The day after completing the subjugation of the three packs led by a Lizardman Leader, Rei finished his meal and walked through the city with Vihera and Set, just as he always did.
As usual, whenever he spotted a stall giving off a delicious scent, he would buy portions for himself and Set and eat as they walked.
"Are you sure? I don't mind treating you to this much."
Rei's gaze was directed at Vihera.
He had bought several skewers at a stall selling Cobolt skewers, but for some reason, she hadn't ordered any.
Rei, finding this strange, had asked her about it, but the look Vihera gave him in return was one of exasperation.
"Listen, Rei. Eating while walking with you and Set is fun and I'm happy to do it, but I'm a woman too. It goes without saying what would happen if I ate more than I moved, right? Especially in this kind of outfit."
The outfit Vihera wore as she said this was the same thin attire as always—sheer enough to see through—and it flaunted her magnificent figure.
Even without looking at Vihera's aggressive beauty, any man would want to hold her, and any woman would yearn for her figure.
It was sleek like a predatory beast, yet at the same time, it displayed her femininity to the utmost degree.
"...No, I don't really think you need to worry that much. Right?"
"Hot! Huh? O-oh. Yeah. Of course I think so too."
The stall owner, grilling skewers, had his gaze stolen by Vihera's body and let out a cry of surprise and pain as a spark flew up and struck him.
But as one would expect from a stall owner selling skewers, he agreed with Rei as if he had already forgotten the pain.
Being a young man still in his twenties, it was only natural that he hadn't yet lost his passions.
Because of that, having the figure of a beauty worthy of the descriptor "peerless" like Vihera right before his eyes would naturally steal his awareness.
Whether it was good or bad luck that the result was only a light burn was debatable.
"Ahem. Anyway, it's a real help having Rei and Set around. It's only been a few days since the monster packs started running rampant, but all sorts of problems are already popping up."
As if to cover up the fact that he had been enraptured by Vihera's figure, the stall owner said this.
In the stall owner's line of sight were several merchants and their escorts.
They were visibly displeased, arguing with each other.
The merchants were telling their escort adventurers that they wanted to depart from Gilm immediately, but the escort adventurers were opposed to it.
From the merchants' perspective, they wanted to get out of Gilm as quickly as possible, with so many monster packs appearing simultaneously. But from the escort adventurers' perspective, protecting the merchants would be difficult if they were attacked by a pack.
Furthermore, even as escorts, they had no desire to willingly charge into places with a high probability of death.
The merchants' standpoint and the escorts' standpoint.
The discussions taking place between them... no, the voices, which were closer to arguments, were echoing throughout the surroundings.
"That's why I'm telling you! Given the current situation, I don't think I can protect all of you even if we depart from Gilm!"
"You say that, but we've come to Gilm on business, you know? At this rate, we'll needlessly incur expenses and end up in the red. Besides, there aren't any particularly powerful monster packs right now, right? In that case..."
"Don't be unreasonable! Even if the opponents are Goblins or Cobolts, whether we can handle them when there are so many is a completely different matter!"
"Even so, we haven't come to Gilm for fun either. If we don't deliver these goods by the contract deadline, we'll have to pay compensation!"
"Which is more important, your life or your money?"
"Both, obviously!"
"...If you absolutely, truly must get out of Gilm, there's only one option I can suggest. Ride on horseback, not in carriages, and keep galloping at full speed. That way, you probably won't be attacked by monsters while you're running."
That meant they would be attacked by monsters if the horses weren't running.
And horses couldn't run forever.
After running for a certain distance, they would need to rest, and at that point, the likelihood of being attacked by monsters would naturally increase.
Of course, if they proceeded on horseback alone, the chances of being discovered by monsters would be lower than if they were traveling by carriage.
But if they were found by monsters in that state, they wouldn't be able to save themselves—they would just be killed and eaten.
The merchants had come all the way to the frontier city of Gilm, so they probably understood that much. They couldn't bring themselves to nod in agreement to going on horseback alone.
Above all, the biggest issue was that if they went on horseback alone, they would have to leave their carriages and the cargo inside them behind in Gilm.
There was the option of having some of the merchants stay behind in Gilm, but that would bring up another set of problems.
"You're escorts, aren't you? You should be able to do something about that!"
"Don't be unreasonable. No matter what, there are things that can be done and things that can't."
Voices engaged in such exchanges could be heard in several other places as well.
Seeing Rei's gaze, the skewer stall owner seemed to understand what he was looking at and spoke with a slightly troubled expression.
"As you can see, there are many who have become unable to depart from Gilm due to this commotion. Merchants especially—many of them have contracts for their purchases and such. Some merchants have come directly to trade, but even they have deadlines for transporting the goods they've purchased."
"But that adventurer isn't wrong, is he? If they force themselves to travel now, given the current situation, they'll definitely just become fodder, right?"
"Yeah. I understand that, but... actually, a few people have already passed through the packs and made it to Gilm. Seeing that, it's not strange for them to think that maybe they'll be fine too, right?"
The stall owner's words were an undeniable fact.
In fact, a caravan that appeared to have just arrived in Gilm was proceeding down the main road.
The reason they could tell the caravan had only just arrived was because the carriages had numerous scratches and marks on them.
Additionally, the horses pulling the carriages had slash wounds, clearly indicating they had been attacked by something.
"Seeing people like that, it might be unavoidable for the merchants to think 'maybe...'"
"I suppose so. ...But for being locked up in Gilm, the people of this city sure seem relaxed."
"Well, something on this large a scale is rare, but monster packs showing up isn't uncommon."
The stall owner was probably happy to be talking to Vihera, who could fittingly be described as a peerless beauty. The man floated a smile and replied with those words.
It was true that the situation was serious, just as Vihera had said. However, for the stall owner, who lived in Gilm rather than seeking to leave it, it wasn't anything particularly troubling.
"Normally, if you were locked up inside the city, you'd have to worry about food, but... there's no need to worry about that. If anything, food is in surplus."
That's why I'm able to keep my stall running like this, the stall owner continued.
At those words, Rei and Vihera showed expressions of understanding.
With this many monster packs around, there was naturally a need to defeat them.
The corpses of the monsters defeated in doing so were naturally brought back to Gilm as various materials and food.
A major factor was that the monsters forming packs were demi-human types, and no packs of powerful monsters had been discovered thus far.
...Of course, if such powerful monster packs were discovered, high-ranking adventurers would be dispatched immediately.
Just like the Lizardman pack that Rei and Vihera had been dispatched to.
In that sense, the stall owner's statement that food was rather in surplus inside Gilm was not wrong.
"More troublesome than that would be problems other than food. ...Things like luxury goods. We have plenty of meat, but when it comes to flour and the like, things are getting pretty tight. Still, it's a relief not having to worry about starving, though."
"Well, I don't have to worry about bread and stuff."
Inside the Misty Ring, there was plenty of bread.
And not just any bread—freshly baked, fragrant, and extremely delicious bread.
Seeing Rei's demeanor, the stall owner directed an envious gaze at him.
For a stall owner who sold food, an Item Box that could store as much as one wanted and where time was stopped inside was something he wanted so badly he'd reach down his throat for it.
"More importantly, Rei, let's get going soon. There might be some information at the Guild, right?"
At Vihera's words, who hadn't eaten any skewers, Rei nodded.
It would be fine to stay and chat here, but just as Vihera said, there might be some information regarding the current pack situation at the Guild.
Especially for Rei, who wanted to subjugate an Orc pack, it was only natural to want to obtain information as quickly as possible.
"Guruuu?"
Beside Rei, Set also rumbled.
As if yielding to Set, who seemed to ask "Are we leaving already?", Rei bought a few more Cobolt skewers and left the place.
"Hmm, it's unfortunate, but there's still no information on an Orc pack."
In response to Rei's words upon arriving at the Guild, Kenny shook her head.
Normally, he should have asked Lenora, but Lenora was currently attending to another adventurer.
It just so happened that the adventurer Kenny had been dealing with finished right as Rei arrived, so he spoke to Kenny instead of Lenora.
For Kenny, it could be said that she had good luck.
This wasn't because she had handled the adventurer she was in charge of before Rei arrived poorly, but simply a matter of timing.
"I see. What about other packs?"
"There are quite a few Goblin packs popping up. A decent number of Cobolts too. As for something unusual, there's also a Werewolf pack."
"...That's rare."
Werewolves. As the name implied, they were demi-human monsters with the faces of wolves.
They were monsters with high sociality like Lizardmen, but they were by no means friendly to humans.
Monsters that were similar yet fundamentally different from Beastmen.
Calling a Beastman a Werewolf was equivalent to calling a human an ape.
Especially for canine-type Beastmen... and among them, wolf Beastmen, it was an insult severe enough that it wouldn't be strange if it sparked a duel.
"That's right. However, Werewolves are originally the type of demi-human monsters that form packs, so in that sense, when a High-ranking Species appears like this time, they suddenly become much stronger. Because of that, unlike other monsters, the packs led by a Leader species also have greater numbers."
"Lizardmen have sociality, but in the end, they mostly act individually during a fight. If you think about it that way, Werewolves, which have the characteristics of wolves that hunt in packs, would be tough to deal with."
Vihera added to Kenny's words.
Whatever feelings she might have toward Vihera, Kenny probably kept her work and private life strictly separate.
Nodding at that explanation, Vihera opened her mouth again.
"That's right. Since they normally act in packs, it becomes extremely troublesome when a High-ranking Species appears among them. Still, if it's the Leader class, which is the weakest among the High-ranking Species, then maybe they can still manage somehow."
"As for the meat... wasn't it not that tasty?"
"Rei-kun is right. They're Rank D monsters, the same as Orcs and Lizardmen, but when it comes to the taste of the meat, it's apparently quite pungent. However, I've heard that if a skilled cook prepares it well, the pungency turns into flavor."
"The pungency turns into flavor, huh. ...Aren't you a little interested?"
Vihera, who received the glance, thought for a moment and returned a nod.
This was because Vihera had never fought a Werewolf before, either.
As for Vihera's preferences, she liked fighting powerful enemies one-on-one, but she didn't dislike fighting enemies that coordinated with each other either.
As for Rei, he had a strong interest in what kind of delicious dish the beastly-smelling meat could be transformed into... and thus, the two of them were in agreement.
If Byune were here, she might have stopped them, but... unfortunately, only Rei and Vihera were present.
Kenny, too, had been unsure which adventurers to assign to the Werewolves, whose packs could be larger than other packs when led by a Leader species that coordinated well, so it was a great help to her that Rei and Vihera were willing to accept this request.
"Come to think of it, Marina said she would look into this matter, but is there still nothing known about that?"
"Yes. I haven't been told anything. Knowing the Guild Master, she'll deal with it immediately if she finds anything, so I think she just hasn't discovered anything yet."
Kenny answered Rei's question, and to the inquiry of whether he should go see her, Rei decided it would be wrong to interrupt her. Together with Vihera, he headed out to subjugate the Werewolf pack.