A Mouse Beastman suddenly came hurtling out of the woods.
Rei let out a quiet sigh as he caught the man. It was blindingly obvious how this had happened.
Put simply, Rei and his group—or more accurately, Johanna and her companions—had been a step too late. Another party had found the Gamelion first and launched an attack.
When Rei had spotted the creature from the sky while riding Seto, it had been curled up asleep in the grove. To any adventurer who happened upon it, it must have looked like an incredibly easy mark. They had clearly struck first, and the result was the Mouse Beastman now landing in Rei’s arms.
"Hey, what’s the plan? Looks like they’re already in the thick of it," Lento said.
"What do you want me to say? It's first come, first served," Rei replied. "Even if we argued that we saw it first, it probably wouldn’t mean much at this point."
Johanna bit her lip. "Should we look elsewhere, then? Seto-chan went to all that trouble to find it, though. I’d hate to just let it go..."
As they began to reach a consensus that they should move on and find another target, the beastman Rei had caught and set on the grass regained consciousness.
"Hah!"
The moment he came to, he scrambled to his feet and scanned his surroundings for threats. The speed of his reaction proved he had the skills expected of a Gamelion hunter. His eyes eventually landed on Rei’s group.
"Did you... did you save me?" he asked tentatively.
Lento nodded. "Yeah. You came flying out of the woods, and Rei over there caught you."
"Rei? Wait... Rei?! You mean Rei, the B-Rank Adventurer?!"
The man’s eyes bulged so wide it looked like they might pop out of his head. He looked back and forth between everyone present until his gaze finally locked onto Rei, whose face remained hidden beneath the deep hood of his robe.
"You’re him... You’re Rei. Please! I’m begging you! Save them!"
The beastman bowed his head low toward Rei. His eyes were filled with the raw, frantic desperation of a man driven into a corner.
"I take it the Gamelion was tougher than you expected?" Rei asked.
"Yes! We jumped it while it was sleeping, but once the fight started, it was way stronger than we ever imagined. The battle is still going on in there!"
As if to punctuate his words, the clangor of steel and shouts of rage echoed from within the trees. Everyone present could hear them clearly now.
"Helping is one thing, but how are we handling the spoils?" Lento cut in. Rei was only there as support, so Lento took point on the negotiations—though his primary motivation was likely a desire to look good in front of Johanna. "You know we’re here for a Gamelion too."
The beastman didn't hesitate. "We can’t give you everything... but we’ll let you have more than half!"
He didn't have the luxury of bargaining. His comrades were struggling for their lives. If no one intervened, they would likely be wiped out, leaving them with nothing—not even their lives. Losing more than half the rights to the kill was a small price to pay for survival.
"I see," Lento said. "I'm fine with that. Johanna?"
"I don't mind either," she replied. "We're going to be living in Gilm now. I don't want to start my new life by abandoning fellow adventurers."
"Agreed," one of the other men added. "Walking away now would leave a bitter taste in my mouth."
"What they said," the others chimed in.
"Hey, at least speak for yourselves," Lento grumbled. "But yeah, it’s a unanimous yes. I’ve got no problem helping out."
With the decision made, they left the injured beastman with Rei.
"Leave the man to me. You guys go have at it," Rei said.
With confident smiles, Lento and his group charged into the trees. Rei watched them go, then turned to the stunned beastman.
"Well, no point just standing around here. Shall we go watch the fight? We’ll stay back so we don’t get in their way, though."
"Wait, no! That’s not what I meant!" the man shouted frantically. "You’re Rei, right? Why are the others going in while you just stay here?"
From the man's perspective, his friends were in mortal peril, and it made no sense for the party's primary powerhouse to sit on the sidelines.
Rei merely shrugged. "Relax. Those guys are plenty strong. They have what it takes to bring down a Gamelion. I’ll guarantee that much."
Truthfully, Rei hadn't fully gauged Lento's upper limits yet, though he was confident in Johanna and her team. Still, he could tell enough just by looking at a person. While it was hard to measure someone who far outstripped him—like Noise—Lento was clearly below Rei’s level. He was likely on par with Johanna’s group.
"But still!"
"Calm down. Tell you what—if it looks like they really can’t handle it, I’ll step in. Does that make you feel better?"
"I... well, I guess so."
If a B-Rank Adventurer was promising to act as the rearguard, the man couldn't complain. Adventuring was a profession of self-responsibility; Rei wasn't obligated to help them at all. This was an act of pure goodwill. To push any further would be an insult to his own pride as an adventurer. If discarding his pride was the only way to save his friends, he would have done it in a heartbeat, but since help was already on the way, he had to accept the situation.
"Fine. I’ll trust you, Rei."
The man began limping toward the forest alongside Rei. His movements were stiff, showing that he hadn't yet recovered from the Gamelion's initial blow.
Inside the forest, the Gamelion twisted its massive body, and its tail lashed out with the crack of a whip.
"Tch! This tail is a nightmare!"
Chrono, the dog beastman, threw himself into a roll to evade the strike. It was only thanks to the heightened physical ability and sharp five senses of his race that he managed to dodge the blow as it whistled past.
He tried to lunge forward with his longsword, but the Gamelion anticipated the move. Using its momentum, it spun in a full circle, delivering a heavy slash with its blade-sharp ears. Chrono managed to catch the blow on his blade, but the sheer weight behind the strike sent him hurtling backward.
The Gamelion moved in for the kill, but a flurry of arrows hissed through the air.
"Hey! Are you okay? You’re okay, right?! Just tell me you’re okay!"
Jona, the fox beastman woman, shouted frantically even as she loosed arrow after arrow. Despite her panicked tone, her fire rate was impressively high.
"Gaaaaah! Damn it, take this!"
Distracted by the arrows, the Gamelion paused for a fraction of a second—long enough for Shanto, the bear beastman, to bring his heavy club down with a bone-shattering force.
"Gaaaaah!"
A roar erupted from the creature, matching the bear beastman's own in intensity.
"Guh—!"
In an instant, the Gamelion lashed out with its hind leg in a brutal counter-attack. Despite Shanto’s two-meter frame, the kick sent him flying into a tree, where he slumped to the ground.
"Shanto! Oh, no... what now, Chrono? Even Shanto’s been hit!"
"What now? Well... Grin is... huh?"
Chrono, the dog beastman leader, suddenly twitched his nose. He had caught the scent of several people he didn't recognize approaching their position.
"What is it? Is someone there?" Jona asked.
"Wait... you don't think it's another Gamelion, do you?!" she screamed, her bow trembling as she watched the monster, which was now circling them and waiting for an opening. They were already at their limit; the arrival of enemy reinforcements would be their death warrant.
But Chrono’s ears perked up. "Relax, Jona. I think they’re allies."
His nose told him the newcomers were humans, not monsters. Furthermore, he could still smell Grin—the Beast's Fang thief—moving nearby.
"Shanto! Get up!" Chrono yelled.
"Yeah, yeah, I’m up, damn it!" Shanto snarled as he stumbled back to the front, brandishing his club to keep the Gamelion at bay.
"Hold on just a bit longer," Chrono said. "It looks like help is coming."
"Help? You mean someone’s trying to snatch our prey?"
"Don't be an idiot. Do you really think we can take this thing alone? This isn't just any Gamelion; it’s a monster. For now, we—"
"Shut up!"
Driven by irritation and pain, Shanto roared and charged at the beast.
"You moron! Damn it, Jona, cover him!"
Longsword in hand, Chrono chased after his hot-headed comrade. The Gamelion crouched low, then sprang forward with its powerful hind legs. It was aiming to either tear Shanto’s throat out with its fangs or slice him open with its ears as it passed. Either way, Shanto’s life was hanging by a thread.
Jona loosed several arrows to check the creature's path, but the Gamelion evaded them with minimal, efficient movements.
Just as the monster was about to collide with Shanto...
"Gaah!"
The Gamelion suddenly kicked off the ground and leaped backward, putting distance between itself and the bear beastman.
"Whoa... what happened?"
Shanto, who had been prepared for a mutual kill, was caught completely off guard by the creature's sudden retreat.
"Good grief. Gamelion hunting is a lot more work than I expected."
"Tell me about it. I’d heard the stories, but I didn't think it would be this much of a pain."
"Still, it's better than that civil strife we went through, right?"
"Ah, true. Can't argue with that. At least there’s only one of them."
"Besides, knowing Rei-san is right behind us makes a huge difference."
Five adventurers stepped into the clearing, talking casually among themselves. The group—one woman and four men—seemed strangely unconcerned by the massive monster snarling in front of them.
Rei... they said, Chrono thought. So Rei is backing these guys. If that’s the case, then one or two Gamelions really are nothing to worry about.
The rumor that Rei had conquered a new dungeon and slaughtered over fifty Gamelions single-handedly had already spread through the guild. With a man like that watching their backs, it was no wonder these adventurers were so composed.
"Your Mouse Beastman friend asked us to lend a hand," the bearded man at the front said. "Do you need help?"
Before Shanto could bark an insult, Chrono spoke up. "We do. This Gamelion is far stronger than the usual ones. We'd appreciate the backup."
"Chrono!" Shanto yelled, outraged.
Chrono silenced him with a sharp glare. "You already know we can't beat this thing on our own, Shanto. And even if we could, the cost would be too high."
"...Fine. Whatever!" Shanto spat, yielding to his leader's judgment.
"So," Lento said, looking at Chrono. "We’re working together?"
"Yeah. Please."
"Got it. Well then... shall we?"
At Lento's signal, every adventurer in the clearing leveled their weapons at the Gamelion.