Rei managed to gather a fair amount of information over his meal with the village chief and his wife.
That said, he hadn't learned much of consequence about monsters other than the Smog Panther and the two-headed boars.
The village had no skilled adventurers, and its hunters were only moderately competent at best. Given that, even when they entered the forest for meat, they never strayed beyond the shallow outskirts.
Since they never ventured into monster territory, it was only natural they wouldn't know what kinds of monsters actually lived in the forest.
Still, the fact that they had any information at all was due to the occasional person who wandered too deep after getting lost, or pushed further in after failing to bag any game, or ventured into the depths on a dare.
Naturally, most who did such things were killed by monsters. But the rare few who made it back through luck or sheer ability brought back word of what lurked in the forest depths.
That was the information Rei received as his reward for accepting the two-headed boar subjugation request.
"Giant spider monsters, sharp-antlered deer monsters, and giant lizard monsters, huh? ...By the way—and I really mean just by the way—that last one, the giant lizard monster... it's not actually a dragon or anything, right?"
When Rei heard "lizard monster," the first thing that came to mind was, predictably enough, a dragon.
Perhaps he thought so precisely because he knew Ielo, who had been created as Elena's tamed monster. Given Ielo's small size, it wouldn't be strange for someone going by appearances alone to mistake him for a lizard.
Of course, Ielo was a proper dragon—a dragon of the esteemed variety known as the Black Dragon.
...Though in truth, since Elena had created him through Dragon Language Magic, he wasn't a dragon in the strictest sense.
How would a real dragon react upon seeing Ielo? Rei had been curious about that for a while, but for better or worse, the chances of such an encounter happening anytime soon were slim.
"Goodness, no. There's no question of it being a dragon. According to the man who reported it, the lizard came up to about the waist of a man of average build, and it was traveling in a pack."
"Ah, I see. Then it probably isn't a dragon. ...Even so, a pack of lizard monsters waist-high is still a bit troublesome."
At waist height, while it wouldn't rival Seto's three-meter-plus body length, it was unquestionably quite large. A pack of lizards that size would be genuinely formidable.
"Indeed. The man who came to report it said all the companions who'd gone in with him to test their courage were eaten. He was in a complete panic."
"...I see."
Listening to the village chief's words, Rei took a sip of the post-meal tea his wife had served. It wasn't the black tea Rei favored but something closer in flavor to roasted brown rice tea. Savoring the taste, he continued.
"The information is plenty as far as payment goes. I'm not sure if I'll actually encounter the monsters you described, but once I've dealt with the two-headed boars, I'll head that way."
"Please be careful. The monsters in the forest are said to be strong. They've most likely drifted in from the frontier."
Rei nodded at the warning and rose from his chair. After a brief farewell, he headed back to his room. Neither the village chief nor his wife made any move to stop him or add anything; they simply saw him off.
"Hm? Oh, Rei! You're back already? So how'd it go? Did you learn anything useful?"
The moment Rei stepped into the guest room, Nielson came flying toward him—not figuratively, but literally.
While dealing with the airborne fairy, Rei glanced over at the sandwich he'd left behind. Unsurprisingly, the sandwich—larger than Nielson's entire body—had been devoured down to the last crumb.
She ate the whole thing when it was bigger than she is? Rei wondered. But then again, this was Nielson, so he somehow found himself able to accept it.
Deciding not to dwell on it, he spoke up.
"Yeah, I got some fairly interesting info. As far as the village chief knows, there are three types... no, four if you count the Smog Panther, living in the deep forest. And that's at a minimum."
It was safe to assume there were other monsters beyond what the village chief knew about. As for what specifically, Rei would just have to venture into the forest depths and find out for himself.
"Hmm. Four types, huh. ...Plus the two-headed boars. Hey, Rei, why do you want to fight so many monsters anyway? Is it because you're collecting magic stones?"
"Hm? Did I mention that before? Well, yeah. I've got a habit of collecting magic stones, so encountering monsters I haven't gotten stones from yet is more than welcome. Besides... spiders aside, the meat from the deer, the lizards, and the two-headed boars should be pretty good."
"You're not going to eat the spider?"
Nielson asked, tilting her head. She knew Rei and Seto readily ate monster meat, so she figured the spider monster should be fair game too.
But Rei shook his head.
"I don't really have any desire to eat spider. Some people don't care about that sort of thing at all, but I do. I've actually heard spider can be quite tasty."
That was knowledge from TV programs and manga Rei had consumed back in Japan. He'd seen shows where palm-sized spiders were deep-fried and sold as street food, and a cooking manga where the protagonist, stranded on a survival regimen, ate a spider raw and claimed it tasted like chocolate.
Judging from those sources, spiders might not be bad depending on the species... but unfortunately, it simply wasn't Rei's thing.
"Is that how it is? Well, if you're saying you won't eat it, Rei, then maybe it really isn't very good."
"No—were you even listening to a word I said?"
Rei shot back at Nielson, who showed no sign of having absorbed anything he'd said, but didn't pursue the matter further. If he carelessly kept talking about eating spiders and Nielson got curious, she might start pestering him to eat them too, and that would be a problem.
"Anyway, leaving the spider aside... it's a bit early, but I think I'll turn in. Since I have no idea when the two-headed boars will show up, I need to sleep while I can. I'd prefer to avoid fighting sleep-deprived if at all possible."
"You're going to bed already? Couldn't we talk a little more?"
"I wouldn't mind if we had the time. But given the situation, I want to make sure I'm well-rested."
With that, Rei began preparing for bed.
According to the village chief, the two-headed boars were active during the day and weren't nocturnal. But that was only based on what the village chief knew—there was no ruling out the possibility that they might approach the village at night.
In fact, precisely because it was night, there was a very real chance they could smash through the wooden palisade surrounding the village and break in.
If that happened, fighting while short on sleep—or at least not being able to fight at full capacity—was something Rei wanted to avoid. During the day, at least, someone in the village would raise the alarm if the boars came.
"Pout, pout."
Nielson voiced her displeasure, but she seemed to realize that if she pulled a prank on Rei now, she'd likely end up as live bait for the Smog Panther later. With that in mind, she settled down and went to sleep alongside him.
The next morning, after washing up and eating breakfast, Rei patrolled the village with Seto.
Naturally, Nielson was tucked inside Rei's Dragon Robe.
Rei had told her she didn't need to force herself to come along, but Nielson clearly wanted to avoid being left behind at the village chief's house. As a fairy, she couldn't simply appear in public. If she were spotted, it would unquestionably cause an uproar. Understanding that, she chose to hide inside the Dragon Robe rather than stay behind.
Inside the robe, she couldn't fly around freely, but even so, it was apparently more comfortable than sitting still in one room.
That said...
"There's nothing particularly noteworthy here. Just like the village chief said, this is a perfectly ordinary village with no real distinguishing features. I think I read somewhere that having no characteristics is itself a characteristic."
Rei muttered to himself as he walked through the village alongside Seto. The scenes spread out before him were ones he'd long since grown tired of; there was nothing interesting to look at.
To be precise, while they were similar villages, there were subtle differences that could perhaps be called regional variations. But for Rei, who wasn't studying such things, they all looked the same.
What made it even more tedious was the way the villagers shrank back in fear every time they saw Seto walking beside him. Given that several two-headed boars roughly Seto's size had been appearing near the village, Rei understood the reaction and held no complaint.
If there had been more time for the villagers to interact with Seto, they would have grown accustomed to him. Most would have stopped recoiling and come to adore him. But Rei would be leaving this village once the boars were dealt with—today, tomorrow, he wasn't sure. With so little time, there was no point trying to acclimate the residents to Seto.
"Food stalls and the like... most villages have at least a few, but it's a shame this one doesn't."
"There might be rare