The monster, boasting a massive size of 2m, crumpled to the ground with a dull thud that echoed through the surroundings. The water that originally covered its fur had completely evaporated from the heat of the flame snake, leaving it indistinguishable from a normal bear’s fur.

「Somehow, it worked out……okay.」
「Guru~」

Rei muttered involuntarily as he sat on the ground. Set heard him and pressed his face against Rei as usual. The body of the Water Bear lying nearby had lost all signs of life.

「You did well too, Set. If you weren’t here, I might not have beaten that guy so easily. If I messed up, the entire forest could have burned down……it really seemed like that would happen.」
「Gurururu.」

He scratched Set’s head as he praised him. Set was in high spirits from the scratching and gave a satisfied cry from deep in his throat.

This continued for a few minutes. Once Rei caught his breath, he stood up.

「Even if I can do something with this monster’s corpse, let’s move away from here first. No doubt another monster will show up soon.」

In the surroundings, trees were broken and the ground was torn up from the fight between Set and the Water Bear. On top of that, the smell of burnt meat and the Water Bear’s blood was drifting through the air.

「So, the problem is how we move this Water Bear……do we put it on Set’s back? No, that would mean putting hundreds of kilos on Set……no, wait? Maybe……」

Rei’s troubled gaze fell on the Misty Ring on his right arm. According to Zephyr’s knowledge, living creatures couldn’t be stored inside. However, since the Water Bear was already dead, it shouldn’t be a problem.

「Store.」

He said the word as he touched the Water Bear’s corpse. The next moment, it disappeared without a trace. The storage was a success, and he could clearly see the Water Bear’s corpse on the list in his mind.

「I see, while it can’t store living creatures, it can hold corpses……then, what about this?」

The tree Set had broken when he performed his triangle jump caught Rei’s eye. It was quite a large tree with a 1m diameter trunk……though, that was just the size of most trees in this forest.

「Store.」

He said it while touching the broken tree. Just like before, it instantly disappeared without a trace.

「Guru~」

(Let’s go quickly,) Set’s face seemed to say. Rei stroked his back, remembering the Clara Fruits stored in the Misty Ring.

「Right, we should be okay if we rest here.」

They finally stopped after walking 20 minutes away from where they fought the Water Bear. Normally, they wouldn’t have made it that far so quickly, but thanks to the Shoes of Sleipnir that Rei wore, they moved several times faster than a normal walking pace.

The sun had already risen high, and the heat was gradually starting to spread.

However, Rei was wearing the Dragon Robe, which automatically regulated his body temperature, and Set didn’t seem to mind the heat much either. They sat down on the ground to rest, having not stopped moving since the battle with the Water Bear.

「Guru~」

Set gave a happy cry as Rei petted his head. Rei then took out four Clara Fruits from the Misty Ring.

「Set.」
「Gururu~!」

Set let out a joyful sound as Rei stopped petting him and held out a Clara Fruit. Set picked up the fruit in his beak and swallowed it whole.

Watching him, Rei also bit into the skin of his own Clara Fruit.

A sweet and sour taste spread through his mouth the moment he took a bite. As he savoured the flesh of the fruit, fresh juice filled his mouth.

It was the first time Rei had tasted something like this. ……Well, because he used to live in a rural town in Japan before coming to this world, he had never eaten any rare fruits.

In any case, they each ate two of the unexpectedly delicious Clara Fruits.

Next up was dismantling the Water Bear.

「Set, keep watch for any monsters that might be drawn in by the smell of blood while I dismantle the Water Bear.」
「Guru~」

Giving a small nod at Rei’s words, Set moved a bit further away to keep watch over their surroundings.

Taking comfort in Set’s reliable presence, Rei pulled the Water Bear’s body out of the Misty Ring.

「Now then……even if I say that, what should I actually do? I’ve never dismantled a bear before.」

The most Rei had ever done was process chickens. His father used to raise fighting roosters as a hobby, and Rei was made to help cull the losers.

「Even if I try to treat it like a chicken, I don’t have any hot water.」

When you process a chicken, you cut the neck and ankles and hang it on a string to drain the blood. After that, you spray hot water over it to pluck the feathers. It makes the feathers easier to pull out, and because they’re wet, they don’t fly everywhere.

He shook his head as he thought about it.

「In the first place, a chicken isn’t a good reference for dismantling a bear because a bear doesn’t have wings or feathers. There’s nothing in Zephyr’s knowledge about dismantling either. ……There’s no other way, I guess I’ll just have to figure it out myself. At the very least, I need to make sure I don’t damage the magic stone so Set can eat it later. As for the fur……well, it’d be great if I can skin it neatly.」

With his goals tentatively set, the dismantling began! The moment he thought that, he realised he only had the Death Scythe. Naturally, dismantling a bear with a massive scythe would be incredibly difficult. Rei let out another sigh. Since it couldn’t be helped, he searched for a knife inside the Misty Ring.

『Mithril Knife』

Mithril ore has a high magic affinity. This knife was forged from the highest quality ore. Its sharpness changes depending on the amount of magic power supplied to it.

(No way, dismantling with a mithril knife……I wonder what other adventurers would think about this.)

They would almost certainly yell at him. Some might even burst into tears.

Just as he was about to cut into the Water Bear, he suddenly stopped. He remembered that he hadn’t actually looked up any information about the Water Bear in Zephyr’s knowledge. Things like dismantling tips or which parts sold for a higher price, as the results would be much better if he knew beforehand. But……

「There’s nothing in Zephyr’s knowledge?」

Rei muttered quizzically. Even though he tried to pull out information on the Water Bear from Zephyr’s knowledge, there was absolutely nothing there.

(Could this be a new monster that appeared in the thousands of years since Zephyr died?)

Though he wondered about it, he had no choice but to use his own judgement since there was no existing knowledge.

Making up his mind, he poured magic power into the mithril knife and pierced the side of the Water Bear. As expected of a mithril blade, or perhaps because of Rei’s immense magic power, it slid through the tough fur like a hot knife through butter.

「Somehow, I’m managing.」

Rei separated the fur along the muscle line. Of course, since this was his first time, he made a few mistakes, like accidentally nicking the pelt. However, thanks to the knife’s sharpness, he managed to skin it relatively cleanly.

For the time being, he stored the removed fur in the Misty Ring before stabbing the Water Bear’s heart with the knife. As he cut through the meat, the blade bumped into something hard. He carefully gouged it out.

What came out was a blue crystal the size of Rei’s fist. At first glance, it looked just like a jewel.

「This is a magic stone. It’s blue, so its attribute should be water……well, I suppose that’s a given.」

Magic stones had different colours based on the monster’s attribute. However, individual differences existed, and it was possible for the same species of monster to drop a wind magic stone or a fire magic stone. With that said, the Water Bear was a straightforward example.

「There’s no need to be so careful now that the magic stone is out. Let’s just cut the rest into pieces for Set and me to eat……」

By pouring magic power into the mithril knife, it could easily cut straight through bone.

The dismantling was finished a few minutes later. Six separate parts now sat before Rei: the right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, torso, and head.

「Guru~」

Smelling the fresh blood, Set came closer, making soft noises in his throat.

His gaze was fixed on the offal removed from the Water Bear’s body.

「……Are you hungry?」
「Guru~」

Seeing this, Rei started to scratch Set’s head out of habit.

(Well then, what should we do now? Since there’s no information about the Water Bear in Zephyr’s knowledge, I don’t know if its offal is safe to eat. ……Well, at worst, there’s probably an antidote in the Misty Ring, so it shouldn’t be a problem……probably?)

Glancing at the Water Bear’s offal resting on a large leaf, he came to that conclusion after a few seconds of thought.

「Set, you can eat. But don’t touch the stomach, intestines, liver, or testicles.」
「Gururu~!」

Set let out a joyful cry and immediately thrust his beak into the offal.

Rei told him to avoid the testicles and liver because he faintly recalled seeing a TV show that said bear livers could contain toxins. The stomach and intestines were off-limits for obvious reasons.

Even though Set had eaten most of their breakfast earlier, he was still hungry enough to dive right in the moment Rei gave him permission.

「Gururu~!」

When he finally finished, Set gave a satisfied cry. By the looks of it, he was full.

「You seem to have settled down. Hey, come here for a moment.」
「Guru~」

Using a broad leaf from a nearby tree, Rei wiped the offal stuck to Set’s beak.

「Guru~」

It felt nice, and Set seemed to be in a good mood as he gave a soft cry and closed his eyes.

After cleaning Set’s beak, Rei took out the blue magic stone he’d removed from the Water Bear.

「Guru~?」
「Now then, can you……eat this magic stone?」
「Guru~」

Of course, Set nodded.

(In a way, this might be like dessert for Set,) Rei thought as he presented the fist-sized, blue magic stone.

「Guru~」

Set caught the magic stone in his beak……and swallowed it in one gulp.

「……How is it?」

Rei asked Set somewhat cautiously. Abruptly, a voice echoed in his head.

【Set has acquired the skill 『Water Ball Lv.1』】

It sounded exactly like an announcement message when you acquired a new skill in an RPG. Rei had a pretty good idea of who would devote their time to adding such game-like mechanics.

「Takumu, you……」

—

【Set】
『Water Ball Lv.1』

【Death Scythe】

—

[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]