After the mock battle ended, right around that time, Marina, Elena, Ara, and the others woke up as well, and it was decided that everyone would have breakfast together—but......
"Hmm. Then Zozo's strength falls somewhere above Byune but below Vihera, I suppose."
After tasting the vegetable soup, Elena murmured that.
However, using that as a measure of his strength was somewhat impractical.
Byune possessed considerable strength for her age, but she was by no means the strongest, and above all, there were always those above her.
And Vihera was undeniably ranked quite high among such individuals, so defining Zozo's strength as somewhere between the two covered too wide a range.
"In that case, yes. ......Ara, why don't you try fighting Zozo too?"
At Marina's words, the gazes of everyone eating turned toward Ara.
Zozo, waiting behind Rei—probably because his own name had come up—also looked at Ara, whom everyone was staring at.
And Ara, finding herself the center of attention, opened her mouth in bewilderment.
"Eh? Me?"
"That would be the case."
Ara let out a surprised voice, but Elena nodded in understanding.
Indeed, when it came to who among those present had the closest combat ability to Byune, it was Ara.
Rei, Elena, and Vihera—the three of them possessed power that stood out even looking at Gilm as a whole.
Marina, armed with a bow and Spirit Magic, was not well-suited for mock battles.
Of course, if she set her mind to it, she would naturally display considerable strength. She undoubtedly had enough ability to win convincingly even against Zozo, but......
"That said, even if we do hold a mock battle, it would be tonight. Once we finish eating, I need to show my face at the lord's manor with Zozo."
Whether the Lizardmen other than Zozo had caused any trouble yesterday.
Whether communication with Lunora and his group had become possible.
Beyond that, there were any number of things to ask about, such as what to do about the Treant Forest.
Of course, lumber felled in the Treant Forest was in desperately short supply in Gilm, where the expansion construction was currently underway.
Given that, it was safe to assume that logging by the woodcutters would not be halted despite some degree of danger.
(If I had to guess, they'd increase the guard adventurers. ......Not just in numbers, but in quality too.)
Until now—until yesterday—the job of guarding the woodcutters working in the Treant Forest had been primarily taken on by adventurers of relatively low skill.
But given the incident with Lunora and Zozo's group, it naturally meant that personnel capable of properly responding in an emergency needed to be dispatched.
"That's true. I'd also like to go to the lord's manor today and hear what information they have. ......I suppose I could ask Worker, though."
Marina mentioned the name of the one who had taken over her position as Guild Master, but there was no seriousness in her words.
She likely understood that, just like the lord's manor, the Guild was extremely busy dealing with this incident.
......Though, in that sense, the lord's manor, which was directly sheltering Lunora and the Lizardmen, was probably even busier.
However, Marina's strongest desire was to meet the green demi-humans she had heard about from Rei.
As a Dark Elf—a race that often lived in forests, though there were exceptions like Marina—it would have been stranger for her not to be fascinated by the green demi-humans, who possessed the ability to grow plants as a substitute for meals without using any particular skill.
Rei didn't fully grasp Marina's motives, but judging that she would go check on the overwhelmed Daskar and lend a hand if things were truly unmanageable, he nodded.
"Then allow me to go as well. I gathered various information from the nobles yesterday, but if possible, I'd like to hear the full details from Lord Daskar."
When Elena said that, Ara naturally chimed in that she would accompany her, and......
"Of course, I'm going too. I'd like to go to the Treant Forest, if possible."
Vihera stated as a matter of course that she was going as well.
"Nn!"
Byune also voiced that she was going, in response to Vihera's words.
However, toward Byune, Vihera wore a complicated expression.
"I understand you want to go too, Byune, but going to the Treant Forest is beyond your ability. Wouldn't it be better to just take your usual requests instead?"
If this were a normal time, Vihera probably wouldn't say such a thing.
But having fought a mock battle against Zozo and learned what his actual strength was, the option of bringing Byune to the Treant Forest simply didn't exist.
Zozo was certainly weaker than Vihera, but he still possessed more than enough strength to defeat Byune without question.
With such a being appearing through teleportation—a method where one could never predict where they would emerge—it was only natural to worry about worst-case scenarios.
"......Nn."
At Vihera's words, Byune let out a slightly displeased sound.
Her expression hadn't changed, but hearing that voice made her dissatisfaction obvious.
That said, considering Vihera's personality, it was certain that making unreasonable demands here would get her absolutely nowhere.
Byune likely understood that as well; despite showing displeasure, she didn't push any further.
"Then that settles everyone's plans for today. ......Zozo is going with Rei, of course?"
"He's treated as my tamed monster, after all. Honestly, I'm not too keen on treating a monster with such high intelligence as a tamed monster."
Rei said that in response to Vihera's words, but was met with exasperated looks from Vihera......no, from everyone present.
The sheer volume of exasperated gazes directed at him was made obvious by the fact that even Byune, who rarely changed expression under normal circumstances, was visibly wearing a look of exasperation.
"Listen, Rei. I'll say this just in case, but Set is plenty smart too, you know? He understands everything we say perfectly. ......Well, that's obvious since he's a gryphon. Anyway, taming a gryphon but not taming a Lizardman is......"
"Set?"
"Guru?"
When Rei murmured Set's name, Set, who had been eating a stew packed with meat and vegetables, looked up with a purr as if asking, "Did you call?"
Set looked absolutely adorable, but it was clear that even he possessed high intelligence.
That said, technically Set hadn't been tamed in the formal sense—he was a being brought into existence from Rei through Beast Magic, which was why Rei had never particularly worried about that distinction.
"Ah—...yeah. That's true. But, you see. I raised Set from when he was small and then tamed him. So being together has just become the natural state of things."
Since Ara and Byune, who were present, didn't know about Beast Magic, Rei recalled the outward cover story and deflected with that for the time being.
Hearing that explanation, everyone showed expressions of understanding......and breakfast time went on.
"Yeah, he definitely stands out."
Feeling the gazes directed at him from all around—a somewhat nostalgic feeling, like when he had first come to Gilm—Rei muttered.
The cause was, without saying, Zozo.
He was larger than an ordinary Lizardman, and for someone who knew Lizardmen, it wouldn't be strange for him to be mistaken for a High-ranking Species or Rare Species.
Even for those who didn't, the sheer presence Zozo exuded was overwhelmingly powerful.
The fact that it didn't cause a commotion was probably because of the tamed monster collar around Zozo's neck.
Also significant was the fact that the one who had tamed Zozo was Rei, the same person who had tamed Set.
In reality, Elena and the others were also present alongside Rei, but even among them, it was recognized that the one who had tamed Zozo was Rei—a perception influenced by his usual conduct.
"That's true. But there's the matter of Set too, so people will get used to him over time. Besides, that's exactly why we're walking to the lord's manor this time."
At Marina's words, Rei understood why they were walking instead of taking a carriage, and nodded in realization.
It was to show as many people as possible, and make them aware of, the fact that Rei had tamed Zozo.
And it was also necessary to make known that Zozo was loyal to Rei and would not act violently or defy his will.
Though in reality, since Zozo couldn't understand Rei's words, in an emergency it would be necessary to stop him by force.
"Though......Zozo's appearance is far from what you'd call cute, so he won't become popular like Set did."
"You're right about that."
Rei nodded in agreement with those words as well.
Unlike Set, to whom the word "adorable" suited, such a word did not fit Zozo.
Given that, if asked whether Zozo could achieve the same popularity in Gilm as Set, Rei honestly couldn't nod in agreement.
(But even back in Japan, there were people who liked reptiles and kept them as pets, so if there are people like that in this world too, I think they'd take a liking to Zozo. ......If you look closely, he's not so much cute as he is cool.)
Rei hadn't been particularly fond of reptiles himself, but he knew that reptile enthusiasts existed in the world.
That was why it was only natural to think that even in Elgin, there might be those who favored Zozo.
"But......maybe because Zozo is here, the fact that no one comes to pet Set like usual is a little lonely."
"I understand how Elena feels, but that's probably only for now. Once everyone gets used to Zozo's presence, things will surely go back to normal."
At Vihera's words, Elena looked at Zozo and thought, Will they really?
Perhaps sensing Elena's gaze, Zozo tensed for a moment......and showed visibly nervous behavior.
To Zozo, Elena was someone who had inherited an Ancient Dragon's magic stone, and with Ielo's existence as well, she was someone to be revered.
So much so that if he had met Elena before meeting Rei, it wouldn't have been strange for him to have chosen to follow her instead.
That said, it was precisely because Rei had been the first one he encountered that he was able to meet Elena like this.
Zozo harbored no dissatisfaction whatsoever with his own decision to serve Rei.
"As for the Zozo situation, like Vihera said, we can only let people get used to him little by little. The residents of Gilm will get used to him soon enough."
Marina's words carried conviction.
Vihera hadn't lived in Gilm since childhood either; only a few years had passed since she came to live there.
Even so, she likely had various feelings about the place called Gilm.
"Let's hope so. ......Ah, wait a moment."
While walking, Rei headed with Set toward a nearby skewer stall.
The stall owner smiled at his regular customer Rei......but upon seeing Zozo, who had naturally followed behind Rei, a brief look of surprise crossed his face.
However, he quickly restored his smile and spoke to Rei as usual.
"Welcome, Rei. You've got an unusual companion today."
"Yeah. My......well, my new tamed monster, I guess? This is Zozo. He's a smart Lizardman, so he won't go on a rampage or anything, don't worry."
When Rei said that, the stall owner immediately nodded and handed over the skewers he had been grilling.
"So, how many today?"
"Ah—let's see. For now......no, actually, let me ask first—these are Orc skewers, right?"
"That's right."
Among the skewers, there were also some made with Lizardman meat, so he had asked just to be sure......but fortunately, upon learning that all the skewers were Orc skewers, Rei felt relieved.
(If Zozo becomes popular, dishes using Lizardman meat and such would probably decrease. ......Or maybe not?)
Thinking such thoughts, Rei paid for the skewers and handed one to Zozo.
Zozo received the skewer as if he had been handed treasure, and brought it to his mouth.
(He'll need to get used to this sort of thing too, if he's going to be with me.)
Right now they were eating skewers together like this, but at dinner yesterday and breakfast today, Zozo had stubbornly refused to eat at the same table as Rei until the very end, ultimately eating his meal separately after Rei and the others had finished.
Thinking about it that way, it was certain that unless they did something about Zozo's attitude toward Rei, various troublesome situations were bound to arise.
Hoping to explain such things to him, Rei reflected that he needed to have Zozo learn the language as quickly as possible, and headed toward the lord's manor.