Hearing what Vosk said, Rei and Elena both realised why they had been called up.

They had just cleared the 11th floor just today. Because of that, it wasn’t surprising that Vosk might ask them for information.

However……

「How did you get that information so quickly?」

Rei and Elena hadn’t told anyone that they had cleared the 11th floor. If it was tomorrow, that wouldn’t be so surprising to guess from the materials they would have sold to the guild, but that wasn’t possible as they had been called up before they had manage to sell any of their materials.

(In that case……)

The three people they had saved from Sandworms crossed Rei’s mind. It was true that Rei had stayed on the 12th floor for some time to absorb magic stones and to check his skills after sending the trio back up through the magic circle. With that much time, the three of them would have been able to tell Vosk about it.

Perhaps guessing Rei’s line of thought, Vosk shook his head.

It was a gesture that didn’t suit such a large man and Rei was only able to respond with a slight frown.

Elena watched their exchange silently.

「I can tell you this, the three people in Pleaides’ group didn’t sell your information to me.」

「Then, were they from the Silva family to begin with?」

「That’s not the case either. The three of them aren’t particularly connected to anyone. They’re just ordinary adventurers, if I may say so.」

「Then how did you get the information about us?」

Although they hadn’t been together for long, had those adventurers been spies sent to gather information about them? Vosk denied Rei’s question frankly before answering Rei’s following question with a confident smile.

「It’s not that difficult. As you know, the Silva family is one of the three families governing Exil. And, as you know, it’s the most active one at this point in time. Of course, we have our sources of information in the guild as well as many eyes and ears in the city. Those eyes and ears of mine overheard those three talking about you in a bar. After that, combining that with the Desert Rose they handed in to the guild, there was only one possible answer, right?」

「……I see.」

As he nodded at Vosk’s answer, Rei found himself slightly relieved.

They had been a noisy trio, but he felt better knowing that they had taught him and Elena as well as told them what to look out for not out of a premeditated reason.

「So you said an abnormal species showed up?」

Judging that there was nothing more to discuss about Pleaides’ party for now, Rei went back to the main subject

Abnormal species had started to show up in the dungeon in more recent times. They were usually of the same species as the monsters that normally showed up on a dungeon floor, but boasted completely different strengths. Rei had also come in contact with abnormal species of Sword Bees and Stone Golems, so Vosk’s words were something he couldn’t ignore.

Hearing Rei’s question, Vosk’s smile from several seconds ago disappeared.

「Yeah. As I said, several of my younger brothers ran into one on the 11th floor. Fortunately, no one died, but there were injuries. That’s why I would like to talk with you two today, since you went down to the 11th floor. Of course, I’ve already heard from Pleaides’s group.」

「……In that case, you don’t need to hear anything from us.」

Rei and Elena had spent most of their time on the 11th floor with Pleaides’ group. Why do you have to bother hearing about it from us? Rei spoke with that meaning, but Vosk just shrugged his shoulders as he replied.

「The more testimonies, the better. You may also give me completely different answers from different perspectives……」

Vosk’s words sounded like he was repeating what someone else had told him, but Rei still understood his point.

He remembered from the criminal dramas and police specials he had seen in Japan, there was a technique where several police officers would ask the same question over and over again, switching from one suspect to another.

That said, with regards to that, the emphasis was mainly on checking if a suspect’s statements were consistent.

In Elgin, information was basically gathered from people talking about it, so hearing from a large number of people was certainly an important factor.

(Most likely, there is one other person listening in……)

Thinking to himself, Rei glanced over at the door before shaking his head.

(I wonder if it’s just the two of them as well? And, it’s also surprising that Vosk would stop to analyse the information he has rather that going out to hunt the abnormal species that injured his younger brothers.)

Thinking like that, Rei shook his head at Vosk.

「Unfortunately, we didn’t see any abnormal species in the desert. We only fought three kinds of monsters, Sandworms, a Sandsnake, and a Grand Scorpion.」

「……So, it was what I had been expecting in the end. Then, was there anything strange at all? Anything different from how the dungeon usually is?」

「Don’t ask what we don’t know. It’s the first time Elena and I have gone down to the 11th floor, as you know. Even if the desert floor was any different today, we would have no idea. Rather, I felt that the desert seemed quite normal today. I don’t think Pleaides felt anything strange either, as they usually work on the desert floors.」

「No leads as expected, huh.」

Vosk sighed as he scratched his head, an action that surprisingly matched him.

As Rei thought that, he decided to ask about the abnormal species.

「By the way, what kind of abnormal species was it?」

「……Well, I guess it’s fine. Since I called you here, I should tell you that much. Have you heard of Spear Frogs?」

When Vosk asked him with a sigh, Rei replied as he recalled the information he had heard from Pleaides.

「It’s definitely a monster that shows up on the desert floors. It’s a frog like monster about 50cm in length and, as its name suggests, has a very sharp tipped tongue that can even penetrate metal armour in some cases.」

「Heh, you know quite a bit. Did you hear that from Pleaides?」

「Yeah. It was in exchange for escorting them. ……So, since that monster has been brought up, was the abnormal species a Spear Frog?」

Vosk nodded with a bitter sigh at Rei’s words.

「That’s right. It doesn’t have the special ability to control other monsters like the Sword Bee you reported to the guild, but it seems that it has had its abilities purely strengthened, like the Stone Golem. The main difference is its size. I heard that it was about 3m in length. It also has two tongues with spiralled tips.」

「……There’s clearly something strange about that, are you sure it isn’t a completely different species? Like a rare or higher ranking species?」

The abnormal species Sword Bee and Stone Golem that Rei had seen were close in size to the base monster they had come from. The Sword Bee queen had been a little bigger than the Sword Bees, but not close to six times larger.

However, Vosk shook his head at Rei’s words.

「I had also thought that at first and had some research done. However, it has been confirmed that it isn’t a higher ranking species of Spear Frog. That only leaves the possibility of a rare species, but for a rare species to appear at this time when abnormal species are appearing, it’s a little hard to believe that. Above all, even if it was a rare species, the difference in size is too great.」

「That’s true. I did a fair bit of research before coming to Exil, rare species shouldn’t be that different in size from the ordinary monsters. As rare species, I guess there are exceptions though.」

Elena, who had been silent until now, murmured in agreement to Vosk’s statement.

Hearing that, Rei recalled the rare species Goblin he had fought previously.

It was true that ordinary Goblins had green skin while the rare species had red skin, but size wise, it was almost the same size as an ordinary Goblin. Even if some were larger, they were never more than twice as large.

「That’s right. The rare species I’ve fought before were definitely only 2-3 times as large.」

Vosk looked at Rei with an interesting expression when he heard that.

Rare species were generally evaluated as one rank higher than the base species, so there weren’t a lot of people who had killed a rare species beforee.

That said, the main reason that a lot of people hadn’t killed a rare species before were before there weren’t many of them to begin with.

「Anyhow. If you don’t have any information on the abnormal species, then don’t worry about it. I was going to ask though……Rei, Elena, do you two have any interest in these abnormal species?」

「Huh? Well, if you ask if I’m interested or not, I’d have to say I’m interested.」

(I also want their magic stones.)

Rei thought to himself as he replied immediately.

Hearing Rei’s response, Vosk nodded with a big smile before speaking.

「Then, are you willing to cooperate with us in tomorrow’s hunt for the abnormal species?」

「……Huh.」

Us. That meant that there would be a few people with similar combat power to themselves.

Rei nodded with interest before glancing over at Elena. Elena gave a sigh before nodding in agreement as well and speaking up.

「It sounds like it will be quite interesting.」

「Well? So do you feel like working together?」

「Yes, that’s right ……Just a quick question before anything else though. What happens to the ownership of the abnormal species of Spear Frog after it is killed? Is it fine to assume that whoever kills it will own it?」

「No, the ownership will be passed to the guild as a special case to assist in investigating these abnormal species. Even the Silva family won’t compromise on that point.」

「……I see.」

It was a natural decision for someone in Vosk’s position. However, being told that, Rei couldn’t accept the Silva family’s request. ……As he was about to say that, Vosk said something as if to pull Rei back in.

「However, that said. If its magic stone disappears during battle, we’ll get some complaints but there shouldn’t be any penalties.」

「……」

(Clever move.)

Elena thought that as she listened in beside Rei.

From the standpoint of the Silva family, it wasn’t possible to openly hand over ownership of the magic stone. However, it would also be regrettable if they couldn’t use Rei’s strength.

The answer Vosk immediately reached was to tacitly approve of Rei taking the magic stone.

From Elena’s perspective, she wondered if she could give up the magic stone so easily, the most valuable part of a monster, to Rei. Abnormal species were very few, but it wasn’t like they hadn’t been killed before.

In fact the guild had taken the remains of the Stone Golem that Vihera had killed.

「I’m honestly just gathering a force to kill the abnormal species Spear Frog because of what it did to my younger brothers and because I can’t just leave an abnormal species roaming around on the 11th floor. In fact, the bodies and magic stones of several abnormal species have already been gathered by the guild. Considering that, it’s not a big difference if a magic stone goes missing.」

Saying that, Vosk turned to look at Rei again.

「But, of course, you can’t get the magic stone if you can’t kill the Spear Frog.」

「Do we have your word for it?」

「Yeah, that said, I’ve got some other good people lined up for tomorrow’s hunt. To be honest, I don’t know if you’ll be able to get your hands on the magic stone or not.」

Rei nodded at Vosk’s provocative words with an equally provocative smile.

「I’ll take up your challenged then. I’ll join your abnormal species hunt tomorrow.」

「Your participation is confirmed. Then, what about you?」

「If Rei is joining, I can’t refuse to join. Of course I’ll come as well.」

With Elena’s consent, Vosk nodded in satisfaction before explaining the reward.

One gold coin would be given for participating, that would be the only reward paid out. However, the materials, magic stones, and proofs of subjugation of the monsters they killed while hunting the Spear Frog would be purchased by the Silva family for a 20% markup. The person who killed the abnormal species would also be paid out an additional two platinum coins as a reward.

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