Rei and his party made their way through the Slum District, drawing the attention of everyone around them as a matter of course.
Normally, a group consisting of a single man—small-framed and in his mid-teens at that—accompanied by two stunningly beautiful women and a young girl would be judged as easy prey. It would not be strange for someone to try accosting them. But in the Slum District as it stood now, there was no one who would dare lay a hand on Rei and his party.
Information about Rei and his group had naturally made its way into the Slum District as well, and there was likely no one foolhardy enough to pick a fight with such people.
...Let alone the fact that Set was at Rei's side.
Wanting to make an enemy of a gryphon—and a Rare Species gryphon at that—was something only someone with a death wish would consider.
"Quieter than I expected," Vihera muttered, her voice carrying a note of disappointment.
She had just been in a mock battle with Rei moments ago, and her appetite for combat was probably not fully satisfied yet. Hoping that some strong opponent might pick a fight with her, Vihera's gaze swept across the surroundings.
There were those who clearly deserved to be called thugs, but when Vihera turned her gaze toward them, they quietly averted their eyes.
Aside from such people, there were also children, but Vihera had not registered them from the start.
(Steering clear of strong opponents, huh. Of course not everyone is like that, but... it feels less like the Slum District and more like the Slime District.)
Watching Vihera's behavior, Rei found himself harboring that thought. Naturally, he did not voice it aloud.
"Vihera, we have more pressing things to do right now than search for a strong opponent."
Keeping his Slime District thought to himself, Rei called out to Vihera.
Under normal circumstances, if there was a possibility of a battle with a strong opponent, Vihera would often dismiss what others said. But having judged that there were no particularly strong opponents present, she relented. Though she showed a slightly dissatisfied expression, she quickly stopped her search for an enemy.
"Still, we heard that Precious headed for the Slum District, but we don't actually know where he is, right? So how are we going to search?"
Vihera's gaze turned toward Marina, who had been the one to receive the information.
But Marina herself, still wearing her usual party dress, merely gave a small shrug.
"It seems they didn't have more detailed information than that. From here on, we have to search ourselves."
"...The entire Slum District?"
They were speaking of it as a single entity, but its area was quite vast.
This was because a great many adventurers came to Gilm every year.
Just like now, in this very season.
Well, the busiest time was spring, but even in seasons other than winter, the number of adventurers coming to Gilm was by no means small.
Since they were coming to Gilm, they were naturally adventurers confident in their own abilities. But among such adventurers, there were many who only realized their limitations once they actually began operating in Gilm.
Those whose only opponents back where they previously worked were Goblins and the like were the typical examples.
Some encountered powerful monsters mid-quest and died then and there... but many still survived.
And when they realized they could not make it in Gilm, their inflated pride was shattered along with their spirit. The destination for such people was the Slum District.
If they could not make it in Gilm, they could have chosen to leave and head somewhere safer, but those whose pride had been broken lacked the composure for that, and thus ended up in the Slum District.
Of course, the Slum District was harsh in its own way, and many lost their lives there... but even so, being former adventurers who once had—or rather, had once possessed—a degree of self-confidence, those who adapted to the Slum District and survived were by no means few.
Even so, as long as there were former adventurers and others who had made the Slum District their home for various reasons, and as long as more people flowed in than died, the Slum District would naturally continue to expand.
The existence of this Slum District was also a source of concern for Daskar, who governed Gilm.
The fact that, being a slum, it generated little tax revenue compared to other areas was significant, but more importantly, by its very nature it had become a den for underworld figures and criminals, serving as a breeding ground for all manner of crimes.
Investigations were being conducted using the Prairie Wolves, who were former bandits, but precisely because the Prairie Wolves held great power in Daskar's intelligence network, they had no shortage of other work to do.
As a result, the Slum District had been left in a state that was close to neglected.
...The Slum District had many fallen adventurers, but the fact that among them were some who possessed enough skill to fight on even terms with high-rank adventurers was likely one of the major reasons for this state of affairs as well.
In any case, being told to search such a complex and vast Slum District on their own was clearly unreasonable.
Marina likely understood that as well. Looking somewhat uncertain, she glanced around.
But there was little chance of anyone willingly getting involved with Rei's party, who clearly looked like trouble.
Those who met Marina's gaze immediately averted their eyes.
The reason they did not promptly flee the scene was perhaps because they feared that doing so would displease Rei and his party, and that something might be done to them.
Or perhaps it was simply that, faced with Gryphon Seto, they found themselves unable to move from where they stood.
Please don't come my way.
Among those harboring such wishes, the one Marina singled out was a boy in his early teens.
Of course, in Elgin, someone in their early teens was considered part of the labor force.
Moreover, this was the Slum District. Children started working from an even younger age, and the boy Marina had singled out was no different.
"Hey, kid. Got a moment?"
"Wh-what do you want!? What business do you have with me!?"
If the others saw him being frightened, he would be looked down upon. Driven by that thought, the boy shouted defiantly, though it was plainly obvious that he was forcing himself.
But Marina offered a smile as if to calm the boy down.
...And the boy found himself captivated by Marina's smile.
It might have been slightly too early to call it adolescence, but he was at an age where he had recently taken an interest in the opposite sex.
For someone like that, Marina's smile—and not the alluring smile she usually wore unconsciously, but a genuinely gentle one—carried tremendous destructive force.
"I just have a few things I'd like to ask. Oh, of course, I won't say it'll be for nothing. ...Rei, give me some bread, please."
"Bread? Wouldn't copper coins be better?"
"No. I'll explain the reason later, so for now just do it."
"...Well, if you say so."
Inside the Misty Ring, there were large quantities of both food and copper coins. As such, a modest expenditure was not particularly a problem.
(Besides, we got caught up in the Spiel Firm's internal power struggle, so there's definitely more income than what we've spent.)
If Precious was indeed the culprit behind this incident, Rei fully intended to squeeze him dry under the guise of an apology. An expenditure of this magnitude was of no concern whatsoever.
"If you answer my questions, I'll give you this bread. ...How about it?"
"What do you want to know?"
Staring intently at the bread Marina held—plain bread, not a sandwich or anything special, though still freshly baked—the boy asked.
He showed no particular reaction to Rei's Misty Ring.
Whether he did not understand the value of the Misty Ring as a Magic Item, or whether he understood all too well what would happen if he rashly tried anything against Rei.
"Did a man named Precious come to the Slum District today... no, a little while ago?"
"Precious? I don't know anyone by that name."
The boy's response was only natural.
Rei and his party knew the name and face of the man called Precious, but there was no reason anyone in the Slum District would know him. That is, unless they happened to be on close terms with Precious.
"Right, I'm sorry. He's a somewhat heavyset man with a, how should I put it... a long, narrow beard."
"Heavyset with a beard? ...Oh, yeah. He passed through a little while ago. Sleyn-san took him along with several others."
"Sleyn? Where would we go to find this person?"
"...You're going? I think you'd better not. Sleyn-san was originally a skilled adventurer, and they say he's really strong."
Marina smiled at the boy, who spoke with concern, and handed him the bread she had been holding.
"It's fine. We might not look it, but we're strong too."
Even told that, the boy was not convinced.
For one thing, he did not possess the ability to gauge someone else's strength. To him, Rei's party simply looked dangerous in various ways.
"That bread is your payment for the information, so eat it quickly."
At Marina's words, the boy quickly devoured the bread he had been handed.
Watching him do so, a hint of sorrow showed in Marina's eyes.
If possible, she wished she could do something about children like this boy being in the Slum District. But even so, there was nothing Marina could do right now.
All she could do was offer bread like this.
Leaving the boy where he stood, Marina prompted Rei and the others to continue through the Slum District.
"Hey, why bread instead of copper coins?"
"...With copper coins, there's a high chance someone else would steal them. With bread, once you eat it, there's nothing left to take."
"I see."
There were more adults than children in the Slum District.
If any of those people spotted copper coins, there would be plenty who would gleefully snatch them away.
Marina explained that she had given immediately edible bread to prevent exactly that, and Rei could only accept her reasoning.
As a slightly gloomy atmosphere settled over the group, Vihera spoke up.
"More importantly, this Sleyn person is a skilled former adventurer, right? What kind of opponent do you think he is?"
"Just to be clear, we came here this time to deal psychological damage to Precious. We're not here for an actual fight."
The gloomy atmosphere vanished at Vihera's words, and while Rei was grateful for that, he still chided her.
At his words, Vihera wore a slightly displeased expression. But even so, she apparently recalled their current situation and closed her mouth.
"Alright, let's go. We just need to follow this road, right? ...I don't know how Precious will react, but I'd be happy if he slips up and gives us something to work with."
"Hehe, that's true. But I'll be the one to handle this Sleyn person, alright?"
"Right, leave it to you if it comes to a fight. ...Though I don't think it actually will."
If Sleyn was connected to Precious, it would not be strange for him to know Rei's name.
If so, whether he would launch an attack knowing that was another question entirely, and Rei judged that to be uncertain at best.
Vihera must have sensed Rei's assessment as well. She wore a slightly bored expression... but still clung to a sliver of hope that a battle might break out as she pressed on through the Slum District.
And naturally, there were those who had been observing Rei and his party's movements.
"Hey, isn't that the Crimson Lotus Wings, that party that was just formed? The B-Rank party. What are they doing in the slums?"
From a spot some distance away from where Rei and his party were walking.
In a room of a two-story building, which was somewhat unusual to find in the slums, one of the men watching outside muttered those words.
"Huh? That kid is B-Rank? No way. I'm still stronger than him."
The one muttering was a newcomer who had recently arrived in the slums and joined a man's organization.
He had not been in Gilm for very long, let alone the slums. But as he muttered those words with a confident air, his partner—or rather, the man serving as his mentor—let out an exasperated sigh.
"Are you an idiot? No, you are an idiot. Otherwise you wouldn't have ended up in the slums this fast."
"Hey, senpai, isn't that harsh?"
"...Just shut up and look carefully. That gryphon Rei has with him, you see it? Do you think some random kid could make a monster like that his tamed monster? Even you can figure that out, right?"
"Luck?"
"Good grief. ...Well, I won't deny that."
Indeed, without luck, one would not even encounter a gryphon in the first place.
Of course, normally encountering a gryphon would mean the end of your life, so the man had no idea just how much luck it would take to overturn that outcome and tame a gryphon.
"You're a former adventurer too, right? You've heard the alias Crimson before."
"...Wait, that kid is Crimson!?"
"You know, if you're coming to Gilm, you should at least do a little studying first."
The man sighed and, for the time being, sent the newcomer running to report the matter to their superiors.