(Now then, what should I do?)
After confirming that the Orc-like woman had left, Rei considered his next move.
The woman from earlier was far more skilled than one would expect to find in a small nation like Reblurina.
Did the organization called Jaya have other fighters of her caliber...? If so, he couldn't afford to underestimate them.
That was the impression Rei had formed.
(They probably brought in skilled fighters like her because it's profitable... though I can't deny the possibility that she was raised in Reblurina either.)
Was he perhaps underestimating Jaya? Rei wondered, gazing at the Guard Station.
Of course, Rei didn't think he would lose if he fought the woman from earlier.
If it was just a matter of winning, he could do so easily.
But that would inevitably cause a considerable commotion, and it would reveal that someone who had sneaked into Mejougo under the guise of a man named "Ren" was Rei himself.
To avoid that, Rei felt it was best to avoid direct contact as much as possible this time.
(But I still want to infiltrate that Guard Station. If there's something in there, I'd like to know what it is if at all possible. ...Which means...)
Rei's gaze shifted to the Dragon Robe... or more precisely, to Ielo, who was staying still inside it.
Unfortunately, Rei couldn't see what Ielo saw.
But Ielo was a Familiar.
Elena, who was in Rossi, would be able to directly see what Ielo saw.
It was regrettable that Rei couldn't confirm it directly right here and now, but this was still a better choice than him forcibly sneaking into the Guard Station under the current circumstances.
It wasn't that Rei was incapable of Stealth, but he was still more focused on combat.
If it were the dead of night with no one around, even Rei could have infiltrated the Guard Station... but this was an entertainment district that came alive at night.
With so many people walking about in the current situation, infiltrating the Guard Station was simply impossible.
...A direct assault would be possible, but it was still too early for that.
After all, since it was a Guard Station, the possibility that it held no secrets whatsoever couldn't be ruled out.
If he launched an assault and the Guard Station turned out to contain no Jaya secrets, it would only serve to inform them that a clearly hostile party existed—let alone one bearing the alias of Crimson.
For Rei, who intended to uncover Jaya's secrets and deal them significant damage, that was decidedly not a desirable situation.
That was why, as a second-best plan, he decided to have Ielo sneak in.
Of course, Ielo wouldn't be able to hide if spotted either.
Ielo's Special Ability included invisibility, but there was no need to use it now that it was night.
For Ielo, the Child of the Black Dragon, blending into the darkness of night was not difficult.
Mejougo had Magic Items for lighting in various places, but that didn't mean they could completely eliminate the darkness of night.
By blending into the inextinguishable darkness, and with Ielo's small size, there was little worry of it being spotted.
"So with that said, could you go take a look for me?"
"Kyu!"
At Rei's words, Ielo let out a happy cry.
Ielo was still small to begin with, and had a personality that preferred moving over staying still.
And yet, that Ielo had been keeping motionless inside Rei's Dragon Robe ever since arriving in Mejougo... no, even before boarding the carriage for this trip.
It was only natural for it to want to move.
Furthermore, considering that Elena had told Ielo to help Rei, there was no reason for Ielo to refuse Rei's request this time.
"Alright then, I'm counting on you. I'll say this upfront—make absolutely sure you're not found. ...Well, against the sort of people in a place like this, I don't think they could do anything to you even if they tried."
"Kyuu!"
At Rei's words, Ielo let out a confident cry.
But this wasn't bravado; it was based on Ielo's thorough understanding of its own abilities.
Fundamentally, not many people possessed the means to attack a flying opponent.
Magic, bows, or perhaps thrown stones would be about the extent of it.
But from what Rei could see, there didn't appear to be any mages at the Guard Station, and whether anyone even had a bow was questionable.
The Guard Station existed here in the first place solely to deal with fights and drunk, rowdy customers in Mejougo.
Since Mejougo was effectively operated by a shadow organization, they couldn't station Guards hired by Reblurina there.
No matter how connected Jaya—which managed Mejougo—was with parts of Reblurina's upper echelons, that was strictly a high-level arrangement.
Among the Guards, there were surely those who found it distasteful that a criminal organization was boldly running an entertainment district like this, so it was only natural they couldn't bring such people in.
At any rate, for those reasons, the people at the Guard Station were mostly around the lower ranks as adventurers, and they were far from having the means to attack a flying opponent.
Thinking of that, there was no need to worry at all about sending Ielo out.
(Well, if that Orc-like woman from earlier had been there, it might have been a bit dangerous.)
Recalling the figure of the woman who possessed strength unbelievable for someone in a small nation like Reblurina, Rei gently stroked Ielo.
Rei narrowed his eyes at the sensation of cold scales, and Ielo—being petted—narrowed its eyes in pleasure as well... before long, it flapped its wings and took to the sky.
Rei watched Ielo go, heading toward the Guard Station as it melted into the night sky.
"Kyu? Kyuukyuu."
Crying softly, Ielo flew through the air and slipped inside the Guard Station through an open window.
Ielo scrunched its face in distaste at the smell of burning insect-repellent herbs, but insect repellent naturally couldn't do anything to it.
Ielo continued inside the Guard Station, flying close to the ceiling as it moved about.
Humans fundamentally had a blind spot above them.
Of course, a skilled fighter would notice something off above, but... fortunately for Ielo, there was no one that skilled at the Guard Station.
There were several who prided themselves on their strength, but none who were sharp-minded or possessed keen senses.
Well, perhaps there were, but they had likely been pulled away to deal with the disturbances occurring in Mejougo, and at the very least, none were present in the Guard Station right now.
"God damn it... why the hell do I gotta work in a place like this? I should be..."
"Hey, don't drink too much. If you get drunk and can't work, who knows what kind of punishment they'll hand down."
"I know already! Geez, seriously, why am I in a place like this... with all these prostitutes right nearby."
"Don't say that. Once work's over, you get a discount and can have your pick of women. That alone makes working in Mejougo worth it, I'd say."
"I want to hold a woman right now! Why do I have to work while other guys are out there having their way? Why don't they just hire some Guards or adventurers or something?"
"No, adventurers are one thing, but we're the Guards."
Ielo observed the two men talking from the corner of the ceiling.
Naturally, the two men of the Adventurer Trio showed no sign of noticing Ielo.
One drank and complained, while the other listened to the grievances while warning him not to drink too much.
Ielo watched the scene for a few minutes before eventually leaving the area.
It was flapping its wings, but the sound was nearly inaudible—perhaps due to Ielo's Special Ability.
Granted, if they hadn't been drinking and grumbling, they might have noticed even the faint sound of wingbeats... but right now, the two were far too preoccupied for that.
Leaving that room, Ielo resumed flying near the ceiling as it explored the interior of the Guard Station.
A fortunate thing for Ielo was that the Guard Station was fairly spacious.
Partly because a place was needed to cool the heads of those who caused disturbances in Mejougo, but also because some of those belonging to Jaya were Beastmen.
And among the Beastmen, there were those of large stature, so the Guard Station was built to allow even such individuals to use it without feeling claustrophobic.
That was precisely why there were many places for Ielo to hide, and flying near the ceiling didn't result in it being spotted.
Continuing to fly through the Guard Station to scout, Ielo next arrived at what appeared to be a jail.
However, though it was a jail, it was relatively clean and even had proper beds.
Right now, several drunkards were snoring as they slept inside some of those cells.
A few of them had what looked like bruises on their faces, making it certain they had been brought there after starting fights.
Ielo glanced at the jail cells and then moved on to another room.
The next room it entered appeared to be a storage room for weapons and armor. Various weapons including longswords and spears were stored there, along with what appeared to be Leather Armor made from monster hide.
However, the monster hide used in the Leather Armor was likely far inferior to what one would find in Gilm.
This was due to the difference between Gilm, a frontier where monsters appeared endlessly, and a small rural nation where monsters rarely appeared.
Ielo didn't understand those circumstances, but it could still tell that the Leather Armor stored there was of poor quality. That Leather Armor could be easily torn apart even by its own claws and fangs.
Then again, this wasn't the front lines of a battle; it was merely a Guard Station.
Considering that, it wasn't strange for them to have only weapons and armor of this caliber.
"Kyu?"
Hm?
Ielo tilted its head as if to say so.
It had been convinced that some major secret was hidden in this Guard Station.
But in reality, there was nothing that particularly resembled a secret.
Of course, there was the possibility that Ielo simply hadn't noticed... but there was nothing Ielo could do about that now.
Ielo's next destination was a room from which snoring could be heard, just like the jail.
However, this room wasn't a jail; several beds were laid out normally, and some men were sleeping there.
Judging that there was nothing of importance in the room, Ielo moved on to the next one.
The next room Ielo entered carried the smell of cooking.
It wasn't grand enough to be called a dining hall, but it was a room with a few simple cooking implements.
However, the smell drifting from it did little to stimulate Ielo's appetite.
For the same type of food, the meals Rei had prepared inside the Misty Ring seemed several times more delicious.
In truth, the cooking done here was more fittingly called feed rather than cuisine—a level where filling one's stomach was the only thing that mattered.
It was hard to imagine that Ielo would happily eat anything made here.
After all, this was an entertainment district with taverns.
If someone was truly hungry, they could just go to a tavern and eat there.
Many of the dishes were meant to boost stamina, but they were perfectly fine to eat normally.
"Kyuu..."
Whether that thought crossed its mind, or it was simply disappointed that there was nothing to eat... at any rate, Ielo let out a small cry before heading to the next room.
The next place Ielo went appeared to be a storage room.
Items no longer used, things set aside for the time being... it was a place where various such objects were left.
If anything, it would be more accurate to call it a dumping ground rather than a storage room.
Ielo couldn't imagine that anything that could serve as a clue would be in such a place.
...Among the items was something like a cloth stained with a large amount of blood, though what it had been used for was unclear.
Given that the blood on the cloth hadn't yet changed color, and the smell of blood hadn't faded, it had likely been used tonight.
What it had been used for was beyond Ielo's understanding, but it was easy to imagine that it wasn't for stopping bleeding.
"Kyuu."
And so Ielo explored the interior of the Guard Station for a while... but in the end, it couldn't find anything of note, and slipped out of the Guard Station as it was.