"Hey, Rei! Try eating this! It's delicious!"
"...Ah, yeah."
Having finished sketching the lake's shape on paper, Rei descended to the ground with Set, where a campfire was already burning.
Well, a campfire alone wouldn't have been an issue—they did that at night too. The problem was that fish skewered on wooden branches were being grilled over it.
Where those fish had come from was obvious enough without even thinking about it.
Several of the Fleeing Adventurers who had been investigating the lake until moments ago were directing expectant gazes toward the grilling fish.
Rei understood how they felt.
Back when he was in Japan, whenever summer came around, he would take a harpoon and head to the river, catching fish like Ayu, Yamame, and Iwana, grilling them over a campfire and eating them as a side dish to the rice balls he'd brought for lunch.
It was nothing more than salt-grilled fish, yet for some reason it tasted better than the fish grilled at home—the kind his mother had bought from the supermarket.
Partly it was the experience of eating outdoors, and partly it was simply that fish like Ayu were genuinely delicious to begin with.
So he understood the impulse to eat fish caught from the lake and call them delicious. He understood, but... he still couldn't help wondering whether it was really safe to eat fish from that lake as-is.
The biggest concern was whether fish caught from that lake were truly safe for consumption.
It was a fact that the Lizardman Children had eaten fish they caught themselves without any ill effects.
With that in mind, it wasn't strange for the Fleeing Adventurers to be grilling fish.
(Besides, ultimately, unless someone actually eats them, there's no way to know whether they're poisonous. In that sense, these guys are putting their own bodies on the line to test the fish for poison. ...In that case, there's no need for me to stop them, is there?)
Having reached that conclusion, Rei addressed the Fleeing Adventurers grilling fish over the campfire.
"It's fine to eat those fish, but since you don't know what kind they are, be careful."
"We know. We've got potions and antidotes and that sort of thing ready, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"...You want to eat grilled fish that badly?"
Given that they had even prepared potions and antidotes, it wasn't unreasonable for words of exasperation to slip from Rei's mouth.
Thinking "Why go that far?" was only natural.
Of course, Rei also enjoyed eating.
But what Rei ate was strictly safe food. If asked whether he wanted to eat potentially poisonous, unknown fish... unless he was on the verge of starving to death, his honest answer would be that he'd rather pass.
"I get it! I understand how you feel, Rei, and I understand what you want to say. But you see, a man's got things he's gotta do."
"No, I understand that such things exist, but whether this qualifies as one of them... I can't exactly nod along to that."
"Gruu?"
Surprisingly, it was Set who questioned this with a puzzled rumble in response to Rei's words.
Aside from Rei, no one else could have understood what Set was thinking.
"Set?"
"Gruu! Grururururu, grururuu!"
Not just the man, but a gryphon too has things he's gotta do! — or so Set rumbled from his throat.
Rei observed Set's demeanor... and suddenly realized something.
Even while looking at Rei's face, Set had been glancing several times toward the fish grilling over the campfire.
Seeing that, Rei understood what Set was hoping for.
In other words, just like the Fleeing Adventurers grilling fish, Set wanted to eat fish himself. That must have been what he was thinking.
It wasn't that Rei couldn't understand the feeling, but even so, feeding fish to Set...
"Gruu?"
But as if reading Rei's thoughts, Set turned his round eyes toward him.
Am I not allowed to eat?
If anyone who loved Set—like Mirene or Yohanna—had seen this sight, they would have succumbed to its power in an instant.
However, Rei was always with Set.
Even in a situation like this, Rei wouldn't simply cave to Set's pleading...
"Set is a gryphon, so he's probably more resistant to poison and things like that than humans."
Though not entirely straightforwardly, Rei acknowledged Set's request.
Though it didn't show on his face, Rei was also weak when it came to Set.
No—if anything, it was precisely because Rei was always with Set that his affection had grown so strong.
That said, if this were truly dangerous, Rei wouldn't have permitted it so easily.
The reason he allowed it was partly that Set would probably be fine, but also because inside Rei's Misty Ring were highly effective—simultaneously quite expensive—potions and antidotes.
"Grurururuu!"
Yaaay! Set let out a happy cry.
...Hearing Set's cry, several ripples appeared on the water's surface, but unfortunately, no one noticed them.
"●●●, ●●?"
A voice suddenly called out to Rei, who had been entertaining Set.
Turning his gaze toward the source of the voice, he found Gaga standing there.
With a height nearly double Rei's, Gaga hunched down to ask his question, and depending on how you looked at it, the sight could seem like he was threatening Rei.
In reality, Rei was stronger than Gaga, so "threatening" didn't quite apply.
Regardless, what Gaga wanted was obvious from the fact that he was pointing at the fish grilling over the campfire.
Is it okay to eat now? — that was likely what he was asking Rei.
Rei still couldn't understand the words precisely, but considering Gaga's personality, he probably wasn't far off the mark.
At Gaga's behavior, Rei directed his gaze toward the fish.
There, the fish had reached what appeared to be the perfect degree of doneness—enough to make anyone want to eat them.
Rei didn't know who had done it, but several cuts had been made in the surface of the fish, and the white flesh visible through them further stimulated the appetite.
Gulp.
Looking at the salt-grilled fish, Rei involuntarily swallowed.
"That's right. From the looks of it, they should be about ready to eat. Seems they've been cooked through properly."
The frightening thing about river fish was, above all else, parasites. ...This was a lake, though.
But if they were cooked through this thoroughly, there was no need to worry about that.
Of course, if Rei knew a fish had parasites, he wouldn't want to eat it.
"Alright! Then I'll eat the first one!"
One of the Fleeing Adventurers shouted, pulled a fish skewer from beside the campfire, and bit into it in one go.
"Hot! ...Ooh, but this is delicious. No, seriously delicious."
Taking one bite, then two of the salt-grilled fish, the Adventurer Man declared as much.
(I've never eaten lake fish before, but fundamentally they shouldn't be that different from river fish... right? If so, I'm sure they're delicious, but enough to merit that level of praise?)
This was likely because Rei had grown up in the countryside.
From a young age, he had been eating fish like Ayu—fish generally classified as premium—on a regular basis.
That was why his baseline for taste had been set there.
The analogy wasn't perfect, but it was similar to how even magnificent nature worthy of being designated a World Heritage Site was simply something that was supposed to be there to the people who lived in it—not something to be particularly impressed by.
That was why Rei couldn't understand why the Adventurer Man kept repeating how delicious it was.
Of course, he wasn't saying it tasted bad, but...
(Ah, but in Gilm, there normally aren't many opportunities to eat fresh fish. Thinking about it that way, maybe it's not so strange?)
There were rivers near Gilm, so it wasn't impossible to catch river fish.
But considering the number of residents in Gilm relative to the catch... and especially now, with even more people than usual due to the Expansion Construction, opportunities to eat fresh river fish were few and far between.
As a result, most of the fish available to eat was preserved food—salt-cured fish transported from the sea.
In Rei's case, he had large quantities of ocean-caught fish stored in his Misty Ring, so he could prepare fresh fish ready for sashimi whenever he wanted.
"So it's delicious, then? Any abnormalities? Numbness anywhere, nausea coming on, chills?"
"No, none of that at all. It's just a normally delicious fish."
The Adventurer Man, eating the fish while blowing on it—whether because it was freshly grilled and hot—answered Rei.
Rei carefully observed the Adventurer Man, but true to his words, nothing particularly unusual could be seen.
Satisfied that the fish was genuinely free of any kind of poison, Rei felt relieved.
...Of course, some poisons were slow-acting, so he couldn't be completely at ease.
"For now, as far as I can tell, they're safe, so anyone who wants to eat can go ahead. ...However, that's only based on what I've seen so far. It's possible some symptoms might appear later, so stay careful."
At Rei's words, the Fleeing Adventurers who had been watching the situation reached for the fish, and slightly behind them, the Lizardmen reached for the fish as well.
Rei also grabbed one of the grilled fish skewers.
However, this wasn't for Rei to eat—it was to feed Set, who was watching with round eyes, wanting to eat beside him.
"Here, Set. But if you feel anything strange after eating this fish, spit it out immediately."
"Gruu."
Okay! — Set responded to Rei's words, but knowing how much Set loved eating, Rei couldn't fully believe him.
Rei also enjoyed eating himself, so he fully understood Set's desire to eat delicious food.
"Make sure you're careful, alright?"
"Hey now, Rei. I understand you worrying about Set, but isn't that a bit much? Set's a gryphon, so you don't need to worry that much."
An Adventurer said this with a hint of exasperation while eating the fish.
It wasn't just that Adventurer—the other Fleeing Adventurers were also conveying with their expressions that Rei was worrying too much.
It was precisely because they themselves were eating the lake fish that they found Rei's behavior questionable.
(Hmm, should I really tell them that this lake was teleported from another world?)
The reason the Fleeing Adventurers were eating the fish without sensing any danger at all was because they believed the lake had been teleported from somewhere within this world.
In other words, they had concluded that since the lake had existed in this world, eating its fish posed no problem.
...In reality, there was no guarantee anywhere that even fish from the same world would be safe.
Undecided about what to do, Rei turned his gaze toward the knight—the only one here who, to some degree, knew the actual circumstances.
Receiving the look that carried the meaning What should we do?, the knight shook his head.
(Is that okay?)
He thought that, but since the knight held command authority here, Rei decided to stay silent for now.
"Zozo, the Lizardmen are... no, I can tell without asking."
'Yes. Everyone is saying they're delicious and eating them.'
So Zozo replied, but unlike the other Lizardmen and Gaga, Zozo was not eating any fish.
As far as Rei knew, fish was supposed to be Zozo's favorite food.
Wondering why Zozo wasn't eating any, Rei asked.
"Zozo, why aren't you eating?"
'I couldn't possibly eat when Lord Rei has not yet eaten.'
"...I see."
Reminded that Zozo's loyalty was indeed high, Rei recalled.
That said, Rei wasn't particularly demanding that sort of thing... he wasn't asking Zozo to refrain from eating until he himself did.
"For now, you can eat if you want. But since these are unfamiliar fish, there's no guarantee they're completely free of poison, so be careful about that."
'May I really?'
"Yeah, I don't mind. Actually, you don't need to worry too much about that."
At Rei's words, Zozo looked slightly apologetic... and yet, apparently still holding strong interest in the fish, he reached for one of the remaining grilled fish skewers.
(But quite a few of them are eating grilled fish, so they must have caught quite a haul.)
Rei had been riding Set in the sky sketching the lake's shape for about twenty minutes.
In that time, the number of fish caught had reached several dozen.
Considering they hadn't had fishing rods or nets, all he could do was honestly marvel at how many fish they had managed to catch in such a short period.
Was it because there had been no people, so the fish's wariness was low? Rei mused, but considering that monsters had actually been present, he concluded that probably wasn't the case.