The Vampire's black mist burned away under Rei's magic.
He had come up with the idea of burning the mist on half a whim, but now he found himself wondering if it had actually been the right call.
Of course, Rei didn't think that burning the mist itself was the wrong approach — it was simply the best option available.
But the real question was whether the Guild would recognize the ashes left behind after burning it all as proof of a Vampire.
...Well, if they didn't, then so be it.
There was still a full day left tomorrow, after all.
The biggest problem, though, wasn't the corpse or anything like that — it was the Vampire's Magic Stone.
That was the one thing Rei absolutely had to obtain.
With that in mind, he had been watching the burning mist... and eventually, when it had burned away completely, the flames died down...
"Alright!"
A voice of joy escaped Rei's mouth.
The reason lay right before his eyes.
On the ground were the ashes of the completely incinerated Vampire.
And resting on top of them was a Magic Stone.
At the very least, obtaining the Magic Stone — his primary objective — was a stroke of luck.
"The problem is these ashes. ...Well, I'll just take what I can for now. The Guild might be able to determine that these are a Vampire's burnt remains."
To Rei's eyes, it looked like nothing but ordinary ash, but the Guild might be able to tell the difference.
With that thought, he pulled an empty bottle from his Misty Ring, packed the ashes inside, and stored it back in the ring.
"Grrrr."
What about the Magic Stone? Set purred, but Rei shook his head.
"If these ashes are recognized as a Vampire's, then the Magic Stone will be needed too. ...It's a shame to waste an A-Rank Monster's Magic Stone, but for now, it goes into storage. Still, with nothing but ashes, I can't get any materials out of this."
Having gone through all the trouble of defeating the Vampire only to miss out on its materials was a real disappointment for Rei.
Given that it was an A-Rank Monster, those materials would have undoubtedly been of great significance.
Above all, since the Vampire was such a well-known creature, there would have been no shortage of uses for its parts.
For now, all I managed to get are these ashes. Whether the Guild will recognize them as a Vampire's is pretty much a gamble. The other question is whether they can even be used as materials.
Regardless, Rei had succeeded in defeating the Vampire — an opponent truly worthy of being called a formidable enemy — alongside Set, so he decided that thinking any further about it was too much trouble for now.
"Grrr?"
Suddenly, Rei noticed Set watching him with concern.
Set's gaze was fixed on Rei's face... specifically, on his cheek, which had been wounded by the Vampire's earlier attack.
It was a fairly deep cut, and even now, blood continued to trickle from it.
Understanding that Set was worried about the injury, Rei pulled a potion from his Misty Ring and healed the wound.
Rei's body already possessed high regenerative ability, so a wound like this would stop bleeding soon enough and heal completely within a few days without question.
Even so, the reason he used a potion was largely because leaving the wound as it was would keep Set anxious.
During the battle with the Vampire, Set had felt he held Rei back.
Set himself had never expected that the Vampire would catch his foreleg strike and throw him.
As a result, when Set was sent flying, Rei had moved to catch him — and taken a Blood Rapier to the back in the process.
Fortunately, Rei was wearing the Dragon Robe, so the blade didn't pierce through, but that had been pure luck.
In that sense, Set was quite bothered by his own mistake.
From Rei's perspective, though, Set's error wasn't something worth fretting over so much.
This had been a battle — not against some random weaklings, but against a high-rank monster like the Vampire.
And an opponent with keen intelligence on top of that. For Rei, it had been a fight premised on struggling.
"Look, the wound's already gone, right? So ease up."
"Gruu."
At Rei's words, Set stared intently at the spot where the scar had been. Confirming there was no trace of it left, he purred in satisfaction and rubbed his head against Rei.
Stroking Set's head, Rei thought about what to do next... and then spoke up.
"Let's head back to the hideout for today."
"Grrrr?"
Is that okay? Set purred.
He understood that Rei had been looking forward to hunting monsters in the forest at night.
Since they'd be staying in the Forest of Magic tomorrow night as well, it wouldn't have been strange for Rei to decide to call it a day and save his energy.
But they needed to leave the Forest of Magic by the end of tomorrow.
...Even so, it was technically possible to leave the Forest of Magic after nightfall, so they could still search for monsters in the dark. But if they focused too much on that and ended up unable to exit before the date changed, the Promotion Exam would be a failure.
If that was the case, then naturally they could explore the forest at night, but they needed to move with a certain margin of time to spare.
"Yeah. We took down the Vampire, after all. Besides... tomorrow during the day, we'll push deeper into the forest. We'll take down as many high-rank monsters as we can, then start heading toward the Forest of Magic's exit around evening. Once we can see the way out, we'll wait for nightfall and hunt. Then, before the date changes, we leave the Forest of Magic."
"Grrrr?"
We're sticking to the plan? Set purred.
Rei understood what Set was thinking from his demeanor, so without paying it much mind, he continued.
"They say plans are made to be changed. This is just a rough outline. If something comes up, adjusting the schedule is entirely on the table."
For instance, if they ended up fighting a powerful monster like the Vampire, back-to-back battles would be tough.
Not impossible — just tough.
In the first place, Rei planned to push deep into the Forest of Magic during the day tomorrow and hunt high-rank monsters there — A-Rank Monsters, or depending on the situation, even S-Rank Monsters.
Considering that, if reaching their limit after a single tough fight meant they couldn't battle anymore, they wouldn't survive in the Forest of Magic in the first place.
"Alright then, let's head back to the hideout. ...Of course, if any monsters attack us along the way, we'll take them down."
That went without saying.
Even though they were somewhat worn out from the fight with the Vampire, if a monster came at them of its own accord, letting it go wasn't an option for Rei and Set.
And so, Rei and Set set off toward the hideout, but...
"Nothing's attacking us."
"Gruu."
Rei muttered in surprise, and Set agreed.
It made sense that no monsters appeared near the clearing where they'd fought the Vampire.
But even after putting a fair distance between themselves and that spot, there was no sign of any monsters attacking.
Given the situation, there had to be some reason — that much was certain.
Since he couldn't figure out what that reason was, there was nothing Rei could do about it.
He was tired from the battle with the Vampire, so avoiding unnecessary fights was a relief, but...
If Rei and Set hadn't been exhausted from the Vampire fight... no, even then, it would have been a close call whether they'd have noticed. But they might have caught sight of the Black Snake, which had concealed itself a short distance away.
In truth, the Black Snake had been watching over them ever since the battle against the Dark World Tree.
No creatures — not just monsters, but even animals and birds — dared approach the vicinity of the Dark World Tree, yet the Black Snake could come and go without any issue.
It had watched with satisfaction as Rei and Set defeated the Dark World Tree... but knowing that the Vampire would appear once night fell, the Black Snake had intended to finish it off itself.
However, for some reason, Rei and Set had returned to the same spot right around the time the Vampire was due to appear, and a battle had broken out.
The Black Snake had planned to step in if things took a dangerous turn, but Rei and Set overwhelmed the Vampire.
...From Rei and Set's perspective, they felt they had struggled somewhat. But objectively speaking, they had fought an A-Rank Monster and won with nothing more than a cheek wound — strictly speaking, Rei was also stabbed in the back with a Blood Rapier, but the Dragon Robe prevented any actual injury there. By general standards, they had overwhelmed it.
When Rei and Set turned back toward the hideout, the Black Snake made sure they wouldn't be bothered, warding off any monsters that might attack them.
From Rei and Set's perspective, they would have welcomed Magic Stones from unknown monsters, so the Black Snake's actions were a touch overprotective. But since neither of them had even noticed the Black Snake's presence, they couldn't exactly complain.
And so, guarded by the Black Snake all the way, Rei and Set arrived at the hideout.
"...In the end, not a single monster attacked us."
"Grrrr."
Rei muttered with genuine puzzlement, and Set rumbled in puzzled agreement.
But since they hadn't done anything in particular to bring about such a situation, Rei had no way of understanding why it had happened.
Was it because we killed the Vampire? No, I've defeated A-Rank Monsters before, and this has never happened. Or maybe it's not about being an A-Rank Monster, but specifically because it was a Vampire?
When he got back to the Guild, maybe he'd ask Lenora or someone about it.
With that thought, Rei and Set stepped through the hideout's Barrier.
Outside the Barrier, no matter how invisible the enemy might be, you never knew when or from where an attack might come.
Given that, they needed to be ready to respond instantly if something happened. But once inside this Barrier, there was absolutely no need to worry about such things.
In that sense, the interior of this Barrier was truly the one place in the Forest of Magic that could be called an absolute sanctuary.
"Well, let's just get some sleep for today. ...Even if we keep walking around the Forest of Magic, I get the feeling no monsters will show up anyway."
"Grrrr."
Nodding at Rei's words, Set nonetheless insisted — he was hungry!
From Set's perspective, having gotten plenty of exercise before bed, he wanted to replenish his nutrients.
If someone were to tell Rei that the Female Adventurer was the one saying she wanted to eat her fill before sleeping, what kind of reaction would he have?
Amused by the thought, Rei pulled a block of Boar meat from his Misty Ring.
"What do you think? Want it seared? Or raw?"
This meat had been stored in the Misty Ring, so it was naturally very fresh.
Even so, most people wouldn't eat it raw, but in Set's case, he could eat it cooked or raw — either way.
"Grrrr."
Raw, Set purred.
Facing a fresh block of meat, he looked extremely pleased.
Well, for Set, he could always sear the surface with Fire Breath at worst. Start by savoring it raw, then sear the surface and eat some more, and finally cook it through. It wouldn't be strange for him to do something like that.
Accepting this, Rei set the block of Boar meat in front of Set and gave him a pat.
"Then I'm going to sleep. Make sure you rest properly after you eat, Set."
At Rei's words, Set began tearing into the meat right away, purring to show he understood.
Watching Set with a fond expression, Rei went inside the hideout.
Naturally, there was no sign that anyone other than Rei and Set had entered the hideout, and he returned to his room without issue.
Changing into light clothing, he lay down on the bed.
He had tried to contact Grimm through the Paired Orbs to ask about the Vampire, but unfortunately there was no response.
Judging that Grimm was probably absorbed in his research, Rei reached out through Elena's Paired Orb instead.
"Rei? What is it? Did something happen?"
Since Rei had contacted her via the Paired Orb in the middle of his Promotion Exam, she must have assumed something had gone wrong.
Elena asked in a flustered tone, but Rei was actually more surprised that she was still awake at this hour.
He had figured that if she didn't respond, he'd just go to sleep.
"No, it's nothing. I just wanted to see your face."
"I-I see. ...So, how are things on your end? You're in the Forest of Magic, right?"
"Yeah. But the Zephyle Clan's hideout is here in the Forest of Magic. As long as I'm here, there's nothing to worry about."
Saying that, Rei settled in and enjoyed a brief conversation with Elena.