"Do you know that prostitutes periodically disappear from Mejougo?"
When Unchuu asked him that, Rei recalled the man he had encountered in Mejougo the day before.
"Yeah, the man I met in Mejougo yesterday mentioned something like that. He was causing a scene because a prostitute he frequented had suddenly vanished."
As a result, the man had tried to pick a fight with Rei... and ended up suffering quite a miserable experience.
From the standpoint of having obtained a certain amount of information, though, it hadn't been an unlucky turn of events for Rei.
"...I see. But do you know the reason?"
Seated in his chair, Unchuu stared intently at Rei as he asked the question.
Rei considered it for a moment before answering.
"Well, if you think about it normally, I'd assume they were bought out, or got sick and couldn't work as prostitutes anymore."
The possibility of despairing at the life of a prostitute and fleeing would normally exist as well, but the women in Mejougo had generally appeared to be working of their own volition.
If that were the case, then fleeing seemed unlikely — or so Rei reasoned.
Of course, an exception existed in the form of Sharia, so it wasn't as though there were absolutely no women who resented being prostitutes and escaped.
"Right. As far as I've been able to confirm, the number of women brought into Mejougo is considerable. So much so that it wouldn't be surprising if they had long since exceeded Mejougo's capacity. And yet, the influx of women shows no sign of stopping. On the scale of dozens, nearly every single day."
At the words "dozens every day," everyone other than Unchuu — Rei included — wore expressions of surprise.
They had known, of course, that women were being brought into Mejougo... but even so, they had never imagined the numbers were that large.
"In Gilm, Ajas — or rather, the women captured under Ajas's orders — were also quite numerous, but I guess that wasn't something exclusive to Gilm."
Since Gilm was a city where large numbers of people had come seeking work during the expansion construction, Rei had assumed that was the reason so many women had been captured there. Learning that Gilm was nothing special came as a surprise.
"But... so what happens to the surplus women in the end? If the numbers are that large, they'd naturally overflow, right? Judging from your tone earlier, you know the circumstances surrounding that too, don't you?"
Marina's question drew a nod from Unchuu.
"Yeah. I was able to confirm where they're being transported through my information network. But... what happens to them once they arrive, I don't know. Though considering that not a single woman who has gone in has ever come back out, I can make a rough guess."
"...They don't come back out, huh."
That alone was enough for Rei to understand the implication — that something unspeakable was being done there. If that weren't the case, there would be no reason to hide it from the public eye.
"And so? Where is this facility located?"
Elena asked the question with her face twisted in disgust.
Being someone who was originally unfamiliar with intimate relations between men and women, that was precisely why she found what Jaya was doing unforgivable.
If she were forced into prostitution against her will, taken away somewhere on top of that, and never seen again...
Should something like that happen to her, she wouldn't be able to rest in peace even in death.
But if Elena, who had inherited the Ancient Dragon's magic stone, were to become truly enraged, an ordinary man would be utterly powerless against her.
At the killing intent radiating from Elena, Unchuu reflexively caught his breath.
"! ...C-Could you rein that in a little? Otherwise, it's mentally taxing on me too, you know."
At Unchuu's timid words, spoken as though he were afraid of provoking her further, Elena came back to herself and reined in her anger.
Though in truth, only Unchuu had been frightened. The others — Byune included — hadn't been bothered at all.
Byune was overwhelmingly inferior to the rest of the party in terms of combat power, but she had known Elena for a fairly long time.
Given that, she judged that even if Elena lost her temper, she wouldn't actually do anything to her.
In fact, Elena had a tendency to dote on Byune, so that assessment was by no means mistaken.
"M-My apologies. It seems I let my anger get the better of me."
At Elena's brief apology, Unchuu finally resumed his explanation with a calmer demeanor.
"It's beneath Mejougo. Apparently, a path leads underground from Mejougo's central area."
"Underground, huh... This room included, but do the people of Reblurina just have a thing for underground spaces?"
At Rei's muttered disbelief, Unchuu looked almost offended.
Since he was hostile toward Jaya, being lumped together with them was evidently unpleasant.
"As you know, Reblurina is a small nation. Its territory is narrow. So in an attempt to make do with that limited land, they probably hit upon the idea of utilizing underground spaces."
"...Normally, I'd think that's where you'd just build taller buildings."
"If they did something like that, there'd be a risk of the buildings collapsing."
Rei's thought was that if that were the case, wouldn't the ground just cave in for underground spaces too — but looking at Unchuu's face, he accepted that apparently, for Reblurina, that wasn't how it worked.
"Anyway. According to the information that's reached me, there's no doubt that the prostitutes who have gone missing — though calling it that is a bit odd — are underground. Of course, whether they're safe and sound... is not guaranteed."
Unchuu forcibly steered the conversation back on track, but since that was indeed the important topic, Rei and the others didn't point it out.
"A path leading underground from the center of Mejougo? Stairs? Whatever it is, I understand that something like that exists. Normally, destroying it without a second thought would be the best form of retaliation against Jaya... but if prostitutes are down there, I can't just destroy it so easily."
If the only people inside were Jaya's members, Rei would have annihilated the underground facility without mercy.
Since it was beneath Mejougo, he wouldn't be able to use the wide-area annihilation magic he excelled at — but even so, he had several useful cards up his sleeve.
If he used those, wiping out only the people inside the underground facility would be... or so he thought, before revising his reasoning.
(Wait. If it's an underground facility, there's bound to be Magic Items inside. In that case, I should hold off on burning the whole place down with flames.)
It was precisely because Magic Items — not people — were there that he abandoned the idea of incinerating the underground facility with Flame Magic, which was the only type he could use. In that respect, it was very much like Rei.
Of course, if the people inside were uninvolved parties, that would be a different story. But Rei didn't recognize human rights for evildoers. ...Well, in the first place, this world had no concept of human rights.
Those who had spent years harming others, begging for their lives to be spared simply because they were now the ones facing harm — Rei could only see that as shamelessly self-serving.
"Please, do so. I don't know what's happening underground, but there's a chance they're still alive and unharmed."
So Unchuu said, but the look on his face made it clear he didn't actually believe the prostitutes taken underground were truly safe.
And yet... and yet, if there was even a possibility.
He couldn't help but think that.
Making a point of ignoring the look Unchuu was giving him, Rei spoke up.
"The biggest problem is how we infiltrate that underground facility. ...We can't exactly ride a carriage to Mejougo with Elena and the others."
"If there's no Barrier or anything in Mejougo, couldn't we just ride Set there? We have the Set Basket too, after all."
Marina offered this in response to Rei's words, but Rei spent a few seconds puzzling over the unfamiliar term "Set Basket?"
However, from the words "Set" and "basket," he quickly grasped what she meant.
"What's this 'Set Basket'? ...It's the Mirage Basket."
"Because it's easier to understand and easier to say, isn't it?"
At Marina's words — delivered with as much persuasive force as anything could carry — everyone other than Unchuu and Rei reflexively nodded.
Rei, too, found no reason to deny Marina's suggestion.
In fact, compared to saying "Mirage Basket," calling it "Set Basket" was shorter while still concisely conveying the basket's function. That much was undeniable.
He felt a bit bad for the people who had created the Mirage Basket, but he had also thought that giving it such an elaborate name was somewhat much.
Still, since there had been no particular inconvenience, he had kept using the original name...
"For now, calling it the Set Basket stays just between us. When this matter is settled and we need adjustments or modifications done, we'll call it the Mirage Basket properly."
Ultimately, that was the compromise he reached.
Even Rei had to admit that "Set Basket" wasn't a bad name by any means.
"Yes, yes. Anyway, if there's no Barrier or anything in Mejougo, we can just use the Set Basket to drop in directly from above, can't we? Rei wouldn't have to keep it deployed the whole time, either."
"Hm. That might work. Fortunately, since Mejougo is... an entertainment district, so to speak, the people there live with their days and nights reversed, and many of them rest during the day, don't they? If so..."
"I see. They'd never expect a sudden assault in broad daylight, so in that sense, it would be a significant advantage. Having Set especially would be a major factor."
Without Set, even launching a surprise attack on the underground facility would require first entering Mejougo itself.
Of course, for Rei and his party, sneaking into Mejougo covertly wouldn't be impossible.
But as long as Jaya's people were providing security for Mejougo, there was no guarantee they wouldn't be spotted.
And if they were discovered, they would have to fight Jaya's members while pushing into the underground facility.
That would give the underground facility time to prepare and solidify their defenses.
But if they could use the Mirage Basket... no, the Set Basket, to launch a surprise attack directly from the sky onto the underground facility's entrance, the facility would have no time to brace itself.
Of course, that didn't mean there would be absolutely no defense at all. But there was a difference between a defense maintained as part of a daily routine and one mounted after realizing an enemy was attacking.
Which of the two would be more rigorous required no thought at all.
"Wait, wait. Please hold off on advancing the discussion among yourselves. The truth is, there's a Resistance against Jaya in Mejougo. Their numbers weren't all that large to begin with, and they were previously attacked by Jaya, which further reduced their combat power. But they should be able to help you."
To Unchuu, this was information he would have ideally held onto for as long as possible.
But if he didn't say it here, Rei and his party would undoubtedly carry out a surprise attack on Mejougo on their own.
If that happened, everything Unchuu had worked for up to now would become meaningless.
Since he couldn't stop Rei's group from moving, the only thing Unchuu could do now was contact Sura, who led the Resistance, and arrange for them to coordinate.
"Resistance? ...Well, at that scale, I wouldn't be surprised if something like that existed, but... there really is one?"
Rei was slightly startled by the word "Resistance," but on reflection, it wasn't all that strange for an opposing force to exist against someone capable of building an entertainment district like Mejougo — and one who had joined hands with the nation's upper echelons, as Jaya had.
"Yeah. As I just mentioned, the Resistance was attacked by Jaya a short while ago and has lost considerable combat power. But since they haven't lost all of their fighting strength, they should be useful to you as a force... and more than that, when it comes to information about Mejougo."
"...Understood. So, when will you contact the Resistance, and when will the assault take place? We don't have much time on our end."
"I'll hurry as much as I can. That's why I'm asking you to refrain from any rash actions."
At Unchuu's words, Rei glanced at the others as if to ask what they thought.
Receiving that look, the rest of the group nodded back, indicating they had no particular objections.
"Seems like the others are fine with it too, so that works. Just make it as quick as you can."
"I understand. Then, right away, from here—"
Unchuu started to speak, but Rei cut him off.
"Hold on a moment. Before that... do you know anything in detail about this Magic Item?"
What Rei held out was the Slave Collar he had received from Sharia — and upon seeing it, Unchuu's eyes went wide with shock.