The explosion triggered the moment he reached for the shack obliterated it in an instant.
The countless magic items that should have been inside had all but vanished.
And what made it truly malicious was that it doubled as a weapon—destroying the evidence while simultaneously attacking whoever tried to enter.
The explosion had turned the very shack into a weapon.
To shield Asimov from the countless flying fragments, Rei used his own body, clad in the Dragon Robe, as a shield. Asimov, protected behind Rei, instinctively activated a bracelet magic item on his right arm, deploying a defensive barrier around them that reinforced Rei's defenses.
"……Are you unhurt?"
Confirming that the storm of debris had subsided, Rei called back to Asimov behind him.
"Y-yeah…… Somehow."
As Asimov muttered the words, the shattered bracelet slipped from his right arm and clattered to the ground.
Seeing that, Rei understood—the barrier from moments ago had been Asimov's doing.
"That barrier earlier was yours, Asimov?"
"Yeah. It was a magic item I made using fairly rare materials. Still, having it end up as a one-time consumable…… that stings."
Asimov sighed, his gaze drifting naturally to the bracelet lying on the ground.
Just as he said, the magic item—crafted with rare materials—was already beyond use.
Asimov gently reached down, picked up the bracelet, and immediately set about analyzing it.
He had made countless magic items for others and tested them on himself more times than he could count.
But it had been a long while since he had actually used one in such a split-second crisis.
He had grabbed it when Rei dragged him out of his house, figuring there might be danger ahead. It had certainly proven its worth.
(Though he doesn't exactly look satisfied with the results.)
Rei studied Asimov, who was already engrossed in examining the bracelet, and thought this wryly.
The bracelet had protected them both, yet Asimov seemed to harbor some dissatisfaction with its performance. His expression had shifted into that of an alchemist through and through.
Judging from Asimov's demeanor that the danger had passed, Rei turned his gaze back toward the shack—or more precisely, toward where the shack had been.
The scene before them made it hard to believe a structure had stood there just moments ago.
If one strained to find any trace of it, the only evidence was the scorched earth.
"He got us."
As Rei muttered at the shack's remains, Asimov lifted his gaze from the broken bracelet and turned toward the ruins as well.
His expression was one of quiet resignation—of someone who understood all too well.
Being an alchemist himself, Asimov likely grasped exactly what Zboz had intended.
Namely, protecting the secrets of his research—and above all, exacting revenge on those who had tried to steal it.
"Yeah…… Given the state of things, there's probably nothing left."
Asimov sighed in agreement.
As the two stood there reflecting somberly, the sudden sound of footsteps reached them, and they turned toward the noise.
"Are you all right, Rei!"
"Hey, Rei. Are you okay!?"
Elena and Vihera came sprinting toward him in a panic.
The explosion had, of course, been visible to both of them.
More than that—the blast wave and the debris it carried had blown straight toward the two of them.
They hadn't been at close range like Rei, so the fragments never reached them, but it was still powerful enough to make them instinctively brace themselves. Naturally, their first thought had been Rei, who had been right next to the blast—and they had come running.
But Rei, the subject of their concern, simply nodded back without a scratch on him.
"Yeah, no need to worry. I'm not hurt. ……More importantly—if you're here, Elena, that means……"
Wondering why Elena, who had been pinning down Adria, was now here, Rei glanced in Adria's direction.
What he found was Adria, stripped of several magic items by Byune and bound hand and foot with a collection of thin cords—too slender to really be called rope.
Near Dias, Ielo stood watch for any sign of movement, and Paul remained wrapped in thorns from head to toe.
Satisfied that things were secure on that end, Rei returned his attention to Elena and Vihera.
Both let out visible sighs of relief upon confirming Rei was unharmed.
"……For the record, I was also at point-blank range of that explosion."
Beside Rei, Asimov spoke up with a note of complaint.
His passion for alchemy far outweighed any interest in women, but being ignored while all the concern funneled toward Rei was still slightly galling.
"You were behind Rei, weren't you? Then I knew there was no chance you'd be hurt."
Asimov bristled slightly at Elena's matter-of-fact explanation, but since it was the truth, he had no rebuttal.
"Still, he certainly pulled a petty little trick."
Staring at the shack's remains, Vihera muttered with bitter resentment.
Her unusually sour mood stemmed from the fact that she had watched Rei take the explosion head-on at close range.
In that instant, a chill had run down her spine.
What if Rei was gone just like that?
What if he was dead?
Elena, who had been dealing with Adria at the time, had only caught her breath for a moment before composing herself—but that was something Vihera didn't know.
(Is this the difference in how long we've known him?)
Feeling the irritation gnawing at her, Vihera glanced toward Elena.
The truth was that Elena remained calm because she knew Rei's secret—but that was something Vihera had no way of knowing at this point.
"Yeah. We should assume that any evidence, magic items, or materials inside the shack are all gone. ……He certainly pulled a troublesome one on us."
As Rei let out a sigh, Elena and Vihera gave him matching looks of exasperation.
It was obvious he was lamenting the lost magic items rather than his own safety.
"Lady Elena!"
A voice rang out suddenly amid the aftermath.
Recognizing it, Elena and Vihera turned toward its source.
Ara was running toward them, flanked by two guards.
"Ara!? Why are you here?"
Elena's voice carried genuine surprise at Ara's sudden appearance.
Reaching Elena's side, Ara quickly checked her for injuries. Only once she was satisfied did she let out a breath of relief.
"I followed after Lady Elena, and then I heard this tremendous explosion out of nowhere—I was beside myself with worry…… but I'm so relieved to see you're unharmed."
"Hm? Ah, that explosion. Fortunately I was some distance away. It was nothing I couldn't handle."
"Is that so? That's a relief. ……And it seems no one was seriously hurt by the blast, either."
Ara scanned the area, confirming that everyone she had met at the magic item shop was free of major injuries, and exhaled once more.
Elena's safety was always Ara's top priority—but that didn't mean she was indifferent to everyone else's wellbeing.
"Rei was right next to that explosion, and yet he walks away without a scratch…… Well, I suppose it's because he's Rei."
"Kyukyu!"
Ielo let out a cry as though agreeing with Elena's assessment.
Vihera, standing beside Elena, nodded as well.
"You all only get along at times like this."
"Hehe, I wonder about that."
Vihera flashed a smile at Rei's remark.
Judging that anything further she said would only work against her, she opened her mouth to move things along.
"The one bound over there is Adria. The one missing his right arm is Dias. And the one wrapped in thorns, unable to move, is……"
"Paul!? I knew it was you……"
Before Rei could finish, one of the guards cried out.
Until now, the guard hadn't recognized Paul—partly because the thorns covered most of him, and partly because his attention had been seized by the explosion that erupted shortly after they entered the slum.
Now, finally realizing who was wrapped in the thorns, the words escaped before he could stop them.
(An acquaintance, huh. Well, he is a guard, so it wouldn't be unusual for him to know a magic item shop owner. ……If anything, it's stranger that Asimov, an alchemist, didn't know Paul's face. Where was he selling his magic items, I wonder.)
The simplest and most straightforward way for an alchemist to earn money was to sell the magic items they created.
Everything from simple potions to weapons like magic swords, to everyday conveniences—there was no shortage of varieties.
If one had the skills of an adventurer, taking on requests was another option—but unfortunately, Asimov had neither combat experience nor talent.
Which meant he should have been selling magic items to earn a living. At the very least, in this case, it seemed the shop he used wasn't Paul's.
Of course, Paul's wasn't the only magic item shop in Gilm.
As a frontier city, Gilm had a fair number of alchemists, and the trade in magic items was active at a respectable level.
"……Suron, huh?"
Though wrapped in thorns, Paul's face was still free. He murmured the guard's name.
"Why did you do something like this……"
"I think you can tell well enough from looking at the results, can't you?"
Paul's flat tone showed not the slightest hint of regret.
Hearing those words, the guard's expression flickered with sadness for just a moment before hardening back into that of a professional.
"Understood. We'll investigate that matter thoroughly once we return to the station. You probably have your side of things to say too—but as a Gilm guard, I absolutely cannot overlook what you've done."
"Right."
Paul's voice carried nothing but indifference.
The guard clearly had more he wanted to say, but he swallowed it and turned to calmly assess the surrounding situation instead.
Meanwhile, the other guard addressed Rei.
"Rei, Captain Ranga briefed me on the situation. You've been through a lot."
Whether this guard had no acquaintance with Paul or merely a shallow one, he showed almost no reaction toward him.
"Yeah, a lot of things…… truly a lot of things were rough. The worst part of it all is that the one who orchestrated this whole incident is dead."
"Dead? Then that would mean…… wait, could it be that corpse!?"
The only corpse remaining at the scene was that of the berserk Zboz.
But the body was far from human-sized—which was precisely why the guard had assumed it was some kind of chimera created through alchemy.
Or perhaps a giant monster like a Cyclops or an Ogre—an existence that would be entirely believable if someone claimed it to be such.
"That's right. He must have known they'd been cornered. He drank some kind of drug…… and ultimately went berserk, ending up like that."
"Berserk……"
"Yeah. What's more, that alchemist—Zboz, apparently—his hideout is in that state."
Rei gestured toward the scorched ruins where the shack had once stood.
"……You've got to be kidding me……"
The guard stared at the remains with a look of deepening resignation.
Watching him, Rei suddenly recalled the magic item shop.
"Since you came here with Ara, you came through the underground passage from the magic item shop, right? Then you also passed through the basement Zboz apparently used? He must have been in quite a hurry when he fled from us, so there might be some clues left behind."
"Oh!"
Rei's words drew an eager exclamation from the guard.
The evidence they needed might not all be there, but it was certainly better than nothing.
……Of course, the rare materials Zboz had brought into Gilm were already mostly gone, and Zboz—being the genius type—had kept his plans in his head rather than on paper, leaving almost no documents behind. The fact that the guards would end up struggling with all of this was a story for a little further down the line.