"So, everything will be decided in four days. This war... it's felt both long and short at the same time."
"Guru?"
It was night. Rei sat before his campfire in front of the Magic Tent, muttering to Set as he leaned against the gryphon’s side.
Autumn had deepened. The mornings and evenings were no longer merely cool; they had become outright cold. Winter was undeniably on the horizon, which was likely why both the Mercurio Army and the subjugation army were so desperate to settle the matter quickly. Rei could understand that much, at least.
"Regardless, the battle in four days will bring this civil strife to an end. Sticking around after that would only lead to complications, so once the tide is settled, I’ll take my reward and head straight back to Gilm. You miss it too, don't you? Gilm... and Mirene?"
"Gurururuu."
At the mention of Mirene, Set let out a cry that sounded distinctly troubled. Rei was certain it wasn't just his imagination. She always doted on Set—aside from Rei himself, she was probably the person in this world with the deepest affection for him. Since she often fed him various treats, Set didn't dislike her, but the way she looked at him... that strange, unidentifiable light that sometimes dwelled in her eyes made it only natural for the gryphon to feel a bit of a literal "beast's intuition" to stay away.
"It feels like it’s been a while since we saw Lenora or Kenny, too. You want to see them, right?"
"Gruu!"
This time, Set chirped without a moment’s hesitation. While they weren't as intense as Mirene, they doted on him more than enough. More than that, what made Set truly happy was seeing how much they cared for Rei. Of course he liked people who were kind to him, but for Set, their affection for his beloved Rei was a much bigger factor.
...If Mirene ever learned that, she would likely start directing all her overt affection toward Rei instead. There was a proverb back in Rei’s original Japan: To shoot the general, first shoot his horse. In Mirene’s case, it was more a matter of shooting the general because she wanted the horse.
"And besides... once winter arrives, it'll be gamelion season."
"Gruu!"
Set’s response was even faster now than when they were discussing Lenora or Kenny. Seeing his partner's reaction, Rei let out a wry smile, even as he found himself in agreement. Gamelions looked like nothing more than giant, monstrous rabbits, but their meat was a winter delicacy in Gilm—an absolute legend.
"...Gilm?"
Rei suddenly paused as a thought occurred to him. Gamelions might exist here in the Bestia Empire as well. They certainly inhabited the woods near Gilm, but their habitat didn't necessarily end at the border. It wouldn't be strange at all if they lived here too.
If that’s the case, and I play my cards right, I might be able to get my hands on even more gamelion meat. I could hunt them here, store them in the Misty Ring, rush back to Gilm, and bag more there. I think I can make that work.
Having reached that conclusion, he spoke to the gryphon he was leaning against.
"Hey, Set. You want to eat as much gamelion as possible, right?"
"Gururururuu!"
As if saying "Obviously!" Set let out a deep rumble from his throat. A soldier happened to be passing near Rei’s Magic Tent at that moment and nearly jumped out of his skin. It was only natural; hearing a gryphon’s roar while on night patrol would startle anyone. Of course, the soldier liked Set, but a sudden cry in the dark of night was a different story entirely.
Fortunately, Rei had set up his Magic Tent on the far edge of the encampment, surrounded by nothing but supply tents. Incidentally, the reason he pitched his tent near the Supply Storage Facility wasn't just because it was quiet. In an army as large as Mercurio's, it was inevitable that a few bad seeds would slip in. He was there so that he could react immediately if anyone tried to steal supplies. Set had already caught several petty thieves, and by now, no one was foolhardy enough to try sneaking around here. The soldiers still patrolled the area largely because leaving security entirely to Set was a matter of professional pride.
"Calm down a bit. Tell you what—once this is all over, I’ll look into whether there are any gamelion habitats nearby. ...Actually, I don't even need to go to the guild. There are plenty of adventurers here; I can just ask them."
"Gruu?"
"Really?" Set chirped happily. Rei smiled and tossed a piece of wood into the fire. The wood crackled and popped, creating a somewhat atmospheric scene.
"...Autumn, huh."
Rei muttered the words as images of seasonal autumn foods from Japan crossed his mind. Having lived in the mountains, he thought of chestnuts, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and pears. Then there was Rei’s favorite: ayu. Ayu was usually considered a summer fish, but in autumn, those carrying eggs would head from the rivers to the sea. These were called ochi-ayu—a seasonal delicacy that could only really be enjoyed by someone living in the countryside.
"And then there’s sanma. Grilling a plump, fatty sanma with salt, eating it with grated daikon and soy sauce..."
"Gruu, gururururuu!"
Just hearing the description was enough to make Set hungry. He rumbled, as if demanding to eat it right now. However, sanma was a fish from Earth; Rei had no idea if it existed here in Elgin.
Even if it does, the oceans here are full of monsters. There’s a high chance they’d just be eaten as prey. And fishing wouldn't be as easy as it was back home.
Naturally, this world lacked modern technology like fish finders. Fishing here relied entirely on a fisherman's experience and intuition.
"Ah... no, thinking about sanma is a mistake. I really want some now. That fatty meat and the sharp, refreshing taste of the grated daikon. If you have that with rice, you can eat forever."
Rei was the type who didn't eat the innards, though his heavy-drinking father had loved them.
"Gururuu, gururururuu!"
Rei's talk had clearly worked up Set’s appetite. The gryphon let out a series of cries that practically screamed "I want to eat it!"
"I know, I know. But there’s no guarantee sanma even exists in this world... though, since there’s the Riot, which is basically a pear, I can't rule it out. ...I might find out if I go back to Emotion."
Images of the port city flashed through his mind as he spoke.
"Gururururuu."
"Maybe I can eat sanma," Set chirped, his mood clearly lifting. His voice echoed through the night camp, but since they were on the outskirts, it caused no real disruption—aside from a few sentries reflexively pulling their heads into their collars.
Over in the camp’s downtown district, where the taverns and brothels were clustered, a victory banquet was likely still in full swing. Rei had considered joining in with Set—specifically to enjoy the food—but he knew they stood out far too much. If he showed his face at the festivities, trouble would inevitably follow, especially since everyone in the taverns would be roaring drunk by now.
Rei stood up, looking toward the distant cheers with a hint of envy.
"Well, whether it's sanma or gamelion, it won't matter unless we win in four days. All right, Set. I’m going to get some sleep for tomorrow. We have to start the Wyvern Material Stripping, and that’s going to take some time."
"Gruu!"
Set gave a short reply and lay down right there, staying alert as always to watch over Rei.
"Sorry, Set. You're a lifesaver. Here, if you get hungry, eat this."
Rei placed a sandwich beside Set and stepped into the Magic Tent.
The next day—three days until the decisive battle.
Rei spent the day outside the encampment, overseeing the members of the Mobile Unit as they performed the Wyvern Dismantling. There were five wyverns in total, taken from the five dragon knights. The volume of materials harvested from that many corpses was considerable. Even so, it wasn't enough to make Wyvern Leather Armor for every single member of the Mobile Unit. It had been decided that the armor would be distributed to the strongest members based on their performance.
Rei had wanted to conduct rigorous training, but with the final battle only three days away, he couldn't afford to exhaust them. Instead, he had the members of the Mobile Unit engage in mock battles against one another. The Wyvern Leather Armor served as the perfect prize to keep them motivated.
"Boss Rei, I should warn ya—it takes a hell of a long time to tan wyvern hide into proper leather."
"You’ve got a magic item for that, right?"
The Mercurio Army blacksmith frowned slightly at Rei’s words. Normally, tanning a hide into leather for armor took over a week. That was for ordinary animals or low-rank monsters; for a dragon species like a wyvern—even a lower-tier one—it wasn't uncommon for the process to take dozens of days. Since they couldn't afford to wait that long before the time of the decisive battle, Rei had insisted the blacksmith use a specific magic item.
It was an item that could drastically reduce the time required to process hide. To a blacksmith, it was a legendary tool, but...
"Using the Drops of Dorim definitely cuts down the time, but the quality’s gonna drop accordingly, ya see?"
Yes—degradation of quality. That was the sole, glaring drawback of the Drops of Dorim. Even so, Rei had chosen it because it was the only way to have the armor ready by the day of the battle.
"The one saving grace is that weapons made from wyvern fangs or claws don't suffer any drop in quality."
"Aye, but arrowheads and spear tips are about all we can manage on short notice. If we used magic-treated wyvern bone or blood, we could forge things like magic swords... but even then, tryin' to do that in three days is just impossible, ya know?"
"Fair enough. But I want you to make them once the war is over. The Mobile Unit is going to be walking through hell, after all. They deserve that kind of reward."
"Understood. Leave it to me."
Nodding at the blacksmith, Rei turned to the men busy with the dismantling and called out in a loud voice.
"Tonight’s dinner is wyvern dishes! If you want it to taste good, make sure you carve that meat properly! If you’re sloppy with the dismantling, the flavor’s going to drop!"
"Understood!"
As the members of the Mobile Unit shouted their reply in unison, one man approached Rei.
"Captain Rei, are you sure about being this generous?"
It was Pernix, the vice-captain of the Mobile Unit and the man who handled the unit’s actual command. Rei watched the dismantling with Set at his side and nodded.
"The next battle is going to be massive. This is the best way to nourish their spirits—and to show them there are rewards waiting for those who survive."
"As one of the people benefitting, I shouldn't be complaining, but it feels like a waste. A rare monster like a wyvern would fetch a fortune if we sold the materials to the right people."
"It's not like I'm hurting for money," Rei muttered nonchalantly.
Hearing that, Pernix and the nearby blacksmith couldn't help but find it convincing. Rei was a B-Rank adventurer, a rank already considered "high-rank," and he commanded a A-Rank monster like Set. His own combat prowess was equal to or perhaps even greater than A-Rank. For someone with that level of ability, earning money was hardly a challenge. Simply slaying a high-rank monster or diving into a dungeon would yield staggering rewards.
"Anyway, I'm leaving the leather armor to you."
"...Aye. It's not every day I get to work with wyvern materials. I’ll do the best job I can, ya see."
Rei nodded at the blacksmith’s words. And so the day passed with the processing of the wyverns and a banquet to feast upon the meat.
Three days remained until the decisive battle. They waited for that hour to arrive, harboring the twin emotions of anxiety and anticipation.