"Nothing, huh. I was sure this was a trap to lure me in."
Rei had entered the room where the girl who'd been fighting the Guards seemed to have fled, but there was no sign of anyone inside.
It wasn't a study like the first room Rei had searched, but rather a reception room for entertaining guests.
Given that it was this kind of room, there were a fair number of places to hide, but... even when he searched for any presence, it didn't feel like anyone was there.
(Well, I can't deny the possibility that it's someone skilled enough at concealing their presence that I wouldn't detect them.)
Even as that thought crossed his mind, Rei checked behind the sofa and behind the furniture—every place someone might hide—but he couldn't find the girl anywhere.
"The window... if she escaped through it, it should be open, but there's no sign of that either."
Rei had hesitated slightly before entering this room, but if she had escaped outside through the window, it wouldn't be strange for some trace to remain.
Looking at it now, however, there were no traces of any kind, and above all, the window was locked.
He couldn't imagine she'd gone out the window without leaving a single trace and then locked it from the outside.
(No, could she pull that off with some kind of Magic Item?)
Normally, such a thing would be impossible, but that was only according to common sense from Japan.
Since Elgin had magic and Magic Items, it wouldn't be strange for there to be some means of locking or unlocking a window from the outside.
Naturally, such items would likely be used for crimes, so if they truly existed, they would presumably be strictly controlled.
(For now, rather than dwelling on such slim possibilities, I need to find something more plausible.)
Deciding that thinking about unlikely things was pointless, Rei looked around the room once more.
He'd already searched most of the places where someone could hide, which left hidden passages or hidden stairs—escape routes of that nature.
But even looking around the room, nothing seemed to fit that description.
In terms of size, the room was about fifteen tatami mats across, and while there was a fair amount of furniture, the number of viable hiding spots was still limited.
"Where did she really go? I seriously should have brought Set."
If Set were here, he could track where the girl had gone by scent alone.
The entrance would certainly be concealed, but if they knew there was a passage or stairs beyond it, breaking through would be straightforward enough.
However, since Set wasn't here, thinking about it now was pointless.
Alternatively, it wasn't impossible that Set would come if he shouted his name loudly enough... but doing something like that would likely cause all sorts of problems later.
"In that case... well, what should I do? Should I keep searching methodically, or should I go get the Guards and have them investigate?"
The place where the Guards who'd been fighting the girl—now vanished from this room—were located wasn't far from here.
Some of them had been injured, but by now they should have received at least basic treatment.
When it came to searching, the Guards were clearly more experienced than Rei.
Borrowing their help wouldn't be particularly strange.
"Maybe I should have brought Byune after all. If I had, Vihera would have come along too."
Byune had previously been a thief specialized in combat, but this winter she had also been honing her pure thief skills.
Given Byune's nature, it wouldn't have been strange for Rei to want her to put those thief skills to use.
Furthermore, since those defending this mansion were formidable fighters, Rei figured that Vihera, who sought battles against strong opponents, would have jumped at the chance to come here.
(No, thinking about it now won't help.)
As he continued looking around the room, deciding that dwelling on people who weren't here was meaningless... he suddenly heard the sound of multiple footsteps approaching.
For a brief moment, he wondered if they were enemies, but from the number of footsteps and the voices he could hear, he realized they were the Guards from earlier.
"Rei, where are you!"
"In here, inside this room!"
He called back to them.
Since the door was closed, the Guards probably hadn't expected Rei to be inside this room.
Eventually, having heard his voice, the door opened and one of the Guards he'd seen earlier peeked in.
"In here!?"
Rei raised his hand in response.
"Yeah, in here. The one who was fighting you guys earlier fled into this room, but she's nowhere to be found. There's no sign she went outside through the window, so I figure there must be a hidden passage or something like that in here... but unfortunately, I was having trouble finding it. Any ideas?"
In response to Rei's words, the three Guards who entered the room looked around.
They seemed to be checking for any kind of clue, but merely glancing around wasn't going to reveal anything.
So, for the time being, the Guards split up to search the room.
"What should I do?"
"Rei, keep watch on the surroundings. If we get attacked suddenly like before, it's hard for us to respond."
"But since Rei's here, doesn't that mean they won't attack us? ...Maybe it's just a precaution?"
"Yeah, just in case. As long as we don't know what they're thinking, we can't rule out the possibility that they might attack even in this situation. ...It's a huge pain, though."
If the opponent were an ordinary—though it was unclear if that word was appropriate—man or woman, or at least someone above a certain age, they wouldn't have had to worry so much.
But in this case, the opponent was still a very young girl.
Naturally, despite her small stature, she had been wielding a longsword meant for adults with ease, so it was certain she was not what she appeared to be.
What's more, upon seeing Rei, she had instantly judged that she couldn't win and withdrawn—a display of sharp judgment.
(The very fact that someone like that was here means this mansion is definitely suspicious in all sorts of ways. The question is whether the one who pinned that guy to the wall with a stake—the one who attacked me—was also the girl from just now. ...I wonder about that.)
Harboring those doubts, Rei stood by the door so he could react immediately if needed.
He had a feeling that rather than hiding somewhere, she had likely already used a hidden passage and was no longer near this room.
Even so, he stayed at the ready, just in case.
Standing in front of the door also served to prevent her from slipping out of the room while completely concealing her presence by some means.
About five minutes passed...
"I found it! I found it! I'm not sure if it's a hidden passage, but there's definitely something beyond this wall!"
One of the Guards suddenly shouted.
At his voice, the other Guards and Rei gathered at that spot.
Then, just to be sure, another Guard inspected the area that was said to have something behind it... and eventually nodded.
"Definitely, no mistake about it. There's some kind of space beyond this wall. ...That said, how do we open it..."
The Guard paused and looked around once more.
It was certain there was some kind of mechanism, but he had no idea how to activate it.
Finding it would surely take more time, which meant... capturing the girl who had attacked them would become virtually impossible—it was already nearly hopeless at this point.
If that was the case, then.
The Guard made his decision.
"Rei, destroy this wall. Taking the time to search for the mechanism is a waste. This is faster."
"...Are you sure?"
Those words were unexpected, even for Rei.
To begin with, the fact that they were forcibly investigating this mansion was already a considerably risky situation.
On top of that, destroying the mansion's wall would almost certainly result in a harsher punishment than what the others might face.
However... in response to Rei's words, the Guard nodded as if it were no problem at all.
"Yeah, I don't mind. The moment we came here, I was prepared to be punished from above. If me taking the punishment means we can do something about the Cobolt incident... no, about the people luring monsters to Gilm, then I don't care."
"Just to be clear, I'm the one who's going to be breaking this wall."
"I'll say I forced Rei to do it at my own request. ...So, break the wall."
Being told that, Rei couldn't very well refuse. He nodded in return.
Confirming that the Guards had each stepped back, he drew Death Scythe from his Misty Ring.
Without any particular tension, he swiftly swung Death Scythe.
The strike that sliced through the wall without any resistance would have left anyone who didn't know Rei completely bewildered.
But for the Guards who knew Rei's abilities, the fact that the wall didn't shatter immediately didn't raise any questions... and indeed, when Rei lightly tapped the floor with the butt of Death Scythe, the shock split the wall into several pieces that crumbled to the floor.
What remained after the wall was cut through were the scattered remnants on the floor... and a staircase leading underground.
By this point, it was an undeniable fact that the girl from earlier had escaped through these stairs.
"A staircase, huh. Well, that makes sense. ...So, what do we do? Do we head down?"
It's a promising lead.
Though he didn't say it aloud, it was clear that was what Rei was thinking.
At those words, the Guards hesitated.
No, it was certain that there was some kind of clue at the bottom of these stairs. Certain, but... what awaited them there was undoubtedly the girl from earlier.
Despite being a young girl, she was a skilled fighter who could hold the upper hand even against three Guards.
Proceeding ahead without Rei would be extremely dangerous.
However, there should still be several other leads remaining in this mansion, and considering that, the Guards felt frustrated that their own inexperience meant they had to bring Rei down these stairs.
That being said, since there was a clear possibility of finding leads, there were things that had to take priority over the Guards' pride...
"Please, Rei. Come with us."
At those words, Rei nodded without any hesitation.
"Understood. I'm fine with that. Either way, searching this entire mansion thoroughly right now is impossible. In that case, it's better to start with the places where we're most likely to find something."
"...Sorry."
The Guard expressed his gratitude, but Rei shook his head to indicate it wasn't a problem and stored Death Scythe back into his Misty Ring.
"Come on, let's get moving. We don't know what's at the bottom of these stairs, but there's a very real possibility they're lying in wait for us. Stay sharp."
With that, Rei took the lead and began descending the stairs.
What surprised him slightly after starting the descent was how dark the staircase was.
Of course, since these were stairs built for a hidden room, keeping lights there at all times would have been impractical.
If a noble were using this mansion, they could have thrown money at the problem—buying a Magic Item for lighting or at least keeping lamps on hand... but unfortunately, the one using this mansion was not a noble.
...Well, to be precise, it would be more accurate to say they were believed not to be a noble.
"Wait a moment. It's dark. Can you see, Rei?"
Having suddenly stepped from a bright room into a lightless staircase, it was only natural for the Guards to be disoriented.
But Rei had always had Night Vision, so at this level of darkness, he could see down the stairs without any issue.
"The staircase itself probably isn't that long, given the location. Can't we manage without a light?"
"Don't be ridiculous. We're not Rei."
To the Guard who said that, Rei handed over a lamp he'd obtained—either purchased previously or seized from bandits—out of his Misty Ring.