After distributing the various souvenirs—starting with the dishes from Anesis, in addition to the gemstones with Recovery Magic sealed inside them—the conversation turned to what each person had done that day.
What Rei had been doing—watching the Gigant Turtle dissection and then searching for a Magic Item that was controlling the Cobolts—had already been discussed, so the ones doing most of the talking were the others.
"I was bored today. Byune apparently took down quite a number of Cobolts, though. Still, the Gigant Turtle dissection is worth seeing. A monster that large isn't something you encounter often, so I think you should go see it if you get the chance."
At Vihera's words, the others who hadn't seen the dissection site showed expressions of mild interest.
Elena, Marina, and Ara weren't seeing a giant monster for the first time, by any means. Elena had previously been called out for a Kraken subjugation, and during her days as an adventurer, Marina had encountered all kinds of monsters, including many large ones.
Even so, it was a fact that they still wanted to see the dissection of the Gigant Turtle that Rei had slain.
"I see. I'm free tomorrow, so perhaps I'll go take a look. What about you two, Elena and Ara?"
"Indeed. It would be best to go and keep an eye on things, to make sure the Noble Faction members don't cause any strange trouble. Besides, if I tell my father about the Gigant Turtle incident, he'll likely be surprised."
Ara nodded in response to Elena's words.
"I will accompany you as well. Fortunately, I have no particular business tomorrow."
Strictly speaking, there was no shortage of people hoping for an audience with Elena. However, none of them were urgent matters; the majority were simply people wanting to become acquainted with her.
For a Noble Faction noble, merely being acquainted with Elena was enough to hold a certain degree of sway among those of lower rank. The same held true for the King's Faction and the Neutral Faction—being acquainted with Elena alone granted a measure of influence.
Elena, bearing the alias of Princess General, wielded precisely that much influence.
That was precisely why an endless stream of people—those who could only be called the masses—requested audiences, and naturally, the vast majority were promptly turned down by Ara.
If someone truly had an important reason, Ara would relay that to Elena, but given that no such individuals existed, it was only natural to judge that there would be no problem going to see the Gigant Turtle tomorrow.
"I see. If there are no issues, then we shall go see it tomorrow. Rei, would that be acceptable?"
"That's fine by me, but I'll only be checking on things briefly at the start and at the end. I won't be able to look after you, Elena, you know?"
"Mm. If you're searching for the Magic Item that's controlling the Cobolts, then that's how it'll be. That is a little disappointing, but... what about you two, Vihera and Byune?"
"Me? I suppose I'll be accompanying Byune, since she seems to want to take on monster subjugation requests at the Gigant Turtle dissection site."
Hearing this, Elena learned that Vihera and Byune would be at the Gigant Turtle dissection site, and showed a slightly pleased expression.
"So, what did you do today, Marina? I figured you'd have come over to the Gigant Turtle side."
"Oh, me? Actually, there's a Dark Elf who came to Gilm—from a different settlement than mine, though. I was teaching her a bit about how to use Spirit Magic."
"A Dark Elf? That's unusual... no, maybe it isn't, huh."
Rei had called it unusual in response to Marina's words, but immediately corrected himself.
In fact, Rei knew an Elf personally, and even setting aside acquaintances, he had seen both Elves and Dark Elves in Gilm on several occasions. What's more, the Expansion Construction was underway, drawing more people than before. While it was winter and the numbers were smaller compared to autumn, there were still more people in Gilm than in typical years. Having a new Elf or Dark Elf among them was nothing particularly strange.
"True. Though that girl isn't very good at Spirit Magic. She's quite skilled with a bow, though."
"...I'll ask just to be sure, but you're not judging her Spirit Magic skill relative to yourself, right?"
Rei knew several people who used Spirit Magic, but among them, Marina's skill was not merely a head above the rest—it was in an entirely different league. From Marina's perspective, nearly everyone would seem like they weren't good at Spirit Magic.
But to such a Rei, Marina picked up a piece of cheese from the table and moved it side to side. It was a thoroughly unremarkable gesture, yet the very act of Marina doing something like that brought a powerful awareness of her feminine allure. Of course, Rei, having known Marina for a fair amount of time, had developed a certain resistance and immunity to her charm.
"I'm not doing anything that foolish. She simply asked me to teach her how to use Spirit Magic, so I'm just teaching her."
Marina, saying this, didn't seem to have anything to feel guilty about.
Relieved by that, Rei continued the conversation.
"Still, she came from a different settlement than yours, huh. I'd like to visit that settlement someday too."
"For you, a Dark Elf settlement must be quite novel, Rei. There seem to be quite a few fascinating Magic Items there, too."
Marina had said that based on Rei's words alone—she must have understood his aim. When it came to a Dark Elf settlement, it wouldn't be surprising for there to be Magic Items, or at least the kinds of materials used to make them. Given Rei's hobby, it was only natural that he would want to visit that Dark Elf settlement.
"True. Plus, I'm curious about the foodstuffs, too."
"...Orcs, you mean."
She must have been remembering the time they visited Marina's settlement. Vihera cast a slightly exasperated glance his way, and Byune, in a manner unthinkable from her attitude during the Jewel Magic discussion, turned expectant eyes toward Rei.
When they had visited Marina's home settlement before, there had been quite a number of Orcs near the settlement.
For Rei, Orcs were an extremely delicious monster. Not delicious in the sense that their materials or Magic Stones sold for a high price, but delicious in the literal sense of eating them. Rei's Misty Ring currently contained a large quantity of Orc meat, but since they were hunted in large numbers, he ate them regularly, and naturally, his consumption was high as a result. He still had plenty in reserve, but his true feeling was that if he could replenish his stock, he wanted to.
Orcs were stronger alone than Goblins or Cobolts, and above all, they possessed the intelligence to coordinate with allies. For men, they were troublesome opponents to fight, and for women especially, Orcs were so despised that it would not be strange to kill them on sight.
Such was the nature of Orcs, but to Rei, they were nothing more than delicious meat.
"Right. For the Dark Elves too, Orcs are a nuisance, aren't they?"
"I won't deny that. But Orcs become food once they're killed, so if you're going to hunt them, you should get permission from the settlement first. Oh my, it's about time, isn't it?"
Mid-conversation, Marina's gaze turned to the Oven some distance away. It was the same Oven Rei had taken out from his Misty Ring as usual, but today, what was being baked inside it was different. For it was a portion of the Gigant Turtle meat that had just been dissected that very day.
Even Marina, who had been an adventurer for a long time, was eating Gigant Turtle meat for the first time. Naturally, everyone had been intensely curious about its taste, but the Jewel Magic discussion had caused them to completely forget about it.
However, an appetite-stimulating aroma drifted from the Oven, as if announcing that the dish was ready. Despite having already eaten a fair amount of food, everyone turned their gazes toward it.
"I wasn't sure how to prepare it, so I just seasoned it simply with salt and roasted it, but it certainly smells quite delicious, doesn't it?"
Saying that, Marina used Spirit Magic to retrieve the Gigant Turtle meat from inside the Oven. The meat placed on the table consisted of several fist-sized chunks.
"I've never eaten turtle before, so I don't know what it tastes like, but it really does look delicious."
Looking at the meat on the table, Rei spoke honestly. It was seasoned with nothing more than salt and a few herbs, making it an extremely simple dish as far as cooking went. Even so, perhaps because the supreme aroma of the meat itself mingled with the surrounding fragrance, the dish looked incredibly appetizing.
"For now, you eat first, Rei. It's meat you brought, so it's only natural that you should be the first to eat it."
The others nodded in agreement with Marina's statement, raising no objections.
Could she be planning to have me taste-test for poison? No, she wouldn't, right?
Rei thought that for a moment, but regardless, there was no way he wouldn't be happy at being told he could eat this meat first. He placed a chunk of meat on his own plate and, rather than cutting it with a knife, speared it with a fork and bit right in.
The first thing he tasted was the salt and the aroma of the herbs. But in the next instant, the flavor of the meat spread across his entire mouth.
Given that it was turtle, Rei had expected it to taste like chicken, similar to reptilian snake meat, but the texture and flavor he experienced were in no way comparable to chicken. To the point where, with Rei's vocabulary, he couldn't even begin to describe it.
In truth, Rei had eaten many different kinds of meat, both during his time in Japan and after arriving in Elgin. But even for such a Rei, the meat in his mouth was clearly different from any meat he had ever eaten. The texture was different, the sensation of the meat falling apart in his mouth was different, the flavor of the juices flowing from it was different, and the aftertaste spreading through his mouth after swallowing was different.
The base is... chicken, after all? No, but even that somehow feels different. At the very least, it's on a level utterly incomparable to chicken breeds like Hinai Jidori or Ukokkei.
Rei's father, due to his involvement in cockfighting, kept various breeds of chicken. Among them were the Hinai Jidori, famous as one of Japan's Three Great Jidori, and the Ukokkei, famous in China as an extremely nourishing and delicious chicken whose very meat was black—kept not for cockfighting but purely for consumption. Rei had naturally helped slaughter and eat those chickens on occasion. Each and every one of them was undoubtedly delicious meat, but the Gigant Turtle's meat possessed a deliciousness beyond even that—something that could be called a different dimension entirely.
"Delicious."
In the end, that single word was all that escaped Rei's mouth.
But even that one word must have been enough to convey that it was delicious, because the others—including Marina, who had cooked it—took portions of the Gigant Turtle meat onto their own plates and began eating. Byune was the only one who bit into it directly like Rei; the others properly cut the meat with knives before bringing it to their mouths.
Upon tasting the meat's flavor and texture, everyone stopped moving. Even Elena, the Daughter of Duke Kerebel, and Vihera, a former princess of the Bestia Empire, had never tasted anything like it before, and found themselves unable to voice their impressions.
Set and Ielo, eating meat from plates placed on the ground, were so stunned by the astonishing taste that they let out not a single cry, focusing entirely on the flavor of the meat.
Rei, too, said nothing further as he brought more meat to his mouth.
And so, in silence, everyone savored the Gigant Turtle meat, and that silence continued until every last piece was gone.
"...It's all gone, hasn't it."
With all the meat on the table having disappeared, Marina murmured with disappointment. Even so, the reason she didn't offer to bake another batch was likely because she felt that if she did, they might end up eating meat endlessly with no end in sight.
"True. At the very least, it's been clearly established that Gigant Turtle meat is extremely delicious. I think that alone makes this more than worthwhile."
Marina nodded at Rei's words. Vihera wore a disappointed expression, and astonishingly, even Byune, who rarely changed her expression, showed a look of disappointment. Elena and Ara were slightly disappointed as well, but in the end, they said nothing, and instead savored the freshly baked bread and soup that Rei had newly produced from his Misty Ring.