In addition to Rei and Ilse, who had been brought to the bar by Prairie Wolves, Marina, Vihera, and Byune were also present.
Elena and Ara, however, who were staying at Marina's house, were not among them.
To begin with, if Elena were to go outside in the current situation, there was no doubt that various people would approach her.
The most likely candidates were the Noble Faction Nobles.
To avoid dealing with such people, Elena had stayed shut away at Marina's house.
"Rei-san. There's been movement."
Rei and the others, who had been chatting over light snacks and Fruit Water, turned their gazes toward Prairie Wolves as he entered the room.
"Movement? Did Ajas come out of the inn?"
The first to react to Rei's murmured words was, naturally, Ilse.
The fact that she reacted before Marina, Vihera, and the others was likely because this concerned her family's enemy. Though it was also true that Marina and Vihera were not particularly obsessed with Ajas.
Vihera in particular, knowing that Ajas himself was not that strong, had judged him hardly worth her time.
Marina, on the other hand, likely had more to say about Ajas, given that he had been committing crimes under the guise of an adventurer.
Byune was completely indifferent, savoring the food on the table.
"No, Ajas himself hasn't made any moves yet. However, one of his companions—according to our investigation, two men named Lebejev and Haston—the one called Lebejev appears to have left the inn."
"...If they're Ajas's companions, then they naturally understand the situation he's currently in, right?"
"Yes, that's almost certainly the case. We have one of our own men slipped inside the inn, so if Ajas informs them of his situation and makes any move, it should reach us immediately."
"That's fast."
At Prairie Wolves's words, not only Rei but the others were surprised as well. Byune alone showed no sign of having heard any of it and simply continued eating.
For a moment, Prairie Wolves gave Byune a look that seemed to wonder where all that food was going, but he quickly resumed speaking.
"It appears Lebejev headed toward the Slum District. Unfortunately, we lost his tail along the way, so it's not certain. However, considering the direction he went, it's almost certainly the case."
"Huh. To shake off you guys, this Lebejev must be fairly skilled."
"Yes. Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. Though if he'd been operating as an adventurer like Ajas, he was probably concealing his true ability."
"Fairly skilled, huh. You sound pleased."
"Oh, do I?"
Vihera tilted her head slightly as Rei turned his gaze toward her.
She probably thought she was hiding it, but after spending so much time with her, Rei and the others knew that such behavior from Vihera was ineffective.
She likely understood that herself. After letting out a small sigh, she spoke.
"If he was hiding his strength, that means we can expect a decent fight, right? Even if I leave this Ajas person to Ilse, I can look forward to battling the other two."
"I wonder. Let's hope they don't end up being a disappointment."
Vihera murmured with anticipation, but Rei said that as a precaution.
In reality, considering Vihera's skill level, he understood that someone of merely "fairly skilled" caliber would certainly leave her feeling let down.
Not that it would matter in itself, but the likely result would be that a disgruntled Vihera would demand Rei spar with her.
Given that Vihera was a Battle Maniac, any mock battle would naturally become intense.
Being dragged into that would unquestionably drain him both physically and mentally.
(Ah, maybe I should dump her on Elena. Or have someone like Ara fight her—that might be interesting too.)
Since she had time to spare, Rei figured it would be fine to push Vihera onto them.
In practice, if it came to mock battling Vihera, there would probably be no shortage of volunteers.
Men in particular would be able to see Vihera's attractive figure up close, so they would certainly volunteer, prepared to endure some damage in the process.
Of course, if it ended without her being able to show most of her strength, she would direct a cold gaze their way. Though there were some with peculiar tastes who actually enjoyed receiving that cold gaze, but unfortunately, Rei couldn't understand those kinds of preferences.
"Anyway. I'm glad things are moving, but what should we do from here? Is it all right for us to make a move now?"
At Rei's question, Prairie Wolves shook his head.
"No, they did make a move, but we still don't have any decisive evidence. It would be helpful if you could wait to act until they make that kind of move."
"But if Ajas tries to leave Gilm without doing anything, what then? They should know they're under suspicion. Given that, there's a possibility he'll grab only the bare essentials and flee..."
Ilse's concern was not about what Ajas was plotting, but about letting him escape.
He was the enemy of her family that she had finally... finally found.
And since the other side was now aware of her as well, if he escaped here, whether she could find him again was highly uncertain.
At the very least, she couldn't imagine it would be easy.
Above all, right now people with real skill, starting with Rei, were lending her their aid—but that was only because this place was Gilm.
If Ajas fled from Gilm, whether Rei and the others would pursue him was a complicated question.
If they knew where he was, that would be one thing, but they would have to search all over the Kingdom of Mireana... or even the surrounding countries to find him.
What's more, there was no guarantee Ajas would stay in one place, so there was even a possibility he would arrive at a location after Rei and the others had already moved on.
Even exchanging information would require relying on messengers or letters.
While quick communication through summoners or Tamers was technically possible, that required considerable fees.
At the very least, it was not an amount that Ilse, a Low-Rank Adventurer, could casually afford.
Considering all of this, finding Ajas again once he escaped here would be extremely difficult, and given Ilse's abilities, it was simply unrealistic.
In other words, Ilse absolutely could not let Ajas escape here.
Facing Ajas under better conditions than the present situation was, frankly, impossible to achieve.
"Please rest assured. Ajas needs to take the people he abducted with him. That will inevitably draw attention, and abandoning them would be somewhat difficult for them."
For Ajas and his group, leaving the abducted women behind in Gilm was something they would absolutely want to avoid.
Prairie Wolves and the others didn't know exactly how much money they had invested in this operation, but given its scale, it would be a substantial amount.
Given that, there was no doubt they would take those women with them if at all possible.
"But in a situation where danger is closing in on him..."
"Of course, that possibility exists as well. That's why we've already taken precautions. Even if they try to leave Gilm now, at the very least, getting out through the Main Gate would be difficult. We've made sure to pass the information along to the Guards as well."
Hearing those words, Ilse finally felt relieved.
Of course, that only applied when leaving through the Main Gate, and whether Ajas—who was already forcibly abducting people—would do something as brazen as walking out of Gilm right through the front entrance was another question entirely, to which the answer would be no.
However, there was no doubt that Ilse felt reassured by those words.
At the very least, knowing that leaving through the Main Gate was not possible was apparently one source of comfort for her.
"Anyway, please don't worry. I can't say absolutely, but we won't do anything like let Ajas and his group escape from Gilm. If there's any further movement on their end, we'll notify you immediately."
"...Please."
As someone who could do nothing herself, Ilse could only bow her head to Prairie Wolves.
Prairie Wolves likely understood that as well. He gave a firm nod as if to put Ilse at ease.
Looking at Prairie Wolves now, his attitude was such that one could believe he would never let Ajas escape.
Rei observed Prairie Wolves's demeanor with slight suspicion.
However, that wasn't because he suspected Prairie Wolves of betraying the Intelligence Unit and conspiring with Ajas or anything of the sort—it was simply that his attitude came across as shady.
"Yes, please leave it to us. Whatever we do, nothing can come of it until Ajas and his group actually make their move, after all. Our surveillance is thorough."
Seeing him say that with a smile meant to calm Ilse, Rei and the others decided not to press the matter any further for now.
"Elena is probably feeling lonely, isn't she."
"Yeah, you're right. But openly parading Elena around is, well, difficult for various reasons."
Whether she intended to change the subject or not, Rei agreed with Marina's words and replied accordingly.
True to his words, Rei's expression showed that he felt at least slightly guilty toward Elena.
For Elena right now, having dinner with the members of the Crimson Lotus Wings was the most enjoyable time of her day.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't the Crimson Lotus Wings per se, but rather having a meal with Rei that was the more accurate description in this case.
"I'm sorry, because of me..."
The one wearing an apologetic expression was, naturally, Ilse, who had brought this entire matter to them.
But Marina, who had started the conversation, shook her head at Ilse.
"There's no need to worry that much. You talked with Elena too, right? She might feel unfortunate about her situation, but she wouldn't blame others for it. Though if that were blatantly obvious, that would be a different story."
For a brief moment, Marina's gaze flicked toward Vihera—likely because Vihera had monopolized Rei's time in the past. Though to be precise, it was monopolization through mock battles rather than anything romantic.
"What?"
Whether she understood that or not, Vihera nonetheless asked the question while popping a piece of dried fish into her mouth.
This dried fish was not the river fish commonly eaten around Gilm, but dried ocean fish.
Naturally, in Gilm, which was far from the sea, ocean fish commanded a considerable price. But for Prairie Wolves—no, for the Intelligence Unit—this matter was a golden opportunity to secure Rei's cooperation.
Even without that, the Intelligence Unit was already busy dealing with various factions secretly maneuvering or coming to Gilm to gather intelligence during the expansion construction.
In the midst of all that, to have a disturbance that was certain to involve violence, and to have not only immense combat power like Rei but also Marina and Vihera—combat power that should be called super-first-class, surpassing even first-class—offer their cooperation, the expense of serving dried ocean fish was no problem at all.
The Intelligence Unit was originally quite well-funded due to its nature.
That was because Daskar understood the value of information, and thanks to that, a large budget was allocated to the Intelligence Unit. Though that was likely only possible because Gilm was a frontier city.
An ordinary city would not have that kind of financial leeway.
"Oh, this is delicious."
"It was brought in from Emosion. I hear their fish is quite good there."
Prairie Wolves responded to Vihera's remark.
"That's true. But in Emosion, while seafood is abundant, meat is apparently somewhat scarce. Of course there are mountains and such around Emosion too, but satisfying everyone there with just that would be difficult."
"Ah, now that you mention it, meat might have been slightly more expensive there?"
Rei murmured as he recalled his previous visit to Emosion, though his stronger impression was that it had been only slightly overpriced.
At the very least, compared to the cost of eating ocean fish in Gilm, Emosion was financially more advantageous in that regard. However...
"The meat there was mostly animal meat, not the premium kind you eat in Gilm."
As a general rule, monster meat became more delicious the higher the rank of the monster and the stronger the magic power it harbored.
And in the frontier city of Gilm, there was no shortage of such monsters.
This wasn't a matter of one being superior to the other—it was simply a question of the land itself.
Thinking such thoughts, Rei enjoyed his meal while waiting for Ajas and his group to make their move.