After finishing breakfast, Rei set off for Bob's camp with Seto and Nielson.
The two wolf pups—whether they had been instructed by the Chief or simply followed their instincts—made no move to accompany Rei's group out of the Fairy Dwelling. Once they finished eating, they bounded off somewhere.
Along the way, they spotted several fairies, but whether due to the early hour, a lack of interest, or something the Chief had told them—for whatever reason, none came over demanding snacks from Rei. They managed to exit the Fairy Dwelling without a hitch.
As they stepped outside, the scent of roasting meat drifted through the fog-shrouded space.
Who was doing the cooking?
That much was obvious without giving it any thought.
After all, Bob was the only person in the fog-covered area.
"Bob, looks like the hunt went decently today."
"Ah, Rei-san. And Nielson-san too—what brings you out here? To a place like this?"
"Hold on, Bob. 'A place like this'? I'm not so sure about that."
Looking more teasing than genuinely displeased, Nielson made the remark.
After all, this was right outside the Fairy Dwelling.
Given that, calling it "a place like this" could be taken as looking down on the Fairy Dwelling.
Reading that implication in Nielson's words, Bob scratched his head with a sheepish expression.
"No, I didn't mean it like that... um, well... let's just say it's where I happen to be, alright?"
"I'll let it slide today. More importantly, though... a bird? That's pretty big."
The bird that had caught Nielson's interest was about the size of a crow.
Considering that it had been roasted after being fully plucked and prepped, it was undoubtedly larger than a crow when it still had its feathers.
Unfortunately, Rei couldn't tell whether it was a species he recognized.
With the feathers plucked and the head removed for roasting, that was only natural.
"Yakitori, huh."
"Huh? Well, I am grilling a bird, so I guess that works as a name for it."
At Rei's murmured comment, Bob wore a puzzled expression as he replied.
It didn't particularly matter to Bob, but staring at the roasting bird, Rei found himself thinking about yakitori.
When most people pictured yakitori, they thought of chicken skewered on bamboo sticks and grilled—sometimes with pieces of long green onion wedged in between.
Salt or tare. Eat it straight off the skewer or slide the meat off and use chopsticks.
It was one of those dishes that could easily spark debate, much like whether to squeeze lemon over fried chicken or what condiment to put on a fried egg. But what Rei was recalling was something slightly different.
The dish known as yakitori, rather than originally being chicken skewered on wooden sticks and grilled, was said to have originated from sparrows—plucked of their feathers and roasted whole.
That sparrow roast, entirely unlike ordinary yakitori, was a dish where you gnawed right down to the bone.
That said, Rei's knowledge of this came entirely from manga. He had never actually eaten sparrow himself.
"Anyway, last night was a really enjoyable evening."
While tending the roasting bird, Bob said as much.
Was he being sarcastic?
Rei wondered for a moment, but judging by Bob's demeanor, he didn't seem to be joking at all. It was clear he genuinely felt that way from the bottom of his heart.
"An enjoyable evening? What exactly happened? Did the fairies come by?"
"Yes. A few of them came to check on me during the night, so we had a meal together. The wolves too."
I see, Rei thought.
That was more than enough to convince him.
As long as the fairies were interacting amicably with Bob, the wolves wouldn't regard him as an enemy. If Bob had tried to force his way into the Fairy Dwelling, the wolves might have tried to stop him... but fortunately, he hadn't attempted anything of the sort.
Knowing this, the wolves had let their guard down around Bob at least a little.
For Bob, a hunter, wolves were in a sense close to rivals. Yet despite that relationship, their shared connection to the fairies and the Fairy Dwelling kept any real conflict from breaking out.
If anything, since Bob had built a friendly rapport with the fairies, the wolves had been told to keep an eye on him. Of course, the wolves had no real obligation to go that far... but since it was a request from the fairies, they couldn't exactly refuse.
Ultimately, they weren't going all-out to protect Bob come what may—but they were at least keeping a casual watch.
It wasn't necessarily because of that, but Bob didn't need to be overly vigilant about his surroundings while camping. Considering he was sleeping outdoors—and in a place he'd never visited before, no less—it was a fairly comfortable setup for him.
"Then you're fine with camping out one more night, right? When I asked the Chief yesterday, she said it would take about two days to prepare for dealing with the defilement."
Strictly speaking, the Chief's words yesterday had carried a nuance that if things went well, it might be resolved within the day. But given how she had phrased it, Rei's expectation was that in practice, a full two days would be necessary.
"That's right. Well, if I were told to camp for ten days or something, that'd be a problem, but one more day is fine. Though, I have to say, this really is a place that seems dangerous in various ways. This morning, while I was walking around looking for prey, I spotted an Orc."
"Huh... that's something. Exactly where?"
At the word "Orc" from Bob's mouth, Rei smiled.
Orcs had high reproductive capacity, and while not as extreme as Goblins, they frequently appeared even outside the frontier. Unlike Goblins, they also possessed considerable strength whether fighting alone or in groups.
In that sense, Orcs were extremely troublesome monsters... but at the same time, Orc meat was known for a taste that surpassed its rank. In fact, among the meats available in Gilm, Orc meat circulated as a somewhat higher-priced variety.
Naturally, the ability to eat Orc meat that regularly was only possible because Gilm was located in the frontier. Even when Orcs appeared outside the frontier, their numbers were incomparably smaller than in the frontier proper.
And since Rei ate Orc meat as casually as pork, having more of it in stock was always welcome.
"I can't give you a specific location, since I just ran into it while traveling through the forest. I can describe the spot where I saw them, but even if we head there now, I doubt the Orcs will still be around."
For Rei, an Orc was neither particularly formidable nor anything more than a manageable opponent. But while Bob had considerable skill with a bow, he didn't train like an adventurer. For someone like Bob, an Orc was an opponent he must never fight.
Chasing after such a creature would be nothing short of suicidal. If Bob were spotted by an Orc, it would mean death.
"Even if you only encountered them while traveling, the Orc's base is likely nearby."
Rei stated this with certainty because, given the current situation in the Treant Forest, the possibility of a large Orc group being present was low.
In the past—back when Rei hadn't been in this world for very long—he had taken a request to wipe out an Orc settlement. If there were Orcs on the same scale as back then, it wouldn't have been surprising for a subjugation request to be issued even now, while everyone was busy with the expansion construction.
No—precisely because of the current situation, it would be stranger if a request hadn't been issued immediately.
Due to the expansion construction, many people were currently flooding into Gilm. Including people who previously could never have made the trip. Naturally, among those people were women—and to Orcs, women were essential for producing offspring.
That being the case, the people coming to Gilm would inevitably become targets.
For Gilm, which relied on the expansion construction, those who transported goods and brought in personnel were indispensable. If an Orc settlement existed, a subjugation request would have been issued without delay.
(That said, the fact that it's the Treant Forest is a bit of an issue.)
The Birth Tower, the Otherworld Lake, the Fairy Dwelling... in many ways, the current Treant Forest had become an extremely important location. Anyone sent there would naturally have to be a trusted adventurer.
"The Orc's base, huh. Not exactly a pleasant thought, but... are you really going?"
"Yeah. You can never have too much Orc meat. Besides, Orcs breeding in this forest isn't something I want to see either. And their presence would be a problem for the Fairy Dwelling too."
Of course, if asked whether other monsters weren't a problem, the answer would be no. By the very definition of "monster," most were dangerous creatures—that much was certain.
"Is that so? ...Understood. Then I'll guide you after I finish eating."
That single phrase—that the Orcs' existence was a problem for the Fairy Dwelling—carried enormous weight with Bob. He had been reluctant just moments before, yet now he reversed his stance without hesitation.
Rei had some thoughts about Bob's sudden change of heart, but thanks to him, he'd get a guide to where the Orcs had been spotted. He decided to let it go.
"But even if we go to where I spotted the Orc, what do we do from there? I've said it multiple times, but what I saw were Orcs on the move. I have no idea where their base is."
"Don't worry about that. We have Seto with us. Right, Seto?"
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Seto purred as if to say, "Leave it to me!"
The Gryphon Seto already possessed extraordinarily sharp five senses, including his sense of smell. On top of that, he also had skills.
Seto's skill, Sense of Smell Enhancement, was—as the name suggested—one that strengthened his sense of smell beyond its already impressive baseline.
And its level was six.
Skills acquired through Beast Magic underwent a dramatic enhancement upon reaching level five. In other words, Sense of Smell Enhancement should be noticeably stronger compared to when it was level four or below.
The problem was that Rei didn't know exactly how much it had been enhanced.
Since Seto's baseline sense of smell was already sharp, there was no particular need to use the Sense of Smell Enhancement skill in everyday situations. In that sense, searching for the Orc's base this time would actually be the first deliberate use of the skill.
(Though it's possible Seto has used Sense of Smell Enhancement in places where I wasn't around to see it.)
Rei tried to stay with Seto as much as possible, but they weren't together constantly. When they were acting separately, it wouldn't be strange for Seto to have used the skill on his own.
Rei had no intention of faulting him for that, but he still didn't know exactly what kind of capabilities Sense of Smell Enhancement possessed.
While they talked, Bob finished eating the whole roasted bird for breakfast.
...Nielson had also, somewhat notably, received some meat from Bob.
Once the meal was cleaned up, Bob looked over at Rei.
"Well, we're ready on this end. What do you want to do? Should we head out right away?"
"Yeah, let's do that. I don't even need to ask, but you're coming too, Nielson? The enemy this time is an Orc."
"Of course I'm going! I'm rather curious to see what happens to the Orc."
Nielson declared this without a moment's hesitation.
For Nielson, the option of not going probably didn't even exist. Knowing her personality, Rei had expected exactly this response. He didn't voice any objection.
Nielson was reasonably skilled at magic, and when it came to support in combat, she was more than reliable.
...That said, if asked whether he actually needed Nielson's support against an Orc, Rei would immediately shake his head.
If it were not just a regular Orc but an Orc King or something similar, Rei wouldn't be able to let his guard down either. However, given the current state of the Treant Forest, he didn't think a high-rank monster like an Orc King would be present.
From a Beast Magic perspective, Rei did want an Orc King's magic stone. After all, the only Orc King Rei had ever defeated was a single one. And the ones who could use Beast Magic were Seto and Death Scythe.
If that was the case, it was only natural for Rei to want one more Orc King magic stone.