Immediately after absorbing the Giant Cicada's magic stone, a thought suddenly occurred to Rei. If he poured his own magic power into an ordinary creature, would it turn into a monster just like the Giant Cicada had?
It was possible that the Giant Cicada had been a monster to begin with, but there was also the possibility that it had transformed into one through Rei's magic power.
Deciding he needed to confirm this thoroughly, Rei—spurred on by a flicker of hope—sprang into action at once.
Naturally, he had no intention of recklessly creating a monster and risk producing something with the same strength and size as the Giant Cicada inside the settlement. He kept Death Scythe in hand, ready to slay the subject immediately should anything go wrong.
The subject of his experiment was an ant that had been crawling near the stables where he had absorbed the magic stone.
(An ant monster... there were Soldier Ants and the like, but... let's see how this turns out.)
Just as when using a magic item, Rei channeled magic power into the ant resting on his palm... but the ant simply crawled around, showing no particular change.
"......Ehh......"
Rei had assumed it would transform into a monster, but in reality, there was no change whatsoever.
He had also considered the possibility that the ant's body might burst apart, unable to withstand the magic power—or at the very least, that it might die even if nothing that dramatic happened. Yet the ant on his palm was crawling around energetically, showing no signs of distress.
"At least give me some kind of reaction...... Was it not enough magic power?"
He muttered and channeled magic power into the ant once more.
But ultimately, there was still no change.
"Why? That Giant Cicada was definitely created by my magic power......"
The image of the Giant Cicada's corpse, now stored inside the Misty Ring, flashed through Rei's mind.
He wondered if the difference lay between the Giant Cicada and the ant, but somehow he didn't think that was the case.
(I guess it's not that easy after all.)
If what Rei was attempting actually succeeded, it would mean being able to create as many unknown monsters as he wanted.
If that happened, magic stone absorption through Beast Magic would progress even more smoothly than before... or so he had hoped.
Even so, if it meant he could essentially farm monsters, Rei couldn't bring himself to give up so easily.
He tried thinking about the difference between the Giant Cicada case and the ant case, and the first thing that came to mind was the amount of magic power used.
He had poured in a massive amount of magic power—at least by anyone else's standards—to treat the World Tree.
Compared to the magic power from that time, the amount he had just channeled into the ant was barely a drop in the bucket.
(But there are quite a few people in this settlement with the ability to sense magic power. If I go full power here......)
Rei thought that, but his gaze suddenly drifted to the Ring of the New Moon.
A magic item with the ability to conceal Rei's enormous magic power.
Having recalled the Ring of the New Moon's existence as though only just remembering it, Rei looked around once more, confirmed no one was nearby, and then channeled magic power into the ant on his palm.
Set stood ready to provide support at a moment's notice, and the Light Sphere watched while flickering.
The magic power being poured into the ant increased every few seconds... and eventually, when it reached roughly half the amount he had poured into the World Tree, the ant on Rei's palm stopped moving entirely.
"Hm?"
Sensing something was off, Rei temporarily stopped channeling magic power and poked the ant with his other hand... but the ant showed no response whatsoever.
"Is it...... dead?"
"Gurururu."
Set rumbled in agreement.
Rei dropped the ant from his palm onto the ground and poked it again.
But the ant showed no sign of movement.
Without a doubt, it was dead.
"......Why?"
Rei had held the optimistic expectation that it would probably turn into a monster, but the result was the ant's death.
"What do you think?"
He asked Set and the Light Sphere, but since neither could speak, they couldn't answer.
Even so, Rei could tell from their demeanor that they were just as clueless.
"Why? That Giant Cicada was definitely my magic power...... hmm? A cicada? Come to think of it......"
What flashed through Rei's mind was the moment the Giant Cicada had been trying to emerge.
Even while piercing all ten legs into the trunk of the World Tree in the middle of emerging, it had been sucking up the World Tree's sap.
(In other words... could it be that the World Tree's sap and my magic power need to combine for a creature to transform into a monster?)
That conjecture pointed toward a future Rei found extremely unappealing.
If the hypothesis he had just come up with was correct, it would mean that creating even a single monster could potentially put the World Tree on the brink of death.
No—if Rei hadn't channeled his magic power into the World Tree, it would have completely withered away.
Considering that, no matter how much Rei desired magic stones from unknown monsters, he couldn't possibly do something as reckless as deliberately creating them.
"Ugh...... I got excited for nothing. Well, I guess there's no way it would be that easy."
The notion that had vanished like a dream was set aside for the time being.
Even so, he did want to continue experimenting little by little, just in case.
Sighing, Rei absentmindedly stroked Set's body to keep his hands busy.
As if to encourage him, Set rumbled softly, and the Light Sphere fluttered around Rei while flickering.
About ten minutes passed like that before Rei suddenly sensed someone running from inside the house.
Well, it wasn't really ambiguous who it was. The only ones living in this house right now were Rei and As.
As came running out with Poro on his left shoulder as usual, and upon seeing Rei playing with Set near the stables, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ah, thank goodness. Rei, I'll ask just to be sure, but... you haven't already eaten breakfast, have you?"
Understanding what As had been worried about, Rei smiled and nodded to indicate there was no problem.
"Don't worry. I haven't eaten yet. I only woke up a little while ago myself."
"I see."
"Pororo?"
At Rei's words, Poro on As's left shoulder let out a somewhat puzzled cry, but fortunately, As didn't seem to notice.
As a rare species of Carbuncle, Poro possessed extremely sharp senses, and though half-asleep, it had noticed Rei leaving the house.
That had been at a time slightly too early to be called "a little while ago," and Poro was apparently curious about it.
Only Rei and Set noticed Poro's reaction, so the conversation continued without interruption.
"It seems like you're hungry too, As. Shall we go eat? At this hour, Elena and the others should be waking up soon."
"Yeah, that would help. I've been starving since a moment ago."
"......You ate that much yesterday, and you're already hungry again......"
Rei had seen with his own eyes how As had devoured a large amount of food alongside Poro at last night's banquet.
Of course, there was plenty of meat to cook within the settlement, so there was no shortage of ingredients.
Naturally, those ingredients were the monsters that had attacked the settlement.
The monster corpses defeated outside the Protective Barrier had almost all been brought inside by yesterday.
......Monsters like Goblins, whose meat was unpalatable, had only their magic stones harvested before being disposed of on the spot, so in reality, only about half of the attacking monsters were actually brought into the settlement.
Even so, given the massive number of monsters that had attacked, there was no shortage of ingredients.
Orc meat in particular was a hit with everyone, and the dishes were being consumed at such a pace that it seemed like every last scrap of meat from the attacking Orcs would be completely devoured.
"Yesterday was yesterday, today is today. It's not like I can store up food in my stomach. ......Besides, if you're going to say that, what about you?"
As replied to Rei's words with an exasperated tone.
It was only natural that As would want to say that. As far as he had seen, Rei had clearly eaten more than As had.
Knowing that there was more than enough meat at this banquet, Rei had seized the opportunity to eat his fill.
For As, who had been watching, being told by Rei that he had eaten too much was nothing short of outrageous.
"Really? Well, I'm hungry too, so let's go eat."
"......You've got to be kidding me......"
Sighing, As followed behind Rei and Set as they left the stables.
Catching up beside Rei, he turned his gaze to the Light Sphere floating at Rei's side.
"Hey, that Light Sphere is the World Tree's will, right? Why is it following you around?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. I was playing with Set at the stables, and it just approached me on its own. Nothing bad has come of it, so I'm just letting it do as it pleases."
As if in protest to Rei's words, the Light Sphere flickered, but Rei continued speaking without paying it any particular mind.
"Well, it's been unable to move like that all this time. Now that it can move, it's not strange that it would want to move around freely, right?"
"......Is that so? Is that how it is?"
As tilted his head skeptically, but seeing the Light Sphere flicker as if in agreement with Rei's words, he couldn't help but be convinced.
The fact that even through the same act of flickering, one could intuitively tell whether it was affirming or denying just by watching, was probably a power of the World Tree—or so he found himself accepting.
"Well, I guess that's fine......"
Walking beside Rei, As turned his gaze to the World Tree, visible from anywhere in the settlement.
Its appearance could fittingly be described as piercing the heavens, and being told that this Light Sphere was the will of such a magnificent tree was still somewhat hard to fully accept.
"More importantly, As. What are you going to do today?"
"......Today?"
As tilted his head, not understanding what Rei was getting at.
Rei let out an exasperated sigh.
"Didn't you originally come to this forest to investigate the abnormality? You said you had some errand to attend to, and it wouldn't be good to stay in this settlement forever, right?"
"Ah."
At those words, As finally remembered why he was here in the first place.
Of course, ever since arriving at the settlement, so many things had happened in rapid succession that being preoccupied with all of that had been a big factor.
"......Ahh...... Ugh......"
Perhaps many things were coming to mind, as As let out a heartfelt groan of regret.
Leaving As standing there lost in thought, Rei headed with Set and the Light Sphere toward the house Elena and the others were borrowing.
"Porororo!"
Poro, whose usual spot was As's left shoulder, apparently judged that breakfast would be skipped at this rate. It kicked off As's shoulder and landed on Set's back.
"......Seems like As is busy with various things. You're going on ahead too?"
"Porororo!"
Rejoicing on Set's back... and so, Rei and the others left As behind where he stood, deep in thought.
"Rei! Why did you leave me behind?!"
As Rei was eating breakfast in the courtyard with Elena and the others as he had done for the past few days, that voice suddenly rang out across the surroundings.
With a sausage in his mouth, Rei turned an exasperated gaze toward As.
"Even if you say that, you're the one who suddenly stopped in the middle of the road and started thinking."
"That's... true, but. Still, you could have brought me along......"
"More importantly, have you decided what you're going to do from here?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'll head back right after breakfast. I need to report on the abnormality in the forest too. ......Though, the cause of the forest's abnormality was that Giant Cicada, right? Then I don't think explaining it now would mean much of anything."
As sighed, but Marina spoke up.
"You're leaving already? In that case, I'd like to give you something as a token of gratitude...... would that be alright?"
"Y-yeah."
Somewhat overwhelmed by the sidelong glance Marina cast his way, As felt slightly intimidated.
It was surely because of yesterday's battle—when she had received Rei's magic power. No, more precisely, because he had seen her become highly excited as a result of receiving it.
Marina continued speaking without appearing to mind at all.
"It seems you don't have a carriage or anything, so something that isn't bulky would be best. You did quite a lot for the settlement... I suppose a magic stone would be good? And I need to give Rei World Tree materials as promised before, as well."
Suddenly, the Light Sphere flickered intensely as if expressing some kind of will.
Given that the Light Sphere was the World Tree's will, it was only natural that it would have feelings about being told its own materials would be given away.
Even so, the fact that the flickering did not give off a negative impression to those around was perhaps because the Light Sphere agreed with giving away its own materials.
In any case, this marked the end of the days that As, Rei, and the others had spent at the settlement.
And... the arrival of their final day at the settlement also meant that the days of Rei acting alongside Elena were drawing to a close as well.