Storing the Cyclops corpses took less than a few minutes.
After all, it only required touching the bodies—there was no reason it should take any longer.
Having finished storing the corpses, Rei called out to Mirene, who could be considered the person in charge of the scene.
"Mirene, what's the plan from here? Are we heading back to Gilm as is, or are we waiting for the others to come back? The fact that there are no corpses other than Cyclops means everyone's alive, right? Though it seems like none of you ran into anyone before Deetz and his group got here."
At Rei's words, Mirene stopped doting on Set and gave a nod.
"Right. I asked everyone to head back to Gilm and report the situation, but... we should probably go back first and report that the Cyclops have been dealt with. Well, considering the time, they probably haven't arrived in Gilm yet."
"What'll it be? I can go on ahead to Gilm."
"...That would be nice, but a whole group of Cyclops showed up, you know? If something happens, I'd feel better having Rei here as our trump card."
In terms of a trump card, there was also Vihera, who had taken on five Cyclops at once.
But ultimately, Mirene must have felt more at ease with Rei, whom she knew well, than with Vihera, whom she had just met.
...Though it certainly couldn't be said that the presence of Set had nothing to do with that.
Whether he knew it or not, Rei glanced at Vihera upon hearing Mirene's words and spoke up.
"With Vihera here, I don't think combat strength is an issue. Vihera could hold her own even against that red Cyclops."
"Red Cyclops?"
Perhaps piqued by Rei's words, Vihera turned an inquiring gaze toward him.
"Yeah. It was an individual that seemed to have been controlling these Cyclops. I'm not sure if it was a Rare Species or a High-ranking Species, but... either way, it was a troublesome opponent."
"How interesting."
"...I figured you'd say that. Well, it's already defeated anyway, so it'd be better to save the details for after we get back to Gilm rather than discussing them here. So, what'll it be?"
His final words were directed at Mirene.
Whether heading to Gilm or searching for the scattered Former Mobile Unit members in the forest, having Set—who could fly—would make either option effective.
Having come this far, Rei was fine with either choice, so he gave Mirene a look that left the decision to her.
Entrusted with the decision, Mirene hesitated briefly... then looked in turn at Deetz, Byune, Vihera, and the others before finally speaking.
"Right. I'm sorry, but could Rei go on ahead to Gilm? Set-chan can fly, so you'll definitely arrive before the others who have to travel on foot. If we don't properly report that the fighting is over, there's a chance a Subjugation Force might be assembled."
Rei nodded immediately, apparently having no objections to Mirene's suggestion.
Indeed, if seven Cyclops—and possibly a Rare Species or High-ranking Species—were near Gilm, the likelihood of a Subjugation Force being assembled was high.
And assembling a Subjugation Force required gathering adventurers, collecting supplies, preparing carriages—it cost both money and time.
To go through all of that only to find out everything had already been defeated would be, quite literally, a waste of effort for nothing.
If Cyclops were still remaining, that would be one thing, but having already wiped them all out... as he thought that far, Rei suddenly recalled the red Cyclops he had defeated, and then the seven Cyclops corpses that had been here, and spoke up.
"Is it really okay to report that all the Cyclops have been defeated? The information I originally heard from Deetz said there were five Cyclops. But in reality, there was a red Cyclops, plus seven normal Cyclops. Isn't it possible there are still more?"
"That's..."
Mirene couldn't immediately deny Rei's words.
The others felt the same, and the cries of birds and beasts enjoying the spring forest echoed around them.
The first to break that silence was Surnin, who had been checking on Ekril's condition.
"We can just explain all of that to the Guild as well. Presumably in the form of having wiped them all out. Besides... I'm curious about that hammer the red Cyclops was carrying."
At those words, the image of a massive hammer surfaced in the minds of those who had actually seen the red Cyclops with their own eyes.
A hammer so large that it didn't look small even when held by a roughly five-meter-tall red Cyclops—as if it had been made specifically as its equipment.
"Yeah, I've already recovered that hammer. ...It's quite a troublesome item."
"Troublesome, you say? Do you mean troublesome in the sense that it's too heavy to lift, or something along those lines?"
Surnin himself probably knew otherwise, but he asked to confirm, and Rei shook his head in response.
"It felt like the hammer itself had some kind of consciousness. When the red Cyclops I was fighting started being pushed back and judged that it couldn't turn the tide anymore, the hand gripping the hammer extended root-like things into its body and took over the red Cyclops's consciousness... no, since it didn't explicitly manifest a consciousness, maybe it's more accurate to say it erased the Cyclops's consciousness. It also had a Regeneration Ability, so it was troublesome in terms of a normal fight too."
Hearing Rei's explanation, Vihera frowned slightly.
"If a Cyclops was using a magic item, that means the hammer was large, right?"
"Yeah. It's considerably larger than the clubs normal Cyclops use."
"...Who could have prepared that hammer, and how? Honestly, I can't think of an answer. Well, if it's just a matter of preparing it, you could consider having an Alchemist make it, but is there any need to go that far? The opponent is a Cyclops with low intelligence to begin with, you know? Even if someone approached it saying 'I'll give you this magic item,' it would probably just think food had come to them."
"I was wondering about that too. It's not like it just happened to find and pick up a magic item that a Cyclops of that size could use somewhere. ...For reference, it's about this big."
Judging that he should at least show it to Vihera, Byune, and Deetz as well, Rei took out the hammer.
At the sudden appearance of the massive hammer before them, everyone present widened their eyes—even Mirene, Surnin, Yohanna, and the others who had already seen it once.
Among them, Surnin was the first to come to his senses and cry out.
"That hammer has the ability to take over someone's consciousness, doesn't it!? Taking it out so carelessly—isn't that dangerous!?"
At Surnin's cry, everyone took a few steps back.
But Rei, showing no particular tension, placed his hand on the hammer's handle and spoke.
"Don't worry. There's no trace of consciousness left in this hammer anymore. When I tried to store it in my Item Box, it attempted to take over my consciousness, but probably because it's a magic item, it tried to use magic power to do something. Instead, it was overwhelmed by my magic power and its consciousness was completely annihilated."
"...That's plausible."
Mirene and Surnin didn't know exactly how much magic power Rei had, but having witnessed his battles on numerous occasions, they understood that it was not a normal amount.
Furthermore, Yohanna and Deetz had seen up close the spectacle of him creating a Fire Whirlwind, as well as the Overlord's Armor and Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.
He could produce phenomena on a completely different scale from what an ordinary mage could conjure—sights that could only be called natural disasters.
Of course, it would be meaningless without the technical skill to wield magic, but above all, magic power was necessary to produce such phenomena.
And it was absolutely impossible that Rei lacked that magic power.
"Well, for that reason, this hammer is now a pure magic item... that phrasing might be a bit odd, but it no longer has the ability to control people."
"...If that's true, it would be a remarkably powerful magic item. Being able to generate lightning, plus granting the wielder a high Regeneration Ability—that would make it a superior version of Elk-dono's Axe of the Thunder God, wouldn't it? Though axe and hammer are quite different."
Surnin was uncharacteristically excited, but as if to throw cold water on that enthusiasm, Mirene spoke up.
"True, if you only look at the abilities, maybe so... but who could actually use this thing? An ordinary human couldn't possibly swing something like this around..."
Pausing, Mirene turned her gaze toward Rei.
The weapon Rei normally used was a large scythe.
As the name suggested, it was a large scythe with a handle about two meters long and a blade about one meter long—also a weapon that would be difficult to master under normal circumstances.
No, not just master—he wouldn't even be able to swing it properly.
Since Rei used such a weapon, Mirene looked at him as if to ask whether he might be able to use this magic item hammer as well, but Rei shook his head.
He was confident in his arm strength, and if he tried, he could probably hold this hammer.
But that was all.
Compared to the Death Scythe, the hammer was far too massive—holdable, but so large that swinging it would be impractical.
There was no way the rather small-framed Rei could swing it around.
"I don't really want to use it. Also, compared to Elk's axe, I don't think it's a superior version. In terms of pure performance, that is. If we're talking about versatility of abilities, you could call it a superior version, but... from my perspective, it feels like an inferior version."
"Hmm... now that you mention it, I suppose so..."
Perhaps finally coming back to his senses thanks to Mirene's words, Surnin let out a disappointed sigh.
"But, Rei-san. If you can't use it, why did you bring it?"
Yohanna asked while stroking Set, and Rei stored the hammer into the Misty Ring as he replied.
"If I'd left it there, there was a chance other monsters might use it. Judging by its size, normal monsters probably couldn't use it, but it's not like we have definite proof that we've taken down every last Cyclops."
"You think there are still more Cyclops out there?"
Rei understood Yohanna's urge to sigh.
Originally, it was supposed to be a subjugation of a single Cyclops, but when they actually came to the forest, there were five. Furthermore, a red Cyclops—thought to be a Rare Species or High-ranking Species—existed carrying a magic item. Then, when they tried to flee, at the place where their horses and carriage had been left, two more Cyclops were rampaging, destroying the carriage and killing the horses.
If she were told there were still more Cyclops on top of all that, it would naturally be rather unpleasant for Yohanna.
"Who knows. But since we defeated that red Cyclops, I don't think the normal Cyclops will act in coordinated groups anymore."
"That presents its own problems, though. A C-Rank party might be one thing, but if ordinary travelers or Low-Rank Adventurers were to encounter a Cyclops, it would certainly mean death."
"...Once this matter is settled, we should probably report to the Guild that it'd be a good idea to look into it. Anyway, I'd like to head on ahead to Gilm soon. What about you guys? There are horses, at least."
Rei turned his gaze toward Deetz.
When Rei's group had departed from Gilm, Vihera and Deetz had brought spare horses in addition to the ones they rode.
Since Byune rode with Vihera, there were currently still two spare horses available.
And here there were four people: Mirene, Yohanna, Ekril, and Surnin.
Of course, having two adults ride a single horse was difficult in various ways, but as long as they didn't go at full speed, it wouldn't be a problem.
The fact that the borrowed horses were highly trained and exceptionally well-bred also helped greatly.
At Rei's words, Mirene and the others discussed among themselves in low voices what to do, and eventually reached a conclusion.
"Then, if it's all right, we'd like to use the horses. We can't just leave Ekril unconscious like this, and carrying her on our backs would be pretty tough."
In the end, that was how it turned out.
"I'll leave that side to you then. Even if any Cyclops survivors show up, with Vihera around, you should be fine."
"Hehe, I hope so. Personally, since I came all the way to the frontier, I'd be happy if some stronger monsters showed up. Something like that red Cyclops Rei fought, for instance."
Somehow reassured by her usual battle-crazed demeanor, Rei headed toward Set.
"Well, if you're in Gilm, you won't have any shortage of enemies to fight. It wouldn't be surprising if even more powerful monsters appeared eventually. ...Set."
"Gurururu!"
Mounting the back of Set, who stood up purring as if to say "Finally!", Rei settled in.
Set purred once more, as if to say "See you later," then took a running start, flapped his wings, and soared up into the sky.
...Watching them go, Mirene and Yohanna saw off the pair—human and griffon—with expressions of clear disappointment.