In the end, Rei and his companions weren't able to get any real leads from Asimov, but Rei himself didn't look particularly dissatisfied.
The reason for that was, unsurprisingly, the Sleipnir boots he was wearing.
Previously, he could only manage two or three steps in the Sky. Now, he could take five.
It was a modest improvement, but a highly effective one.
At the very least, it was safe to say the results were more than satisfactory for Rei.
"You're in quite a good mood. Were the Sleipnir boots really that exciting for you?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I never expected the performance to jump this much."
"...I can imagine. Being able to reliably take five or more steps in the Sky is something I'm genuinely jealous of."
Vihera and Byune each nodded at Marina's words.
Only Set, who could fly through the air naturally, tilted his head in confusion.
For Vihera, who fought hand-to-hand, being able to kick off the Sky was extremely useful.
And for Marina, who wielded Spirit Magic and a bow, being able to loose arrows from a higher vantage point was a definite advantage.
For Byune, who compensated for her light weight with speed-based attacks using weapons like the Long Needle and Hakumo, the ability to catch opponents off guard was invaluable.
In fact, they all wanted Sleipnir boots for everyone in the party except Set.
But naturally, while not quite on the level of an Item Box, the Sleipnir boots were extraordinarily expensive.
They couldn't simply decide they wanted a pair and buy them on the spot.
(Maybe I should have the Spiel Firm provide a pair as an apology for this incident? They seem to deal in a broad but shallow range of goods rather than specializing in any one thing, though.)
Normally, he could have purchased them from the Azoth Firm, but the Azoth Firm primarily dealt in weapons, followed by Armor.
They hardly handled Magic Items at all.
(They do carry Magic Swords and the like, so it's not as if they don't deal in them entirely, but still.)
Lost in thought, Rei followed Vihera's lead down the street.
"Hey, Vihera. Are you sure this is the right way?"
"If what we heard from the guards is correct, then yes. I've been to this area a few times before."
As they made their way through the back alleys, Vihera answered Marina, who had posed the question.
A tavern housing a reliable information broker—one the Guard Force reportedly used.
That was where Rei and his companions were headed.
Of course, the same guard had also told them that while the broker was trustworthy, they weren't particularly skilled, so they shouldn't set their expectations too high.
Even so, it was better than their current situation of having nothing to go on—a sliver of hope driving them forward.
Another significant factor was that the tavern was somewhere Vihera had actually visited once before.
"That said, what business brought you to a place like this, Vihera? You don't need to think too hard to know the security here is terrible."
As a back alley, it was naturally worse than the main streets.
Moreover, it was spring, and a massive influx of adventurers and merchants—along with all sorts of other people—had flooded into Gilm.
With that came a natural deterioration in the security of places like this.
The most common culprits were adventurers who had arrived in Gilm brimming with confidence, only to be crushed by reality and end up lurking in alleys like this one.
Having only just arrived in Gilm, most of them knew next to nothing about Rei and his companions.
...But fortunately, Set was with Rei today.
Even if someone looked at Marina or Vihera's beauty and thought to vent their lust or frustration, the sight of Set—a Gryphon—gave them pause. No one would be foolish enough to provoke a group with one of those.
The adventurer with the alias of Crimson, who had tamed a Gryphon... that name was one few people coming to Gilm hadn't heard of.
Even so, there was no shortage of people who arrived full of themselves from success back home, gathered no information about their new surroundings, and promptly faltered.
And precisely because they didn't gather information, they failed to grasp just how dangerous Set was, and dismissed Rei based on his appearance alone.
Right now, the ones standing before Rei were exactly that type.
"Hey, hand over your money and the women! Do that, and we'll let you walk away in one piece."
"And don't let that beast try anything funny!"
Two young men in their late teens shouted as they leveled the tips of their short swords at Rei.
They had jumped out in front of Rei and his party as they walked through the back alley.
They had scabbards holding longswords at their waists, but they clearly understood that in a place like this, short swords were the more practical choice.
Such were the individuals now confronting Rei's group.
"...What do you think?"
Could Precious have orchestrated even this?
The thought crossed Rei's mind, and he glanced at Marina and Vihera. Both simply shook their heads.
They seemed to be saying that it was hard to imagine Precious employing people like these.
No one would pull something this transparently obvious.
(Fair point. Considering the attack on Asimov, there's no reason to send people like this after us now.)
Noticing how paranoid this whole incident had made him, Rei let out a sigh.
"The hell you sayin'—! You ignore us and—gubeh?!"
The man thrusting his short sword at Rei tried to intimidate him, but in the next instant, a stranger appeared from nowhere and socked him square in the face, sending him flying.
He slammed into a nearby wall, lost consciousness, and crumpled to the ground.
"Eh? Huh?"
The one who let out a surprised yelp at seeing his partner go flying was the other man.
But before he could say another word, a man in his twenties bowed deeply to Rei's group.
"I'm real sorry about this, Rei-san. I'll make sure these two get properly disciplined on our end, so could you find it in your heart to let them go?"
"And you are?"
"I work for Zexos, the man who runs this whole area. We sincerely apologize for the trouble they caused you in our territory."
From what Rei could tell, the man before him had at least a certain level of skill—as an adventurer, probably around D-Rank, maybe C-Rank.
Rei's interest was momentarily piqued by this Zexos, a man who commanded subordinates of that caliber. But before he could dwell on it, Marina spoke up.
"If you pick a fight with Rei, there's a chance Zexos could end up facing concentrated attacks from all sides. ...That's why you came out here, isn't it?"
"...Yes."
The man was momentarily captivated by Marina's appearance, but he managed to pull himself together and nod.
"I see. So you'd rather not blow this incident out of proportion. In that case, don't you think some appropriate compensation is in order for us?"
Rei blinked, momentarily wondering what Marina was getting at, but Vihera tugged at his Dragon Robe and shook her head.
In other words, she was making it clear with her body language that the negotiation here should be left to Marina. Taking the hint, Rei gave a small nod and kept quiet.
"Money, perhaps?"
"No. Not that."
"If not money... surely you don't mean women or men?"
Understanding that "women or men" referred to prostitutes or male courtesans, Marina plastered on a beaming smile—one that absolutely did not reach her eyes.
"Do you think that's necessary?"
"No, ma'am. I apologize."
The man offered his apology immediately—no doubt because he was perceptive enough to read the room.
If he had said yes, there was no question he would have suffered severely for it.
Of course, the man hadn't been serious either.
Byune was still a child and clearly had no interest in such things, while Marina and Vihera were strikingly beautiful women who obviously had no shortage of suitors.
Furthermore, while Marina's feelings were her own, anyone with even passing knowledge of the situation knew that Vihera harbored feelings for Rei.
As for Rei, he usually kept his hood up to hide his face, but his features, while feminine, were finely sculpted.
The mention of prostitutes or male courtesans had been a bluff—half an attempt to gauge what they could offer in exchange. But that bluff had struck a nerve with Marina and Vihera.
"Then what kind?"
"Information."
At that single word from Marina, the man let out a breath of relief—only to be immediately seized by a contradictory sense of foreboding.
Gathering information itself wasn't particularly difficult for people like him who operated in the shadows.
But depending on exactly what kind of information they were after, it could be an entirely different story.
"Um, when you say information... well, there's a lot of different kinds, so..."
"Information on the Spiel Firm. Focus your gathering around a merchant named Precious."
"The Spiel Firm, huh..."
The firm's name had reached his ears before.
They were a capable outfit, if somewhat... no, decidedly heavy-handed in their methods.
However, the name Precious drew a blank, and the man's face showed his confusion.
"I've never heard of anyone named Precious before."
"He's a member of the Spiel Firm. Apparently, he's at odds with Tris, the branch manager. And it seems he's the one who stirred up this little commotion."
"Does that... have something to do with Rei-san charging into the Noble District?"
While the name Precious meant nothing to him, information about Rei storming into the Noble District had apparently reached his ears.
Not that charging into the Noble District was exactly inconspicuous to begin with.
And with Set accompanying Rei on top of that, going unnoticed was simply out of the question.
"Yes. You can assume it's related."
"...Understood. We had our own share of blunders in this incident as well, so I'll put out some feelers."
The man nodded readily, but for him, this wasn't a meaningless gesture—nor one that would only result in expenses and a deficit.
For him, this was a rare opportunity to cultivate a relationship with Rei.
Among the countless adventurers in Gilm, Rei was an undeniably powerful figure.
The reason someone of his stature would be angry enough to charge into the Noble District... that was information that could translate into significant profit.
Even if it didn't lead directly to a big payoff, there were plenty of people who would pay handsomely for information about Rei.
The money from that alone might actually exceed whatever he'd spend gathering it.
"I see. Then be sure to let us know if you turn anything up. ...You can approach anyone in our party except Byune."
Marina added this, reasoning that if he tried to contact Byune, no one but Vihera would be able to communicate with her properly anyway.
The man nodded, told his still-dazed companion to collect the unconscious one, and took his leave.
"Quite the whirlwind."
"Indeed. We got lucky—picking up an unexpected lead on a way to gather information."
Marina, who had handled the negotiation, smiled at Rei's murmur, then continued, "Still..."
"I knew people like that would be flocking to Gilm around this time of year, but... those two probably don't have what it takes to make it as adventurers."
Her time as Guild Master had given her the experience of watching countless adventurers come and go, and she could read the writing on the wall.
They were the type who came to Gilm boasting of their skills, only to be soundly beaten down by reality.
That alone wasn't uncommon, but these were the sort who, instead of striving to climb back up, resorted to shaking down strangers in back alleys without so much as checking who they were dealing with.
At that rate, if asked whether they could hack it as adventurers in Gilm, most people would say no.
...Though there were always exceptions—adventurers who suddenly bloomed given the right trigger—so it wasn't entirely impossible for those two to one day stand on the main stage as skilled adventurers.
(Not that I believe that for a second. Miracles are called miracles precisely because they don't happen so easily.)
Marina banished the image of those two from her mind and pressed on through the back alley.
After the initial encounter, they faced no further trouble, and before long, the party arrived in front of the tavern where the information broker used by the Guard Force was said to operate.