The day after Rei's trip to Mejougo... or rather, since he had gone to sleep close to dawn, it might be more accurate to call it the same day. But to Rei, who considered waking up the true start of the next day, it was the following day.
At any rate, having gone to bed near dawn, it was only natural that Rei woke up at a time already approaching noon.
After getting dressed, he headed to the dining hall, where a fair number of guests were already eating lunch.
The relatively small crowd was largely because the Silver Fruit Inn's dining hall was reserved for lodgers only, unlike the Wheat Inn at dusk, which opened its doors to the general public.
Even so, the number of patrons would swell during the morning and evening hours. Right now, though, it was midday—the middle of the day.
The guests staying at the Silver Fruit Inn were currently outside, each tending to their own work. With lunch available wherever they were, there was no need to return to the inn just to eat.
However, precisely because the dining hall was not crowded, the strangeness of one particular scene stood out.
Among the many tables in the dining hall, one in particular drew the attention of nearly everyone present, regardless of age or gender. Even those who weren't openly staring couldn't help but let their awareness drift toward that table.
(Well, I suppose it can't be helped.)
Entering the dining hall, Rei thought this to himself as he took in his surroundings.
Naturally, the ones seated at the table drawing all the gazes and attention were Elena, Marina, Vihera, and Byune.
Rei wondered at Ielo's absence but concluded that it was either still asleep or had gone to Set's side.
As Rei headed toward Elena and the others' table, his own presence naturally drew attention, and he received stares from the other guests as a matter of course. Among those gazes were mocking ones, as if to say there was no way a child like him could charm such beautiful women.
Given that Elena and her group were a gathering of beauties, if it had been evening, there would certainly be those who would try to court them. But fortunately, at this hour, no one in the dining hall was attempting any such thing. Because of that, Rei's actions stood out all the more, and the mocking gazes were only to be expected.
However, Rei naturally ignored the surrounding stares and approached the table. Then Elena and the others, who had been eating lunch—or perhaps a late breakfast—noticed him.
The surrounding guests watched with a hint of malice, wondering how Rei would be rejected... but upon seeing him, Elena and the others each smiled. Byune alone continued eating without changing her expression, as always.
Though, those smiles seemed, if anything, to be born from having seen Rei's secret.
Seeing the three of them wearing what appeared to be exceedingly confident expressions, Rei vaguely deduced the reason—they had likely seen Ielo's memories, which Elena must have shared—but for now, he deliberately chose to ignore it.
"Rei, you overslept quite a bit today."
"...Even if you say that, I went to sleep late. It can't be helped."
Replying to Elena's teasing words, Rei sat down at the same table without any particular objection.
The expressions on the faces of the surrounding guests who had been watching could only be described as shock. They had fully imagined a scene where he would presumptuously try to court the beautiful women and be promptly rejected. The result was the complete opposite, so their reaction was only natural.
If anything, he was conversing casually with the beauties; it would have been more unreasonable to tell the onlookers not to feel jealous.
"Wait, could that face... belong to a woman?"
"The voice is male, isn't it? The attitude too."
"...But look at that face."
"Well, I understand how you feel."
"Wow... it's rare to see a man that beautiful, isn't it?"
"True. But he's not my type. A man has to be reliable, after all."
Since they were in the dining hall, Rei removed the hood of his Dragon Robe after sitting down, and another small commotion arose upon seeing his face. Seeing his bare features, they apparently couldn't tell for a moment whether he was male or female. Moreover, the fact that the Dragon Robe concealed the lines of his body undoubtedly influenced that judgment as well.
"So, what's the plan for today? We need to wrap things up as quickly as possible, right?"
Reaching for the bread basket, Vihera posed the question. Rei ordered a dish from the clerk at random, then considered.
"Right. Now that I know where Mejougo is, I'd like to ride Set and fly over it once from above. If possible, I want to check the overall layout from the air."
After asking Marina to use Spirit Magic to mask their conversational voices, he murmured this.
At Rei's words, Elena and the others all nodded in understanding.
If they were to make Jaya—the organization that had meddled with Gilm—pay the price, the likelihood of combat breaking out in Mejougo, which was presumably an important location within Jaya's operations, was high. In that case, investigating beforehand exactly what kind of structure Mejougo had was not an unreasonable notion.
(Fortunately, Mejougo is an entertainment district. If so, most of the people there should be asleep from the afternoon until around evening. That being the case, even if I fly over the district, the chances of being spotted should be low... and it didn't appear to have any sort of Barrier, either. Worst case, I could always land directly in Mejougo.)
Rei thought this, but quickly revised his thinking.
As could be seen from the Slave Collar he had received from Sharia, it was best to assume that Jaya possessed considerable Alchemy capability. If so, the possibility that some kind of special Magic Item he was unfamiliar with had been planted in Mejougo could not be denied.
Of course, to Rei, such a Magic Item was without question something that would only fatten his wallet the more there were. But the opponent was Magic Items. As could be seen from the Slave Collar that Sharia had been given, there was a real possibility they possessed effects unexpected even for Rei. If so, it could not be said with certainty that there were no Magic Items capable of catching Rei off guard.
"Hmm. Then I guess that's settled for Rei for now... but what about us?"
"Vihera, I'm telling you now, no picking fights."
To Vihera, who had asked about the day's plans, Marina issued the warning like a preemptive nail in the coffin.
But to Marina's words, Vihera opened her mouth with visible displeasure.
"It's not like I go around picking fights with just anyone. And it doesn't seem like there are that many strong opponents in this country."
"No, that's not entirely true."
Speaking over Vihera's words, Rei interjected.
Vihera directed a gaze full of expectation at him and spoke.
"What? Is there someone strong in Mejougo?"
"Yeah. Though I think they'd be stronger than this country's adventurers, when it comes to whether they'd satisfy you... honestly, I'd say it's questionable."
What crossed Rei's mind was the Orc-faced woman he had seen at Mejougo's Guard Station. There was no doubt she possessed a level of strength that would seem unthinkable for someone in this small nation. But whether that could satisfy Vihera was something even Rei would have to tilt his head at.
Vihera already possessed high Combat Power, but by absorbing the Unbris, her Combat Power had increased even further. To truly satisfy her from the bottom of her heart would require the strength of someone at the level of Rei, Elena, or Marina.
However, among the names just mentioned, Marina's offensive methods were limited to the bow and Spirit Magic. While she could handle the average opponent, whether she could hold her own in close combat against a strong fighter like Vihera would be quite difficult.
"Hmm... But that still sounds more interesting than doing nothing here in Rossi."
When they were in Gilm, Vihera had been able to hold mock battles with Elena and Rei at Marina's house—since they were not life-or-death struggles, she had been reasonably satisfied. But here in Rossi, she could not do any such thing.
Well, given that the Silver Fruit Inn was one of the foremost luxury inns in Rossi, it naturally had a space where one could exercise. But if Vihera were to move her body there, there was no doubt that a great many people would come just to watch her. That could lead to all sorts of troublesome developments, and above all, it would reveal to the surroundings exactly what kind of power Vihera possessed, whose name was largely unknown here in Rossi.
Rei's honest feeling was that he wanted to keep hidden the abilities of those like Vihera and Marina, whose names had not yet spread as far as Rossi. That was why Rei had instructed Vihera and the others not to move their bodies in any conspicuous places.
Though, Elena and Marina were not nearly as belligerent as Vihera. As for Byune, her honest preference was to not move if she didn't have to, and just eat food instead. Of course, going too long without exercise would inevitably cause the body to grow dull, so this was strictly on the condition that it was only for a short period.
"The problem is that this person is in Mejougo. We can't exactly bring Vihera along there."
"Ah... right. If we did something like that, it would absolutely cause a massive commotion."
At Marina's words, everyone present nodded—even Byune, who had been focused entirely on eating.
Indeed, Vihera's attire was something that could pass for a prostitute's without question. If such a person were in Mejougo, there would naturally be a large number of men wanting to buy her. That would inevitably lead to a disturbance, which would in turn be reported to Jaya's people, and Rei and his group's presence would be exposed beyond doubt.
"When it comes to the finishing touch—when we deliver a devastating blow to Jaya—then I think it would be fine for Vihera to be in Mejougo. But the problem is how long that will take."
They had been asked to return as quickly as possible, but that did not mean they could forcefully rush matters. If that resulted in damage to completely unrelated areas, Daskar's standing in Gilm, and by extension the Neutral Faction's position, would worsen.
Furthermore, as could be seen from the fact that Elena was cooperating, the Noble's Faction was also involved. If a major mistake were made here, it would mean Daskar would incur a significant debt to the Noble's Faction as well.
They needed to carry out the retaliation as quickly as possible, while at the same time minimizing mistakes as much as possible. It was a demanding situation in many respects, but it was precisely because of how demanding it was that Daskar had entrusted this to Rei and his group.
"It would be much easier for us if we had someone who knew more about the circumstances. But unfortunately, I suppose it won't be that easy."
Placing the spoon she had been using to drink her soup back into the bowl, Elena murmured.
"It would certainly be easier for us if such a person existed. But do you think someone like that would show themselves so readily?"
Given the actions of the organization known as Jaya, there was no doubt that a considerable number of people harbored dissatisfaction. But harboring dissatisfaction and openly displaying it were two different things; doing the latter would undoubtedly invite danger. Given that, those who openly expressed resentment toward Jaya could not be very numerous.
Even if Rei and the others tried to contact such people, if they were hiding their sentiments, finding them would be extremely difficult. If this were familiar territory like Gilm, they could have relied on an Information Broker for that purpose, but...
"Not being able to use an Information Broker is a real blow. Marina, can't we get the Guild to introduce us to one?"
"That's not possible. Well, they probably would introduce us to one, but whether that Information Broker could truly be trusted would be questionable. Didn't I explain that before?"
"...You did. But given that we have no other leads, wouldn't that be the fastest route? Bracing for some degree of risk, in order to start moving as quickly as possible..."
At Rei's words, Marina thought for a moment.
In the first place, the Guild's power in Reblurina was not all that strong. They still accepted escort and bandit subjugation requests, so they had a certain degree of capability, but it could not compare to a frontier region like Gilm.
Given that, it was not guaranteed that there wasn't someone within the Guild who was under Jaya's watchful eye, or who had proactively connected with Jaya in pursuit of profit.
But it was equally true that things would not progress if they simply stayed as they were.
Considering all of this, eventually, albeit reluctantly, Marina gave a nod.