"A Vampire that planted the Dark World Tree, huh... I never expected there was a Vampire in the Forest of Magic."
"Strictly speaking, I think it came for the Dark World Tree experiment. I don't think it was regularly living in the Forest of Magic."
If it had been an ordinary monster, that would be one thing. But for something like a Vampire—perhaps because it was originally human—Rei's assumption was that its pride would never allow it to sleep out in the open like a common monster.
Even if for some reason it had been living rough in the Forest of Magic, there was the risk of exposure to the sun.
For a Vampire, the sun was a symbol of death.
Mere contact could make it burst into flames or crumble to ash. Regardless, it meant death.
It would never want to take such a risk.
"Well, for the Dark World Tree, what survived the fire was a portion of the wood, the ash, and the Magic Stone. And as for the Vampire, I only got the Magic Stone and ash."
"For a Vampire, that can't be helped. The Dark World Tree is regrettable, though. Ah, but I heard a rumor once that a certain clan can keep a Vampire's corpse intact instead of reducing it to ash when they defeat one?"
"Such a clan exists, huh? Still, if it's a clan, that means bloodline is involved, or they possess some classified technique. If it's the latter, that's one thing. But if it's the former, there's nothing I can do."
If some power dwelling within a bloodline was required, Rei, who didn't share that bloodline, could do nothing about it.
The one possibility he could think of would be to recruit someone from that clan.
However, encountering a Vampire in the first place was an extremely rare event.
Recruiting someone from that clan solely for such a purpose—Rei had to admit he found the idea honestly questionable.
"In any case, if it's a Vampire, examining the ash will tell us. The ash itself can serve as the Subjugation Proof Part."
"Ash as the part? Well, since that's all there is, it's not hard to understand. But wouldn't that mean someone who defeats a Vampire could split the ash into multiple portions and claim to have slain one several times?"
"Hehehe."
At Rei's words, Worker offered no answer—only a smile.
It was a smile so intense that even Rei felt its force.
(He probably has some means of distinguishing the ash. If someone brought in ash identical to what was previously submitted... who knows what would happen to them.)
At the very least, judging by Worker's demeanor, anyone who tried such a thing would undoubtedly come to no good end.
"So, the next one I encountered was the Crystal Dragon. We're good on that one, right?"
"I would like to hear the details, though."
"...First off, it reaffirmed that S-Rank Monsters are no joke. Honestly, if things had gone slightly differently, we could have lost."
"No, the problem is fighting an S-Rank Monster solo rather than as a party in the first place. Let alone winning."
"Maybe so. Still, even a Crystal Dragon without intelligence was that formidable... which means..."
"Rei?"
Seeing Rei fall silent mid-sentence, Worker asked what was wrong with a concerned look.
Rei shook his head as if it was nothing, but what was on his mind was Elena.
More precisely, Elena's ancestor.
The current Elena had inherited an Ancient Dragon's Magic Stone, making her no longer strictly human.
She could even be called a humanoid Dragon.
But the Ancient Dragon's Magic Stone—the very reason Elena became that way.
That meant Elena's ancestor had defeated an Ancient Dragon.
Considering that a Crystal Dragon without intelligence was such a formidable foe, just how powerful must an Ancient Dragon be?
And the one who defeated it—just how powerful must Elena's ancestor have been?
It was only natural that Rei would take an interest in such things.
"Now then, that brings us to the last one, but... ah, right. Before that, I'd like to ask just in case. Do you know of monsters that generate fog?"
"Fog? Well, there are several... what about them?"
Though he asked what about them, Worker could probably guess from the flow of the conversation.
Even so, he was letting Rei ask the question first.
Rei had no idea what that would accomplish.
But if Worker was doing so, Rei would just go along with it.
"After defeating the Crystal Dragon, I took a break. Just when I was about to head toward the outer edge of the Forest of Magic, the entire area was covered in fog. A very wide area, at that. Well, as a result, I managed to defeat the monster producing that fog. But after killing it, all that remained was a Magic Stone—there was no corpse."
"I see. In that case, it's highly likely to be an Undead. Not the kind with a physical body like a Zombie or Skeleton, but a Ghost-type."
That prediction matched Rei's own.
That was exactly why Rei nodded in agreement at Worker's words.
"Yeah, I think so too. So, do you know of any Ghost-type monsters that generate fog?"
"Even if you say that, I can think of a few species, but based on that alone... Besides, considering it was a monster encountered in the Forest of Magic, the possibility of it being a new species is also high."
Figured as much.
That was Rei's honest feeling upon hearing Worker's words.
"What will you do? If we examine the Magic Stone, we might learn a little more about the monster."
"Nah, it's fine. I already defeated it, after all."
Honestly, Rei would have liked to learn at least something about the fog monster if possible.
But since he had already given the Magic Stone to Set, he no longer had it.
Even if Worker said they could investigate further with the Magic Stone, without it, that was all Rei could say.
"Is that so? It's unfortunate, but it can't be helped."
Worker showed less disappointment than his words suggested as he said this.
He would have liked to examine the fog monster's Magic Stone if possible, but with A-Rank Monster and S-Rank Monster corpses to deal with, things were definitely going to get busy from here on out.
It would be difficult to look into that as well.
"Back to the topic. The fog the monster created meant that monsters with high wariness didn't show themselves, but not all monsters are that cautious. And so, what I believe was the last A-Rank Monster—a Chimera—appeared."
"A Chimera?"
"Yeah. But not an ordinary one. It was humanoid with a dog's head, about twice my size, and its tail was a snake."
"That's certainly..."
Worker knew about the monster called a Chimera, but even so, he was unfamiliar with the kind Rei described.
"It had enough combat power that calling it an A-Rank Monster wouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I ended up fighting that Chimera. And as for the result, the fact that I'm here means I don't need to say it, right?"
"I would like to hear at least a little about what kind of attacks it used, but very well. So after defeating that monster, you escaped from the Forest of Magic?"
"That's right."
Strictly speaking, what actually happened was that after defeating the Chimera, Set flew through the sky, luring all the monsters in the Forest of Magic's airspace together and wiping them out in one fell swoop. But during that incident, he hadn't obtained any monster materials or Subjugation Proof Parts, and the Magic Stones had already all been consumed through Beast Magic.
Given that, there was no point in explaining those details now.
If anything, explaining carelessly—knowing Worker's sharpness—might, just possibly, lead him to the existence of Beast Magic.
That was why Rei said nothing about the final sweep.
He said nothing, but the way Worker looked at him seemed to say he suspected Rei was hiding something.
However, Worker did not pursue the matter.
Worker was the kind of person Marina had entrusted with the role of Guild Master.
He could naturally imagine that Rei was hiding something, but he must have understood that pressing the issue here was meaningless.
In fact, it was an action based on the understanding that even if Worker pressed Rei here, Rei would never reveal whatever he was hiding.
"I see. Then, regarding the A-Rank Monsters Rei defeated, that makes five. However, among them, there is one individual whose status as an A-Rank Monster is uncertain. And... one S-Rank Monster, an unknown Dragon. Is that correct?"
"Yeah. However, I think I mentioned this earlier, but my Misty Ring also contains B-Rank Monster corpses other than the A-Rank Monsters, so I'd like to request their dissection as well."
"That's fine. Of course, in that case, you'll be charged the standard fees."
Though he said that, considering just how many monster corpses Rei had, Worker's expression grew slightly gloomy.
After all, having the Guild perform dissections naturally required the use of Guild Staff Members.
And the Guild was currently extremely busy due to the Expansion Construction. And—though it was pointless to say this to Rei—because more people were needed to cover Rei's work in his absence, things were incredibly hectic.
It was so busy that if this were Japan, it would unquestionably be called a black company. No, even that seemed like an understatement.
In the midst of all that, having to dissect A-Rank Monsters, an S-Rank Monster, and numerous other monsters would undoubtedly increase the burden on the Guild Staff Members.
(The one saving grace is that the reinforcement personnel should be arriving soon, I suppose.)
Worker muttered that inwardly.
Granted, this was merely a coincidental development, not something prepared in anticipation of Rei slaying numerous monsters in the Forest of Magic.
The Guild had been dealing with a tremendous workload for quite some time now.
To replenish staff, they had requested personnel from other Guilds several times, and those people had already been gathering in Gilm in considerable numbers.
The current reinforcements were part of that effort.
Additionally, those who performed monster dissections were specialist Guild Staff Members, and such staff normally had less paperwork than others.
In that sense as well, assigning paperwork to the newly arriving personnel and having the dissection-skilled staff handle the monster corpses Rei brought back would work out.
By doing so, paperwork would ultimately be handled more efficiently than now, and once the Guild Staff Members who finished dissection returned, the speed of paperwork would increase even further.
"So, Worker. What's the verdict on my Promotion Exam in the end?"
Rei knew he had passed, but as Guild Master, he wanted to get clear confirmation of passing from Worker.
"Eh? Ah, sorry. Yes, you're right. As far as I'm concerned, based on what I've heard from Rei, I think a pass is fine. However, as Guild Master, I need to see evidence that you actually defeated the A-Rank Monsters before making a formal judgment."
Even as he said that, Worker didn't think Rei would lie about defeating monsters he hadn't.
Still, as Guild Master, he needed to properly confirm the monster corpses.
It wasn't a matter of trusting Rei or not.
After all, Rei had taken a Promotion Exam for advancement to A-Rank Adventurer, so that aspect needed to be handled properly.
At the very least, the Magic Item given to Rei confirmed that he had stayed in the Forest of Magic for two nights and three days.
Granted, the two-night, three-day stay was a fact, but in reality, he had slept at the Zephyle Clan's Hidden Base rather than camping out.
In any case, with the two-night, three-day requirement cleared, all that remained was the corpses of two A-Rank Monsters.
"I see. So I just need to show you the monster corpses? Then let's go."
If all Worker needed was to properly confirm the monster corpses, Rei might as well show them right away.
Making that judgment, Rei stood up from the sofa he had been sitting on.