"Corpses reduced to just skin and bones... are there really that many of them?"
At the guard's words, Rei asked with a displeased expression.
It wasn't that he harbored any strong revulsion toward corpses, but even so, being told there were a large number of bodies that had died in such an unnatural manner was far from pleasant.
"Yeah... normally, starved corpses would look something like that, but..."
Even as he said it, the guard clearly didn't believe the corpses he'd seen were simply the result of starvation.
In the first place, hiring such skilled guards to protect starved corpses was absurd.
At the very least, the two Rei had fought were clearly more capable than the guards, and whoever had killed the man they'd captured in the study and pinned him to the wall was undoubtedly more skilled than the guards as well.
Preparing such capable individuals—granted, that was only in comparison to the guards—and having them protect skin-and-bone corpses was clearly suspicious.
"Besides, if they were ordinary starvation victims, it wouldn't be strange to find traces of them trying to eat their companions. But those corpses... they were clean."
As if recalling the state of the corpses he had seen, he muttered with an indescribable, somewhat uneasy expression.
"Anyway, I found that kind of place, so I came here thinking I should let everyone know right away."
At those words, the lingering suspicion toward the man before them melted away entirely.
He had found corpses reduced to skin and bones, and because he couldn't judge what they should do about them on their own, that was why he had come here.
(That said, there's a high possibility that someone among the guards is connected to the enemy. If so, I can't completely trust everyone.)
Given the high likelihood that the guards' information was being leaked to the enemy, there was no way to eliminate that possibility entirely.
"I understand the reason, but what do we do here?"
As he said that, Rei turned his gaze toward the guard inspecting the wall switch.
Originally, the reason Rei had returned to this study with the guards was to have them inspect the wall switch.
That was why he had hesitated over whether it was all right to go check on the corpses instead...
"There probably isn't a trap. ...Of course, I can't say that with absolute certainty."
Right at that moment, the guard who had been inspecting the wall switch reported as much.
"Which means... do we press the switch, or go check on the corpses? What do we do?"
At the guard's question, Rei thought for a moment before speaking.
"Why don't we try pressing the switch first? It might open a hidden passage, but it could also be a key to a place where something is stored."
The guards who heard Rei's words—particularly the one who had been inspecting the wall switch—wore very displeased expressions.
He had inspected it himself and concluded there probably wasn't any kind of trap, but that was only within the limits of what he could check.
Since it wasn't his main profession and only a skill at a hobbyist level, he didn't have the confidence to say it was absolutely safe.
Thinking that... he immediately rejected the notion.
Even if they didn't press the switch right now, they would end up pressing it eventually.
And among those who had come to this mansion, he was the most knowledgeable about traps.
"Understood, let's press it."
Saying that, the guard grew cautious and looked around at everyone present.
After confirming that no one objected to pressing the switch, he carefully reached his hand out toward it.
Everyone, including Rei, prepared themselves to respond immediately should anything happen... and the next moment, with a click, the switch sank into the wall.
However, nothing seemed to happen.
They had expected something to occur the moment the switch was pressed, but after a few seconds, they looked around in bemusement...
"Hey, so in the end nothing—"
The moment one of the guards said that, a section of the study wall—specifically, the exact spot where the beach painting had been hanging—fell backward.
"Oh!"
By coincidence, everyone who witnessed the sight—including Rei—let out surprised exclamations, caught off guard.
There was a slight time lag between pressing the switch and the mechanism activating, and since Rei and the others were in a hurry, that was likely why surprised voices erupted.
"I never thought that painting was the mechanism. ...So, what's inside?"
Muttering that, Rei directed his gaze toward the space created by the painting falling away.
It wasn't a hidden door, hidden passage, hidden staircase, or hidden room... it was more like a hidden shelf.
Inside the concealed shelf were several items, including some documents.
"Do you think this is a hit?"
"Hard to say. We won't know without examining them thoroughly, but I think it could serve as some kind of clue. For now, Rei, store these in your Item Box, and let's head to where the corpses are."
Rei had no objections to those words, and for the time being, he stored everything on the shelf into his Misty Ring.
Among the items was something that appeared to be a Magic Item, which piqued Rei's interest, but for now, investigating the corpses had to take priority.
(Whether it was lucky or unlucky that it wasn't a hidden door or something like that, I'm not sure.)
If there had been something like a hidden door here, it would have undoubtedly taken a considerable amount of time to investigate the area beyond it.
If that had happened, the guard left behind with the corpses would have been in danger for sure.
At the very least, it was certain that there was at least one more person defending this mansion.
"Well then, let's go. ...Still, it's impressive you weren't attacked. I can only think you got really lucky."
The guard who had inspected the wall switch spoke admiringly to the guard who had come to report about the skin-and-bone corpses.
The guard who was addressed simply offered a wry smile.
Since they hadn't been attacked, he had probably thought it would be fine, but he likely realized he had lacked a sufficient sense of danger.
Of course, seeing the massive pile of skin-and-bone corpses and believing they would be a major clue regarding this incident was also a significant factor.
"Ah... Rei. Sorry, but I need you to put the corpse in the hallway into your Item Box too. I'd rather not do something like that, but leaving it there would be problematic in various ways."
The guard said that with a somewhat sheepish look, but Rei showed no particular concern as he stepped out of the room, stored the corpse into his Misty Ring... and then, guided by the guard who had come to fetch them, headed toward where the corpses were.
"Whoa..."
The moment they saw that pile of corpses, one of the guards muttered as if unable to help himself.
They had heard there were a large number of corpses reduced to skin and bones. They had heard that, but... even so, they honestly hadn't expected it to be this bad.
All Rei could do upon seeing the sight before him was stare in astonishment.
The skin-and-bone corpses were piled up haphazardly, giving the impression of nothing more than unwanted luggage gathered together so it wouldn't get in the way.
No, to whoever had actually created this sight, that was undoubtedly exactly how it had felt.
"This is quite..."
The guard who had come with Rei also merely muttered in blank amazement at the scene spread out before them.
Indeed, given the sheer volume of corpses—dozens, perhaps approaching a hundred—all Rei and the guards could do was stare in shock.
"You can understand why we judged this was beyond our ability to handle, right?"
The one who said that was the guard who had come to the study to call Rei and the others.
When he had first heard about it, he couldn't help but think it was an exaggeration, but seeing this sight, he could understand the reason for their decision.
"It's also a bit strange that there's absolutely no stench despite this many corpses. ...It might be because they've been reduced to just skin and bones like this, though."
"What do you think happened to their internal organs and such?"
"Well, they're probably just gone."
Not all of the putrid odor rising from a corpse was the smell of rotting internal organs, but it was a fact that those accounted for a large proportion.
However, the corpses haphazardly piled up before them were reduced to just skin and bones, and they couldn't possibly look like they still had internal organs inside their torsos.
That was likely why, despite this many corpses, there was no rotting or foul odor at all.
...Of course, the fact that every other part had also been reduced to just skin and bones as if from starvation, and had completely dried out, was also why there was no smell.
"Still, these corpses are clearly abnormal. If you think about it normally, it should take a considerable amount of time for them to dry out to this state. With this many people gone missing, it wouldn't be strange for there to be an uproar. ...If I had to think of a possible explanation..."
"Red Cloth, right?"
As if continuing the guard's words, Rei stated that.
He had heard that Red Cloth had many of their members taken away, so it wasn't difficult to arrive at that conclusion.
But at the same time, questions remained. What were they thinking, turning Red Cloth members into corpses like this...? Moreover, less than half a year had passed since Red Cloth began operating.
And yet, for them to end up as mummy-like corpses like this was clearly strange.
"Some kind of Magic Item, magic, or skill that rapidly advances time... could something like that have been used?"
"...All of them, at this scale? What would be the point of doing something like that?"
The guards were discussing among themselves, but in truth, Rei didn't understand why someone would do such a thing either.
If asked whether someone could do this out of boredom or for entertainment...
(A predilection for finding pleasure in killing people by a specific method...? I can't say for certain that no one like that exists, but looking at the state of the corpses, something feels off.)
Wanting to examine the corpses more carefully, Rei called out to the guard who had remained at this location.
"I'd like to check the corpses a bit, would that be all right?"
"Ah... I'd prefer you not to touch them if possible. As you can see, these corpses are just skin and bones, and in an extremely dried-out state at that. If you carelessly touch them, the bodies themselves might crumble."
The guard answered while looking at the pile of corpses, but Rei found himself questioning those words.
"Hold on. Then how did they pile them up like this?"
Indeed, if carelessly touching them might cause the corpses to crumble, it was only natural to wonder how such fragile corpses were transported here and stacked in this manner.
Perhaps sensing Rei's doubt, the guard turned his gaze toward the haphazardly stacked corpses and spoke.
"I understand what you're getting at, Rei, but we don't know what method turned these corpses into this state. It's entirely possible that they were normal corpses until they were brought here and stacked, and only after being piled up did they end up in their current condition... we can't rule that out, can we?"
"If anything, wouldn't Rei be more knowledgeable about symptoms like that... no, in this case, would it be a phenomenon? That sort of thing?"
To the guard, Rei was an Alias Holder adventurer who had traveled to various places and completed all kinds of requests.
If so, it wouldn't be strange for him to naturally know things that they themselves did not, so it was understandable for the guard to think that way.
However, Rei shook his head at the guard's words.
"Sorry, but nothing comes to mind. ...Well, I suppose it might be possible if magic was used skillfully."
For example, Rei was a mage who specialized in Flame Magic.
If he used Flame Magic skillfully, it might be possible to rapidly dry out corpses and achieve something similar.
But that was only because it was Rei; whether an ordinary mage could do the same... it probably wasn't impossible, but the real question would be whether they would go to the trouble of doing such a thing.
"I see. In that case, aside from magic... do you think there's a Magic Item that can do something like that?"
"If you ask me whether one exists or not, I think it wouldn't be strange for there to be one. But why would they go out of their way to do such a thing?"
"To prevent the corpses' rotting stench from spreading to the surroundings. If the putrid smell drifted outside, it might become known to the area that there are a large number of corpses in this mansion."
There was something convincing about that opinion, but considering the size of this mansion, and considering the location of this room, it was unlikely that any kind of putrid odor would reach the outside.
At the same time, Rei wondered if perhaps it wasn't about the smell leaking outside the mansion, but rather about preventing the putrid odor from drifting through the mansion itself.