"Hoh, so this is..."
In front of the lake, Daskar murmured as if the words had slipped out involuntarily.
That said, while his gaze was directed at the lake, he was also eyeing something else entirely.
The Slime was still burning, even after a full night had passed.
Given that the Slime was about the size of a mountain or a hill, it inevitably drew the eye.
A giant Slime engulfed in flames, and a lake of comparable size to Gilm itself.
The two were contrasting in every way—fire and water.
"Yes. It's the lake that teleported in," the knight who had remained at the scene replied. "Honestly, I have no idea where it teleported from, but I believe it will be a great benefit to Gilm. However, the monsters..."
Daskar shifted his gaze from the burning Slime and the lake to the knight and nodded.
"I've heard the report. Besides, anyone would understand the situation after seeing something like that."
"That Slime is... quite a special case, I imagine. But even setting it aside, the other monsters had their own peculiarities as well."
"The Magic Stones."
Daskar answered, recalling the report from the adventurer who had brought the news to the Lord's Manor.
A monster without a Magic Stone was undoubtedly a highly troublesome existence.
If only one or two monsters lacked Magic Stones, they could be considered rare and precious anomalies.
But if every monster living in a lake this massive lacked Magic Stones, it would become extremely problematic.
Without Magic Stones, the number of adventurers willing to hunt the monsters in this lake would inevitably decline. After all, the part of a monster that fetched the highest price was the Magic Stone.
Even the parts other than the Magic Stone could be sold if they had some use, so it wasn't as if there would be no money to be made at all—but still, not being able to obtain the most valuable Magic Stones was a significant blow.
"Yes. If possible, I was hoping that the monsters Rei... rather, that Set killed would be the type to carry their Magic Stone in the head."
"That would be difficult."
As someone who had fought many monsters as a knight, Daskar understood full well that monsters with Magic Stones in their heads were quite rare.
However, given that the lake had come from another world, it was still more believable that the monsters had Magic Stones in their heads rather than none at all. And more importantly, if it became public knowledge that monsters existed without Magic Stones, it would cause yet another uproar, further increasing the workload of Daskar, who already had almost no time to rest.
(Well, it's probably impossible, though.)
Daskar judged that this was merely wishful thinking, and without pressing the point, he shifted his gaze from the knight to Rei.
"In any case, Rei. How long is that giant roasted Slime going to keep burning?"
"How long, you ask... I can only say it'll keep burning until that Slime is completely burned to death, I suppose."
"And you don't know when that will be?"
"I don't. To be honest, the magic I used was extremely powerful. So powerful that if it were an ordinary Slime or something nearby, everything including its Magic Stone would have been incinerated in an instant. No—rather than a Slime, I can confidently say that most monsters would have been burned to death."
"But that Slime is still alive?"
"Yes. As you can tell from its size, that Slime was probably what we'd call a Rare Species or something along those lines. Or perhaps a High-ranking Species."
A Rare Species was a monster that possessed abilities not normally found in others of its kind.
Set, for example.
An ordinary Gryphon could not master such a wide variety of skills. In reality, since Set was a Gryphon created through Beast Magic, he couldn't really be called an ordinary Gryphon by any stretch.
In any case, a High-ranking Species was to a Rare Species what an Orc King was to an ordinary Orc.
A Slime that had taken Rei's magic head-on and was still burning without dying—it was believable enough if someone called it a Rare Species or a High-ranking Species.
If pressed on which specifically, Rei could only hesitate.
"Seeing that size, I can accept your explanation. Regardless, all we can do is keep it burning. Is that the situation?"
"That's correct. Fortunately, as long as it keeps burning from my magic, that Slime can't move. So aside from it being hot and bright even at night, there shouldn't be any problems."
"My concern is whether that brightness at night will attract monsters. What about that?"
"Hmm, I wonder about that. They say beasts fear fire, but..."
Rei said as much, but in reality, there were beasts completely unfamiliar with fire—beasts that had never had contact with humans—and if such a beast were curious, it might approach the fire on its own.
What's more, monsters were often more ferocious than beasts. There was no guarantee that seeing fire, they wouldn't assume prey was nearby and approach.
Of course, even if they did approach, if they tried to force their way through and touch the Slime, they would simply be burned to death.
"So you can't deny the possibility. And as long as there's a chance that people, not just animals, might come here, we'll need to be more vigilant than before."
Even as he said this, there was a gentle warmth in Daskar's eyes.
He was likely feeling soothed by the sight of the Lizardman Children playing by the lake.
Setting aside exceptionally large Lizardmen like Gaga, Lizardmen were generally tall and powerfully built.
Compared to such adult Lizardmen, the Lizardman Children currently in Daskar's line of sight were small and adorable.
Rei and the knight could understand why Daskar found the sight soothing.
In Daskar's case, it might also have been a form of escapism from his mountain of paperwork.
The Lizardman Children wagged their small tails as they played in the shallows.
He had been feeling warm and fuzzy watching those children, but...
'Ah.'
The voices of Daskar, Rei, and the knight rang out in unison.
The reason was that a Lizardman child had suddenly crouched down and thrust its hand swiftly into the water—and when it pulled its hand back out, it had caught a fish.
If that had been all, they would have been impressed but not surprised.
But the Lizardman child had bitten off everything from the head to the body of the fish it grasped in its talons.
Naturally, blood from the remaining lower half of the fish dripped into the water.
What had been a cheerful scene just moments ago transformed in an instant into something grisly—or so it seemed.
The one most affected was undoubtedly Daskar, who had been feeling soothed watching the Lizardman Children.
"Come to think of it, Zozo likes fish, doesn't he?"
Rei, who recovered a step earlier, remarked.
For a fish-lover like Zozo, a lake with fish swimming in it must be an ideal fishing ground.
"Wait, hold on. They're eating the fish without a second thought—is that safe?"
At first, Rei didn't understand what Daskar was asking, but he quickly realized the reason.
This lake had most likely teleported from a third world, separate from the Gran Dragonia Empire.
In other words, even if something looked like a fish, it might not actually be a fish, or it might contain components incompatible with a Lizardman's body.
What's more, some fish were poisonous, like pufferfish. Catching a swimming fish without prior knowledge and tearing it apart raw without cooking it was far too dangerous.
Then again, now that they had already eaten it, it was too late.
"Zozo!"
Nevertheless, as a precaution, Rei called out to him.
Zozo, who had been observing the situation near the children, approached immediately upon hearing Rei's voice.
'Lord Rei, is something the matter?'
"This lake..."
Saying that, Rei suddenly glanced at the knight.
Daskar had hinted that this lake had teleported from a world different from the Gran Dragonia Empire, and Rei was wondering whether it was all right to mention that in front of the knight.
As if understanding the meaning behind Rei's gaze, Daskar nodded to him.
The fact that it came from another world would likely become known eventually, and above all, the knights who served Daskar were all trustworthy individuals.
If a knight were to betray Daskar, he was prepared to simply accept that outcome.
"This lake most likely teleported from a world different from yours. In other words, even if they're fish, there may be poisonous ones among them. And yet the children are eating them raw without any concern—is that really all right?"
The knight reacted for a moment at the words "different world," but did nothing more and said nothing, simply watching Rei and Zozo's exchange.
'Poison? That is something I had not considered, but if one were to die from it, then that too would have been fate.'
He stated this flatly.
The answer was apparently so entirely unexpected that Rei, Daskar, and even the knight who had heard the words "different world" all wore expressions of shock.
"Huh? Is that okay? Depending on the fish, they could die, you know?"
'Yes.'
Rei didn't know the specifics of what fish poison was actually like.
Even so, he had seen on TV back in Japan that pufferfish was called "teppou"—meaning rifle—and he knew the reason behind it.
Because many people who ate pufferfish died, it was called "teppou."
In other words, pufferfish possessed poison potent enough to kill a person.
He didn't think there were large numbers of poisonous fish, but it was only natural to be concerned.
The Lizardman Zozo was far less worried about the Lizardman Children than Rei and the others were.
Then again, if told that it was a Lizardman custom, Rei and the group would have had no choice but to accept it.
Even if something seemed off from their perspective, they couldn't force their views on the Lizardmen.
Of course, if that custom caused harm to the residents of Gilm, then Daskar, as the lord of Gilm, would need to take appropriate measures.
"...Lord Daskar, setting the Lizardmen aside for now, we need to investigate whether it's safe for us to eat as well."
"You're right. If there's no poison involved, this lake will be a blessing for Gilm."
The most anticipated thing to come from this lake was, after all, fresh fish. Next would be water resources and materials from new species of monsters—monsters that likely lacked Magic Stones.
That was precisely why an investigation of the lake was essential.
(The question is who to assign to it.)
An investigation of an unknown location was bound to be difficult.
What's more, if it were a location on land like a mountain, forest, or cave, Gilm's adventurers would be accustomed to it—but the location in question was a lake.
Not just any lake, but one that had likely teleported from another world, and vast enough to be called expansive.
There wasn't no one in Gilm experienced with investigating such locations, but their numbers were certainly few.
Even among Gilm's adventurers, their backgrounds varied widely.
Some had been born and raised in Gilm before becoming adventurers, while others had come to Gilm after being active in various regions.
Among the latter, depending on where they had previously operated, some had experience investigating rivers, lakes, or even the sea. Among such individuals, there were likely those who had investigated lakes before—though not on the scale of this one.
If entrusted to such people, the investigation of this lake could somehow be managed.
Daskar thought so, and shifted his gaze to the burning Slime.
(Fortunately, Marina's investigation confirmed that there are no other giant existences like that Slime. It would help immensely if Marina, who can use Spirit Magic, could conduct the investigation for us.)
He knew she was currently entrusted with treating the injuries of those working on the Expansion Construction, and that she was making considerable—no, extraordinary—contributions there.
He understood she was playing an active role in treating injuries, but right now, the lake investigation should take priority.
Working at the clinic was something that could be done at any time, considering the Expansion Construction was expected to take years to complete.
But the fact remained that the lake investigation needed to be carried out as soon as possible.
"Ah. That's amazing, look at that."
The knight, who had glanced back at the lake, murmured.
What was happening there was the sight of the Lizardman Children slamming their tails onto the water surface in unison.
The fish were stunned by the impact... and the children then caught the fish that eventually floated up and bit into them head-first.
They must have been envious of the other child who had been eating fish earlier.
Since it was the second time, Rei and the others watched the scene without being as shocked.