"Huh? What is this?"
Vihera muttered, dumbfounded, at the sight of roots spreading from the magic sword's hilt that had invaded the Cobolt's entire body, covering it as though they were tattoos.
Since the Cobolt's body was covered in fur, roots spreading across it would normally only be visible on parts of its face.
Even so, there was no mistaking that the roots had spread throughout its entire body—they glowed with a dull light from within.
It was as though tattoos carved all over its body were luminous.
And the Cobolt, which had been screaming just seconds ago, no longer held any light of consciousness in its eyes.
Vihera had heard about the Cyclops incident from Rei the day before, but seeing it firsthand for the first time must have been different in many ways.
She stared at the Cobolt for a moment, unable to process what had happened.
Rei, standing beside her, readied his Thorn Spear toward the creature.
"It's the same as the red Cyclops I told you about yesterday. The Cobolt is probably being controlled by that magic sword. But... it's slow."
The Cobolt, seemingly under the magic sword's control, was still convulsing.
The red Cyclops hadn't taken this long when its body was seized by the hammer—it had begun moving immediately.
(A Cyclops... and a Rare Species or High-ranking Species at that, far stronger than a normal one, versus an ordinary Cobolt. No matter how you look at it, the Cobolt is weaker. So why is the magic sword taking this long to take over its body...? The magic sword?)
What caught Rei's eye was the magic sword attempting to seize control of the Cobolt's body.
Looking at it, Rei immediately understood.
"The magic sword and the hammer—they're both magic items, but their performance differs?"
As he muttered the words, it felt like the truth to him.
Naturally. An E-Rank monster like a Cobolt and a C-Rank monster like a Cyclops—and given that the Cyclops was likely a Rare Species or High-ranking Species, it was equivalent to a B-Rank monster. Their individual combat strength was vastly different.
Would anyone give two monsters with such different combat strengths magic items of the exact same performance?
The answer was no.
At the very least, if it were Rei, he would rather give a powerful magic item to a strong monster like a Cyclops than to a Cobolt.
(Besides, I don't know how many Alchemists from the Bestia Empire are involved in this incident, but given that they're Alchemists, they're probably Kabajid's remnants. In that case, could there really be that many of them? ...Even if they fled the Bestia Empire, I can't imagine anyone overlooking ten or twenty Alchemists defecting.)
The Cobolt, having lost all light of consciousness from its eyes, gradually shifted from a stumbling stagger to smoother movement with each step, until it finally began moving swiftly toward Vihera.
Its body was small and light, and Cobolts were a race that excelled in speed over strength to begin with—compounded by the fact that the magic sword had hijacked the Cobolt's consciousness and was forcibly enhancing its physical abilities.
Its movements were so swift and sharp that it was hard to believe it was an E-Rank monster.
However, seeing the roots spread inside the Cobolt's body glowing, it was likely that—just as with the Cyclops—the magic sword was forcibly drawing out the creature's stamina and life force.
Power gained by literally whittling away its life.
Vihera saw the Cobolt charging toward her at that speed, but Rei caught the smile spreading across her face.
The face of a battle maniac who craved a fight with a strong opponent.
Licking her lips with a red, lustrous tongue, she stepped forward to meet the Cobolt rather than waiting for it.
Judging that anything he said to Vihera now would be pointless, Rei stepped back to stay out of the way.
Stepping forward, Vihera channeled magical power into her gauntlet, producing claws of magical energy.
She caught the magic sword's downward strike with those claws, intending to sweep it upward in a winding motion—and then close the distance further as the Cobolt pulled the sword back, as would normally happen.
However... the next moment, with a metallic clang that rang through the surroundings, the magic sword's blade snapped in half. The Cobolt crashed into the ground at the same speed it had been charging, tumbling and scraping along the earth for several meters before coming to a stop.
"...Huh?"
It was Vihera who let out the stunned voice.
Not understanding what she had done to break the magic sword, she nonetheless unconsciously flicked her right hand, dropping the blade fragment that had caught on her gauntlet's magical claws onto the ground.
"Uhh... wait, what was that? Is it really over already? You're kidding, right?"
She muttered, unsatisfied.
Naturally. Based on its movements, she had been looking forward to a proper opponent for the first time in a while—only for the magic sword to snap easily against her magical claws.
"...Well, I kind of had a feeling this would happen."
Rei murmured, and Vihera turned a questioning gaze toward him.
"A C-Rank monster and an E-Rank monster. With this much difference in rank, even if they're both magic items, it's natural that their performance would differ. High-performance magic items naturally require rare materials and large amounts of magical power to create."
"...You're right."
She found herself convinced by Rei's words.
She understood that even if she were plotting something, she would never give the same magic item to both a Cobolt and a Cyclops.
"Besides, considering that the magic item the Cyclops had also possessed a Regeneration Ability that this magic sword lacks, this sword is probably a degraded version of that hammer, or something along those lines."
Rei, who had been muttering while eyeing the magic sword's blade on the ground, started to reach for it but stopped.
Because he remembered that the Cyclops's hammer had tried to seize his consciousness the moment he touched it.
This magic sword was a magic item several ranks below the hammer, and it was currently broken in half to boot.
Even so, considering the worst case, touching it directly was undeniably dangerous.
"Give me some space."
At Rei's words, everyone present found it odd but nonetheless moved away from him.
Confirming that, he raised his magical power... and in the next moment, the mana radiating from Rei's body was concentrated, compressed, and made visible, clinging to him as a red aura.
No one present could sense magical power, but no one failed to notice the overwhelming intensity emanating from Rei.
The Former Mobile Unit members had seen this form many times before, and the members of the Scorching Wind like Mirene had witnessed Rei activating the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor during the duel held in winter.
Only the two adventurers who had fled to this spot were frozen in place, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Rei, clad in red mana, reached for the magic sword's blade lying on the ground.
And the instant he gripped the blade... as if unable to withstand Rei's magical power, the magic sword crumbled into sand.
"...Huh?"
Unable to comprehend what had happened, Rei stared at the magic sword's blade crumbling into sand and spilling from his hand.
In less than a few seconds, the entirety of the blade in Rei's hand had turned to sand and scattered, carried off by the spring breeze until nothing remained.
Rei, who had watched it go in a daze, turned his eyes to the Thorn Spear in his left hand.
(That magic sword broke just from touching it, but the Thorn Spear wasn't affected at all. This is... no, is this also the difference in grade between magic items?)
The Thorn Spear was a very high-quality magic item received from Marina as a reward.
Comparing the Thorn Spear to a magic sword made for a Cobolt to use, even if it was crafted by a Bestia Empire Alchemist, was wrong in more ways than one.
"...Umm, Rei? If you could, maybe...?"
Mirene, standing some distance away, spoke up while sweating from the heat radiating from Rei.
He could control the heat to some extent, but it still wasn't perfect.
"Ah, sorry."
He muttered and dispelled the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.
A wind blew at the same time, carrying the surrounding air—which was warmer than the spring temperature... no, outright hot—into the forest.
The wind passing over the river provided a coolness that felt just right against his flushed body.
As he felt that cool air, Set eventually approached.
"Guruu?"
Rei smiled and reached out toward Set, who tilted its head and purred, asking if he was all right.
"Don't worry. It's not like I'm disappointed... well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at all, but it's not that big of a deal."
Given that it was a magic sword that could have served as a lead on the Alchemist, he would have preferred to obtain it, but it wasn't absolutely necessary.
In the first place, as far as leads went, the hammer—which was far more intricately crafted than the magic sword Rei had just destroyed—was a better one.
If the goal was to obtain information about the Alchemist, investigating that hammer would likely yield far more.
(Though when it comes to magic items to investigate, more would always be better, of course.)
Brushing the sand from his hand and scattering it on the wind, Rei happened to notice Vihera wearing a serious expression.
Was it because the fight with the Cobolt had been boring? Rei wondered, but looking at her demeanor, he somehow sensed that whatever she was thinking about had nothing to do with the Cobolt.
"Vihera, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"...Yes. But not here. I'll talk about it later. More importantly, what do we do about the Cobolts? With the Cyclops matter, no one's in the mood to continue stripping materials anymore, right?"
He understood she was deliberately changing the subject, but judging that she had her reasons, Rei turned his gaze to the surroundings.
Cobolt corpses were scattered everywhere—counting the ones that had been hidden in the bushes along with the twenty that had initially appeared, there were nearly fifty.
They had come here to dismantle the Cyclops, but by now, everyone had completely lost the will to continue.
The fact that Mirene's group had already finished dismantling their Cyclops was probably a major factor.
"I don't need any, for now. It's too late for that anyway."
"We might want some. When we split the reward from the Cyclops among this many people, there isn't much left."
At Mirene's words, the others nodded in agreement.
(Even dust, piled up, becomes a mountain, as they say.)
There were over fifty Cobolt corpses.
Stripping materials from all of them could cover a week's worth... and if things went well, potentially a month's worth of food expenses.
Cobolts not only yielded magic stones, but their pelts also sold for a decent price.
"Then wouldn't it be fine to strip them? What about you, Vihera—?"
As he called out, Rei noticed Byune gathering several Cobolt corpses nearby.
Whether they noticed Rei's gaze or not, Byune puffed out their flat chest proudly.
Proclaiming that these were Cobolts they had taken down.
"Mn!"
"No, I get that, but... what are you going to do with them? Are you planning to strip them now?"
"Mn."
For Byune, who possessed a strong attachment to money from birth, leaving behind Cobolt corpses that were guaranteed to bring in cash—even if only a small amount—was simply not an option.
The ones surprised by Byune's behavior were the two adventurers who had been chased by the Cobolts.
They had been shocked to see a girl far younger than themselves taking down Cobolts one after another, and were equally astonished to see her proudly asserting her kills to Rei.
The two exchanged glances, then eventually nodded and spoke together.
"U-um, thank you for saving us."
"I never expected Cobolts to form a pack this large, even if they do group together... and to think some of them had magic swords..."
"Don't worry about it. These things happen. Besides, all things considered, it wasn't all bad for us either."
Rei replied to the two adventurers as they bowed their heads, glancing at Mirene and Byune, who had already begun stripping materials.
When it came to dismantling, they had apparently decided to skip time-consuming pelt work except for clean specimens, focusing only on Subjugation Proof Parts, magic stones, and tails that could be easily cut off—and were efficiently stripping materials from the Cobolts.
"With this many Cobolt corpses, today's earnings are bound to be decent, all things considered."
"...You're all really strong, aren't you?"
One of the men murmured earnestly.
Hearing the man's voice, Rei neither confirmed nor denied it, simply letting the remark pass.
(Given that the Cobolts were given those magic swords, these two were probably collateral damage from someone targeting me. ...Still, the fact that magic swords were given even to Cobolts means that, quality aside, they can be mass-produced... I can't help but get a bad feeling about this.)
Gazing at the scene of the Cobolts being stripped for materials, he thought this to himself soberly.