"This is..."

　The group that arrived at the scene mutters dumbfounded at the sight that was spreading before them.
　The first thing I saw was a monster with an incredibly large body.
　You can see that the giant monster has already been dismantled one after another by well over 50 adventurers.
　With so many people working together to dismantle, the huge monster in front of us was getting smaller and smaller, making it look as if ants were dismantling insects bigger than themselves.

"You, this monster is..."

　We were sent from the guilds and upper levels of the city because a huge monster appeared very close to the city of Emocion and we didn't hear from the adventurers who left the city looking for it. If we don't do well... no, almost certainly we'll die. When I came to the scene with such determination, I realized that what was going on was the dismantling of a giant monster. It is only natural that the man who represents the group and others who followed it should be confused. To inquire about the situation, he calls out to a man who seems to be an adventurer passing by with as much meat as he can hold.

"Huh? Is this it? I heard this monster is a REM race".
"What!"

　The unexpected name makes a man say nothing.
　Remrace is a monster that has been sitting off the coast of Emocion for some time and sunk a great deal of ships, even a disaster. Why is it out of town and why is it already dead? He couldn't understand it and couldn't speak any more, but the adventurer probably decided that the story was over. walk away with one's flesh in one's arms

"Wait a minute! Give me more details!"
"Oh? I'm sorry, but as you can see, I'm in the middle of working now. As for the details... Well, that's right. Come along with some people, then. I'll introduce you to our boss, so you can tell him the details there."

　A few adventurers moved beside him, holding another mass of meat.
　The adventurer, who was looking sideways at it, hurriedly opens his mouth.

"Anyway, it's time to earn money. I'm sorry, but ask the boss, not me, about any further matters."
"…I see. Please show me the way. You guys should be scattered about and collecting information. Oh, ask the watchmen around you, not the people dismantling the monsters."
"Yes!"

　They nod in the man's voice, each one falls, nods satisfactorily at the state, and moves along the monster's body, thought to be Remrace, along with the man holding the lump of flesh.

"...even so, I knew it from all over the city, but when I saw it up close like this, it's big again." I don't know why I knocked it down, but I've been attracting Lem Race for some time now to get the ship out of port."
"Oh, it was amazing. We saw it from a distance, but cavalrymen and knights use the expression "one man and horse," but in the case of Gryphon, what do you call it? Well, that's what it was all about. I've blown the whole head of this huge monster in the end. Look at it."

　As I walked, I saw the monster's head. The head is certainly clean and gone, as the man carrying the meat said. Around it, large and small adventurers use weapons to disassemble monsters, while a timid-looking male adventurer writes something on paper while talking to other adventurers, next to which a whip-wielding female adventurer orders him to pile up chunks of meat on the grass.
　Needless to say, Ray, Egrett, Hendeca and Miloire. I can't see Seto and Shen, who are also demons, but if the man had looked up, he would have seen them hovering over and watching the surroundings. They're also monitoring whether adventurers dismantling the monster's material put it in their pockets, but they probably couldn't tell it apart.

"Hey, Ray! This guy wants you."
"Huh? Oh, wait a minute. ... there, Egrett. I'll take out the magic stone embedded in my heart. Don't make a mistake in your strength and hurt the magic stone."
"Well, no matter how much I do..."
"...who cut the Rem race vocal cords..."
"Oh... I see. Be careful, be careful. Yes, leave it to me. It's all right this time."

　Ray opens his mouth to Egrett, looking away.

"I'll tell you, if there's anything that could hurt a magical stone... you know what will happen?"
"Leave it to me!"

　He muttered in a slightly raised voice, thrusting his spear into the heart around the stone, and slowly pulling out the stone.

(Well, if my heart hadn't been so high, I'd have taken the magic stone myself.)

　Ray gazes at a heart bigger than his body, clapping his tongue inside. As I was about 165cm tall, it was difficult for me to take out the magical stones buried in my heart, so I asked Egret to do so.
　Ray, who came to the city of Emocion solely for this magical stone, absolutely wanted to avoid dropping and destroying it here.

"Here we go," Start!"

　With such a chant, he successfully pulls out the magic stone embedded in his heart with the tip of a spear and hands it to Ray without dropping it to the ground.
　Measuring about 30 cm in diameter, it is one of the largest magical stones I have ever seen. When it comes to a magical stone larger than the one handed to you by Egrett, you'll only have the magical stone of the Ensent Dragon seen in the dungeon where you dived with Elena.

(I don't think it's about rank C.)

　As I finished wiping the blood and meat fragments attached to the magical stone and storing them in the mistling, I was at last dumbfounded behind me... more precisely, I called out to the man who looked to my right hand, holding the magical stone of Remrace for a moment.

"I'm sorry. As you can see, I'm a little busy. and tell me what you want to do you want me to do?"
"... Oh, yes." Well, my name is Obrus, and I work for the government of the city of Emocion. A huge monster suddenly appeared on the side of the street, and I came here to figure out what was going on... but it was rather late or just right."

　Obrus introduces himself with a wry smile at his failure to make it to the crucial time.
　Ray also opens his mouth to that kind of person.

"I'm Ray. I'm a Rank C adventurer from the town of Gilm."
"Yes, I know," Mr. Ray is a celebrity in many ways, and above all, as a government official, I am grateful that he has allowed ships to leave the port many times."
"I'm only doing it at your request, too. And here's him."

　Ray glances at the huge monster's corpse behind him.

"You may have asked someone else, but it's a REM race."
"Lem Race, after all, but why is the Rem race, which is supposed to be off the coast.
"There's a magic item that I got with a little hand. I used it to force the metastasis."
"…Forced metastasis?" If you don't mind, could you show me the magic?"

　信じられないといった様子でレイへと要請するオブルスだったが、それに対する返答は軽く肩を竦めるというものだった.

「残念ながら使い捨てでな. レムレースをここに強制転移させた後には崩れ去ったよ」
「ですが、それでは……いえ、そうですね. 私がどうこう言える問題ではないですね. ただ、色々と問題が……」

　オブルスの言葉に、レイは全て分かっているとばかりに頷き口を開く.

「レムレースの姿を見た者はいない. その為、このモンスターがレムレースだとは判断されないかもしれない. ……違うか？」
「その通りです. ですが、それが分かっているのならどうしてこのような手段で？」
「別にそれ程複雑な話じゃない. 俺が最も得意としている魔法は炎だ. 他の魔法も使えるが、炎に比べると児戯に等しい程度でしかない. で、そうなると海底に潜んでいるこいつとは極端に相性が悪い」
「……なる程、お話は分かりました. それはそれとして、これがレムレースだというのはどう証明しますか？」
「エモシオン沖を俺とセトが飛ぶってだけじゃ駄目なんだろう？」

　一応念の為とばかりにオブルスへと尋ねるレイだったが、やはり当然のように首を横に振られる.

「確かにレムレースが何故か貴方達を狙っているというのは、これまで何度も見て分かっています. ですが、それはあくまでも経験則でしかありません」
「だろうな. なら、もう暫くエモシオンの街に俺が留まろう. その間に船が襲撃されなければ、これがレムレースだと認められないか？」
「その場合でも、どこか他の場所に逃げたのかもしれないと思う者が多少はいるでしょうが……分かりました、その線で上の人達を説得してみます. それで、その……」

　言葉を途切らせ、視線を地面に横たわっているレムレースの死体へと向け、怖ず怖ずと口を開く.

「このレムレースの素材に関してはどうする予定でしょうか？　もしよろしければエモシオンの街に流して貰えると助かるのですが」
「そう言われてもな. 恐らくシーサーペントの希少種や上位種だと思われるが、誰も見たことがないんだよな. 取りあえず今は肉と皮を素材として切り分けているが……」
「そうですね、もしレムレースがシーサーペントの系統だとするのなら、売れる素材は牙と骨、皮、それと内臓の中でも肝臓と血がありますが……」
「……」

　地面を見たオブルスと同様に、レイもまた地面へと視線を向ける.
　そこにはレムレースから流れた血で汚れている草原が広がっていた.

「……血に関しては諦めた方がよさそうですね」
「だな. 後は皮もこっちで使う予定があるから街には殆ど流せない. そもそも、レムレースの皮は腐食液が滲み出るから色々と危険だしな」
「その危険な皮をどう使うおつもりで？」
「さて、それを教えるのはどうかと思うが……まぁ、変に疑われるよりはマシか. 腐食液の染みついた皮を燃やせば、その煙はどうなると思う？」
「……それはちょっと危険なのでは？」
「別に人に使おうとは思っていないさ. 大量に湧いてくるゴブリンとかにだな」

　オブルスの言葉に小さく肩を竦めながらミロワールの方へと向かっていく.

「レイ、結構な量が集まったよ. これ以上多くなると置き場所に困りそうだから、早く収納してちょうだい」
「分かってる. それよりも解体や周囲の見張りに参加している者達のギルドカードはきちんと把握しているな？」
「問題無いわ. ヘンデカがきちんとメモしてあるから. ねぇ、ヘンデカ？」
「あ、はい. 僕は幸い文字の読み書きが出来ますので」

　どこか照れくさそうに笑うヘンデカに頷き、早速とばかりに草原の上に並べられている肉や皮へと手を伸ばしてどんどんとミスティリングの中へと収納していく.
　その様子をすぐ側で見ていたオブルスは、魔石を収納した時と同じように驚きの表情でその様子を見守っていた.
　そんなオブルスへと向かい、数人の人影が近付いてくる. 先程周囲の者達から話を聞いてくるようにと言って散っていった者達だ.

「オブルスさん、大体の事情は分かりました. ……っていうか、このモンスターを見てここに来たらもう倒されていたってだけしか分かりませんでしたってのが正直なところですね」

　ひょろりとした男の報告に、オブルスも自分も大して変わらないと頷く. それでも、レイから直接話を聞いたのである程度の情報は掴んでいた.

「じゃあ、君. 申し訳ないけど街に戻って上の人に取りあえずの報告をしてきて欲しい. 内容は、エモシオンの街の近くに現れた巨大モンスターは既に討伐済み. 尚、その巨大モンスターはレムレースの可能性が大であり、マジックアイテムを使って強制的に転移させて倒した、と」
「……はぁ、それは構いませんけど、俺1人だけですか？　街道であまりモンスターが姿を現さないといっても、さすがにそれはちょっと危険なんじゃ……」
「何を言ってるんですか. 僕達は馬でここまで来たんですから、もちろん街に戻るのも馬に乗ってですよ. そうすれば街道で最も遭遇率の高いゴブリンなんかは気にする必要は無いでしょう」
「それ以外のモンスターが現れたりしたら……いえ、何でもありません. すぐに報告に向かいます」

　オブルスの自分を見る目が次第に冷たくなってきていることに気が付いたのか、すぐに前言を撤回してこの場を去って行く.
　その後ろ姿を見送りながらも、街のすぐ近くでこんな巨大なモンスターが姿を現せば多少怖じ気付いてもしょうがないという判断もあった.

「よし、剥ぎ取った分の肉と皮は全部収納した. 後はまたある程度集まったら呼んでくれ」
「分かったわ、レイもエグレットも頑張ってね. ……まぁ、もう暫く掛かるでしょうけど」

　大地に横たわるレムレースの巨体を眺め、ミロワールが告げる.
　その様子に小さく笑みを浮かべつつ、レイはエグレットと共に再びレムレースの解体を再開していく.
　それでもさすがに50人以上の冒険者が作業をしているだけあって、その日の夕方くらいにはレムレースの解体は完了することになるのだった.