"What should we do?"
"If we act now, we haven't been spotted yet, so we can handle him however we see fit."
Rei hesitated over how to respond to the guard's suggestion.
In truth, if it came to a fight, subduing the man wouldn't be all that difficult. For one thing, their opponent's combat power amounted to a single person—and that person was busy dragging the Red Cloth members along by a rope.
Judging from his stride, he clearly possessed a certain degree of strength, but only at a level the guards could handle on their own. Given that, if they intended to capture him, they should have been able to do so with certainty.
Yet Rei didn't immediately commit to that course, simply because there were too many unknowns about this whole situation. Moreover, from what they could see right now, the man was unmistakably using the Red Cloth members for something. There was little doubt they would end up like the skin-and-bone corpses they had found in the mansion...
(No, if I let them die right in front of the guards, it'll probably cause trouble.)
As far as Rei was concerned, he wouldn't feel particularly regretful if the Red Cloth members died. If someone told him it was the natural consequence of their own choice to operate as Red Cloth, he would even accept it. But that was strictly Rei's opinion; the guards were different.
Given their tendency toward warmheartedness—though there were also hardliners among them who believed criminals deserved to die—there was no way they would choose to overlook a situation where the Red Cloth members were highly likely to be killed.
"Let's secure him. The guy holding the rope probably knows quite a bit."
In the end, that was what Rei chose. Though if the man actually did know something, they could simply extract the information from him, so the result would probably be the same either way.
"Understood. But how do we catch him?"
The guard asked this because the place where the man had entered was a considerable distance from where Rei and the others were positioned. Even if they rushed forward all at once right now, there was a good chance the man would escape. They might catch him if they pursued, but there was also a chance he could slip away.
So, what to do... After thinking it over, Rei's answer was straightforward.
"It looks like he's walking toward the center of this space. How about we advance to a position where he can't run, then move in to secure him?"
"That's the safest option. But do you think he'll head back to the staircase he came down? There's also the possibility he might go for a different one..."
"If that happens, then it comes down to how quickly we can capture him. Instead of chasing him as one group, would it be better to split up?"
At Rei's words, the three guards nodded. They had likely judged from the man's demeanor that they could capture him themselves.
"Alright, then we'll start moving after waiting a little longer. ...Why am I the one calling the shots here?"
A sudden question crossed his mind, and Rei muttered it aloud. Normally, securing a suspect was the guards' job, not his. Yet for some reason, he was the one taking charge. He found it strange himself, but one of the guards patted him lightly on the shoulder as if to tell him not to worry about it.
"At the end of the day, when it comes to making quick decisions in situations like this, you've got far more experience than we do, Rei. It's faster if you take command."
"You think so? The idea I came up with was just moving to a spot where he can't escape and then grabbing him. I think anyone could have suggested that."
"Even so. Having someone like you who's used to these situations is a real help."
Rei tilted his head at the guard's words. If anything, the guards encountered various crime scenes almost every day, so it wouldn't be strange for them to be more seasoned than he was. But since they were insisting, he decided to let it go. Without pressing the matter further, he brought up something else.
"Then let's get moving. He's made quite a bit of progress through this underground space by now."
Normally, if people like Rei and his group were in the same space, there was no way the man wouldn't notice them. However, they had hidden themselves near the staircase they had come down, and thanks to that, they hadn't been spotted. Of course, if the man possessed keen alertness, that would be a different story.
In any case, the guards nodded at Rei's words and each began to move. At first, they advanced slowly so as not to be noticed, heading toward the man who was making his way toward the center of the underground space. The guards other than Rei each moved in a different direction—toward a staircase different from the one the man had descended, in case he tried to go that way.
And so Rei advanced, performing the contradictory task of drawing the target's attention while trying not to be discovered, but...
"Hmm, hmm, hmm~"
The man holding the rope showed no sign of noticing Rei's approach, entirely absorbed in his humming. Perhaps if the Red Cloth members had been in their right minds, they might have alerted him to Rei's presence... but unfortunately, the Red Cloth members bound by the rope possessed nothing resembling a sense of self.
Given the situation, the man showed no awareness of Rei or the guards closing in. He likely perceived this underground space as an absolutely safe place. After all, considering that the mansion above had a hidden door leading to stairs connected to this space, finding it was no easy feat. That was precisely why the man felt secure—harboring the belief that this place was absolutely safe, he lacked any sense of crisis and never imagined that anyone like Rei and his group would be here.
If word had reached him that Rei and the others were forcibly searching the mansion, things might have turned out differently. But unfortunately, that information had not reached him—which proved to be the man's misfortune.
As a result, Rei closed in right next to the Red Cloth members bound by the rope... and only then did the man, absorbed in his humming, finally notice Rei's presence. Not from footsteps or any such thing—rather, while pleasantly humming, he glanced at the Red Cloth members to check on them, accidentally meeting Rei's eyes. It was only then that he registered Rei's existence.
Before Rei and the others had closed in, he might have been able to flee. But being approached this closely was completely unexpected, and in the current situation, the man had no means of escape whatsoever.
"Wh—!?"
The only thing the man could manage was a startled exclamation. In the next instant, Rei lunged and effortlessly pinned him to the ground.
The rope slipped from the man's hands on impact, but the Red Cloth members made no attempt to flee. They simply stood there. This alone made it painfully clear that they had no will of their own.
"Tch, damn it! What the hell are you doing! Let go!"
The pinned man shouted in frustration, but naturally, Rei showed no sign of releasing his hold. From the man's perspective, he had no idea who was pinning him, which was exactly why he shouted so arrogantly.
"Do you have any idea who I am!? You think you'll get away with this!?"
"Well, I don't know who you are, so I'd appreciate it if you could tell me specifically."
"What!? You'd better not regret this, I'm warning you!"
At Rei's deliberately provocative words, the man shouted in irritation. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have risen to the bait so easily. But being attacked in a place he believed to be absolutely safe had pushed him into a state close to panic—and that was what led to the current situation.
"Come on, say it. Who you are and where you're from. And why exactly I'll regret this. There's no way you—the man who got captured without even noticing me approaching—could make me regret anything... right?"
"Guh!"
Perhaps recognizing that he had indeed been caught pathetically easily, the man faltered. But only for a few seconds. His desire to act tough against his captor and make him pay was so overwhelming that he blurted out something he absolutely should not have.
"Don't come crying later! The faction I serve has strong influence even within the King's Faction! Now that you know, release me at once! Otherwise, even your acquaintances will meet the worst possible end!"
The statement came so readily that Rei half-wondered if it was a bluff. For a clearly suspicious individual to reveal his own affiliation to someone actively investigating this incident—it was far too convenient.
What do you think? Rei turned his gaze toward the approaching guards. They had likely heard the man's words as well. A flicker of doubt crossed their faces, but eventually they shook their heads. That likely indicated they believed the man was telling the truth.
Rei and the others were here solely for investigative purposes. But there was no way the man being pinned down could know that. It wouldn't have been strange for him to assume they were common thieves who would cower and back off once he named his backer.
(Still, the King's Faction, huh. How troublesome.)
Rei had a few acquaintances in the King's Faction himself. But he couldn't possibly believe they had orchestrated this incident. The King's Faction was the largest of the Three Great Factions, and he already knew from prior conversations that it contained several sub-factions within it. This was probably the work of one he had never been involved with.
That was what he concluded, but he still couldn't fathom what they were thinking by doing something like this.
"The King's Faction, huh. ...But for the largest of the Three Great Factions to attack Gilm with Cobolts—how does that make sense?"
"Shut up! The quality of those guys' souls is bad, so it can't be helped!"
Rei twitched. At those words, he glanced at the mindless Red Cloth members while still holding the man down.
Rei had mentioned Cobolts partly as a fishing tactic—a probe to see if the man would bite. And bite he did, letting slip a definitive statement.
(Souls... in other words, were they planning to use these Red Cloth members as some kind of sacrifice?)
At this point, Rei's assumption that a Magic Item was being used to attract or control Cobolts had completely collapsed. The Magic Item theory had always been wishful thinking—something Rei hoped was the case rather than anything backed by evidence. In light of that, the idea of sacrifices came as some surprise to the guards, but it was still something they could accept.
After all, even if they were only Cobolts, controlling that massive a number of monsters was not something achievable through ordinary means—and the sheer, endless quantity of Cobolts was the biggest issue. Despite being killed day and night, almost every single day, the number of Cobolts coming to Gilm never decreased. There should have been a fair number around Gilm, but given how many had been slaughtered so far, under normal circumstances, the entire area's Cobolt population should have been wiped out. And yet, even today, more Cobolts were gathering in Gilm. That sort of thing was virtually impossible through conventional methods.
But if they were performing sacrifices, then perhaps—it was a real stretch, but it wouldn't be inconceivable that they could summon Cobolts from somewhere.
"Oh? The quality of souls, huh. Does that determine what type of monster shows up?"
"Obviously. If I'm going to the trouble, I'd want something stronger... wait. Who the hell are you people? Why are you in a place like this?"
Perhaps sensing that something was off about Rei and the guards, the man tried desperately to look up at the face of the one pinning him down, eyes filled with suspicion.