About five minutes had passed since they began ascending the staircase.
Ahead of Rei and Vihera lay the same unbroken darkness as before.
The staircase they had descended from the previous mansion, however, had delivered them to the Underground Space in under five minutes. Considering that, they could truly feel that the one they were climbing now was undoubtedly different.
Of course, it was possible that this staircase simply led to a far corner of the mansion, or perhaps even connected directly from the second floor. Such possibilities existed.
They pressed onward in concentration, unsure of what lay ahead, until—
"Vihera."
Light appeared at the top of the stairs, and Rei quietly called her name.
As if she had heard him, Vihera, walking behind, returned a soft response.
"Yes. Finally out of the staircase. ...So, what kind of place does it lead to, I wonder? Aren't you at least a little curious, Rei?"
"It'd be a lie to say I'm not. After all, we've been put through a lot of trouble in this incident. In that sense, if the mastermind is at the top of these stairs, I fully intend to make them pay an appropriate price."
Given that the incident had been caused not by a Magic Item but by offering sacrifices to those pink tentacles, Rei's hope of obtaining a Magic Item had been completely extinguished. That was precisely why, if the mastermind awaited at the end of this staircase, he would make sure they regretted it from the bottom of their heart.
If this leads to the enemy's headquarters, I'd like to have my weapons drawn... well, I have the Eye of Nebula, so I suppose it's fine.
Rei's usual weapons—Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear—were both long-reaching arms; drawing them in this narrow staircase would only get in the way. If so, he simply had to use the Eye of Nebula strapped to his waist.
Making that judgment, Rei found himself envious of Vihera behind him. Her weapons were her Hand Gauntlets and Foot Guards. Since both doubled as armor, unlike his Death Scythe and Twilight Spear, they took up no space. In such tight quarters, gauntlets and foot guards were undoubtedly more advantageous than polearms.
Of course, even in a confined space, long weapons had their own methods of attack.
"Shall we?"
Reaching the top of the stairs, Rei muttered. Vihera nodded, and the two burst out of the staircase.
He had half expected an assassin to be lying in wait, but there was no one around.
"A room, huh."
"Yeah."
The staircase leading to the Underground Space was housed in a room. What set it apart from the other mansions, however, was that this was an ordinary staircase, not a hidden one. It wasn't concealed behind a door or a bookshelf; it sat openly in the room. Which meant the mansion's occupant had seen no need to hide the passage leading down to the Underground Space.
"Looks like we hit the mark."
"Yes. Though I was only half-joking about it. ...What do we do? Should we call the other Guards?"
Vihera asked the question, but her eyes held the quiet certainty that Rei would never say such a thing. In fact, he had no such intention, so her trust was by no means misplaced.
Even if the mastermind behind this incident was here, they might flee the moment they learned Rei and Vihera had stormed in. That was why Rei wanted to capture them before they could be alerted to his arrival, if at all possible.
Furthermore, if this was the mastermind's headquarters, there was no guarantee they wouldn't encounter enemies on par with—or stronger than—the tentacles Rei had struggled against. If so, it was undeniably better not to have Guards present.
"No, let's hold off. I'd rather we capture the mastermind ourselves. Besides, I want to be ready to react immediately if something happens."
"I figured you'd say that, Rei. Well then, shall we go?"
Vihera looked to be in such high spirits she might start humming at any moment. Rei couldn't help but smile at her all-too-familiar demeanor.
The two stepped out of the room together and found themselves in a hallway.
"If the Guards are conducting a forced search of this mansion too, we might run into them... what do you think?"
"Given how quiet it is, I doubt they're here."
As Vihera said, their surroundings were utterly silent, with not a single sound to be heard. If a forced search were underway, it would be strange for it to be this quiet.
Well, if this is the headquarters, there's a chance a guard like the child Vihera took down earlier was posted here and disposed of all the Guards who came to search.
Thinking along those lines as they advanced down the corridor, they eventually spotted a staircase leading downward—assuming they were on the first floor, one leading underground.
"What do you think? Could this be another staircase to the Underground Space?"
"That's... probably not."
He couldn't rule out the possibility entirely, but Vihera responded as such to Rei's words. Still, if this staircase didn't lead to the Underground Space, it was only natural to wonder where it did lead.
"Then shall we go take a look? There might be some clue related to this incident down there."
At Rei's suggestion, Vihera thought for a moment before nodding. Where this staircase led had clearly piqued her curiosity as well.
And so the two descended...
"Yeah... right. Thinking about what happened yesterday, it makes sense they'd need a place like this."
At the sight before him, Rei grimaced and muttered as much.
The space was filled with people—person after person after person. Yet despite their numbers, none of them said a word upon seeing Rei. That was because every single person there appeared to be a Red Cloth member whose ego had been completely erased.
Most were men, though a few women were scattered among them. Even so, Rei had no trouble identifying them as former Red Cloth operatives; their egos had been wiped clean, exactly like the ones he had seen yesterday. They weren't wearing the red cloth that gave the group its name, but there was no mistaking who these people were.
"There are a few faces I recognize."
Before winter set in, Vihera had patrolled the city streets as support for the Guards. She had encountered the aftermath of Red Cloth disturbances on many occasions, and some of the faces she had seen then were apparently here.
"You've got a good memory. Red Cloth caused quite a few disturbances, didn't they?"
"True. But when an incident is distinctive, it's hard to forget."
Understanding Vihera's meaning well enough, Rei turned his gaze back to the Red Cloth members. They simply stood there, showing not the slightest concern that obvious outsiders like Rei and Vihera were present.
"For now, the fact that these people are here confirms this is where the guy I saw yesterday came from, right?"
"Oh? Why bring that up now? You were already convinced the person you saw yesterday came from here, weren't you?"
"I was, but there was always a chance I was mistaken about something. Looking at it that way, having these people here to confirm it isn't bad."
"Hmm, is that how it is. ...Well, fine. So, what do we do with them? Take them along?"
Rei shook his head at Vihera's half-teasing question.
"No, let's not. If they could judge things for themselves and act on it, that'd be one thing, but from the look of them, they can't manage anything like that. Dragging them around with us would be more trouble than it's worth."
If they still had their egos, he might have pointed them toward an exit. But the Red Cloth members couldn't manage even that. Which meant that if they were going to do anything about them, Rei and Vihera would have to lead them out personally. They certainly didn't have that kind of time to spare, and there was also the possibility that these soulless Red Cloth members were themselves the key that summoned the tentacles in the Underground Space.
In that case, Vihera would happily drag them all the way back to the Underground Space... It's not like I have any proof, so it's probably best to keep quiet. Besides, yesterday the guy who brought the Red Cloth members was attacked by the tentacles before they were.
It wasn't as though the tentacles had shown no reaction to the ones who fled, but the fact remained that the man leading them had been attacked first. Given that, there was a real possibility that the Red Cloth members—specifically, the ones who had lost their egos—served as some kind of key. But he kept that thought to himself, certain that Vihera would drag them back to the Underground Space the moment he said it.
"So, we leave these people here and search elsewhere?"
"Right. Once the forced search of this place wraps up, if there's still time, we can take them along. If not, we'll bring the Guards back later to take them into protective custody."
"...True. Let's do that, then."
After a moment's thought, Vihera agreed. For her part, she was far more interested in the prospect of a strong enemy waiting in the mansion than in babysitting Red Cloth members here. That was why she had nodded so readily.
"Alright then. Stay put here until we get back. ...Though if you can escape, you're welcome to leave on your own."
Rei addressed the Red Cloth members, then turned and headed back the way he came.
Come to think of it, given the state they're in, how are they handling meals and bathroom needs? ...Well, that's not really my problem.
It wasn't as though Rei felt no sympathy at all for the Red Cloth members being used as sacrifices. But considering they had caused no shortage of disturbances throughout the city, there was a sense in which they had brought this upon themselves.
The punishment they were suffering was wildly disproportionate to the crimes they had committed, yet the feeling that it was their own doing remained stronger. They had succumbed to petty temptation and thrown in with Red Cloth. Had they not done so, they never would have ended up like this.
"Rei?"
Vihera called out to him, stopping him partway up the stairs. He had been looking back toward the Red Cloth members.
Rei shook his head at her, signaling it was nothing, and resumed walking.
Back in the hallway, the two continued down the corridor, searching for some clue—or perhaps someone with knowledge of the situation.
"Looking at it like this, there are quite a few expensive pieces on display. Is this the mansion owner's taste?"
As they walked, Vihera cast her gaze over the paintings and vases adorning the corridor and offered that observation. Rei had no interest in fine art and lacked the education to judge it; he simply nodded, figuring if Vihera said so, it must be true. He could tell the nearest painting depicted a forest, but if asked whether it was a genuine masterpiece, he could only tilt his head.
"Too bad we can't just take them with us. If this were a Bandits' hideout, we could."
When Bandits were defeated, the victor could rightfully claim ownership of all their possessions. If items had clearly identifiable original owners, and those owners or their relatives were present, negotiations to buy them back would take place—but even those weren't guaranteed to succeed. With Bandits, such claims were possible. This, however, was not a Bandits' hideout, even if what went on here was far more sinister than anything common thieves would do.
In any case, since paintings and vases weren't likely to serve as evidence, they couldn't simply walk off with them. Not that Rei would have any use for such things even if he did take them. At best, he might hang one in his room at the Wheat Inn at Dusk, or in Marina's mansion, which had become a familiar gathering place where he often ate.
"True. The artwork in this mansion will probably be confiscated over this incident, sold off, and the proceeds used to compensate the people who were harmed... something along those lines."
"Harmed? I've heard about construction materials being damaged, but I haven't heard much about people getting hurt."
The fact that Cobolts were the attackers rather than something far worse had been a stroke of fortune for the people of Gilm.
With that thought, Rei continued down the hallway alongside Vihera.