Being carried up the mountain in Yuri's arms took just under five minutes.
Just as the intel they'd received beforehand indicated… they spotted wyverns near the mountain's summit.
There wasn't just one or two wyverns there. A nest sat in a caldera-like depression at the peak, and countless wyverns were circling all around it.
"Whoa, it's an all-you-can-eat buffet! There's so many of them!"
"The fact that's your first reaction scares me, Yuri."
Hiding behind a boulder, Rest let out a sigh at Yuri's complete lack of tension.
Countless wyverns at the summit… He could see the appeal, sure. If they could hunt every last one, it really would be an all-you-can-eat feast. They could serve wyvern meat to hundreds, even thousands of people.
But… Rest had no desire to drive wyverns to extinction, nor did he plan to open an all-you-can-eat barbecue joint.
They were here for one reason only: to find ingredients for the party.
"We can't carry that many back anyway, so one is fine. Taking on that entire flock would be a massive headache."
The flock had to number at least a hundred. Wiping them all out was certainly possible.
For instance, firing off a Solar Forge God would take care of them all at once. Amaterasu could be used to mow them down in a single sweep.
But… if they did that, the ingredients would be ruined entirely. That would be putting the cart before the horse.
"Still… if we attack even one wyvern, the rest of the flock will probably come after us too. In the end, we'd be fighting all of them. If only we could somehow snatch one away without the flock noticing…"
They could wait for a wyvern to stray from the flock on its own, but dusk was already approaching. Wyverns might be returning to the nest, but none were leaving it.
Their guide was gone, too. If possible, Rest wanted to take down a wyvern and get out of there quickly.
While Rest was lost in thought, Yuri thumped her chest confidently.
"Then I'll act as the bait! While they're focused on me, you grab a wyvern and make a run for it!"
"Hold on— no, no, no, absolutely not!"
Rest waved both hands frantically at the outlandish proposal.
"A decoy…? There's no way I'm letting you do something that dangerous!"
"Why not? With my legs, I could outrun a wyvern, no problem!"
"No matter how fast you can run, I can't let you put yourself in that kind of danger. There's absolutely no way I'd use the woman who's going to be my wife as decoy material!"
Rest said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and Yuri clutched her hand to her chest with a "Ngh…!"
"That just gave me butterflies! My heart's racing!"
"Glad to hear…"
"As a reward, how about I give you a hug? If it's just a little, it's totally fine to touch my chest too, you know?"
"No thank you… I've had quite enough of your hugs…"
Just a little while ago, he'd been scooped up and forcibly carted around. That human-powered roller coaster was a once-in-a-lifetime experience — emphasis on once.
The offer to touch her chest was certainly tempting… but if the Rosemary sisters found out, it'd be terrifying, so he'd hold off until after the wedding.
"But… a decoy operation might actually work, come to think of it…"
"Hmm? Rest, you absolutely cannot be the decoy. Absolutely not."
"Oh, that's not what I had in mind… This would just be a feint."
Rest let several spells float through his mind.
Small tricks he'd picked up during training with Diebl, magic learned in academy classes, and techniques taught to him by Jarana Maitis, an authority on barrier arts.
If he applied those… he might be able to complete the mission without being chased down by the wyvern flock.
"Listen up, Yuri. Pay close attention… [details of the plan]."
"Hmm hmm… I see! [Details of the plan] it is!"
Rest and Yuri held a brief strategy meeting behind a rock before setting off to acquire wyvern meat.