The Snow Salamander lay fallen on the ground, its mouth pierced through by the Twilight Spear.
Its neck had been slashed open by Hakumo, forged from Silver Lion materials, and that wound alone was close to fatal. Yet it had still possessed enough vitality to attempt an attack on Byune. Even so, with its mouth, its throat, its very body pierced through by the Twilight Spear, there was no way it could have survived.
"Marina, you seemed to recognize this thing's name?"
Vihera asked while scanning the surroundings, wary of any new monsters drawn by the sounds of the recent battle.
It was not Marina who answered, however, but Rei.
"Snow Salamander. A B-Rank monster."
When the battle first began, Rei hadn't been able to recall what kind of creature stood before him. But with time having passed, remembering it was not a difficult matter.
"A B-Rank monster? Isn't it a bit strange for one to be in a place like this?"
Vihera muttered, gazing at the Snow Salamander's corpse—a body that could certainly be called massive.
Rei agreed with her sentiment... and so did Marina.
"You're right. Even though we're in the forest, this is still a shallow area. For a Snow Salamander to appear here... I won't say it's impossible, but it is questionable."
"If it were any season other than winter, I'd say it was impossible."
From spring through autumn, high-rank monsters did not simply appear out in the open so easily.
But right now, it was winter.
Monsters that only revealed themselves in winter were, without a doubt, special existences in various ways.
"Mn."
While listening to the conversation, Byune showed signs of being somewhat down.
She was likely bothered by the fact that she had been unable to finish off the Snow Salamander in a single strike.
Byune normally rarely changed her expression, but failing to contribute much in the very first battle as a party had apparently been a significant shock to her.
The one who quickly noticed Byune's demeanor was, naturally, Vihera, who had known her the longest.
As if to comfort her... and to settle her down, she lightly patted Byune's head.
"Come on, don't worry about it so much. You did plenty in this battle, Byune. You even dodged the Snow Salamander's final attack properly."
"Mn..."
Even comforted by Vihera, Byune apparently still had her misgivings, unable to fully hide her downcast mood.
"Not to be blunt, but we formed this party understanding from the start that Byune might lack combat prowess. I don't think you need to worry about it that much."
"Gurururu."
Set purred in agreement with Rei's words, though Set himself had done nothing in particular during this battle.
Of course, the fact that events had unfolded before Set could even intervene was likely a major factor.
But there was no doubt that Set could have stepped in at any time had he wanted to.
That he still took no action—was it because he lacked that kind of composure, or simply because he believed things would be fine without him getting involved?
"Mn."
It was comfort from an unexpected source... or rather, for those who knew of the surprisingly good relationship between Byune and Set, it was perhaps predictable. Regardless, Byune's mood improved somewhat.
At the very least, she no longer looked visibly depressed.
Relieved to see Byune's state, Vihera, Marina, and Rei began discussing the battle while remaining alert to their surroundings.
...Incidentally, the Snow Salamander was presumably quite heavy, but for Rei and the others who possessed the Misty Ring, it was no problem at all.
Rei, having stored the Snow Salamander's corpse—now with the Twilight Spear removed—into the Misty Ring, was the first to speak.
"I thought that battle went fairly well. What do you all think?"
"True. I think we coordinated quite well with each other. Not perfectly, of course."
Vihera nodded at Rei's words.
As a first battle, their coordination was by no means poor.
But compared to those who had fought together in parties for years—people like the Scorching Wind, whom Rei was close to—their coordination was naturally still clumsy.
In the first place, the only one among them who had clearly fought as part of a party before was Marina.
Rei had operated solo due to Set and matters surrounding his secret, and Vihera had originally been solo as well.
No, Vihera had been in a party with Byune, but there had been an unspoken understanding there that the majority of the fighting was left to Vihera.
Of course, even then, Byune had not been entirely absent from combat...
Though because of that, Vihera was more accustomed to party combat than Rei.
"Marina's Spirit Magic was quite good, wasn't it?"
At Vihera's words, Rei... and Byune as well, nodded.
Byune in particular had been able to slash open the Snow Salamander's throat precisely because of Marina's Spirit Magic.
And above all, it was thanks to Marina that she had been able to dodge its bite.
Both of those things had been possible because Marina's Wind Spirit Magic had enhanced Byune's physical abilities.
"The bow attacks were also quite effective in terms of keeping the Snow Salamander at bay. ...However, Byune. Landing a hit on it was fine, but when Marina used her bow, you could have used Long Needles too."
"Is that so?"
It was Vihera who tilted her head at Rei's words.
"Byune's original role is primarily Marina's escort, isn't it?"
That was an undeniable fact.
In this party, Rei and Vihera, who served as the vanguard, possessed extremely powerful combat ability.
Assigning someone of that caliber to escort Marina was clearly wasteful.
In that sense, Byune, whose combat ability was lower within the party, was the perfect candidate for escort duty.
Of course, saying her combat ability wasn't high was strictly relative to this party.
Measured against a typical adventurer, she had more than sufficient combat power, so she was by no means underqualified as an escort.
The disagreement between Rei and Vihera was over whether to prioritize escort duties or suppression.
Rei argued that by using Long Needles, Byune could provide adequate suppression even with her level of strength, while Vihera insisted she should focus on her escort role.
Neither of them was wrong.
Still, it's a bit amusing that the aggressive Vihera is the one pushing for escort duty, while Rei is the one advocating for suppression.
Listening to the two of them, Marina spoke up.
"There's no need to specialize in one or the other, is there? Depending on the situation, she can serve as escort, and in other situations, provide suppression. This is the first time this group has fought together as a party, after all. That kind of adjustment is something to work on over time."
Depending on how one took it, the words could seem like a noncommittal compromise, but the very reason they were out here fighting outside Gilm in the first place was largely for that adjustment.
Rei and Vihera had been traveling together for a reasonably long time, so they could synchronize with each other in battle—not perfectly, but close to it.
Adding Byune to the mix was something they were somewhat accustomed to as well... but bringing in Marina, who had not been very involved on the combat side, would require various adjustments.
Dismiss it as just one person, and unexpected casualties could occur in an actual battle.
It wouldn't be a problem for a temporary party, but if they were forming a fixed one, they needed to properly sort those things out.
"Then how about this: next time, Byune shifts to support, and the battle after that, she focuses on escort. Sound good?"
Everyone nodded at Rei's words. ...Even Set seemed to not fully understand, but nodded along as if swept up by the mood around him.
For all that, Rei is actually fairly good at taking charge. ...He has more than enough qualities as a party leader, I think.
Marina glanced at Rei and thought that for a moment, then spoke up again.
"Still, I never expected a Snow Salamander to appear here. Maybe there's a lack of prey?"
"It could be that the number of other monsters is low. ...Were there any reports along those lines, any warning signs?"
Marina shook her head at Rei's question.
"Adventurer numbers drop during winter to begin with, and that kind of information is hard to come by. You all know that well enough, don't you?"
Put that way, Rei could only nod.
Adventurers who went outside Gilm to earn money during this season were, for the most part, not particularly skilled.
...Though among them, there were those like a certain Set-loving adventurer who had spent too much on offerings to Set, run out of money, and been forced to take requests.
"In that case, does that mean proceeding deeper might lead us to monsters more dangerous than what we've faced so far?"
Judging by those words alone, Vihera sounded concerned, but what lay in her eyes was the premonition of a battle with a strong foe.
To Vihera, powerful monsters were not existences to be avoided, but rather existences she should seek out herself.
Rei and Byune understood that as well, and though Marina had not known Vihera as long as those two, she too understood Vihera's nature.
That was why she judged that saying anything here would likely be futile.
Then again, they had come here to confirm their coordination as a party, so avoiding combat was fundamentally not an option.
Of course, if something like the Silver Lion appeared, that would be a different story.
But such powerful monsters would not appear so frequently.
"Whether we'll encounter an opponent that Vihera would be happy with, I can't say."
Marina stated it in a manner that made asking "What should we do?" unnecessary, and Vihera nodded as if it were a given.
"Let's go."
"Yes, yes, let's go. ...Still, the fact that it attacked us despite Set being here is something. A B-Rank monster would naturally have higher intelligence than a Goblin, after all. ...Or maybe it's precisely because it's a B-Rank monster?"
At D-Rank or C-Rank, an A-Rank monster was recognized as an existence that could absolutely never be defeated. Set in particular was treated as a Rare Species and was equivalent to S-Rank, so sensing the disparity in power was only natural.
But at B-Rank... perhaps, and this was truly a remote perhaps—was there a slight possibility, even if only barely, that it might believe it could win against Set and attack?
That was Rei's speculation, but before he could voice it, Vihera pressed ahead.
"Come on, let's go. I need to get used to this body too. I'd like a slightly stronger enemy next time."
"Ah... yeah, right. Let's go."
The punch she had landed on the Snow Salamander moments ago must have been reasonably satisfying to her.
Led by Vihera as she pressed deeper once more, Rei and the others followed.
Thanks to Marina's Spirit Magic, of course, they were not hindered by the snow underfoot and could walk normally.
"Spirit Magic really is convenient, through and through."
"Is it? Maybe I'm just used to it, but I don't really think of it that way."
"Such a spoiled one."
"...I don't want to hear that from you, Rei. Think about it normally—you definitely have all sorts of more convenient Magic Items. Especially... well?"
Marina's gaze was directed at Rei's right hand. ...To be precise, his right wrist.
What the bracelet there was—most of those living in Gilm knew.
For an adventurer... no, even for a non-adventurer, it was something everyone would want to possess.
"Just having an Item Box makes things far too convenient, don't you think?"
"I won't deny that."
Indeed, Rei was able to eat warm meals even in the middle of a request, sleep in a room more comfortable than any inn around thanks to his Magic Tent, and live a remarkably comfortable life.
Furthermore, he had recently acquired a Magic Item oven and could cook his own meals.
The level of comfort in his lifestyle could hardly be called that of an adventurer. ...In the area of camping, at the very least, one might say he even surpassed nobility.
Come to think of it, if we're going to be active as this party, I'll be using the Magic Tent when we camp. In that case, I might need to get a new bed...
He would need to buy a bed somewhere.
As Rei was thinking this, ahead of his gaze... more specifically, in the bushes near Vihera, who was walking at the front, the foliage suddenly shook... and something leapt out from within.