"Hmm... yeah. For now, it should be fine."
"Gruu."
Unable to sleep in the middle of the night, Rei had stepped out of the Birth Tower with Set and made his way to the center of the Treant Forest.
...Naturally, they had traveled there with Rei riding on Set. Set's sharp five senses were well known even among the Fleeing Adventurers, which was exactly why the adventurer on watch had shot Rei a displeased look when he said he was taking Set along.
Still, the adventurers entrusted with guarding the Birth Tower could handle watch duty as a matter of course.
Having Set around simply meant they could relax a little, nothing more.
That was precisely why they resented Rei taking Set—but if Set wasn't there, they could manage the watch themselves.
Under those circumstances, Rei had come to the central part of the Treant Forest with Set.
He wanted to make sure nothing had gone wrong.
The path leading to the Underground Space had been rendered invisible by Marina's Spirit Magic.
Given that, there was no real need to worry... but even so, with the Wisp on his mind, he had wanted to check just in case.
At least from what he could see having come all this way, there were no particular problems.
"Once researchers are dispatched and knights are properly assigned to protect this place, I probably won't need to come all the way here to check anymore."
The reason he said knights rather than adventurers was simply because knights swore deeper loyalty to Daskar than adventurers did.
For Daskar, what mattered in a person guarding this place was ability, yes, but loyalty was even more essential.
The Wisp was simply that important an existence.
(Lord Daskar will probably come to see this place himself eventually, but when exactly that'll be is anyone's guess.)
The lake was a similar case—Daskar had gone to see it in person.
But this Underground Space where the Wisp resided was undoubtedly a place of far greater significance to Daskar.
Precisely because it was more important than the lake, he couldn't simply ride out by Carriage the way he had when he went to inspect the lake.
This place needed to be kept secret from as many people as possible.
(That would mean the Set Basket, after all? No, the Set Basket is conspicuous in its own way.)
While flying through the sky, the Set Basket could use its abilities to avoid standing out.
But once it descended to the ground, it could no longer blend into the surrounding scenery, and would inevitably draw attention.
Given those circumstances, bringing Daskar by Set Basket was out of the question.
That left the idea of having him ride a horse or something with no escort... or perhaps only those who already knew about the Wisp—starting with Rei—would accompany him as guards on the journey to the Treant Forest.
That said, it was the only idea Rei could come up with for now, and whether it could actually be pulled off was another matter entirely.
"Gruu?"
"Nah, it's nothing. I was just thinking about how to bring Lord Daskar here."
Rei replied to Set, who was asking what was wrong.
Set purred as if to say I'll do it!
For Set, he probably just thought that since Rei was troubled, he wanted to do something about it.
(Well, if we did it the way Vihera and the others often do—grabbing onto Set's legs and flying—it wouldn't matter whether the Set Basket works or not... but even with a safety line, I obviously can't make Lord Daskar do something like that.)
Daskar, the lord of Gilm who led the Neutral Faction, was an irreplaceable existence.
Of course, if Daskar were gone, someone would succeed him.
But if asked whether that person could do what Daskar did, Rei would probably say they couldn't.
...He qualified it with "probably," but in truth, Rei's prediction was that it would be absolutely impossible.
That was just how rare an existence Daskar was.
If he made a man like that dangle from Set's front legs to travel, Rei would undoubtedly be blamed.
Daskar would be blamed too, but Rei, who had actually carried it out, would bear the real criticism.
For those reasons, Rei couldn't do something like that.
"Sorry, Set."
"Gruu?"
As he apologized and stroked Set's head, Set seemed unable to understand why he was being apologized to, and purred in puzzlement.
Still, he liked having his head stroked by Rei, so he didn't react otherwise.
"Alright, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong here, so let's head back... or so I was thinking."
Before Rei could finish his sentence, Set noticed first.
A moment later, Rei noticed too.
Someone... no, something was approaching.
Under normal circumstances, whatever was coming would be a monster or something similar.
But if it were just an ordinary monster, the moment it sensed Set's presence, it would abandon any intention to attack and flee the area immediately—and that wouldn't be strange at all.
However, the approaching monster was already close enough that it should have detected Set, yet it showed no sign of retreating.
If anything, the speed of the approaching presence seemed to be increasing.
"Waooooooooon!"
What reached them was a howl.
From that cry, Rei could guess it was probably a Wolf-type monster.
But if so, something was off.
Fundamentally, Wolf-type monsters shared similar habits with animal wolves, and most acted in packs.
Despite that, the howl that had just echoed came from only one.
And the presence approaching was also alone.
It was entirely possible that an individual expelled from its pack for some reason had grown desperate from hunger or some other cause, and come to attack Rei and Set.
But even so, the howl seemed filled with fighting spirit.
Not the cry of something cornered, but of something seeking battle of its own accord...
"Waoooooon!"
"Waooooon!"
"Waooooooooon!"
Next came three howls.
The approaching presence was only one, so why? —even as that question crossed Rei's mind, he drew Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring.
Set, likewise apparently displeased that his time playing with Rei had been interrupted, readied himself to deal with any enemy at a moment's notice and waited.
Then... emerging through the gaps between the trees was a giant dog monster.
Yes, a giant dog with three faces.
Naturally, Rei knew the name of that monster.
"A Cerberus, huh. No wonder it didn't retreat even after sensing Set."
Honestly, encountering a Cerberus was unexpected.
Its body was the same size as Set.
It had black fur, but each strand was long and sharp like needles.
It possessed enough presence that a halfhearted weapon strike would be deflected by that fur alone.
Additionally, its three heads wore ferocious expressions, and along with Flame Breath glowing in the darkness of night, they glared at Set and Rei.
B-Rank Monster, Cerberus.
However, its abilities were said to be as close to A-Rank as possible.
It had an extremely savage temperament, and even when facing a higher-ranked monster, it would not flee.
No, rather, it would gladly attack.
For such a Cerberus, Rei and Set were without a doubt the perfect opponents on which to unleash its fighting spirit.
Waooooooooon!
This time, all three heads howled simultaneously... and that howl served as the signal for the start of battle.
Fighting Rei and Set was a three-headed Cerberus.
It was a two-on-one battle, but considering the three heads, one could also call it two-on-three.
The Cerberus came charging at Rei, attempting to bite with all three heads.
The reason it targeted Rei rather than Set was probably the difference in body size.
Both Set and the Cerberus were about three meters in length.
Perhaps it wanted to defeat the weaker opponent first before fighting Set, who matched it in size, or perhaps it thought Rei was weaker than Set.
Rei couldn't tell the exact reason, but if the opponent was coming to attack him, that was exactly what he wanted.
He had never fought a Cerberus before; it was an unknown monster.
In other words, by using its Magic Stone, there was a possibility he could acquire a skill through Beast Magic.
No, considering it was a B-Rank Monster, he should definitely be able to acquire a skill.
"Flying Slash!"
The Flying Slash released from Death Scythe flew toward the Cerberus.
That said, the opponent was a B-Rank Monster.
Rei didn't think he could defeat it with Flying Slash, and this strike was merely a feint.
The Cerberus lowered its stance while running and easily evaded the Flying Slash.
Even with its body lowered, its running speed didn't change at all, and it leaped straight at Rei, all three heads baring their fangs.
If the Cerberus had two heads, he could manage with both hands.
But it had three.
With just his right and left hands, he couldn't counter that assault.
"Normally, yeah!"
Rei swung Death Scythe, imbued with magical power, in a wide arc.
That strike carried more than enough weight to send the Cerberus flying.
Death Scythe, which weighed a hundred kilograms, became nearly weightless when held by Rei or Set.
With that single blow, he struck one of its faces—and even with a body comparable to Set's, it was not a blow it could withstand.
The Cerberus was sent flying sideways.
Still befitting a B-Rank Monster, it bounced off the ground a few times mid-flight and regained its stance.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
All three heads growled in unison toward Rei as a threat.
The growling itself wasn't much different from Set's, but the emotion behind it was something else entirely. What came from the Cerberus was a sound that would make any ordinary adventurer tremble—and it wouldn't be strange if they did.
"Come on. You're not done after just that one hit, are you?"
Rei taunted, still holding Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear at the ready.
Even if it couldn't understand his words, the Cerberus seemed to sense it was being provoked, and kicked off the ground to lunge at Rei.
"Power Slash!"
Gyan!
Power Slash, which drastically increased the power of a single strike.
It possessed more than enough force to send a Cerberus of roughly three meters in length flying.
Moreover, though it was sent flying just like before, the power was completely different from the previous strike.
Last time, the Cerberus had managed to stop itself by bouncing off the ground a few times. This time, it didn't bounce at all—flying straight and level as if a ball had been thrown, it only stopped when it crashed into a tree.
"Take thi—eh!"
Toward the Cerberus that had hit the tree and fallen to the ground, Rei hurled the Twilight Spear in his left hand.
"Gau!"
It must have noticed the thrown spear. The Cerberus's middle head let out a sharp cry, and from its fallen position, it kicked off the ground in one explosive motion to evade the attack.
But that movement was within Rei's expectations.
Having thrown the Twilight Spear, Rei was already gripping Death Scythe and had closed the distance in a single burst.
Closing in on the Cerberus before it had fully regained its stance, Rei recalled the Twilight Spear, which was stuck in the ground, back to his hand.
Returning to hand merely by willing it—one of the Twilight Spear's special abilities.
Having closed the distance, Rei saw all three heads' mouths open simultaneously, and the moment he caught a glimpse of faint flames deep in their throats, he poured strength into the hand gripping Death Scythe and activated a skill.
"Magic Shield!"
In an instant, a Shield of Light appeared.
At the same time, Fire Breath was unleashed simultaneously from all three of the Cerberus's mouths.
Normally, it would carry enough power to easily burn a person to ashes.
Considering it was a B-Rank Monster—and one ranked among the upper tier at that—this was only natural.
But Magic Shield, though only once, completely blocked any attack.
Even if it somehow broke through the Magic Shield, Rei was wearing the Dragon Robe, made from dragon materials.
Fire of a B-Rank Monster's caliber couldn't so much as singe it.
And as the Fire Breath faded and the Magic Shield shattered, Rei stepped forward... and slashed.
With a single strike of Death Scythe, all three of the Cerberus's heads were severed.