A ship tossed about by violent waves. The fishermen's screams overlapped one after another.
When Rest flew out over the sea... beneath several fishing boats bobbing on the surface, he could see a massive shadow swimming leisurely.
It was at least twenty meters long — comparable in size to a whale. The shadow alone didn't reveal its full form, but... it appeared to have a long, slender, serpent-like body.
"So this is a sea monster...!"
"Uwaaaaaaahhhh!?"
A portion of the monster emerged from the sea.
A tail-like appendage covered in white scales and sporting blue-green fins slammed against the surface of the water with tremendous force, sending huge waves crashing outward.
The violent waves rocked the fishing boats violently from side to side.
"Ah...!"
"Hyaaaaaaahhhh!"
"H-Help us! Pleeeease!"
Unable to withstand the waves, a fishing boat capsized, and the fishermen tumbled into the sea.
The monster didn't directly attack the fishermen, but beneath the surface, its enormous shadow circled around them, swirling and creating a vortex.
The fishermen caught in the vortex were dragged into the sea, desperately climbing back out, only to be pulled under again — over and over.
"This thing... is it... playing with them...!"
From above, Rest grimaced at the sight.
The monster's movements didn't look like it was hunting fish — it appeared to be drowning the fishermen for sport.
Toying with them, tormenting them... like a child stepping on ants for fun, it radiated an innocent sort of malice.
"Wind Manipulation!"
But first priority was rescuing the drowning fishermen.
Rest manipulated the wind to scoop up the fishermen being tossed about by the waves and carried them to shore.
Ideally, he would have been able to lift the entire boats as well... but his magic didn't have that kind of output.
"I'm picking you guys up too!"
"Wh-what!?"
He grabbed the fishermen clinging to their boats and ferried them to shore.
With that, every last fisherman had been rescued.
"GYAAAAAAA!"
The monster surfaced from the sea.
Part of its face, covered in the same white scales as its tail, turned toward the now-unmanned fishing boats with its bulging, vacant eyes.
"GYAAAAAAA!"
The monster let out what sounded like an angry cry.
Then, as if venting its frustration, it clamped its jaws onto one of the floating fishing boats and crunched it to splinters.
Its long tail slammed against the surface of the water over and over, and the resulting waves threatened to sink the remaining boats.
"Enough already... who do you think you're dealing with!"
Rest fired off a spell.
[Thunder Cannon]— a bolt of lightning pierced the monster at sea.
"GYAAAAAAA?!"
This time, the monster released a scream of agony.
It stopped destroying the boats and retreated back into the sea.
「Ah...!」
The shadow vanishes from sight.
Using the [Presence Detection] magic to search, it seems the creature is diving deeper and deeper toward the ocean floor.
Before long, the monster's aura recedes into the distance.
It appears to have fled.
"It got away..."
The creature seemed wary of the [Thunder Cannon], but it didn't appear to take any significant damage.
Quite a tough monster.
Its size was also considerable. It was likely over twenty meters long.
"It was long and thin, more like a serpent than a whale... and with scales, so perhaps not a mammal but a type of fish...?"
Rest stares at the sea where the monster disappeared, but its shadow is already gone.
That monster had been using the fishermen to play with them. To Rest, it seemed like it was toying with them, tormenting them.
There were no casualties from this attack, but... if it continued to assault them in that manner, deaths could occur at any moment.
Even setting that aside, having the boats destroyed was a matter of life and death. The livelihood of the village people was threatened.
"If only it would go somewhere else on its own... If not, it will be necessary to subjugate it."
Rest murmured to himself while looking down at the sea.