The sight of the setting sun sinking into the sea stirs a profound sense of emotion, even though there is nothing particularly special about it.
For those who have lived by the sea since childhood, such a sight might be one they have grown tired of seeing.
But for Rei, who grew up in the mountains — or rather, deep within them — and only visited the sea a few times a year, the sunset dropping below the horizon filled him with an overwhelming sense of awe.
Even after coming to Elgin, Rei was still based out of the inland city of Gilm.
Of course, it was not as if he had never been to the sea, unlike in Emosion... but still, the sight before him now captivated his eyes.
Set, carrying Rei on his back, seemed to understand his feelings, as he refrained from purring or making any of his usual sounds.
If anything, he flew through the sky as slowly as possible.
About ten minutes passed like that... and eventually, seemingly satisfied from watching the sun sink, Rei lightly patted Set's back and spoke.
"Set, to Garanka... ah, no. Since there's no one here anyway, we should get the magic stone absorbed while we can."
The magic stone from the black sea bream-like monster they had obtained earlier that day.
Naturally, Rei did not want Bistol or Byune to see him absorbing that magic stone.
In that case, absorbing it now while no one else was around was undoubtedly the best course of action.
"Gruu?"
Set turned to look at Rei as if asking, what are we doing?
Rei thought for a moment... and then made his decision.
"Right. Land on the ground before we head to Garanka. Let's get the magic stone from the daytime monster absorbed."
"Gruu!"
Set let out a cry as if to say, understood! and dove toward the ground.
A place with a few trees growing — so sparse that calling it a grove would be a stretch, let alone a forest.
Since Rei had not decided on any particular spot, they landed right there.
Once on the ground, Rei surveyed the surroundings as a matter of course.
Of course, with Set present, the area had already been properly scouted.
Rei, whose five senses were inferior to Set's, did not even think he could spot an opponent that Set had missed.
He didn't think so... but still, he surveyed the surroundings with a just-in-case feeling.
This was not because he didn't trust Set; it was purely an action Rei took to put his own mind at ease.
"Alright, we're good. ...Now then, the question is whether Set or Death Scythe absorbs the magic stone... what do you want to do?"
"Gruu..."
Set let out an apologetic-sounding cry, indicating that he wanted to eat the magic stone himself.
He knew that since he had eaten the Guzutos's magic stone, he should let Rei — or more accurately, Death Scythe — have this one.
But right now, Set felt like he wanted to absorb more magic stones for some reason.
Whether that was because he had watched the sunset sink into the sea, or because the battle with the monster had given him something to think about.
Rei couldn't tell exactly what it was, but there was no mistaking that Set wanted to absorb the magic stone.
Faced with Set's round eyes asking, is that no good?, Rei thought for just a moment... for only a few seconds.
And in the end, he found himself yielding to Set's plea.
Of course, in Rei's case, he had various attack methods besides Death Scythe's skills.
Even just swinging Death Scythe normally produced devastating power, and with his Twin Spear Style, he also had the Twilight Spear, plus magic as an option.
There were other attack methods too, like throwing disposable spears and the Eye of Nebula.
Thinking about it that way, he concluded that it might be better to use the magic stone to strengthen Set after all.
"Alright. Here you go, Set. Here."
Saying that, Rei gave the magic stone to Set.
Set took it in his beak...
[Set has acquired the skill 'Ice Arrow Lv.3']
That announcement message flowed through his mind.
"Ice Arrow... well, it did shoot scales at us, and it's a fish monster, so it's not strange... I suppose?"
"Gruu?"
As Rei tilted his head in puzzlement, Set tilted his head as if imitating the movement.
But that was not because Set had doubts about the acquired skill like Rei did — he was simply copying Rei.
Well, of course Set also found it strange that he had learned Ice Arrow, but still, Rei's reaction interested him more... that was the truth.
"Well, whatever. For now, let's check exactly how much Ice Arrow has been strengthened. It's level three, so I don't think it's gotten that much more powerful."
Since Water Ball had just jumped to level five where its performance improved dramatically, the honest truth was that Ice Arrow reaching level three only elicited a "hmm, okay" reaction.
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a cry as if to say, leave it to me!
Level one produces five arrows, level two produces ten. So, thinking about it normally, level three should produce around fifteen?
In front of Rei as he thought this, Set activated Ice Arrow.
The number of ice arrows that appeared floating around Set was fifteen, exactly as Rei had predicted.
Rei nodded with satisfaction at his prediction being correct, while also thinking about what would happen when the level increased further.
If the number increased by five per level, then level four would yield twenty.
That was easy to predict, but as one could see from Water Ball, skills acquired through Beast Magic became dramatically more powerful at level five.
In that case, it wouldn't just be a matter of simply being able to use twenty-five ice arrows... would it?
As he thought about this while looking at the ice arrows floating beside Set, Set looked at Rei as if to say, what's wrong?
That appearance held a cuteness that would have been no surprise if Mirene — renowned as a Set enthusiast — had been there and undoubtedly thrown her arms around him.
Rei also felt the urge to pet Set all over, but he resisted and spoke.
"Alright, for now... let's see, try firing at that tree over there."
"Gurururu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a cry and unleashed Ice Arrow.
The Ice Arrows flew through the air, slicing it apart, their speed itself slightly increased from before... from when he had used them during the battle with the fish monster today.
But... the Ice Arrows that struck the tree trunk in succession managed to destroy the trunk before all of them could embed themselves.
"Ah... I see. Well, that makes sense. The power was already quite strong to begin with, so I guess this was bound to happen."
Even at level two, Ice Arrow had enough power to shatter rock if five ice arrows hit.
With fifteen being fired, it was only natural that a tree trunk would be easily destroyed.
"Gururu?"
Set looked at him with a gaze asking, what do we do now? Rei stared at the shattered tree trunk and the tree that had fallen as a result... and eventually, giving up, he stored the broken tree in his Misty Ring and returned to Set's side.
"Well then, let's head to Garanka for now. Let's stop the Ice Arrow experiments here."
At Rei's words, Set nodded without objection.
Rei mounted Set's back once again and moved from the ground into the sky.
The sunset, just as before trying to sink beyond the horizon, somehow seemed to be comforting Rei for his failure.
Of course, Rei himself did not consider his series of actions a failure.
Set's Ice Arrow had indeed activated, and it was clear that its power was by no means low.
So, what constituted a failure...?
Not knowing exactly how much damage would be dealt if all fifteen Ice Arrows hit precisely... was that perhaps a bit of a failure?
He couldn't help but think that, but for now, he convinced himself that his actions had not been a failure as he flew through the sky... and eventually, by the time the sun had sunk more than halfway, he arrived at Garanka.
Beside Garanka, there was the earth jail that Marina had created with Spirit Magic.
However, since the pirates already had Slave Collars fitted on them, they could not cause meaningless violence.
Because of that, the earth jail's entrance was left freely accessible.
Of course, the pirates fitted with Slave Collars had been ordered not to leave it.
Rei's eyes showed no particular emotion as he looked at the earth jail.
When he considered that they were former pirates and what they had been doing up until now, it was not even a case of reaping what they sowed.
No, since it was clear that the pirates would be sold to Daskar, their treatment was actually fairly decent compared to ordinary pirates.
They were given appropriate meals, and their movements were not strictly restricted.
The slave trader Riroze had undoubtedly thought that if the pirates were brought to Gilm emaciated and useless, who knew what would be said to him.
If things went well, it would be an unparalleled business opportunity, but precisely because of that, if he messed up, ruin likely awaited him.
Even as Rei watched the earth jail where the pirates were held, Set dove toward the ground.
Perhaps not yet accustomed to Set's presence, several villagers who first spotted him showed surprise, but they quickly came to their senses and started moving.
The fact that those actions were not something like a defensive response was a relief to Rei as well.
As Set descended and approached Garanka, a single man emerged from within.
For Rei, he was a familiar face in Garanka... it was Pastura.
"Glad you made it. Judging from what we talked about this morning, I thought you'd come a bit sooner."
"We had a lot going on too. So, about the catch?"
"Ah, we caught plenty. And we've got plenty of the shellfish you asked for, too."
Pastura's expression bore a happy smile as he said this.
Since Rei would buy all the fish they had caught today, that was only natural.
For Garanka, Rei's existence was truly one that brought them wealth.
The villagers who had initially been afraid of Set also showed inadvertently delighted expressions when they heard Rei and Pastura's conversation.
"Well then, let's see it right away. Where is it? Rather than having you bring it to me, it'd be better if I go pick it up directly."
At those words, the villagers including Pastura nodded and led Rei toward the beach side of the village... toward the shed where Rei had previously been shown nets and harpoons.
Since the village faced the sea, the fish they had caught were probably kept that way too.
As they walked, Rei asked Pastura.
"How are the caught fish being kept? I can't store them in my Misty Ring if they're still alive."
"The fish were caught with harpoons, so I think most of them are dead... but the shellfish, how do we kill them?"
"Well, I can't really help you there even if you ask me. That's your area of expertise, isn't it?"
At Rei's words, Pastura looked around with a troubled expression.
But all the others could do in response to Pastura's gaze was turn their faces away.
In truth, killing shellfish was not that difficult a matter.
If they just put them in boiling water or roasted them with the shells still on, they would undoubtedly die.
However... that was merely them dying in the middle of cooking; they could not intentionally kill them beforehand.
With fish, one could easily kill them by snapping their necks, but shellfish naturally had no bones.
If one were to crush the shells, the shellfish would undoubtedly die, but then it would certainly be troublesome when it came time to cook them.
...In the first place, removing shell fragments one by one would be quite a laborious task.
The villagers exchanged glances with each other as if asking, what do we do?, wearing troubled expressions.
"For now, I'll take them as they are. Once we get back, I'll ask Marina if she can do something about it with Spirit Magic. If that doesn't work, I'll store the roasted or boiled ones in the Misty Ring."
"If you're fine with that, we're fine with it too. ...Are you sure?"
"Yeah. And of course, keep catching shellfish tomorrow too. I'll buy them properly just like the fish."
At Rei's words, several of those who had been walking with them showed expressions of relief.
They were probably the ones who had been catching shellfish rather than fishing.
Guided there, Rei arrived at the beach.
Several nets were submerged in the sea, and there was no doubt that shellfish and fish were caught in them.
"Alright then, shellfish aside, let's kill the fish! Everyone, help out."
At Pastura's words, the villagers who had been walking together nodded... and others who were free also came over to kill the fish one by one.
【Set】
'Water Ball Lv.5' 'Fire Breath Lv.3' 'Wind Arrow Lv.3' 'King's Intimidation Lv.3' 'Poison Claw Lv.5' 'Size Change Lv.1' 'Tornado Lv.2' 'Ice Arrow Lv.3' new 'Optical Camouflage Lv.4' 'Magic Eye of Shock Lv.1' 'Power Crush Lv.5' 'Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.4' 'Bubble Breath Lv.1' 'Crystal Breath Lv.1' 'Earth Arrow Lv.1'
Ice Arrow: Can create and fire five ice arrows at level one, ten at level two, and fifteen at level three. In terms of power, five arrows hitting their target is enough to shatter rock.