Having finished his conversation with Pamidor, Rei was once again walking around town with Set.
Pamidor, meanwhile, had mentioned he had a destination to reach, and they had already parted ways.
"Hmm... hey, Set. How do you think we should lure out whoever's pulling the strings behind this incident?"
"Gruu..."
Rei asked, but Set merely shook his head with a purr.
Even when asked, Set probably didn't have any particular ideas.
Not that Rei would blame him for that.
Rei hadn't come up with anything either, so he'd asked Set on the off chance he might.
"Ah, yeah. Don't worry about it. I'm not blaming you. It's just that we can't keep going on like this forever."
Rei muttered as he stroked Set.
Being petted, Set seemed to understand that Rei wasn't angry. He purred happily.
While stroking Set, Rei considered what he ought to do about the whole situation.
(It would be nice if they'd just slip up and show their hand, but there's no sign of that at all. Whenever they try to make a move, they use Red Cloth. ...To begin with, it's a real problem that we don't even know how many Red Cloth are left. Gran didn't seem to know about that, either.)
In the first place, Gran had been hired only to command the destruction of the Earth Wall and, afterward, to have the Red Cloth disposed of by Cobolts.
Given that, there was no way Gran himself would know anything about the Red Cloth... let alone the people backing them.
They had been watching the hideout as a known location, but that had ended with the guards surveilling it being attacked by Red Cloth.
At this point, Rei's honest assessment was that they had almost no leads left.
(Apparently they captured most of the Red Cloth members who launched the surprise attack, but considering the pattern so far, the chances of them having any useful information are near zero. Which means... the safest bet after all is to walk around town like this and make a show of being here? If so, then walking around town does serve a purpose.)
With these thoughts in mind, he walked along, scanning his surroundings...
"Ah."
He suddenly spotted a familiar face and stopped in his tracks.
It played out similarly to when Pamidor had called out to him earlier, but the difference this time was that Rei had noticed the other party first.
And since they had only recently met, Rei hadn't forgotten the man's face.
"!?"
Whether he'd caught Rei's mutter or not, the man suddenly looked toward Rei and sharply drew in his breath.
The reason he didn't try to run was probably because he judged that Rei wouldn't attack him without cause.
...In truth, Rei had only given chase because Gran—a far more important figure—had escaped. This man, one of the Red Cloth who had been arguing with another member about the construction of the Earth Wall when Rei encountered him, had simply been deemed irrelevant and let go.
At any rate, Rei approached the man together with Set.
Even seeing Rei approach, the man showed no sign of fleeing. He simply waited.
Though perhaps he just figured running would only get him caught.
"You were still in Gilm?"
"...Yeah, obviously. Leaving Gilm in the current situation would be suicidal. Especially alone."
"Probably. But still, being out here on the main street—isn't that suicidal in itself? It'd be dangerous for you if you were spotted."
The "danger" in this case didn't mean being found by the guards.
It meant it would be dangerous if he were found by the ones who had hired Gran.
This man had been working alongside Gran, and if the mastermind behind this incident assumed he knew that Gran had intended to let the Cobolts slaughter his men... then it wouldn't be strange for them to want this man dead, and they likely had the power to make it happen.
Despite that, here he was strolling carefreely down the main street. It was only natural for Rei to be dumbfounded.
"Easy for you to say. I can't exactly go to the Slum District, either."
This man hadn't personally caused trouble in the Slum District as a member of Red Cloth, but it was a fact that other Red Cloth members had stirred up exactly that kind of situation.
Given that, if the man went to the Slum District and was identified as Red Cloth, he could end up with life-threatening injuries.
He probably understood this himself, which was why he was avoiding the Slum District.
"It's your own fault. ...Still, what are you going to do? Want me to send you to the same place as Gran?"
"...With him? What happened to him, anyway?"
Since they had parted ways back at that location, the man naturally had no idea where Gran was now.
That was why he asked, but the faint fear in his expression was likely because he thought Rei might say Gran was in the afterlife.
Considering the intensity Rei had shown when chasing Gran yesterday, it wouldn't be strange for the man to think so.
Even so, from Rei's words just now, he gathered that Gran was neither dead nor captured by the guards, and asked accordingly.
"I handed him over to Gilm's Intelligence Unit. He's probably going through all sorts of training by now. ...Actually, maybe I should say studying."
Just because they were an intelligence unit operating behind the scenes in Gilm didn't mean they were exempt from coursework.
No—precisely because they were such an organization, there was a lot they needed to learn.
Even underworld figures... no, precisely because they moved in those circles, they had to be thorough about such things.
(Come to think of it, even Egg's subordinates—those guys who look like nothing but thugs—do that kind of coursework.)
As Rei was thinking this, the man he'd been talking to displayed an expression of utter distaste. Rei found himself curious.
The fact that he was this averse to the word "studying" suggested the man before him had a concrete understanding of what studying actually entailed.
If he had never studied at all before, it seemed unlikely he would have such a visceral reaction to the word.
Then again, there was also the possibility that someone had told him just how grueling and tedious an ordeal studying could be.
"What, you hate studying that much?"
"...Yeah."
"But is there anyone else you can rely on right now? If there is, you're welcome to depend on them instead... but someone like that wouldn't be strolling down the main street in a situation like this. Well, maybe you just weren't thinking."
"Urk... th-that's..."
The man was at a loss for words.
In truth, until Rei pointed it out, he probably hadn't realized just how dangerous his actions were.
Still, studying was apparently that undesirable. The man thought for a moment... and eventually spoke up.
"Then I won't stay here. I'll go hide out at a place I heard about a while back. That way, I don't need to rely on you, and I don't have to study or anything."
"Well, as long as they don't find you there..."
...that would work.
Rei was about to say as much, but suddenly stopped.
Something had snagged in his mind. He recalled the conversation they'd just had... and a realization struck him.
"You said a place you heard about a while back? Who from, exactly?"
"Huh? Well, who from... ah... who was it, again."
Perhaps because Rei's question caught him off guard, the man tried to remember who he'd heard it from, and eventually spoke.
"It was one of the guys who used to bring us food and stuff. We couldn't go outside and we were bored, so we ended up talking quite a bit with the people bringing supplies. During one of those conversations, I heard about it... I think."
"For someone who said he was going to go there, that's a pretty vague answer."
"Even if you say that, I only remembered because of what you just said. Can't be helped."
The man said this in a disgruntled tone, but Rei had no time for his complaints.
The location mentioned by the man who had been delivering food to them... that is, there was a high probability it was one of the hideouts belonging to the mastermind behind the Cobolt incident.
It might even be a genuine base of operations, not a disposable hideout like the ones Gran had known about.
(Could the guy delivering food have intentionally leaked that information...? No, but the other side couldn't have predicted this man would run into me and have this conversation. Which means it's a real possibility. If so...)
He quickly organized his thoughts.
This man might very well be the key to breaking through the dead end they'd reached in this case.
"Where is it?"
"Huh? Wa-wait. What's with the suddenness?"
"Just tell me. If you do... let's see, I'll tell the guards to take you into protective custody."
"...Really?"
At Rei's abruptly changed attitude, the man asked suspiciously.
It was only natural—he'd never expected Rei, who until now hadn't intended to completely abandon him but hadn't planned to go out of his way for him either, to suddenly offer protection.
Of course, what Rei said was merely that he'd tell the guards to protect him; Rei himself had no intention of sheltering the man.
"Really. That's how important the information you're carrying is. ...Though it seems you don't realize it."
There were absolutely no leads connecting to the figure behind this incident. Rei and the guards had hit a complete dead end in their investigation.
A clue suddenly surfacing in a situation like that meant letting it slip away was simply not an option.
Moreover, from the sound of it, the man might possess other information he didn't consider important but actually was.
Given that, overlooking such a valuable source was not an option for Rei.
"For now, we're going to the Guard Station. You're going to spill everything you know there."
"H-hey? Wa-wait a minute. This doesn't mean you're going to interrogate me or something, does it!?"
Told to spill everything, the man naturally wondered whether being taken into protective custody by the guards actually just meant being locked up.
...In reality, what Rei had in mind was putting him in a jail cell or somewhere similar to keep him safe, so the man wasn't entirely wrong.
"I don't intend to do that, but the best way to protect you is to have you stay somewhere sturdy. In that sense, a jail cell is actually ideal. ...At the very least, since there are guards posted there, you don't need to worry about the enemy's people getting to you in your cell so easily."
"That's true, but... I can't walk around outside freely?"
"Obviously."
Rei replied to the man's question as if to say, "What are you talking about?"
"If you're walking around outside freely like you are now and there are pursuers after you, it's a perfect opportunity for them. Or can you handle attackers who strike from within a crowd? If you had the ability to sense killing intent, you might be able to manage somehow, but..."
You can't, can you? Rei conveyed without words.
The man had his own feelings about Rei's attitude, but since he genuinely couldn't sense killing intent or presences, he had nothing to say.
If he had that kind of ability, he'd be at least somewhat safe even in a crowd... but since he couldn't, going out into the city was not an option for him right now.
For a brief moment, he considered turning down Rei's protection out of stubborn pride. But from Rei's words and demeanor, he could clearly understand that doing so would mean certain death.
"...Yeah."
"Then there's no problem with going to the Guard Station, right?"
"Do it. But let me tell you—if there's nothing at that place I mentioned, don't get mad, okay? It was just something that came up in casual conversation, that's all."
If he thought he was finally getting the guards' protection, only to be told his information was useless and tossed aside, that would be unbearable.
With that in mind, the man spoke, and Rei nodded, indicating there was no problem.
"That should be fine. The guards have a strong sense of responsibility, whatever else you might say. Even if you don't know anything useful, I think they'll at least honor the promise to protect you."
At Rei's words, the man finally agreed to go to the Guard Station.