「Hmm? That Gamelion is……」
A few minutes after searching for a Gamelion from the sky from Set’s back, Rei spotted one attacking a group of Goblins, sinking its fangs into them. Goblins appeared just about anywhere, and these plains were no exception. To a Gamelion, Goblins were nothing more than weak, foul tasting meat.
Even so, Rei and Set could still see it attacking the Goblins, perhaps it was simply in the mood, or maybe it was just hungry enough that even Goblins would do. Whatever the reason, the Gamelion demolished the Goblins, tearing them apart with its fangs, slicing them with its blade-like ears, battering them with its tail, and crushing them with its massive body.
There was no way ordinary Goblins could stand a chance against a Gamelion. It might have been a different matter if they could coordinate their attacks, but Goblins were creatures that would flee the moment things turned against them, even when attacking in a group. There was no way they would stand their ground to fight a Gamelion, let alone volunteer to act as a rearguard.
「That Gamelion hasn’t been targeted by any other adventurers yet. ……Set, if you would.」
「Guru~!」
Hearing Rei’s request, Set descended back toward the ground. Their destination wasn’t the location of the carriage……but rather the spot where Beast’s Fang had been fighting the Gamelion just a short while ago.
Normally, it would have been better to land near the carriage to keep watch for carriage thieves like before, but things were different now that he had witnessed a Gamelion attacking Goblins. If they took too long, the Gamelion would likely leave the area after killing the Goblins. Even if it intended to eat the Goblins as prey, it was unlikely to do so out in the open. Alternatively, they might get beaten to it by another Gamelion hunting party, just like how Beast’s Fang had gotten ahead of them earlier.
Considering those factors, Rei judged it best to inform the others of the new Gamelion’s location as quickly as possible. Of course, before heading down into the grove, he cast a glance at the carriage from above to confirm there were no problems.
As they descended towards the grove, the scent of blood wafted through the air. Rei instantly recognized it as the scent of blood from the Gamelion he had sliced cleanly in half, as he landed on the ground without any hesitation.
The ones who were surprised by this were the people busy dismantling the Gamelion. But that was only natural. Just as they finished processing the internal organs, Set had suddenly dropped down from the sky. In fact, the members of Beast’s Fang quickly took up combat stances, and Rent, who wasn’t very familiar with Rei and Set, readied his long sword as well. On the other hand, the members of the former guerrilla force, who had a decent amount of experience with Rei, tensed up for a split second before relaxing the moment they realized it was Set carrying Rei.
「Rei, you’ve returned with Set, which means……?」
「Set-chan, you did your best for us, didn’t you!」
One of the former guerrilla force men and Johanna called out respectively. Though, their greetings already showed a massive difference in attitude.
「Yeah, I found a Gamelion. It’s currently attacking some Goblins right now. It’s the perfect opportunity to defeat it. How are things on your end with this Gamelion?」
「Ah, yes. As you can see, the internal organs have already been processed. All that’s left is the body itself, so……」
「Understood.」
Exchanging those brief words, Rei approached the half of the Gamelion that Rent’s party had agreed to take. The moment he touched it, that half of the Gamelion that had been there an instant ago vanished as if it were an illusion. Since the other half of the Gamelion remained right where it was, it gave the surrounding onlookers a rather bizarre feeling.
「This is……」
The ones most shocked by this were were Krono and the rest of Beast’s Fang. They had seen Rei pull the Death Scythe out from the Misty Ring earlier, but the difference in scale between a scythe and half a Gamelion’s body was clear. Because of that, their eyes went wide as their gazes shifted between Rei and the half of the Gamelion that remained on the ground.
Paying no heed to the shocked and frozen members of Beast’s Fang, Rei spoke up.
「For now, I can assume we’re finished here, right? Do you guys have anything else to discuss with them?」
「Eh? Ah, no, nothing in particular.」
「I see. Then we should leave. Come on, let’s go. Set, I’m counting on you to guard the carriage.」
「Gururu~!」
Giving a cry to say ‘Leave it to me!’ in response to Rei’s call, Set left the area without another word.
「Ah, Set-chan! You’re leaving already!?」
Ignoring Johanna’s disappointed shout, Rei spoke to the people present.
「Come on, we’re supposed to be going to hunt a Gamelion. If you waste any more time here, another party will beat us to the punch just like before. Is that fine with you?」
「Of course it’s not fine. Alright, lead the way.」
Rent snapped back to his senses at Rei’s words and replied, and the others nodded in agreement as well. Except for Johanna, that is.
「Right, with that settled, we’re off. If we run into each other again, take care.」
Stating just that briefly, Rei led Rent, Johanna, and the others out of the grove. The members of Beast’s Fang watching them leave only fully snapped back to reality after Rei’s party had vanished from sight.
「W-Well, for now……shall we look for another Gamelion too? Just this half is a bit too little.」
Krono muttered, and the other members agreed upon hearing his words. Even though they had been in a tight spot, they were glad to have secured a portion of a Gamelion. However, if possible, they hoped to bring back a whole Gamelion.
「If only we could have worked together with Rent and his party. If we had, we would have definitely found another Gamelion, and transporting any Gamelions we brought down would be easy with an item box……」
「Jona!」
Jona spoke with a hint of envy, but Shanto, who was listening nearby, forcefully cut her off.
「Do you have no pride, asking for help from a tiny guy like that? We are the proud C-rank party, Beast’s Fang.」
「……Listen to me. It’s true that we are a C-rank party, but Rei is a B-rank adventurer, you know? And a solo one at that. Whether he’s small or young, you have to admit that a strong opponent is strong. Even you saw just how immense his power is, didn’t you, Shanto? He sliced a Gamelion, which is supposed to have a high resistance to slashing attacks, cleanly in half with just a single swing of his scythe!」
「Guh……well, that’s true, but……」
In terms of having true ability thoroughly demonstrated right in front of him, Shanto was likely in even greater shock than anyone else. He had strong prejudices against people smaller than him, yet someone like that had effortlessly split a Gamelion in half, one that they couldn’t even defeat on their own without relying on Rent’s party.
Krono followed up to press a point home.
「Besides, word is that Johanna and most of her party are C-rank adventurers too. Apparently, they used to operate as adventurers in places like the Imperial Capital of the Bestir Empire.」
When told that they were adventurers of the exact same rank as themselves, Shanto could no longer mouth off any further dissatisfaction.
「And besides, the reason Gamelions started appearing this year at all is thanks to Rei, right? Considering that……」
「Alright, that’s enough, Jona.」
Jona still had more she wanted to say, but once Krono stopped her, she didn’t say another word. He was the party leader she trusted, and more than that, he was also someone she personally had feelings for.
「……Fine, I get it. Well, at any rate, let’s search for another Gamelion ourselves. We can’t spot them from the sky since Set isn’t with us, but if we use our sharp Beastkin sense of smell, it should be easier for us to find one compared to human adventurers.」
Krono agreed with Jona’s suggestion and turned his gaze toward Gurin, their thief. Receiving his gaze, Gurin gave a small nod and began walking to search for a new Gamelion. Shanto hoisted the remaining half of Gamelion onto his shoulder to carry it back toward their handcart. With that, the members of Beast’s Fang commenced their own search for the next Gamelion once more.
「There it is.」
Along with Rei’s murmur, Rent, Johanna, and the others behind him followed his line of sight. There they saw the last Goblin collapse limply to the ground as the Gamelion’s blade like ears sliced through it as it moved right past the Goblin. Having finished off the last Goblin, the Gamelion immediately sank its fangs into the Goblin’s corpse.
「Ugh, as expected, Gamelions are real scavengers. I can’t believe it’s actually eating Goblin meat.」
Rent muttered with a look of disgust. Johanna and the rest of the party nodded in agreement.
「They’re scavengers that even eat Goblin meat, so why on earth is Gamelion meat so delicious?」
One of the former guerrilla force men asked the question and everyone nodded once again. Rei also nodded at those words as he took a step back.
「Well, I’ve found a Gamelion for you just as promised. Unlike the first one, no other party has beaten us to it, so you could say that everything has been set up perfectly. I’ll watch from right here, so do your best to take it down.」
「Understood, understood. I didn’t really get a chance to show off my best side in the last fight, so I’m going to put everything I’ve got into this one!」
Rent spoke as he equipped the shield he carried on his left arm and held his long sword in his right hand. Though, he left out exactly who he wanted to show off his best side to.
「Well, Rei. We’re heading in.」
Johanna, the very person he wanted to impress, held her spear without showing even the slightest awareness of Rent’s intentions. The three former guerrilla force men readied a battle axe, a halberd, and a mace respectively. Normally, they would carry weapons they were well accustomed to, like long swords or spears, but their opponent this time was a Gamelion. Its fur possessed a strong resistance to slashing attacks.
It would be a different matter if one possessed skill on par with Rei’s and a powerful magic weapon like the Death Scythe, but for the current Johanna and the others, slicing through a Gamelion’s skin was an absolute impossibility. For that exact reason, their plan was for Rent and Johanna, who wielded a long sword and a spear, to act as decoys while the other three defeated the Gamelion with their heavy strikes.
「Let’s do this! Uwooooah-!」
Launching a surprise attack would have been ideal, but a Gamelion would never let its guard down completely, even while eating. Since they were monsters that originally evolved from rabbits, their sense of hearing was incredibly good. Because of that, launching a surprise attack was impossible unless the target was heavily distracted by something else.
Knowing this, Rent, who carried a shield and possessed the highest defensive power, stepped forward while shouting at the top of his lungs to draw the Gamelion’s attention.
「Gaaaaah-!」
The Gamelion let out a menacing roar toward Rent as he advanced. However, Rent took that roar as a welcome invitation and shouted even louder.
「Come at me, you bastard!」
He forcefully shifted the shield on his left arm, provoking the Gamelion. Johanna moved up to stand right beside Rent, holding her spear ready. For Rent, this moment might have been the absolute pinnacle of happiness.
Of course, the Gamelion had no intention of accommodating his feelings as it dashed forward to close the distance between them. It lunged forward with a level of speed one wouldn’t expect from a massive frame exceeding 3m……yet to Rent, it didn’t seem all that fast. This was because the Gamelion that Beast’s Fang had been fighting inside the grove was superior in every single aspect compared to the one currently before his eyes. In terms of pure agility in particular, the previous one had definitely been far quicker than this one.
Charging straight forward, the Gamelion lunged with its fangs as if intending to tear Rent apart like the Goblins……but right before its fangs could touch Rent’s body, its path was blocked by the metal shield brought up in front of him. The high-pitched screech of fangs clashing against a metal shield echoed through the area.
Seeing that the Gamelion’s movements had slowed to a halt for a fraction of a second as it hit the shield, Johanna immediately thrust her spear forward. Her strike carried an impressive amount of speed, but the exact moment Johanna thought the tip of her spear would sink into the Gamelion’s right shoulder, it leapt sideways, leaving behind only the faintest sensation of impact against her weapon.
「Tch, I knew it would be fast, but that explosive agility is a real pain!」
Johanna spat out in frustration as she quickly pulled her spear back. Even if it was purely by chance, the Gamelion had effectively used Rent as a shield, making it a troublesome foe. As for Rent, he couldn’t swing his long sword if the monster circled around to his left side where his shield was held.
「Gaaaaah~!」
However, the Gamelion was by no means relaxed either. It likely hadn’t expected its fang strike to be blocked so effortlessly. As it realised that the two opponents before it were troublesome, it suddenly felt a heavy impact slam into its flank, causing it to leap away the next instant.
Shifting its gaze back toward where it had just been standing while still mid air, it spotted a human man holding a halberd. The Gamelion let out an annoyed cry, but when it saw another man wielding a battle axe rushing toward the exact spot it was about to land, it roared in pure frustration.
「Gaaaah~!」
It tried to bare its fangs to strike the man with the battle axe, who was waiting for an opening at its landing point……but at that moment the Gamelion caught sight of the third man holding a mace right behind him and sensed the immense danger. Unable to do much more than slightly twist its body while mid air, it hurtled straight towards the men.