Rei and his companions reached the conclusion that they would investigate this underground space a little further for the time being.
That said, while investigating the area was certainly part of Vihera's aim, her real hope was that by staying in this underground space, the pink tentacles might just appear again.
Rei understood this as well, and the desire to gather as much information about the pink tentacles as possible was an undeniable fact.
Given that was the case, he had no intention of complaining about Vihera's motives. If anything, he was willing to actively go along with her.
Naturally, the only reason they could afford to do so was because Rei had a proven track record of standing against the pink tentacles, and Vihera, who wielded the skill Magic Impact Palm, was likewise confident she could hold her own.
If it had been anyone other than Vihera—say, the guards—Rei would never have allowed them to stay.
"Still, we have no way of knowing when the space will tear open and those pink tentacles will come out," Rei said.
"Right. It would be nice if they showed up sooner rather than later, if possible. We can't stay here forever, after all."
They had confirmed that the mansion Rei's group had force-searched contained a staircase leading down to this underground space.
That being the case, the primary objective of the forced search had been achieved.
...Of course, that didn't mean the other searches would be called off.
No—if anything, the very discovery of a staircase connecting to this underground space was all the more reason to continue the searches for any additional important evidence.
(Still, the mansion owner genuinely seemed to know nothing at all. If that's the case, where on earth should we even look for evidence? ...For that matter, we don't even know who built that hidden staircase in the first place.)
Rei's guess was that the hidden staircase had been constructed after the mansion was built.
But at the same time, it was only natural to wonder how exactly someone would go about building one.
Constructing a staircase—let alone a hidden one—would stand out no matter what, and the noise from the construction would leak to the surroundings, making it difficult to do in secret.
(In that case, maybe they waited for a time when the mansion was temporarily empty? If so, that seems like a real possibility.)
As he pondered this while scanning their surroundings, voices suddenly reached his ears.
"Heeey! You're Rei-san and Vihera-san, right!? Is there anything over there!?"
He turned his gaze toward the source and saw two guards running toward them.
The guards who had emerged from a different staircase a short while ago had returned to the mansion as soon as they confirmed Rei and Vihera's presence. These guards, however, weren't heading back up. Instead, they had actively come running to gather information.
The previous guards and these current ones—Rei couldn't say which approach was correct.
What was certain, though, was that the ones likely to catch a reprimand from superiors like Ranga were the guards currently running toward him.
Still, since that was something for the guards to decide for themselves, neither Rei nor Vihera had any intention of commenting on it.
"Rei-san, Vihera-san, how's it looking?" one of the guards asked.
"How's it looking? As you can see, there's nothing in particular. Just an ordinary underground space," Rei replied.
"What exactly do you mean by 'ordinary'? ...Can you really describe an underground space of this size as ordinary?"
Vihera's voice carried a hint of exasperation at Rei's words.
In truth, calling such a space "ordinary" was far from fitting.
This was clearly not a place that could be called ordinary by any stretch.
"Now that you mention it, I suppose so. But the fact remains that nothing is happening while we're standing here."
"...I see. When you were here yesterday, Rei-san, when were you attacked by the tentacles?"
"When? There was a guy who brought the Red Cloth members, and it was after he reached about the center of this underground space. Didn't the guards who were with me include that in their report?"
"Ah, even so, I wanted to hear it directly from you, Rei-san, since you saw it firsthand. ...In that case, what we can consider is either time, location, or some specific key."
Rei pondered the guard's words for a moment.
Given the current situation, the easiest factor to investigate was location.
If it were time, they could only wait here endlessly. And if it required some kind of key, the plain man who had been killed by the tentacles first yesterday might have been carrying something—but they hadn't been able to recover his body, and from the looks of it, no corpses remained here either.
That being the case, even if there were some kind of key item to summon the tentacles, they had no way to use it.
"In that case, we have no choice but to head to the center of this space," Vihera said.
Having reached the same conclusion as Rei, she set off toward the center of the space.
Rei followed after her. The guards exchanged glances, then called out to their retreating backs.
"Rei-san, Vihera-san, if we stick with you, we'll probably... no, we'll definitely just be a burden, so we're heading back to the mansion we were force-searching. We would've liked to see the tentacles with our own eyes, but..."
Rei waved lightly in acknowledgment and kept walking. Before long, they arrived near the center of the underground space.
"How is it?" Vihera asked.
Rei shook his head.
"No, I don't feel anything in particular. Yesterday, how should I put it... there was this strange sensation, and then a rift opened in the space and the tentacles came out."
"Then that means it wasn't the location but some other reason that caused the tentacles to appear yesterday. But if that's the case... it seems like fighting the tentacles here and now isn't going to happen."
Vihera muttered, looking disappointed—genuinely, from the bottom of her heart, disappointed.
Rei shared the sentiment that it was unfortunate they couldn't obtain even a little more information about the tentacles, but Vihera looked even more disappointed than he felt.
"Does that make the possibility of some kind of key item higher? I still think time is a perfectly valid possibility, though."
Which do you think is more likely? his glance seemed to ask. Vihera answered without hesitation: the key.
If it were time, they would have to wait here indefinitely. But if it were a key item, no waiting would be necessary—which was likely the deciding factor for her.
(Though if it's time, that means they'll definitely show up if we just wait, so it's not that bad either.)
With that in mind, Rei surveyed the area once more.
He noticed that a different set of guards from before had descended from a staircase and were watching them.
"Seems like quite a few people are finding hidden staircases," Rei observed.
"Right. But... come to think of it, Rei, which staircase did the people who brought the Red Cloth members come from yesterday? Why don't we investigate that one? There's a chance it doesn't connect to a mansion above."
"...Now that you mention it, that's a good point."
If there was a mansion on the surface, it could be force-searched like this one, or even attacked outright depending on the circumstances.
But if the enemy's true headquarters was located somewhere that couldn't be reached from the surface, it would be far safer for them.
Moreover, this underground space had multiple staircases, and it was unclear which one connected to which mansion. There was even the possibility that multiple staircases led to a single mansion.
If that were the case, it would certainly make things easy to obfuscate.
"Right? Then why don't we go check it out? If it turns out to be the enemy's headquarters, and things go well, we might even be able to capture the mastermind behind this whole incident."
Vihera's words held plenty of appeal for Rei as well.
Naturally, for Vihera, the desire to fight a strong enemy undoubtedly came first.
Still, if they could capture the mastermind in one stroke, it would be a massive step forward—or rather, it would likely resolve the entire incident outright.
"Understood. Then give me a moment. ...Heeey, got a second?"
Rei called out to the guards some distance away. Hearing his voice, they jogged over with a somewhat timid air.
If the tentacles appeared here, there was a high chance they would die.
That was what they were thinking, which was likely why they seemed so wary.
If the threat were ordinary criminals, the guards wouldn't be this on edge.
But what emerged in this underground space were tentacles—not even human.
On top of that, they possessed strength that made even Rei struggle somewhat. If the guards encountered them, surviving would be difficult without extraordinary luck.
It was precisely because they knew this that their attitude was so cautious.
"What is it? We'd like to get out of here and head back to the mansion as soon as possible, if we could."
"Sorry, but that staircase over there." Rei pointed to the one he and Vihera had descended. "If you go up that staircase, you'll come out in the mansion we were force-searching. I need you to pass a message to the guards there. We're going to head up that staircase over there—the one the man who brought the Red Cloth members down yesterday descended—and investigate it."
"...Isn't that dangerous?"
"Without a doubt," Rei replied matter-of-factly to the guard, who had asked with a hint of anxiety.
Given that beyond the staircase Rei and Vihera were about to investigate lay a likely enemy headquarters, he couldn't exactly claim otherwise.
"But this incident needs to be resolved even at the risk of some danger. And above all, Vihera is raring to go."
"Of course I am. We came all this way and can't even fight the tentacles. At this point, storming the enemy's headquarters and finding a strong opponent to fight is the best we can hope for."
Normally, Rei would have wanted to dispute those words. But since it was Vihera saying them, it wasn't hard to find himself nodding along.
"So that's the situation. Besides, people who could storm an enemy headquarters and make it out alive... well, I can think of a few, but since it's just me and Vihera here, we're the best candidates for the job."
The guard considered Rei's words for a moment, then nodded.
"Understood. I'll pass along your message, Rei. ...This might not be my place to say to you or Vihera, but please be careful."
Knowing Rei and Vihera's abilities as they did, the guard understood that the two wouldn't be taken down easily.
He understood that—but as an acquaintance of the two, he still felt compelled to say it.
Rei seemed to understand the guard's sentiments, returning a firm nod.
"I know. We've got things we need to do too, so we won't be back right away, but we'll be careful. ...Besides, if push comes to shove, I can call Set."
"Will he be able to hear you?"
It was still unclear what kind of place lay at the top of that staircase. If Rei called out to Set, who was waiting outside, would his voice even reach him?
In response to the guard's concern, Rei nodded. "Probably."
"If it's my voice, Set should be able to hear it."
He wasn't saying this without basis. Set was a being created through Beast Magic.
In that sense, Rei and Set were magically connected.
Because of that, it wouldn't be strange for Set to hear Rei's voice. But since he couldn't exactly explain all of this to the guard, his wording came out somewhat evasive.
The guard harbored a slight doubt at Rei's words, but ultimately decided that if it was Gryphon Seto, it wouldn't be strange at all for him to hear Rei's voice. He didn't inquire any further.
"Understood. We're counting on you, then."
With that brief farewell, the guard departed.
Rei watched him go, then turned his gaze to Vihera.
"Alright, let's get moving. It goes without saying for you, Vihera, but we're doing this carefully."
"Of course. If I'm going to fight a strong enemy, I'd rather do it in perfect condition anyway."
Vihera nodded at Rei's words, and the two set off toward the staircase that the man who had led the Red Cloth members yesterday had emerged from.