"Guh—"
Lenora somehow managed to hide her shock at Rei's words.
The name Cerberus carried exactly that much impact for her.
Even in the Frontier, a B-Rank Monster was not something one encountered easily.
The Treant Forest in particular had never produced High-Rank Monsters before.
...There were exceptions like the Gigant Turtle, of course, but at the very least, ever since the forest had become what it was now, no such High-Rank Monsters had appeared.
Then again, there was also that giant Slime that had appeared when the lake was teleported in.
"Yeah. I went ahead and dismantled it, so I'd like to sell off the materials... what should I do?"
"It would draw too much attention here. Could you take them to the warehouse? I'll send a specialist over right away."
Most Guild Staff Members possessed at least a rudimentary ability to appraise materials.
But that was all it was—rudimentary. They couldn't hold a candle to a true specialist.
In that sense, having a dedicated expert appraise the Cerberus materials Rei had brought was undoubtedly the safer bet.
For Rei's part, having someone with specialist knowledge appraise the materials was more than acceptable.
"That'd be a big help. ...So, about the Treant Forest..."
Lenora seemed to understand what Rei was getting at even before he finished.
"Yes. I'll make sure to properly inform the people working in the Treant Forest about the danger. ...It would be nice if we could assign skilled Adventurers there, though."
Lenora trailed off vaguely.
Skilled Adventurers never had a shortage of work.
Diverting such Adventurers to serve as guards for the Woodcutters working in the Treant Forest came with a host of issues.
Naturally, commissioning High-Rank Adventurers also meant higher fees.
"I can't really speak to that side of things, so I'll leave it to the Guild. Anyway, I'll head to the warehouse with the Cerberus materials. Send whoever's in charge over."
"Understood. ...It's a good thing Kenny isn't here."
Lenora said this with genuine feeling, but Rei tilted his head, wondering why.
He knew Kenny had feelings for him, but to bring up her name here of all places...
"Would it have been different if Kenny were here?"
"Um, well... she's not very fond of dog-type monsters."
"...I see."
Could it be because Kenny was a cat Beastman that she disliked dog-type monsters? It wasn't an impossible theory, but Rei decided it was best not to press the topic any further and left the Guild.
"Oh! This is incredible. Cerberus materials of this caliber are not something you come across very often," the Guild Staff Member specializing in material trade exclaimed as he looked over the various Cerberus specimens Rei had produced.
There was likely some flattery mixed in for Rei's benefit, but there was no mistaking that the words were genuinely felt.
That said, he wasn't praising every single material Rei had brought.
Looking at the pelt that had been stripped from the Cerberus, fur still attached, his expression turned visibly disappointed.
"The heads... are missing."
"Ah, yeah. When I killed the Cerberus, I cut all three heads off at once."
"I see... If they were still attached, we could have bought them for a very high price..."
Given that they were top-tier materials, the Guild Staff Member honestly would have preferred them in the best possible condition.
Observing the staff member's reaction, Rei vaguely understood the reasoning.
"If the heads were still attached, were you going to have it taxidermied?"
"Ah. A taxidermied Cerberus is something that nobles... no, anyone wealthy would generally want. After all, as a B-Rank Monster specimen, it's quite rare."
"...I see."
Owning something no one else had meant you could show it off. To say it demonstrated authority was more accurate.
From Rei's perspective, it seemed somewhat absurd, but when nobles negotiated with one another, such things could carry real weight.
That was precisely why the Guild would have wanted an intact Cerberus—something they could sell at a premium as a taxidermy trophy.
"If I'd known beforehand, I might have been able to take it down that way."
"That way"—meaning without severing the heads—the first method that came to Rei's mind was snapping their necks.
Destroying the heart was another option, but doing so risked damaging the Magic Stone.
Since Rei needed the Magic Stone, he wanted to avoid that if at all possible.
That left snapping the necks as the necessary approach.
"It would be helpful if you could kill them that way from now on."
"From now on, huh. Though who knows when I'll run into another Cerberus."
"Well, that's true. ...Hmm? What about the meat? Cerberus meat is delicious, so I'll buy it at a good price."
"Ah, sorry. As for the meat, I'll be keeping it for myself."
Wondering if he intended to eat an entire Cerberus worth of meat, the Guild Staff Member quickly recalled that since Rei was an Item Box User, spoilage wasn't a concern.
Additionally, Rei had the Gryphon Set as a Tamed Monster. Given Set's size, even without the Item Box, it could easily devour that much monster meat on its own.
"I see, understood. ...It's a shame, but I suppose this is everything for the materials."
There was no Magic Stone among the materials Rei had presented, but most Guild personnel knew that collecting Magic Stones was Rei's hobby.
It was an unusual hobby, and under normal circumstances not one that could ever be sustained, but for someone of Rei's strength, it was an entirely different matter.
That was why the Guild Staff Member said nothing about it.
And so, Rei sold the Cerberus materials to the Guild.
"Look, just stay in here. We can provide decent enough meals, so don't worry."
"Sorry for the trouble."
One of the Adventurers locked inside the dungeon bowed to the Knight.
Under normal circumstances, someone thrown into a dungeon would never thank their captor. Visibly uncomfortable, the Knight gave a perfunctory reply before exiting the dungeon.
After seeing the Knight off, the Adventurers looked around.
"This is a dungeon, right? It's not nearly as bad as I expected... what's going on?"
"Hmm, we didn't do anything wrong, but we got locked up because we saw something we shouldn't have. Maybe they just wanted to make sure we weren't too uncomfortable?"
"We're still locked in a dungeon. I don't think it matters how nice it is."
The men here were the Adventurers who had been chased by Cobolts all the way to the lake and the Birth Tower.
Just as the Knight had said, they had been transported to Gilm by a Carriage loaded with food and other supplies. After understanding the situation, Gilm's upper leadership decided to confine them in the dungeon for the time being.
Perhaps feeling somewhat guilty about it, the men had been placed in a dungeon reserved for important figures like nobles, rather than a common one.
"Anyway, they said they'd feed us, so depending on how you look at it, it's not a bad deal, right? All we have to do is sleep here."
"Our bodies are gonna get rusty."
Even as they exchanged this banter, the men continued inspecting the dungeon.
True to its purpose as a VIP cell, even with all five of them locked inside, it only felt slightly cramped—nothing more.
"Yeah, it's pretty solid. ...Actually, it's nicer than our inn. Honestly, if we stay here too long, I'm worried we won't want to leave."
"The beds are high quality too. Yeah, I get what you mean. No rats, either."
"You think? You sure? This is a dungeon. Wouldn't be strange to have a few rats."
"Ah... well, I can't say for certain there are none. We're not exactly the most observant bunch."
As the Adventurers continued their conversation, the sound of a door opening suddenly echoed through the cell.
It wasn't the door to their dungeon cell, but the door at the top of the stairs leading down.
Thinking about it logically, the Knight who had brought them here had just left, so it was unlikely to be a meal delivery.
So who had come?
A flicker of unease passed through the men. Had someone come to silence them after all, now that they had seen the lake and the Birth Tower?
But when they saw the figure descending the stairs carrying blankets, they breathed a collective sigh of relief.
He must have brought blankets because he figured it would get cold in the underground cell at night.
It was spring, and the days could be warm enough to sweat, but the nights were still cold.
Being underground made it even colder.
There were blankets on the beds, but since those were meant for single occupancy, each person only had one.
Figuring the servant had taken that into consideration, the men assumed he had brought extra blankets for them.
After all, he was actually carrying blankets.
The men waited cheerfully for the dungeon door to open... but the man stopped in front of the cell and showed no sign of unlocking it.
"Huh? Hey, wait. What's going on? You brought those blankets for us, right?"
One of the Adventurers called out to the Servant.
But the man ignored the question entirely and said something completely different.
"Silver ring, gold ring, mithril ring. Who holds the ring?"
"!?"
The Adventurers all held their breath at the words that left the Servant's mouth.
They had been told beforehand that someone would contact them.
But they never expected it to be someone like this.
Regardless, they had to respond. Forcing their mouths open despite their shock, one of them spoke.
"Wood Spirit, Treant bears the ring."
"...Passphrase confirmed. Listen, I don't have much time. Let's get straight to the point—what is Daskar hiding?"
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, one of the Adventurers spoke up.
"The lake and the tower. The lake in particular is huge... no, beyond huge. The tower seemed to be a Lizardman den. Also, I'm not sure how to interpret this, but there was a massive ball of fire next to the lake. Apparently they were burning a Slime or something."
"Burning a Slime?"
"Yeah. That's what we heard, at least. But this Slime was enormous... big enough to be a small mountain, maybe. Can you believe something like that exists?"
Growing more animated as he spoke, the Adventurer's tone turned increasingly rough.
One of his companions tugged at his shirt in warning, but the man was too worked up to notice.
"I didn't ask for your opinions. Not your subjective take—just tell me exactly what you saw with your own eyes."
The Servant's words to the excited man were clipped and to the point.
His voice carried unmistakable irritation.
Sensing this acutely, the man fell silent almost reflexively.
Some primal instinct told him that the person standing before him was undeniably powerful.
From there, the man proceeded to relay every piece of information he had been able to gather about the lake to the Servant.
After listening to the entirety of his account, the Servant finally spoke again.
"I will see to it that this information reaches Lord Veen. I imagine you'll be staying in this dungeon for a while, but once you're out, you'll be properly compensated. Stay put for now."
"Got it. Looking forward to that payout."
After this brief exchange, the Servant unlocked the cell door, tossed the blankets inside, and departed.
The Adventurers watched his retreating back, only letting out a long breath once he disappeared from sight.
"Phew... I guess our job is done for now."
"Yeah. Now we just need to actually get paid and we'll be all set... but who knows how that'll go."
They had been hired by a man named Veen, but none of them had ever actually met him in person.
Still, making money sometimes meant crossing dangerous bridges, and that was exactly why they had taken this job.
The job of uncovering what Daskar was hiding.
"But hey... that guy just now. If he can get into a place like this, couldn't he get intel from this side too?"
"Don't dig too deep. You start digging here, you'll never get out."
Feeling a chill run down their spines, the men deliberately changed the subject.