"Then, would it be alright to ask you to drain the blood like we did with the Snow Cyclops yesterday?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
Facing the large number of Snow Ape corpses, Rei gave that reply to the Guild Staff Member.
In truth, draining the blood was one thing, but the main reason he was separating from the group was because he didn't want them watching him extract and absorb magic stones.
The fact that hanging them from a tree was the quickest way to drain the blood, yet there were no suitably sized trees nearby, was also a factor.
"What about you, Vihera? It looks like Byune is participating in killing Cobolts over there. Will you come with me?"
In the direction of his gaze, the Fleeing Adventurers were once again fighting Cobolts that had emerged from the earth labyrinth Rei had built with Terrain Manipulation.
Among those adventurers was Byune, and so Rei asked what Vihera— who served as Byune's partner and guardian— intended to do.
At Rei's words, Vihera thought for a moment... and then shook her head.
"I'll pass. If I stay here, there's a chance other strong monsters might be drawn by the Gigant Turtle's blood scent. Besides, don't we need someone who can communicate with Byune in case something happens?"
Hearing that, Rei didn't press the issue any further.
In truth, Rei had known Byune for a considerable length of time and had grown to understand roughly what she was trying to convey through her gestures, but he wasn't like Vihera, who could completely comprehend Byune's intentions.
"Got it. Then I'll leave the defense here to you. ...Though knowing you, Vihera, you'd probably say powerful monsters are more than welcome."
"Oh my, you know me well. If it's powerful monsters, I don't care how many of them come."
She wore an enraptured expression, perhaps imagining the battles to come.
Seeing Vihera acting like her usual self, Rei smiled... and while noting that the Guild Staff Member was overwhelmed by the aura she was giving off, he called for Set.
"Hmm... I was sure monsters would be gathering, drawn by the Snow Cyclops's blood scent, but there's nothing here. Or did they head toward the Gigant Turtle instead?"
Upon arriving at the place where they had drained the Snow Cyclops's blood and extracted its magic stone yesterday, there were no monsters of any kind present.
He would have preferred to find unknown monsters, but he decided it was better than having only Cobolts and Goblins around, and descended to the ground.
"...Ah, but monsters did come here."
He muttered that upon confirming several footprints in the snow that had fallen last night.
Even so, with no monsters present at all right now, draining the blood of the Snow Apes took priority.
With over ten corpses in total, he had to drain the blood from all of them.
Fortunately, since they were less than half the size of yesterday's Snow Cyclops, finding places to hang them was not a problem.
Rei took a rope from his Misty Ring and began hanging the Snow Ape corpses with their wounds facing downward.
Since many of the corpses had their torsos severed in addition to being decapitated, the number he had to hang ended up being quite large.
Meanwhile, at a short distance from Rei as he went about hanging them, Set was keeping watch on the surroundings.
With such a conspicuous blood-draining process underway, it wouldn't be strange for monsters to catch the scent and come investigating— or so Set had thought.
The fact that Set was voluntarily keeping watch without Rei having to say anything suggested that this kind of task was familiar to him.
(Well, even if there were monsters nearby, they'd probably be more drawn to the Gigant Turtle's blood scent.)
The Gigant Turtle and the Snow Cyclops. If asked which was more attractive to monsters, it would unquestionably be the former.
As a difference in rank, that was decisive.
In reality, it was just that the comparison was unfair; normally speaking, the Snow Cyclops's blood and flesh would absolutely be a sufficient feast for ordinary monsters.
"Anyway, there's no doubt I'll be free while the blood drains, so let's see what's going on."
Muttering, Rei checked the surroundings.
The blood scent of the Snow Apes drifted intensely through the air.
The amount of blood per individual was less compared to the Snow Cyclops, but there were many of them.
Because of that, the total volume of blood was naturally greater, and as a result, the rusty iron smell hanging in the air grew stronger.
"Hmm... is this enough already?"
The Snow Apes that had been severed at the torso naturally bled more, and above all, the sight of internal organs like stomachs and intestines dangling from the cut surfaces was extremely grotesque.
Still, it had already been several years since he came to this world called Elgin. Having dismantled monsters countless times, he was long accustomed to such sights.
"I only need two magic stones, so for now, this is one."
He slashed open the chest of a Snow Ape that had only its upper body remaining and extracted the magic stone from within.
Since the blood hadn't been fully drained yet, more blood than usual clung to the magic stone, staining Rei's hands.
However, Rei immediately wiped the magic stone with a cloth taken from his Misty Ring... and turned his gaze toward another Snow Ape hanging from a nearby tree.
This Snow Ape had its neck slashed by the magical claws extending from Vihera's Hand Gauntlets, and it had already lost a considerable amount of blood even before the battle ended.
Thanks to that, much of its blood had already flowed out, and while it wasn't as drained as the Snow Ape that had been bisected at the torso by Death Scythe, the amount of blood still flowing was already quite small.
He similarly slashed open its chest and extracted the magic stone...
"Set!"
When he called for Set in a slightly louder voice, Set, who had been keeping watch on the surroundings, approached Rei happily as if asking, Did you call?
His happiness was largely because Rei had called for him, but at the same time, the prospect of absorbing a magic stone also brought him joy.
Absorbing an unknown monster's magic stone meant that Set himself would be strengthened, so it was only natural he was pleased.
"Now then, here's the magic stone you've been waiting for... what kind of skill do you think it'll be?"
"Gruu..."
In response to Rei's question, Set purred as if to say he didn't know.
In truth, there had been many cases where he acquired skills that the monster in question specialized in, but there had also been times where he wondered why he got a particular skill from that monster's magic stone.
Because of that, Set probably couldn't tell what specific skill he might acquire from absorbing the Snow Ape's magic stone... or whether he would acquire anything at all.
Of course, Rei didn't know what skill could be learned from that magic stone either, so to get the answer, he needed to have Set actually absorb it.
"Can't even guess, huh, Set... Well, given it's a Snow Ape, maybe an Ice-system skill? During the fight with Vihera, it was wrapping its claws in ice and battling."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a cry as if to say he hoped so.
If there was an Ice-system skill Set possessed, it would be Ice Arrow. Or, while not ice but water, there was also the Water Ball skill.
(If possible, I'd like Ice Arrow's level to go up.)
Currently, Ice Arrow's level was four. In other words, if the level went up here, it would reach level five. And when it reached level five, the skill would be strengthened to a degree incomparable to before.
"Alright, Set. Here."
With those words, Rei held out one of the magic stones he was carrying to Set.
Set swallowed the magic stone with his beak...
"...No good, huh."
"Gruu."
Feeling disappointed that the usual announcement didn't flow through his mind, Rei muttered.
Set purred to Rei as if apologizing.
"Don't worry about it. You already got a skill from yesterday's Snow Cyclops, so there's no need to be that down. ...Now then, what about Death Scythe..."
Encouraging Set while stroking him, Rei took Death Scythe out of his Misty Ring and tossed it into the air.
In the next moment, he swung Death Scythe in a single flash...
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill 'Blizzard Slash Lv.1']
An announcement echoed in his mind.
"Oh."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's voice of surprise, Set purred happily as if saying congratulations.
"Blizzard Slash, Blizzard Slash... huh. Thinking about how the Snow Ape fought, I can roughly imagine the effect, but... Set, back up a bit for me."
Saying that, and after confirming that Set obediently stepped back, Rei swung Death Scythe.
"Blizzard Slash!"
The moment he activated the skill, the blade of Death Scythe grew slightly larger.
That was because the blade had been enveloped in ice.
The blade made of ice certainly looked sharp at a glance. It did, but...
"Hmm... it seems like just channeling magic into Death Scythe and swinging it normally would have more power... Well, maybe it's highly effective against opponents weak to ice? The expanded attack range is helpful, though."
Since the blade was covered in ice, Death Scythe's attack range had widened slightly. That was an undeniable fact, but if asked whether there was a need to intentionally use this skill... Rei could only tilt his head.
Of course, for Rei who could only use Flame Magic, ice-based attack methods were quite valuable. In that sense, there might come a time when it would be useful.
"For now, it's a skill without much use during winter... Around summer, or if we go to a volcano or desert, it seems like it'd be pretty handy. Ah, but would desert monsters actually welcome ice instead?"
Harboring some doubt, Rei nevertheless dispelled Blizzard Slash with a degree of satisfaction and stored Death Scythe in his Misty Ring.
"Grurururu!"
Set, who had been watching Rei nearby, purred toward him as if saying congratulations, as if forgetting that he himself had been unable to acquire a skill.
For Set, the fact that Rei— whom he loved— had acquired a skill like this was a joyous thing. So much so that he let out a happy cry even before feeling disappointment about not acquiring a skill himself.
"Thanks, Set. I'm glad you're happy for me."
Rei, pleased by Set's happiness, smiled and stroked his head.
Amidst the drifting scent of Snow Ape blood, Rei and Set played together for a while... and once all the blood had finished draining from the Snow Ape corpses hanging from the trees, he took them down and began storing them away.
In about a minute, all the Snow Ape corpses that had been hanging from the surrounding trees were stored inside Rei's Misty Ring.
(A forest of meat... well, there's no alcohol so it's not quite that, but in terms of a forest of meat, I suppose it fits...? From the viewer's perspective, it would be a forest of meat that's not amusing at all and just plain eerie, though.)
In Rei's mind, the phrase referred to... well, a banquet where those in high positions gathered large numbers of women and alcohol. That was his understanding of it.
The actual meaning might have been different in various ways, but as far as Rei's perception went, that was simply how he thought of it.
"Well, I've cleaned up the forest of meat, so let's head back. We need to have these Snow Apes dismantled too."
"Gruu?"
Forest of meat? Set purred questioningly.
Though Set understood Rei well, suddenly hearing a phrase like "forest of meat" naturally left him bewildered.
"Never mind, it's nothing. Let's head back over there for now."
Rei looked slightly embarrassed, perhaps because he had let the words "forest of meat" slip out.
In any case, Rei mounted Set's back and took off from the area.
"Please leave the dismantling of these Snow Apes to us."
The Guild Staff Member said this to Rei right near where the Gigant Turtle dissection was taking place, and Rei nodded and spoke.
"The Snow Cyclops dissection yesterday was done quite cleanly too. I have no doubts about the Snow Ape dissection."
As Rei said, the Snow Cyclops dissection he had requested yesterday had been carried out splendidly— so cleanly, in fact, that it was done more neatly than if Rei had dismantled it himself.
Seeing that, it was only natural that Rei had no concerns about the dissection.
Of course, among those working on the Gigant Turtle dissection, it was someone who was relatively free who had handled the Snow Cyclops dissection, so whether the same person who dismantled it yesterday would also dismantle the Snow Apes today was not necessarily guaranteed.
In any case, Rei responded to the Guild Staff Member's words and immediately began taking out the Snow Ape corpses stored within his Misty Ring.
[Death Scythe]
'Corrosion Lv.5' 'Flying Slash Lv.5' 'Magic Shield Lv.1' 'Power Slash Lv.3' 'Wind Hand Lv.4' 'Terrain Manipulation Lv.4' 'Pain Burst Lv.3' 'Penetrate Lv.3' 'Multi Slash Lv.2' 'Blizzard Slash Lv.1' new
Blizzard Slash: The blade of Death Scythe becomes covered in ice, adding ice-attribute damage to slashes. Additionally, because the blade is covered in ice, the attack reach extends by a truly slight amount.