Rei and his party made their way through the Slum District, eventually coming to a halt when they spotted the building ahead, matching the information they'd just received.
"So, what's the plan? Wait for them to come out?"
Marina asked Rei while stroking Set, who was looking around with evident curiosity.
If this had been any other day, Rei wouldn't have thought twice about storming the building right in front of them, Death Scythe or Twilight Spear in hand.
It was a two-story structure that looked right at home in the Slum District, as though it had been left to decay for years.
Even so, from Marina's vantage point, she could see that it had been reinforced in key places.
At first glance, it looked like any other building in the Slum District, but the fact that it was clearly being maintained made it obvious this was no ordinary slum structure.
What was even more telling was the presence of what were unmistakably guards stationed near the building.
They weren't openly brandishing weapons, but they were scanning their surroundings with visible tension.
If anything, they seemed almost too on edge.
In truth, word of Rei's party entering the Slum District had already reached them, and Sleyn's subordinates had grown nervous as a result.
"Well, let's see... If Precious had been outside, I wouldn't have needed to think twice."
"Precious came to the Slum District because he has business here, so of course he'd be inside, right? He's probably meeting with someone."
Marina flashed a mischievous smile in response to Vihera's mildly exasperated murmur.
"Maybe he came to look for something? The Slum District is incredibly convoluted, as you can see, and there aren't many better places to hide something."
"I suppose so... Oh."
Rei nodded at Marina's words, then suddenly felt a gaze and turned toward it.
They had been drawing stares ever since entering the Slum District, but this particular gaze clearly came from someone who recognized Rei for who he was—and it was laced with wariness, fear, and tension.
The ones casting that gaze were in the direction Rei's party had been watching: the guards of the two-story building.
(Well, it's only natural. We stand out in a lot of ways.)
They were still fairly far from the building, but nothing obstructed the view between them.
With Set, who was nearly three meters long, among them, it would have been stranger not to attract attention.
Rei in his Dragon Robe with the hood up and the small Byune were one thing, but Marina and Vihera looked distinctly out of place even from a distance.
Marina wore a party dress suited for a noble's gala, carrying a bow with a quiver strapped to her back.
Vihera had on the kind of flimsy attire that prostitutes or dancers might wear, yet she was equipped with hand gauntlets and foot guards.
By any normal standard, expecting them not to stand out would have been unreasonable.
"What are you going to do?"
Vihera caught his eye and asked the question. Rei hesitated over what to do.
The original plan had been to deliberately show his face to Precious and pressure him, making it clear he was under suspicion... but they'd been spotted before he could even set that in motion.
(In that case... I just need to change my approach.)
Rei shifted his thinking in a matter of seconds and spoke up.
"Since they've already spotted us, how about we show ourselves openly and call out to them?"
"...Well, if you're fine with that, I don't mind. It'll put pressure on them too, I'm sure."
At Vihera's words, Marina and Byune nodded as well, apparently having no particular objections.
Set simply purred, not seeming to give it much thought.
He did look slightly displeased, though—likely because this was the Slum District.
The Slum District was inherently unsanitary, meaning that compared to the main streets, let alone the back alleys, all manner of foul odors hung in the air.
For Set, whose senses were already sharp, the stench wasn't unbearable, but it was still unpleasant.
"Looks like no one objects. Let's walk right up."
With that, Rei moved forward alongside Set, heading for the target building.
The guards stationed at the building would naturally need to respond, but those among Sleyn's subordinates who were reasonably well-informed knew exactly who was approaching.
"H-Hey, what do we do!? That's Rei, isn't it!?"
"Yeah. And the B-Rank party Crimson Lotus Wings is here in full force. What the hell are we supposed to do?"
"Anyway, we need to tell Sleyn—"
Before the guard could finish, Rei closed the gap to the building—and the guards—in one explosive burst.
Caught off guard by Rei's sudden movement and his appearance right in front of them, the guards froze, afraid that making a wrong move would get them attacked.
Rei stopped before them, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth.
"Pre-sha-s, let's plaay!"
That voice rang out through the surroundings.
Heard in any other context, it would sound like a child calling out to a friend to play.
On the main streets, hearing children shout something like that wouldn't be unusual at all.
But this was the Slum District—and deep within it, at that.
Naturally, no one here would say what Rei just did. And above all, with the building he'd called out to belonging to Sleyn, only someone with a death wish would try something like that.
But that was exactly what Rei could do.
He possessed the overwhelming strength to back it up, which was why he could pull a stunt like this without anyone daring to lay a hand on him.
Having called out toward the building, Rei waited in silence for a response.
The guards seemed to understand that speaking up would only work against them. They stayed perfectly still.
Silence spread through the area—and within it, the sound of Marina and the others walking up reached them.
"So? Any response from inside?"
"No, unfortunately nothing yet. Maybe they didn't hear me? Hey, let me ask you something—this building doesn't completely block out sound from outside, does it?"
The guard who'd been asked nodded, his expression stricken.
All while wondering why he had to stand here face-to-face with Rei, exchanging words like this.
"No. There's no soundproofing or anything like that. A voice as loud as yours just now, Rei-san—it definitely would have been heard inside."
Choosing his words carefully so as not to anger Rei even slightly, the man answered.
He stood over two meters tall, his body packed with solid muscle—a man who truly deserved to be called a giant. His face bore countless scars, and in terms of sheer physical intimidation, Rei didn't even come close.
Yet right now, that intimidating man was speaking with painstaking care, trying not to displease Rei in the slightest.
If someone with no knowledge of the situation had seen this, it would have been a laughingstock.
But there was no one here who could laugh.
They understood all too well what Sleyn, the man who led them, had done on Precious's orders—and just how powerful Rei was.
Since they had no way of knowing how much Rei had already uncovered, even a man who had survived the underworld shuddered to imagine what might happen if he gave the wrong answer here.
Rei, unaware of how the man saw him—or rather, in this case, not particularly caring—accepted the response and turned his gaze back toward the building.
Of course, without knowing where Precious was, even entering the building would probably make it hard to find his target.
(Besides, with places like this, there's usually a hidden passage or something somewhere.)
If they forced their way in and the other side sensed danger, slipping away through a hidden passage, the entire trip to the Slum District would have been for nothing.
...Of course, even while they waited outside, there was always the possibility that Precious and his group might escape through just such a passage.
"Hey, what kind of guy is your boss?"
"He's... a respectable man."
"...Could you be more specific?"
"He always looks out for us, and whenever something comes up, he treats us to drinks."
"I see."
Rei at least got the impression that the man was generous, but then he noticed Vihera giving him a look of pure exasperation.
"What?"
"Listen... why are you getting chummy with the enemy?"
"I'm not getting chummy with anyone, am I?"
"I'm pretty sure you are."
Vihera said that, but Rei genuinely had no intention of befriending the man.
He'd simply been asking about the building.
"...Nn."
Amid all this, Byune suddenly murmured.
That single word, for whatever reason, cut straight through to everyone's ears, and all present turned to look at her.
They noticed Byune staring fixedly at one particular spot and followed her gaze.
She was looking at a single room on the second floor of the building.
When Rei looked there, he understood why Byune had been watching that room.
Because Precious was right there.
Perhaps not expecting to be spotted from where Rei stood, Precious visibly reacted with surprise when he noticed Rei's gaze trained on that room.
But he must have soon judged that there was no point hiding now that he'd been seen even from this distance. Rei could see Precious saying something to the people inside.
Several minutes later... Precious emerged from the building, flanked by guards.
However, only Precious came out. Sleyn was nowhere to be seen.
Precious would have preferred Sleyn to show himself as well, but Sleyn—the man who had ordered an attack on Rei's alchemist acquaintance—absolutely could not appear before Rei.
If he did, what would happen to his life was painfully easy to imagine.
...Of course, Rei didn't know who Sleyn was, so that was only a possibility.
Even so, with even the slimmest chance of being recognized, Sleyn had no desire to voluntarily step forward when he hadn't even been called.
As a result, Precious and his guards emerged—along with one tough-faced man.
(Is that Precious's negotiation partner?)
Given that the man had come out alongside Precious, it was only natural for Rei to think so.
In reality, though, that man had volunteered to serve as Sleyn's shadow body double, stepping forward in his place.
"So then, Rei-san. I never expected to run into you in a place like this. What brings you here?"
"No, I just happened to come to the Slum District by coincidence. Then I happened to hear that Precious and his people were around, and as I was walking down the road, I happened to find the building Precious was in nearby, so I figured I'd come show my face."
Three coincidences piling up like that didn't normally happen.
They didn't... but Rei fully intended to ride the coincidence angle all the way through.
Naturally, Precious understood this too. But he also knew that saying anything careless here would likely come back to bite him.
He was here to have Sleyn move against Tris, after all.
If by some mistake that came to light—and from there, the matter with Asimov was exposed—what would happen to him didn't even bear thinking about.
"I see. I'm glad to have the chance to see you too, Rei-san.... Still, to think you'd come visit me when we've only met once before... In this situation, I suppose I should say I'm delighted?"
"Yeah, that'd be helpful. Oh, right. Actually, I heard a rumor that the culprit who went after my acquaintance might be in the Slum District... You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you? Hmm? Come to think of it..."
Rei cut off there, shifting his gaze to the man beside Precious—Sleyn's body double.
The gesture was so blatantly deliberate that it practically screamed Rei suspected that man... and by extension, the Precious standing next to him.
Yet Precious, fully aware of what Rei was doing, simply smiled and shook his head.
"That's a troubling rumor.... He's an old friend of mine. I just came to visit him after a long time apart."
"Hoh."
In response to Precious's words, Rei replied with a beaming smile beneath his hood.