Having finished his exchange with Vihera, Rei walked through the forest with her, still a little bashful — or more precisely, the two of them plus Set trailing behind, making for a party of two humans and one griffon.
"Hey, Rei. I'm glad you told me your secrets, including Beast Magic. But of course Elena knows about all this too, right?"
"Yeah. I told her after the trouble from our first meeting blew over."
"...Hmph. You told Elena the very first time you met her. I've known you for ages, and I only just now got to hear it."
Vihera spoke with a slightly sulking tone.
Rei opened his mouth apologetically in response.
"I actually planned to tell you sooner. But then the whole situation with the Twilight Spear came up, and it got pushed back. Besides, you'd taken Byune back to Exil around then, right?"
"That's true, but even so, don't you think it's only natural for me to feel dissatisfied? The person I love was keeping secrets from me."
Hearing her say "love" so plainly, Rei grew a little flustered.
He understood Vihera's feelings perfectly well, but having her state it so bluntly was bound to make anyone blush.
They continued through the forest in a silence that was rather uncomfortable for Rei until Vihera finally spoke up again.
"Hey, Rei. Does Marina know about this?"
"No."
Rei shook his head.
Vihera's expression shifted to one of mild surprise. Rei had met Marina before he'd met her — at least, that should have been the case. If so, there was no reason Marina shouldn't have learned his secrets first. That was what she had assumed.
But what came from Rei's mouth was, unexpectedly, a denial.
"Really? I mean, it's not really my place to say this, but are you sure it's alright that I was told first? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about it, but..."
Vihera wore a smile that was equal parts troubled and genuinely pleased, and Rei furrowed his brow slightly.
"I actually meant to tell Marina this time too, but you heard she's busy with her research, right? So it'll have to wait for Marina."
"If anything, I think you could've told me when Marina was around. She'll probably be disappointed, you know?"
To be perfectly honest, Vihera was delighted to have been told before Marina. But at the same time, having learned something before Marina — someone she recognized as a fellow rival in love — carried a lingering sense of guilt. That was why, if given the choice, she would have preferred to be told alongside Marina.
"Well, it's just that the Goblin Leader happened to be a bit smarter than usual, right? Then her research should wrap up quickly. In that case, maybe today or tomorrow..."
Rei and his party were walking toward the edge of the forest, still deep in conversation, when Set — who had been strolling alongside Rei — suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Guruuu."
A low growl rumbled from his throat, his gaze fixed on a patch of bushes.
From beyond the dense, summer-thick undergrowth came voices that sounded like screams.
Rei pulled the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring.
He chose it over the more familiar Death Scythe precisely because they were in a forest.
Vihera's combat style was close-quarters to begin with, so she had no particular need to draw a weapon. When she did arm herself, she could produce claws from her gauntlets and blades from her shin guards, but those were formed by channeling magic power and required no preparation.
Set's weapons, naturally, were his powerful limbs, beak, and tail.
The moment the three of them finished readying themselves, three adventurers burst from the bushes.
Leading the way was a male cat Beastman, with two humans chasing close behind.
The cat Beastman was stunned to suddenly find Rei, Set, and Vihera standing before him — a duo and creature far too distinctive to ignore.
But as soon as he registered who they were, he shouted a warning about what was pursuing them.
"Cobolts! Cobolts are coming!"
He screamed the words as he dashed past Rei. The two men running behind him were in such desperate straits that they couldn't even speak.
"Cobolts? Well, I've been attacked by Cobolts in this forest before, so it's possible."
Rei watched the three men vanish into the trees and readied his Twilight Spear, but his enthusiasm wasn't particularly high. Naturally — Cobolts were only monsters slightly stronger than Goblins. Unlike Goblins, they were somewhat more troublesome because they could coordinate with their allies, but to Rei, the difference was negligible.
"Here they come."
Vihera, fists raised, was equally unmotivated. She would gladly throw herself into battle against a worthy foe, but to her, Cobolts were no more interesting than Goblins.
"Set."
At Vihera's remark, Rei called out to Set.
Since there was no point in fighting Cobolts, there was no need to force a battle. If they recognized Set's presence, the smarter-than-Goblins Cobolts should turn tail and flee. With that thought in mind, he gave the cue. Set drew a short breath and let out a loud cry.
"Guruuuuuuuuruuu!"
A roar that seemed to declare: I am here.
If the opponents were ordinary monsters, the mere knowledge that a gryphon stood in their path would send them fleeing at once.
...That is, if things were normal.
"Waoon!"
Despite Set's thunderous declaration of his presence, the Cobolts pouring from the bushes showed no sign of retreating. They charged straight ahead and eventually broke through the undergrowth, revealing themselves.
"What?"
Rei let out a small sound of surprise at the unexpected sight. Naturally — between Cobolts and a gryphon, the gap in sheer presence was overwhelming. No matter how you looked at it, the Cobolts didn't stand a chance.
Yet they had burst from the bushes without the slightest hesitation.
"Vihera!"
"Can't be helped, I suppose."
At Rei's call, Vihera gave a small sigh and readied herself.
Beside her, Rei was already thrusting the Twilight Spear at the first Cobolt to leap from the bushes. The instant the thrust landed, the spear snapped back to his hand, and the Cobolt — its head crushed, reduced to nothing but a torso — crumpled to the ground with the same momentum it had carried coming out.
Vihera, meanwhile, dodged a longsword swing from another Cobolt that had judged an enemy was waiting the moment it burst through, then drove her fist forward. It sank straight into the Cobolt's solar plexus, pulverizing its ribs.
But the stream of Cobolts emerging from the bushes showed no sign of thinning. One after another, they kept appearing.
"Guruuuuuuuuruuu!"
With Set's battle cry, several arrows of wind materialized — the Wind Arrow skill. Their individual power wasn't particularly high, but the multiple projectiles still struck down Cobolts as fast as they emerged.
"Gyan!"
Several such cries of pain reached Rei's ears at once.
However... Rei's assumption that they would retreat after being beaten this badly proved wrong. Even as their companions were being cut down, more Cobolts continued to pour from the bushes.
(What is this? Cobolts aren't normally this stupid. At the very least, I wouldn't expect them to throw themselves at an obviously superior enemy with zero regard for consequences like Goblins do...)
Rei unleashed thrust after thrust from the Twilight Spear at each Cobolt that came bursting out. A Cobolt would leap forward, take a spear thrust to the head, and hit the ground as a corpse. It was an exchange that could only be described as manual labor.
And as this mechanical process repeated itself, the question gnawing at Rei only grew larger. These movements were utterly unbecoming of Cobolts — something was clearly wrong.
He wasn't the only one who felt it. Vihera must have sensed the same.
Parrying an incoming Cobolt attack, she delivered a kick to its torso, snapped its neck with her shin guard, and spoke up.
"Hey, Rei. Something's off."
"Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing. But that's exactly why we can't just let these things go. Those three earlier probably ran because they realized these weren't normal Cobolts either."
Cutting down, cutting down, and continuing to cut down the Cobolts streaming from the bushes.
Rei, Vihera, Set — not one among this group was the kind of fighter who would struggle against mere Cobolts. And so the Cobolts emerged one by one only to be slaughtered, their corpses piling up on the ground.
If Rei's group had been slightly less skilled, or if the Cobolts had been coordinating properly, the ones still on the other side of the bushes might have noticed something was wrong. But every single Cobolt was behaving as though in a frenzy, with zero coordination among them.
They didn't even need to hear the Cobolts' signature howling calls to know something was amiss — Set's cries carried easily through the bushes, and above all, it was impossible not to sense his overwhelming presence. Yet the Cobolts acted as if none of that mattered, charging out individually and being unilaterally cut down in turn.
Naturally, that kind of behavior would rapidly deplete their numbers... and eventually, when the last one sank to the ground, no more Cobolts emerged from the bushes.
The number of Cobolt corpses scattered across the ground was roughly twenty. Fewer than the Goblin pack the Goblin Leader had commanded, but still an average-sized Cobolt group — perhaps slightly on the larger side.
"...Is it over? No, there's still something there."
Rei felt a momentary wave of relief before detecting a presence still lurking beyond the bushes. Vihera and Set readied themselves to intercept.
What emerged, pushing through the undergrowth, was — as expected — a Cobolt. But not an ordinary one like the rest. This one was a full size larger.
"Cobolt Leader... A coincidence?"
A Goblin Leader and a Cobolt Leader. Both were High-ranking Species, but neither was a particularly formidable specimen. What nagged at Rei more than anything was the contrast: the Goblin Leader — a High-ranking Species of normally dim-witted Goblins — had been unusually intelligent, while this Cobolt Leader — a High-ranking Species of Cobolts, which were normally fairly clever and adept at coordinating — was behaving as if it had no tactical sense whatsoever.
"Gururururu."
The Cobolt Leader let out a distinctly canine growl, different from Set's, its eyes glaring at its surroundings.
Despite facing Rei, Vihera, and Set, it showed not the slightest hint of fear. It leveled its spearhead toward them, ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"...Impudent thing, for a Cobolt Leader — even if it is a High-ranking Species. Rei, mind if I take this one?"
Something about the Cobolt Leader's demeanor must have struck a nerve. Vihera took a step forward.
Seeing this, the Cobolt Leader swung its spearhead toward her, bared its fangs, and let out a threatening snarl.
But before Vihera could ready herself, Rei spoke up.
"Sorry, Vihera. It's my first time fighting a Cobolt Leader, so let me have this one. I need its Magic Stone."
"If you need the Magic Stone, I could just kill it and hand it over, you know?"
Vihera's tone made clear she had no attachment to a Cobolt Leader's Magic Stone, but Rei kept the Twilight Spear's blade trained on the creature and shook his head.
"No, unfortunately, to absorb a Magic Stone, you need to fight the monster that carries it — at least to some degree. It's a necessary step to align Magic Power Wavelengths."
Vihera's eyes widened slightly in surprise at the explanation. Then, as if a piece had fallen into place, she lowered her fists and spoke.
"I see. You kept going on about needing Magic Stones, but you never once posted a request at the Guild to buy them. I always found that strange... so that's why."
The explanation clearly rang a bell. At that moment, the memory of fighting alongside Rei in the Dungeon at Exil flashed through Vihera's mind.
(Would even something as minor as throwing stones at it be enough to align Magic Power Wavelengths?)
She still harbored some doubts, but if Rei was that insistent, she relented and stepped back from the fight.
Rei moved forward in her place, but...
"Wooooon!"
As if seizing on the opening created by Rei's advance, the Cobolt Leader lunged.
"Too slow."
Without so much as a pause, Rei crushed its head with a single thrust of the Twilight Spear, and the Cobolt Leader crumpled lifelessly to the ground.