"If what I heard is true, this should be the place," Rei muttered, scanning the interior of the room.
Elena and Nacht stood close by. Vihera, Byune, and Ecethesus had remained at the entrance—the site of the recent skirmish—to keep watch over the unconscious men.
They had extracted the location of the hidden room from their captives, but the group had decided Nacht was necessary to navigate any traps or mechanisms, and Elena had come along in case the prisoner was a woman. Of course, another reason for this specific arrangement was Vihera’s own declaration that she would wait at the door since the fighting appeared to be over.
"Yeah... no mistake. It’s exactly as they described." Nacht knelt to inspect the floor, shifting a heavy floorboard to reveal a flight of stairs.
"Heh. Looks like we hit the jackpot," Rei remarked, watching the dark opening.
Beside him, Elena offered a wry smile. "We terrified them so thoroughly that I doubt they have the courage left to lie to us."
"True enough. Their fear of Vihera was... well, understandable, in a way."
Having faced the woman known as the Mad Beast, it was only natural that terror had been branded into their very souls. Under the weight of Vihera’s ferocious smiles during the interrogation, the men’s resolve hadn't stood a chance. Had they been the ones captured by Rei and Seto, they might have held out longer, but the men Vihera’s group had trampled were merely slum hoodlums hired for coin.
The result was that the group now knew exactly where the underground cell was.
"Let’s go."
Nacht, the thief, took the lead as a precaution, followed closely by Rei and Elena. The descent was brief; they reached the bottom of the stairs in less than a minute.
They probably chose this building as a hideout specifically because it already had an underground cell, Nacht thought, scanning the dark corridor. I can’t see this lot going to the trouble of digging one themselves.
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the gloom. "Who... who’s there?"
"So there was someone here after all. Just a moment."
Fortunately, several magic items provided dim illumination in the basement. Rei and the others followed the voice toward a set of bars.
A woman clad in supple leather armor came into view, locked within a small jail. She looked momentarily terrified at the sight of Rei and Nacht, but when she spotted Elena, she let out a long sigh of relief. The presence of two strange men was a cause for alarm, but the sight of a woman—and one as striking as Elena—seemed to break the tension.
Sensing this as a fellow woman, Elena gestured for the men to stay back and approached the cell alone. The space was incredibly cramped; if five men were shoved inside, they wouldn't have been able to move.
The prisoner turned a look of profound gratitude toward Elena. To her, Elena was a goddess who had gallantly appeared in her hour of need. It took very little time for that gratitude to shift into something closer to worship as she gazed upon Elena's unparalleled beauty.
"Are you all right?" Elena asked.
"Y-yes! I am!"
"Good. Now, about this door... do you have a key?"
The woman lowered her head, looking ashamed that she couldn't offer a better answer to her savior. "...No. The men who took me have it."
"Don't worry about it," Elena said reassuringly. She drew her whip-sword from the sheath at her hip, infusing the blade with magic power as she gave it a sharp flick.
A high-pitched metallic cling rang through the basement. A heartbeat later, the door of the cell was sliced vertically in two, the heavy metal pieces thudding onto the floor.
"You're free now. I’d like to ask you a few things once we’re upstairs, if you don't mind?"
"Yes! Of course! Um... could I ask your name? I’m Sonrisa."
The woman—Sonrisa—spoke with teary eyes. Elena offered a dignified smile in return.
"I am Elena. These are Rei and Nacht. Now, this basement is no place for a conversation. Let’s move to the floor above."
"Yes, Big Sister!"
"...Big Sister?" Elena tilted her head, confused by the sudden honorific.
Sonrisa looked up at her with a hopeful smile. "Is... is that not okay?"
"No, well... I suppose it's fine," Elena replied, still a bit bewildered.
Even back with Duke Kerebel's Knight Order, she had been called "Big Sister" by younger and even older women alike, but she hadn't expected the trend to follow her all the way to Exil. Regardless, the smell of mold in the basement was unpleasant, so the group climbed back up to the room where they had started.
"Oh... thank goodness..." Sonrisa breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the ground floor. The sun was beginning to set, and the warm twilight glow filtering through the windows brought a genuine smile to her face.
"Forgive the rush, but please, tell us what you know. We’re short on time," Elena prompted.
"Ah! S-sorry, Big Sister. Right, where should I start?" Sonrisa hurriedly straightened her posture.
"First, Sonrisa, when were you brought here?"
"Last night. I had just left a tavern after parting ways with my party members. I was heading home when they jumped me..."
Rei, Elena, and Nacht all nodded. While many adventurers in Exil were travelers from abroad, there were plenty who had been born and raised in the city. Growing up watching adventurers challenge the dungeon made it a natural aspiration, and it was a way to earn a lot of money quickly—provided one was willing to risk their life. Unlike the outsiders who stayed at inns, local adventurers usually had their own homes. Sonrisa was clearly one of them.
"Last night, then. Did you see any other prisoners?" Nacht asked.
"No. I was alone from the moment they threw me in that cell," Sonrisa replied instantly.
Nacht looked disappointed; he had likely hoped for word of Tibia. He pushed forward with his next question. "Do you have any clues about who they are?"
"Clues... well, I heard them mention they were acting on someone’s orders, but I didn't catch a name." Sonrisa racked her brain, desperate to be of use to her savior. Then, she remembered something. "Wait, this might just be a coincidence, but I’m pretty sure one of the men was a believer of the Holy Light Religion."
"The Holy Light Religion? ...!"
The name triggered a memory for Nacht. Among the group that had ambushed him and Ecethesus, he recalled someone being scolded just as they started to say "Holy..."
The prayer of that faith is 'May the blessing of the Goddess of Holy Light be with you,' Nacht thought. If the guy who attacked me was a believer... no, wait. If the other guy stopped him from finishing the sentence, does that mean the one who stopped him was a believer too? To have two members of the Holy Light Religion among the nine attackers... that’s too much for a coincidence. Which means...
Nacht followed the logic to its conclusion. "The Holy Light Religion is involved in these attacks, and they’re working with House Marstchel?"
Sonrisa’s eyes widened. She had never imagined her kidnapping was part of such a massive conspiracy. The Holy Light Religion held significant influence in Exil; they provided healing to adventurers for a fee and were known for their charitable work in the city. She couldn't wrap her head around why they would do something like this.
Rei, however, was far more cynical. His inherent skepticism toward organized religion made the explanation perfectly plausible.
"I see. That makes it highly likely they’re involved in the Anomaly Species incident too. In fact, looking back at the incident at the House Rebisole laboratory, could the Holy Light Religion be the actual puppet master?"
Nacht frowned. Unlike Rei, his primary concern was the sheer headache this was going to cause.
"In any case, we should get more information out of the men Rei caught. If the Holy Light Religion is truly connected to House Marstchel, this is going to get ugly fast."
"Y-yes! Exactly!" Sonrisa added, her voice bordering on panic. "There was just a huge fight between House Silwa and House Rebisole. If House Silwa and House Marstchel start a war now, and the Holy Light Religion is mixed up in it... the Kingdom of Mireana might actually intervene!"
Elena placed a steadying hand on Sonrisa’s shoulder. "Easy now. That’s only if Nacht’s theory is correct. Sonrisa, you’ve been through an ordeal. Your family and friends must be worried sick, so you should head home. We might have House Silwa contact you for questioning later, so please cooperate with them when the time comes."
"Understood. But... what about you, Big Sister?"
"I have things I need to finish. Rei."
"Yeah." Rei understood her look immediately. He turned to follow her toward the back exit.
"Wait for us before you start the interrogation, alright? I want to bring Ecethesus and the others back here," Nacht called out.
Rei gave a sharp nod and stepped out the back door.
"Guruuu."
Seto greeted them with a soft cry. Rei patted the griffon’s head and looked over at the unconscious men. None of them had stirred yet; they were still piled on the ground like tuna hauled onto a dock.
"Right, before Ecethesus gets here... let's make sure they stay put."
Rei pulled a length of rope from his Misty Ring and began binding the men’s limbs. He used a continuous loop, tying everyone’s hands and feet to the same line. If one man tried to bolt, the weight of the others would pin him down instantly.
Once they were secured, Rei slapped the man closest to him across the face until he groaned and opened his eyes.
"Nn... what...?"
The man seemed to remember everything within seconds of waking. He tried to lunge upward, but Rei’s foot was already planted firmly on his chest.
"You..."
"I’d say 'good morning,' but we have a lot to talk about," Rei said coldly.
As he spoke, Vihera, Byune, Ecethesus, and Nacht emerged from the building. Sonrisa was nowhere to be seen, having already departed for her home. Ecethesus took one look at the man pinned under Rei's boot and his eyes flashed with recognition.
"That’s him! He was one of the ones who jumped us! The others called him Ogul!"
"Glad to hear we have the right man," Rei said.
"You bastards, you think you can—ugh!"
Ogur tried to snarl a threat, but the pressure on his solar plexus increased until he could barely breathe, let alone speak.
"The only time you speak is when I ask a question," Rei stated. "Now, first things first. Where is Tibia? Where did you take her?"
"...I don't know."
"Oh? I recall your friends mentioning you were transporting her somewhere when you tried to make your run."
Ogur clamped his jaw shut and looked away.
"House Marstchel," Rei muttered.
Ogur’s entire body stiffened for a fraction of a second. It was a reaction so subtle that almost no one else noticed, but Rei felt the man's muscles lock up beneath his boot.
"Looks like I was right." Rei had already heard from the information broker Seracanth that these men were frequenting the Marstchel estate. The question had merely been a test to confirm it. Now, he knew for certain where Tibia was.
"Next question. What’s your connection to the Holy Light Religion?"
Ogur stared up at him, a mocking smile playing on his lips as if the words were nonsense. "Ha? The Holy Light Religion? What’s that got to do with me?"
His tone was perfectly casual. To an outside observer, he would have seemed genuinely confused. Rei, however, merely met his gaze with a faint, knowing smile.