The nation of Reblurina.
It was the same as the Kingdom of Mireana in that it was a monarchical state, but its scale was vastly different.
It was one of the many small nations surrounding the Kingdom of Mireana, existing as a vassal state under its suzerainty.
However, despite its position as a vassal state, it was not subjected to particularly harsh treatment.
While it was required to pay money to the Kingdom of Mireana every year under the guise of a security guarantee, and several officials from the Kingdom of Mireana were sent to participate in Reblurina's state affairs, its diplomatic freedom was still guaranteed to a certain degree.
Additionally, a single army from the Kingdom of Mireana was stationed there as a military force, and the funds required for that deployment were provided by Reblurina. But precisely because the Kingdom of Mireana's army was present, there was no risk of being attacked by other neighboring countries.
It was not a nation with any particularly outstanding characteristics—truly just an ordinary small country.
No one present could believe that Reblurina would dare do anything hostile against its suzerain, the Kingdom of Mireana.
"Calm down. Like I said earlier, it wasn't the bigwigs of Reblurina who ordered us to bring women here. It was strictly my organization."
"......Even so, if citizens of Reblurina cause a disturbance in this country, do you understand what that would mean? I doubt they are completely unaware of that."
Elena replied to Ajas's words with a troubled expression.
Indeed, those words were not wrong.
If Reblurina had caused harm to the Kingdom of Mireana this time, then regardless of whether it was intentional on Reblurina's part, it was certain that the Kingdom of Mireana would impose some form of penalty on Reblurina.
Moreover, they had caused this much turmoil in Gilm, which was governed by Daskar, a central figure of the Neutral Faction.
Naturally, that penalty would be severe.
The Noble's Faction and the Neutral Faction had recently developed a friendly relationship, and while the King's Faction and the Neutral Faction were at odds, that was strictly an internal matter within the Kingdom of Mireana.
If this incident served the interests of the Kingdom of Mireana, then neither the King's Faction nor the Noble's Faction would show any leniency toward Reblurina, even if the Neutral Faction suffered damage.
......Though honestly, the King's Faction would probably prefer it if the Neutral Faction took even more damage.
"Is this......really true?"
Elena, who initially had not believed Ajas's words, began to harbor doubts after seeing him state it so boldly.
Under normal circumstances, it was unthinkable that a vassal state would commit what amounted to a half-hearted act of aggression against its suzerain.
But seeing Ajas's current resolute demeanor, she could not help but think that perhaps......
"It's true. With Lebejev and Haston's lives on the line, you think I'd spout some pointless lie here? If I did something like that, I'd be leaving my comrades to die. Do you think I'd choose the organization over my comrades' lives if forced to pick one?"
Hearing that, Elena and everyone else present had no choice but to accept it.
Even from Rei's perspective, who was unfamiliar with the nation of Reblurina, it was clear what kind of feelings Ajas harbored toward his two comrades.
Given that, Rei's judgment was that the words coming from Ajas's mouth were worthy of trust.
......Naturally, that did not mean he would swallow everything Ajas said wholesale. They would still need to extract information from others and verify it independently.
"I see. Well then, I'll ask just to be sure—did you come to Gilm by your own decision? Or was it an order from the organization?"
"It was an order from the organization."
Marina asked after Elena, and Ajas answered without particular hesitation.
Whether those words were true or not was something even the listeners could not determine.
But given the facts Ajas had stated so far, and considering his regard for his comrades, it was entirely possible that it was the truth.
"But kidnapping women to turn them into prostitutes? ......Why would they go out of their way to do something like that...... Hey, does Reblurina have some kind of prejudice against prostitutes or anything?"
"No, I don't think so. It's just an ordinary country, for better or worse."
"Right? ......Then what, forcibly abducting only beautiful women to improve the quality of their prostitutes?"
"It's not like the brothels are state-run, right? So would they come to another country just to raise the quality of prostitutes? Well, if it were another vassal state I could sort of understand, but why would they deliberately come to the suzerain nation?"
The members of the Intelligence Unit exchanged words in hushed tones with only their nearby companions.
However, Rei, who possessed inherently sharp senses, Elena, who had inherited the Ancient Dragon's Magic Stone, Marina, a Dark Elf, Vihera, who had absorbed Unbris, and Byune, a former bandit—almost everyone present except Ara possessed senses far sharper than those of an ordinary person, so the Intelligence Unit men's conversation was perfectly audible to them.
(Ultimately, what does that organization want to accomplish? Gathering prostitutes......is probably just a front, and it's almost certain they're doing something behind the scenes. Ajas and his group just don't know what that something is. Well, thinking about it normally, that's to be expected.)
Going out of their way to risk danger in another country......and the suzerain Kingdom of Mireana, no less.
If discovered, the nation of Reblurina itself could be put in jeopardy, so the country would not hesitate to crush the organization Ajas and his group belonged to.
Why would they take such a risk, knowing full well the danger?
That was something Rei could not comprehend.
(One possibility is that the organization itself was receiving some kind of backing from the country......or at least from someone holding an important position in the government. No, even then, I still don't understand why they would do something like this.)
As Rei wrestled with these thoughts, Ajas opened his mouth.
"I've told you the information. That means our lives will be spared, right?"
"......That's right."
In response to Ajas's words, Rei directed his gaze toward Ilse.
There, Ilse was glaring at Ajas with a gaze full of killing intent.
If he were to declare here that Ajas would be spared, it was certain that Ilse would go on a rampage.
A major disturbance would erupt, and Jestal and his subordinates might seize the opportunity to escape.
And above all......
"Yeah, I thought about it, but keeping Ajas alive will lead to all sorts of complications. Unfortunately, while the other two are one thing, I can't allow you to live."
Rei found no value whatsoever in keeping Ajas alive.
If someone here could declare that all lives were equal and more precious than anything else, then perhaps this matter might have become an issue.
But fortunately or not, there was no one present who would say such a thing.
"You've got to be kidding! Why only us! Weren't you going to spare Ajas too!"
Lebejev, who usually spoke in somewhat softer tones, naturally grew rougher in speech given this situation where his comrade's life was about to be extinguished.
Rei fixed a cold gaze on Lebejev's furious shouting and spoke.
"How many people have you killed so far? Dozens? Maybe more? Those people you killed surely had someone who worried about them, just like you're worrying about Ajas now. But you killed them without a second thought. ......So why is it that when you're put in the same position, you start screaming like this?"
He genuinely could not understand.
Lebejev, met with that gaze, tried to say something......but upon understanding just how cold Rei's eyes were, he had no choice but to clamp his mouth shut.
In truth, for Lebejev, his comrades were important but anyone else could suffer whatever fate awaited them.
That was not necessarily wrong in itself, but if asked whether that attitude could break the current impasse, the answer was no.
"If you understand, then stay quiet. At the very least, your life will be spared. Be satisfied with that."
"Wait! If you kill Ajas, I won't say another word! Haston will be the same!"
The one who responded to Lebejev's words was not Rei......but one of the Intelligence Unit men.
"If you can go through our interrogation without spilling a single piece of information, I'd say that's something worth being proud of. So far, no one's managed to pull that off."
The Intelligence Unit was not a public organization.
Precisely because of that, even if they conducted illegal interrogations......acts that could rightfully be called torture, they would not face much criticism.
No, if it were merely torture, it was not even particularly rare.
As long as the meaning of the concept of "human rights" was not clearly defined, such things were done routinely.
For that matter, if the concept of human rights truly existed, the very existence of slaves would be called into question.
"Tch!"
Lebejev must have understood that much as well. He was at a loss for words.
"We're done with Ajas, right?"
"Yes."
Seeing Lebejev fall silent, Rei asked the Intelligence Unit member.
It had already been decided that Ilse would take custody of Ajas's body, but since Dahl had expressed a desire to extract at least some information first, the Intelligence Unit man indicated that was not a problem.
Seeing that, Rei once again called out to Ilse.
"That's how it is. Sorry for making you wait. The rest is yours to do as you please."
At Rei's words, Ilse nodded silently without uttering a word.
With a dagger in hand, she slowly, slowly closed the distance between herself and Ajas.
"Wait! Aja—guh!"
Lebejev tried to say something to Ilse, but a nearby Intelligence Unit man pressed a cloth against Lebejev's mouth, silencing him.
Without paying the slightest attention to that exchange, Ilse continued approaching Ajas.
Ajas said nothing to Ilse. He remained silent, simply fixing his gaze on her.
He must have understood that whatever he said here would be useless, since he did not believe Ilse would stop her revenge.
Even if he tried to take some action in his current situation, surrounded by Rei and the others as he was, there was nothing he could do.
"Father, Mother, Big Brother. For the sin of taking away my family of three......pay for it with your life."
"I see. Looks like this is where I reach my end. But is that all right?"
At Ajas's words, Ilse stopped moving.
Originally, she had intended to ignore whatever Ajas said and simply take his life with the dagger.
But for some reason, hearing Ajas's words, Ilse halted her movements.
Perhaps some plea for mercy would come from Ajas's mouth.
She must have harbored that thought.
Since she was avenging her family, she wanted Ajas to suffer as much as possible.
In that sense, if he came begging for his life, that would be more than welcome—or so Ilse thought.
However......there was no servile color in Ajas's eyes as Ilse looked at him.
If anything, he was watching Ilse with eyes that seemed almost provocative.
"What do I care? No matter what you say now, the outcome of your death won't change."
"You've never killed a person before, have you? Of course, I'm not saying that with any certainty, but from the way you're acting, that's what I think. ......Am I wrong?"
That was exactly right.
Ilse had primarily engaged in gathering activities even as an adventurer.
There was no reason she would have had the experience of killing a person.
Even so, Ilse had no intention of stopping the act of killing Ajas, nor any intention of hesitating.
"Looks like I'm right. Let me give you some advice, from someone who has killed many people, to someone who is about to kill for the first time."
"Advice?"
"Yeah. ......If you're going to kill me, then go ahead. But the moment you kill me, you'll become one of the killers. In other words, you'll become the same kind of existence as me."
"That's wrong!"
Ilse immediately denied Ajas's words.
But Ajas heard Ilse's words and shook his head.
Blood scattered from the hand that had been pressing against where his right ear had been, shaken loose by the motion, but Ajas paid it no mind as he spoke.
"It ain't wrong. Whether you have a reason or not, when it comes to being a killer, that's exactly what it means. ......Though in this world, human life is cheap anyway."
At those words, several members of the Intelligence Unit found themselves nodding in agreement.
The Intelligence Unit included former subordinates of Egg, those recruited from adventurers, former assassins......truly all manner of people.
Precisely because they were such people, they could understand Ajas's words that human life was cheap.
In fact, when adventurers took the Rank Up Exam, they had to overcome a trial in which they killed bandits with their own hands.
"......Even so, I will kill you."
Saying that, Ilse once again closed the distance to Ajas......and brought the dagger down toward his head.