Stepping out of the shed that looked like it could collapse at any moment, Rei and the others stayed alert to their surroundings while considering what to do next.
It was all well and good that Rei, Vihera, and Byune had followed the alchemist they were tasked with capturing through the underground passage and arrived in the slum, but they had hit a wall when it came to figuring out how to continue the pursuit from there.
If Set had been with them, they could have tracked the scent the way they had with Adria. Unfortunately, Set was supposed to be waiting outside the magic item shop with Ara.
"Rei, Gilm is the city you use as a base, isn't it? Have you ever been to the slum?"
"I won't say I haven't, but I've hardly ever come here. This area is completely unfamiliar to me too."
Rei gave that reply to Vihera's question, then turned his gaze to the only other resident of Gilm present—and moreover, someone who had lived in Gilm longer than Rei himself.
"Hah? Me? I've never set foot in the slum. I barely even leave my house as it is."
"...Right. Stupid of me to ask Asimov."
Rei knew better than anyone here just how deeply Asimov was immersed in alchemy. That was exactly why he had entrusted Asimov with the spear project when Pamidor introduced them. Even with Pamidor's recommendation, if Asimov had lacked the skill or seemed untrustworthy, Rei would never have made the unreasonable request of reforging his magic sword into a spear. Of course, Pamidor would never have introduced someone without considering all of that in the first place.
"So what do we do? It looks like there are quite a few people taking an interest in us."
Vihera asked while scanning the area.
Even as they spoke, residents of the slum who had noticed Rei and his group were watching them from the shadows.
To the slum residents, Rei's group looked like easy pickings in more ways than one.
Rei, with his hood up, didn't appear to be carrying anything worth selling, thanks in part to the Dragon Robe. Even so, his small stature suggested he wasn't yet an adult, and there was no shortage of people who wanted exactly that kind of target for slavery.
Asimov, a man who didn't appear to have anything worth taking, was likely to be killed outright before he could cause any trouble.
But for the three women, the situation was entirely different.
Even Byune, the youngest among them, was still a child but had features attractive enough to be called beautiful. Those who preferred such a type were probably more numerous than those who preferred Rei.
And above all, Elena and Vihera could be enjoyed personally and then sold as slaves for an astronomical sum—of that there was no doubt.
While the slum residents were still holding each other at bay, each believing the finest prey imaginable had just walked into their midst, Elena's words set events in motion.
"Hoh, it seems we won't need to wonder where to go next."
At Elena's murmured words, spoken as she gazed up at the sunset sky, Rei and the others lifted their eyes as well.
What they saw was something black, floating against the red sky of the setting sun.
Everyone except Asimov knew exactly what it was.
"I see. It's Ielo."
"Indeed. Thanks to that, we can easily find out where that woman fled to."
Even when pursuing a fugitive, the task was normally left to humans.
A slightly unconventional method would be to have a Beastman with a keen sense of smell track them. But in a townscape at dusk, where countless scents intermingled, a merely sharp nose would be of little use.
Under such conditions, having Ielo track from the sky was an extremely effective method of pursuit.
In this world, beings capable of flight were not particularly common.
True, many monster species could fly, but for a human to control one required being a Tamer or a wielder of Summoning Magic—exceptionally rare existences.
Adria had experienced Set's presence firsthand, but a creature as massive as Set flying through the sky would be impossible to miss. Even if Adria somehow failed to notice, some passerby certainly would have.
After all, Set was famous in Gilm—known by virtually everyone.
Compared to Set, Ielo had the advantage of being harder to spot thanks to its smaller size.
"Kyu! Kyukyukyu! Kyuu!"
Ielo descended to the ground. Elena caught it in her arms, and it chirped as she held it close.
The sight of a small dragon like Ielo crying "Kyukyu" was incredibly endearing and stirred one's protective instincts. But such instincts apparently meant nothing to the slum residents scraping together enough coin for their next meal. Before long, several figures emerged from behind the buildings around them.
Until that moment, they had been keeping each other in check. But with Ielo—a baby dragon—now in plain sight, the situation changed completely.
Even those living in the slum knew just how rare dragon materials were, and consequently, how valuable. If they fought amongst themselves here and let Ielo or Elena or Vihera escape, the consequences would be unbearable. So in unspoken agreement, they all decided to attack together and split the profits.
...It wasn't only the slum residents who were startled and keeping a watchful eye on Ielo, however. Asimov, who was traveling with Rei's group, was much the same.
No—for a skilled Alchemist like Asimov, dragon materials were probably something he wanted so badly he could taste it. His attention toward Ielo was even more intense than that of the slum residents.
"Kyuu!? Kyuku! Kyuu!"
Whether frightened by Asimov's gaze or not, Ielo clung tightly to Elena.
"...Asimov, forgive me, but could you stop looking at Ielo with those eyes?"
"!? Ah, r-right. Sorry."
Elena's words apparently brought Asimov back to his senses at last. He hurriedly apologized.
"No, it's fine as long as you understand. I am well aware of what Ielo means to an Alchemist. ...Now then, Ielo. I'm sorry, but show me the memories of what you've seen."
With that, Elena lifted Ielo—still clinging to her—in both hands and pressed her forehead against its head.
That action was apparently the trigger. Without a word, the slum residents surrounding Rei's group sprang into action all at once.
"Well then, shall we deal with these people?"
At Vihera's words, Rei and Byune nodded, while Asimov moved to Elena's side.
Asimov's combat ability as an Alchemist had never been particularly high to begin with. There were some Alchemists who were reasonably skilled in combat, but Asimov was one who specialized in research. When it came to fighting strength, he didn't even come close to the kind of power that the word "mage" might bring to mind.
Naturally, if he used magic items he had created through Alchemy, he could manage basic self-defense. But the very reason Asimov had accompanied Rei's group in the first place was to investigate the origins of the magic items—specifically, who had made them. For that reason, he had brought only the bare minimum of self-defense items.
Even so, the fact that he wasn't completely empty-handed showed that living in Gilm had taught him at least that much.
(Though the look in his eyes when he stared at Ielo was a bit dangerous...)
Vihera, waiting to intercept the slum residents with her bare hands as usual, found herself briefly thinking this. Perhaps Asimov might try something—more precisely, he might direct some unwanted attention toward Elena... or rather, toward Ielo.
She had only spent a very brief amount of time with Asimov. No matter how much Rei trusted him, that alone wasn't enough to trust him unconditionally.
With Elena, she was a rival in love, a compatriot, a friend—their relationship was complicated in many ways. Even so... no, precisely because of that, if there was someone who might try something untoward with Elena, she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
"Byune, please guard Elena."
"Mn."
Byune, while not as deeply attached to Elena as Vihera was, still cared for her. That was why she vaguely understood what Vihera was worried about, and she had no objection to keeping watch to make sure Asimov didn't act on any strange impulses.
If the attacking enemies had been stronger, there wouldn't have been such leeway. But these were slum residents. They might be accustomed to ambushing people, but Rei and Vihera were adventurers—combat professionals whose fighting strength didn't even compare to ordinary adventurers. Byune could watch the battle with peace of mind.
"Uoooooooh!"
With a shout, the first to charge was a slum resident lunging straight at Rei.
Vihera was at least wearing gauntlets and greaves, so she appeared unarmed at a glance. The attackers likely figured they'd grab the small-framed Rei and take him hostage.
Judging solely by Rei's appearance without Set at his side, it wasn't an unreasonable assessment.
Even if this was the slum, they were still in Gilm. There were probably many who knew of Rei, but with his hood up, there was no way to recognize him from the outside.
That was the greatest misfortune the slum residents could have suffered.
"No need for a weapon."
Muttering just that to the slum residents charging at him, Rei closed the distance in a single stride.
Such ambushes were apparently common, because the movements of those attacking him were quite practiced. But even so, they were laughably slow compared to the monsters Rei had fought thus far. Even judged as fellow humans, their footwork was on par with—or at best slightly above—that of a low-rank adventurer.
Stepping recklessly into range, Rei slipped inside the swing arc of a man who was bringing a club down hard, then drove a quick fist into the man's jaw before the club could even land.
If Rei had punched with all his strength, he could have inflicted devastating injuries—caving in flesh, shattering bone. But right now, he didn't feel the need to go that far.
If these were Bandits, he could capture them and make them cough up the location of their hideout so he could seize whatever treasure they'd hoarded. But the people here were slum residents. It was hard to imagine they had anything worth taking.
They had attacked prominent figures like Vihera and Elena, so handing them over to the guards might get them sold into slavery. But considering all the paperwork involved, it would be more trouble than it was worth.
There was also the fact that Rei and his group were the ones who had trespassed into the slum in the first place.
That was why Rei's fist merely grazed the club-wielding man's chin—snuffing out his consciousness rather than his life.
After that display, the remaining attackers must have realized that Rei was not someone to be underestimated despite his appearance. Several rushed him at once, but...
"Pointless."
One after another, the slum residents crumpled to the ground, stripped of consciousness by Rei's relentless barrage of fists and kicks.
The same fate awaited those who had charged at Vihera. The men who had hoped to sample the exquisite body beneath her thin garments had the bones in their arms and legs snapped without so much as a chance to act, and were sent tumbling across the ground.
Where Rei had merely taken their consciousness, Vihera resorted to breaking their limbs—no doubt because as a woman, she had no intention of letting anyone who had leered at her body walk away unscathed.
If they had been strong, she might have at least viewed them as worthy opponents. But the men standing before her were incapable of comprehending Vihera's power, unable even to grasp the gulf in strength between them.
In under a minute, nearly twenty slum residents lay unconscious, scattered across the ground.
"Hmm, the timing worked out perfectly," Elena murmured, having finished viewing Ielo's memories.
"How is it? Any sign of where that woman fled?"
"No problem. She's in a shed a short distance from here. However... it appears she has several collaborators."
From Ielo's memories, there was a man who had come to meet Adria. His chin whiskers and sideburns were connected by a beard so thick that it was fair to say his entire face was covered in facial hair.
From his bearing alone, even to Elena's eyes, he was clearly someone of considerable strength—enough to make her wonder why such a person would be in the slum.
But she quickly reminded herself that not all strong individuals lived in the surface world. If anything, those who had sunk into the Underground World precisely because of their strength were too numerous to count.
"I see. It seems that cornering them may be one thing, but capturing them is going to be another matter entirely."
Rei, who had vaguely grasped the situation from Elena's demeanor, murmured quietly.