"Gururu, gurururu, gurururururururururu!"
Set let out a happy cry as he paced around the butchered Orc meat, pecking at it little by little with his beak.
It was already nearing evening, and Rei, thinking it was about time to start preparing dinner, called out to him.
"Set, I know you're happy, but knock it off. You should store that away soon. The smell of the meat might draw monsters. ...Actually, they might already be here."
He muttered this upon seeing the Adventurer Man near the lake catch a fish that had suddenly leapt out of the water, bare-handed.
Rei couldn't tell whether it was a fish or a monster, but it was about a meter long, with a snout sharply pointed like a rapier.
A fish whose body was half composed of that feature reminded Rei of the swordfish he had seen on TV back in Japan.
Of course, the creature's overall appearance was more like an elongated fish — a saury or a cutlassfish.
It was clearly the kind of fish that charged at its enemies and attacked with that pointed snout.
And since its body was so slender, anyone on the receiving end would have a hard time defending against it.
...Hard to defend against, yes, but for the adventurers here, handling it was no challenge at all.
"Rei, let's grill this fish up for dinner tonight too."
"Sounds good. ...Still, I didn't expect something to be lured by the smell of meat on the ground and come leaping out of the water. ...Well, I suppose I can't rule out the possibility that it just happened to swim by and wasn't drawn by the smell at all."
A fish that looked like a cross between a swordfish, a cutlassfish, or maybe a saury.
It was the sort of creature that seemed far more suited to the sea than a lake — but then, a lake from another world was bound to harbor unusual fish.
(Then again, there was that massive Slime, and the glowing jellyfish drifting through the sky, and those crocodile-like lizards... there's no shortage of strange things here.)
Whether that ecology was unique to this lake, or whether it had been perfectly ordinary wherever the lake originally came from — Rei couldn't say.
But regardless, it was an undeniable fact that they had caught yet another new species of fish.
"You say you'll eat it, but is it even safe? It's your first time seeing that fish, right?"
"None of the fish we've had so far caused any problems, so I don't think it'll be an issue."
"That's... well, I suppose it's possible there's no issue, but—"
At the very least, he didn't want to eat it himself.
Reading this between the lines, the Adventurer Man who had caught the fish spoke up.
"If you don't want to eat it, Rei, you don't have to. I'll eat this fish myself."
When the man declared he would eat it himself, Rei couldn't exactly object.
If it were obviously poisonous, he could have advised against it.
But among all the fish caught from the lake so far, not a single one had been poisonous.
Considering that, it was entirely possible that not a single poisonous species lived in the lake.
"Hmm... be careful when you eat it, at least. Our job here is to guard the Birth Tower. If someone ends up incapacitated by poison, that's going to be a real hassle."
"I know, I know. If anything happens, I'll deal with it right away, so don't worry."
Seeing the man say it so casually, Rei couldn't help but wonder if it would really be fine — but the adventurer had been assigned here as a guard because the Guild trusted him.
If that was the case, then he would naturally be prepared to handle anything immediately. Rei reconsidered and decided he didn't need to worry about it.
"So, Rei. What's the plan for dinner tonight? For the record, I don't really want to eat that fish. Look at that snout — it's like a rapier. It's crazy you'd want to eat something that dangerous."
"That sort of thing varies from person to person. ...Besides, deciding whether or not to eat something based purely on appearance is a bit problematic."
If appearance were everything, many deep-sea fish would have to be described as grotesque.
Monkfish, one of Rei's favorites, was a prime example.
If someone who knew nothing saw a monkfish, they would never think it could be delicious. ...Of course, it was precisely because someone had been brave enough to eat it that monkfish came to be known as tasty, but still.
The same went for octopus — widely enjoyed in Japan, yet reviled as a devilfish in other countries due to its appearance. And creatures like sea cucumbers and sea urchins were things nobody would ever want to eat based on looks alone.
In that sense, Rei was opposed to judging whether to eat something solely by its appearance.
...That said, if asked whether he would eat a completely unknown fish without any investigation whatsoever, his answer would still be no.
"Well, if someone wants to eat it, then only those who want to should. If there are no problems, the rest of us can try it too. And if something does go wrong... well, they're adventurers — they'll have potions on hand. I doubt it'll come to anything serious."
Adventurers capable of being posted here would likely carry fairly high-rank potions.
If so, Rei figured they could manage a little poison without much trouble.
...The fact that several other adventurers also seemed eager to try the new fish was a major factor as well.
"Guru, gurururu, gururu!"
Set purred happily at Rei and gazed at the Orc meat.
From Set's demeanor, Rei understood exactly what he was expecting.
"Are you sure?"
"Guru!"
Set let out an energetic cry in response.
"Rei. What is Set saying?"
Even if Rei and Set could communicate with each other, that wasn't something others could understand.
Which was why, to know what they were saying, there was no choice but to ask Rei directly.
"Set's saying it's fine to use the Orc meat you all got for dinner tonight. ...He probably figured that rather than eating it all by himself, he'd want everyone to enjoy it together."
"Huh... Set did..."
The Adventurer Man turned a surprised gaze toward Set.
To him, Set had been the kind of creature who would absolutely never share food with anyone.
And in fact, living together here had only confirmed just how greedy Set could be when it came to food.
For such a Set to suddenly volunteer to share the Orc meat — it was only natural to wonder why.
Of course, to Rei, it wasn't anything particularly complicated.
As he had just said, Set simply thought it would be more delicious to eat together with everyone.
There was no doubt that Set had an especially strong attachment to the act of eating, but at the same time, he understood just how much better food tasted when shared with others.
When Rei explained this, the adventurer nodded in understanding.
...Orc meat was something adventurers had plenty of opportunities to eat.
And because of that, being able to enjoy it casually was something to be grateful for.
"Alright then. Tonight we'll have grilled Orc and Orc stew — an all-Orc spread. ...Though for an 'all-Orc' spread, I feel like we're a little short on Orc dishes. Oh, and make sure you all eat your vegetables too."
At Rei's words, a few of the adventurers grimaced.
Among adventurers, there were those who didn't take meals seriously, and they were likely that sort.
Even among those assigned by the Guild to guard the Birth Tower, there were apparently some who didn't care about such things.
In Rei's case, he had picked up some knowledge about nutritional balance back in Japan.
Of course, it wasn't detailed knowledge about which vegetables contained which nutrients and in what quantities — just the general understanding that if you ate meat, you should eat a proportionate amount of vegetables too.
But even at that level, it was clear enough that vegetables were necessary.
Some of the adventurers here had probably been told by their parents to eat their vegetables when they were young. But living on their own now, far from home, many ate only whatever dishes they liked.
Naturally, there were also those who ate vegetables properly, or even enjoyed them.
Regardless, a fair number didn't readily nod along to Rei's instruction to eat their greens.
That said, Rei had no intention of lecturing them about it.
The people here were already full-fledged adventurers — no, they were here specifically because they were skilled veterans.
If that was the case, there was no need whatsoever for Rei to say anything.
...For the record, in Rei's case, Marina used plenty of vegetables when she cooked, so he never suffered from a vegetable deficiency.
"Alright, now that we've got Set's permission, let's grill up some meat in style! Get a fire going!"
At Rei's word, the adventurers present began preparing a campfire.
...No, it wasn't just the adventurers.
Hearing Rei's words, Zozo directed the other Lizardmen, and they began helping with the campfire preparation.
Their movements showed that, having lived together for some time, they could cooperate with the adventurers even without sharing a language.
That was quite impressive.
Even as Rei watched, they swiftly gathered firewood and got the dinner preparations in order.
Once everything was ready, the Lizardmen — having learned through Zozo's translation that tonight's meal was Orc meat — turned expectant eyes toward Rei.
(Ugh... with this many people, that amount of Orc meat is nowhere near enough. Well, Set's the one who decided to treat everyone. In that case, I suppose I can chip in too.)
Making that decision, Rei produced Gamelion meat from his Misty Ring.
The already-processed Gamelion meat, naturally, couldn't be identified as belonging to any particular animal or monster just by looking at it.
The Lizardmen in particular would have no idea.
But... the adventurers here were a different story.
There was no way they would fail to recognize meat they had seen countless times before.
"Hey, Rei. Is that by any chance...?"
One adventurer asked, almost timidly.
Rei nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah. It's Gamelion meat. Getting to eat raw Gamelion meat in this season — not dried or salted — is pretty rare, right?"
"Of course it is!"
The man all but shouted in response.
But the other adventurers clearly felt the same, their gazes locked on Rei — no, on the Gamelion meat in his hands.
Gamelion could basically only be hunted in winter.
And the current season was spring — no, it was already more than halfway to summer. Aside from Gamelion meat preserved as rations, there was essentially no opportunity to eat it raw.
What made it possible was Rei's Misty Ring.
The adventurers here had already benefited from being able to eat warm, freshly-made dishes thanks to it.
Given that it was Rei's Misty Ring, fresh Gamelion meat coming out of it wasn't all that strange.
Even so, seeing Gamelion meat appear right before their eyes was naturally astonishing.
"With this many people, that amount of Orc meat definitely won't be enough. So I decided to contribute some meat too."
"But even so, Gamelion meat..."
"Well, you know... I've got connections."
Rei replied to the adventurer's protest — which carried the undertone that it was too extravagant — deflecting the matter with a vague answer.
After all, he had a massive quantity of Gamelion meat stored in his Misty Ring.
An enormous amount, even counting the carcasses he hadn't yet butchered.
This Gamelion meat had been obtained from a dungeon that appeared during Gamelion season several years ago.
He had sold a portion to the Guild, but a large amount still remained stored in his Misty Ring.
What Rei had just produced was from that stock... and seeing it, the adventurers erupted in cheers.
They surely never expected to be eating Gamelion meat at this time of year, with summer just around the corner.
...Rei nodded with satisfaction at the sight of the overjoyed adventurers, but then his gaze drifted to Set.
He wondered if perhaps Set, having looked forward to sharing the Orc meat with everyone, might feel disappointed that it had been overshadowed by the impact of the Gamelion meat.
But... the Set that Rei saw was rejoicing at the prospect of eating Gamelion meat, just as much as the other adventurers.