"……In other words, you stepped outside the inn because you had free time, and while you were buying food to eat, Byune was harassed by them?"
"Yes, that's about right."
A diner situated a short distance from the spot where the brawl had broken out. At an hour when it was about to get busy with customers coming for an early lunch, Rei and his party were inside.
Naturally, since they were borrowing the space, they couldn't very well order nothing, and they were a little hungry anyway, so they ordered some appropriate dishes before sitting down.
"Listen, fortunately the guards didn't show up……no, we left that place before they could, so it was fine. But if things had gone poorly, there was a real chance you could have been arrested by the guards, you know? Right in the middle of this busy period."
Marina muttered in exasperation, but Vihera simply offered a small smile as she picked up a piece of fruit.
The fruit, which looked similar to grapes, was characterized by its strong acidity and red flesh.
After savoring that intense tartness, Vihera spoke.
"But considering how practiced their methods were, all sorts of people must have fallen victim to them before, right? Was it really okay to just leave that alone?"
"That's……"
Marina was at a loss for words.
Given that they had come to Rossi to retaliate against Jaya, telling her to ignore it would have been the correct thing to do.
But as an adventurer, and as a woman, she didn't want to say that it was fine to just look the other way.
"Besides, there's no doubt that those men were after me. The Byune Incident was just a pretext."
"……If that's the case, I think it would be better if you wore more modest clothing."
The biggest reason the adventurer trio had harassed them was, without a doubt, Vihera's flimsy attire that could be mistaken for a dancer or a prostitute.
She was showing off a figure so attractive that nearly any man would swallow involuntarily. It was only natural that the young men Vihera had been fighting earlier would get hot-blooded over that sex appeal.
Not to mention, the other side likely hadn't known that Vihera was the Vihera……a member of the Crimson Lotus Wings, a B-Rank party and one of the most formidable forces in Gilm.
If Set had been with them, they probably wouldn't have dared to lay a finger on her. Unfortunately, Set was currently asleep in the stables along with Ielo.
Under those circumstances, walking around town with a child like Byune, it was inevitable that she would be harassed by men brimming with excessive lust.
What's more, near Rossi right now was Mejougo, a district consisting entirely of brothels and taverns.
Because of that, it was only natural for there to be an abundance of young men with pent-up sexual desire.
Naturally, Mejougo wasn't accessible only from Rossi.
Carriages departed from several other villages and towns as well……but even so, heading there from Rossi, the capital of Reblurina, was the fastest route.
"……You say that, but in terms of stimulating the opposite sex's desire, Marina, you aren't so different, are you? No, I'd say you're actually more stimulating than I am."
As Vihera said this, her gaze was directed at the party dress Marina was wearing……or more precisely, at her deeply exposed cleavage.
Purely in terms of skin exposure, Vihera's was higher than Marina's.
However, the party dress that directly showcased that deep cleavage, combined with Marina's charm—a Dark Elf whose figure seemed to be the very embodiment of feminine allure—was by no means inferior to Vihera's when it came to arousing desire in the opposite sex.
"Good grief. Would it not be better for both Marina and Vihera to show a bit more modesty? Look at me. I am not dressed in a way that would provoke men……"
"How naive."
It was Marina who cut off Elena's words mid-sentence.
Gazing at Elena, who had stopped short at the sudden interruption, Marina spoke.
"For some people, the very fact that something is hidden is what fuels their imagination. ……Thinking of it that way, someone like Elena, who looks every bit the female knight, is the prime target for exactly that."
"Eh!?"
It must have been a completely unexpected remark. A voice of astonishment, rare for Elena, rang out.
Indeed, Elena had a figure that looked as though it were forcibly containing its ample bust, along with features that could only be described as a golden beauty.
Looking at Elena like that, it wouldn't be strange for any man to conjure up unspeakable fantasies……and delusions in his mind.
(I remember "corruption" and stuff like that being pretty popular.)
Recalling that the trope had been trendy for a while in the manga and novels he read while in Japan……no, by that point it had already moved beyond a trend and established itself as its own genre, Rei thought with a sense of half-escapism as he reached for the bread on the table.
It was bread baked that morning and had already gone cold, but the still-fluffy and soft white bread was more than enough to please Rei's palate.
After that, for about twenty minutes, Elena, Marina, and Vihera argued about various things, but neither Rei nor Byune intervened. They simply enjoyed their meal.
Once the argument ended and he judged the right moment as everyone moistened their throats with fruit water, Rei spoke up.
"Now then, what should we do for the rest of today?…… What do you all think? We've already accomplished our main objective, and there's nothing left to do."
"……You're right. In that case, why don't we all take a walk around Rossi together? Whatever else might be said, we've been busy since arriving in Rossi, so wouldn't it be nice to just let loose and have fun together for once?"
This was the suggestion that casually slipped from Marina's mouth.
No one objected, likely because they all understood that there was nothing they could do at the moment.
To be precise, they could take action immediately if they intended to, but the major factor was that the Resistance wasn't ready yet.
Understanding that, the result was that they all decided to look around Rossi together.
Around the time Rei and his party were walking around Rossi, Sura in Mejougo was sternly tightening her expression at the sudden news.
"Is that……true? This isn't a joke or anything, is it?"
"Yes. It's information from Nokor, who has been cooperating with us in Rossi."
"……I see."
Responding to her comrade's words, Sura stood up, her thin garments, like those of a prostitute, swaying.
The reason she wore such clothing was, naturally, to deceive Jaya's eyes.
The majority of those in Mejougo were prostitutes and those associated with them.
Given that was the case, if she wanted to blend in, it was only natural that she should take the form of a prostitute.
Naturally, like the other prostitutes wore, she also wore a choka-like slave collar that was an exact replica in appearance alone.
……However, precisely because she looked entirely like a prostitute, the men inside the building they used as a hideout—those who had only recently joined the Resistance—were blushing and averting their gazes from Sura.
Without paying any mind to the gazes of those men, Sura thought.
"I figured something was up since Rei came here, but……this is still fast. Too fast. If only we had twenty more days……no, fifteen days……"
The Resistance's main force had been annihilated in a previous attack by Jaya, but that didn't mean they had no other combat power.
But the organization known as Jaya had taken root all across Reblurina.
Because of that, it was only natural that the Resistance's combat power needed to be scattered throughout the country.
Even without their main force, the Resistance had been stretching themselves quite thin, and……this time, it had backfired.
Since word had come that Rei would launch an assault on Mejougo as early as today or tomorrow, the Resistance couldn't afford to fall behind.
With the conviction that they were the ones who had been fighting against Jaya all this time, they could never accept letting Rei fight while they simply watched from the sidelines.
But at the same time, they also had the desire to free those who were currently suffering in Mejougo——who likely had no awareness of the fact themselves—even a day sooner, rather than doing so for their own pride.
"No, but……is it really possible? That's the building of no return, you know?"
One of Sura's comrades muttered in disbelief.
The Resistance already knew that there was a building in the center of Mejougo that led to the underground facility.
Since they knew, they had naturally dispatched several people to try and gather intel, but not a single one had ever returned.
As a result, the building leading to the underground facility came to be known as the building of no return, and with the Resistance already lacking in combat power, they no longer had the leeway to send anyone there. Ultimately, it became an untouchable entity.
That had been the state of things even when the Resistance's main force was intact. Now that the main force had been wiped out, it was only natural that they couldn't possibly dare to lay a hand on that building.
"It would be impossible for us. But……the opponent is the Crimson, right? And not just the Crimson, but the other party members are assembled as well. If so, I don't think storming that building would be difficult for them. Besides, the Crimson Lotus Wings have a gryphon. They don't need to advance on the ground like we do."
"……I'm jealous."
At Sura's words, one of her comrades let out an involuntary murmur.
Indeed, being able to fly held a very significant advantage here in Elgin.
Naturally, an existence like a Dragon Knight riding a wyvern did not exist within the Resistance.
No, it wasn't just the Resistance—the small nation of Reblurina didn't have any Dragon Knights either.
In other words, in this country, simply being able to fly gave one an overwhelming advantage over other forces.
The fact that they could directly storm the building leading to the underground facility made that abundantly clear.
(Then again, it wouldn't be strange if Jaya had some means of flight as well.)
For some reason, the organization they despised possessed an abundance of Magic Items.
They possessed a quantity of Magic Items that would normally be impossible to acquire even for an entire nation like Reblurina.
To Sura, it even raised the question of why, despite holding that many Magic Items, they were content to remain merely a single organization.
"The underground facility, huh. We tried digging a tunnel once before, but it ended up being a wasted effort in the end."
Sura, who had been lost in thoughts about Jaya, snapped back to reality at her comrade's words.
"That incident……couldn't be helped. I mean, it's called an underground facility for a reason. It's only natural to think that if you dig underground, you might be able to reach it, right?"
Digging through the ground to reach the underground facility.
The one who proposed that was Sura.
But Sura herself had only said it half-jokingly. She never imagined that those leading the Resistance at the time would actually attempt it.
If Rei heard about it, he might have called it a "Columbus's egg?"—an idea close to a reversal of conventional thinking.
However, digging a hole toward the underground in Mejougo, which was under Jaya's control……and doing so without being discovered, was naturally quite difficult.
In the end, they dug inside an unused shed, struggled with where to dispose of the excavated soil……and even after digging about five meters down, they never reached the underground facility. Ultimately, the plan was scrapped.
"No, I'm not blaming you or anything."
Perhaps noticing Sura glaring at him with sharp eyes, the man hurriedly offered that follow-up.
Sura stared at the man for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh and speaking again.
"Let's get back to the topic. At any rate, the choices available to us right now aren't many. First, we cooperate with Rei and his group to ensure that no one else suffers collateral damage during the assault. Alternatively, out of our own pride, we half-abandon that role and attack alongside Rei and his group."
One of those listening to Sura's proposal spoke up.
"There seem to be other options besides those, but……before I voice them, I want to ask one thing. Those Giants that literally wiped us out. Can this Rei guy defeat them?"
That man was one of the survivors of the main force that had been attacked by the Giants.
Precisely because he had seen the power of the Giants with his own eyes, he couldn't easily believe that Rei, who had only been heard of through rumor and whose strength he hadn't actually witnessed, could manage something against Jaya with such a small group.
"I haven't seen Rei fight either, but when it comes to his strength, I don't think there's any problem."
"How can you believe in him that much? You only met him briefly, didn't you, Sura? Then……"
"That's right, just briefly. But……I just felt like I could somehow believe in him. A woman's intuition."
Under normal circumstances, if someone said they decided to trust another based on a woman's intuition, it would undoubtedly be rejected.
However, Sura had saved the Resistance from crisis time and time again with that very intuition.
It was precisely because she possessed that intuition that someone like Sura, still a young woman, was commanding the current Resistance.
"And according to my intuition……in order to destroy Jaya and cleanse this country, I believe it would be best to fully cooperate with Rei."
Floating a radiant smile, Sura declared.