While Set fought outside, Rei and his party pressed deeper into the Underground Facility.
Every now and then, as if in afterthought, a trap would trigger—arrows flying out or spears dropping from the ceiling—but since they knew the traps were there, such things were hardly a concern for Rei and his companions.
Meanwhile, Byune, taking point, found and disarmed traps as they went.
By all accounts, their progress was smooth.
Smooth progress was fine, but...
"The problem is, we don't know where to go."
The man they had brought as a guide was already dead, killed by a trap arrow.
As a result, Rei and his party were left wandering the Underground Facility with no one to guide them.
"For now, should we just duck into one of these rooms and try to gather some information?"
"That's about the only option. ...Though it'd be a lot quicker if there was actually someone inside," Vihera said with an annoyed sigh.
In truth, they had no idea which room might contain information about this Underground Facility.
No—they didn't even know if there was any information here at all.
"Can't you do something with your Spirit Magic, Marina?"
Elena, apparently finding the prospect of searching rooms one by one just as tedious as Vihera did, asked Marina.
"Hmm, let's see. This is an Underground Facility, so there are a fair number of Wind Spirits around... but underground is underground. They don't really listen to me here."
"Your Spirit Magic has remarkably high versatility, but I suppose it has an unexpected weakness after all. Well, perhaps 'weakness' is too strong a word."
Using Fire Spirits underwater or Water Spirits in a desert was, naturally, difficult.
...The fact that it was merely difficult rather than outright impossible, however, was a testament to Marina's skill.
"For now, there might be someone in one of these rooms... Let's go take a look. Byune, do you sense a room where someone might be?"
"Mm!"
At Vihera's words, Byune immediately pointed to one of the doors.
Whether she had detected a human presence from within or had judged someone was there for some entirely different reason was unclear. Regardless, the prospect of finding someone inside was a welcome one for Rei and his party.
(Unlike the man from earlier, this time it's someone who actually works inside this facility. I don't know if it's a man or a woman, but there's no doubt they'll know the details of what goes on here. Using them as trap bait is out of the question, though.)
Honestly, Rei's stance was that anyone cooperating with Jaya could drop dead for all he cared.
Even so, if this person was his best lead on information about the Underground Facility, he couldn't afford to let them die.
With that in mind, Rei decided to proceed a bit more cautiously this time as he moved to stand in front of the door Byune had indicated.
(Nobody walking around the Underground Facility... The fact that no one is out and about right now is because the traps are going off, right? ...Then again, I doubt traps go off on a daily basis.)
If they did, everyone in this facility would have to possess at least a certain level of thieving skill.
Given that Jaya was an illegal organization operating in the shadows, that wouldn't be strange... but having every single member be that skilled still felt off.
Which meant they had most likely evacuated the moment Rei and his party broke in, or each room had its own escape route separate from the door now standing in front of Rei.
(Well, which is it?)
With that thought, Rei knocked on the door.
The wooden door echoed with a light knocking sound, but there was no sign of anyone coming out from the other side.
For a moment, Rei wondered if whoever was inside was holding their breath—but the presence beyond the door didn't feel tense at all.
"What's going on in there?"
"Who knows? If you're asking me, I haven't the faintest idea."
"...Fair enough."
Rei had muttered those words wondering why there was no response, but Marina, standing beside him, apparently assumed the question was directed at her.
When Marina replied that she wouldn't know even if he asked her, Rei gave a brief nod and tried to open the door.
Fortunately for him, it was a sliding door rather than one with a knob.
He managed to slide it open a crack, but then it stopped and wouldn't budge any further.
"Not a lock—more like a bar or something wedging it shut. ...What a pain."
Naturally, breaking the door down wouldn't be difficult if Rei put his mind to it.
But with this many traps rigged throughout the facility, he was wary of forcing doors open.
He hesitated for less than ten seconds before Elena, who had been watching, spoke up.
"Ielo, you're up."
"Kyu!"
The gap Rei had managed to create wasn't wide enough for a person to fit through, but it was more than sufficient for Ielo.
Elena's plan was simple: send Ielo inside to remove whatever was blocking the door.
Besides, Ielo's defensive capabilities were exceptionally high. Elena was confident that the caliber of traps they'd encountered since entering the Underground Facility couldn't so much as scratch it.
Bearing Elena's expectations, Ielo slipped through the gap and disappeared into the room.
Even though she was confident, Elena still held her breath as she waited for the door to open.
After a few moments, a wooden clatter echoed through the corridor—the sound of something falling to the floor.
Rei pulled the door, and it swung open without resistance.
A moment later, Ielo emerged from the gap, flapping its small wings with a proud air.
How's that? I did it. Pretty amazing, right? Ielo's demeanor seemed to say.
Had a person struck such a calculated pose, some would have found it cloying and felt irritated.
With Ielo, however, its inherent charm made the gesture endearing, and everyone accepted it without complaint.
Elena, Ielo's master, stroked the little creature as it chirped "Kyuukyuu," and the party filed into the room.
The corridor had been wide enough to swing the Death Scythe with room to spare.
Inside the room, that was obviously out of the question, so Rei had already stowed the scythe in his Misty Ring and was now empty-handed.
...Not that being unarmed made him fatally vulnerable. Given his inhuman physical abilities, a swiftly thrown punch could actually outpace the attack speed of an ordinary weapon.
Carrying that dangerous weapon within himself, Rei stepped into the room alongside the others.
The room itself wasn't particularly large—just an entrance hall and a few adjoining rooms.
(Sort of like an apartment or condo layout, I guess.)
Rei surveyed the interior as the thought crossed his mind.
Back in Japan, his family home had been a detached house, and every house in the neighborhood had been the same.
In the city, though, apartments and condos were naturally common, and some of his friends had lived in such places.
Manga and anime frequently featured apartments and condos as well, and they appeared on TV all the time.
That was why the layout of this room had struck him with that particular impression.
"Is anyone here?"
Calling out after already entering was hardly proper etiquette.
But then again, Rei had forcibly broken into this Underground Facility in the first place. Manners were a moot point at this stage.
"...No answer, huh. We'd better check inside. They should know that hiding from us is next to impossible."
Vihera muttered and headed toward the back of the room. She stopped after a few paces and turned back toward Rei and the others with an exasperated look on her face.
Wondering what had happened, Rei judged from Vihera's demeanor that there was no danger and moved to join her.
The moment he saw what she was looking at, he understood exactly why she looked so exasperated.
A man sat slumped over the desk, sound asleep.
There was a bed not far away, yet the man had chosen to crash on the desk instead.
(Fell asleep at his desk, huh?)
Rei observed the man's state. Most likely, the fact that he had fallen asleep here was the reason this man alone had remained in the area while everyone else had cleared out. Rei couldn't exactly hold that against him.
"The room is quite cluttered, too. ...I suppose this is what a model of an enthusiastic researcher looks like?" Marina murmured, taking in the scene as she caught up.
Documents—or perhaps reports—were scattered all over the room, along with a bewildering array of experimental instruments whose purpose Rei couldn't begin to fathom.
"Yeah. Though considering what they're actually researching, I can't exactly praise their dedication."
Of all the research being conducted by Jaya, the first thing that came to mind was, naturally, the Giants.
They were probably studying Magic Items and the like as well, but when it came to sheer impact, the Giants overshadowed everything else.
That being the case, no matter how dedicated a researcher might appear, Rei couldn't condone their work. He shook his head slightly.
"For now, we need to wake him up and get some answers."
Rei picked his way through the clutter of experimental instruments, documents, and what looked like reports strewn across the floor, careful not to step on anything as he approached the sleeping man.
(With the floor in this state, how does this guy even get around the room? Well, the bed is clear of clutter, so he probably sleeps there normally.)
Such questions lingering in his mind, Rei reached the side of the desk.
Despite his close approach, the sleeping researcher showed no sign of waking.
Then again, the man hadn't even stirred at the sound of the bar brace clattering to the floor, so Rei hardly expected him to wake just from sensing a presence.
(Come to think of it, when I used to doze off during class in high school, I slept like this sometimes. ...Got caught right away, though.)
Sleeping with his upper body fully collapsed onto the desk meant the teacher would spot him instantly.
This posture was only survivable during tests, after he had finished everything and had nothing left to do.
On ordinary days, his standard method was to prop his chin on one hand and pretend to read the textbook while dozing.
Feeling a wave of nostalgia for his high school days in Japan, Rei lightly rapped the sleeping man on the head.
A soft kon sound echoed through the room, but the man didn't so much as stir.
(Just how exhausted was he? Well, that's probably why he didn't evacuate with everyone else, at least.)
In Rei's mind, researchers lived with their day and night cycles reversed.
Mejougo, too, revolved around brothels—or more accurately, was composed almost entirely of brothels—meaning its entire rhythm was inverted.
Add to that a researcher who had likely collapsed from exhaustion on top of an already reversed schedule, and it wasn't at all strange for him to be fast asleep at this hour.
Under normal circumstances, Rei might have let him sleep or even carried him to the bed. Unfortunately, they didn't have that kind of time.
Information about this Underground Facility—especially about the Giants—demanded a source.
"Hey, wake up!"
Rei struck the man's head again, harder this time—with his palm rather than his fist.
Instead of a dull kon, a sharp smack rang out through the room.
"Nuooh! What—what!?"
Whatever that last hit was, it proved stronger than sleep. The man jolted awake in a panic.
He looked around frantically and, unsurprisingly, discovered Rei and his party standing in his room.
Not just Rei, but Elena, Marina, Vihera, and Byune as well.
Ielo was cradled in Elena's arms, so it didn't take up much space, but even so, having six beings in this room naturally made it feel cramped.
"Who are you?"
The man stared at Rei with a bewildered expression, clearly unable to grasp what was happening.
Rei flashed a full smile and spoke.
"Just a bit of an intruder. How about you tell us everything you know?"