[Set Acquired the Skill "Optical Camouflage Lv.5"]
The familiar announcement message echoed in his mind, and in the next instant, Rei's joyful voice rang out through the night forest.
On the night after defeating the jellyfish monster... just as with the black sea bream monster, since no one knew its true identity, the monster's corpse was simply stored in the Misty Ring after the magic stone was extracted.
The nearly one hundred tentacles of considerable length were quite a nuisance when it came to dealing with the monster's corpse, but since it could be stored in the Misty Ring just by touching it, there was no particular problem.
...Though normally, dealing with the monster's corpse would have undoubtedly been quite a hassle.
For Rei, the fact that it was a jellyfish monster made him wonder if it could be used as an ingredient.
In fact, when he was in Japan, Chinese-style salads made with store-bought jellyfish, bean sprouts, and ham — along with other mixed vegetables from the fields or wild plants from the mountains — often appeared on the dining table.
The problem was that while Rei knew jellyfish was edible, he had absolutely no idea how to specifically prepare it for consumption.
He had tried asking when he went to Garanka to purchase seafood, but the locals were surprised to even hear that jellyfish was eaten.
Incidentally, since they were at the sea, he had asked the group gathering shells to also collect seaweed. Since seaweed was commonly eaten in Garanka, there was no worry about being handed inedible seaweed.
Of course, he had asked them to gather it as an ingredient, but Rei didn't actually know how to specifically prepare seaweed.
The simplest cooking method Rei knew was to use it as an ingredient in miso soup or other soups.
Or perhaps simply boiling it and adding soy sauce.
But even if that was all Rei could think of, to someone who actually specialized in cooking, it would undoubtedly be considered an unknown ingredient.
...However, Rei suddenly recalled something he had seen in Japan — whether on TV or in a cooking manga, he didn't remember exactly where the knowledge came from — but regardless, he remembered that only Japanese people and a very small number of foreigners could digest seaweed.
But since seaweed had been commonly eaten in Garanka since long ago, he figured it would be fine for now.
Of course, even if it couldn't be digested, that didn't necessarily mean it couldn't be eaten.
"Guru-ruru-ruru-ru!"
Rei, who had been thinking about seaweed and other things, snapped back to reality at Set's happy cry.
How was it? I did it, right? Isn't it amazing?
Set turned his round eyes toward Rei with such a proud look that Rei smiled and stroked his head.
Set narrowing his eyes in apparent comfort didn't look at all like a high-rank monster such as a gryphon when viewed objectively.
He gave the impression of a kitten attached to its owner, really.
A massive kitten three meters long — a contradictory existence, to be sure.
"Coming to the sea this time was lucky in a lot of ways. I never expected to obtain this many magic stones. ...Well, there's a good variety, but I guess it's not really a large quantity."
Every magic stone they had obtained from monsters was different from anything they had acquired before.
But since they only had one of each, "large quantity" wasn't quite the right word.
"Guru-ru!"
Whether Set was listening to Rei's words or not, he purred happily.
But Rei didn't show any sign of reprimanding Set.
Lately... for quite some time now, they had been so busy with various things that they hadn't had the leisure to absorb monster magic stones.
No, since most of the opponents they'd been fighting were humans, they hadn't even been able to obtain magic stones in the first place.
Considering that, now they had learned several new skills, could eat as much seafood as they wanted, and could spend a relaxing time here.
It would be impossible not to feel happy about all this.
(Though we probably can't spend time like this forever.)
While Rei and the others were enjoying a vacation by the sea, the expansion construction was underway in Gilm.
In that work, Rei and his group were originally supposed to play a major role.
They had taken care of most of the urgent work before coming to the sea, but expanding a large city like Gilm meant that problems could arise endlessly.
Issues that would be trivially easy to handle if Rei and the others were present would require considerable time and effort without them.
Thinking about it that way, they couldn't just keep enjoying a vacation like this forever.
And the Gilm expansion construction aside, there was also the matter of supplying goods to the people traveling from Mejougo to Gilm.
Thanks to the cooperation of the Zorgeh Merchant Guild, they wouldn't basically be left destitute, but that didn't mean they were fully satisfied.
For the Zorgeh Merchant Guild, their investment in this matter was strictly because it was necessary.
In other words, they were only providing the bare minimum of supplies.
Luxury items like sweet fruit or freshly made delicious meals — while not completely nonexistent — were extremely scarce.
That was why, for the people heading to Gilm, the supplies Rei brought them were without a doubt something to be incredibly grateful for.
(Well, I can think about that after enjoying things a bit more. If it really becomes hopeless, Marina will say something about it.)
Picturing the face of Marina, who was good at organizing things among their group, Rei called out to Set while stroking him.
"Alright, Set. Let's try using Optical Camouflage right away. At Level 4, you could stay transparent for eighty seconds... let's see how much that's increased at Level 5."
"Guru-ru!"
To Set, who purred as if to say "Leave it to me!", Rei smiled and took a clock out of his Misty Ring.
"Alright, use Optical Camouflage when I give the signal. ...Now!"
"Guru-ruru-ruru-ru!"
Following Rei's words, Set let out a cry.
At the same time, Optical Camouflage activated, and Set's form became invisible to ordinary sight.
"You're there, right?"
"Guru-ru!"
Rei called out to Set somewhat tentatively, but Set responded immediately to his words.
Hearing that, Rei checked the clock with relief... and soon, eighty seconds passed.
But of course, Set didn't reappear at that point.
It was perhaps obvious since the level had gone up to five, but Rei kept measuring how long Set would remain in that state.
"...No way."
One minute, two minutes, three minutes... even after that much time passed, Set remained transparent.
Around the three-minute mark, Rei wondered if Set might have moved somewhere and called out to test it, but naturally, a cry came right back from Set.
In other words, it was an undeniable fact that the transparent Set was still right there.
Rei had known that reaching Level 5 would dramatically increase the skill's effectiveness, but he was still astonished at just how long the Optical Camouflage duration was.
And then, four minutes passed... the moment five minutes passed, Set's form became visible once again.
"Guru-ru?"
Set tilted his head as if asking "Done?" and turned his round eyes toward Rei.
Receiving that gaze, Rei could only marvel at the extraordinary performance of Optical Camouflage at Level 5... no, at a performance so extreme he couldn't help but wonder if it was bugged.
Considering Set's speed and power, an opponent like that vanishing for five minutes and rampaging freely could only be described as an unbelievable nightmare for any enemy.
"You did great. Yeah, Optical Camouflage... this is definitely going to be a trump card."
"Guru-ru!"
When Rei praised him, Set purred happily upon hearing it.
For Set, not only was he happy to have grown stronger, but being praised by Rei made him more than happy enough.
Seeing Set look so delighted, Rei smiled as well.
But as much as Rei wanted to keep doting on Set forever, he couldn't just do that.
After all, Optical Camouflage had applications beyond just the act of Set disappearing.
Thus, after thirty minutes had passed and Set could use Optical Camouflage again — during which Rei pampered him — they moved on to the next test.
"Alright, next up. Based on the pattern so far, the time someone touching you can stay invisible is half of when you use Optical Camouflage alone... let's see how it goes."
With the upgrade to Level 5, the time Set could use Optical Camouflage on its own had increased dramatically.
Given that, perhaps the duration when using Optical Camouflage together with Set had also increased beyond half — in other words, rather than two and a half minutes, which is half of Set's five minutes, maybe it was longer.
Perhaps it was the same five minutes as when Set used Optical Camouflage alone, or possibly even longer.
With that in mind, Rei asked Set to use Optical Camouflage while he was touching him, but...
"Ah... so it's the same as it was at Level 4."
The time he could stay invisible together with Set had increased.
That was certain.
But the time they could stay invisible together remained two and a half minutes — one hundred fifty seconds — exactly half of five minutes, unchanged from before.
"Guru-ru..."
At Rei's disappointed words, Set hung his head apologetically.
"Hey, it's not your fault, right? Besides, if you think about the fact that we can stay invisible together for a hundred fifty seconds, that's already an incredible asset in combat."
Rei told Set as if to encourage him, but those words were by no means wrong.
Set disappearing and rampaging for five minutes could undoubtedly deal fatal damage to an opponent.
But... if Rei and Set vanished together and rampaged for a hundred fifty seconds, there was no need to even think about how much chaos that would cause.
Against your average bandit group, if Rei and Set attacked while invisible, they could easily slaughter everyone in under a minute.
Considering that, there was no doubt that Set's Optical Camouflage possessed tremendous power.
He wasn't trying to comfort Set — he was simply explaining what he genuinely believed.
Perhaps moved by Rei's attitude, Set's expression gradually shifted from dejected to happy.
"Guru-ru, guru-ruru-ruru-ru!"
Stroking Set as he purred in good spirits, Rei turned his gaze beyond the trees... toward the base camp set up using a Magic Tent.
Today, they had moved a fair distance from the Magic Tent's location in order to absorb the magic stone that would likely let Set learn Optical Camouflage.
Therefore, Set was probably thinking he wanted to hurry back over there and eat.
The Magic Item oven had been left there, and Bistol was currently using it to cook with a large quantity of seafood.
He was making the same incredibly delicious... decadent seafood soup as before.
Of course, today the main dish was udon eaten with that seafood soup.
The udon they had gotten from the Full Belly Diner was stored in considerable quantity inside Rei's Misty Ring.
An udon dish made with that was today's main course.
Recalling the taste of the decadent seafood soup he'd had before, Rei climbed onto Set's back.
Set, too, probably wanted to eat the cooking quickly, and started running immediately even without Rei saying anything.
After a few steps of running start, he flapped his wings and soared up into the sky.
The place where Rei and the others had been, even though it was far from the base camp, was only far if traveling on foot.
With Set's wings, it took less than ten seconds to reach the base camp.
Upon landing on the ground, an incredibly appetite-stimulating fragrance drifted through the surroundings.
"Whoa, smells delicious."
"Welcome back, Rei-chan. I'll get the udon ready now, so get set up, okay?"
At Bistol's words, Rei turned his gaze toward the campfire.
There, water was boiling in a large pot.
All that remained was to boil the udon and pour the seafood soup over it, and it would be ready.
"I wonder how long I should boil the udon."
Saying that, he went ahead and put the udon into the pot.
Then he stirred the udon with a wooden spatula.
After a few minutes passed, Rei tasted a strand of udon, judged the firmness to be just right... and soon, he was able to eat exquisite udon.
[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" "Optical Camouflage Lv.5" new "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"
Optical Camouflage: An ability that allows the user to vanish from sight. However, at Lv.5, the user can remain transparent for approximately three hundred seconds, and once used, approximately thirty minutes are required before reuse. Additionally, the user can also make objects they are touching transparent, but if making a person invisible simultaneously, the effect wears off after approximately one hundred fifty seconds.