"Hey, Rei. Look, over there, over there. Isn't that a village? I think we should make a quick detour!"
Nielson, perched on Rei's shoulder atop Seto's back, spotted a village in the distance and immediately began making a fuss.
Rei hesitated, wondering what to do. In terms of the Fairy Chief's request—securing the Smog Panther's magic stone—there was no need to stop at a village. If anything, a detour would inevitably draw Nielson's curiosity, and she might play some prank that caused a commotion. Rei wanted to avoid that as much as possible.
By that logic, skipping the village and pressing on was clearly the right call, but...
"The Smog Panther's territory shouldn't be far from here. If so, wouldn't it make sense to ask about it at that village?"
"Don't you already know about the Smog Panther, Nielson?"
"If you're asking whether I know about it, then yes, I do. But don't you think it'd be better to hear from people who actually live near it?"
"That's..."
Rei had to admit she had a point. When it came to information, the more recent, the better.
...Of course, even new information was useless if it turned out to be false.
"Besides, Rei, you're curious about the sweets they have in that village too, aren't you?"
"So that's what you were really after."
Nielson wasn't even trying to hide her desires, and Rei found himself second-guessing his course of action once again. That said, gathering information at a village near the Smog Panther's territory, as Nielson suggested, did carry real significance.
"Grrrr?"
Seto, carrying Rei and Nielson on his back, purred as if asking what they planned to do.
Rei weighed his options and ultimately decided that gathering even a little information was worth the stop. He gave Seto the signal.
"Seto, head toward that village."
"Gruu."
Seto purred in acknowledgment and began descending toward the village visible on the ground below.
Nielson was practically beaming, but Rei called out to her before she could get too excited.
"I'm telling you now—don't get your hopes up about sweets in a village like that."
"Eh...?"
Nielson froze mid-motion.
Rei continued, addressing her stillness. "Villages generally aren't that well off. Eating sweets whenever you want, living a comfortable life—that's going to be difficult."
Nielson wavered at his explanation, but her curiosity about the village apparently won out. She insisted on going.
"Even so, I want to take a look. And like I said earlier, there might be information I don't know. So let's go. There's bound to be something over there."
Naturally, Nielson didn't actually know whether the village had anything to offer. She was simply hoping it did.
Rei knew that too, but since stopping by could yield some useful bargaining material, he accepted her proposal.
"That's why Seto is already heading there, right? Did you not hear me tell him to head for the village a moment ago? ...Or maybe you were just that distracted by it."
"Eh? A-ahahaha. But, um... you see, I really was interested in the village, or rather... yeah. Well, um... you know?"
"Don't give me 'you know?' It goes without saying, but just like in Gilm, you can't show yourself openly in front of people."
"I know that. But hiding inside your robe and listening in on conversations—that's fine, right?"
"If it's just that, then yes."
As they talked, Seto touched down a short distance from the village.
"...Oh?"
Rei dismounted from Seto's back and let out a surprised sound at what he saw.
It was understandable for the villagers to be on guard at the sight of Seto. If they didn't know him—or Rei, for that matter—it wouldn't be strange to mistake him for an attacking monster.
Even so, seeing nearly twenty armed villagers already assembled struck Rei as far too quick a response.
"Grrrr?"
Seto seemed to share the same question. He was peering toward the village with a puzzled expression.
"Hey, Rei. What's wrong?"
Nielson, who had slipped inside Rei's Dragon Robe during the descent, asked curiously, not understanding the situation.
Incidentally, the skewers Nielson had been carrying were already gone—eaten and the sticks discarded. They had left some tare and salt residue, but she had wiped everything clean with a cloth so the Dragon Robe wouldn't get dirty.
"Something about the village seems off. I'd understand if they were thrown into a panic at the sight of Seto, but a sizable number of them have already gathered and are ready for combat. They seem pretty accustomed to fighting."
"...But isn't that normal for a human village?"
Nielson was brimming with curiosity, but she had almost no experience with human villages. That was likely why she assumed the one nearby was typical.
For Rei, however, who had visited all kinds of villages, this one was clearly abnormal.
Could it be a bandit village?
He couldn't remember who had told him, but he'd heard that some villages looked completely ordinary on the surface, yet every resident was actually a bandit. They would attack anyone who stopped by.
Whether that was a true story or just a rumor, Rei couldn't say, but he suspected it was the former. After all, he hunted bandits as a hobby, and even setting that aside, the Guild regularly posted bandit subjugation requests. No matter how many were taken out, it never put a dent in their numbers.
Given that much, it wouldn't seem strange at all for an entire village to be populated by bandits.
"I'm sure it'll probably be fine, but don't be surprised if things turn hostile in an instant. If that happens, hold on as tight as you can."
As long as Nielson was inside the Dragon Robe, she couldn't move around freely like she normally did. If she started shifting around, it wouldn't be strange for her to get crushed. To prevent that, Rei needed to stay mindful of her presence.
"I know. Actually, if it comes to a fight, should I step out? That way you'd be free to move."
"No... better not. If they took you hostage, that'd be a real headache."
"Muu. Listen, Rei—what do you take me for? I'm a fairy. Do you honestly think ordinary people could catch me that easily?"
Rei said nothing in reply. Since Nielson was a fairy, she could fly. At worst, she could flee into the sky and avoid capture.
But at the same time, knowing her personality, it wasn't hard to imagine her making some careless mistake and getting snatched up.
"Right. I don't know what their intentions are, but let's try talking to them first. ...Seto, don't attack unless they make the first move."
"Gruu."
"Hey, I asked you a question!"
Rei pressed down lightly on Nielson, who was squirming inside the Dragon Robe. Once she quieted, he and Seto approached the village together.
Strangely, the villagers' wariness seemed to melt away as Rei and Seto drew closer. Normally, when an unknown party—especially one visibly prepared for combat—came approaching, it wouldn't be unusual for them to attack on sight. And yet, the villagers visibly relaxed as the pair advanced.
What's going on here? At the very least, it's clearly not a bandit village.
With that thought, Rei and Seto continued toward the village. Several people emerged from the village to meet them, apparently acting as representatives.
"Excuse me, but are you an adventurer, by any chance?"
A man in his fifties—likely the village chief—stepped forward from the group and addressed Rei.
Though he was speaking to Rei, his eyes kept drifting toward Seto.
Rei couldn't blame him. It was, after all, his first time seeing a creature like Seto.
"Yeah, I'm an adventurer. I was thinking of stopping by your village, but... looking at the situation, should I not?"
"No, no, it's a small village, but visitors are always welcome. I welcome you as the village chief."
The man confirmed Rei's guess, replying with an easy warmth. Rei had figured it was probably safe given that they'd already lowered their weapons, but the sheer readiness of the welcome still caught him slightly off guard.
"Is that right? From what I saw from the sky, it looked like the villagers were geared up for a fight. ...Ah, I can tell you don't have any hostile intent toward me, so don't worry. It seems you've already stood down anyway."
"Hahaha. You saw through us, did you? Truth is, a monster has been showing up near the village lately. We've been on edge."
"A monster? The way you reacted to Seto, I figured that might be the case."
Rei was relieved to learn they weren't targeting him.
...Though he noticed Nielson sulking inside the Dragon Robe for some reason.
"Yes. And not weak monsters like Goblins, either. What appears to be a fairly high-rank monster."
"That's... certainly possible."
As a general rule, high-rank monsters appeared in the frontier. But that was only a general rule. Under the right circumstances, they could turn up elsewhere too.
Not to mention... this place should be close to the Smog Panther's territory. Wait. Hold on. Could the monster that appeared near the village actually be the Smog Panther?
The mere mention of a monster appearing near the Smog Panther's habitat was enough to make Rei consider the possibility.
"By the way, you said monsters have been appearing around the village. Do you know specifically what kind? For example, a monster called a Smog Panther...?"
"No, that's not it. The monster that's been appearing is a giant boar. One about the same size as your companion there—a boar with two heads. That's the kind of monster. About five of them..."
"Whoa, that's..."
Rei glanced at Seto. At over three meters long, Seto was an adorable presence as far as Rei was concerned, but to anyone seeing him for the first time, that certainly wouldn't be the impression.
A boar that size—and not just an ordinary boar, but one with two heads, five of them appearing nearby—it was no wonder the village was on high alert.
A two-headed dog is an Orthrus... no, a Cerberus? No, Cerberus had three heads, so it must be an Orthrus after all. In that case, what do you call a two-headed boar?
That question lingered even as another rose alongside it.
"If something that vicious has been showing up in numbers, didn't you put out a subjugation request?"
"This village has no Guild. If we wanted to ask the Guild, we'd have to travel to a village or town that has one, but... as you can see, it's a small village like this. The rewards would be..."
"Ah, I see."
From what Rei had observed from the air, the village wasn't destitute, but it was by no means wealthy either. Given its moderate size, he'd assumed it might at least have a Guild branch, but apparently not even that.
That explained why the village chief was being so polite. An adventurer accompanied by a tamed monster like Seto—even without knowing the alias of Crimson, it was easy enough to surmise that Rei was a seasoned hand. That was almost certainly why the chief was treating him with such care.