Watching Givnan being restrained right before her eyes, Keena wore a complicated expression.
It was only natural, considering she had essentially sold Givnan out to save herself.
Even so, the moment she thought she would rather live than die, she felt bad about it but did not regret her choice.
Moreover, the fact that this practically guaranteed her survival was significant.
"Well, this means we can hold Precious accountable now."
"Don't screw with me! I acted on my own judgment in this matter! Precious had nothing to do with it!"
Givnan shouted while being pinned down by the guards, but Rei opened his mouth with a smile toward him.
"When a subordinate does something, the superior has to take responsibility. That's what a person in charge is there for—to take responsibility."
"Rei! You bastard!"
From the killing intent Rei radiated, Givnan knew full well that Rei was overwhelmingly stronger than him.
But even so, he could not stand by and watch his benefactor Precious be destroyed.
"What are you getting so angry about? In the first place, if Precious hadn't gone after Tris, none of this would have happened. If anything, it's Tris who should be angry at you lot, don't you think?"
Even though they had been hired after coming to Gilm, his subordinates had been killed.
Furthermore, a carriage crashing into a shop was not something that could be hidden.
Tris had been entrusted with the Gilm branch as a result of his past activities.
Of course, in reality there was various competition within the Spiel Firm, and it was likely because Tris had won against Precious in that competition that he was entrusted with this matter...
Regardless, Tris bore no fault whatsoever in this incident.
Moreover, for Rei and Asimov and the Azoth Firm, who had been caught up in it, it was a completely unwarranted blow.
Given that, Rei had absolutely no intention of showing Precious any mercy.
"I told you, if I go with you, it'll be for Precious's sake!"
"Right. You've been given the opportunity to atone for your sins, so I'd say that is for Precious's benefit, wouldn't you?"
"You're... you've gotta be kidding me!"
A soul-rending scream.
But even raising such a cry, there was nothing Givnan could do right now.
He even wanted to punch Rei, but he was completely pinned down by the guards.
"Now then, Precious's involvement in the series of incidents is decisive. Shall we go pay him a visit?"
"...Wait. The Guard Force is also involved in this matter. We'll send some of our own men, so go with them."
Ideally, they would have wanted to go arrest Precious with just the guards, but the documents Marina had brought also contained a directive to leave the resolution of this matter to Rei and his party, so they could not tell him not to go.
What the guards could do was somehow accompany Rei's party and be careful that Rei didn't go too far.
...The fact that Rei was merciless toward those who made enemies of him was something every guard knew, so that was the best compromise they could offer.
"Fair enough. Then we'll head to the inn where Precious is staying right now, so get your men ready on your end. Ah... it doesn't have to be just one person."
The reason he said something that sounded like a compromise was probably because he remembered that Precious had a fair number of guards and subordinates.
If it were only Precious, Rei and his party could handle him however they pleased.
But if there were many people, more of them would try to flee.
In that case, it was simply a matter of bringing more guards from the start—that was the reasoning behind it.
"Understood, we'll prepare immediately as well. ...Make sure this man doesn't try anything strange."
He was likely the highest-ranking guard present. At the words of the guard who had asked to accompany Rei, the other guards immediately sprang into action.
"Don't screw with me! Precious did nothing wrong! It's all that bastard Tris's fault! Damn it, let go, let go! Hey, you listening, Rei?!"
Givnan shouted as he was being dragged away, but Rei showed no sign of lending an ear to his voice anymore.
"So, Rei. Can I come along this time?"
"Yeah. Now that we've captured Givnan, they won't try to harm Keena anymore. For them, they've got bigger things to worry about right now."
"That's true. His own guard was taken away, so he definitely has other things to worry about."
Vihera interjected into Marina and Rei's conversation.
Hearing that, Keena's expression turned slightly anxious.
Being the one targeted for assassination was one thing, but being on the receiving end as the target was a first for her.
For better or worse, Keena was somewhat well-known as a skilled assassin.
She also had good intuition, and even when an assassination failed, she never did anything that would expose her identity... but now, here she was, openly revealing herself.
Of course, even with her identity exposed, being in a solitary cell deep within the Guard Station meant she was safer than walking around town normally.
(Right... there's rarely a place safer than here.)
Looking at the iron bars in front of her, then narrowing her eyes at the temperature of the cell—which had been made comfortable—Keena finally turned her gaze to the person she could call the embodiment of her own terror.
In terms of safety, being right beside Rei would undoubtedly be the safest place.
Even if the destination they were heading to was Precious, someone with a high probability of wanting her dead, being beside Rei... and being protected by him would make it the safest place imaginable.
(Though that's only assuming I wasn't terrified of Rei.)
At that point, the option of being beside Rei had already vanished for Keena.
The conclusion she ultimately reached was that staying in this solitary cell was indeed the safest option.
While Keena was thinking about her own safety, Rei and his party left the room with the cells.
"Keena, endure staying here a bit longer. I'll adjust the temperature and such, so you should be fine for a while."
Marina left those words with a smile.
All Keena could do was wave lightly in farewell.
Stepping out of the Guard Station, Rei reunited with Set, who had been lying down outside, and headed toward their destination.
Aside from the members of the Crimson Lotus Wings including Rei, about twenty guards were following along.
...Normally, when moving together with guards, the guards would be more conspicuous... but for Rei's party, that was an unnecessary concern.
Set was there, and Vihera was there. That alone made them far more conspicuous than the guards.
In Rei's case, with the hood of his Dragon Robe up, he naturally attracted less attention than Set or Vihera.
If he took the hood off, his feminine face would often draw people's gazes, but.
Drawing the surrounding stares as they went, Rei and his party advanced... and before long, they arrived at the inn where Precious was staying.
"Everyone scatter. If anyone tries to flee from the inn, capture them without hesitation."
At the command of the higher-ranking guard among those who had followed Rei, the other guards scattered one after another.
They positioned themselves surrounding the inn, and even if someone tried to jump out a window and escape, they would be found immediately.
Once the inn was completely surrounded, the guard who had issued the order nodded toward Rei.
"Go ahead."
"Understood. Then... let's go. Ah, Set. If anyone comes fleeing from the inn, help catch them too. Make sure you don't kill anyone."
"Grrruur."
At Rei's words, Set purred happily.
Catching someone who was fleeing wasn't even work for Set—it was probably more akin to play.
Considering the power of a gryphon... no, of Set, that was only natural.
And so, Rei, Marina, Vihera, Byune, and the guards entered the inn.
The inn's staff had probably noticed the situation outside.
The employee who had attended to them when Rei's party visited earlier asked Rei.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Given the current situation at the inn, this employee was not entirely oblivious either.
But still, as an employee of this inn, he needed to maintain a resolute attitude.
The one who opened his mouth toward that employee was not Rei... but the man leading the guards.
"A merchant named Precious is staying at this inn, correct? He has caused a bit of trouble. We'd like to ask him a few questions, so please let us through."
As an employee of an inn in Gilm, when told this by the guards, he had no choice but to comply.
But... to the guard's words, the male employee shook his head.
Was he refusing? For a moment Rei thought so, but the words that came out of the employee's mouth exceeded the expectations of those who knew the circumstances.
"If you're looking for Master Precious, he has already checked out of the inn."
"Huh?"
Not just Rei, but everyone who had been listening let out a voice in unison.
A sound that could be described as somewhat dumbfounded echoed through the surroundings.
Hearing that unexpected reply, the first to recover was Marina.
"I never expected him to abandon Givnan so easily. ...Though I suppose he judged there was nothing he could do once Rei had taken him away."
"But the guards should remember Precious's face, shouldn't they!?"
"...He might have some other means of escape. And even if he left the inn, that doesn't mean he's left Gilm. There's a very real possibility he's hiding somewhere else."
At Marina's words, what naturally crossed Rei's mind was the Slum District.
If Precious had fled somewhere visibly obvious, finding him wouldn't be difficult.
But if he escaped into the Slum District, tracking him down would be hard.
Of course, the Slum District had its own unique order and information networks.
Using those, it might be possible to find Precious, but the problem was that Rei had no connections there.
Vihera and Byune were the same, and given her former position as Guild Master, Marina did not have any overt connections to the Slum District either.
Conversely, she did have connections that weren't out in the open, but those relied on her standing as Guild Master, and Marina, who had now stepped down from that position, could no longer use them.
"! Sorry, Rei. We're heading out first. We might be able to find Precious before he enters the Slum District. And considering the possibility he's somewhere other than the Slum District, we can't just stand here."
The man who had been commanding the guards shouted that, then ordered the other guards to investigate the room Precious had been using before leaving the inn.
The inn's employee, upon the guards' request, had no choice but to let them investigate Precious's room and quietly guided them.
"Rei, what do we do?"
At Vihera's words, Rei thought about what they should do next... and immediately reached a conclusion.
"If Precious fled to the Slum District... or somewhere else, he wouldn't have taken a carriage, right?"
"Probably not. A carriage moving through the Slum District would stand out a lot, and more importantly, if he wanted to flee somewhere, he couldn't escape down roads that carriages can't enter."
The Slum District, naturally, didn't have many roads that could be traversed by carriage.
Given that, it was nearly impossible for Precious, who was being pursued by the guards, to flee by carriage.
In other words, it was certain that Precious's carriage was still at this inn.
If this had been a pre-planned escape, he could have disposed of the carriage and converted it into funds for his flight.
But Precious's escape had been triggered by the sudden dragging away of Givnan.
Believing he might be arrested, Precious—who had judged that he would be caught at this rate—needed time above all else, and wouldn't bother selling a carriage for money.
And Rei had a companion with an exceptional sense of smell in Set.
(Ideally, I'd like to track the scent using Precious's personal belongings in the room... but the guards need to investigate various things in there, so taking anything out is probably impossible.)
If there had been no carriage, he would have borrowed something from the room Precious used, even if it meant pushing the issue.
But since there was a carriage, he didn't feel the need to go that far.
...If Set couldn't track the scent from the carriage, that would be a different story.
With that judgment, Rei demanded that the inn's employee guide them to the carriage Precious had been using.