A rat Beastkin man had suddenly come flying out of the grove.
Rei caught him and let out a small sigh. The reason why things had turned out this way was obvious without even needing to think about it.
In other words, though Rei’s party, or more accurately, Johanna’s party, had come to hunt this Gamelion, they had been a step too late, and another party had found it and attacked first.
When Rei had spotted the Gamelion from the sky with Set, it looked like it had been curled up and asleep in the grove. The adventurers who had found it must have seen it as incredibly easy prey. So they attacked……and part of the result was the rat Beastkin man who came flying out towards Rei.
「Hey, what should we do? It looks like they’re already fighting it.」
「Even if you ask me what to do, monsters prioritised on a strictly first come, first served basis, right? Even if we claim that we found it first, it probably won’t mean anything.」
「Then should we head somewhere else? Set-chan went to the trouble of finding it for us, so I really don’t want to let it get away, but……」
Since they had been beaten to it, there was nothing they could do, so they might as well search for another Gamelion. Just as their conversation was wrapping up along those lines, the Beastkin that Rei had caught put on the ground opened his eyes.
「Hah!」
The moment he regained consciousness, he quickly scrambled to his feet and scanned his surroundings for danger. He certainly possessed the skills expected of an adventurer capable of hunting Gamelions.
As he quickly surveyed his surroundings, he naturally noticed the presence of Rei and the others.
「Did you guys save me?」
Rent nodded in response to the Beastkin man’s question as he looked around.
「Yeah. You came flying out of the grove just now and Rei over there caught you.」
「Rei? ……Rei!? Rei the B-rank adventurer!?」
The Beastkin’s eyes went so wide it made one wonder if it was actually possible for eyes to open that far, and he directed his gaze at everyone present one by one. Eventually, his eyes stopped on Rei, who still had his face hidden underneath the hood of his robe.
「You’re Rei. ……Please! You have to help us!」
The Beastkin man bowed deeply towards Rei.
The look in his eyes carried the desperate emotion unique to those who were cornered.
「The Gamelion was stronger than you expected……is that what it’s about?」
「Yes. We ambushed the sleeping Gamelion, but once we actually started to fight it, it turned out to be way stronger than we anticipated. They should still be battling against it inside the grove right now.」
As he said that, everyone present could hear the sounds of clashing metal and angry shouts echoing from within the grove.
「We don’t mind helping, but if we do, what about the Gamelion? You have to know we’re out here hunting Gamelions too.」
The one who replied to the Beastkin man wasn’t Rei, but Rent. Rent took the lead in the negotiations because he clearly understood that Rei was strictly here to support them this time. ……Though, the biggest reason was likely his strong desire to show off his best side to Johanna.
「I don’t think we can give you all of it……but we’re willing to let you have over half.」
The Beastkin man stated without a hint of hesitation.
His companions were currently fighting a hard battle inside the grove. If they didn’t get any help now, there was a high probability they would be wiped out. If that happened, they would gain nothing at all……in fact, they were already at risk of losing their lives. Considering that, he judged that even if they handed over more than half of the rights to the Gamelion after killing it, they would still benefit from it.
「I see. I don’t mind then. What about you, Johanna?」
「I don’t mind either. We’re going to be living in Gilm from now on, so I don’t want to make a habit of abandoning fellow adventurers.」
「I agree. If we abandon them here, it’ll leave a terrible aftertaste.」
「Same.」
「Hey, at least state your own opinion properly. Ah, by the way, I’m in favour too. I won’t object to saving other adventurers.」
With everyone except Rei choosing to help, they left the Beastkin behind with Rei.
「Leave him to me. Do your best in there.」
After Rei said that he would stay behind to take care of the Beastkin, Rent and the others each gave a confident smile before dashing into the grove.
Watching them go, Rei spoke to the Beastkin, who had a stunned expression on his face.
「Come on, there’s no point just standing around here. How about we head over to to watch the battle? We’ll need to make sure we don’t get in the way, though.」
「……Ah! No, that’s not the point! You’re Rei, right? Then why are the others going to help instead of you?」
The Beastkin shouted in a panic.
From his perspective, his companions were in danger, so he was understandably upset that Rei, the strongest fighter present, wasn’t going to save them.
However, Rei simply shrugged in response.
「Don’t worry, they’re plenty strong. They have more than enough ability to defeat a Gamelion. I can guarantee that much.」
To be exact, while he knew the capabilities of Johanna and the other three, he hadn’t fully verified exactly how strong Rent was. Even so, he could generally gauge someone’s skill just by looking at them.
Of course, if it were an opponent who outclassed him like Noiz, it would be difficult to measure the full extent of their ability just by sight. But in Rent’s case, he was clearly weaker than Rei in terms of pure strength, which was why Rei understood that Rent’s skill didn’t differ all that much from Johanna’s group.
「But!」
「Calm down. Look, if they really can’t handle it, I’ll step in. Will that put your mind at ease?」
「That……well, okay.」
If Rei was willing to step in as reinforcements in an emergency, the man couldn’t really complain any further. In the first place, being an adventurer meant taking personal responsibility, so Rei’s party was under no obligation to save them. The fact that they were helping at all was purely out of goodwill.
Pushing his luck any further against that goodwill would affect his pride as an adventurer. Of course, if his companions’ lives were at stake, he wouldn’t care about his pride. If throwing away his pride meant saving his companions, he would gladly discard it. But since they could be saved without him having to do that, he could only accept their kindness.
「Understood. I’ll believe what you……what Rei says.」
Saying that, the man started walking towards the grove alongside Rei. His steps were somewhat unstable, likely because he hadn’t fully recovered from the injury inflicted by the Gamelion’s blow.
The Gamelion twisted its massive body, and using that momentum, its tail lashed out like a whip.
「Tch, this tail is a real pain!」
A dog Beastkin man dodged the tail strike aimed at him. It was precisely because he was a Beastkin, possessing superior physical capabilities and sharper senses compared to an ordinary human, that he was able to evade the attack as it passed right in front of him.
He tried to thrust his spear straight at the Gamelion, but sensing it, the Gamelion used the twisting momentum of its body to spin around completely, unleashing a slashing attack with its blade-like ears.
The dog Beastkin man blocked the strike with his spear, but the difference in their physical strength was too great to overcome, and he was sent flying backwards. The Gamelion tried to follow up with a finishing blow on as he flew away, but a barrage of arrows came flying at it.
「Hey, are you alright!? You’re alright, right!? Tell me you’re alright!?」
While calling out to the dog Beastkin who had just been sent flying, a fox Beastkin woman fired arrows in rapid succession. Contrary to her panicked words, the speed at which she rapidly fired her arrows was quite impressive.
「Gaaaaah! Damn it, take this, you bastard!」
While the Gamelion was momentarily stopped in its tracks by the rapid flurry of arrows, a bear Beastkin man slammed down his club with all his might.
「Gaaaah!」
A roar similar to the bear Beastkin man’s echoed from the Gamelion’s mouth as it took the club strike……
「Guah!」
It retaliated with a kick from its hind legs. Although the bear Beastkin man stood well over 2m tall, he still couldn’t block the Gamelion’s strike. He was sent flying back violently and only stopped after slamming into a tree.
「Shanto!? Hey, what are we going to do, Krono!? Even Shanto’s been taken down!」
「Even if you ask me what to do……Gurin is……hm?」
The dog Beastkin man called Krono was about to say something when his nose suddenly twitched. He realized that people with unfamiliar scents were approaching their location.
「What is it? Is someone coming?」
「Hey, don’t tell me it’s another Gamelion!?」
Hearing Krono’s words, the fox Beastkin woman shouted while keeping her bow ready, watching the Gamelion as it deliberately bided its time, looking for an opening. They already had their hands completely full, so if reinforcements arrived for the enemy now……she suppressed her anxiety as the thought crossed her mind.
But……
「Don’t worry, Jona. They should be allies.」
Krono, being a dog Beastkin, could tell by the scent that those approaching were humans, not Gamelions or monsters. Furthermore, he could tell because the scent of Gurin, the rat Beastkin man and the thief of their C-rank party, Beast’s Fang, who had been blown away by the Gamelion’s tail strike earlier, was moving with them.
「Shanto, you’re alive!」
「Yeah, I am, you bastard!」
Shanto the bear Beastkin shouted in irritation as he returned to the vanguard against the Gamelion, swinging his club to intimidate it.
「It looks like reinforcements are approaching, so just hang in there a bit longer.」
「Reinforcements!? Are they trying to steal our prey?」
「Idiot, do you think we can kill this Gamelion on our own? Even for a Gamelion, that one is incredibly strong. For now, just……」
「Shut up!」
Shanto shouted in frustration as he readied his club before charging towards the Gamelion.
「Wha—! Damn it, Jona, cover him!」
With a long sword in hand, Krono shouted as he chased after Shanto.
The Gamelion stood waiting for Shanto and his club, but the next instant, it sprang off the ground with its powerful hind legs and lunged straight at him. Was it aiming to tear him apart with its fangs, or was it intending to slice his body open with its blade-like ears as it passed by?
No matter what it was aiming for, in that moment, Shanto’s life was hanging in the balance. Jona desperately shot arrows to restrict the Gamelion’s movements, but the Gamelion evaded them with minimal effort.
And just as the Gamelion and Shanto were about to collide……
「Gaa!」
The Gamelion abruptly retreated as it leapt backward, opening up distance between itself and Shanto.
「Whoa, what!?」
Knowing he couldn’t have evaded the Gamelion’s strike, Shanto had been prepared to swing his club for a double knockout, so he was caught completely off guard by the Gamelion’s sudden reaction.
「Good grief, Gamelion hunting is a lot tougher than I thought.」
「Yeah. I’ve heard stories, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.」
「Even so, it’s a lot better than during the civil war, right?」
「Ah, true. Yeah, there’s no doubt about that. After all, there’s only one enemy.」
「Besides, just having Rei-san behind us gives a massive sense of security.」
As they each voiced their thoughts, five adventurers entered the vision of the member of Beast’s Fang.
The group, consisting of one woman and four men, was strangely relaxed even in front of the glaring Gamelion.
(They said……Rei. That means Rei is with them? If that’s the case, then a single Gamelion or two really isn’t worth worrying about.)
In the first place, the reason Gamelion hunting had taken off in earnest this year was because Rei had cleared the dungeon. Word had already spread that Rei had single-handedly defeated over fifty Gamelions during that time. Since someone like Rei was backing them up, they probably felt no fear whatsoever facing a Gamelion like this.
「The rat Beastkin asked us to help you, but do you need a hand?」
Before Shanto could say anything unnecessary in response to Rent’s words, Krono spoke up.
「That would be great. That Gamelion is stronger than a normal one. We’d appreciate the help if possible.」
「Krono!」
Shanto shouted with the intent of saying ‘don’t screw around’, but when Krono directed a sharp glare towards him, he had no choice but to swallow the rest of his words.
「You must know by now that we can’t beat that thing on our own. Even if we did win, our losses would be far too heavy.」
「……Fine, damn it!」
Since Krono, their party leader, had said that much, Shanto could only spit out those words, unable to complain any further.
「So, does that mean we’re good to cooperate?」
「Yes, please.」
「Understood. Well, with that settled……shall we begin?」
Along with those words, everyone present raised their weapons towards the Gamelion.