Even under Rihart’s piercing gaze, Mona answered without hesitation.
Hiss—
As the monster flicked its tongues in a menacing display, vapor rose around its torso like steam in a bathhouse.
“This whole place is thick with humidity because of the water jade.”
In her childhood, Mona had read an ancient volume until the pages frayed: An Ecological Record of Demonic Realm Monsters of the West.
Seeing a scene unfold before her eyes that she had only ever encountered in print, her voice grew faintly animated.
However, while forming a water jade, its body became extremely vulnerable.
That had to be why the beast had drifted all the way out here in search of a safe haven.
Now that the black dragon who once ruled the Land of Chaos was gone, the interior of the demonic realm had to be in utter chaos as monsters fought to claim the vacant territory.
Mona watched the swollen, rounded belly of the Twin Head Drake with rapt attention as she continued her explanation.
Monsters did not blindly attack humans at every turn.
They, too, had priorities dictated by instinct.
Rihart murmured in a low tone.
Mona ventured her opinion carefully.
Dominic, however, voiced his objection with a dissatisfied scowl.
Rihart spoke up out of nowhere.
Mona was inwardly surprised by Rihart’s order.
While Rihart, whom she expected to slaughter the creature on the spot, took a levelheaded approach, Dominic—the knight with the pretty face of a delicate youth—was utterly merciless toward monsters.
Dominic still looked displeased, while Rihart crossed his arms with an indifferent gaze.
Taking advantage of the moment when their eyes turned away, Mona quickly wiped her fogged-up glasses on her sleeve.
With her vision restored, she began examining the Twin Head Drake with rapt attention.
According to An Ecological Record of Demonic Realm Monsters of the West, serpentine monsters that formed spiritual elixirs like water jades were exceptionally rare.
In the scriptures of the Old Faith, they were often called ‘heretical serpents that mimic dragons.’
And to think she was observing such a precious creature from this close.
…Insane. This is incredible.
‘Rihart is terrifying, but he’s surprisingly reasonable.’
As long as her true identity remained hidden, everything would be fine, and fortunately, neither of them seemed to suspect she was the white-haired woman.
‘The saying that it’s darkest under the lamp really is true.’
Just as Mona was basking in overwhelming professional satisfaction, completely losing track of time while observing the beast…
“…Tsk.”
Clueless about Mona’s inner thoughts, Dominic clicked his tongue.
‘He’s been trembling on pins and needles looking at that beast the whole time.’
An obscure monster scholar.
He could understand the urge to prove something in front of Rihart, but three hours had already slipped by.
Dominic was in the middle of trying to persuade Rihart again when—
Whooosh!
A sudden rush of heat and moisture spread in all directions, so thick it scalded the cheeks, and the serpent’s torso began to glow faintly.
The moment Mona called out, Dominic’s face froze cold.
At the overwhelming sight of light bleeding out between scales interlocked in black and white like a chessboard, Dominic shifted his grip on his sword, dropping into a guarded stance.
Kshhhk!
Before long, both heads sharing the single torso swung their jaws wide open at the same time.
Snapping up the white bead and black bead that had emerged from its body, they turned their heads smoothly and began retreating as if fleeing.
Having formed the water jade, there was no longer any need to linger near the water.
No matter how important mating was, could a monster really act like this right in front of humans?
Just as Dominic murmured in utter bewilderment—
Without warning, the long serpent tail whipped out from the water’s edge, lashing straight toward Mona.
“…!”
At the same instant, a powerful grip clamped onto her arm, yanking her backward.
Thud. Mona caught her breath as her back collided with a solid chest.
Rihart asked coolly, loosening his grip on her arm.
While she babbled a flustered excuse, the creature gave its tail a rattle and dropped something onto the stone.
The moment Rihart glared at the creature’s bizarre behavior, the serpent’s black head shivered in a fit of violent tremors.
Promptly, the black head gave the white head a series of hurried thumps as if urging it on, and then, tucking its tail, it vanished swiftly into the depths of the narrow gorge.
“…”
Stunned into brief silence by the absurd spectacle, Dominic soon recoiled in horror.
The monster scholar had unceremoniously reached a hand toward the ground to pick up whatever the beast had dropped.
When Dominic swiftly blocked the hand with his scabbard, Mona spoke in frustration.
Mona’s voice rose slightly.
Toss away a scale shed by an ultra-rare monster?
‘Are you out of your mind?!’
If she left it behind, the regret would keep her up all night.
“Let him keep it.”
Rihart granted permission with surprising leniency.
Thanks to this monster scholar, the beast had withdrawn without them expending an ounce of effort, and contamination of the water source had been prevented.
There was bound to be some reason for insisting so stubbornly.
Before Rihart could change his mind, Mona scooped up the serpent scale and tucked it deep into her coat.
The heavy weight of the scale warmed her very chest.
‘Later, I’m putting this on display right at the entrance of my monster research lab.’
Research was merely an excuse.
Having acquired an unlooked-for piece of rare merchandise, Mona fought to suppress the corners of her mouth from curling upward.
***
The following morning.
When the news of the lord’s corruption spread, the expedition was thrown into an uproar.
The expedition’s sole spiritist, Mordo Valkion, clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Draped in a purple robe embroidered with various patterns, his pale complexion lent him a sickly, cold impression.
However, being utterly devoid of manual dexterity, he had been excluded from the final work on the teleportation magic circle’s stone slabs.
Enoch, a healer and herbalist who had been ousted for similar reasons, chimed in.
Enoch lavished flattering praise while glancing toward Dominic, who was standing on standby nearby, but Dominic wore an entirely dissatisfied expression.
Aside from voicing objections to the monster scholar’s views, he had hardly done anything himself.
In truth, it was thanks to Mona Bellose’s knowledge of monsters that the crisis had been resolved without expending an ounce of effort, and the spread of contamination into the water source had been averted.
He had assumed the scholar would be a burden, yet he was the one who had ended up getting in the way.
‘…Now I see why he stepped forward out of nowhere.’
Still, such luck would hardly strike twice. Other monsters would not be so obliging.
All the same, Dominic felt uneasy having the credit for this incident fall on him, and he spoke up.
Amid the awkward air settling over the room, the firmly locked conference room door rattled open.
