Having left Egginis, Rei immediately took to the sky on Seto.
That said, he hadn't decided on any particular destination, so he was more or less just flying aimlessly.
"I wonder what'll happen to the bandits that had gathered in the mountains near Egginis. The ones gathering bandits around the city were the Dolan Workshop... no, Dailas's people. Does that mean with both the Dolan Workshop and Dailas captured or dead, bandits won't be gathering around Egginis anymore?"
"Grrrl?"
Hearing Rei's murmur, Seto looked slightly disappointed, as if asking, "Is that so?"
It wasn't that Seto liked bandits, but he knew that Rei, whom Seto loved dearly, enjoyed bandit hunting. Given that, the disappearance of prey for Rei's beloved bandit hunting was probably a regrettable thing for him.
"Well, bandits are everywhere, so if I want to go bandit hunting, I can do it anytime."
Rei's words were no exaggeration. Not just Rei, but at a fairly frequent rate, bandit subjugation requests were posted at the Guild, and because of that, bandits were dying on a daily basis. Even so, the fact that such requests never dried up was, if anything, puzzling to Rei. Then again, thanks to that, the prey for his bandit hunting never vanished, so perhaps it wasn't something he should be dissatisfied about.
"Anyway, for now... let's see. Why don't we just fly around the area a bit? I thought about heading back to Gilm, but I was told to come back a while later next time."
"Grrl? Grr, grrrlrl!"
Hearing Rei's words, Seto suddenly purred as if he had just remembered something. At first, Rei couldn't tell what he was saying, but since they were connected through mana, after a little time passed, he understood the reason.
Seto was asking why they shouldn't go to the Treant Forest—not the Forest of Magic, but the Treant Forest. More precisely, to the area within the Treant Forest where the fairies lived.
Seeing Seto behave like that, Rei recalled that he was indeed supposed to receive a Magic Item from the Fairy Chief. It had been a while since he last met her, so it might be interesting to show his face there.
With that in mind... Rei immediately made his decision.
"Alright. Then let's head to the Treant Forest. If we go to where the fairies are, we won't be spotted by anyone, and nobody will come trying to negotiate about the Crystal Dragon either."
"Grrl!"
At Rei's decision, Seto purred happily.
Rei didn't understand why Seto wanted to meet the fairies so much, but he figured it didn't matter as long as Seto was eager to go. While in Egginis, Rei had mostly stayed at the Fusetsu hideout, so he and Seto had been separated for quite a while. Because of that, he decided it would be fine to let Seto do as he pleased.
With that, Seto began flying toward the Treant Forest.
The sight of Seto flying happily through the sky was probably quite captivating for those on the ground. Rei could see several people traveling along the surface highway stop in their tracks and look up at the sky.
...Of course, the time Rei and Seto had spent in Egginis was by no means long. There were undoubtedly a fair number of people who still didn't know of their existence, and among such people, it wouldn't be strange for someone to perceive Seto flying through the sky as an unknown monster. That incident could potentially cause a slight commotion, but Rei figured that if the people on the highway were heading toward Egginis, the situation would be explained there and the misunderstanding would be cleared up.
"Hmm... the water in this river is clean, and large fish are swimming in it. As a rest spot, this is a hit."
On the way to the Treant Forest, Rei and Seto were taking a break by a river in the mountains. Since it was a river deep in the mountains, it probably didn't get many visitors normally. It was fairly deep, but the fish swimming in it didn't show much wariness even when they saw Rei and Seto. Even if people didn't come around, Rei figured it wasn't all that rare for beasts or birds to visit to catch fish.
"Grrrl."
Seto looked at the river with a purr. He was probably saying that he wanted to catch the fish swimming there.
Seeing Seto like that, Rei thought for a moment before nodding.
"Alright. It's a bit early, but let's have lunch. Eating freshly caught fish grilled over a fire sounds great. So, Seto, can I leave catching the fish to you?"
"Grrl!"
At Rei's words, Seto purred happily as if to say, "Leave it to me!" and waded into the river. Even for a creature of Seto's size, the water was deep enough to submerge his head entirely, so in that sense, Rei guessed it was indeed quite deep.
(I could easily catch fish myself... but Seto's motivated, so it's probably better to leave it to him.)
Thinking that, Rei watched Seto swimming in the river. If Rei seriously intended to catch fish, he could simply fire magic at the water. The shock of the explosion would stun the fish and they'd float to the surface. Or perhaps boiled fish... no, since there'd be no seasoning, it might be more accurate to call it blanched fish, but in any case, that's what would happen.
Since Seto also possessed numerous skills, if it was truly just about catching fish, he had any number of methods available. Yet among all those options, the fact that Seto chose not to use skills and instead entered the river himself to swim and hunt fish was because he recognized this as a kind of river play. Or perhaps there was a part of him that simply enjoyed the challenge.
(Then again, precisely because he's doing it this way, I guess he won't go so far as to catch every last fish in this river.)
Even if that happened, it wouldn't be difficult for Rei, who possessed the Misty Ring, to store the caught fish. But for Seto, catching fish wasn't the objective—swimming and playing in the river took priority.
It was already early autumn, and daytime temperatures weren't all that high, but... even so, on a nice day like today, it was reasonably warm. Gryphon Seto could spend the night outdoors even in the dead of winter, so for him, swimming in a river at this temperature was by no means difficult.
"Still... we really found a nice spot."
There were almost no clouds, and sunlight poured down onto the earth. Not the intense, aggressive sunlight of midsummer, but somehow softer, gentler light. On top of that, the leaves of the trees growing around the area softened that light even further.
(I wonder if the trees around here don't change color? Or maybe the colors will change after a bit more time passes.)
Soft light filtering down, a breeze carrying the scents of the river and the forest. Rei even thought that the place where he sat right now might be an incredibly luxurious spot. Rich nature, and Seto swimming in the river. Watching that scene, Rei nibbled on a Dwa Fruit he had taken from his Misty Ring. Savoring the rich sweetness spreading through his mouth, he sincerely thought that this kind of lifestyle wasn't bad at all.
Of course, if he lived only like this forever, he couldn't help but feel he'd start living out of sheer inertia, or eventually grow bored.
"Grrrl!"
Just as Rei turned his gaze toward Seto playing in the river, he saw him swing his foreleg in a wide motion, scooping a fish into the air with a single blow.
The fish flew through the air and landed right near Rei.
Whether Seto had aimed for that from the start, or whether his strike had simply taken that form by coincidence—
(Probably the former.)
While watching the fish flopping about, Rei thought to himself. As evidence, although the fish had been launched near Rei, none of the river water splashed onto him. In other words, it wasn't hard to guess that Seto had deliberately held back to create that outcome.
"Grrrlrlrl!"
Seto purred proudly toward Rei, who was watching him.
Rei waved at him, popped the last bite of the Dwa Fruit into his mouth, and reached for the fish.
Thanks to Seto's controlled blow, the fish had no noticeable injuries and was still struggling vigorously.
Taking the fish in hand, Rei approached the river, making sure it wouldn't escape, and washed off the dirt and grass clinging to his body from its thrashing. Next, he broke a nearby branch, sharpened the end, and skewered the fish through.
As a tip for this process—rather than running the skewer straight through in a single line, bending the fish's body and piercing it through in a zigzag pattern made it look far more appetizing than a plain skewer.
After that, all he needed to do was prepare a campfire, sprinkle salt on the fish, and prop the skewers near the heat. However, if he placed the skewers too close to the fire at this stage to speed up the cooking, the outside would be done while the inside was still raw, or the outside would char while the inside remained raw. That was why the distance from the flame was important.
...That said, if he was too afraid of burning and kept too far from the fire, it would never cook no matter how long he waited. The distance from the fire was key.
Even while Rei was finishing his preparations, more fish were being caught by Seto and sent flying to a spot slightly away from where Rei sat. Seto deliberately limited where he sent the fish flying, keeping them away from Rei, so none came crashing into the campfire area.
After catching about ten fish, Seto eventually climbed out of the river.
For an ordinary person, ten fish—and fairly large ones at about thirty centimeters—would be more than enough to fill their stomach. But for Rei and Seto, ten fish was no more than a snack. So Rei took out soup, bread, and a stew from his Misty Ring to round out the meal.
"Grrrlrl."
Seto purred happily as he ate. Rei also savored the bread and soup alongside the grilled fish.
"The fish you caught is delicious, Seto. We might want to catch more of this kind."
"Grrl? Grrrlrlrl?"
Should I go catch more after we finish eating? Seto asked.
For Seto, swimming in the river and catching fish was probably extremely fun. That was exactly why he had asked. Seeing Seto like that, Rei thought for a moment about what to do...
"Alright. If you want to play in the river a bit more, I think that's fine. This fish is delicious, after all."
It had a mild flavor typical of river fish, but the flesh was soft and melted in the mouth. The skin was grilled crisp, and the salt sprinkled on it further enhanced the delicate flavor of the meat. Though he was eating it as grilled fish now, Rei could easily imagine that if he brought it to an eatery somewhere, they would probably turn it into an even tastier dish.
That was why Rei had no intention of stopping Seto if he said he wanted to catch more.
Hearing Rei's words, Seto purred happily, finished his meal faster than usual, and headed back to the river.
Rei watched Seto's childlike enthusiasm while slowly savoring his food.
(Then again, watching Seto like that makes me a little envious. ...Should I get in the river too? No, but drying off afterward would be a hassle. I'll just watch from here. It's plenty enjoyable even so.)
Rei continued watching Seto... but having finished his meal with a full stomach, and perhaps due to the comfortable surroundings, he was eventually overcome by drowsiness. Slowly... ever so slowly, his eyes drifted shut... and before he knew it, Rei had fallen fast asleep.
Seto, still playing in the river, initially showed no sign of noticing Rei's state, searching for prey as he swam. The fish, noticing Seto swimming toward them, hastily fled. If this were in the sky or on the ground, there wouldn't be many creatures that could escape from him. However, while Seto wasn't necessarily bad at swimming, he couldn't quite match the fish in speed.
Even so, he paddled frantically through the water... and in the end, he managed to successfully catch quite a number of fish.