Rei's theory, and Elena's statement that, applying common sense, she could not believe a nation's upper echelons would lend their hands to such acts.
At those words, silence fell over the table where Rei and the others sat.
What reached their ears was the bustle of the dining hall—the chatter of guests other than Rei's group.
Some were discussing what kind of people Rei and his companions were. Others were entranced by the beauty of Elena and the rest. And there were voices betting on whether Nokor would strike out trying to chat someone up. That was the sort of ambient noise filling the room.
Thanks to Marina's Spirit Magic, Rei and the others' conversation was inaudible to the surroundings. To anyone listening in, they should have been hearing an entirely different conversation—as if Rei's group were just chatting about something casual.
Even knowing that, Rei and the others could not bring themselves to speak carelessly.
Originally, the reason the people here—other than Nokor—had come to the nation of Reblurina was as a retaliatory measure against Jaya, which had meddled with Gilm.
But upon actually arriving, they found that what was taking place there was likely a conspiracy involving not merely a single organization, but the upper echelons of a nation, albeit a small one.
That their words caught in their throats was only natural.
It was Rei who opened his mouth, as if to break that silence.
"Well then, what do we do from here?"
Muttering without showing any real sign of tension despite being caught up in a situation that could shake an entire nation—even a small one—was something astonishing to Nokor, who did not know Rei well.
Normally, it would not be strange to be at least somewhat cowed by the sheer magnitude of the situation. And yet, Rei's tone carried only a slight tension, and nothing more.
For Rei, however, this was not the first time he had been involved in something touching the fate of a nation.
He had been involved in the civil war of the Bestia Empire, a power that could stand alongside the Mireana Kingdom. Not only that, he had even fought as a central combat force. Compared to that, this degree of turmoil was surprising, but not enough to make him show any sign of being frightened.
At Rei's attitude, the tension that had gripped the surroundings loosened.
"Right. The problem is... whether it's all right for us to solve this on our own, I suppose."
At the words from Marina's mouth, Nokor wore an anxious expression. It was only natural. For Nokor, he desperately wanted Rei and the others to act together with the Resistance and help make up for their lacking combat power.
Without showing any sign of minding Nokor's state, Rei and the others continued their conversation.
"Hmm, then I shall try asking Ara. That should relay to Lord Daskar through Ara. We'll seek instructions on what to do from there. Or perhaps it would be faster to have someone bring a Paired Orb before Lord Daskar and explain the situation directly?"
"Well, that would probably be best. If we move flashily here and the nation of Reblurina ends up destroyed as a result, that's not exactly a laughing matter."
Marina said it half as a joke, but there was not a single trace of humor in those long, narrow eyes of hers.
With Rei's strength... and with their own power, they understood that collapsing the nation of Reblurina would not be particularly difficult.
"For now, we'll ask Lord Daskar how far we should go... but rest assured. I don't know whether we'll go so far as to make an entire nation our enemy, but retaliation against Jaya is definitely something we'll carry out, without fail."
At Rei's words, Nokor looked relieved. He had judged that, for now, it was certain that the Resistance, which was short on combat power, would at last be able to catch their breath.
"Thank you very much. Then, may I take it that it's possible to form a cooperative relationship with Lord Rei and the others?"
"Yeah. But we don't have much time to spare. That's why I want to hit Jaya as quickly as possible... is that feasible?"
"That... unfortunately, I don't know either. I will inform the Resistance, but."
At Rei's mention of not having time, Nokor showed a slightly surprised expression. If they were as skilled as Rei and the others, he hadn't thought there would be something they had to rush for.
Or rather, even if there was something they had to rush for, he thought that with their level of accomplishments, it wouldn't be difficult to manage somehow—that was likely the correct impression.
However, the reason they said they had no time was actually because of Gilm's expansion construction, something Nokor would not have been able to understand.
"Yeah, I'm counting on you. What we'll do for now is retaliate against Jaya. And the retaliation target is Mejougo's Underground Facility."
A bitter look crept into Rei's expression as he said that. If what Rei had predicted was correct, that Underground Facility would be a place that fully deserved to be called hell.
But if the Underground Facility was indeed such a place, then it was undoubtedly an extremely important location for Jaya—and for the nation of Reblurina as well.
In the first place, it was precisely because it was that important a place that multiple buildings had been set up to guard it from the Ground, making approach from the surface no easy matter.
"The problem is, if that Underground Facility is the place Rei predicted, we wouldn't be able to do something like using magic from the sky to burn the facility itself."
At Elena's words, everyone present nodded.
If the women gathered there were ones who had been made pregnant, they were women who had been brought there by force using the Slave Collar.
There was absolutely no way they could do something like burning the place where such women were.
Rei was someone who would not feel particularly bothered even if the lives of villains were lost, but if the ones involved were innocent—rather, victims who had been forcibly brought there by Jaya—then it was a different story.
He could not even begin to consider something like catching the victims up in the crossfire and killing them.
"In that case, it'll be us sneaking directly into that facility and raising hell... that's the direction, I suppose."
Vihera said so with a combative smile on her lips.
What kind of strength the Giants had specifically, Vihera did not know either. But even so, they were certainly strong enemies, and so the battle with those Giants was something Vihera looked forward to.
However, if the circumstances of those Giants' birth were truly exactly as Rei predicted, she could not say she had no reservations at all.
"It would come to that, yeah. And the more time we take, the more of the Prostitutes' lives will be lost. Well, I don't know if the ones who actually gave birth to the Giants were Prostitutes, and it's not certain they die just because they gave birth to a Giant."
At Rei's words, Nokor drew a small breath. It was because he had not imagined his own actions could become a catalyst that moved the situation to this degree.
"I apologize, but I will go inform the Resistance side of Lord Rei's conjecture and policy of action. If Lord Rei's conjecture is correct, it could mean catastrophic damage to this nation, so."
"Right."
While nodding at Nokor's words, Rei already harbored the thought that perhaps at this very point in time, the situation had already become fatal for the nation of Reblurina.
In the first place, the moment this nation's upper echelons had formed a cooperative relationship with Jaya, the damage to the nation was great. What's more, Jaya treated women forcibly brought from other countries almost like living sacrifices, producing Giants—the possibility that they were producing them was extremely high.
Even if it's the nation's upper echelons, exactly which ones are cooperating... that also becomes a problem in this case.
If the King of Mireana knew nothing, it might be possible to somehow preserve the nation's form. But if even the King of Mireana, the nation's leader, was party to this scheme... Rei could not predict how far the consequences of this turmoil would spread.
Indeed, there was even the possibility that the nation of Reblurina itself would be crushed and absorbed by the Mireana Kingdom if the situation was steered poorly.
Thinking that Nokor would not want that either, Rei saw off the figure of Nokor bowing his head and departing.
Timing it for when Nokor was gone, Vihera opened her mouth.
"So, how do you really feel about this matter, Rei?"
"How I feel, you say... Honestly, I didn't think it would turn into something this big. We're waiting for a Communication from Lord Daskar. Elena, I'm counting on you."
"Aye. Once this meal is over, I shall put in a Communication to Ara immediately. This matter is quite important, so if we're lucky, we may be able to hear instructions from Lord Daskar by tonight."
Daskar already had a massive amount of work from the expansion construction, but there was no doubt that upon learning of this affair, his workload would become even heavier.
Of course, that was by no means a bad thing, but on the single point of Daskar's busyness, it was not solely a good thing.
Rei understood that as well, but the current situation unfolding in the nation of Reblurina was unmistakably not something they could judge on their own. Ultimately, they needed Daskar to make the judgment.
"Count on you."
That was why he answered with only that brief word to Elena's words.
Whether she was pleased at being relied on by Rei, Elena floated a smile and opened her mouth.
"Leave it to me. However, the very reason this method is possible is because Rei lent a Paired Orb to Ara. In that sense, me being praised is... something I'm a little unsure about."
"Oh, since you went to the trouble of getting praised by Rei, you should just honestly be happy about it."
Marina said so with an amused smile.
Despite this nation being in a crisis of survival, there was no bleak atmosphere among Rei and the others.
This was likely related to the fact that Rei and his group were not originally citizens of this nation, the nation of Reblurina. Also, there was the thought that even if they wore grim expressions here, it wouldn't make things any better.
If so, they figured it was better to rest up even a little here for the sake of tomorrow.
When the meal finished, Marina released the Spirit Magic. Until now, whatever they said inside had been fine, but from here on, they had to properly consider the content of what they spoke.
"...Hm?"
Suddenly, Rei noticed an Abnormality. The guests around were, for some reason, looking at him with admiring eyes.
But Rei was also used to being the center of attention. Without minding the gazes, he returned to the room he was staying in.
And then, as a matter of course, the three of Marina, Vihera, and Byune entered Rei's room.
Note that Elena alone was already in her own room, promptly contacting Ara about this matter.
Rei didn't entirely dismiss the thought that if they were going to use a Paired Orb, wouldn't it be fine to use it in his own room, but for some reason when he said that, Elena dyed her white cheeks bright red and glared at him, so he stopped saying any more about it.
"Ah... even so, I didn't think I'd get caught up in something this troublesome when I just came for retaliation."
Sitting on the floor and leaning his back against the wall, Rei muttered with a sigh.
If it were only retaliation, it shouldn't have been something so troublesome. But if retaliation would possibly drag in a large number of unrelated—or rather, those who should be called victims of Jaya—then there was no way they could simply do such a thing.
"Right. But for Rei, it seems like you might be able to obtain Magic Items, so isn't that good?"
"Even if you say Magic Items, what am I supposed to do with something like a Slave Collar?"
At Rei's words, Marina floated a smile saying that's right.
"Rei doesn't want slaves. Normally, there are a lot of people who want slaves, though."
Marina's words were an unmistakable truth.
Rei sometimes sold captured Bandits as slaves, but he himself had no desire for slaves. This was not necessarily because Rei had memories of living as a Japanese person, but simply because, somehow or other, he couldn't really bring himself to like the existence of slaves, which was a big factor.
Among adventurers, there were not a few who used slaves as a labor force, but in Rei's case, he had no problems even without using slaves. Before forming a party, he had moved around by riding on Set, so even if he had a slave, they would only have been a hindrance.
And now, he had formed the party known as the Crimson Lotus Wings, and every member was capable of various things. Especially Marina's Spirit Magic, from Rei's perspective, held power that could be called omnipotent.
Asked whether he wanted a slave under such circumstances...
Ah, if there were a Bandit slave, they could help raise Byune's proficiency. In that sense, I do want one... but it doesn't have to be a slave specifically, does it?
Byune, who was a Bandit, had through the special training conducted with Vihera during winter acquired abilities specialized for combat. Rei thought that, if possible, he wanted Byune to also properly acquire abilities as a Bandit.