"Heh, this is delicious," Anastasia said with evident satisfaction after tasting the Gamelion meat.
She had only recently arrived in Gilm. As such, while the town's residents ate Gamelion meat as a winter tradition, she had probably never had it before. She might have tried some that had been processed into preserved food, but it was unlikely she had ever eaten fresh meat grilled over an open flame.
Gamelion meat was sometimes purchased by merchants as trade goods, but it was highly perishable. During winter, Gilm was cut off by snow, so the only way to obtain Gamelion meat was if one happened to be caught earlier than usual—and even then, it had to be sold quickly before it spoiled. Naturally, that meant selling it to someone far away was out of the question.
That was exactly why Anastasia was eating the Gamelion meat so happily.
...Incidentally, beside her, Fana had shifted her mask halfway down to expose her mouth and was eating Gamelion meat as well.
"So? What happened to that fish? Did you eat it?" Rei directed the question at the Adventurer Man who had declared he would eat the fish with the long, narrow body and rapier-sharp snout.
Rei had told him not to eat it since it might be poisonous, but the man had insisted he would be fine—the other fish had been safe, and he had potions on hand anyway.
Before Rei left to pick up Anastasia, the man still hadn't eaten the fish for one reason or another. But when Rei asked whether he'd had it after he left, the man nodded with a confident grin.
"It was delicious. Didn't have much meat since it's so thin, but it was fatty. Left me wanting more, honestly. ...Think I could catch another one if I used some kind of meat as bait?"
"What about the poison?"
Rei accepted that it tasted good, but what concerned him was, as always, the poison. That fish in particular clearly had a snout capable of impaling an opponent, and someone of lesser skill could easily end up run through. This adventurer had made catching it look effortless, but that was purely because he was highly skilled. An ordinary person—someone who had just registered as an adventurer, for instance—would likely be wearing low-quality armor, and depending on the circumstances, even that armor could be pierced.
"No problems so far. Even if something happens, I'll just drink an antidote potion, so I think I'll be fine for the most part."
"...Look, when you consider how much that potion costs, I have to wonder if you really want to eat fish that badly."
There were various methods for dealing with poison. The simplest was antidote herbs; some used magic to neutralize toxins, and there were also antidote Magic Items created through Alchemy. Among these options was the antidote potion. However, a potion's effectiveness varied with its price—the higher the quality, the stronger the effect, and the broader the range of poisons it could treat. In other words, eating a fish that might contain an unknown poison and then relying on a potion if things went wrong would require a correspondingly expensive one. If he was willing to use a potion that costly, he could simply buy a more expensive, properly edible ingredient instead. There was no need to go out of his way to eat something unknown.
That was what Rei thought, but the adventurer who had eaten the fish showed no sign of regret whatsoever. If anything, he looked downright pleased.
Well, if he's a skilled adventurer, he must be earning accordingly. ...Thinking of it that way, maybe it's not so strange after all.
With that thought, Rei brought a piece of Orc stew—similar to braised pork belly—to his mouth. The moment it entered his mouth, the meat seemed to melt away. It was fatty, but because it had been simmered for a long time with herbs during the pre-boiling stage, the fat that dissolved on his tongue was rich without being cloying.
"Delicious." Just one word escaped Rei's lips.
"My, that looks quite delicious too. Could I have a little?"
Seeing Rei eat, Anastasia must have genuinely thought it looked appetizing. Once she finished her portion of Gamelion meat, she made the request. Rei had no intention of hoarding the dish, so he nodded readily. Anastasia helped herself to some Orc stew from the pot warming over the campfire.
The way it trembled at the slightest touch was exactly like braised pork belly. And like braised pork belly, this type of dish lost its flavor drastically once it cooled. The window for peak taste was short, one might say. In exchange, it was quite delicious when eaten hot.
"This is delicious. ...Don't tell me you made this, Rei?"
"Hardly. I can't make this kind of dish."
"Really? Stewed dishes aren't that difficult, you know. Of course, making something truly exquisite requires a lot of time and effort, but if you're just cooking enough for a normal meal, it's surprisingly easy."
Anastasia said this with full confidence, but Rei found himself wondering whether he should actually trust her words. Considering everything he knew of Anastasia's personality so far, he simply couldn't picture her being able to cook. It wouldn't have surprised him at all if she were merely repeating something she had heard from someone else.
"She can cook. But she can't be bothered to actually do it."
Fana, who had been watching Rei, seemed to sense what he was thinking and offered that brief clarification. Rei still wondered if it was true, but since Fana had known Anastasia far longer than he had, he half-convinced himself to accept it.
"Still, Rei, you were late picking us up—was everything alright? Once night falls, more monsters start appearing in the Treant Forest," one of the adventurers asked with concern.
In truth, he was worried about Anastasia, but he was also hoping to get closer to her if possible. A beauty like Anastasia was not something one encountered very often. ...Granted, she was beautiful, but her personality differed greatly from her appearance. In Anastasia's case, she cared far more about fascinating research subjects than romance—being able to study the Wisp was satisfaction enough. If she ever were to take a lover, it would have to be someone who could accept that side of her.
"Yes. It was a bit rough, but there weren't any major problems," Anastasia replied to the adventurer while eating her Orc stew.
In reality, no monsters ever appeared in the Underground Space where the Wisp was located. ...Well, it connected to Grimm's research lab, and since Grimm was an Undead—which technically classified as a monster—strictly speaking, it wasn't entirely free of monsters. And not just any monster, but one that could clearly be called a High-Rank Monster. That said, Grimm was a rare monster capable of communicating with people, and he certainly wouldn't do anything to antagonize Rei. Since Anastasia was investigating the Wisp in the Underground Space, Grimm would have recognized her as one of Rei's companions and wouldn't attack her. Moreover, even if she weren't, Grimm had been investigating the Wisp on his own, so Rei suspected that Anastasia's research might actually prove useful to him. Of course, there was no guarantee that Anastasia or Fana wouldn't do something to anger Grimm for some reason or another.
"Is that so? In that case, does that mean you're quite strong yourself, Anastasia-san?"
"I have confidence in my Spirit Magic," Anastasia replied somewhat curtly.
For Rei, who had spent a considerable amount of time working alongside Marina, Spirit Magic was strongly associated with her. He knew that Marina's skill was first-rate—beyond first-rate, in a realm that could only be called superlative—and he had witnessed glimpses of it many times. He understood that comparing Anastasia to Marina was unfair, but he couldn't help doing it anyway. And compared to Marina, Anastasia's proficiency in Spirit Magic was clearly inferior. When Rei had encountered the rampage of the Wind Spirit, it was Anastasia who had resolved it, but the skill she displayed at that time inevitably fell short of Marina's. Perhaps if Rei were more knowledgeable about Spirit Magic—if he could even use it himself—he might have been able to assess the situation more accurately.
"So, how about it? You two ladies—Anastasia-san, and the masked girl, Fana, was it? I don't know what investigation you're conducting in the Treant Forest, just the two of you, but isn't it dangerous?"
"So you're saying I should hire you as a guard?"
"Exactly. I'd be delighted to get to know a beauty like Anastasia-san, and Anastasia-san would be fortunate to have a guard like me. ...How about it? I don't think I'm that far off."
Faced with the adventurer stating this so candidly, Anastasia offered a smile. However, while it wasn't exactly cold, it was undeniably a surface-level smile. For a beauty of Anastasia's caliber, she likely had no shortage of suitors. Still, the fact that she was smiling at all suggested she didn't find it that unpleasant. If she had truly been offended, she would have cut the man down with words alone. The reason it didn't go that far was probably because, rather than hinting at his desires without stating them directly, he had voiced what he wanted honestly—genuinely, unapologetically honestly.
She's a tough one, but give it your best.
After inwardly cheering on the adventurer doing his utmost to court Anastasia, Rei sandwiched some Orc stew and vegetable salad between slices of bread and took a bite. That dish—it might be called a braised pork sandwich, though calling it a dish was a bit of an exaggeration—amply satisfied his palate.
As Rei was enjoying his meal, he suddenly lost his balance as if something had tugged at him.
"Whoa! Wait, what—? ...Set?"
Fortunately, he had been holding the braised pork sandwich firmly, so he didn't drop it. But why had Set suddenly pulled him—more accurately, tugged the hem of his Dragon Robe? He turned toward Set and found it staring intently at the lake.
Following Set's gaze, Rei understood why it had called him.
"Hey, anyone who's free, take a look at the lake. The glowing jellyfish are making another appearance."
Most of those who heard Rei's words quickly turned their eyes toward the lake. The Lizardmen as well, after hearing Zozo's translated words, directed their gazes in the same direction.
There, at the end of their gazes, were the same fantastical jellyfish they had seen a short while ago—drifting through the air, their bodies glowing from within. To Rei, the impression was almost like LED illuminations moving on their own.
"This is... incredible..."
"Yes."
Anastasia and Fana, standing beside Rei, also turned toward the lake at his words and were nearly left speechless by the entities floating there. All they could do was gaze at the fantastical sight in silence.
Rei was captivated by the glowing jellyfish as well, but... for just a moment, his eyes flicked to the Slime that was still burning.
The burning Slime and the jellyfish were quite far apart. Even so, the blazing Slime had become a light source, and there was no doubt it was affecting the glow of the jellyfish to some degree.
Precisely because it was Rei who had set the Slime ablaze, he felt a pang of irritation that it was interfering, preventing him from fully enjoying the spectacle.
How long is that Slime going to keep burning? It's about time it died already.
The sight of the endlessly burning Slime was enough to stoke his irritation—enough to make him wonder whether he could use additional magic right now to finish it off. But given that the current situation was already an irregularity to begin with, he couldn't introduce yet another one on top of it.
All he could do was pray that the Slime would burn out and disappear as quickly as possible.
"Oh, they're coming this way."
At Anastasia's words, Rei turned his gaze back to the lake. Sure enough, the glowing jellyfish were drifting toward the shore. The jellyfish that arrived then did just as before—floating softly, gently, around Rei, Set, and everyone else.