While the morning sun had not yet fully risen, Rei kept watch by the campfire, leaning back against Set.
He wasn't alone—several adventurers shared the watch with him. Even so, the number on duty alongside Rei was small. Set's presence alone meant only a skeleton guard was needed, and with Rei there as well, that was only natural.
Rei, who had been sipping tea from a cup, felt Set suddenly purr beneath him. Since he was leaning against the gryphon, the vibration traveled straight into his back. Judging that it likely signaled an approaching enemy, Rei set his cup on the ground immediately and called out to the adventurers, who were a beat behind him in scanning their surroundings.
"We made it through our whole shift without a single enemy. I wonder whose luck ran out."
"Rei."
All three adventurers said his name in unison. Perfectly in unison, at that.
In truth, Gilm—a frontier town—had been dealing with all manner of incidents even before Rei arrived. But it was equally a fact that after he showed up, both the scale and frequency of those incidents had grown. These adventurers knew that, which was probably why they said it with such certainty.
"Ugh."
Rei had more than a few things he could point to as the cause, and the sheer number of them left him at a loss for words. He tried to come up with a retort, but before he could, he spotted something gliding across the lake's glittering surface in the morning light, and understood why Set had gone on alert.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a giant Water Strider.
At roughly one meter in length, it was absurdly large for a bug. But for Rei, who had seen a Slime big enough to call a hill, it looked almost small by comparison.
...Incidentally, the Slime he'd set ablaze with his magic still hadn't burned out and was, in fact, still burning at this very moment. Now that the sun was up, it was less conspicuous—but it was still going.
"Anyway, the question is what to do about that bug. We can either pray it doesn't come any closer, or attack it before it does something unpredictable. For the record, I vote we attack."
The reason Rei favored the offensive was, naturally, the prospect of a Magic Stone. To grow stronger through Beast Magic, Magic Stones from unknown monsters were essential.
The one catch was that since no one knew where this lake had come from—and since the creature was likely not from this world at all—there was a real chance it didn't even have a Magic Stone.
(Then again, the idea that monsters contain Magic Stones is just common sense in this world.)
Keeping his eyes on the Water Strider closing in, Rei thought this through, then shouted.
"Enemy attack! Unknown creature, presumed hostile!"
Since only one monster had appeared, the odds were high that they could handle it themselves. Even so, there was a chance this Water Strider skimming across the lake was just the first of many. Given that possibility, as a lookout, he had no choice but to sound the alarm for everyone. The fact that it was about time for people to wake up anyway may have also factored into his decision.
Sure enough, sounds of movement filtered out from the Birth Tower—people roused by Rei's shout.
In the middle of a city, taking immediate action upon waking would have been difficult. But under field conditions—though since they were sleeping inside the Birth Tower, calling it a true camp-out might be inaccurate—the hallmark of a skilled adventurer was the ability to react the instant danger approached, even from sleep. And every person gathered at this tower was a skilled adventurer.
The Lizardmen, too, were trained as soldiers; they could respond to a degree right away. Above all, knowing Gaga's personality, it wouldn't be surprising if he sensed the tension of battle and came rushing out, even without understanding what Rei had shouted.
"It's coming!" One of the adventurers spotted the Water Strider gliding across the lake toward them and barked a warning.
"I'm attacking—we're good, right!?"
At the bowman's shout, Rei nodded, drawing Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring.
"Yeah, go! Flying Slash!"
Even as he gave the order, Rei unleashed his own Flying Slash. The slash tore through the air in a straight line—but the Water Strider pulled an unexpected move, sliding diagonally backward as if gliding on ice, and the attack missed cleanly. The arrow the archer loosed was likewise dodged, as effortlessly as if evading it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Little bastard!"
The swordsman of the group spat the words out, watching the creature's movements with visible disgust.
Rei didn't voice it, but he shot the Water Strider an equally irritated glare as it skimmed across the water, almost as if mocking them.
Normally, no matter the creature, there was always some tell before it moved—some shift of weight, some preparatory motion. But this thing glided across the surface with absolutely no warning. If it had shifted its weight to move, predicting its path would at least be possible. But how it was propelling itself with no visible sign at all was a mystery.
What was certain was that it was a troublesome opponent.
"So, what's the plan?" one of the adventurers asked Rei. He asked because he knew Rei was the strongest person present—and he wasn't wrong.
If asked whether there was a way to deal with the Water Strider on the water, Rei would answer immediately: yes. If they attacked from the air on Set's back, they could bring it down even if it moved freely across the surface.
"Set!"
"Grrrrl!"
Without needing a specific command, as if he knew exactly what was expected of him, Set took a few running steps, flapped his wings, and launched himself skyward.
The giant Water Strider glanced briefly at Set but immediately redirected its attention toward Rei and the others on the shore...
"Magic Shield!"
Reflexively, Rei activated the skill. A powerful Shield of Light materialized before him, capable of blocking an attack at least once.
The instant Rei stepped forward with the shield raised, the Water Strider unleashed a jet of compressed acid from its mouth.
Ordinary Water Striders fed by pouring digestive fluid into insect carcasses, dissolving the insides, and slurping up the remains. That fluid wasn't particularly strong, and they certainly couldn't project it at distant targets the way this one was doing.
The attack was essentially an acid Water Cutter—but it slammed into Rei's Magic Shield and was stopped cold.
"Grrrrrrl!"
Even as Rei blocked the blast, Set dove from above and drove a front leg straight into the Water Strider's head. The combination of falling speed, Set's own brute strength, and the Bracelet of Herculean Strength sent the creature's head exploding apart. As its body lurched off-balance and began to sink into the lake, Set caught the carcass in his beak.
Despite his plunge from the sky, Set didn't so much as touch the water—a testament to his extraordinary aerial control.
"Nice!"
"Whoa!"
"That was incredible..."
"Whoa."
Rei and the three adventurers each murmured at the spectacle before them. Set's sequence of moves had been so flawless that gasps of admiration were entirely warranted.
"Rei, what happened!"
Right on cue, the Knight burst from the tower. He usually wore armor, but having just woken up, he was still in plain clothes.
"You're a little late," Rei said, watching the Magic Shield that had absorbed the acid Water Cutter fade away.
The Knight looked mildly apologetic. "Sorry. What happened?"
"Monster attack. Like I said, just look at the corpse next to Set."
The Knight followed Rei's gaze. Set had laid the Water Strider's body on the ground—about a meter long, though slightly smaller than its original size now that its head had been destroyed.
"It's... missing its head? What kind of monster was this?"
"A Water Strider monster. Though, being a monster, it had changed quite a bit from the original. The mouth area in particular had evolved significantly... or maybe 'evolved' isn't the right word. Either way, it was different."
The other adventurers had witnessed the acid Water Cutter attack as well, so Rei filled the Knight in on the details. None of them had ever seen such a creature before, and they concluded it was likely a new species.
Not that a new species was anything particularly unusual in Gilm, given its location on the frontier. In a more central region, it might have raised eyebrows, but out here, it was just another day.
"Hmm. Is this new species a lone individual? Are there more?"
"From what we can see, it's alone. Though given the size of this lake, it's entirely possible there are others."
The Knight felt a measure of relief. Daskar was scheduled to come inspect the lake that very morning. If someone was attacked by a monster here, it would reflect poorly on the Knight. Technically, this was outdoors, and on the frontier, monster attacks could happen at any time—but it would still be a mark against him.
"I see. For now, should we dissect this one here? Or do you want to store it in your Item Box, Rei?"
Set had killed the Water Strider, and Rei had blocked its attack. The other three adventurers understood this and wouldn't dream of demanding a cut. This kind of professionalism was exactly why the Guild trusted them with this assignment. If they'd been the type to lack all courtesy and demand a share at the first opportunity, the Knight would have filed a complaint and had them pulled from the duty.
"Yeah. It's not that big, so we might as well dissect it here. But with a new species, we have no idea which parts are valuable or how much they'd sell for, so I can't just hack into it carelessly."
If Rei casually dissected it and tossed aside a part that turned out to be valuable, he'd be kicking himself. He wasn't particularly skilled at dissection to begin with, and the risk of damaging something precious was all too real. Given that, the adventurers here—all seasoned hands—were unquestionably better at the task than he was.
"Fair enough. Let's do it here, then. Though if we took it to the Guild, they might have some information."
Even if no one here recognized the creature, the Guild had extensive records. It was entirely possible that this supposedly new species wasn't new at all. But having it dissected at the Guild would mean waiting, and Gilm was so busy these days that every day felt like a battlefield. Asking them to research the Water Strider would eat up precious time.
More importantly, what Rei truly wanted wasn't just the materials—it was the Magic Stone. If he could obtain one, which was essential for Beast Magic, he was willing to forgo some of the monster's other parts entirely.
Since he kept Beast Magic a secret, his cover story for collecting Magic Stones was that he was simply a collector. And since collectors gathered all manner of things, there was nothing odd about someone amassing Magic Stones.
...Of course, collecting Magic Stones as a hobby meant either commissioning adventurers to gather them or hunting monsters yourself, which set the bar quite high. Since Rei only used the collector story as a front, it would be extremely awkward if someone who actually collected Magic Stones asked to see his collection.
In any case, it was settled—they would begin the dissection, and the three adventurers started prepping. As an added incentive, Rei had promised them a fancy breakfast in exchange for taking on the job.
Word of the commotion had spread, and other adventurers who'd woken up drifted over to observe, curiosity piqued. Everyone, it seemed, was fascinated by the new species.
The dissection began, but then—
"Huh? This monster doesn't have a Magic Stone."
One of the adventurers looked up and announced.