After emerging from the dungeon, Rei, Elena, and Seto stopped at the guild to sell all but two of their Cactus-modoki magic stones. Soon after, they boarded a carriage—a familiar mode of transport for them by now—and made their way toward the House Silwa estate.
Ideally, Rei would have preferred to liquidate all his collected materials at the guild first. However, since most of the monsters he had defeated—aside from the Cactus-modoki—remained as intact corpses stored within his Misty Ring, he would have had to perform the material stripping himself before the guild would accept them.
Had they been entirely free of other obligations, they could have spent the time harvesting the materials either inside or outside the walls of Exil.
But that assumed they had nothing else to do.
At the moment, Rei and Elena had a task that superseded all others.
Specifically, they had to deliver the Cactus-modoki corpse—the one that had perished mid-mutation—to House Silwa, and more importantly, to Bosk.
Furthermore, the corpses of the three men who had attempted to create that Anomaly Species, along with their belongings like their Dungeon Cards, were likely to be vital clues.
(Maybe I should put out a request for material stripping, like the crew I hired back in Gilm,) Rei thought.
"Rei, we're almost there."
"Hm? Oh, right."
Elena’s voice pulled Rei out of his deep contemplation.
Peering out of the carriage window, Rei noticed that while a significant number of adventurers were still milling about, the atmosphere had shifted. Given that only a day had passed since yesterday's chaos, the crowd was expected, yet the murderous intent that had saturated the air before was gone.
(With Shaffner still at large, I didn't think they could afford to relax this much. ...No, wait. Did something happen while we were in the dungeon? Even so, they don't exactly look like they're celebrating.)
As he pondered this, the carriage rolled to a stop near the gates of House Silwa.
After paying the fare, Rei stepped down, and Seto—who had been trotting faithfully behind the carriage—approached him to rub his face against Rei's shoulder.
"Guruuu."
Rei reached out to scratch the griffin's throat, and Seto responded with a deep, contented purr.
While Rei found the behavior soothing, a small flicker of worry crossed his mind. Lately, Seto seemed to be acting more and more like a common cat.
(Well, his lower half is a lion, so I suppose it's not entirely out of character, but still...)
Looking at the current Seto, it was difficult to reconcile this affectionate creature with the high-rank monster feared as the Flying Grim Reaper.
However, if someone had asked Rei if he disliked this side of his partner, he would have immediately shaken his head. It was precisely because Seto was this way that Rei felt such a deep, personal bond with him.
"Rei? You're staring off into space. Is something wrong?"
"Hm? Oh, no, it's nothing. Just thinking about Seto."
"Seto?"
Elena looked toward the griffin, who was still purring happily, seemingly confused by Rei's comment. She watched him for a few seconds and tilted her head slightly, but eventually concluded that Seto was just being his usual friendly self.
"Well, regardless. Shall we?" Rei said.
He took a step toward the mansion. Seto immediately shifted gears, walking tall beside Rei, while Elena followed on his other side.
When they arrived at the House Silwa residence, the drop in numbers was striking. Though the two familiar gatekeepers remained at their posts, there were no longer crowds of adventurers waiting outside. Only a few remained stationed just inside the gate as a precaution.
This made sense. Their previous visit had been on the eve of the clash with House Rebisole; now that the primary conflict had concluded, there was no longer a need to maintain such a massive standing force.
"May I help you?"
One of the gatekeepers Rei had spoken to during his last visit called out. Rei gave a short nod.
"Yeah. I have information regarding the Anomaly Species incident. I'd appreciate it if you could let Bosk or Sanctions know we're here."
"...Please wait a moment. I'll go inform Lord Sanctions at once."
The gatekeeper caught his partner's eye, and the other man immediately turned to head into the mansion.
Watching him go, Rei scanned the perimeter. "The place has certainly emptied out."
"Yes. Most of the business regarding House Rebisole has been settled. Lord Bosk decided that keeping such a massive force was no longer necessary and essentially forced them to leave... though a few of the more stubborn ones refused to budge."
The gatekeeper offered a wry smile, his rugged features softening as he looked toward the small group of adventurers Rei had noticed earlier.
(It’s not just loyalty... they must genuinely like the guy. He's a world apart from Shaffner.)
As Rei reflected on this, Elena, who had been listening intently, spoke up.
"I heard a report that by the time your forces reached the laboratory, every member of the research staff had already been killed. Is that true?"
"I’m just a gatekeeper, so I wasn't part of the raid, but from what I’ve heard, the reports were accurate."
"Was it truly everyone? No survivors at all?"
"Yes, that is the word. They said everyone inside the laboratory had already had their breath stopped for good."
"...I see. Then that means..."
Elena trailed off, her expression suggesting she had grasped something. At that moment, Sanctions, the Head Butler of House Silwa, appeared from the mansion alongside the gatekeeper.
"My apologies for the wait. I understand you have news regarding the Anomaly Species incident?"
"Something we stumbled upon in the dungeon today. Is Bosk available?" Rei asked.
"Yes, certainly. Upon hearing that Lord Rei and Lady Elena had arrived, he said he would be waiting for you in his office."
The way Sanctions said it made Rei feel as though Bosk was waiting in ambush rather than just waiting, but he decided it wasn't worth worrying about.
"Good to hear. Lead the way, then."
Sanctions nodded and led them through the gates.
As they crossed the grounds, several of the adventurers stationed in the yard looked surprised to see Seto, but they held their ground without showing any unseemly fear. Given that they were the ones who had stayed behind out of devotion to Bosk, they clearly had some mettle.
Of course, it probably helped that word was spreading throughout Exil that the griffin accompanying Rei was harmless to non-hostiles.
"Guruuu?"
Seto tilted his head at the adventurers, letting out a soft trill as if asking what was wrong. Brave as they were, however, they didn't quite have the courage to actually pet him.
When Seto realized they were just going to stare rather than play, he headed toward the garden, radiating a slightly dejected, lonely aura.
(Well, it’ll take a while longer for the people here to get as used to him as the folks in Gilm.)
Even now, Seto was becoming a welcome sight at the shops Rei frequented—mostly the food stalls. It was only a matter of time before that acceptance became the norm throughout Exil, though Rei couldn't predict exactly how long that would take.
Still, he wasn't worried. He knew firsthand how friendly Seto was and how much the people of Gilm adored him.
...Except, perhaps, for a certain female adventurer whose obsession with Seto tended to border on the extreme.
Offering Seto a silent word of encouragement in his heart, Rei and Elena followed Sanctions into the mansion and arrived at the same room they had visited previously.
"Lord Bosk, I have brought Lord Rei and Lady Elena."
"Get in here."
At the sound of that boisterous voice, Sanctions opened the door and ushered them inside.
Unlike their previous meeting, Sanctions entered the room with them. He likely knew that Bosk's mood wasn't particularly foul today.
That said, the loss of his 'younger brother' was a heavy blow. Even if he had exacted a high price from the perpetrators, the man believed to be the mastermind—though Bosk was half-convinced he was merely a puppet—Shaffner, was still missing. Thus, he wasn't exactly in high spirits, either.
"Yo, Rei, Elena. What’s the occasion? Did you dig up some dirt on House Rebisole?"
Bosk spoke with a half-joking tone. He knew the two of them generally stayed out of the city's political squabbles, but to his surprise, Rei didn't smile or scoff. He simply gave a grave, silent nod.
Seeing that, Bosk’s smirk vanished instantly. He straightened his posture, his expression becoming deadly serious.
"...What happened?"
"To be honest, we ran into some strange people in the dungeon today."
"Strange people?"
"Yeah. Do you know that area on B13F? The one where a massive number of Cactus and Cactus-modoki grow?"
Bosk thought for a moment before nodding. He had heard about that place from his subordinates. It sat right in the middle of the shortest path from the magic circle to the stairs leading down to B14F.
However, since the desert sand made for such difficult footing, most people avoided the valley and stuck to the ridges. Very few people were eccentric enough to take the 'shortcut' through the cactus forest, so it was rarely an issue.
"What, you guys actually went through there? Cactus-modoki are a pain to deal with and their materials aren't worth the trouble. Most adventurers steer well clear of that place."
"If I'd known that beforehand, I probably would have too," Rei admitted.
It was a rare lapse in information gathering on their part. Or perhaps, knowing Rei, he would have just charged through anyway because he found detours annoying.
Clearing his throat to move past the minor embarrassment, Rei got back to the point.
"Anyway, once we cleared that area, we saw something very strange."
"...Strange how?"
Bosk leaned in, sensing they had reached the heart of the matter.
"Just past the cactus forest, we found three people who looked like adventurers. At first, I thought they were just another party, but then I saw a near-death Cactus-modoki lying on the ground near them. They used something they called a Chaos Seed on it, and the creature's body began to change violently. ...It was exactly like the difference between a normal monster and an Anomaly Species."
By the time Rei finished that sentence, Bosk’s gaze was like a blade, fixed intently on the boy.
"Go on."
Rei nodded. "The Cactus-modoki couldn't handle the sudden change and died. We tried to capture the three men when they attempted to dispose of it, but when they realized they couldn't escape, they didn't hesitate. They took poison hidden in their teeth and ended their own lives."
"...I see."
Bosk didn't look confused. Instead, he looked as if a missing piece had finally clicked into place. He exchanged a knowing look with Sanctions and gave a small nod.
Sanctions frowned slightly as he spoke. "It seems they didn't take the bait of Lord Bosk, but instead showed themselves in an entirely different location."
"Yeah," Bosk growled. "But for them to resume operations the very next day raises some serious questions. ...Do you think the person behind all this would really be that reckless?"
"Who can say? They may have their own reasons for such desperation."
Rei let out a small sigh as the two began discussing the matter between themselves. He spoke up to regain their attention.
"So, here’s the thing. I’ve brought the Cactus-modoki and the three corpses with me."
Bosk’s head snapped back toward Rei. "What? ...Ah, right. I keep forgetting you're an Item Box user. That’s how you brought back that Spear Frog, too."
"Exactly. And I found these while I was at it."
Rei allowed a small, triumphant smirk to cross his face as he pulled three Dungeon Cards out of the Misty Ring.
Bosk’s eyes sharpened even further. Of course, there was no guarantee the information on the cards was accurate. In fact, given what the men had been doing, the data was almost certainly forged.
Even so, the cards were physical evidence. They provided a starting point for tracing the enemy's identity, and in an investigation like this, any lead was worth its weight in gold.
"I’ve got the Cactus-modoki that died mid-mutation, the corpses of the three men responsible, and all their belongings—including their Dungeon Cards. ...So, Bosk. How much are you willing to pay for all this?"
Rei finished with a sharp, calculating grin.