The day after using the Paired Orb to speak with Daskar, Rei and his companions received a return visit from a certain individual.
They had just finished breakfast in the dining hall and were about to head out to survey the situation in Mejougo, planning to launch an assault if all looked clear. This visit caught them right at that moment.
Since night was when things truly came alive in Mejougo, the current morning hour was undoubtedly the equivalent of dead night for the people who normally worked there.
Because of that, Rei predicted the defensive forces resisting them would be thinner than if they attacked under cover of darkness.
Of course, that did not mean the defensive forces would be nonexistent during such a time. If the current hour was close to midnight for the residents of Mejougo, then standing guard was only natural.
There had been talk of cooperating with the Resistance to some extent, but since Daskar had told them the night before to act as they pleased, they had no intention of prioritizing that arrangement.
However, if Rei's party launched an attack on Mejougo, it would without question become a major uproar. Marina offered the opinion that, in order to reduce the number of injuries and casualties caused by such a disturbance as much as possible, the cooperation of the Resistance, with its greater numbers, was after all essential.
In truth, Rei's party possessed combat power fitting the title of one warrior worth a thousand, unmatched by ten thousand. But when it came to sheer headcount, they were undeniably few.
Given that reality, if asked whether they could manage to prevent collateral accidents when an uproar broke out in a town the size of Mejougo, the answer was no.
Marina's Spirit Magic was versatile enough to be called omnipotent, but even so, it could not make the impossible possible. Would it not be fine to have the Resistance handle that aspect?
That was what they were discussing when a visitor arrived.
"Thank you for yesterday, Lord Rei. I never imagined you were an Alias Holder adventurer, so it took me a little while to find you."
The person who said this, offered an affable smile, and bowed his head was someone Rei recognized. It was the very man he had rescued the day before from a bandit attack: Ryutas.
"You were Ryutas, right? Still, how did you know I was here?"
When Rei had saved him the day before, he had not mentioned that he was Rei, or more precisely, an adventurer of the Kingdom of Mireana who held the alias of Crimson.
Judging by appearance alone, thanks to the Dragon Robe's concealment effect, it was impossible to connect Rei to Crimson. Much less, his symbol and partner Set had not been present either.
(Did he figure it out from when I showed him the Misty Ring? But discerning that the Misty Ring is a genuine Item Box would be difficult, wouldn't it?)
The Magic Item that served as a degraded version of the Item Box was somewhat rare but still in circulation. Seeing Rei's Misty Ring and judging whether it was a genuine Item Box or a lesser version should not have been easy.
For those reasons, Rei simply could not understand how Ryutas had managed to find him.
"I am a merchant, after all, so I gather all manner of information. With that being the case, finding Lord Rei was not so difficult. You stand out in various ways, after all."
"Do I? I understand standing out, but I think finding me from that alone would be difficult."
Rei's murmured words were by no means wrong. If these had been beauties like Elena, Marina, or Vihera, then finding them would indeed not be difficult. But in Rei's case, he was also wearing the Dragon Robe's hood, so compared to the other three, he stood out far less.
Since the Dragon Robe also suppressed his presence through its concealment effect, finding Rei as Rei should have been considerably difficult.
"That area is where a merchant's information network comes in. It seems I was able to surprise you, which is above all else."
Looking at Ryutas, who informed him of this with a refreshing smile, Rei accepted that merchants were simply that kind of breed.
However, only Elena and Marina did not fully believe Ryutas's words. The information networks held by merchants were without a doubt superior to those of lesser nobles, or rather, even above those of the royal family. But of course, there was a vast difference between the information network held by a merchant of the small nation of Reblurina and the one held by a great merchant of the Kingdom of Mireana. They must have felt a sense of incongruity about that.
"Hmm. Merchants are something else, huh. So, what business do you have today? Could it really be just about yesterday's matter?"
"No, no. Of course, as long as I am also a merchant, coming to see you like this is in pursuit of an appropriate profit. By the way, Lord Rei. Why would a famous adventurer like yourself be in such a small country? If there is anything I can help with, I would like you to let me assist."
Ryutas asked with an affable smile, but Rei shook his head.
"No, I came because I had a small request, but that is already finished. It is just that things had been busy for a while lately, so I am taking a little rest now. You do not particularly need to worry about it."
"Is that so? Lord Rei, I had my life saved by you yesterday. I wanted to return that favor, but that is unfortunate. Ah, but if anything happens, please come to my shop. I will help you as much as I can."
Saying that, Ryutas indicated the name of a shop located slightly away from the main street. However, Rei's party had only just arrived in Rossi, so they did not know the specific location of the place Ryutas explained to them and only understood the general area.
"I see. I will drop by if I need anything. Is that fine?"
"Yes. Of course I will charge you a fee, but I will let you study as much as I can."
Informing him of that, Ryutas bowed his head, stood up, and exited Rei's room.
Seeing him off, Rei turned his gaze toward the people remaining in the room.
"Now then, what do you think?"
The murmured words were only a single phrase, but the meaning they carried was significant.
"Hmm, it was Ryutas, right? He himself did not look particularly trained."
The first to open her mouth was Vihera. Since Ryutas was not a particularly strong opponent, she could not muster much interest in him.
"That is right. Since he travels between towns and villages, he seems more trained than someone living in a city, but it would be about that level."
Marina agreed with Vihera's words and murmured so. However, a slight hint of doubt was mixed into Marina's tone.
Sensing that, Elena opened her mouth with a lustrous smile.
"It is not that there was anything overtly suspicious, but it is certain that something felt off."
"Yes, that sort of feeling. It is only a hunch, though."
To Elena's words, Marina nodded as if in agreement. Hunches, a woman's hunch, an adventurer's hunch, there were various kinds of hunches, but that sense called a hunch was not something entirely meaningless. It was something that those who did life-risking work, beginning with adventurers, understood as a matter of course.
Given that was the case, it was impossible to assert definitively that Ryutas was a safe person. Of course, deciding everything by hunch alone was quite unreasonable. But if Ryutas was suspicious to Rei's party now, then the most likely possibility connected to that was...
"Jaya, huh."
"There is no firm confirmation, but the possibility is not low."
To Marina's words, everyone present nodded. Since they had entered Rossi so openly, the fact that their existence would become known to Jaya was something expected from the start. Was it not possible that Jaya, having sensed that, dispatched Ryutas to observe the state of Rei's party? To Marina, who stated that, no one raised any objection.
"Does that mean saving Ryutas when he was being attacked by Bandits was exactly what they aimed for?"
"That is I wonder. I do not think so. It is just that because Rei and Ryutas became acquainted through that incident, the possibility that Ryutas was dispatched cannot be denied."
To those words, which stated that Ryutas was dispatched because he had coincidentally become acquainted with Rei, Rei nodded in understanding.
"At any rate, if they've recognized us here, it'll get harder to move if we take our time. We really need to shift to action on our end as quickly as possible too."
"Hm. In that case, are you still not cooperating with the Resistance?"
"I wonder. If it would take time for them to act, then I wouldn't mind cooperating, but considering Nokor has been moving since yesterday, it wouldn't be strange for him to bring back a reply around now."
Though it was only the day after yesterday, Rei did not know where the Resistance was operating. No, since they were prioritizing the Mejougo incident, he understood that of course their main activities were in Mejougo. However, since it was the Resistance, unless they made contact from their side, it would be difficult for Rei's party to make contact with them.
(Should I talk to Unchuu about it? That would end up being the quickest way as a result.)
For Rei's party, the person connected to the Resistance with whom they could get in touch immediately was only Unchuu. He was an Information Broker, but since he was someone who was hostile toward Jaya, the significant point was that they did not need to worry about information leaking.
"I'm going to go to Unchuu's place for a bit, but what about the rest of you?"
"Even if you say that, if I'm left here now, there's nothing in particular to do. I'll go along too. What about Elena and the others?"
"I shall go along as well. There is also a need to report this matter to my house, so I want to know if there is anything important."
"I'll pass. It was a bit late yesterday, and I'm still a little sleepy, so I'll be sleeping in my room."
"Mm."
To Vihera's words, Byune muttered briefly as usual. Rei's party did not understand that meaning, but it seems it was naturally understood by Vihera. She opened her mouth with a slightly exasperated look.
"It seems Byune wants to go around buying things to eat at the food stalls. Well, there should be no problem, right?"
To Vihera, who asked that with a confirming intent, Rei returned a nod. Byune was a Bandit, but she was a Bandit who had specialized in combat power. While it would be a different story for an opponent possessing strength like Rei's party, Rei had the trust that she could manage somehow against the kind of people present in this country.
Ryutas, having exited the inn where Rei's party was staying, proceeded down the street while floating a smile. He had only been walking, but as he kept walking, one man, then another, revealed their appearances as men gathered around him. Despite that, Ryutas maintained a calm smile and showed no sign of feeling fear toward the surrounding men. It was only natural. Those men were not Ryutas's enemies, but his guards.
"So, Young Master. How was it?"
One of the guards asked in a somewhat timid manner. To the male guard, making enemies of Rei and his companions was a situation he absolutely wanted to avoid. It was to the point where, if even half of the rumors flowing in about Rei's strength were true, or even a tenth, he understood that they would be completely helpless. If they were to make an enemy of Rei, he even found himself thinking that perhaps it would be better to pick a fight with the surrounding nations of Reblurina instead. Of course, if they were to do such a thing, there would be no guarantee for their lives. There would not be, but even so, it seemed to him several degrees better than fighting Rei's party.
However, that wish of the male guard was easily denied by Ryutas.
"It is probably a matter of time. Likely before long, if they act quickly, they might make a move within a few days."
At those words, not only the man who had spoken to Ryutas but the expressions of the other men grew pale as well. However, what Ryutas was mistaken about at this point was that he had considered the number of days until Rei's party would act based solely on his own common sense.
When a group of people to some extent, beginning with Jaya to which Ryutas belonged, initiated action, they had to gather supplies, gather people, gather information, and on top of that, formulate an assault plan. Compared to that, Rei's party possessed combat power with which they could manage a town of one by themselves as individuals, and because they were few in number, they had almost no need for supplies and the like, and they also had the Misty Ring, a supply storage.
As for strategy, they had the strength to brute-force their way through, so there was no particular need to formulate any special strategy. This difference in perception was, as expected, likely a difference in perception between Ryutas, who had lived in the small nation of Reblurina, and Rei's party, who had lived in the great nation of the Kingdom of Mireana.
However, it was fortunate that the perception Rei's party held, which was that they would prefer cooperating with the Resistance since they did not like attacking carelessly and causing harm to unrelated parties, prevented Ryutas's thinking from becoming a fatal mistake. That was largely a matter of luck.