「And with that, we have confirmed the existence of the Unique species.

…Moreover, this individual is mixed with native species and occupies a higher position as well…」(Mile)

「Hmmm.

Did this mean that “a stranger came, joined a group, and because he was strong, the group took him as the leader of the group”?」(Maevis)

Maevis responded to Mile so

「Hmm…

No matter how strong it is, it looks like a different race with a different appearance.

Would they accept it so easily and follow him like a leader?

It’s stronger, defeats the boss, and becoming the leader.

It’s so a half-hearted to get the position of a team leader…」(Pauline)

「It’s a little hard to think about.

In the first place, I doubt they even accept it as a companion…」(Rena)

Pauline and Rena seemed unconvinced with Maevis’ theory.

「In the first place, if Maevis’ theory was true that “The unique species came from a very far place beyond the dimensional rift”, can they communicate with the local goblins?

I’ve heard that not even humans can’t speak to those of other continents, or even neighboring countries on the same continent.

As for the gestures, the gesture may mean “come here” in this country but it can mean “I’ll kill you, damned rascal!”…」(Pauline? Rena?)

「「「Hmmmm……」」」(3 other girls)

In the end, Red Oath couldn’t reach a conclusion due to lack of information and just thought about it.

「Let’s put the Unique species in Mile’s storage, but we can’t submit just this one …」(Rena?)

「Yes.

After all, it’s just a goblin and there’s only one.

Besides, we are hunters from other countries who have just entered this country …」(Pauline?)

「Furthermore, no matter how they look, we are some “newbie little girls”.

In this country where there is no hunter training school, people might look down on our training school like an “amateur hunter mass-production plant”. And by mass-producing amateur hunters who don’t have enough power and experience, the graduated hunters might die easily, it’s more like a Death/Suicide School (Shinigami).

Well, they might think otherwise after confirming the facts, but normally they might not like the “system that newbie hunters can quickly become rank D and rank C” that they don’t have in their own country.

Anyway, well…, the hunters from the training school in our country might be treated as amateurs and being ridiculed even if they are C rank.

Normally, people won’t snoop on other hunters’ country of origin or background.

But if we report such an unbelievable problem, we have to prove our identity to some extent, …if we want them to believe in such a ridiculous story…」(Maevis)

Rena nodded with Maevis.

「Especially for us, who seem to be newbie hunters and strangers of another country. So…」(Rena)

「So…?」(Mile)

Rena replied confidently to Mile.

「Collect more samples.

We also need a unique Orc or Ogre that seems to be dangerous for ordinary hunters.」(Rena)

＊ ＊

「… Okay, there’s a Unique Kobold in command!」(Maevis)

After fighting several groups of normal monsters, the girls encounter a flock of dozens of kobolds.

As always, Maevis is the first one who notices.

Just like the goblins, even if it’s the Unique species, one or two of them won’t pose a great threat, but it will still be useful as “the samples of the Unique species”.

「We only need to hunt Unique species.

We can ignore other small fries running away!」(Rena?)

「「「Ooh!」」」(3 other girls)

Everyone started attacking all at once with the usual shout.

Push the small fries away and deal with the Unique first. The girls don’t mind if the monsters run away so they defeat the Unique one who seems to be the leader first and then disperse the rest appropriately.

Kobolds don’t have any value besides their fur. And they look fluffy and cute, so no-one likes peeling their skin… even those at the guild dismantling site.

They only get a cheap labor fee, it doesn’t worth the guilt and mental distress…

No, no matter how cute they are, they will attack the villagers in a group, so it’s necessary to defeat it …

「…Eh? Where is the corpse of the Unique species?」(Rena)

After kicking off the Kobolds and driving them away, Rena was dumbfounded looking at where the corpse of the Unique species was supposed to be.

「There… Eh?」(Mile?)

「Eh?」(Maevis?)

「…Nothing…, isn’t it…」(Pauline)

There was none.

There’s no Unique monster’s corpse that should have been defeated first.

And When everyone is searching…

「Ah. The trace of dragging something …」(Maevis?)

From the place where the corpse of the Unique species was supposed to be, there were traces of something…, probably the corpse of the Unique species… that seemed to be dragged… in a straight line.

「Monsters don’t have the habit of bringing back the corpses of dead companions, except when cannibalizing…

And why did they only bring the Unique monster’s corpse while leaving the corpses of other normal monsters…」(Maevis?)

「Maybe they are eating the meat of the strong one to gain that strength or something?

Sometimes we found it in organisms that put strength first, isn’t that right?」(Rena?)

「Ah! Maybe that’s why there’s no Unique monster’s corpse in the Guild. Even if the hunters defeat a Unique monster, they might miss its corpse during the fight with other monsters…」(Pauline?)

「Because the number of Unique species is small and their corpse will be collected by their friends?

Certainly, if you can’t completely annihilate the monsters, something like that may happen…」(Maevis?)

「…………」(Mile)

Everyone’s conversation is somewhat convincing.

However, Mile still thinks that something isn’t right.

「But it’s not just this place, right?

If the Unique monsters only appear here,

it won’t be “Something is wrong with the Kingdom Bram”,

but “Something is wrong with the territory of Kingdom Bram”.

Perhaps the same thing is happening here and there in this country …」(Mile)

Mile says so but it’s based on what she heard from nanomachines

“The dimensional rift appears and disappears in a short time, repeated in various places.”

However, even if the girls know it, they can’t understand the behavior of the monsters or “the cause of such a phenomenon”.

Somehow they can guess some of the reasons why this country looks strange now.

… But the reason for it and the underlying “cause” were unknown.

It can be said that they were able to grasp what was expected from the client. But Red Oath doesn’t feel like they have completed the request yet.

「However, when there are too many speculations but we just secure a few peculiar species is weak as evidence, isn’t it?」(Rena)

「Even though we haven’t even reached to the capital city yet, I can’t say that the request has been completed with such half-finished information…」(Maevis)

「It’s a delicious request, so I have to extend it as much as possible…」(Pauline)

「Ahaha, as expected…」(Mile)

And Red Oath continued the journey to the capital city…

【Mile-sama, there was a rift nearby!】(Nano)

「Everyone, this way」(Mile)

「Yes yes (Hai hai)…」(Rena)

She probably detected something by Search Magic.

Rena’s Trio thought so and obediently obeyed… As usual.

And what Rena’s group saw when they deviated from the highway and rushed through the woods at full speed …

「……Eh?」(Rena)

It’s “a rift in dimensional space” that they have seen before.

「That is…」(Rena?)

The monsters that come out from there.

Just like they thought. And…

「What is that…」(Pauline? Maevis?)

An unfamiliar, odd-shaped thing that stands beside the rift as if it was commanding monsters.

「It’s small, but… is that an iron golem?」(Rena?)

But from Mile’s Point of View…

（…Robot…？）(Mile)

Yes, scavengers, golems, and nanomachines are certainly robots.

Both prehistoric civilizations and “God-like being” had the ability to make robots easily.

…… But this’s not the case.

It doesn’t imitate humans, it’s neither animal nor insect.

That scavenger was certainly atypical, with four arms and six legs.

However, it seems that it was designed with stability and work efficiency in mind. It was understandable to have such a design.

But this is …

Variant.

Things that deviate from human ideas so much that can’t be defined with any other words.

（…Nano-chan?）(Mile)

【It’s the Enemies……】(Nano)

（Ah, I know it.）(Mile)

(T.N: Yes the enemies, the name of this mini-arc)