While Rei, Set, and Vihera were each fighting the Lizardman packs... the adventurers who had been attacked by those Lizardmen had somehow managed to withdraw from the area.
"Anyone injured?!"
"Lots of us! But no one has wounds deep enough to keep them from moving, so don't worry!"
The man commanding the adventurers shouted, and a female adventurer shouted back.
As she said, having been attacked by about forty Lizardmen, every one of the adventurers was injured to some degree.
Still, just as the female adventurer had cried out, most of the wounds were minor.
That was likely proof that these adventurers possessed a relatively high level of skill.
They were not a single party of a few members, but a group of over ten people assembled from several parties.
They had accepted a request from the Guild to investigate the recent incident in which multiple monster packs had spontaneously appeared, and along the way had encountered the Lizardman packs.
What was fortunate for these adventurers was that the Gilm Knight Order had already discovered the Lizardman packs and submitted a subjugation request to the Guild.
Thanks to that, Rei's group had arrived at the scene before catastrophic damage was done, rescuing them in the nick of time.
"So, what do we do now? That gryphon was Set-chan, right?"
One of the adventurers called out.
He was a power fighter over two meters tall with a sturdy, muscular build who wielded a greatsword, and his face could only be accurately described as fierce-looking.
However, despite appearances, he actually loved cute things and had fed Set dried meat and skewers on many occasions.
That was probably why he had been the first to notice Set's figure.
"In other words, it's Rei. Then there's no need for us to intervene."
"...But it looked like someone was hanging from Set-chan's leg... Was I imagining it?"
"No, I saw that too."
When the female adventurer muttered that, another adventurer nodded in agreement.
They had been too desperate to get away from the Lizardman packs to confirm it properly, but there was definitely someone hanging from Set's leg.
"Hanging from Set-chan and flying through the air... that takes courage."
"Yeah. Set is friendly, but it's still a monster at the end of the day. Didn't they think about what would happen if they got thrown off?"
"Hard to say. But Set is an A-Rank monster and supposedly smarter than most humans around here. As long as you don't do anything to anger it, you'd be fine."
"So you're saying Set-chan wouldn't drop them?"
"Can't say for certain. But if you got in Set's way while it was flying, you'd get swatted right off."
As they were talking, the man leading these adventurers eventually spoke up.
"So, the question is what we do from here."
"What do you mean? Is there something we need to do?"
In response to one adventurer's question, the man nodded.
"Rei, Set, and... one more person. I'm not sure who was hanging from Set, but it's probably that female adventurer who's been partnering with Rei lately."
"Ah, that unbelievably beautiful woman... I'd love to spend just one night with her."
"You're the worst."
Probably relieved to have escaped the Lizardmen, one of the men muttered that, and the female adventurer told him with open contempt.
"Shut up. We barely escaped with our lives. Can you blame a guy for wanting to hold a woman after that? Don't worry, I'm picky about who I take to bed too. I'd pass on a violent woman like you."
"Wh-what did you say!? How dare you... I won't forgive you!"
"Calm down, both of you. Don't derail the conversation."
After warning the two arguing adventurers, the man spoke up again.
"So, what we do from here. Well, Rei's here, so the Lizardmen don't stand a chance. In that case, since we were saved, I think we should at least go thank him."
"But... there's still a possibility that Lizardmen are remaining."
Another adventurer pointed that out, but in the mind of the man who knew Rei's strength, such concern didn't exist.
"Don't worry. This is Rei we're talking about — he has the power to wipe out the entire Bestia Empire's army single-handedly. Lizardmen... and only that many of them? He can handle it easily."
They hadn't been able to carefully count the Lizardmen since they were too busy fleeing.
But even so, they could tell there were about forty, certainly less than a hundred.
There was no way Rei would lose to such an opponent.
Most of the other adventurers shared the same opinion, and in the end, everyone headed back toward the area where the Lizardmen were likely still fighting.
And so, what the returning adventurers saw was...
"Whoa, brutal."
No one knew who muttered those words.
But it was a scene that warranted such a reaction, now spread out before their eyes.
"Come on, what's wrong? Is that it? You can unleash a sharper strike than that, can't you!?"
Vihera called out while effortlessly deflecting the continuous spear thrusts from the desperately attacking Lizardman Leader.
Continuous thrusts that would be difficult for an ordinary adventurer to even parry.
And mixed in among the thrusts were occasional tail attacks.
But Vihera dodged and deflected all of them.
Not only that, but in the gaps between the Leader's attacks, she landed light punches against its body as counters.
Those strikes were nowhere near enough to actually damage the Lizardman Leader.
However... they served to remind the Lizardman Leader that if Vihera fought seriously, it would sustain massive damage in the blink of an eye.
After all, the Lizardman Leader had watched with its own eyes as its subordinates had their bones broken by Vihera's strikes, their skin and flesh slashed by her claws, and some even lost consciousness from a mere light touch.
Having witnessed its subordinates annihilated in an instant — thoroughly and one-sidedly crushed right before its eyes — and then finding that none of its own spear attacks had any effect.
And on top of that, being tapped by fists as if it were being toyed with.
...That continued for several minutes.
The returning adventurers were fully aware that the Lizardman Leader fighting Vihera was one of those that had led the pack that attacked them, yet they still couldn't help but feel pity for it.
That was how cruel Vihera's current actions appeared from the adventurers' perspective.
"Shaaaaah!"
The Lizardman Leader must have understood that it was being toyed with. Baring its frustration, it swung its spear once more.
From a human's perspective, a Lizardman's expression was completely incomprehensible.
But even so, the returning adventurers could easily imagine that the Lizardman Leader's face was dyed with frustration and impatience.
"Shaaaah!"
With a sharp exhalation, the Lizardman Leader's spear thrust forward.
But Vihera evaded the strike with ease, and in the next instant, lightly touched her fist to the Lizardman Leader's snout.
Not a punch — merely a light touch.
That action, which had been repeated countless times already, utterly shattered the Lizardman Leader's spirit.
A metallic clang echoed through the surroundings.
The source of that sound was the spear the Lizardman Leader had been holding until a moment ago, now dropped to the ground.
For the Lizardman Leader, that spear should have been the symbol of its strength... but having understood that it could not defeat the opponent before it no matter what, it must have lost the will to fight.
However, what surprised the watching adventurers and Rei was the action the Lizardman Leader took next.
It lay flat on its back on the ground, presenting its belly toward Vihera.
"...Huh?"
Whose mouth let slip that stunned, almost idiotic sound?
Wondering that, Rei stared in dumbfounded silence at the Lizardman Leader baring its belly.
He knew what that meant.
It was an action taken when acknowledging the other party as an absolute superior... a pose of submission.
But that was something a dog would normally do, not something a Lizardman... no, not something a Lizardman Leader, a High-ranking Species of Lizardman, should do.
(For that matter, how does a Lizardman Leader even know a dog's submission pose? Could it be that Lizardmen keep dogs as pets?)
Faced with such an utterly unexpected sight, Rei half-descended into escapism, thinking such thoughts.
And Vihera, too, was equally troubled by the Lizardman Leader taking a submission pose before her.
No — having a Lizardman Leader larger than herself, standing over two meters tall, take a submission pose right in front of her, her bewilderment must have been far greater than Rei's or the adventurers'.
(Could it be trying to lure me into letting my guard down?)
Vihera muttered inwardly while maintaining her stance without lowering her guard, but the Lizardman Leader, lying completely on its back with nothing in its hands, could do nothing from this position.
In other words, the Lizardman Leader before her had completely surrendered to Vihera.
"...Rei, what do you think I should do?"
Bewildered by an experience she had never encountered before, Vihera turned a troubled gaze toward Rei.
Rei, receiving that look, had not anticipated this kind of situation either.
But at the same time, he thought that what he had just witnessed might, in a sense, be close to Taming.
How a Tamer made a monster submit differed depending on the Tamer.
Thinking of it that way, the current relationship between Vihera and the Lizardman Leader could be seen as one form of taming.
"That Lizardman Leader surrendered to you, Vihera, so it's up to you what you want to do. If you're so inclined, you could make it your Tamed Monster."
"...A Tamed Monster, huh."
Murmuring softly, Vihera's gaze shifted to the Lizardman Leader lying on its back.
She appeared to hesitate briefly, but eventually Vihera quietly averted her gaze from the Lizardman Leader.
"Go. I have no desire to kill an opponent that has surrendered. ...But remember well what will happen if you ever attack humans again."
Vihera told it that, but naturally, the Lizardman Leader could not understand human speech.
Even so, it vaguely understood that Vihera was telling it that it didn't have to obey her.
It could understand that because Vihera had thoroughly shattered its pride, and it had come to comprehend that it could never defeat the person before it.
That was why, even if only vaguely, it understood what she was saying.
"Shuu..."
Rising from its belly-up submission pose, letting out a slightly... yes, only slightly regretful cry, the Lizardman Leader stood up.
It picked up the spear it had dropped when taking its submission pose, gave Vihera a single glance, and departed.
"Don't you have anything to say to it?"
Watching the somewhat sad-looking Lizardman Leader, Rei said to Vihera.
But Vihera, already having lost interest in the Lizardman Leader, made that clear through her attitude by looking away.
Looking somehow a little lonely, the Lizardman Leader disappeared from before Vihera, spear in hand.
...Several years later, this Lizardman Leader would save adventurers attacked by monsters in this area on multiple occasions, eventually building a friendly relationship with Gilm's adventurers... but that is a story of the future.
"Excuse me..."
A voice called out to Rei and Vihera, who had just watched the Lizardman Leader depart, as well as to Set, who was eating Lizardman meat a short distance away.
It went without thinking to know whose voice it was. It was the adventurers who had been watching the fight between Vihera and the Lizardman Leader until just now.
"Hm? What is it?"
"You're Rei-san, right? Um... thank you for saving us."
When the adventurer party leader said that, the other adventurers bowed their heads in unison.
"There's no need to worry about it. We accepted the Lizardman subjugation request, after all."
Vihera, standing beside Rei, replied with those words.
She seemed slightly displeased — whether because of the Lizardman Leader, or because her time with Rei had been interrupted like this.
In any case, the man appeared somewhat intimidated by Vihera's words, but he held his ground and spoke up.
"Even so, the fact that we were saved remains true. I never expected to be attacked by a Lizardman pack in a place like this."
"...Is that so? Well, either way, you should get away from here as quickly as possible. We're staying behind to collect the Lizardman corpses."
"Yes, understood. ...Then, please take care."
Saying that, the men departed.