"……Well, at the end of the day, this is about all there is to it."
Facing the five bandits collapsed on the ground, Rei muttered without any particular emotion.
Rei's combat prowess was already at a level that could fittingly be called inhuman.
Even without Set, the Death Scythe, and the Twilight Spear that formed the core of his strength, it was only natural that he could effortlessly defeat opponents of this caliber barehanded.
"U-um... thank you. You're strong. I was surprised, and I'm glad you helped."
From the direction Rei had come running, the man he had passed earlier appeared.
He was a young man, perhaps in his late teens or early twenties. Though being called young by Rei, who looked even younger, was probably a complicated feeling.
Toward the man, Rei shook his head as if to say not to worry about it.
"Opponents of this level are no problem. More importantly, how did you end up getting attacked by bandits in a place like this? If you were walking along the highway, you wouldn't normally get attacked by bandits, right? This is near Rossi."
More precisely, it was the highway between Rossi and Mejougo, and while Mejougo was nominally independent, it was effectively controlled by Jaya.
That there were people committing banditry right in Jaya's home territory was, honestly, hard for Rei to believe.
"Even if you ask why... I wasn't doing anything particularly special. I was just walking along the highway normally when these people attacked me."
While feeling somewhat puzzled by the man's refined manner of speaking, Rei decided not to pursue it further.
(Well, he's probably an illegitimate son of a noble or something like that. It's not like I need to get involved in that, so whatever.)
Leaving the man where he was, Rei approached the unconscious bandits once more.
"H-hey, t-that's dangerous!?"
"Don't worry. They're completely unconscious, and even if they woke up and attacked, I could handle it easily. You saw me take them down, so you should understand there's no need to worry that much."
"That's... maybe true, but..."
Hearing Rei's words, the man spoke evasively.
In fact, the man had seen with his own eyes Rei defeat the bandits who had attacked him—truly, in an instant.
And without using any weapons, barehanded at that.
But even so, considering Rei's appearance, it was perhaps inevitable that the man would still feel anxious.
"More importantly, is this all of the bandits? Were there any others, or anything like that?"
"Umm, honestly, I don't know about that. I think there weren't any others, though."
Since the area was controlled by Jaya, the highway the man had been using naturally boasted some of the greatest safety in all of Reblurina.
That was, in a way, an ironic outcome.
"I see. In that case, I can't expect much of a profit."
A bandit group of five was, from Rei's perspective, quite small.
It would be more accurate to call them muggers rather than a bandit gang.
Because of that, for Rei, who counted bandit hunting as a hobby, the honest truth was that the haul was likely to be considerably smaller than expected.
"Umm... profit, you say?"
"Yeah. These guys are bandits. If they steal from others, then don't you think it's fine for others to steal from them?"
"Eh... uh...? Um, ah... what should you even say in a situation like this, I wonder."
Understanding that Rei was not joking and genuinely intended to seize the bandits' assets, the man displayed a bewildered demeanor.
Moreover, if the man's eyes were accurate, both the act of defeating the bandits and the attempt to take their money looked remarkably practiced.
Then, the man was surprised to see Rei confiscate the weapons the men carried and store them in the Misty Ring.
But somehow suppressing that surprise, he spoke to Rei, who had finished tying up the men.
"Um, thank you very much for helping me this time. My name is Ryutas. If you wouldn't mind, may I ask your name?"
"Hm? Ah, I'm Rei. Normally, I'm an adventurer from the Kingdom of Mireana. Right now, I'm staying in Rossi for a certain errand."
A look of mild surprise appeared on Ryutas's face upon hearing Rei's words.
He had thought Rei was strong, but he apparently hadn't expected him to be an adventurer from the Kingdom of Mireana.
Even if he wasn't an adventurer from Reblurina, Ryutas had assumed he must be an adventurer from one of the surrounding countries, so it was only natural to be surprised that he was actually from the Kingdom of Mireana.
After answering Ryutas, Rei kicked the five unconscious men to wake them.
He had no intention of inflicting broken bones or serious injuries, but even so, the spots he kicked would undoubtedly bruise blue-black—a kick with easily enough force to make that prediction.
"Gah!"
"Nghoh!"
"Oww!"
"Gyah!"
"Nyaaargh!"
Each of them woke up screaming in pain.
Then, upon realizing they were bound, they turned their gazes toward Rei, who had done this.
"Hey, do you think you can get away with doing this to us?!"
A bearded man, who appeared to be the leader of the five, declared in a threatening manner toward Rei.
Given Rei's small stature, the man likely thought that if he intimidated him, they could have things their way.
But naturally, Rei had no reason to obey such a person's orders.
"I don't think there's anything strange about an adventurer hunting bandits, is there? Since you operate as bandits, you acted with that level of resolve, didn't you?"
"Th-that's..."
When the word "hunt" slipped from Rei's mouth as if it were nothing, the man finally seemed to judge that the person before him was no ordinary figure.
The leader's attitude faltered slightly.
Though, given that he had already lost consciousness from Rei's attack earlier, his slow realization was also a factor.
"Now then, now that we understand where we stand, here's my first question. Ah, naturally, if you don't answer, you'll be in for some pain, so keep that in mind."
He said this while pulling a single dagger from the Misty Ring.
In truth, that dagger had originally belonged to the bandits, but Rei had already claimed it as his own, treating it as confiscated property.
Rei lightly swung the dagger in his hand.
But despite swinging it without any particular effort, the dagger produced a sharp sound around them, as if it were slicing through the very air itself.
Hearing the sound of Rei's swinging dagger, the first to lose color in his face was the original owner of that dagger.
Because it was the dagger he had been using, he understood. To produce such a sound from a swing required not just a little skill—at the very least, only someone with a level of proficiency on an entirely different order from his own could manage such a feat.
Fixing his gaze on one of those men, Rei smiled faintly and pointed the tip of the dagger at the man who appeared to be the leader.
"Now then, I'm going to ask you some questions. Well, you don't have to answer, but... in that case, you might lose a finger, or an ear, or a nose, or an eye... depending on the situation, maybe a hand or a foot, so be careful."
The Rei who said this was completely relaxed, with no tension whatsoever.
That was exactly why the bandits felt a chill run down their spines.
Because they could understand that the words coming from Rei's mouth were not a threat but something from the bottom of his heart.
Seeing the bandits' reaction, Rei suddenly stopped as if noticing something, and opened his mouth again.
"Ah, I'll leave your tongue, since it'd be troublesome if you couldn't spill information anymore."
What about that was supposed to be reassuring?
That was likely the unanimous opinion of everyone present—the bandits, no, even Ryutas, who had been listening in—except for Rei.
But of course, Rei showed no such concern, and took a step forward with the dagger in hand.
One step. He truly only took a single step, but that alone was enough to break the bandits' spirits.
"I-I'll tell you everything! So please, forgive us!"
The leader of the bandits, who until just moments ago had been intimidating Rei and even mouthing words of contempt, immediately said this and bowed his head, begging for forgiveness.
Seeing the man, Rei displayed a look of surprise.
According to Rei's plan, he intended to make an example of the leader by hurting him, then pressure the dagger's original owner into talking.
However, in reality, the leader surrendered completely before Rei could do anything.
Granted, since Rei had planned to hurt the leader anyway, his immediate surrender could be seen as being quick to read the situation.
At any rate, looking at the leader who had so readily promised to talk, Rei opened his mouth.
"Alright. Then first... is this all of your members?"
"Yes, these five are everyone."
The man spoke without a moment's hesitation.
His demeanor made it obvious to anyone that he believed if he hesitated even for a few seconds, he didn't know what would be done to him.
"Since you were operating in this area, does that mean you're not affiliated with Jaya?"
"No, we're not. Until a little while ago, we were active in Shiralunu."
"Shiralunu?"
At the unfamiliar word, Rei turned his gaze toward Ryutas, and as if understanding what Rei wanted to know, Ryutas spoke.
"It's the name of a regional town. Though, compared to Rossi, it's considerably smaller in scale."
"......I see. I understand roughly."
From Ryutas's words, Rei understood why the men had come here.
Perhaps the five had operated successfully as bandits near the town of Shiralunu and gained unwarranted confidence, or perhaps they had fled after adventurers were dispatched to subjugate them.
(Probably the former.)
Recalling the confident expressions they had worn when he first encountered them, Rei made that guess.
"Where's your hideout?"
"There's a cave a short distance from here. We use that as our hideout."
After that, he asked a few more questions... and suddenly, Rei sensed the presence of several people approaching.
Glancing up at the sky without alerting those around him, he confirmed that Set was flying in the air some distance away.
Judging that someone approaching was likely directly below, Rei turned his gaze toward Ryutas.
He didn't think the bandits would lie here, and Rei had left Elena and the others back in Rossi.
In that case, the most likely candidate was Ryutas.
Of course, whether Ryutas had noticed the presence or not, he showed no particular change in demeanor.
(It seems Ryutas isn't quite the sheltered young man he appears to be, either.)
Thinking this, but deciding it didn't matter for now, Rei proceeded to ask the bandits for the detailed location of their hideout.
After hearing that, and with no further use for the bandits, Rei turned to address Ryutas once more.
"So, what should we do with them? Normally, I'd either kill them here or sell them to a slave merchant."
"Eh? You're asking for my opinion?"
Ryutas asserted that he had been of no use whatsoever in capturing these bandits, but to Rei, hauling these five all the way back to Rossi to sell them to a slave merchant was more trouble than it was worth.
If he was going to dispose of them anyway, he might as well do it right here. But since he was disposing of them regardless, giving them to the person in front of him—Ryutas—as his property would at least allow him to sell a small favor. That was the reasoning behind his words.
"Yeah, if I handle it, I'd just kill them... but you'd do things differently, right?"
Ryutas, given that meaningful look, tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
"Well, either way, if you say you have no use for them, I'll dispose of them here, but... what'll it be?"
"In that case, I'll take them off your hands."
After that, the matter was quickly settled, and Rei left Ryutas and the bound bandits behind as he promptly departed.
The bandits breathed sighs of relief now that the source of their terror was finally gone.
For about ten minutes after that, Ryutas and the bandits remained there in mutual silence, until eventually, the nearby bushes rustled.
The bandits were startled by the men who appeared, but Ryutas showed no particular concern and opened his mouth.
"You're late."
"I apologize, Young Master. However, when the opponent is the Crimson... there was a possibility he may have noticed our presence."
Over ten men appeared and said this, but Ryutas smiled and shook his head.
"Not a possibility—he definitely noticed us. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left me here and disappeared so quickly."
"......I see. I've heard that the Crimson has been investigating us. That the Young Master's affiliation with Jaya went unnoticed can only be called fortunate. That is how we should phrase it."
"Hehe, you're right. Now then, I leave the disposal of these men to you. Honestly, causing unnecessary trouble in Jaya's controlled territory."
The gaze Ryutas directed at the bandits as he murmured that was not the friendly one he had shown Rei, but rather, he looked at them as if they were stones by the roadside.