What on earth was Rei talking about?
That was the honest reaction from Augusto and Daridora — and not just them, but everyone who knew that Rei, Zarust, and Narcus had gone out to raid the assassins' hideout.
They had set out to destroy an assassin base, so how exactly had that turned into such an outrageous claim about finding a village?
They had been waiting impatiently for a report that the hideout of the assassins targeting them had been wiped out, which only made the confusion more acute.
Even so, no one simply shouted him down. Whether it was Augusto, Daridora, or anyone else present, they all understood that Rei possessed power far beyond that of any ordinary adventurer. That understanding was precisely what stayed their tongues.
They exchanged glances, and eventually Augusto — who had built the closest relationship with Rei among those gathered — broke the silence.
In terms of closeness, Cathy, Augusto's wife, also regarded Rei as though he were her own child. But she apparently judged Augusto better suited to handle the conversation, because she said nothing and silently left it to her husband.
"So, Rei-san. I believe you went outside Gauche to raid the assassins' hideout, but... how exactly did that lead to discovering a village?"
Whether it was fortunate or not, they had likely already heard from the gate guards that Rei had gone outside the city.
Seeing Augusto ask with genuine bewilderment, Rei seemed to realize he had jumped straight to the conclusion and opened his mouth as if to gather his thoughts.
"Right, sorry. I got a little ahead of myself. ...Maybe I should start with this: the assassins targeting you and Daridora — the ones called the People of the Hundred Faces — their hideout... no, their headquarters has been destroyed."
"The People of the Hundred Faces!?"
At Rei's words, Augusto and Daridora — and even the guards — cried out in astonishment.
The sole exception was Cathy, who looked as though she had no idea what Rei was talking about.
"Judging by that reaction, it seems you've heard the name before. ...Well, Zarust and Narcus knew it too, so I suppose that's only natural."
"Of course we have! The People of the Hundred Faces — that's the name of an assassin group you could even call legendary. ...Though what kind of organization they actually were has been a complete mystery until now."
Daridora responded with almost reflexive speed.
Cathy, however, merely tilted her head at his words.
Even if the name was famous, that fame was limited to those with ties to the underworld. Augusto, who loved Cathy dearly, would never have exposed her to such matters.
"I see... So the name 'People of the Hundred Faces' comes from that skin replacement technique. I was convinced it originated from something entirely different."
Watching Daridora mutter in understanding, Rei continued his explanation.
"Anyway. I'm sure you know we headed outside Gauche, but when Set finally arrived at the destination, there was nothing there..."
From there, Rei recounted everything he had experienced.
The barrier created by an Artifact. The village concealed behind it. The headquarters of the People of the Hundred Faces. The battle against Resonance and his followers. Their victory. And then, upon searching the village, the discovery that the clan members incapable of combat had taken poison and chosen death of their own accord.
The group listened to Rei's account, reacting with relief and alarm at each turn, but when they heard that every last villager had committed suicide, several of them adopted somber expressions.
"But... why would they go so far as to choose death? Naturally, as an assassin clan, they would have been held accountable for their crimes. Even so, there should have been at least some chance of survival."
"...Who knows."
The drug that could be crafted from Tira Trees — one that eliminated the sensation of pain.
That was something Rei had no intention of mentioning.
Nor did he have any intention of stopping Narcus from reporting it.
After all, in Gauche, Rei was nothing more than an outsider.
He had decided that such matters should be left to the people who actually lived in this land.
"In any case, the village where the People of the Hundred Faces lived has a small oasis. It's not large, but a modest number of people could live there without any trouble. ...I take it you understand what I meant when I said I found a village?"
"Right, I see. Honestly, to think such a village existed not far from Gauche, and that it served as the headquarters of the People of the Hundred Faces... If those words hadn't come from your mouth, Rei-san, I never would have believed them."
Augusto murmured with deep feeling, and Daridora and the others nodded in agreement.
It was only natural. It was like discovering a nest of deadly venomous snakes had been living right beside one's own home.
Under normal circumstances, no one would welcome such a revelation.
The reason Augusto and the others were shocked but not panicked was, as expected, because they had already heard that the People of the Hundred Faces had been wiped out.
Seeing Augusto and Daridora relieved by that fact, Rei offered a word of caution just in case.
"What we defeated this time were only the ones currently in that village. There's a strong possibility that not every member of the clan was there. Keep in mind — those who had left the village may eventually return."
"That's—! ...No, you're right. The People of the Hundred Faces would work for anyone willing to pay. Thinking about it that way, it's hard to imagine the entire clan was gathered in one place."
Daridora murmured, his expression grave.
What would happen when clan members returned to the village and found their people gone?
It didn't take much imagination — they would seek revenge.
Though that was only Daridora's assessment.
As for what actually went through an assassin's mind, Daridora honestly couldn't claim to understand.
Personally, the most frightening thing about the People of the Hundred Faces is their ability to replace their skin and impersonate an entirely different person. Without that — in terms of pure combat ability alone — they're not all that terrifying.
Rei mused inwardly, but that was something only he could say.
Even setting aside the fact that their individual combat skills weren't exceptionally high, they still possessed more than a baseline level of power.
That much had been proven by the fact that they had fought more or less evenly with Zarust and Narcus.
Opponents with that level of combat prowess, attacking without feeling any pain whatsoever.
An ordinary adventurer — especially one in Gauche — would have no way to cope.
...Of course, against an extraordinary being like Set, feeling no pain and possessing moderate combat ability was entirely meaningless.
"I'll leave it to you to decide how to handle that. I don't exactly plan on settling down in this city, after all."
The moment those words left Rei's mouth, the one who reacted most strongly was neither Augusto nor Daridora — it was Cathy.
Even so, she said nothing aloud, most likely because she had never truly expected Rei to relocate to Gauche in the first place.
But to Cathy, Rei was like a child of her own.
Hearing that he intended to leave Gauche, it was only natural for her to feel a pang of sadness.
Looking at Cathy, Rei could more or less guess what she was thinking, but he still said nothing.
He understood that as someone about to leave this city, he had no right to offer comforting words.
"An oasis village, you say... Honestly, this is so big I'm not sure how to handle it."
Daridora murmured in response to Rei's words.
He had undoubtedly been working to develop Gauche in various ways, but he had never expected to acquire an entire village — oasis and all — just like that.
"Given the scale of this matter, shouldn't we bring it to Lord Lyubrand's attention?"
At Augusto's words, Daridora nodded.
"You're right. However, considering the hour, Lord Lyubrand is most likely already asleep. Forcing him awake would almost certainly put him in a foul mood."
"...Even for something this serious, we can't wake him?"
The People of the Hundred Faces — an assassin clan whose name was known not only throughout Solrein but in neighboring countries as well.
They had seized the clan's headquarters and acquired an entire village complete with an oasis, intact and ready.
Under normal circumstances, this was the kind of event where the lord should have been the first to mobilize.
And yet, being told it was better not to wake him because he was sleeping — no matter how Rei looked at it, he could only find it baffling.
But Rei was the only one harboring such doubts. Everyone else nodded in agreement with Daridora's words. ...Even Cathy.
"Well, like I said, I don't intend to involve myself in this matter. If that works for you, then I have no complaints."
Even as he said it, Rei found himself thoroughly convinced by the words Resonance had spoken — that Lyubrand was far from competent.
Rei had met Lyubrand only recently, and at the time he hadn't struck Rei as someone who could be called incompetent.
If anything, they had even hit it off over their shared values when it came to food.
Is this city going to be all right?
Because of that, he couldn't help but worry about Gauche's future.
After all, there were quite a few people in this city who were on friendly terms with Rei.
The foremost among them were the husband-and-wife pair of Augusto and Cathy.
"In any case, the fact that you came here, Rei-san, means — how is the village faring right now? The other two are safe, I trust?"
"Yeah. I destroyed the barrier that was covering the village, so it can't fend off monsters at the moment. I left those two behind to keep the village from being ransacked."
"I see. But facing desert monsters at night with only two people is dangerous. Rei-san, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you return to the village for now? I'll make arrangements to send people by tomorrow."
"...Understood. Also, there are a lot of corpses in the village, including those who took their own lives. Send enough people to deal with them. Given the desert heat, if we don't handle it quickly, they'll rot. And in the worst case, they could rise as Undead."
At those words, Augusto, Cathy, and several of the guards grimaced, but Daridora nodded without batting an eye.
"Yes, understood. However, gathering and burning the corpses will take a fair amount of time. Factor in the investigation of the village, and it looks like we'll be staying there for several days... By the way, exactly how far is it to the village?"
How far? Rei tried to recall the specific time it had taken him to travel, but since they had stopped along the way to talk, he didn't remember the exact duration.
In the first place, the distance covered by adventurers like Rei, Zarust, and Narcus walking for a given amount of time was vastly different from what ordinary people could cover in the same span.
"I'm not sure exactly. But I don't think it took... two hours."
"Two hours at the walking pace of skilled adventurers, huh. That's closer than I expected. ...No, I suppose what I should be shocked about is that the People of the Hundred Faces were operating that close to us."
Rei had fully expected to be told it was far, but to his surprise, Daridora's response was that it was close.
He blinked, puzzled — but Daridora showed no sign of noticing and proceeded to lay out one plan after another for tomorrow.
Right now, Daridora's mind was no doubt already occupied with the personnel he could mobilize first thing in the morning.
Then, eventually, Daridora's gaze turned back to Rei.
"Rei-san, you'll be heading back to the village tonight, correct?"
"Yeah, Augusto asked the same thing."
"Then... I apologize for the imposition, but could you return to the city tomorrow morning? Normally I would ask Narcus, but when it comes to mobility, you outclass him by a step or two."
"I don't exactly have any obligation to go that far..."
In the first place, Rei wasn't employed by Augusto, let alone by Daridora.
But... just as he was about to voice his refusal, the image of Resonance dying with a strangely satisfied expression flickered through his mind.
"But, well. I suppose I could do that much once in a while. I have the Sand Ship, too."
Before he even realized it himself, he found those words leaving his mouth.