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Chapter 431

「Rei-!」

Elena’s actions were quick when she saw Rei fall to the ground.

Picking him up, she lay Rei, completely unconscious, flat on the ground as she hurriedly checked his condition.

Of course, Elena was not a doctor and had no medical knowledge, nor could she use healing magic. Still, as someone who stood on the battlefield as the General Princess, she was still able to use basic first aid.

However, even then, Elena couldn’t sense anything wrong with Rei when she had picked him up.

His breathing wasn’t irregular and there was nothing wrong with his magic power. He was really just unconscious……or rather, looked like he was asleep.

「Gurururu~?」

Is Rei okay? Set seemed to ask with tilted head. Elena nodded to reassure him.

「He’s fine. I don’t see any abnormalities. ……But I don’t know what’s wrong.」

At this point she had two options available to her. The first was to take Rei and leave the dungeon. The second was to stay here and wait for Rei to wake up.

After a few seconds of agonising, Elena eventually chose to stay and wait for Rei to wake up.

If she had decided on the first option, it would have been difficult to carry Rei through the desert and it would be very awkward for her to be attacked by monsters on her way back to the room where the magic circle was.

She had considered that it would be possible to avoid unnecessary battles with Set’s presence as a Griffon, but there were also monsters like the Goblin bandits that attacked even when Set was with them. With that in mind, she decided that their current location, where they had killed the Goblin bandits, was the safest.

The fact that they were next to an oasis was another reason why she chose to wait here.

Inside her magic pouch, she had a water bottle containing water that Rei had made using the Dagger of Flowing Water, but it would be better to save it. In addition, with a water spring here, she could use that water to nurse Rei.

「……He collapsed as soon as he absorbed the magic stone. Then, the problem is definitely the magic stone. Considering that there weren’t any issues when the Goblin bandit magic stones were absorbed, it’s like an issue with the Goblin Bandit Mage’s magic stone. I heard that the Magic Beast Art creates a connection between the caster and the created monster……Set, are you okay?」

「Guru~」

At Elena’s question, Set, who had been staring anxiously at Rei beside her, gave a cry to say that there was no problem.

「In that case……what can I do? No, well, I can’t just leave him here.」

Muttering to herself, she picked Rei up.

What surprised her was Rei’s light weight. She was able to carry him sideways and lift him up with barely any effort.

Of course, Elena had inherited the magic stone of an Ancient Dragon, so her magic power and physical strength was incomparable to an ordinary human. However, even with that in mind, Rei’s weight was unexpectedly light.

(Maybe it’s because he’s shorter than me?)

Thinking that Rei would probably frown his eyes if he heard that, Elena brought him closer to the oasis.

Set followed behind her while holding the Death Scythe, which Rei had dropped, in his beak.

The oasis was a watering hole for monsters in the area and a place where they were likely to gather. But even so, with her strength as well as Set’s, they had nothing to worry about.

「Set, I’m sorry, but I have to take care of Rei. Can I leave the surroundings to you?」

「Guru~……Gururururu~」

Seeing Set so concerned about Rei, Elena called out to him.

At Elena’s words, Set gave a cry indicating he wanted to be close to Rei.

However, Elena gently stroked his head as she spoke.

「Are you sure? Isn’t it hard for you to care for Rei as a Griffon? In that case, it would be better for me, who is also a human, to take care of him. There shouldn’t be any monsters that would be a match for you……please, leave him to me.」

「……Guru~」

At those words, Set looked at Elena and the unconscious Rei for a few seconds before giving a cry and moving away from the oasis.

To fight off any monsters that might approach and protect his beloved Rei.

Seeing Set leave with determination, Elena also quickly prepared to take care of Rei.

That said, as long as they remained in the desert, even at an oasis, there was only so much she could do.

Firstly, she moved to a location shaded by trees before putting him down. Then she took out a cloth from her magic pouch, wet it in the spring water, pulled down Rei’s hood, placed his head on her lap, and put the damp cloth on his forehead.

Yes, that was all she could do.

「……I think I was at a loss too.」

Rei, who was unmatched in strength, suddenly collapsed. It would be strange if she knew how to react.

In addition, Rei had already become and irreplaceable person to Elena.

That was why, even if only for a moment, she had been at a loss on what to do.

「Seriously, I never thought he’d make me worry so much. I’ll make sure that he apologises for that when he wakes up.」

Elena muttered as she gently wiped Rei’s forehead with the damp cloth as he lay on her lap.

That said, there was hardly any sweat on Rei’s face.

They were under a tree’s shade and there was a spring nearby. Even so, you’d expect someone to normally sweat with the desert heat.

However, Rei’s body was different from that of ordinary humans. Like Elena, after inheriting the magic stone of an Ancient Dragon, he was outside the norm compared to ordinary humans.

(I don’t regret it though……even more so now that I know his secret.)

Rei was an extraordinary existence with power far beyond ordinary humans. Standing next to such a person would be difficult for ordinary people.

(I never thought that I’d think of such feminine things. ……Hmm, the General Princess. Maybe that title will have to be retracted one day.)

As she thought to herself, she continued to occasionally wipe Rei’s face with the damp cloth for her own self satisfaction, even if it didn’t have any effect in particular.

That was how she spent her time leisurely. Even though it was an emergency situation with Rei collapsed and Set protecting them from any monsters in the surroundings, Elena felt peaceful as she gently stroked Rei’s bright red hair, the namesake of his title.

Of course, she was also worried about Rei being unconscious. However, she knew that the Rei she knew wasn’t someone who would be defeated by something like this.

And, about half an hour after she had brought Rei to the shade of trees……Rei’s eyelids started to twitch and open slightly as he lay on Elena’s lap.

「……Rei, are you okay?」

「Ahh……yeah. What’s going on? Where is this? Is this my room?」

She couldn’t tell if Rei was just half awake or if he had seriously forgotten what had happened before he had passed out. She spoke while gently stroking Rei’s head.

「Don’t you remember? The moment you cut the Goblin Bandit Mage’s magic stone with the Death Scythe, it caused something to happen and you fell unconscious.」

「I……passed out……?」

Rei repeated Elena’s words in a daze, as if he couldn’t remember what had happened before he fainted.

「Yeah. ……How much do you remember.」

Asked that while on Elena’s lap pillow, he closed his eyes as if to recall what had happened.

And, after remembering what he had done today, killing the Goblin bandits and the Goblin Bandit Mage before absorbing the magic stones……

「-!?」

Tracing back his memory, he finally remembered what had happened before he passed out.

That was right, the moment he slashed the Goblin Bandit Mage’s magic stone to absorb it, an unexpected shock was transmitted through the Scythe. It was as if he had been hit by a back flow of magic power, knocking him out.

Covering his face with his hands, Rei tried to organise his memories.

Perhaps he didn’t want to show Elena his unsightly expression.

After about 30 seconds, he noticed the sound of flapping wings coming towards him.

「GURURURURURURURURURU~!」

It was a familiar……no, very well known cry.

Finding out that Rei had recovered due to their magical connection, Set couldn’t help but come back.

The main reason was that Set hadn’t been able to find any other monsters in the surroundings after doing a search.

Any how, Set gave a joyful cry as he landed on the ground and rubbed his face against Rei, who was still lying on Elena’s lap.

Either because he couldn’t continue lying down……or because he realised Elena was giving him a lap pillow, he raised his upper body. With slightly red cheeks, Rei stroked Set as much as could while Set continued to rub his face against him.

「Gururu~, Gurururururu~」

「Yeah, I’m sorry. As you can see, I’m okay. I’m glad that you weren’t also knocked unconscious.」

「Guru~!」

That’s not good! Set seemed to say after hearing Rei’s words.

For Set, if Rei was unconscious, it would have been better for him to also have been unconscious.

Realising that, Rei apologised again while stroking Set’s head.

「I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You don’t have to sulk.」

「Guru~?」

Are you reflecting on yourself? Set seemed to ask. Rei nodded back at his cry.

Watching the two of them, Elena decided that things had calmed down enough and asked Rei.

「So, do you know what happened at that time?」

「……Yeah. You probably already guessed, but there was something wrong with the magic stone. When the Death Scythe cut it and absorbed it, the magic power from the magic stone flowed into me through the Death Scythe. I think that shock knocked me out…… Fortunately, the strange magic power stopped at me and didn’t flow to Set. The Death Scythe and Set are connected, but I think it is an indirect connection through me, so that luckily helped in this case.」

Rei replied to Elena while stroking Set, who was still anxiously rubbing against him.

「That’s right. I could have carried you alone. But if Set had also collapsed, I wouldn’t have been able to carry him. I would also have had a hard time guarding against monsters near the oasis. ……Do you have any idea what the strange magic power was? Is it possible that some magic stones can’t be absorbed?」

「Well, I’m not sure. But I have a rough idea. I think you can guess as well?」

「……Was it an abnormal species?」

「Yeah. The Goblin Bandit Mage was an abnormal species. It no wonder Pleaides hadn’t mentioned it at all. I’m not sure where the Goblin bandits would have come from though. Did it……summon them?」

While muttering to himself, he picked up the Death Scythe that had been brought over by Set and left on the ground. He swung it several times to check how it felt.

Seeing that there didn’t seem to be any issues, he gave a quite sigh of relief.

However, the main issue was the impact when absorbing the magic stone. In other words, if it had affected any skills.

To check if he could still use skills without any problems, he turned towards the open desert in a direction where trees weren’t growing and swung the Death Scythe……

「Flying Slash!」

With those words, a slash flew out from the blade of the Death Scythe.

After reaching level 3, it’s power, speed, and size had all increased slightly. The slash, as Rei, Elena, and Set knew of……flew out and away as it sliced through the desert air.

「Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be an issue.」

「Yeah.」

Taking in a breath in relief that he could skill use the Death Scythe’s skills without any issues, one of his trump cards, he lowered the Death Scythe.

Looking at Rei, Elena asked what she had been interested it.

「So……can you remember how you felt when you absorbed the magic stone? What was it like?」

「Yes, that’s right. I felt the Death Scythe a lot of different magic powers. I think that was probably the cause.」

「……Many different magic powers?」

「Yeah. Normally……or rather, the magic stones I’ve absorbed so far usually only hold the magic power the monster has. But this one felt like a mixture of many types. I didn’t have any issues with the magic stones from the ordinary Goblin bandits. How was it for you, Set?」

「Gururu~」

At Rei’s question, Set indicated he had no issues.

「In that case……it seems that the abnormal species have something abnormal about them in the literal sense. ……Wait.」

Thinking up to that point, the sight of Set swallowing the queen bee’s magic stone, which had also been an abnormal species, passed through Elena’s mind.

Nothing had happened at that point in time.

「Rei, didn’t Set had absorbed the magic stone of that queen bee……which also seemed to be an abnormal species? Was there anything unusual about that?」

「-!?」

At Elena’s words, Rei suddenly remembered that and turned to look at Set.

What’s wrong? Set seemed to say. Seeing Set tilt his head in confusion, as Rei hurriedly went over to him.

「Set, is there anything wrong with your body?」

「Gururu~?」

What? Set seemed to say as he tilted his head.

(There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong……but then what happened?)

While involuntarily giving a sigh in relief at Set’s condition, Rei couldn’t help but be puzzled at the new mystery.