Once he finished eating the Oubral Snake meat, Rei found himself with genuinely nothing left to do.
Some of the adventurers were helping the researchers, while others were taking naps—despite it still being morning.
What stood out the most among all this activity was, as expected, the mock battles.
Not just between adventurers, but with Lizardmen mixed in as well.
Watching those fights unfold, Rei pondered what he should do.
His presence here was tied to the situation with the Water Wolf. But the reason he stayed at the campsite was to handle any interactions with the Water Wolf in case of emergencies. With nothing happening at present, there was nothing in particular he needed to do, so he was simply idling.
If asked whether there was anything he wanted to do, nothing came to mind immediately. At most, he was keeping watch to make sure the researchers—particularly the man who had earlier tried to examine the Water Wolf—didn't pull any strange stunts.
(Lord Daskar, why did he include someone like that among the researchers? Or was the man just playing innocent in front of Lord Daskar?)
Thinking such thoughts, Rei took out an autumn-season fruit from his Misty Ring and savored it.
Naturally, it was not the kind of fruit that would be available in the current season, which was heading toward summer.
But Rei had his Misty Ring.
As long as he stored it inside, he could eat fruit that was perfectly fresh—as if just harvested—at any time.
The rich, sticky-sweet flesh spread across his entire mouth.
He had eaten mangoes a few times back in Japan, and the taste was close to that.
Enjoying the flavor, Rei surveyed his surroundings...
"Gyaaah!"
A scream rang out unexpectedly.
Turning his gaze toward the source, he saw a researcher being bitten by a fish that had leapt out of the lake.
Even from Rei's perspective, the fish appeared to be carnivorous. It had clamped onto the researcher's arm and was trying to tear off flesh.
Given that its fins were broadened like wings, it could likely fly through the air, if only briefly.
Is it similar to a flying fish? Rei wondered. In the next moment, an adventurer who had been near the researcher pierced the fish's body with a spear, killing it.
Fortunately, the fish was only about twenty to thirty centimeters in size—not particularly large.
That was why the researcher who had been attacked was injured, but not seriously hurt.
"Ah, thank you. You saved me."
"Don't worry about it. But we still don't know what kinds of monsters are in this lake or how many there are. In that sense, I think you should be a bit more careful."
"You're right. I'll do that."
The researcher expressed his gratitude to the adventurer.
If that had been the end of it, it would have been a fine scene.
But the researcher, after applying a potion to the bitten wound, immediately began examining the very fish that had torn off his flesh.
Under normal circumstances, investigating the creature that had just bitten you and torn away your meat was not something most people could do.
Well, if enough time had passed, that might be a different story. But to examine it this immediately—those who had been watching the series of actions were clearly astonished.
"Whoa... that's incredible, researchers."
One adventurer muttered with genuine admiration, and the others nodded in agreement.
Every adventurer here could be called skilled.
But even for such adventurers, the researcher's behavior was astonishing.
"I mean, if we get hurt mid-battle, we'll use a potion and recover right away too, but..."
"Being a researcher must have its own challenges."
Rei agreed with the conversation taking place a short distance away.
Mind you, anyone staying at this campsite would have known about researchers like Anastasia and Fana.
However, Anastasia would throw herself into research as long as the Wisp was right in front of her, but that was only when it was.
Otherwise—such as when she returned to this campsite—she never showed what she was like when face-to-face with the Wisp.
(That scene of her trying to lick the Wisp... if anyone had seen that, it wouldn't have been strange for even a hundred-year love to go cold in an instant.)
Precisely because Anastasia was a beautiful woman, that scene of her trying to lick the Wisp had been extremely shocking.
Thinking such things, Rei turned his gaze toward the lake's vicinity...
"Ge."
He let out a short grunt.
The reason being—he had spotted the researcher approaching the burning Slime.
And it was the very same researcher who had been fixated on the Water Wolf. Seeing him heading toward the burning Slime, Rei could roughly imagine what he was trying to do. Saying he could imagine it would be an understatement.
"Tch!"
Rei hastily leapt up from where he had been sitting and broke into a sprint toward the burning Slime—or more precisely, toward the researcher approaching it.
His running speed was nearly a full sprint, even for Rei.
To anyone watching, it would not have been strange to think Rei's figure had vanished in an instant.
Those around did not understand what was happening, but they could at least grasp that something must have occurred for Rei to take such action.
Unaware that others were thinking such things, Rei rushed toward his destination.
The researcher kept approaching the burning Slime.
As long as the Slime was burning, even a researcher could not carelessly touch it.
To be sure, touching it recklessly would only result in the researcher getting hurt, but Rei did not want some strange commotion to break out because of it.
"What are you doing!"
The researchers who had been approaching the burning Slime stopped in their tracks at the voice coming from behind.
When they turned around, Rei was standing there.
The researcher bared his irritation upon seeing Rei.
"What am I doing? Research, of course. This burning Slime came from that lake, didn't it? Then it is one of my assigned tasks this time."
"...That Slime is a dangerous entity."
"I know that. But there is no doubt that this Slime is also a subject of research. Besides, it's unclear how long this Slime will keep burning, isn't it? Then it's necessary to confirm it properly here."
"...Even if confirming that is necessary, it's not your job."
At Rei's words, the researcher's temper flared so much that veins bulged on his forehead.
Had anyone other than Rei said that, the researcher probably would not have gotten this angry.
But Rei was the one who had caused him frustration during the Water Wolf incident.
Being warned again by that very same Rei—there was no way a proud researcher would meekly comply.
"Don't mess with me!"
He shouted, giving in to his irritation, and broke into a run straight toward the burning Slime.
In this sort of situation, even if he reached where the burning Slime was, there was no way he could actually conduct research.
But the man, driven largely by sheer stubbornness toward Rei, seemed oblivious to the contradiction in his own actions and kept running.
Naturally, Rei had no intention of letting the researcher do such a thing.
Given that, the only thing Rei could do now was pin the researcher down before he reached the Slime.
And... naturally, there was a difference in physical ability between the researcher and Rei.
After the researcher had taken only a few steps, Rei caught up, grabbed his arm, and forcefully threw him to the ground.
"Gubeh!"
Though Rei had held back to some extent, the researcher slammed into the ground and let out such a cry.
Under normal circumstances, since the other party was a researcher that Daskar had personally prepared, Rei should not have been able to get away with doing something like this.
But when it came to someone trying to lay hands on the burning Slime, that was a different story.
Unlike the friendly Water Wolf in the lake, this Slime was a clear enemy.
It possessed no intelligence, acting purely on instinct, and would attack anything edible in front of it.
Right now, it was not moving due to the effect of being continuously burned by Rei's magic. But if the researcher meddled carelessly, there was a worst-case possibility that the Slime could resume moving freely.
This was a Slime the size of a hill or a small mountain, after all.
If such a being went on a rampage, it was only natural to not want to imagine what kind of damage might result.
"Guh... gah..."
The groans of the researcher, who had been slammed into the ground, reached Rei's ears, but Rei did not feel he had gone too far.
This incident could have resulted in something as catastrophic as the destruction of Gilm if things had gone poorly.
Considering that, getting away with just one researcher being injured was undeniably lucky.
"Rei, what on earth... no, I can guess without asking."
Only at this point did the knight catch up, asking Rei the question.
However, upon recognizing that the man groaning on the ground in pain was the same researcher from the Water Wolf incident, he seemed to vaguely understand the situation.
He opened his mouth with a sigh of exasperation.
"First the Water Wolf, now this... I'll need to report this to my superiors."
"That would help us out a lot. Having someone like this come back again and again would be nothing but trouble for us."
Rei agreed with the knight's words from the bottom of his heart.
As a researcher himself, Rei could understand having strong curiosity.
He could understand it, but having someone pull a stunt like this was still extremely problematic.
He knew that Daskar had personally selected the man, but even so, Rei's honest feeling was that he would prefer it if this researcher did not come on the next investigation.
"For now, this researcher should probably be kept at rest."
The researcher, who until moments ago had been groaning in pain, had at some point lost consciousness—whether from the pain or some other reason—and the knight muttered as he looked at him.
Rei had no intention of opposing that opinion, so he did nothing to stop the knight from taking him away.
Even though the researcher was being carried in the knight's arms in what was commonly known as a princess carry.
If anything, Rei even thought it might be better to tie the man's hands and feet with rope so he wouldn't thrash about when he woke up.
As someone who had been put through trouble, such a thought was only natural.
If they simply laid him down in the back of a carriage or somewhere without taking any precautions, there was a real chance he would cause yet another incident.
"Hey, shouldn't we tie him up so he can't move?"
"No, that would be a bit..."
The knight shook his head at Rei's suggestion.
For the knight, no matter how problematic the man's personality was, he was still someone Daskar had dispatched.
He could not do something like binding such a person.
If the man had done something like suddenly going on a violent rampage with a weapon, that would have been a different story.
Rei's proposal had been a shot in the dark—more of a "wouldn't it be nice if we could" sort of suggestion—so he did not feel particularly dissatisfied when the knight rejected it.
I see, he thought. He simply thought that and nothing more.
"In any case, we need to deal with this situation first, but... if he wakes up and starts causing trouble again, I think appropriate measures will be necessary."
"Ugh... I know."
For the knight, it was essentially a case of being caught between his superior and a subordinate.
In any case, they made their way back to where everyone else was.
"Gurururururururururururururu!"
"Waoooooooooooooooooon!"
As if they had been waiting for that exact moment, Set and the Water Wolf raised their cries in unison.
Those cries were not sounds of relief that Rei had returned safely. They were warning cries, alerting to the presence of some unknown entity.
"What was that!?"
Judging from the demeanor of the two that this was no joke, Rei half-reflexively pulled Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring.
A moment, or perhaps a few seconds, after Rei—the adventurers and Lizardmen also readied their weapons, prepared for whatever might happen.
The researchers had no idea what was going on and merely looked around frantically at Set and the Water Wolf's behavior.
This was probably the difference between adventurers and researchers.
However... even after ten-odd seconds passed, nothing happened.
Given the current situation, Rei had expected some powerful monster to reveal itself at any moment, but...
"What happened? Is it a prank?"
The knight, who had at some point dropped the researcher on the ground and drawn his longsword, muttered this. But from what Rei could see of Set and the Water Wolf's behavior, it did not look like a prank at all.
Turning his gaze back to Set and the Water Wolf, Rei saw the two of them staring intently at a single point, vigilant.
What lay at the end of their line of sight was...
"The Wisp?"
Rei muttered.