Legend

「……I had high hopes since it was said to be a monster at the top of C rank, but it was a little disappointing.」

Looking at the dead Cyclops lying on the ground, Vihera gave a sigh as she muttered.

Her last attack, that had killed the Cyclops, had completely blown its head apart, causing brain matter, blood, body fluids, bones, and flesh to splatter onto the nearby rocks.

After confirming that the Cyclops was indeed dead, her gaze towards the corpse changed to as if she was looking at something boring and she completely lost interest the next moment.

She must have decided it was worthless as it was no longer capable of satisfying her desire to fight.

After all, at the end of her line of sight, there was someone else who stirred up her desire much more than the disappointing Cyclops. Two of them in fact.

It was only natural that she would be more interested in them.

That said, the reason why Vihera had been able to one sidedly defeat the Cyclops was not only due to the difference in their abilities but also due to the mismatch in their fighting styles.

If it had been a monster that focused on speed and technique, there is no doubt that Vihera would have had a much harder time.

Vihera knew it herself, so she shrugged her shoulders as Rei and Elena came over.

「Your strength is impressive.」

「I can’t be that proud with this kind of opponent. ……It was okay because I was fighting this kind of opponent, but please don’t disturb my fights in future.」

Rei understood that she was talking about the stone he had thrown earlier when the Cyclops had tried to hit her and bowed slightly.

「I’m sorry, my body moved on its own. You would have been able to avoid that attack even if I hadn’t done anything.」

「……Well, that’s fine as it was only this strong.」

Vihera then gave a small sigh before changing the topic.

「Rather than that, it’s rare to meet you in a place like this, right?」

「We’re heading down one dungeon floor at a time, so it’s only natural that we’re on this floor. Why are you here?」

Even after the end of the battle, the lascivious look in Vihera’s eyes that expressed her desire for struggle had yet to disappear.

No, rather, she seemed frustrated that she had killed the Cyclops so easily despite its massive size.

The fact that there were two people here that could solve her problem……or three, if you included Set, it was only natural that Vihera was almost carried away by her desire to fight.

「Mm!」

However, Byune gave a short cry in protest towards Vihera, who looked back blankly.

Byune then looked away from Vihera and towards the headless Cyclops.

Cyclops horns and eyes were materials that could be sold at a fairly high price. Byune seemed to have a lot to say to Vihera, who had brutally destroyed the head.

「Oh? That’s reminds me, I’m sorry.」

Just as Byune was about to protest again at Vihera, who apologised without really seeming to mean it, she heard a cry.

「Guru~」

With that cry, Set gently presented something held in his beak to Byune.

The object he gently placed on her pal was the horn of the Cyclops.

The horn wasn’t completely intact, perhaps due to Vihera’s strike or from hitting a rock after flying away, but it was mostly there.

「……Mm.」

Byune accepted what there was of the horn without a change in her expression. However, those that had known her for a while could tell that her voice was filled with pity.

As Byune wanted to earn as much money as possible, the Cyclops horn wasn’t something she could throw away, even if it wasn’t the full horn.

「I’m really sorry. Putting that aside, let’s dismantle the Cyclops.」

「……Mm.」

Nodding at Vihera’s words, Byune looked at the dead Cyclops before turning to look at Rei.

No, instead of Rei, she was looking at part of Rei’s arm.

Even though its head was gone, it was clear what Byune wanted to ask as they were dismantling a Cyclops that was over 4m tall and very large.

In addition, there was the weapon that the Cyclops had used.

As could be seen, it was a huge hammer created using some kind of metal ore. If sold for materials, it would no doubt fetch a high price.

……That was of course under the condition that they could bring the Cyclops’ hammer back.

However, since Rei here had an item box, it was clear what Byune wanted to ask.

Not just Byune, Elena and Vihera were also looking at Rei.

You wouldn’t refuse the girl’s request would you? Rei sighed and raised both his hands at the silent question the two of them asked him.

「I understand. However, it won’t be for free……I personally would like the Cyclops’ magic stone……but that’s not really possible.」

「Mm!」

Of course! Byune seemed to say with a nod.

(Byune herself wasn’t fighting……but, that’s probably their division of roles.

Rei understood that in their party, Vihera was in charge of combat while Byune’s role was as a thief, in charge of scouting, checking for traps, and other thief duties.

However, as she had previously shown when forming a temporary party with Rei’s group, Byune wasn’t completely unable to fight.

No, in fact, as a D rank thief, her combat power could be considered quite high.

「Gurururu~?」

What should we get instead? Set seemed to ask as he turned to look at Rei with round eyes shining as Rei looked at the corpse and thought.

It was clear what Set’s gaze meant.

Cyclops meat had a wild taste and a strong flavour, but there were still a good number of people who found it tasty, so it was sold at quite a high price.

Even if he didn’t know this, Set still wanted to taste the meat as he had never had any before.

「Guru~?」

Would that be okay? Set tilted his head as he seemed to ask. Rei gave a sigh at Set’s attempts to lead him to a decision.

However, considering that Rei himself had no urge to eat Cyclops meat, it was a natural result.

「Byune, a suggestion. I will carry all the materials that can be sold from the Cyclops, including the hammer. Instead, I would like you to give me all the Cyclops meat. ……How about that?」

「Mm……mmm……mm?」

Byune thought for a few seconds without a change in her expression before shaking her head.

「That can’t be done?」

Byune shook her head at Rei’s words.

Rei had become somewhat able to gauge Byune’s emotional state, but it was still hard for him to communicate with her since Byune only ever said 『Mm』.

Rei wondered if Byune was rejecting him because she shook her head, but attitude seemed to be indicating the opposite. He couldn’t tell what she was trying to say and started to get confused……

Fortunately, there was someone here who had been working with Byune for longer than Rei and could understand……or translate, her intentions.

「Basically, she’s saying it’s fine, but she would like you to give her some of the meat.」

Thinking over Vihera’s words for a moment, Rei nodded.

After all, the Cyclops was over 4m tall. Rei nodded because it wouldn’t be a problem even if he gave up a chunk or two of meat.

「Then, that settles it.」

「Mm!」

Byune didn’t want the meat to sell, but rather to eat herself. That was why she was fine with just getting a single chunk of meat.

「Now then, as negotiations have been settled, let’s start dismantling it and stripping materials. It’s big, so it will take some time if all four of us don’t do it together.」

「……That’s true. Let’s get it done quickly.」

Elena nodded at Vihera without any objections.

Vihera was slightly surprised when she saw Elena’s response, but decided she didn’t want to cause any issue by quipping back. Receiving a knife from Byune, she immediately got to work taking apart the Cyclops.

Elena was quite fond of Byune. She might not like Vihera’s presence, but even so, she wouldn’t destroy their relationship over something as trivial as this.

「Then, Set. I’ll leave the guard to you. Until now, it seems monsters didn’t come by because of the Cyclops, but the smell of the blood of the dead Cyclops will spread to the surroundings as we dismantle it, so monsters aiming for it might come.」

「Guru~……Gururururu~!」

Leave it to me! Set gave a confident cry.

However, it was clear that most of his motivation came from bait in the literal sense, the Cyclops meat.

Regardless, Rei and the other four people got to work dismantling the Cyclops.

Vihera and Byune deal with the body, which contained the most expensive material, the magic stone, while Elena took the hands and Rei the feet.

First, stripping off the skin, they cut the meat from the bones and took it out alongside the sinew, that could be used as materials

It was easy to say, but considering the size of the Cyclops, it was harder to do in practice.

A strong rusty odour spread out into the surroundings alongside the smell of undigested substances and body fluids.

The fact that this was a semi open space with poor wind flow was probably a factor. There was wind from above, so it wasn’t a completely sealed space, but the smell was still more intense than when they had dismantled monsters out in the desert.

But as adventurers, they were able to tolerate this level of smell. Each of them stripped away various materials while frowning unpleasantly. ……After an hour, the Cyclops was divided into parts that could be sold, such as materials, meat, the magic stone, and proof of subjugation, and parts that could not be sold.

「That was tiring……」

Rei muttered to himself with a wide stretch after finishing dismantling.

However, his work wasn’t finished yet, he still had the task of storing everything away into the Misty Ring.

「Guru~」

Seeing Rei like that, Set tilted his head and gave a cry, as if to say ‘Isn’t it fine?’.

With a small smile on his face, Rei burned up the internal organs with fire magic before cutting a portion from a block of meat and quickly baking the outside and throwing it to Set.

「Gururururururu~!」

Giving a happy cry, Set caught the piece of meat in the air with his beak before eating it immediately.

The meat was simply cooked without any seasoning, but the firm taste of the meat spread through his mouth, satisfying Set.

To tell the truth, Set would have liked to ask Rei for more, but he might not have been able to eat much more in this situation as Rei would probably not give him any more.

「Mm!」

As Rei stored away the magic stone, proof of subjugation, and materials into the Misty Ring, he turned to the direction of Byune’s voice, where he saw the hammer used by the Cyclops lying on the ground.

「This as well.」

「Mm.」

Of course, Byune seemed to say with a nod.

Actually, there were few people who could use the hammer as is, but it was made of useful materials that could be melted down and used to forge new weapons and armour.

It could even be sold for more than the Cyclops materials, as the horn and eye couldn’t be fully recovered.

With that in mind, Rei reached for the huge hammer lying on the ground.

The length of the hammer from tip to the end of the shaft was over 3m and it must have weighed over 200kg

(It would definitely be impossible for an ordinary party to bring back a weapon of this size.)

An unprepared party would be significantly burdened if they tried to bring such a weapon back and would become prime targets for monsters. If they had brought a cart for the purpose of collecting materials, they might manage to carry it, but it would still slow them down.

Thinking up to that point, Rei looked over at Elena, who was stroking Set.

If it was a magic pouch, it might be possible to insert the hammer shaft into the pouch.

(That depends on the capacity of the magic pouch and not many adventurers have magic pouches in the first place.

Thinking to himself, he stored away the hammer into the Misty Ring before standing up.

「So, I’ve stored away the Cyclops materials. ……We’re heading for the stairs to the 15th floor, what about you two?」

「We have to go together, right? In the first place, the request we took wasn’t for the Cyclops but for other monsters. For now, how about we work together until we get to the stairs? If we don’t get the materials we’re looking for by then, we’ll just leave for the day. ……What do you think?」

「Mm.」

Byune nodded at Vihera’s question while Elena was stuck between her like of like Byune and her opposition towards Vihera. Rei welcome the both Byune, who was a thief, and Vihera, for her combat strength. Set also had no issues with them joining as Vihera often stroked him and fed him food. As such, a temporary party was formed once again.