"Shouldn't we be heading back soon?"
The first one to say that was, quite unexpectedly for Rei, Bistol.
In order to obtain large quantities of dried fish as merchandise, it was unquestionably better to stay here as long as possible.
And yet, for Bistol of all people to be the first to suggest going back...
That said, it was also true that Rei had been somewhat concerned about the situation in Gilm.
Every night, Elena spoke with Ara using the Paired Orbs, and there were also occasions when she talked with Daskar.
During those conversations, Daskar had indirectly asked a few times when they would be coming back.
Honestly, Rei had obtained a massive amount of seafood, and in terms of monster Magic Stones, Set had been able to strengthen several of his skills, so he felt returning soon would be perfectly fine.
...After defeating the jellyfish monster, they had successfully defeated a few more, but unfortunately, none of them allowed Death Scythe to learn a new skill.
(If we stayed at the sea a little longer, we might be able to defeat other monsters... but then, honestly, it feels like we'd never make it back to Gilm.)
The sea was vast and home to all sorts of monsters.
However, the sea as a battlefield was considerably advantageous for them, making it extremely troublesome for Rei and Set to defeat them.
More precisely, the biggest issue was that killing them while leaving behind a body with a Magic Stone intact was extremely difficult.
Moreover, the moment they sensed even the slightest danger, they would immediately dive deep into the sea.
Once that happened, Rei and Set's attacks fundamentally could not reach them.
Because of that, Rei and Set had let enemies escape on several occasions.
Being protected by the natural barrier of the sea meant that, in cases like this where they attacked from the sky, the advantage was overwhelmingly on the enemy's side.
"So, what do we do? Heading back soon?"
It was Vihera who asked Rei.
Her tone implicitly conveyed that if Rei wanted to stay, she wouldn't mind staying, and if he wanted to go back, she wouldn't mind going back either.
In truth, it probably didn't matter either way to Vihera.
When it came to food, being by the sea meant they could eat as much seafood as they wanted.
Normally, one might lament not being able to eat meat, but in Rei's case, he had massive quantities of meat stored in the Misty Ring, so there was no shortage of it.
In other words, when it came to food, there was nothing particularly troublesome about staying here.
And for Vihera, regarding what could be called her fourth desire following appetite, sleep, and sex—her desire for combat—being here meant she could engage in combat training with Rei and the others at any time.
It wasn't a real battle, merely a mock battle, so it couldn't completely satisfy that desire, but it was still far better than not being able to fight at all.
"You're right. Considering we've been here for a fairly long time, it's probably about time we headed back. Ara has been working quite hard for us in Gilm, but there are likely things she can't keep up with."
Elena agreed with returning to Gilm.
In reality, she had come to Gilm with the purpose of spending time with Rei, but that didn't mean she could neglect her ostensible purpose—monitoring whether the Noble's Faction would try any odd interference with the Gilm Expansion Construction.
The fact that Ara was Elena's close confidante and a deeply trusted associate was well known among the Noble's Faction... no, not just the Noble's Faction, but anyone even slightly well-informed.
With someone like Ara present, anyone who blatantly tried to obstruct the expansion construction would bring about the worst possible outcome for themselves.
Anyone of a certain standing would not commit such a foolish act.
...However, there were inevitably those who, despite having no basis whatsoever, believed they would be absolutely fine and proceeded to do foolish things.
And, to Elena's headache, a considerable number of those who would do such things were nobles affiliated with the Noble's Faction.
To deter such people, Elena's presence was far more effective than Ara's.
(One in favor of returning, one who doesn't mind either way. Which means...)
Rei turned his gaze toward Marina.
Marina, naturally knowing what that look meant, gave a small nod before speaking.
"I'm in favor of going back too. It's been nice enjoying ourselves here, but autumn will be setting in soon... Once that happens, staying in this area will become harsh."
"Now that you mention it, that might be true. Actually, the mornings have gotten pretty chilly."
While it wasn't quite cold enough to call it freezing, it was undoubtedly true that the early mornings had become considerably cooler, just as Vihera said.
Moreover, Rei and the others were right next to the sea, and the sea breeze was naturally strong.
Even so, there were numerous trees growing near the hot spring area, which served as a windbreak... but even so, cool was cool.
If they didn't have the Magic Tent, someone would have likely suggested heading back much sooner—and it wouldn't have been strange at all.
"Marina's also in favor of going back. In that case, let's head back soon. We'll enjoy the sea for one last day today, then depart tomorrow morning. Sound good?"
"Oh my, how unusual. Knowing you, Rei-chan, I figured you'd want to leave the instant we decided to go back."
Bistol said this with an expression of genuine surprise—not joking at all. Rei shot him a dissatisfied look.
He used to be startled just catching a glimpse of Bistol, but after living together for days like this, he had naturally grown accustomed to him.
...Though Rei still wasn't sure how he'd react if Bistol suddenly appeared before him in the middle of the night with nothing but moonlight.
"We need to let Garanka know too. They're probably already out fishing."
For the villagers of Garanka, Rei—who bought up all their seafood in bulk—was truly a customer worthy of being called a top patron.
The amount of seafood Rei had purchased, including seaweed, had reached a substantial sum.
Naturally, all the purchased seafood was stored inside the Misty Ring.
That being the case, if Rei were to leave without saying anything in the current situation, the large quantity of seafood caught today would all have to be dealt with within the village.
When saying dealt with in the village, it didn't mean throwing it away—they would eat it in the village, or turn it into preserved food, things of that nature.
"I see. That makes sense. You know, Rei-chan, you're actually pretty thoughtful about other people."
Bistol said it jokingly, but inwardly he was fairly surprised.
He had heard various rumors about Rei, but the one that was widely known was that he would swing his scythe's blade without a second thought even against nobles.
That was likely partly because the rumor itself was so sensational.
There weren't many people who could defy nobles like that.
Ignoring unreasonable orders or restraining someone with words was one thing, but actually resorting to violence was something most couldn't do.
The fact that Rei could do it so casually was proof that he was an extraordinary existence, for better or for worse.
Of course, Bistol, having spent time with Rei over the past while, understood that Rei wasn't the type of person to go on a rampage for no reason.
Even so, the thoughtfulness of going out of his way to tell the villagers he was leaving was apparently unexpected.
But to Rei, it was only natural to feel more favorably toward the people who had caught ingredients for him than toward some random noble or other authority figure.
Additionally, there was also the matter of needing to discuss a few things regarding the pirate situation with people other than the villagers.
"I'll go to Garanka this evening and let them know we're heading back to Gilm tomorrow."
"Understood. Then tonight, I'll make you a re~al feast!"
Bistol announced this with a beaming smile.
It was the kind of smile that, if someone who knew nothing saw it, wouldn't be surprising if they screamed.
Even so, Rei and the others, having spent a fair amount of time with Bistol, weren't frightened... rather, they wore happy expressions.
They had realized from the bottom of their hearts that Bistol's cooking skills surpassed those of your average professional cook, ever since they started camping out here—though calling it camping was far too luxurious for that.
Dishes like his decadent seafood soup and euphoric seafood stir-fry had undoubtedly captured Rei and the others' hearts completely.
Honestly, Bistol's cooking was so delicious that Rei found himself wishing he would join the party as their dedicated cook.
Of course, everyone including Rei knew that was impossible.
While Bistol was currently traveling together with Rei and the group like this, his actual profession was that of a merchant.
As such, once this vacation—really a product procurement trip under the guise of a vacation—ended, Bistol would naturally return to his business.
Knowing that, Rei didn't attempt to invite Bistol into the party.
(Well, if Bistol were around, various new problems would probably arise too.)
Rei and the others had already grown used to him, but when it came to first impressions, Bistol had difficulty making a favorable one.
There were certainly people in the world with eccentric tastes, so it wasn't an absolute certainty that everyone would get a bad impression... but still, probabilistically speaking, there were definitely more people who would form a negative one.
That could lead to being harassed by other adventurers or nobles, but conversely, having Bistol around meant they were less likely to be underestimated.
(No, it's not that we wouldn't be underestimated—it's simply that fewer people would try to mess with us because they wouldn't want to get involved with someone like Bistol.)
Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, Rei couldn't easily judge.
Even so, there was no denying he felt a slight sense of loneliness at the prospect of Bistol no longer being around.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to the cooking. Alright then, one last day. Let's make the most of it."
At Rei's words, each of them gave their reply.
"Guruuurururu!"
As they were flying over the sea as usual, Set suddenly rumbled from his throat.
Set had discovered various things before, but this time was different from before.
It was clearly a cry of surprise, even from Set himself.
Naturally, Rei responded to Set's behavior... and since he couldn't tell whether the target was a monster or a fish, he took out a harpoon from the Misty Ring for the time being.
That wired harpoon, combined with Rei's strength and Set's mobility, would unleash devastatingly powerful force against any fish.
With this, they should be fine.
Thinking that, Rei turned his gaze toward the sea... and immediately understood what Set had found.
That was because something large enough to be visible even from the sky was swimming through the water.
(No, something... a shrimp, right?)
Since whatever was swimming was in relatively shallow water, its form was clearly visible even from the air.
From what he could see, what was swimming could only be a shrimp.
If it were an ordinary shrimp, spotting one swimming in the sea from the sky would be difficult.
And yet, he could clearly identify it as a shrimp... because the shrimp was enormous.
Yes, the shrimp currently swimming through the sea was clearly larger than Set.
It was so large that, if anything, it might be more than twice Set's size.
(Set's body length is about three meters... so six meters!? What kind of shrimp is this?)
For a moment, he wondered if it might be some new species of monster, but judging from Set's reaction, it was only a reaction to fish and crustaceans, not monsters.
In other words, this shrimp currently swimming in the sea was genuinely just a shrimp.
...Whether a shrimp roughly six meters long could truly be described as "just a shrimp" was a bit of a gray area, though.
(For that matter, can shrimp even swim straight like this? From what I saw on TV and such, I feel like they swam by kicking backward.)
Of course, Rei only knew a tiny bit about shrimp.
He had only seen them on variety shows where celebrities would dive into the sea to catch shrimp.
But even so, a shrimp was a shrimp, and the idea that there were shrimp that swam straight like fish was completely unexpected for Rei.
At the same time, however, this instance could be considered incredibly lucky for Rei.
That was because shrimp was one of his absolute favorite foods.
In fact, he preferred shrimp over crab—and not eating it raw like shrimp sashimi, but rather boiled or turned into fried shrimp. He loved the firm, springy texture of cooked shrimp.
A shrimp this size would be more than enough to eat... and praying it wouldn't be too gamey but just ordinarily delicious, he hurled the harpoon.