Some time had passed since they had spotted the boar...
"It's not here."
"Not here, huh."
"Guru."
Seto purred in agreement with Rei and Nielson, who murmured after failing to find any sign of the Smog Panther.
Nielson, who was knowledgeable about Smog Panthers, could not locate it, and Seto, with his sharp five senses, could not spot it either.
In that sense, it was not that the Smog Panther was hiding to avoid being found by Rei's group, but rather that they simply had not found it yet.
While faintly sensing this, Rei asked Nielson.
"There's no doubt the Smog Panther is in this forest, right? Well, no, there's no doubt about it. The village chief said so too."
Rei voiced the question of whether the Smog Panther was actually in this forest, but he answered it himself before Nielson, as the guide, could respond.
"Maybe I should have hired a guide at that village..."
"But the people in that village basically avoid going deep into the forest, right? The shallow parts are one thing, but if we're heading deeper in, hiring a guide wouldn't have meant anything, would it? If anything, we'd just have another burden to deal with, and most importantly, the fact that I wouldn't be able to move freely would make it completely pointless."
Nielson immediately rebutted Rei's remark about how they should have hired a guide at the village.
For Nielson, if there had been a guide, she would not have been able to fly around freely as she had just mentioned, and she would have had to stay inside Rei's Dragon Robe—which was likely what she disliked.
"Alright, alright. I suppose for you, it's better not to have a guide. But considering the situation around here, we're going to need to find the Smog Panther somehow. ...The problem is how we find it. Honestly, what do you think?"
"Even if you ask me... I didn't expect to have this much trouble finding the Smog Panther either."
Nielson wanted to find the Smog Panther as quickly as possible, but since it was not going to be that easy, they were walking around the forest like this.
"Ah, is that how it is? Then don't worry about it so much. If we search slowly, that'll be fine."
The reason Rei did not rush Nielson was that he did not particularly need to defeat the Smog Panther in a hurry.
To begin with, the main reason Rei had gone to the Fairy Dwelling was to avoid getting caught up in troublesome matters—the Crystal Dragon situation in Gilm, and the recovery and various other issues in Egginis.
In that sense, taking time to defeat the Smog Panther was not such a bad thing.
Moreover, there was a decent possibility that this forest contained a fair number of unknown monsters.
In that case, it was undoubtedly better for Rei to take his time.
"Really? If you say so, I guess I'm fine with it... but let me ask just in case, you're sure that's okay, right? You're not going to suddenly say later that we actually need to hurry and find the Smog Panther or something?"
"Basically, I have no such intention. Given the current situation, there's no particular need to do anything. Though... well, I can't say for certain. If something happens along the way, that could change things."
Hearing Rei's words, Nielson looked relieved.
She probably wanted to explore this forest more.
After all, there was the matter of the seeds they had found earlier. Although Nielson could not detect the scent herself, Rei's description that the seeds smelled sweet greatly intrigued her.
That said, since cooking them would be difficult for Rei, actually eating the seeds would have to wait until after this forest matter was resolved.
In that sense, to eat the chocolate-scented seeds sooner, she needed to defeat the Smog Panther in this forest as quickly as possible.
(But aside from those seeds, there seem to be lots of other interesting things around here.)
Flying slightly ahead of Rei, Nielson thought to herself.
Given Nielson's abundant curiosity, being able to come to a forest like this and move around freely was extremely enjoyable for her.
Since she had orders from the Chief, she could not truly act as she pleased. However, considering the current situation, there was no doubt that she was fairly satisfied with how things were.
"The Smog Panther... I'd heard about it, but it seems like a pretty troublesome monster to actually encounter."
"Gurururu!"
Seto purred at Rei's murmur, as if to say that if anything happened, he would handle it.
For Seto, defeating a creature he was meant to fight was nothing new.
If defeating the Smog Panther would make Rei happy, Seto would not hesitate to put in the effort.
Moreover, if he defeated the Smog Panther and obtained its magic stone, he would become even stronger.
Thinking of that, it was only natural for Seto to show himself full of motivation.
"Yeah, I'm counting on you, Seto. ...By the way, if you find any spiders or deer besides the Smog Panther, take care of those too."
"Guru!"
Seto purred as if to say that went without saying.
The lizard monsters had appeared in a pack, so they had obtained a sufficient number of magic stones.
However, the spider and deer had only been encountered one each, so naturally, they had only been able to obtain one magic stone from each.
"Why are you searching for monsters that much? Well, I think you and Seto could defeat any monster easily if you encountered one. You said collecting magic stones is your hobby, but is it really that important?"
"If you ask whether it's important or not, it's definitely important. Though I don't expect anyone to understand this hobby of mine. People's hobbies can make others think 'what's that about?' sometimes."
For example, back in Japan, collecting stamps was a fairly mainstream hobby, but to Rei, he thought 'is collecting stamps really that interesting?'
Other than that, there were collectible food toys... and on the stranger side, he had seen something about a hobby of collecting empty cans somewhere.
From Rei's perspective, he wondered if those were really things people wanted to collect that badly.
But to those who collected them, they were serious about it.
Knowing such circumstances, Rei understood that even if he said he had a hobby of collecting magic stones, there would not be many who could understand.
Or perhaps if it were someone who also had a hobby that was hard for others to understand, it might be a different story.
Moreover, in Rei's case, having a hobby of collecting magic stones was ultimately nothing more than a cover for Beast Magic.
If someone who had a hobby that others could not understand—someone who collected things because they genuinely enjoyed it—learned of Rei's circumstances, it would not be strange if some flew into a rage.
After all, they were earnestly collecting things while not being understood by those around them, whereas for Rei, it was merely a cover.
(In that sense, even if there were gatherings of people who collected such things, I wouldn't be able to participate. ...Not that I know whether such gatherings exist or not.)
If he went to a place where such hobbyists gathered and was asked to show the magic stones he had collected, he would have almost none to show.
After all, he basically used up the magic stones with Death Scythe and Seto, and sold any others to the Guild.
If he had a hobby of collecting magic stones, perhaps he should act a bit more carefully in that regard, he thought slightly. Like securing a few more magic stones, one extra of each at least.
That said, if they came in packs like the lizards earlier, it would be one thing, but for opponents that acted individually like the spider and deer, gathering a large number of magic stones was difficult.
If so, then... Rei, who had been thinking along those lines, suddenly noticed something.
"Fog?"
"Huh? ...Oh, you're right. I didn't notice at all."
What caught Rei's eye was fog that had begun to drift through the forest.
It was fairly thick fog, but the reason they noticed it late was probably because it had grown denser little by little.
"But... fog? In this situation?"
If there was a lake nearby, or if it were early morning, it would not be strange for fog to form.
However, it was already midday.
It did not seem like weather conditions that would produce fog at all.
Rei did not perfectly remember every condition for fog to form, so the possibility that some weather conditions he was unaware of had aligned to produce fog could not be denied.
It could not be denied, but... he could more easily deduce what kind of being was producing this fog.
"Fog, huh. Looks like we've entered the Smog Panther's territory. In this case, I'm not sure whether to say 'finally' or not."
"Huh? Really!?"
"Why are you surprised by that?"
Nielson let out a cry of surprise at Rei's words.
She was supposed to be the guide traveling alongside Rei, yet she was the one saying such things—so being told not to be surprised was unreasonable.
"Ahahaha. Well, you see, I was thinking about the seeds from earlier."
"...Should I use you as live bait, as the Chief told me to?"
"Gururu"
"Hey, what are you saying! Seto, don't you go agreeing with that!"
Nielson shouted in a panic at the way Rei and Seto were behaving.
Judging from Rei's demeanor just now, she probably thought she might actually be used as live bait.
In truth, Rei was about half serious.
"Even if I did use you as live bait, you have Fairy Circle teleportation, so the Smog Panther's attacks wouldn't hit you that easily."
"You say 'that easily,' but if I fail to dodge, I'll be eaten, you know?"
"Live bait."
"That's why I said stop calling me live bait! Look, more importantly, it's coming!"
Nielson had been arguing with Rei—or rather, raising her voice in protest at being called live bait—but she apparently noticed something approaching them and shouted.
"!?"
Rei was startled by that shout.
He had also sensed that something was approaching.
But he did not know exactly how far away it was or where it was.
Because of that, Nielson's shout—delivered as if she understood the timing of the attack perfectly—was quite unexpected.
And precisely because it was unexpected, Rei was able to act immediately on the spot.
A feline foreleg equipped with sharp claws passed through the space where Rei's body had been an instant after he kicked off the ground on reflex.
A feline foreleg... in this situation, there was no need to think about what kind of being the opponent was.
"Smog Panther!"
Shouting while activating the Eye of Nebula in a semi-reflexive movement, he threw the arrowhead it produced.
It was a strike meant only to make the opponent flinch, but the moment he thought the arrowhead would hit, the Smog Panther's foreleg turned into fog and vanished from the spot.
"Troublesome."
He had heard about it from the Chief, but it clearly possessed a highly troublesome ecology.
In this situation, if he attacked, its body turned into fog would undoubtedly pass right through Rei's attack.
That said, Rei had several options available even in this situation... and he chose what was likely the best among them.
"Seto!"
"Gurururururu!"
Rei's sharply called-out voice.
He did not say specifically what to do, but even so, Seto, who had been with Rei all this time, understood what Rei was asking and activated King's Intimidation.
The roar that erupted from Seto's mouth took effect as long as the opponent was not on par with or above Seto.
And... just as Rei had anticipated, the Smog Panther, upon hearing Seto's roar, suddenly shifted from its fog state to a solid form and collapsed onto the ground.
Rushing toward the fallen Smog Panther, Rei retrieved Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from the Misty Ring and... swung Death Scythe.
If the Smog Panther somehow evaded Death Scythe's attack, he intended to unleash a strike from the Twilight Spear, but fortunately—unfortunately for the Smog Panther—the Smog Panther, unable to move due to King's Intimidation, had its neck severed by Death Scythe's blow and died just like that.