The day after the conflict between House Silwa and House Rebisole concluded, the streets were noticeably more crowded than the previous day. While adventurers who had aided House Silwa were still present, the bloodthirsty tension had vanished.
"Considering how many people are still out on patrol, Shaffner probably hasn't been caught yet," Rei remarked.
"Guruu?"
Set, walking beside Rei, tilted his head and let out a trill as he swallowed a piece of dried meat.
Elena, walking on the gryphon’s other side, stroked Set’s back as she nodded.
"I heard the successor to House Rebisole has already been officially announced. Even so, Shaffner's continued existence is likely a headache for Bosk. Even if he’s the 'former' head, his shadow still looms large."
"Fair point," Rei agreed.
Having ruled House Rebisole for so long, Shaffner likely retained some measure of influence even after a forced change in leadership.
(Still, the fact remains that he conducted illegal research and unleashed dangerous anomaly species into the dungeon. Given that, I wonder if anyone would really be willing to help him now... it seems unlikely.)
For better or worse, the dungeon was the heart of everything in the labyrinth city of Exil. To side with the man who had endangered that very heart by releasing anomaly species would be social suicide. This was the consensus between Rei and Elena. However...
"Siding with him is one thing," Elena murmured, her expression pensive. "But that doesn't mean there aren't people who would utilize him. That's where it gets complicated."
Rei sighed and nodded. "I'd like to believe we don't have to worry anymore since the researchers were killed, but the fact that the killer is still unknown is a real problem."
"Indeed. There were traces that all documents related to the research had been burned, but there's no way to know exactly what was on those pages. It’s possible the culprit made off with the real documents and burned unrelated papers to make it look like they were destroyed."
House Silwa had used reports found at the Rebisole estate to confirm the laboratory's existence. Bosk had personally led a raid on the slums where the facility was located, but they arrived to find every researcher dead. That meant someone other than House Silwa had reached them first.
"Naturally, you'd think Shaffner did it to cover his tracks..."
"But I doubt he had the time," Elena countered. "He appeared before Bosk himself, only to be routed immediately. Finding the composure to send assassins to silence researchers and destroy evidence in that narrow window seems highly unlikely."
"Yeah, you’re right..."
Rei paused the conversation to buy some lizardman skewers from his usual stall. After a quick exchange of greetings with the vendor, they resumed their walk.
"But if it wasn't Shaffner’s men who did it, then we’re looking at a third party who was pulling strings behind the scenes yesterday."
"Most likely."
They reached the gate leading to the plaza in front of the dungeon. After presenting their dungeon cards, they stepped inside.
The previous day's emptiness was a thing of the past. The plaza was teeming with its usual crowd of adventurers. Some were coordinating for expeditions, others were recruiting for pickup parties, and some were attempting to hire Holy Light Religion adventurers.
"Back to business already... hm?"
Rei’s gaze shifted to someone approaching them. It was a man equipped in monster-hide leather armor with a sword at his waist—a typical warrior.
"Thank you for yesterday. And, uh, for the matter of the casualties as well."
The man bowed deeply. He was the swordsman Rei and Elena had saved in the dungeon the day before. Because his companion had been so ungrateful and greedy, Rei’s opinion of this man was notably higher. The thanks were presumably for Rei handing over the corpses he’d transported in his Misty Ring to the guild.
"Right. Don't worry about it."
Rei’s brow furrowed slightly as he recalled the relatives of the deceased wailing over the bodies. He knew that being an adventurer meant living alongside death, but he could never truly get used to such sights.
(Even though I don't feel a shred of hesitation when it comes to killing...)
He gave a wry smile at his own internal contradiction. As they exchanged pleasantries, the man lowered his voice, checking his surroundings.
"Listen, about Onoma..."
"Onoma? Ah, the man with the spear?" Elena asked, her eyes narrowing with distaste.
The warrior nodded. "Yeah. It seems Onoma hasn't come back from the dungeon since yesterday."
"Did he get so caught up in his Rock Spider material stripping that he got jumped by another monster?"
"Most likely. Yesterday was the first time I'd teamed up with him in a pickup party... no, I shouldn't speak ill of the dead. I just wanted to let you know."
"I appreciate it," Rei said.
Elena gave a curt nod. Set didn't react much, though he had clearly found the man unpleasant the day before. Rei and Elena shared the sentiment; while they gave the swordsman a polite response, their private feeling was that Onoma had reaped exactly what he sowed.
(Dying alongside more materials than he could carry... I guess he got what he wanted in the end.)
Rei pushed the thought aside. The warrior bowed again and headed toward a group recruiting for a pickup party.
"Well, shall we go?"
Elena brushed off any remaining thoughts of Onoma and addressed Rei. The two men and one beast used the teleportation magic to reach B13F.
"Standing here, 'Sea of Sand' really does feel like the only way to describe it," Rei muttered, looking out from beneath the hood of his Dragon Robe.
Elena, who had draped a cloak from her magic pouch over her shoulders, nodded in agreement.
"Guruu?"
Set tilted his head, wondering why they weren't moving yet. Rei stroked the gryphon’s head as he surveyed their surroundings. They were atop a sand dune in a small chamber housing the magic circle and the staircase. Beyond the walls lay an endless desert.
"We've got work to do first. I still haven't done the magic stone absorption for the Rock Spider and the Sky Fang. We haven't even finished the Sky Fang material stripping yet."
"But is it wise to do it here?" Elena asked. "The visibility is much better here than on the floors above. We could be spotted by monsters or, worse, other adventurers."
"That's..."
Just as Rei was about to respond, a voice interrupted.
"Ugh, the desert is so hot. Hey, is the target really on this floor... oh?"
A female warrior equipped with a rapier and a cloak similar to Elena’s emerged from the chamber. She spotted the group and tilted her head, her gaze shifting to the gryphon. Recognition dawned on her.
"I heard rumors that an Alias Holder was tearing through the dungeon at record speed... so, one of you must be Crimson. Care to tell me which one?"
Rei sighed and took a step forward. "That’s me. Hasn't the rumor that Crimson is a man gotten around yet?"
The woman let out a soft laugh. "Listen, kid, you should probably realize you have a girlish face. You're not exactly huge, either. If you don't open your mouth, I'm sure plenty of people would mistake you for a girl. Don't you guys agree?"
Three more adventurers emerged from the chamber behind her: two human men in their twenties and a dwarf with a beard reaching down to his chest.
One of the men looked Rei over and nodded. "Yeah, I see it. Looking at just the face, it is a bit hard to tell if you're a boy or a girl."
"Really? I could tell he was a guy immediately. What about you, Zuiguri?" the other man asked.
The dwarf called Zuiguri rested a massive axe on his shoulder and shook his head. "I can't tell, either. Even hearing the voice... no, it's still a bit high for a man. Hard to judge."
"See? It's not as obvious as you think," the woman with the rapier said, looking quite pleased with herself.
The man who had been smiling at the woman’s antics cleared his throat and dusted off his cloak. "Anyway, we need to kill our target monster today, so let's get moving. Crimson, was it? Sorry, but we're heading out first. No hard feelings?"
"None at all. Go ahead."
"Appreciate it."
The four-man adventurer party turned and headed out into the dunes. Surprisingly, they showed almost no shock at seeing Set. They were either in too much of a hurry to care, or they had already heard the city’s gossip.
(Probably the gossip,) Rei thought.
Beside him, Elena watched them go, then checked a map from her magic pouch. "Ah, I see."
"What's up?"
"They aren't heading toward the stairs to the next floor. They must be going specifically to hunt a target. Anyway, back to the matter at hand—are we doing the Sky Fang material stripping here?"
"No... considering we don't know who else might pop out, I'd rather not. I'll wait until the next floor, or if we find a more secluded spot on the way to the stairs. I'll do the Rock Spider magic stone then, too."
"Guruu..."
Set let out a disappointed trill. It wasn't just about the magic stone; he was mostly upset that he couldn't eat the Sky Fang meat yet. Stripping materials didn't always guarantee a snack, but if they were lucky, he’d get a taste of fresh meat.
"Here, if you're that hungry, eat this for now."
Rei pulled a sandwich from his Misty Ring and offered it to the dejected gryphon.
"Gururuu!"
The moment Set saw it, he gave a joyful cry and snapped it up. The sandwich vanished from Rei’s hand in a flash.
Watching Set happily savor his snack, Rei and Elena locked eyes and simultaneously burst into laughter.
"Pfft... hahahaha! That's so Set. He's exactly like you, Rei."
"Hey, I don't have that much of an appetite... pffft, okay, maybe I do."
"Guruu?"
Set tilted his head, wondering what was so funny. He had already finished the sandwich and clearly wanted more. He rubbed his head against Rei, staring at him with big, round eyes.
"Alright, alright... just one more."
"Gurururuu!"
Rei reached into the Misty Ring, but Elena placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Rei, let me. I brought some sandwiches as emergency rations, too."
She pulled a paper-wrapped sandwich from her magic pouch.
"Gururuu?"
Set looked at Rei as if asking for permission. Rei nodded. Set happily bounded over to Elena and took the offered treat.