"Rei? What's up?"
A guard on patrol spotted Rei and called out to him.
His tone was as lighthearted as always, but his expression shifted to one of immediate seriousness. One look at Rei was enough to tell him this was no trivial matter.
"Actually, I got attacked by some assassins."
"...Are you alright?"
Hearing the word "assassins," the guard quickly checked Rei over for injuries. Rei simply nodded back, assuring him there was nothing to worry about.
"Do you really think some run-of-the-mill assassins could take me down that easily? I've captured most of the ones who came at me. Though I did kill one in the heat of battle."
"That can't be helped."
The guard showed no hint of blame. From his perspective, hearing that Rei had killed his attackers only made him think, Good job.
Of course, if Rei had killed all of them, the guard might have scolded him slightly—dead men couldn't be interrogated, after all. But since Rei had captured the majority of them alive, he had no complaints whatsoever.
"So, how many attacked you? And how skilled were they?"
"Three. Two of them are alive and secured. Their combat skills were decent, but their acting was top-notch."
"...Just two? Knowing you, Rei, I figured you'd been targeted by a much larger group."
The guard had absolute faith in Rei's abilities—so much so that even upon hearing he'd been ambushed by assassins, he figured repelling them would have been no difficult feat. That was precisely why he hadn't been all that worried.
"It just means that, overall, the other side knew what they were doing. One of them tried to commit suicide when they realized they were losing, so I stopped them, tied their hands and feet, and gagged them so they couldn't bite their tongues off. Could you take them off my hands? If possible, I'd like to know who ordered—or commanded—my assassination."
"Hmm, let's see. If our interrogator is here, we might be able to manage something."
From the way the guard hesitated, Rei could guess that the person in charge of interrogations was busy for some reason. And if that was the case, Rei was caught in a dilemma. He needed that information as quickly as possible. He wanted to know who was behind this incident without delay.
(Which means... the Knight Order? No, but I already left the guys who came to scout with them.)
If it was the Knight Order, there was a good chance they had specialists in that field. If so, there was a possibility—however slim—that something could be done.
"What'll it be? If the guards can't handle it, I'll take them to the Knight Order."
At those words, the guard wore a troubled expression. The Guard Force and the Knight Order weren't enemies by any means. Still, since both were responsible for maintaining the peace in Gilm, there was an undeniable sense of rivalry between them. Honestly, the guard probably wanted to handle the interrogation himself.
Sensing the guard's thoughts, Rei thought for a moment before speaking again.
"If your interrogator can get moving right away, I'll leave it to you. But if that's not possible, I'll hand them over to the Knight Order. How about that?"
"Grr..."
The guard groaned in frustration, but he knew that if he pushed the issue, Rei would head straight to the Knight Order without a second thought. Eventually, after mulling it over, all the guard could do was nod.
"Alright, fine. So there are two survivors, right? Let's bring them in together. That works for you?"
Rei had no objections, so he nodded. But as they walked toward where the assassins were, a question suddenly came to mind.
"Don't guards usually operate in pairs at minimum? Why are you alone today?"
"Because I'm busy. You think there's any other reason?"
The guard shot him an exhausted, melancholic look, and all Rei could do was nod. Given Gilm's current situation, it wasn't hard to imagine how busy the guards were.
(Well, it seems like Lord Daskar is even busier than the guards, though. ...Better keep that to myself.)
Ever since Gilm's expansion project began, troubles had come one after another. As the lord, Daskar had to deal with every single one of them. Thanks to that, he barely had any free time outside of sleeping and eating.
...Actually, lately he often worked while eating, so to be precise, the only time he was truly free from work was when he was asleep.
(Ugh.)
If he had to do what Daskar did, what would happen? It went without saying—he'd throw in the towel halfway through. At the very least, he couldn't imagine himself doing endless paperwork as diligently as Daskar did.
"Rei? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just thinking that there's always someone worse off."
There's always someone worse off. Understanding the meaning behind those words, the guard's expression soured.
"I doubt there are many people busier than us, you know? And yet, there's someone even busier?"
The guard seemed to be implicitly insisting that no one worked harder than they did, but Rei shook his head.
"No, the busiest person in Gilm right now is probably Lord Daskar. He literally does paperwork all day long."
"Ugh."
Hearing "paperwork all day long," the guard—who had been half-boasting about his own busyness just seconds ago—made a face of genuine disgust. As his choice of profession made obvious, he far preferred moving around outdoors to sitting at a desk.
"Well? After hearing that, can you still say you're busier?"
"No, mine's still easier. There's no way I could do something like that."
"Right? I'd absolutely hate to do that kind of thing, too."
If he had to do paperwork like Daskar, Rei would much rather be out and about with various outdoor duties, the way he was now. It was still a hassle, sure, but as long as he traveled with Set, getting to distant locations didn't take long. Compared to sitting at a desk, this was overwhelmingly easier.
"Anyway, it's the dead-end up ahead. You know the one?"
"Yeah. This area is pretty complicated, but if you're a guard, you have to learn it whether you want to or not. The annoying part is that even roads like these sometimes change for no reason."
"Tell me about it."
Rei frequently passed through back alleys like these with Set, so he'd experienced it more than a few times—a passage that should have been clear just days ago would suddenly be blocked off for no apparent reason. Brawls destroying walls, hasty repairs, houses being rebuilt without permission... there was no shortage of reasons. And with so many causes, the roads only grew more convoluted.
Fortunately, the place where Rei had been attacked wasn't anything special, so he'd had no trouble finding his way back. It wasn't a particularly complex area to begin with, which was exactly why Rei and Set had been able to wander around fairly freely.
What surprised the guard upon arriving at the dead-end was seeing the two presumed assassins bound so thoroughly they couldn't possibly escape, complete with gags. Rei had warned him beforehand, but seeing the tied-up man and woman with his own eyes, it would have been impossible not to be taken aback.
"Well now... Look, Rei, it's fine if you're into that sort of thing, but maybe keep it to yourself?"
"What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with my tastes. It's strictly a precaution to prevent suicide."
Not wanting to be misunderstood as having some strange hobby, Rei set the record straight. Of course, the pair was bound hand and foot and gagged. On top of that, while the man was nothing special, the woman had the kind of face that most people would agree was beautiful—so it wasn't entirely unreasonable for the guard to tease him.
"Grrr!"
Set, who had been keeping watch over the two, approached Rei with a happy purr. While Rei scratched Set's head, the guard moved to examine the one person who wasn't bound—the man whose spine Rei had crushed, killing him. He didn't conduct a thorough investigation there, though. After a quick once-over, he turned back to Rei.
"Rei, sorry, but could you carry this body too? I'd like to examine it more closely later."
"Yeah, no problem."
Normally, being asked to transport a corpse wouldn't warrant such an easy nod. But Rei had the Misty Ring. He couldn't store living humans inside it, but corpses were another story. He stowed monster carcasses in it all the time as a matter of course.
...Though there was admittedly a big difference between monsters and humans.
In any case, the temperature was rising by the day, and the weather was already half-summer. Left as it was, the corpse's stench would spread, eventually breeding disease—or worse, it might reanimate as an Undead and attack anyone nearby. Stuffing it into the Misty Ring before it became a problem was the simplest solution.
"Alright, that just leaves these two... They're still unconscious, so should we have Set carry them?"
"Huh? If you're okay with that, then sure, but... are you certain?"
"Grru!"
Set let out a cry that clearly said, Leave it to me!
Grateful, the guard helped Rei load the two unconscious figures onto Set's back. Set didn't seem bothered in the slightest and started walking with its passengers in tow.
"Alright, let's head to the Guard Station. ...Hope he's there."
The guard didn't mention anyone by name, but Rei knew exactly who he meant—the interrogator.
(If he's not there, I'll just take them to the Knight Order, so I'm not too worried. But considering the circumstances, it'd be best if they could be interrogated at the Guard Station. Walking through crowds with all these stares isn't exactly fun.)
With that in mind, Rei kept the hood of his Dragon Robe up and scanned his surroundings. From the moment they stepped onto the main street, he could feel eyes on them. It was only natural—Rei aside, Set was famous throughout Gilm. And here was Set, carrying a man and a woman—both bound and gagged—on its back. There was no way they wouldn't draw attention.
(I hate standing out like this...)
Even with his face hidden beneath the hood, Rei's gaze kept drifting back to the two unconscious assassins. Assassins were, by nature, creatures of the shadows who struck from the darkness, killing their targets through surprise. In that sense, the little act Rei had witnessed had been thoroughly convincing. For such professionals to be paraded through a crowd in broad daylight, bound and helpless, having their faces memorized by dozens of onlookers... it was a massive—catastrophically massive—drawback for anyone in their line of work. If Rei were in their shoes, he'd either flee Gilm immediately or find a way to change his face.
"Good thing I was here, right?"
"Well, I can't argue with that."
Rei replied earnestly. Without the guard beside them, someone might have mistaken the scene for a kidnapping. That would have been a serious headache. But having the guard present served as a guarantee that Rei and Set had nothing to hide. Given the circumstances, his company was deeply appreciated.
They pressed on through the streets, and just as Rei was growing thoroughly sick of the curious stares, they finally arrived at the Guard Station.
"Hey, wait here a sec. Let me go check inside."
The guard disappeared through the door—but from where Rei stood, it looked for all the world like he was fleeing.