The sight before him was something Marquis could hardly believe.
The Gamelion—a monster that he and every comrade he'd befriended in Gilm combined couldn't so much as scratch—had its neck severed with the casual ease of someone mowing down weeds. The one who did it was a small-statured figure who had appeared out of nowhere: Rei, Bearer of the Crimson Moniker.
For a moment, Marquis wondered if the scene before him was a dream.
But the feel of the spear gripped in his hands... and the intense, rusty-iron reek of blood streaming from the severed neck of the Gamelion, which hadn't been able to kill its momentum even after decapitation and went tumbling across the ground—these things fiercely reminded Marquis that what he was seeing was no dream.
"A-are you alright? Nobody's dead, right?"
Relieved that the Gamelion had been killed, Marquis called out to the companions behind him.
"Y-yeah. We're safe somehow."
"I'm fine too. But Obignier is still unconscious."
"She got blown away by the Gamelion's charge. Let's just hope nothing's broken. The potions we have on us aren't that potent."
"Yeah. More importantly... that was Crimson, right? If I'm not mistaken...?"
"..."
The man who had been about to say as much never got to finish his sentence before a violent, heavy impact rang out through the surroundings.
'!?'
At the sound that came from behind them, Marquis and his companions reflexively turned their gazes toward its source.
...If the Gamelion they'd been fighting moments ago were still alive, they never would have had that kind of luxury.
But fortunately—truly fortunately—the Gamelion Marquis's group had been fighting had been effortlessly slain by Rei.
That was precisely why they were able to turn and look behind them.
And when they did, they saw a Gamelion that had been blasted well over a dozen meters through the air, bounced off the ground several times, and was still rolling, carving up the earth as it went.
A Gamelion that they, even fighting with everything they had, could never have beaten.
The shock of seeing such an opponent—and two in a row at that—dispatched so effortlessly was immense.
Faced with a being clearly on an entirely different level from themselves, whether out of fear or admiration, Marquis swallowed the saliva that had gathered in his mouth.
While Marquis's group reacted like that, Rei, who had struck down the first Gamelion, didn't seem particularly bothered.
To Rei, being regarded this way was by no means unusual.
"Set, looks like you finished things up over there too."
"Grrrrrll!"
Noticing Rei's voice, Set let out a happy cry.
The slightly proud tone in that cry was perhaps because he had managed to hold back well.
Before the battle with the Gamelion, Rei had told him as usual that if he unleashed his typical obliterating blow, there would be less left to eat... so the fact that he had brought the Gamelion down without doing so must have been that satisfying for Set.
Glancing briefly at Set as it headed off to secure the Gamelion it had slain—the one that had been blown far away—Rei turned back to address Marquis and his group.
"Now then, just to be sure, I'll ask one more time. I have ownership of that Gamelion, right? You're not going to complain about having your prey stolen, are you?"
Marquis nodded on behalf of his party.
"Y-yeah. Of course. We were saved by Rei-san. I have no intention of being selfish enough to demand you hand over the prey."
Rei wasn't particularly surprised that Marquis knew his name.
For one thing, given that Rei was wielding Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear in Twin Spear Style, it wouldn't have been strange for anyone to figure out who he was—and with Gryphon Seto right there on top of that, it was even more obvious.
If someone still couldn't identify Rei after all that... it would be a problem beyond simple ignorance.
Of course, Gilm right now was drawing huge numbers of adventurers of all stripes, both the competent and the incompetent.
Given that, it wouldn't have been surprising if some among them had absolutely no knowledge of adventurer common sense.
At the very least, Marquis and his group before Rei seemed to properly understand that sort of thing, and Rei could count himself spared from any unnecessary commotion.
"I see. In that case—"
"Gru? Grrrrrrll!"
As if to interrupt Rei's words, Set's cry rang out.
But it wasn't the kind of cry used to threaten enemies or stay alert—it was a cry filled with joy.
What is it? Rei turned his gaze toward where Set was and spotted several adventurers approaching from afar. Seeing one among them, he immediately understood why Set had let out such a happy cry.
One of those adventurers was someone Rei recognized.
Phron's out hunting Gamelions, just like Brasso said.
He recalled the words of a Dwarf acquaintance he had met at the Guild.
That adventurer among the group—Phron, who appeared to be leading the others—stroked Set as it cried happily at the sight of her.
A few seconds later, Phron led the other adventurers over to Rei's side.
Incidentally, Set walked right beside Phron carrying a Gamelion in its mouth, and the adventurers following her gazed at it with envious eyes.
With the Gamelion Hunt already nearing its end, the number of Gamelions remaining in this area had dwindled.
Under those circumstances, Rei had slain two Gamelions at once—his own kill and Set's.
As adventurers who had come specifically for the Gamelion Hunt, there was no way they wouldn't feel envious of that.
Of course, that didn't mean anyone could actually demand Rei hand them over.
"Hey, Rei. Two Gamelions, huh? I'm jealous. Wish I had your luck."
At Phron's words, Marquis and the other adventurers froze mid-motion.
Phron was older than Marquis's group, but she still had a face that could honestly be called beautiful. She was attractive enough that, if she put her mind to it, she would never want for men.
For a beauty like that to suddenly refer to herself as "ore"—not being surprised by that would have been impossible.
Of course, Rei already knew that Phron had a masculine personality that belied her appearance, so nothing about it surprised him in particular.
"Brasso mentioned it, but you really were out hunting Gamelions."
"You met Brasso?"
Phron's expression soured slightly at the name, but she quickly erased it.
"Yeah, at the Guild. He told me about you there."
"...That bastard."
Phron muttered a single resentful word, but the expression vanished just as quickly.
She understood that now was not the time to be dwelling on her partner.
"So... what about them?"
As Phron asked while looking toward Marquis's group, Rei directed his gaze at the headless Gamelion carcass that was still spreading a strong rusty stench through the surrounding air.
"I saved them while they were fighting that Gamelion."
"I see. Would've been nice if you'd shown up for us instead, though."
Phron cast a pitying—and envious—glance at Marquis's group, and then realized that the unconscious woman was fairly seriously injured.
"Harukis, give that unconscious woman a potion."
"...Huh? Are you serious?"
The man with a bow, called Harukis, apparently hadn't expected to be told such a thing, and asked back in disbelief.
But that attitude didn't sit well with Phron, and she returned a sharp glare.
"What, you're not going to listen to me?"
"!? F-fine. I got it. I got it, already. I'll use a potion right now!"
The man who had been glared at by Phron hurried over to the fallen female adventurer, pulled out a potion, and force-fed it to her.
Normally, applying it directly to a wound was the standard method. But the unconscious woman had taken a direct body slam from the Gamelion.
Since there was no clear external wound, if she had something like a fracture, it would need to be healed by having her ingest the potion directly.
Naturally, drinking it produced a stronger effect and would also grant a continuous recovery effect for a while.
But in exchange, the woman's sense of taste would be temporarily destroyed.
Then again, it would save her life, so it was certainly better than dying.
"Th-thank you very much!"
Marquis bowed deeply to Phron.
At the sight, Phron let a small smile form on her face.
Expressing honest gratitude to someone who had helped a companion. Looking at it from the outside, it was the obvious thing to do, but those who could actually manage it—especially among rough types like adventurers—were not universal.
But Marquis was truly, from the bottom of his heart, grateful.
Understanding that, Phron smiled, and the other adventurers following her were convinced as well.
"So, what are you and your group doing now, Phron? Still searching for Gamelions?"
"Obviously. We haven't taken down a single one today yet. You got two, Rei. I'm jealous."
Phron cast a genuinely envious glance at Rei. Her companions directed equally envious looks at him, just like their leader.
"Well, I've got Set with me."
"Gru!"
As Rei said that while stroking Set's head, Set let out a happy cry.
"I really am jealous. Well, standing around here won't accomplish anything, so we should get going and search for Gamelions too. The numbers are thinning out as it is, so if we don't hurry, someone else might snatch them up."
Saying that, Phron turned to leave—
"Hold on a second."
Rei called out to her retreating back.
"What do you want? Like I just said, we need to find Gamelions fast, so keep it brief if you can."
"Right. Then, briefly... could you take this lot along with you?"
"...What?"
"Huh?"
The ones who voiced their confusion were everyone present, without exception. Though for Phron's group and Marquis's group, the meaning behind that confusion was different.
For Phron's group, there was the resentment of wondering why they had to drag along such dead weight. Of course, from the exchange just now, Phron could tell that Marquis and his group were decent people.
But that didn't explain why her group had to look after them—that was the source of their dissatisfaction.
Adventuring was a matter of self-responsibility. Marquis and his group had come to the Gamelion Hunt believing they could take one down, so that was no reason for Phron to go out of her way to shoulder a burden.
If anything, she had already shown considerable goodwill just by using that potion earlier. On top of that, being asked to make further concessions was unreasonable to Phron, and the others also wore displeased expressions at Rei's words.
"Umm... huh?"
As for Marquis's group, they couldn't follow the flow of the conversation at all. They had no idea why Rei was going so far for them.
Of course, Rei's proposal was by no means a bad one—in fact, for Marquis, it was the best possible arrangement.
"Let me hear it, at least. Why do I need to go out of my way to do something like that?"
Phron asked, looking at Rei.
Rei and Phron were acquaintances. But even so, she had no intention of accepting a request that would result in a one-sided loss for herself.
What's more, even though it was a temporary party for the Gamelion Hunt, she was in the position of party leader. As someone leading companions, she had absolutely no intention of doing any excessive meddling that wouldn't benefit the party.
"Simply put, I took a liking to these guys."
"Then you don't need to go out of your way asking me. You could just travel with them yourself."
"Maybe so. But I'm different from your ordinary adventurer in a lot of ways."
"...Fair enough."
There was nothing Phron could do but accept those words.
An adventurer who, within a few years of registering, had climbed all the way to B-Rank and become an Alias Holder—there was no way anyone could call that ordinary.
Understanding that, neither Phron nor anyone else could raise any objection to it. However...
"Even so, like I keep saying, there's no reason I have to listen to your request. There's nothing in it for me."
"...Benefits. Benefits, huh. In that case, fine. I won't help you fight one, but I'll tell you where a Gamelion is. Just once. How about that?"
At those words, Phron turned a sharp gaze back at Rei.