Looking down at the Cobolt Leader's corpse on the ground, Vihera muttered with a hint of exasperation.
"You sure built it up, but it was over in a flash. Well, it fought you, Rei, so I suppose that's only natural."
"All things considered, it was still just a Cobolt Leader. Besides, what was abnormal was how it sent its subordinates charging in with almost no thought at all. 'Ferocious' might make it sound better than it was, but it basically rushed them in without thinking."
"That may be true. Normal Cobolts would at least assess their opponent's strength. The fact that they attacked despite a presence like Set being there is a bit hard to believe."
"Guruu?"
Set had probably noticed his name being called. He had been lightly poking at the Cobolt Leader's corpse with his front paw, but now he tilted his head quizzically, as if asking "What?" and turned his gaze toward Vihera.
"It's nothing. But that Cobolt Leader seems a bit dangerous, so you shouldn't play with it too much."
Hearing that, Set quietly moved away from the corpse.
The fact that he showed no particular disappointment was probably because he hadn't been all that invested in it to begin with.
His true feeling was simply that he had been casually poking at it as a light diversion to pass the time.
"So, Rei. What are you going to do about this?"
"What do you mean? Well, unlike with the Goblins, there's no particular rush, so I think it'd be fine to at least recover the Cobolts' Magic Stones."
"That's not what I mean. I'm talking about the Cobolt Leader. Are you going to report it to the Guild?"
"Probably should. Besides, even if I don't, that group of three who ran off earlier will, won't they? They seemed to recognize me clearly, so my name will definitely come up at the Guild."
If it had been someone who didn't know Rei, that would be one thing, but an adventurer in Gilm who didn't know Rei could honestly be called ignorant.
For a group like that to explain the incident to the Guild without mentioning Rei's name was virtually impossible.
"Is that so? Sounds like it's going to be troublesome again. If it were a group of Cyclops like last time, I'd at least get motivated."
Vihera's expression as she said that likely came from recalling the battle with a powerful enemy from before. It was fitting to call it lascivious.
Normally, not many people would want to fight a powerful monster like a Cyclops.
But for Vihera, who possessed what could only be called a battle-lust, fighting such opponents was something to be desired.
Watching her, Rei spoke while stroking Set.
"Anyway, let's at least extract the Magic Stone from this Cobolt Leader. We were able to absorb the Goblin Leader's Magic Stone, so this should be fine too."
"...Are you sure it's safe?"
Vihera murmured, just as she had when warning Set.
From her perspective, the Cobolt Leader was by no means a strong opponent.
But it was still a fact that it was different from a normal Cobolt Leader, and Vihera felt that absorbing the Magic Stone — the crystal that could be called a monster's very life — from such a creature was something he should avoid if possible.
"Don't worry. No matter what was wrong with a Magic Stone from something like a Cobolt Leader, there's nothing it can do in the face of Beast Magic. In fact, Set didn't have any particular issues after absorbing the Goblin Leader's Magic Stone, right?"
"Guruu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred happily.
"...Are you really sure it's okay?"
Even so, Vihera's voice carried a worried tone.
She was fundamentally optimistic and pleasure-seeking, but given the current situation, she still couldn't help but worry about Rei and Set.
While understanding her feelings, Rei still held the conviction that something like a Cobolt's Magic Stone couldn't cause any real harm.
There was no particular reason for it. But something within him gave him that certainty.
"Trust me."
"...You fool. When you say that, I can't argue anymore, can I?"
Vihera murmured as if sulking, then gently stroked Rei's arm.
Looking at her as she lovingly caressed his arm, Rei nodded once more to convey that everything would be fine, then approached the Cobolt Leader's corpse.
(For now, let me extract the Magic Stones from the other Cobolts too.)
Unlike Goblins, Cobolt pelts could fetch a certain price.
It wasn't a high amount, of course, but it was still better than Goblins, which couldn't be expected to yield any usable materials at all.
(If the research on Goblin meat goes well, the abundant Goblin meat would probably be traded at a fairly high price... but who knows when that'll happen.)
Goblin meat — the quintessential example of bad-tasting meat.
Rei had been researching ways to make it palatable... or more accurately, cooperating with one of the merchants to do so, but he still hadn't found a breakthrough for making Goblin meat taste good.
(Should I try Cobolt meat instead? Cobolt meat is at least edible as is. But then again, Cobolts are inevitably fewer in number compared to Goblins, so they fall short when it comes to sheer quantity of meat.)
Taking out a dismantling knife, Rei extracted the Magic Stone from the Cobolt Leader's heart while thinking about such things.
(That's right. I might as well bring the meat along. If I leave it here, it'll just become food for other animals or monsters. Plus, there's a possibility they could become Undead in the worst case. Considering that—)
Understanding the abnormality of the Cobolt Leader, Rei extracted the Magic Stone and deliberated on what to do with it before long, he took out Death Scythe.
"Set, I gave you the Goblin Leader's Magic Stone, so is it okay if Death Scythe absorbs this one?"
"Guruu? ...Gurururuu!"
Set hesitated briefly at Rei's words, but soon nodded in agreement.
Rei gave Set a small pat on the head in thanks, then took the Magic Stone in hand and turned back toward Vihera.
"Vihera, you've seen Set absorb a Magic Stone, but I haven't shown you Death Scythe absorbing one before, have I?"
"Eh? Right. In Set's case, he swallowed it, but how does Death Scythe do it? Could it be that since Death Scythe was also born from your magic power, it has a will of its own and absorbs Magic Stones that way?"
At Vihera's words, an image briefly flashed through Rei's mind — Death Scythe sprouting a mouth and devouring a Magic Stone.
But at such an unrealistic thought, all that escaped Rei's lips was a wry smile.
It would be interesting if Death Scythe, as a Magic Item, had such a function, though.
(If that were the case, would it just extend its mouth to bite off an enemy's Magic Stone? That actually sounds pretty interesting in its own way.)
A Magic Item with its own will — just hearing that made it sound fascinating.
However, if someone actually succeeded in creating such a thing, it was certain to cause all sorts of trouble.
(Ah, but what about Holy Swords that only the chosen can wield... could those actually work that way?)
Of course, such legends existed in Elgin as well.
No, more than that — they survived in considerable numbers as stories.
Rei even knew that there were picture book-like texts for nobles to learn letters, things that commoners couldn't afford.
He had only briefly looked at one in a bookstore.
Books in this world were fairly expensive, so naturally, browsing was out of the question.
If he tried anything like that, he'd be kicked out of the store immediately.
That was why Rei hadn't properly read the picture book — he had only casually flipped through a few pages.
Even so, seeing a scene where someone drew a Holy Sword, it was impossible not to understand.
"Rei?"
Rei, who had been lost in thought at the phrase "a Magic Item with a will," came back to himself at Vihera's voice.
"No, it's nothing. It's not like Death Scythe has a will or anything. When it absorbs a Magic Stone, I do it like this."
He tossed the Magic Stone in his hand into the air, and in the next instant, Death Scythe flashed in a single slash.
The Magic Stone was cleanly bisected... but the usual announcement message did not appear in Rei's mind.
"...No good, huh. Then again, if you think about it normally, if you were to acquire the Sense of Smell Enhancement skill, it would seem more fitting to come from a Cobolt's Magic Stone rather than a Goblin's."
"Guruu?"
At Rei's words, Set tilted his head quizzically, as if saying "Really?"
For Set, acquiring — or more accurately, enhancing — the Sense of Smell Enhancement skill from a Goblin's Magic Stone wasn't anything strange.
(Well, it was a High-ranking Species... if you think of it that way, it's not that far off, I suppose? Then again, despite that, it apparently couldn't sniff us out while we were in the sky.)
As he pondered this, Vihera spoke up with a slightly surprised expression.
"Could it be that absorbing a Magic Stone doesn't necessarily mean you'll always acquire a skill?"
"Yeah. I don't know exactly what's involved, but sometimes you learn something and sometimes you don't. Even when you do acquire a skill, it may or may not be related to the characteristics of the monster that possessed the Magic Stone."
This was especially true for the Goblin Leader's and Cobolt Leader's Magic Stones, he added.
At Rei's words, Vihera showed an expression of understanding.
"I see. So even that Majin Zephyle couldn't make it so easy to acquire skills."
Vihera murmured reflectively, and the expression on her face was one close to relief.
For a moment, she wondered why she was making such an expression, but she quickly understood.
It was the fear of being left behind by Rei.
Because she loved him, she couldn't bear the thought of being left behind.
"Yeah, that's how it is. Well then, let's get going soon. If we stay in this forest forever, we might get caught up in something else again."
"I feel like we're already quite caught up in things as it is..."
Rei had to agree with that, which Vihera had said as if to suppress the unease in her heart.
The Goblin Leader incident was something he had accepted a request for, but this Cobolt Leader incident was clearly a case of being caught up in things.
Given that Rei already understood he was prone to getting dragged into trouble, if he stayed here, he'd probably get swept into some other incident.
That was what came to mind, and given his experiences up to now, it was a natural conclusion.
"Well then, let's go. We need to explain what happened to the Guild too."
"Sure, sure. And then something else will happen, I'm sure. But still, I'd prefer it if some stronger monsters showed up."
Listening to Vihera's wryly spoken words, Rei stored all the Cobolt Leader and Cobolt corpses in his Misty Ring.
"Oh, you're taking all of them after all?"
"Yeah. If I store them in an Item Box, they won't rot. If you think of them as emergency rations, it's definitely not a bad idea."
"I won't say it's bad. Still, Item Boxes are so convenient."
Vihera murmured reflectively.
She was dressed in an outfit that could easily be mistaken for that of a Dancer or a Prostitute. Naturally, there were no pockets or storage spaces, and when she needed to carry things, she occasionally used a bag.
For someone like Vihera, the Misty Ring — which looked like nothing more than an accessory — was something to be deeply envious of.
"There's a simplified version, or rather, a mass-produced type of Item Box, right? Aren't you going to buy one? They're quite expensive, but I don't think it would be that difficult for you to earn enough to purchase one, Vihera."
What crossed Rei's mind was the simplified Item Box that Elena owned.
However, its price was quite high, and the drawback was that it could store far less than a full Item Box.
Still, compared to a bag, the amount of luggage one could carry was overwhelmingly greater, so many people wanted one.
"That's true. I'd love to have one if I could... but they're originally quite rare items, and it's not just a matter of money. Besides, they're hard to obtain even in Gilm."
"Should we try asking the person who made the Twilight Spear? It's a Magic Item, so maybe they could figure something out?"
"I wonder. Creating an Item Box-type item requires a considerable amount of magic power, and magical attributes are also important. It's not simply a matter of being able to use Alchemy, either."
"But nothing will start if you don't take action, right? If they can't do it, we can just think of another method."
"That's... well, I suppose that's true."
"Then how about we go visit them after we report the Cobolt Leader to the Guild?"
"If you say so, Rei, let's go. Though the chances of failure are probably higher."
Saying that, Vihera left the forest together with Rei and Set, heading toward Gilm.