"Hmm... it was quite strong."
Standing before the crayfish's corpse, Gaga looked satisfied.
Having his attack caught head-on—and deflected on top of that—was genuinely surprising.
But in terms of surprises, Gaga had experienced far greater ones than that.
After all, he had held mock battles with Rei, Elena, Vihera, and the others, and had not won a single time.
And those opponents were significantly smaller than him.
Knowing what true surprise felt like, a lesser shock like having his attack caught and deflected by the crayfish wasn't enough to freeze him in his tracks.
"Lord Gaga, that was magnificent."
Gaga's Lizardman subordinates voiced their admiration for him having severed the crayfish's neck.
In truth, a monster of this caliber was uncommon even in their original world.
That made defeating such a powerful monster—even with Rei and Set's cooperation—a tremendous honor for the Lizardmen.
However... there was someone ready to pour cold water on their joy.
"You bastards! Do you have any idea what you've done! This monster is an unknown species! A being that teleported here from another world! What could you possibly be thinking, killing such a monster!"
The scholar, freed from under Rei's foot by the adventurers, was now being held down firmly so he couldn't escape a second time as he shouted.
It was a voice that could only be described as a roar of fury.
To the scholar, this was a creature from a lake teleported from another world—being interested in it was only natural.
Rei didn't think that was wrong, either.
If anything, he wanted them to research it more actively.
But... that was strictly on the condition that no harm came to them or anyone else near this lake.
If the creature was attacking them—even a weak monster whose attacks would be pointless—that would be one thing. But when it was clearly capable of killing everyone in the vicinity, that was an entirely different matter.
Even if it had been a giant monster that approached affectionately without attacking, the conversation would have been different.
But that enemy had unquestionably tried to kill them. Not just kill—devour them alive.
With such a monster present, leaving it alone was the only natural course of action as far as Rei was concerned.
(If anything, the Slime and now this crayfish—monsters like these are a real pain. Given the size of this lake, it wouldn't be strange for there to be other similar creatures.)
Both the giant Slime still burning in one corner of the shore and this crayfish had only been manageable because they happened to attack while Rei was present.
The Slime aside, it was possible that Gaga and the Lizardmen could have handled the crayfish on their own.
Regardless, the situation was undeniably troublesome.
"Are you listening! Rei! You'd better remember this! Do you think you can do what you did to me and get away with it! I'll be reporting this matter to Lord Daskar!"
Perhaps displeased that Rei was ignoring him, the scholar shouted with evident irritation.
But Rei showed no particular concern for the scholar's outburst and instead called out to the adventurers holding the man down.
"So, what are we doing with this crayfish? Are we going to eat it? I want the venom stinger as a material, though."
"Hmm, I wonder. Whether it's edible or not..."
The adventurer looked somewhat reluctant.
But among the adventurers were many who had previously eaten fish and monsters caught in this lake. To them, this crayfish seemed like it would undoubtedly be delicious.
As a general rule in this world, perhaps due to the relationship between higher-rank monsters and their greater magic power, their meat tended to be tastier.
Of course, there were exceptions—monsters like Orcs that weren't particularly high-rank yet had extremely delicious meat, or conversely, high-rank monsters with unpleasant-tasting flesh. But such monsters were truly rare.
Based on that experience, the crayfish—which was clearly a high-rank monster—seemed like it would be delicious.
In fact, from Rei's experience fighting it, it seemed to possess strength on the level of upper B-Rank.
"Wait! That won't do!"
One of the scholars cut into the conversation among the adventurers.
No, the other scholars as well wore expressions suggesting they couldn't agree with Rei's group, just like the first one who had spoken up.
"Killing this monster was unavoidable for safety's sake, but it is a precious otherworldly creature. With that in mind, please allow us to analyze it here."
At those words, Rei deliberated.
Thinking about it normally, it wouldn't be strange for those who defeated the crayfish to claim ownership.
Especially for Rei—the venom stinger was a given, but he wanted the crayfish meat as well.
Hearing "eat the crayfish" might make one raise an eyebrow, but while they were known by a certain name in Japan, crayfish were actually a surprisingly popular food ingredient elsewhere.
Also, lobster—a famous food ingredient—was taxonomically not a shrimp but a relative of the crayfish.
Rei didn't know the detailed circumstances to that extent, but even so, looking at the crayfish's claws, they were undoubtedly packed with meat. Wanting to eat them was only natural.
But at the same time, there was the desire to unravel the secrets of this lake, and above all, the question of whether the crayfish's meat was actually safe to eat.
If this were the meat of a monster encountered in the Treant Forest, many would be well-known creatures, and even for unfamiliar ones, there were options like investigating personally or asking at the Guild.
But since this lake had teleported from another world, the details of its creatures were naturally unknown.
Even so, the adventurers and Lizardmen had been eating fish caught near the shore without issue... but as unknown organisms, that was inherently extremely dangerous.
Nevertheless, perhaps because of a general belief that fish were safe, everyone ate them normally, and in fact, no poisonous fish had been found so far.
But that was only the case so far.
Moreover, the crayfish Rei had defeated was no ordinary crayfish.
It was a specimen that possessed scorpion-like traits in addition to being a crayfish.
As the venom stinger indicated, it wouldn't be strange for its flesh to contain poison as well.
Normally, removing the poisonous parts would make it edible.
Specifically, like pufferfish.
But with its ecology still unknown, the scholar argued that eating it was dangerous... and Rei compromised.
"Got it. Then I'll just take the venom stinger. I'll give up on the body. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes, that would be the compromise."
Though looking troubled, the scholar agreed.
As a scholar, he would have liked to research the venom stinger as well.
After all, it was a venom stinger belonging to such an enormous monster.
Finding it deeply fascinating was only natural.
But at the same time, if asked to choose between the venom stinger and the rest of the entire crayfish, there was no choice but to select the whole crayfish.
"Also, we weren't the only ones who fought the crayfish. Give Gaga and his group some kind of separate reward—not the crayfish itself, but something else."
"Of course."
Not just the scholar who had been speaking with Rei, but the other scholars nodded at those words as well.
The Lizardmen possessed extremely high intelligence and had already learned most of the local language.
Given that they were friendly, the scholars could not possibly neglect them.
After all, while many scholars were currently focused on the lake, if it was a matter of otherworldly beings, Gaga and the Lizardmen were exactly that as well.
Given that, it was only natural for the scholars to seek friendly relations with the Lizardmen.
"I see. Then I'll leave that to you."
So saying, Rei stored the venom stinger that had been set down a short distance away—more precisely, the tip of the tail containing the venom stinger—into his Misty Ring.
Several scholars gazed enviously at Rei, but while aware of the looks directed his way, he paid them no further mind and headed toward Gaga's group.
"Lord Rei."
Zozo, having sheathed his longsword, approached him.
Naturally, Zozo had also fought the crayfish alongside Gaga.
For most of the Lizardmen, fighting the crayfish under Gaga's command was not a problem at all.
Given the circumstances, it was only natural that whoever could provide effective command would take charge, and above all, the biggest factor was that Gaga commanded deep respect among the Lizardmen.
But... even understanding that, since Zozo had chosen the position of serving Rei, he wished to fight under Rei's command if possible.
Rei lightly patted Zozo's shoulder and spoke.
"Good work."
Those were the only words Rei offered, but they were more than enough reward for Zozo.
"Thank you very much."
"I can't give you that crayfish, but as thanks for defeating it, the scholars said they'll give you something later. Look forward to it."
Rei was inadvertently raising expectations, but they had successfully obtained the corpse of an unknown monster—a massive otherworldly monster—virtually intact, aside from the venom stinger tail that Rei had claimed.
Considering the knowledge that could be gained from analyzing the crayfish, it was only proper that the Lizardmen, who served as the main fighting force, would receive appropriate compensation.
"Thank you very much. By the way, Lord Rei, why exactly are you here today? Did you perhaps notice that monster's presence?"
"Come on, don't overestimate me that much. No matter how you look at it, that crayfish appearing from the lake in this situation was completely unexpected. The fact that we spotted it on the way here was pure coincidence."
In the first place, the crayfish—with its massive body and overwhelming defensive power—was a formidable foe, but even without Rei, the adventurers and Lizardmen present probably had enough combat power to handle it.
It might have ended as a repulsion rather than a kill, but even so, once the crayfish understood it had lost on the shore, it likely wouldn't approach again.
In that sense, Rei and Set's arrival simply meant they were able to defeat the crayfish without letting it escape—a better outcome than originally planned, nothing more.
"I see. Even so, I'm glad you came to visit us, Lord Rei. Is the matter regarding the place called the Forest of Magic... settled already?"
"Yeah. That's taken care of. Whether it was the best outcome for me, I'm not sure, but it was still a good result."
He had passed the Promotion Exam—his original goal—without issue.
He had also achieved the result of defeating the Crystal Dragon, an S-Rank Monster.
In that sense, it was the best possible outcome, but looking back on his actions in the Forest of Magic, he couldn't help but think he could have done better... hunted monsters more efficiently.
He knew it was precisely because of hindsight that he felt this way.
He knew that, but it was still an undeniable fact that he had various regrets about it.
I should have done this here. I should have done that there.
It was truly after the fact, but feeling that way was an undeniable reality.
Even so, he still remembered the location of the Forest of Magic.
If he waited for the excitement to cool down in Egginis... no, there was a high chance winter would have already arrived by then, so it would be next spring. But then again, spring would bring a surge of people for the Expansion Construction, making it unavoidably busy, so it might end up being early summer once that settled down before he could go.
Considering it's late summer now... about a year from now, I suppose.
Thinking in terms of his time in Japan, it would be a rather leisurely pace, but outdoor activity in winter was troublesome for various reasons.
Given that, Rei concluded that early summer next year would be the optimal time to head to the Forest of Magic, even from the standpoint of prioritizing safety.
Though that was merely Rei's own thinking, and he had no way of knowing what the others were thinking.
Having settled on the plan for early summer next year, Rei continued talking with Zozo and Gaga's group.