"Uhh..."
Rei stared at the scene before him, unsure of what to say.
At the Guild, Lenora and Kenny had warned him to watch out for thieves. He'd even joked to himself that it sounded like some kind of flag.
But that had been half in jest. He never expected to actually witness a theft in progress.
Granted, the target wasn't Rei with Set in tow, but an old woman walking a short distance away from him. A man had burst from a side alley, snatched the bag she was carrying—calling it a bag was generous—and tried to flee. What was unlucky for him was that Set happened to be right there.
Even more unluckily for the thief, the old woman had fed Set many times before, and Set wasn't about to abandon someone who had always doted on him.
The instant Set heard the old woman's scream—no, the instant he saw the man snatch her bag—he charged and flattened the thief under his front legs.
That said, Set clearly understood that this was Gilm, that they were in the middle of town, because he had held back considerably. The thief had lost consciousness from a single blow, but he hadn't lost any limbs, his head wasn't crushed, and his internal organs were intact.
"Grrrrl."
"Oh, thank you. Yes, you're such a good boy."
The old woman whose bag had been stolen stroked Set's head while voicing her gratitude. Set didn't seem to mind the attention one bit. He leaned into her hands and purred contentedly.
Meanwhile, Rei kept watch over the unconscious thief—robber was probably the more accurate term—making sure he didn't escape.
He still thought it was like a flag, but since there was no one around who would understand that reference, he didn't bother saying it out loud.
As he waited for the guards to arrive, he suddenly noticed a red cloth tied around the fallen man's arm.
His first thought was that the man might have injured his arm and was binding it. But he quickly realized it wasn't blood or anything of the sort—just a plain strip of red cloth.
Rei felt a wave of relief—not out of concern for the robber, but reassurance that Set's strike hadn't caused any real injury—and took another look at the unconscious man.
There was nothing about him to suggest he was particularly fashion-conscious, which made the cloth around his arm all the more puzzling.
Not that Rei had ever cared much about fashion, even back in Japan. That hadn't changed since coming to Elgin, either. He normally just wore his Dragon Robe and didn't bother with anything else. Well, the Misty Ring on his right hand took the form of a bracelet, so maybe that counted as his one fashion accessory.
At any rate, even someone like Rei found the unconscious robber's ostentatious display of red cloth strange.
Even if the man had escaped without being spotted by Set, wrapping a conspicuous red cloth around his arm would serve as a dead giveaway, making it trivial to track him down.
(Or is that the point? It's just a cloth tied around his arm. If he gets away and takes it off, all evidence disappears. But... if they're thinking that far ahead, that's a little concerning.)
A vague sense of unease settled over him. At the same time, he felt genuinely offended that the color red—his own color, the one tied to his alias, Crimson—was being flaunted in the commission of crimes. Just as that irritation was building, a guard appeared, pushing through the crowd.
Gilm had a large number of guards, and thanks to various past events, Rei was on a first-name basis with many of them. The guard who arrived was, fortunately, one of them.
Even if it hadn't been, it would only mean the guard didn't know Rei personally. Anyone stationed in Gilm knew what kind of person he was. Still, it was only natural to prefer dealing with a familiar face when explaining a situation.
"Rough situation, Rei. Or rather, I suppose I should address Set."
The guard had apparently already heard the gist of things from whoever had come to report, judging by the casual way he spoke. His relaxed demeanor likely came from seeing that the robber was already out cold from Set's blow.
"Tell me about it. The snow's started falling, and this is the last kind of hassle I wanted to deal with. Not that I'm saying the guards should be doing a better job or anything."
"You're literally saying that right now."
The guard couldn't help but retort. But after doing so, he lowered his head with a somewhat apologetic look.
"I get why you'd say it, though, Rei. There's been an increase in these types lately. And with the expansion construction this year drawing in so many people, it's inevitable. ...Ah, figures. This one too."
After apologizing to Rei, the guard glanced at the man and muttered in annoyance.
If the guard had made that comment after seeing the man's face, Rei wouldn't have thought much of it. But what the guard was looking at was the man's right arm—specifically, the spot where the red cloth was wrapped.
Sensing something in the guard's reaction, Rei asked with a bad feeling creeping over him.
"Hey, don't tell me... these guys wrapping red cloth around their arms have been doing this sort of thing on a regular basis... have they?"
Anyone who knew Rei would have found the question hard to believe—he was asking almost timidly, as if afraid of the answer.
The guard's response was to quietly avert his gaze.
He knew Rei went by the alias Crimson. For someone to brazenly wrap red cloth around their arm and attempt to mug an old woman right in front of him—there was no way that wouldn't get under his skin.
"Heh... While I've been busy with all sorts of things, quite the entertaining bunch has crawled out of the woodwork in Gilm."
Rei wasn't claiming red as his exclusive color. Even so, the alias Crimson hadn't been earned alone. It existed because of everyone he had fought to get here. Among those opponents, there were certainly some he couldn't stand—but there were also enemies worthy of respect. Hearing that a group of people wrapping red cloth around their arms were repeatedly committing what amounted to petty crimes, not even proper banditry, didn't sit well with him at all.
Seeing Rei's expression, the guard couldn't help but look up at the sky. A few flakes of drifting snow landed on his face, and after letting the cold cool his head, he spoke again.
"Calm down for now. These guys might wrap red cloth around their arms, but they're just small-time crooks. They're not even on the level of the bandits you take down outside. They're hardly the kind of crowd an alias-holding High-Rank Adventurer needs to worry about."
The guard spoke to soothe Rei, but Rei didn't respond. Not because he had no rebuttal—he was simply lost in thought.
(Sigh.)
Seeing that look, the guard decided there was no getting through to him any further.
Still, there was no denying the guard also found the group committing extortion and robbery lately to be a real headache. If they were killing people, the investigation would have been far more serious. But the Red Cloth Group—whether by design, cowardice, or some other reason—never killed anyone. Nor did they target anyone of standing. Their victims were always the elderly, like the woman today, or others who couldn't fight back.
(Some organization must be pulling the strings behind the scenes... but what could they possibly gain by provoking Rei like this?)
The guard harbored that doubt, but decided that settling the immediate situation took priority and called out to the old woman, who was still petting Set.
"Granny, could you come down to the Guard Station? I'd like to take your statement."
"Me? That's fine, but... Set-chan isn't going to get in trouble, is he?"
"Ah, don't worry. All Set did was apprehend a criminal. If anything, he deserves praise, not scolding."
"Oh, that's a relief. Good boy, Set-chan."
"Gruu!"
Set let out a happy cry as the old woman stroked him.
The guard watched the two of them for a moment before turning back to Rei, who still seemed lost in thought.
"Come on, Rei. Snap out of it. I need to take your statement too."
Rei turned to him with a sigh.
"I'll ask just to be sure, but why are these guys still running loose? Isn't that your job?"
Rei wasn't actually angry. Well, he was angry at the ones wearing the red cloth, but not at the guards. Even so, perhaps stung by the intensity of Rei's gaze and a sense of guilt over allowing criminals to run rampant, the guard quietly looked away.
"You know that in Gilm right now, the guards alone aren't enough."
"Yeah, I know. But because it's not enough, you hired adventurers to help with patrols, right?"
"...That's right."
"Then why haven't these guys been caught?"
"Information about patrol routes is probably being leaked to them."
"I see. In other words, someone among the guards or adventurers is working with these guys."
Even as he said it, Rei figured the leak was more likely coming from the adventurers than the guards. Adventurers outnumbered guards significantly, and with the expansion construction drawing so many to Gilm, it was inevitable that some bad apples had come along. Not every adventurer who showed up was going to be on the up-and-up. It wouldn't be surprising at all if one of them was feeding information to the Red Cloth Group for some quick cash.
The guard understood this as well, and he nodded in response.
"Honestly. People doing this kind of thing for petty pocket money."
"...By the way, and I mean really just by the way, there's no problem if I catch these guys myself, right?"
"Ah... if you're asking whether anyone would care, they wouldn't, but this isn't work for an alias-holding High-Rank Adventurer, you know?"
"I know that. Even so, these guys are a bit... you know."
If it had been any color other than red, it might have been a different story. But the flaunting of red cloth—and doing so in Gilm, of all places, his own base of operations—had rubbed Rei the wrong way in a manner he couldn't quite shake.
Perhaps sensing the futility of pressing the point, the guard let the matter drop and turned back to the old woman, who was still doting on Set.
"Granny, I'm heading to the Guard Station. Could you come along?"
"Oh, no problem. ...Is Set-chan coming too?"
The old woman asked while still stroking Set, and the guard felt some of the tension drain from his shoulders. Coming right after that fraught exchange with Rei, the contrast was especially deflating.
"Rei needs to come too, so naturally Set will be with us."
"Is that so. Well then, shall we? Set-chan."
"Gruu!"
Set chirped at the old woman's words and rose to his feet.
While they were getting ready, several more guards arrived. After a brief exchange with the one who had been talking to Rei, they hauled off the still-unconscious man. The somewhat rough handling undoubtedly reflected their feelings about someone causing extra work on an already busy day.
"Alright, Rei. You're coming too. And I'll say this just in case: it's fine if you catch those Red Cloth Group members, but don't forget—if you go after them when they haven't done anything, worst case, I'll be the one who has to arrest you."
If he caught someone who had actually committed a crime, like today, there was no problem. But if Rei went after people just for wearing red cloth on their arms, he'd be the one looking at arrest.
...Though given the Red Cloth Group's shady dealings, it was an open question whether they'd ever actually file a complaint with the guards.