After hearing Rei's words, Worker remained silent for a full few minutes before finally opening his mouth.
"Come again?"
Worker had been surprised enough when Rei said he'd killed more than twice the required two A-Rank monsters, but this was an even greater shock.
So much so that the word "dumbfounded" was entirely appropriate.
Rei could tell he'd caught Worker off guard more than expected, so he spoke again.
"I said I defeated an S-Rank monster."
"...I see. So it was not a mishearing after all."
Worker understood that Rei had indeed claimed to have defeated an S-Rank monster.
Even so, deeming it necessary to confirm, he spoke again.
"Then, how were you able to recognize that monster as an S-Rank monster?"
The question likely stemmed from the possibility that even if Rei believed he had defeated an S-Rank monster, it might actually have been an A-Rank one.
"It was the creature's overwhelming presence. Besides, wyvern types aside, a real dragon wouldn't be an A-Rank monster, right? Well, dragons apparently come in quite a lot of variety, so there might be A-Rank dragons out there, but still."
"...A dragon?"
"Yeah. On the way toward the depths of the Forest of Magic—before we even got that deep—it suddenly showed up."
To be precise, the accurate account would be that it had been drawn in by the stench of the worm corpse Rei and Set had defeated.
However, the stench of that worm corpse shouldn't have drifted all that far.
Which meant, naturally, that the Crystal Dragon Rei and his party fought had been quite far from where it originally lived.
In that sense, Rei had simply been unlucky. ...Or rather, considering that he'd obtained the materials and magic stone of an S-Rank monster—and a dragon at that—perhaps he couldn't be called purely unlucky.
"What kind of dragon was it, may I ask?"
Depending on the type of dragon, one could generally gauge its rank.
Especially since Worker held the position of Guild Master in Gilm, a frontier town, his understanding of such matters was quite thorough.
"Crystal Dragon. That's what I've been calling it for now, at least. It was a dragon whose body seemed to be made of crystal."
The name Crystal Dragon was strictly what Rei had chosen to call it, and it was highly likely not its actual name.
Even so, as far as Rei was concerned, he'd been calling it that all along, so the name came easily.
"Made of crystal? Then... rather than a dragon, could it be a golem in the shape of a dragon?"
Worker recalled every type of dragon he knew of from his knowledge as Guild Master, but unfortunately, there was no information about any dragon with a body made of crystal.
If so, then could it be a golem made of crystal, shaped like a dragon?
It was only natural for Worker to think so.
Golems created by people could, naturally, have their appearances freely altered.
Alternatively, even if it was an entity born as a golem-type monster from gathered magical power, the possibility that it had a dragon's appearance for some reason couldn't be entirely dismissed.
Those were the thoughts behind his words, but Rei shook his head.
"I've got the corpse with me, so you can take a look later, but that was definitely a dragon. ...For that matter, if it were a golem, it would be inorganic, right? Well, there are apparently things like Necro Golems and golems made from corpses, but setting those aside. The dragon I killed was without a doubt a living creature."
"...But it was made of crystal, wasn't it?"
"That's right. In that sense, it might be special. Also... normally, high-rank monsters like that possess high intelligence and can even speak human words, or so I've heard. But in the Crystal Dragon's case, it didn't speak a single word."
That had been a disappointment for Rei as well.
If he had encountered a dragon... no, an intelligent dragon, he'd wanted to ask about Dragon Language Magic for Elena's sake.
Then again, even if the opponent had been an intelligent dragon, there was no guarantee it would have readily taught him Dragon Language Magic.
"I see... In that case, this Crystal Dragon is most likely a new species."
At Worker's words, Rei nodded. I see.
Discovering a new species of monster wasn't all that rare for an adventurer in Gilm.
Even on Earth, in places like the Amazon, numerous new species are discovered each year.
Considering that, it wasn't unusual for multiple unknown monsters to turn up in Gilm, a frontier town.
Moreover, Rei had been in the Forest of Magic—a location even more unique than the area surrounding Gilm, which was already called a frontier.
It wouldn't be strange for many of the monsters inhabiting it to be new species.
(Come to think of it... the crystal that produces water isn't creating new species for some reason, is it?)
The thought suddenly crossed Rei's mind, and what made it troubling was that it actually seemed plausible.
After all, the Forest of Magic contained the hidden base of the Zephyle Clan.
For the Zephyle Clan, who had developed Beast Magic, the most difficult task would have naturally been gathering magic stones.
A magic stone from any given species of monster could only be used once.
For the Zephyle Clan, new species of monsters being born one after another would have been nothing short of a dream come true.
Rather, it even made him wonder if they had created that water source in the Forest of Magic precisely for that purpose.
"Rei?"
"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking it's not particularly strange for new species of monsters to exist in the Forest of Magic. Anyway, what should we do about the A-Rank monsters, including the Crystal Dragon? Aside from those, I've also got quite a few corpses of B-Rank monsters and below that I'd like to have butchered."
The monster corpses obtained during this two-night, three-day trip amounted to a considerable quantity.
Butchering them himself... he could probably manage it if he tried, but as a labor-intensive task, Rei preferred to leave it to the professionals who specialized in it.
When it came to monsters that required proper butchering skills, even Rei, who had grown somewhat accustomed to the work, risked damaging the materials or significantly reducing the edible portions.
Especially since he traveled with Set, a monster of bottomless appetite—reducing the edible portions was something he absolutely wanted to avoid.
...Though, when it came to bottomless appetites, it wasn't just Set—Rei was equally guilty.
"I'll take those on as well. However... B-Rank monsters and below are one thing, but A-Rank, let alone S-Rank..."
Worker wore a troubled expression.
If the work were done in a careless location, it would without a doubt attract attention.
And if it attracted attention, naturally, people would start getting foolish ideas.
Sneaking into the butchering site and stealing materials, for instance.
After all, these were A-Rank and S-Rank monsters.
Depending on the material, it wouldn't be strange for the value to amount to enough money to live in comfort for years—or even an entire lifetime.
Worker knew this, which was exactly why he was being cautious.
"How about that place? The one where I hauled in a large number of Gamelion corpses before. ...Ah, but I suppose you wouldn't know what I'm talking about."
The time Rei had hauled in all those Gamelion corpses was when Marina was still serving as Guild Master.
Remembering that, he recalled the events of last winter.
"You know, the place where the Slum District residents temporarily stayed when we butchered the Gigant Turtle in the winter."
The Gigant Turtle butchering had offered a fairly substantial reward.
Many from the Slum District had come for that, but being from the Slum District, if they were seen with money, there was a chance they'd be robbed.
Also, precisely because it was the Slum District, heating was scarce and it wasn't uncommon for people to freeze to death.
For those reasons, during last winter, the people from the Slum District had temporarily lodged in a warehouse owned by the Guild.
(Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to those people. They received a fair amount of money in the end, so it'd be nice if they managed to get out of the Slum District.)
For various reasons—coming to Gilm to work as an adventurer but lacking the ability, failing at business, getting involved in crimes that made it impossible to live in the open, among many others—plenty of people ended up falling into the Slum District.
Even aside from those, there were people who had been born in the Slum District itself.
For such people to get out required a great deal of luck... and in that sense, Rei, who had hired them for the Gigant Turtle butchering, was someone they ought to have been grateful to.
What had happened to those people... Rei wondered, but he couldn't imagine that all of them had successfully left the Slum District.
Setting that aside, he decided that right now the monster corpses in his Misty Ring were more important, and shook his head to focus his attention back on the matter at hand.
"So, how about it? That place was quite large, so I think it should work."
"If Rei, who defeated the Crystal Dragon, says so, then I have no objections. ...I'll confirm just in case, but it will truly be all right, won't it?"
"Yeah. That said... aside from the Crystal Dragon, there are other A-Rank monster corpses. By the way, should I also go over the types of A-Rank monsters?"
He'd mentioned defeating multiple A-Rank monsters, but he hadn't yet explained specifically what kind of monsters they were.
Worker pondered Rei's words for a moment.
As with the Crystal Dragon, if he were told what kind of A-Rank monsters had been defeated here, he would undoubtedly be shocked.
Moreover, these were A-Rank monsters that inhabited the Forest of Magic.
Given those circumstances, he wondered whether it was better to be surprised here and then surprised again upon seeing the actual A-Rank monster corpses at the warehouse—or whether it was better to skip the explanation here and be surprised all at once upon seeing the real thing.
It was a genuine dilemma... but eventually, Worker made his decision.
"Understood. Please tell me."
That was partly a practical judgment on Worker's part that it would be better to split the shock into two stages, but more than that, his curiosity about the A-Rank monsters inhabiting the Forest of Magic likely played a large role.
Due to his position as Guild Master, there was the desire to learn about unknown monsters in the Forest of Magic as early as possible, but it was also undeniably true that A-Rank monsters of the Forest of Magic were simply fascinating to Worker on a personal level.
Given that he held the job of Guild Master, Rei could understand that much.
"All right. First is the Giant Wolf. You can think of it as simply a massive wolf monster. However, it possessed quite high intelligence. ...Well, that turned out to be its downfall."
With that, Rei briefly explained the battle with the Giant Wolf.
Precisely because of its high intelligence, it had looked at Rei and Set and grown overconfident, thinking it could handle them. Rei and Set had exploited that opening and overwhelmed it through sheer force.
"Having only mediocre intelligence may have been its misfortune, but the fact that you could win by brute force against such an opponent speaks volumes."
"I wonder about that. Honestly, it was genuinely strong. ...Next is the Queen Bee. Though in this case, you'll need to confirm it over there—I'm not sure whether it qualifies as an A-Rank monster. Considered purely as an individual, it wasn't all that strong. That might also have been because we'd pumped it full of poison smoke."
With that, Rei went on to explain about the Queen Bee.
They had found a giant hornet, and since its nest was underground, they'd pumped in a generous amount of poison smoke. The Queen Bee, which would have been deep underground, consequently had to inhale a large amount of poison smoke before emerging to the surface, and by the time it came out, it was considerably weakened by the effects.
Because of that, while he couldn't say for certain, he felt it was weak for an A-Rank monster.
"...I see. Regarding that one, examining the corpse later should shed some light on the matter."
"Please do. And next is the Dark World Tree."
"Dark World Tree?"
Worker frowned at the ominous name.
Facing Worker, Rei proceeded to explain about the Dark World Tree.