"We've confirmed it. Ajas and his group plan to leave Gilm immediately after finishing their trade tonight."
"...Figured as much."
Dahl's words upon entering the room came as no great surprise to Rei. After all, Ajas had drawn the attention of not just Ilse, but Rei himself. Under those circumstances, there was no way he would stay in Gilm.
Well, if they had some kind of powerful backer, it might have been a different story. Unfortunately for them—and fortunately for us—they don't have that kind of backing.
Feeling reassured by that thought, Rei rose from his chair. The others followed suit. Byune, who had been asleep moments ago, had already been woken by Vihera and was fully prepared to go.
Thus, they left the bar, with Dahl leading the way. Naturally, they didn't leave through the front, but through the back.
Then again, couldn't we have just come in through the back when we arrived?
Rei briefly wondered about that, but figured it was some kind of arrangement and didn't think any further of it.
As they stepped outside, Set approached as if it had been waiting for them. That alone wouldn't have caught Rei's attention—it was a usual occurrence. But seeing two familiar people and one familiar creature beside Set was another matter entirely.
"...Hey, why are you here?"
Elena, the person addressed, brushed aside her golden hair, shimmering in the moonlight, and spoke with a smile. "What, Rei is facing danger, is he not? If so, I see nothing strange about me offering my assistance."
"No, first of all, I want to know why you and your group, who were at Marina's house, are here. Also, I'm not in any danger to begin with."
Even as he said that, Rei more or less understood who had orchestrated this. "Marina, is there something you'd like to say to me?"
Indeed, the only one who could pull off something like this was Marina, a Spirit Magic user whose versatility exceeded even Rei's. The fact that Elena and her group were currently staying at Marina's house only reinforced his suspicion.
"Oh my, whatever do you mean? That I did something? Besides, you're going to capture Ajas now, aren't you? Ajas and his companions aside, when it comes to the organization they're trading with, there should be quite a lot of them. No matter how skilled Rei is at fighting multiple opponents, you can't exactly use powerful magic in Gilm, can you?"
"Guh..."
Rei couldn't argue with that. In truth, to prevent Ajas, his companions, and every member of the organization that had abducted multiple women from escaping during the trade about to take place, the more combat power they had, the better. And if that combat power included Elena and Ara, that would unquestionably be first-class fighting strength. Rei understood that as well, which was exactly why he had nothing to say.
"Hehe, you needn't worry about me so much. In the first place, the reason I've been cooped up at Marina's house is simply because far too many people come seeking meetings without good reason. If that's the case, then how many people would try to approach me while I'm walking around at this hour... well, I wonder?"
"Now that you mention it, I suppose so."
In reality, the chances of anyone out walking around at this hour, near midnight, seeking an audience with Elena were extremely low. Elena being outside at this time posed no problem—that much was true.
Of course, it wasn't an absolute certainty. It wasn't entirely impossible that a Noble Faction noble might be walking around Gilm at night for some reason.
Brothels, perhaps.
Rei thought something like that, but he had enough composure not to say it aloud.
"Fine. If we can get the cooperation of Elena, Ara, and Ielo, that helps us too. ...Dahl, lead the way."
"Yes."
Though he nodded at Rei's words, Dahl wondered if this was really all right. As a member of the Intelligence Unit, he naturally knew what kind of person Elena was. And given that his superior, Daskar, was a central figure of the Neutral Faction, he understood that if anything happened to Elena, it would become a major problem.
However, it was also a fact that anything Dahl said here would be useless. He didn't particularly hold any official position. Given that, it was difficult for him to voice any opinions about the current situation. Furthermore, he felt that with Rei present, they could probably manage no matter what happened.
Half talking himself into it, Dahl led the group forward—or rather, guided them—along the road.
They encountered several guards along the way, but upon seeing Rei and Set, the guards simply waved in greeting and showed no signs of trying to stop or question them. Naturally, among the guards there were likely those who recognized Elena. But seeing that she was with Rei, they said nothing further. This was probably because the circumstances behind Elena's visit to Gilm had been properly communicated to them.
It was a relief for Dahl that he didn't have to explain such things to every guard they passed, so he continued along the road without saying anything in particular.
As they kept going, the main road eventually narrowed, and the buildings around them grew older and dirtier.
"We're getting close to the Slum District."
Rei, who had quite a bit of experience visiting the Slum District, muttered that while observing the surroundings.
His words involuntarily caused everyone to steel themselves...
"Calm down."
The one who said that was Rei. However, the words were not directed at Elena and the others who had experienced battle many times, but at the one person present who had virtually no combat experience.
"!? ...I'm sorry, I'm fine."
Called out by Rei, Ilse caught her breath for a moment before responding. But the fact that she wasn't truly fine—that she was only saying so with words—was understood by everyone present, even Ilse herself.
What was about to happen was without a doubt a battle. Normally, bringing someone like Ilse, who had no combat experience, along would be wrong. In fact, while they were waiting at the bar, Rei had asked Ilse if she shouldn't stay behind. But Ilse had firmly shaken her head. She would absolutely go with them. She might not be able to take revenge on her family's killer herself, but even so, she wanted to see the conclusion of this matter with her own eyes until the very end.
Rei had said nothing more to Ilse as she told him that.
"All right, Ilse's tension has eased somewhat, so let's get going. Dahl, lead the way."
"Yes. I've already positioned our men around the area where Ajas and the organization are planning to trade. After that, we just need to raid the place at the decisive moment and capture Ajas's group, and there should be no problems. ...However..."
Dahl paused there and turned his gaze toward Ilse.
"Setting aside Ajas, who is Ilse's enemy, please try to capture the two traveling with him alive if at all possible. This incident is far from a crime carried out by individuals. If so, it's safe to assume there is someone behind Ajas and his group."
"Oh my, Ajas is fine then?"
Marina asked that in response to Dahl's words. Of course, it wasn't so much a question born of genuine doubt, but rather one meant for confirmation.
"Yes, I don't mind. ...Or rather, there's no other choice."
Naturally, from Dahl's standpoint, he would very much like to secure Ajas's person. Ajas was considered the leader figure among the three, and if so, there was a possibility he held more critical information than the other two.
But that was merely a possibility, not a certainty. If it were certain, the situation might have been slightly different... but it wasn't.
In that case, for the Intelligence Unit, which was already short-handed, Egg had judged that it was better to gain the cooperation of Rei, Marina, Vihera, Byune, Set... and then, completely unexpectedly, Elena, Ara, and Ielo. These supremely first-class experts—though some hadn't quite reached that level—it was better to have their cooperation in exchange for letting Ajas go.
Dahl had felt some hesitation about it. But still, given that the Intelligence Unit lacked manpower, he had accepted it as unavoidable, leading to the current situation.
"However... before Ilse takes her revenge, I would ideally like to extract some information from him. After that, we won't say a thing."
At those words, Rei looked at Ilse as if asking what she wanted to do.
For Rei, Dahl's words were something he could agree with. Also, since Dahl had cooperated with them in various ways for this incident, Rei thought it would be fine to give him the opportunity to extract information from Ajas.
But the protagonist of this matter was Ilse, first and foremost. If Ilse said no, then extracting information from Ajas would likely prove difficult, or so Rei thought.
However, contrary to his expectations, Ilse nodded in response to Dahl's words.
"What Ajas was plotting... I want to know that as well. If we crush the scheme Ajas was involved in, that would be a result close to the worst possible outcome for him, wouldn't it?"
"A-ahaha. Um, it helps to hear you say that."
Dahl laughed, sweating slightly at Ilse's words. He could tell that out of hatred for Ajas, she was even trying to bring down the scheme he had been involved in.
Of course, Dahl had no objection to that either. In practical terms, considering the damage Gilm would suffer from this incident, they couldn't let things go as Ajas wanted.
It was an absolutely impossible scenario, but if Ajas had actually reformed and was plotting something beneficial to Gilm, Dahl would have stopped Ilse from crushing Ajas's scheme. But what Ajas was currently doing was abducting large numbers of women from Gilm.
From the perspective of all of Gilm, it was a truly small number of women, a quantity that wouldn't even count as a problem. Even so, since one couldn't stop people's rumors, there was a possibility that if handled poorly, a rumor could spread that all women who went to Gilm were disappearing.
To prevent such rumors from forming, they absolutely had to resolve this matter within Gilm, no matter what. Of course, the moment they were abducted, the women themselves likely had various feelings about Gilm. But even so, if there was a fact that it had been dealt with inside Gilm, then even if strange rumors circulated, they could deny them.
"Well then, since we have Ilse's approval, shall we get going? According to the information we've obtained, Ajas's group plans to leave Gilm right after finishing the trade. ...I'd very much like to hear about their methods for that as well."
At Dahl's words, everyone present nodded. Though some nodded simply because those around them were nodding.
As the group entered the Slum District, a lone figure soon approached.
The moment she saw that figure, Ilse tensed for an instant, wondering if it might be an enemy. But Dahl showed no particular caution at the sight of the figure, and instead even smiled as he spoke to the person.
"Rudos, how are things?"
"Yeah, no problems. I've located where Ajas's group is. ...But they seem pretty sharp. There's a chance they've sensed that we're trying to surround them."
"...Troublesome."
Even as he said that, Dahl had half-expected as much.
They were opponents who had been operating as adventurers while simultaneously pulling stunts that were essentially banditry. And the fact that it hadn't been just once or twice would become clear enough if they heard the details from Ilse.
Given that they had lived such a lifestyle, it wasn't strange for them to be skilled at sensing abnormalities in their surroundings. However... even if they had the ability to sense the surrounding situation, whether they could make use of it was another matter entirely.
The biggest factor was, after all, that they still had the trade with the organization to complete. As long as they had to carry out that trade, no matter what the current situation was, there wasn't much Ajas's group could do.
They might have the option of eliminating whoever was watching them, but even if they could sense the abnormality, pinpointing exactly who was involved in it would be difficult no matter how you looked at it. What's more, since it was a major trade for the organization as well, there was no doubt that the organization had also stationed their own people around the area.
"...Shall we go?"
Everyone nodded at Dahl's words, and the group proceeded through the Slum District, guided by the man called Rudos.