei let out a sigh of relief, though he remained troubled by the burgeoning mystery.