"Well, for now we've at least managed to defeat the three types of monsters that were our minimum objective, and I'd like to move forward, but..."
"What's wrong? You defeated the monsters you were after, so aren't we done here?"
Nielson turned a puzzled gaze toward Rei's murmur and asked.
From Nielson's perspective, since Rei had defeated the monsters he wanted to kill, she thought it would be fine to head for the next enemy—their main target, the Smog Panther.
However, from Rei's perspective, he honestly wanted to kill one more spider and one more deer if possible.
After all, the magic stones used for Beast Magic required two each for Seto and Death Scythe.
He had obtained a decent quantity of magic stones from the lizards, but there had only been one spider and one deer each.
In that sense, he still wanted to defeat one more of each in this vicinity.
"I need two magic stones—one for preservation and one for display. The lizards aside, we've only got one spider and one deer each, right? Thinking about it that way, I'd like to take down one more of each if possible."
Rei told Nielson the cover story he often used in his usual explanations.
Nielson floated an expression that said this was troublesome.
Until just moments ago, she had been delighted that she had made Rei acknowledge her ability, but now she acted as though she had completely forgotten all about it.
For Rei's part, he had some thoughts about Nielson's fickle nature, but setting that aside for now, he continued speaking.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to go out of my way to search for those spiders and deer. I'm just planning to kill them if we happen across them while searching for Smog Panthers."
"Really? Then I guess it's fine."
Nielson accepted Rei's words, and seeing her reaction, Rei thought to himself that things had gone exactly as planned.
After all, he had heard that Smog Panthers were scattered across multiple locations in this forest.
And Rei and his group intended to kill as many Smog Panthers as possible.
In other words, it wouldn't be strange at all to encounter spiders or deer while searching for Smog Panthers.
What's more, it was Rei and Seto who would be searching for the Smog Panthers, and Seto's senses in particular were extremely sharp.
When Rei and Seto moved through the forest searching for Smog Panthers, finding spiders or deer—or perhaps other unknown monsters—should not be particularly unusual.
"If you're satisfied, then let's get moving. Even when it comes to finding Smog Panthers, there's plenty we need to do."
"Hmm... hey, Rei. Are you hiding something?"
Nielson asked Rei that out of the blue.
In this situation, Rei had no idea where she had drawn that conclusion from. Was it a woman's intuition, or a fairy's intuition?
"Hiding things... well, I do have my fair share of things I can't tell others, so in that sense, I suppose I am hiding things."
If he honestly said he wasn't hiding anything here, there was a high chance she would grow suspicious. Judging that, Rei decided to deflect it that way for now.
The words Rei had spoken were by no means a lie. There truly were quite a lot of things he couldn't tell Nielson, and he had good reason for each of them.
That was why Nielson showed a certain degree of understanding upon hearing Rei's words.
"Really? Well, I guess it's fine. ...Alright then, let's go. I'd like to find the Smog Panther as soon as possible, if we can."
Saying that, Nielson flew ahead to guide Rei and Seto.
Rei glanced at Nielson, then turned his gaze toward Seto.
Without Rei needing to say anything, Seto understood the general gist from that look alone.
"Gurru."
As Seto gave a small purr to indicate he understood, Rei gave a small nod.
"Now then, I wonder where the Smog Panthers are. We heard they're scattered throughout this forest, so shouldn't we be finding at least one by now?"
"Hmm, now that you mention it, you're right. The Smog Panther is quite a high-rank monster, so given the situation, it wouldn't be strange for one to show up around now. Maybe they're not showing themselves because Seto is here?"
Nielson's words were convincing to Rei as well.
However, Seto had been suppressing his presence ever since entering the forest. In fact, the spider, deer, and lizards they had encountered earlier hadn't seemed to notice Seto's presence at all.
...Though that was also largely because they had been locked in a three-way standoff and were focused on that.
(A three-way standoff... though I'm honestly not sure if that even qualifies as a three-way standoff.)
When Rei had arrived at the scene, the deer was already immobilized by the spider and could have been killed at any moment.
The reason the deer hadn't been killed yet in that situation was probably because a pack of lizards was surrounding it.
From the spider's perspective, it was wary of the lizards to prevent them from snatching the deer away after it made the kill, so it hadn't been able to finish the deer off yet.
Given those circumstances, it wouldn't have been strange for the monsters to have failed to notice Seto's presence.
"Hey, Rei. Wait. It looks like there's something over there."
Nielson, who had been leading Rei and Seto along, suddenly said that.
What Nielson meant by "something" was unclear.
But thinking she might have found a monster, Rei asked with evident interest.
"What do you mean by 'something,' specifically?"
"Hmm... some kind of large fruit? There's a fruit bigger than me."
A fruit? Rei wondered.
From Rei's perspective, a fruit larger than Nielson wasn't particularly unusual, but if Nielson was bringing it up, it might be something reasonably interesting.
"Got it. Then let's head that way. If that fruit turns out to be tasty, I want to secure some."
"Alright. Let's go then. This way."
Saying that, Nielson veered off from the direction they had been traveling and flew through the air.
Rei and Seto followed after her.
(A fruit, huh. If it's bigger than Nielson, it's definitely quite large. The question is whether it's actually edible.)
Given that it had caught Nielson's interest, Rei couldn't imagine it was just an ordinary fruit. If so, there was even a possibility it was a tastier fruit than Rei had anticipated.
"So, Nielson. What does that fruit look like on the outside?"
"Hmm, let's see. The outside is... wrinkly?"
"...Wrinkly?"
Was "wrinkly" an appropriate way to describe a fruit?
Rei had his doubts, but from the look of Nielson, she didn't appear to be lying.
(Wrinkly... a walnut, maybe?)
Rei had lived near the mountains in Japan. Naturally, there were walnut trees in the mountains, and he knew what walnuts looked like.
In reality, the walnuts Rei knew were in a state covered by flesh, but even if he saw them on a tree in the generally known form, Rei would have accepted it without issue.
Also, walnuts were perfectly delicious as a cooking ingredient.
If what Nielson had found was walnuts, that wasn't a bad thing for Rei either.
Since walnuts were a highly versatile ingredient, there was no doubt they would make cooking considerably tastier.
...Though, of course, the one doing that cooking wouldn't be Rei; it would fundamentally be Marina's job.
Hoping it was walnuts, Rei continued through the forest...
"Ah, look, Rei. It's coming into view. Over there, over there."
In the direction Nielson was pointing, there was indeed a fruit of considerable size.
And it was true that the exterior was wrinkly.
"What in the... what exactly is this fruit? Can you eat it?"
Perhaps because he had been imagining walnuts, that was the impression that slipped from Rei's mouth.
In fact, looking at it like this, it didn't seem edible.
However, if that was the standard, walnuts were also wrinkly and eerie-looking on the outside, and one wouldn't think they were edible either.
In that sense, even a fruit that didn't look edible could be perfectly... no, rather, there was no denying the possibility that it could be eaten deliciously.
Given the current situation, they couldn't exactly eat this fruit right away, but even so, the option of not obtaining it didn't exist in Rei's mind.
Thus, Rei reached out toward the fruit hanging from a branch at a height that even the short Rei could reach normally...
"Whoa!"
The moment he touched it, the fruit burst.
He jumped back on reflex, so Rei suffered no harm, but it was still enough to startle him.
"Gururu?"
Seeing Rei leap backward, Seto purred as if asking, "Are you okay?"
Nielson was watching the burst fruit with an expression of surprise.
That a fruit would burst was probably completely unexpected for Nielson as well.
After tearing her gaze from the fruit, she asked Rei as if to make sure.
"Rei, are you okay?"
"Yeah, no problem. I never expected a fruit to explode."
"Eh? Really? I didn't know this fruit would explode, but there are actually quite a few plants that do explode."
"...Is that so?"
Rei murmured with surprise at Nielson's words.
That said, it seemed Rei hadn't known, but on Earth too, there were a fair number of plants that burst to scatter their seeds.
In particular, a plant called the Hura crepitans launches its seeds at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour.
On top of that, the seeds were also toxic, making it an extremely dangerous plant.
Not only the seeds, but numerous thorns grew from the tree's trunk, and those thorns were also toxic—making it hazardous as well.
Furthermore, the sap, leaves, and fruit... all of them were toxic, and if the sap got into one's eyes, there was even a risk of blindness. It was a ferocious plant.
Compared to such a ferocious plant, the exploding fruit before Rei wasn't quite as dangerous.
"Did that burst... launch its seeds?"
"Um, wait a second. ...Hmm, ah, could this be it?"
Rei had reflexively dodged the burst fruit, but he now wondered whether it had burst in order to launch its seeds.
In fact, as Nielson fluttered around near the ground, she found what appeared to be a seed.
Though there was no way to know for certain whether it had actually been launched by the fruit bursting.
"O... heavy... h-hey, Rei. Carry it!"
The seed that had burst—or perhaps been launched—from the fruit larger than Nielson apparently had considerable weight.
However, that weight was only from the perspective of Nielson, a fairy. To Rei, it didn't feel all that heavy.
Rei examined the seed-like object he received from Nielson... and suddenly noticed that its fragrance was sweet.
The aroma wafting from the seed was unmistakably sweet.
Not just ordinarily sweet, either—it was a sweet scent, almost like chocolate.
(Chocolate? No, but... was chocolate something like this? It's supposed to be made from cocoa beans or something, and I seem to remember reading somewhere that the beans themselves aren't sweet at that stage...)
Rei had his doubts, but he quickly shook his head.
What Rei possessed was knowledge from Japan... no, from Earth.
This land of Elgin undoubtedly had aspects that resembled Earth, but it also had many aspects that were completely different.
The existence of magic and monsters was a prominent example.
Though, it was possible that Rei simply hadn't known, and one couldn't deny the possibility that magic had existed on Earth as well.
At any rate, since the common sense of Earth and the common sense of Elgin need not be the same, the possibility that something like a chocolate-flavored seed existed normally in Elgin couldn't be denied.
If so, it wouldn't be strange for there to be a seed that tasted exactly like chocolate itself.
Thinking that... Rei suddenly had a question.
"Hm? Nielson, you should like sweets. Are you not interested in this seed?"
"...Eh? Is something about that seed? I thought it had an unusual smell, but I didn't think of it as sweet or anything like that."
"Is that so?"
Rei picked up the seed again and sniffed it.
And just as before, there was indeed a sweet, chocolate-like fragrance.
Why Nielson didn't find this aroma appealing was, unfortunately, beyond his understanding.
Whether it was something particular to fairies that he couldn't grasp, or something specific to Nielson, he honestly couldn't tell the difference.
Even so, he decided that they should gather as many of these seeds as possible for now, and proceeded to search the ground together with Seto and Nielson.