Taking flight from where the merchant caravan had been attacked by packs of Goblins and Cobolts, Rei and Vihera — two people — and Set — one griffon — flew through the sky as usual.
Until just moments ago, the corpses of the caravan's members, Goblins, and Cobolts had been visible on the ground below, but at Set's speed, they vanished from view in the blink of an eye.
As they flew through the sky, Rei suddenly had an idea and pulled a single Magic Stone from his Misty Ring.
It was the Cobolt Leader's Magic Stone — the one that hadn't been absorbed yet.
More precisely, Death Scythe had failed to learn a new skill from it, but Set hadn't tried it yet.
(I would've preferred to test it after landing on the ground... but given the current situation, landing just to absorb one Magic Stone would be a hassle.)
If this were an absorption via Death Scythe, that would be a different story.
Since Death Scythe needed to slice through the Magic Stone, doing so mid-flight would be difficult.
Well, not impossible, but it would certainly be unstable in various ways.
By comparison, Set's absorption simply involved taking the Magic Stone into his body — in other words, eating it.
Given that Set frequently ate bread — including sandwiches — while flying, absorbing a Magic Stone mid-flight was hardly a challenge for him.
(We did get sandwiches too... but those are for later.)
An image of the basket full of sandwiches flashed through Rei's mind, but he quickly set the thought aside.
"Set, can you absorb the Cobolt Leader's Magic Stone while we keep flying like this?"
"Guruluu!"
Set purred as if to say, No problem!
Normally, they landed before absorbing a Magic Stone.
Under ordinary circumstances, being told to absorb one mid-flight wouldn't be something Set could just accept right away.
But... for better or worse, neither Rei nor Set had anything resembling an ordinary personality.
The same went for Vihera, who was clinging to Set's front leg. She merely smiled, thinking it couldn't be helped given the conversation happening overhead.
Contrary to her inner thoughts, the smile on her lips was close to a beaming grin.
The man she had fallen for — the man she loved — could never be ordinary.
That sentiment welled up from within her heart, which was why.
"Alright then, Set. Here's the Cobolt Leader's Magic Stone. Don't drop it — eat it in one gulp."
At Rei's words, Set purred happily.
His joy at being able to absorb a Magic Stone was likely because he had been created through Beast Magic.
And beyond that, knowing that growing stronger would make his beloved Rei happy was an even bigger factor.
Hoping to learn a new skill, Set swallowed the Cobolt Leader's Magic Stone that Rei held out to him, and...
[Set has acquired the skill "Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.4"]
That announcement message flowed through the minds of both Rei and Set.
"Ah... figures. Well, it is a Cobolt Leader, after all. It's natural to pick up this type of skill."
Sense of Smell Enhancement was by no means a useless skill.
Still, having it level up this many times in a row felt somewhat off to Rei.
Then again, it was a Cobolt Leader's Magic Stone — a being that led dog-headed monsters — so thinking about it, it wasn't all that unnatural.
No, rather, learning Sense of Smell Enhancement was exactly what you'd expect.
"Guruu..."
Even so, Set had probably hoped to learn something more effective.
He let out a slightly disappointed purr.
"Come on, cheer up. Sense of Smell Enhancement is a deceptively useful skill. Better to learn something than nothing at all, right?"
Rei spoke to cheer Set up, but it would take a little more time for Set to fully recover his spirits.
"Eh? The Goblin and Cobolt packs were cooperating... you say?"
After hearing Rei's explanation, Lenora asked again, her voice laced with disbelief.
Monsters cooperating with other monsters was rare, but not unheard of.
However, for those monsters to be Goblins and Cobolts — creatures of roughly equal strength — made it a phenomenon that was almost never seen.
What's more, it had occurred during a time when packs of multiple monster species were forming simultaneously, so it was only natural to suspect a connection to the current abnormality.
"So, did those packs have Leader Species after all?"
"Yeah. There was a Goblin Leader and a Cobolt Leader. This holds true for the entire disturbance — it's a relief that there are no high-ranking species like Archers or Mages aside from the Leader Species."
In Rei's understanding, a Leader Species was essentially a Unit Commander. An Archer was an archer, and a Mage was a magic user.
If packs contained high-ranking species like those in addition to Leader Species, it wouldn't be surprising for ordinary adventurers to struggle — though Rei and his group would be another matter entirely.
Then again, for Rei, the prospect of obtaining more Magic Stones meant it wasn't all bad.
"You're right. But in this current pack situation, I've never heard of different monster species cooperating. Same-species packs are one thing, but entirely different species working together? That's something I haven't heard of at all."
If it were same-species monsters cooperating, Rei had experience taking down multiple Goblin packs that had gathered together.
But the cooperation between Cobolts and Goblins that he had witnessed this time was the first such case since this whole pack situation began.
"The merchant caravan that was attacked said they'd file a report with the Guild too, so you should be able to get more detailed information from them."
"Well, with that many Subjugation Proof Parts and Magic Stones to sell, coming straight to the Guild would be the quickest option. They're merchants, so they might have their own connections, though."
Vihera added to Rei's words.
Hearing that, Lenora nodded in understanding.
"If they're merchants, they might have their own channels for Magic Stones. But Subjugation Proof Parts can only be exchanged for cash at the Guild. Well, I suppose they could sell them to adventurers, but..."
"If they went that route, it would basically be admitting they don't want to come to the Guild — that they have something to hide."
"Exactly. Besides, selling to adventurers means they'd have to accept a lower price than what the Guild pays. When you think about it that way, bringing them directly to the Guild is far more profitable."
At Lenora's words, Vihera and Rei both nodded in agreement.
...Incidentally, Kenny, who would normally have interjected by now, was too busy dealing with other adventurers to even call out to Rei.
As Lenora continued her conversation with Rei and the others, one of the Guild Staff Members approached their group.
Noticing this, Lenora tensed — perhaps worrying she'd be reprimanded for chatting too long — but the staff member didn't wear a particularly stern expression.
To him, Lenora was a serious and excellent employee.
She occasionally got into scrapes with Kenny, but those were well within acceptable bounds.
That was why, even when she occasionally let herself go a bit, he had no intention of nitpicking.
If Kenny had been the one causing a scene, that would be a different story.
Besides, he hadn't come over to reprimand Lenora.
He was here purely because he had business with Rei and Vihera.
"Rei-san, Vihera-san. The Guild Master is calling for you."
"Marina is? ...What about?"
Vihera's gaze turned to Rei, but he had no idea why they were being summoned either.
"Probably something about these packs..."
Rei got that far before suddenly recalling something Marina had mentioned before.
"Now that I think about it, she said she'd look into something about this pack situation. It's probably about that."
"Is that so. But considering the Guild Master is the one calling for you, that does seem the most likely."
"Oh, really? Knowing Marina, she might have just wanted to see Rei, you know?"
At Lenora's words, Vihera chimed in teasingly... and Kenny, listening nearby, twitched.
But given the current situation, she couldn't afford to interject, and instead moved her hands rapidly to finish her own work as quickly as possible.
Lenora cast a faint smile at Kenny's behavior before turning her gaze back to Rei, Vihera, and the Guild Staff Member.
"Please go inside. Since it's the Guild Master's business, you should probably hurry."
"Indeed. Please, this way."
The Guild Staff Member followed up on Lenora's words, and Rei and Vihera passed behind the counter, heading for the stairs at the back.
After seeing them off, Lenora watched the staff member return to his seat before getting back to her own work.
Kenny, having finally cleared through a batch of her work, shot Lenora a resentful glare.
The interior of Marina's office looked exactly as expected.
No — considering that the pile of documents on her desk had actually decreased compared to before, perhaps it was better than expected.
Even so, fatigue was written across Marina's face as she reviewed documents at her desk, clear evidence that she hadn't been idling about while Rei and the others were out fighting monster packs.
"You look quite exhausted. Are you alright?"
Words of concern for Marina slipped from Vihera's lips.
Hearing that, Marina showed a briefly surprised expression before quickly returning a smile.
"I'm fine. It was just a little tough, that's all. More importantly... perfect timing for you and Rei to come back."
"Perfect timing?"
"Yes. Regarding this pack situation... I think I've found the cause."
"Really? I was going to say that was fast... but I suppose I can't call it that."
Judging from the lingering fatigue on Marina's face, "fast" clearly meant she had pushed herself to her physical limits.
Understanding Vihera's concern, Marina waved her hand dismissively and spoke.
"Let me get straight to the point. Actually, the phenomenon of multiple monster packs appearing like the ones currently around Gilm has a precedent. It's just that the precedent didn't occur in Gilm — it was in the Bestia Empire."
"In the Bestia Empire? Well, they do have a large territory, so it wouldn't be strange for them to have such records... but you actually managed to get information from them?"
Not much time had passed since the war.
Yet she had obtained the information. With that thought, Rei spoke, and Marina flashed a radiant smile.
...Precisely because she was visibly worn out, she exuded a different kind of allure from her usual feminine charm.
"I told you when you registered with the Guild, and you've seen me contact other Guild Masters before, haven't you, Rei? So it shouldn't be anything strange."
"Even so, it's the Bestia Empire, right? Considering we fought a war with them not long ago..."
"As long as I'm an adventurer, I've naturally made my peace with that much. Of course, there are some who can't, and fights break out when they cross paths somewhere. ...Anyway, I reached out to several Guild Masters in the Bestia Empire."
Realizing the conversation wouldn't progress at this rate, Marina decided to get to the point and share what she had learned.
"There's a place in the Bestia Empire called the Valley of a Hundred Demons."
"Ah, I know of it. It's a place where many demi-human monsters appear, starting with Goblins."
Though she had abandoned her homeland, Vihera — who hailed from the Bestia Empire — supplemented Marina's information.
Even back when she lived as a princess, she had possessed the same thirst for battle that she did now.
Given that, it was only natural she would have sought out places to satisfy that urge, and this was information she had picked up along the way.
"It seems you know of it, Vihera. In any case, approximately three hundred years ago, near the place called the Valley of a Hundred Demons, a large number of Leader Species reportedly appeared. Goblins, Orcs, Lizardmen, Werewolves... the same types of monsters we're seeing around Gilm now."
Whether she had known this or not, Vihera's gaze fixed on Marina with deep interest.
Rei too kept his eyes on Marina, careful not to miss a single word.
Under their combined gazes, Marina continued.
"To get straight to the conclusion — for reasons unknown, a magical abnormality occurred, and that abnormality itself took the form of a monster and began moving about. Its common name is Unbris. And when demi-human monsters come into contact with Unbris's magic, they are forcibly evolved into Leader Species."
"...Is that even possible? No, it must be — that's exactly the situation we're facing right now..."
A magical abnormality becoming a monster.
All Rei could do upon hearing that was mutter those words.
[Set]
Water Ball Lv.4 | Fire Breath Lv.3 | Wind Arrow Lv.3 | King's Intimidation Lv.2 | Poison Claw Lv.5 | Size Change Lv.1 | Tornado Lv.2 | Ice Arrow Lv.1 | Optical Camouflage Lv.4 | Magic Eye of Shock Lv.1 | Power Crush Lv.4 | Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.4 new | Bubble Breath Lv.1 | Crystal Breath Lv.1 | Earth Arrow Lv.1
Sense of Smell Enhancement: Sharpens the user's sense of smell.