"Rei-kun, look. Is this it?"
Kenny held out the book to Rei, the ears atop her head twitching with delight.
The illustration depicted a creature that closely resembled the black sea bream monster Rei had slain at sea. He could say with certainty that it was the same one.
"Yeah, this is probably it. ...Sorry for making you help out when you finally have a day off."
"It's fine. I didn't particularly have anything to do today."
In truth, Kenny, who had the day off from the Guild, was grateful for her own good fortune.
With nothing else to occupy her, she had stepped out for a bit of shopping when she ran into Rei on his way to the library.
The day before, having concluded his meeting with Daskar, Rei had visited the Guild to gather information on the monsters he'd acquired. For most of them, he managed to learn which parts served as subjugation proof parts, whether the materials could be sold, and whether the meat was edible.
Perhaps because it was a frontier settlement, even an inland Guild like Gilm's, with no sea nearby, kept thorough records of sea monsters in its reference room.
Yet there was one exception... the black sea bream monster, for which there was absolutely no information.
Whether it was a new species or simply so rare that no records existed, Rei couldn't say. But with the Guild's archives coming up empty, the next logical step was the library, which would have more extensive records. So the day after returning to Gilm, he hauled felled timber from the Treant Forest and headed straight there.
It was during that trip across town that he bumped into Kenny, who had been out shopping... and that was how they ended up coming to the library together.
"Still, the fact that it's in a book means it wasn't a new species after all," Kenny remarked, though she didn't sound particularly disappointed.
And why would she? In this world, monsters were born through all manner of causes—animals mutated by magical power, magical power itself taking physical form, and countless other factors. Simply finding a new species didn't automatically amount to much.
...Of course, a new species did carry the possibility of yielding unknown materials. It might not bring fame, but it could certainly bring profit.
In any case, the fact that the black sea bream monster appeared in a book confirmed that while it was rare, it was definitely not a new species.
"Well, I don't really mind either way."
If you discovered a new species, you could name it yourself. Though in a world where literacy wasn't particularly high, plenty of people couldn't be bothered with the hassle.
(Come to think of it, Japan... no, Earth, I suppose. I remember seeing on TV that in the Amazon on Earth, a lot of the insects are supposedly new species.)
Musing on this, Rei turned his attention to the page describing the black sea bream monster...
"Gnnuh..."
A strange sound eventually escaped his lips.
Kenny, who knew Rei well, had never seen him make a face like that before. Curious, she asked, "What's wrong?"
"No, look at this..."
Rei pointed to a passage in the book. The black sea bream monster—officially named Baeros—had internal organs so valuable as alchemy materials that, depending on their condition, they could fetch several platinum coins. Kenny's eyes went wide.
Of course, it wasn't unheard of for monster materials to command extraordinary prices. Materials with rare properties, or parts from high-rank monsters, often fetched astronomical sums.
...By that same token, Set's shed fur and feathers traded at high prices, quietly padding Rei's wallet.
So Baeros's internal organs were rare and valuable materials. The problem was that the Baeros currently stored in Rei's Misty Ring was almost entirely gutted.
That was right—while he'd been dragging the carcass to shore, most of the internal organs had spilled out into the sea and become food for the creatures lurking beneath the surface.
(With materials that valuable, the things in the sea must have been thrilled.)
Just because something was valuable didn't mean it was tasty. But Rei told himself that anyway, trying to mask the bitter sting of the loss.
"The internal organs... you don't have them?"
From the passage Rei pointed to and his demeanor, Kenny had probably pieced together what happened. Rei gave her a silent nod.
"Umm... l-look! It says right here that the flesh is delicious, right? So for you, Rei-kun, don't you think that alone makes it worth it? Hm?"
"That's... well, I can't deny that."
"See? So even if the organs are a lost cause, you safely got the body. You should focus on that."
Talked into it, Rei managed to convince himself. Losing such valuable materials to the sea stung, but as Kenny said, he'd secured most of the supposedly delicious flesh. That was better than walking away empty-handed.
Besides, he'd already obtained his primary objective—the magic stone—and used it to upgrade Set's Ice Arrow to Level 3. He had no complaints on that front.
"Plus, even if the organs are out of reach, it says the scales and fangs are reasonably useful too. That's better than nothing, right?"
"True. ...For now, I'd like to get the dissection done, but I'm not sure how to go about it."
"Ah, then why don't you do it with me? I'm off today."
Kenny proposed it as if she'd just had a brilliant idea, but Rei couldn't simply agree without raising a concern.
"I'm free now, but in a few hours I need to head to the Treant Forest and haul back felled timber."
For Rei, who had a Misty Ring, it was a simple—almost laughably simple—task. But that was only because it was Rei. For anyone else, hauling felled timber was grueling physical labor. That was precisely why he couldn't just blow off the job entrusted to him.
Kenny just smiled and shook her head. "The dissection itself shouldn't take that long since the organs are gone. And if you get serious, Rei-kun, you can finish your work in no time anyway."
She was stating an undeniable fact. With Set's speed, reaching the Treant Forest took only minutes, and storing felled timber in the Misty Ring was as simple as touching it. The most time-consuming part of the whole operation was hauling the timber from the landing spot to the storage area in Gilm.
Since the barrier wasn't currently active, Set could even fly directly into town and land in the streets. But doing that would guarantee Rei a stern talking-to later. If it were a genuine emergency, that would be one thing. Under the current circumstances, he had zero intention of pulling a stunt like that.
"Hmm... but still," Rei hedged.
To his hesitation, Kenny offered a warm smile. "I'd like to try dissecting a monster with you, Rei-kun. ...Is that a no?"
She tilted her head as she asked, and the gesture was undeniably charming. Several men in the library were already glaring at Rei with open jealousy.
Bowing to the pressure of those stares, Rei finally nodded. "Alright. I'll take you up on it."
"Yay! Thanks."
Kenny beamed. She'd shared meals with Rei and gone shopping with him before, but the distance between them hadn't closed the way she'd hoped. If so, she needed to push a little further. That was her reasoning, and she'd acted on it immediately.
...The fact that she'd gone from decision to execution in the span of a heartbeat was very Kenny. And this time, it paid off.
"So, where are we doing the dissection?"
"Hmm... the Full Belly Diner's warehouse... ah, no, that won't work."
Right now, Gilm was more crowded than usual. More people meant not just a lodging shortage, but above all, a need to eat. The Full Belly Diner—cheap, delicious, and generous with portions—was naturally packed to capacity every single day, or so Rei had heard.
A busier diner meant a greater demand for ingredients. The dissection warehouse run by Hasta, who handled food procurement for Dishot's Full Belly Diner, had hired extra hands and was working around the clock. Bringing a monster like Baeros there and asking to use their space would only get in the way.
That left only one option in Rei's mind.
"I was thinking of heading to a river in the forest not far from Gilm. Would that work for you?"
"Huh? Sure. ...With you there, Rei-kun, I don't think that'll be an issue."
"In that case, I'd want Set to... no, I need Set on aerial patrol, so that's out."
With no barrier in place, aerial defense fell to Set. A fair amount of time had passed since he'd taken up that duty, and monster attacks had been few and far between. Even during Rei's seaside trip, nothing had come from the sky.
Of course, with this many adventurers gathered, they could handle most threats on their own anyway.
"Ah, then I'll have the Guild lend us a carriage."
"Is that alright?"
"Yes. ...Honestly, we have quite a surplus of carriages right now."
Rei tilted his head at the mention of surplus carriages. Amused by his puzzlement, Kenny stifled a laugh.
"Quite a few people sold their carriages after they broke down on the way to Gilm. Even if you still had one, keeping it at an inn costs extra, and repairs aren't cheap."
"But without one, wouldn't they be out of business?"
"Merchants, sure. But some people came just to reach Gilm. No other reason."
"...Is that how it works?"
He wasn't fully convinced, but Kenny had no reason to lie, so it was probably true.
"Alright then, I'll get ready. Let's meet in front of the Main Gate. Is there anything you need to bring, Rei-kun?"
"No, I've got most things in here." He held up his right hand, showing the Misty Ring.
His daily necessities were largely stored inside it. That was why he kept almost nothing in his inn room. Everything he needed for jobs... and of course, his dissection knives... was right there.
(Ah, but Baeros has scales. ...I heard those can be bought for a fair price as materials, so I'll need something to peel them off...)
The problem was, Rei had no idea how to actually remove them. For a normal fish, scraping with the back of a knife did the trick. But he seriously doubted that would work on a monster's scales.
"Monster scales... especially fish-type monster scales like these—how do you remove them?"
"Hmm... let me think."
Kenny puzzled over it too. If this were a Guild near the sea, such knowledge would be common, and a receptionist would likely know the answer. But around here, fish meant river fish. Anything coming from the sea arrived pre-processed and salt-cured. Kenny simply had no experience with fish monster scales.
...A more seasoned receptionist or guild staff member might have known. Kenny was undeniably capable, but the gap in experience was hard to bridge.
"I'm not sure, so I'll go ask a senior at the Guild. That means I might be a little late... is that okay?"
"Yeah, evening would be pushing it, but a little delay is fine."
"Hehe, I'm not going to make you wait that long, I promise."
Kenny flashed a radiant smile, already savoring the thought of her date with Rei—even if the actual activity was a monster dissection.