Having finished her treatments for the time being, Marina sat drinking fruit water with Rei inside the clinic.
It was a brief break, and the drink was something Rei had taken out from his Misty Ring.
Rei had been served poisoned fruit water from a stall earlier, but the fruit water he took from his Misty Ring carried no such concern.
"So? What did you want to ask me? Though I'm happy enough that you just came to visit me."
She said this and directed a smile at Rei that exuded an intensely feminine allure.
Marina's outfit was, as always, a party dress.
The neckline was deeply cut, revealing the deep valley between her brown peaks.
Averting his gaze from that valley, Rei opened his mouth.
"You served as the Guild Master of Gilm for a long time, right? So through those connections, would you happen to know anything about the underworld organizations here?"
"...Underworld organizations? Why, all of a sudden?"
"Actually, ever since I arrived in Gilm today, I've been targeted by assassins in succession."
With that, Rei explained everything he had experienced since arriving in Gilm.
He also mentioned the strong sense of unease he had felt since arriving.
"...I see. But Rei, you've fought against underworld organizations a few times before, right? And naturally, they should have learned not to get involved with you by now, hadn't they?"
As a Former Guild Master, Marina naturally knew that Rei had clashed with underworld organizations in the Slum District.
Furthermore, since she had joined Rei's party after stepping down as Guild Master, information about Rei came to her all the more easily.
"Yeah. Even so, it's not like we explicitly discussed and decided on that. It was more of an unspoken agreement... or rather, it just naturally turned out that way."
"Right? That essentially means they judged that if they crossed Rei, they would suffer major damage—possibly enough to collapse their organization entirely, right? I can't imagine anyone among Gilm's underworld organizations who would break that."
"Hmm... What if someone in a leadership position within the organization changed? Like, a new boss or Young Boss took over and decided to pick a fight with me to prove their strength?"
Rei spoke while enjoying the sweet and sour taste of the cold fruit water, but Marina tilted her head, looking doubtful.
"It's not impossible as a possibility... but if they just wanted to show their own strength, there are plenty of other ways to do it, right? Going out of their way to pick a fight with Rei would be nothing but suicide."
"Maybe they simply don't understand that. With their position changed, they might be drunk on a sense of omnipotence, thinking they can do anything... Is there no chance of that?"
"Hmm... I can't say that possibility doesn't exist either, but even so, would they really pick a fight with Rei?"
"Even if you say that, I'm actually being targeted, you know."
In this case, he meant that someone was trying to assassinate him, and calling that "picking a fight" was something only Rei would do.
If it were an ordinary person, they definitely would not have used such a light expression.
"But the guards didn't recognize those assassins either, right? Of course, I don't think the guards know everything about the underworld organizations, but still, considering this incident... there are quite a few unnatural aspects."
"...If so, what do you think the reason is? Honestly, I just thought that if I went to an underworld organization in the Slum District, I could sort things out somehow."
Taking out the mastermind who sent the assassins.
That was certainly an effective means of dealing with the assassins.
However... that was only true if the underworld organization Rei was familiar with was the one picking the fight.
If the assassins being sent had no connection whatsoever to the underworld organizations, then no matter how much Rei attacked them, it would be meaningless.
...No, if anything, the underworld organizations might interpret being attacked for no reason as an act of war, and even knowing they had no chance of winning, might desperately launch a counterattack.
In reality, given the devastating damage of fighting Rei, they were more likely to flee Gilm altogether.
That was just how harsh it was to face Rei head-on.
"There's nothing I can do about the underworld organizations. The best I can do is go to the Slum District and wait for them to pick a fight with me... Though I don't know if they'd honestly reveal their headquarters."
"Hmm, you should probably not do that. From what you've told me, it's not just one organization targeting you, right? If that's the case, even if they confessed, they might point you toward a different organization—not their own... possibly even one they're hostile with."
"That's... well, possible."
Destroying a rival organization, and if they were lucky... in truly exceptional circumstances, Rei might be killed in that organization's attack.
It would be a true two-for-one, killing two birds with one stone. If such a means existed, there was no reason not to try it.
"Right? For now, either leave that matter to the guards... or have an organization you know handle it somehow."
"Hmm... I've already left it to the guards, so that means I'll need to go to the Slum District after all."
"That's certainly true, but the reason is different, isn't it? Are you going with the intention of fighting them from the start, or are you going to build a friendly relationship?"
At Marina's words, Rei nodded.
For a moment, he thought that if the Slum District didn't exist, none of this would have happened—but the Slum District was a necessary evil.
Without the Slum District, everyone currently living there—starting with those who could no longer make a living as adventurers—would be scattered throughout all of Gilm.
If that happened, public security would undoubtedly deteriorate far beyond its current state.
To prevent that, a safety net like the Slum District was necessary.
And because the underworld organizations controlled the Slum District, a certain degree of order was maintained even within it.
"Hmm. I suppose so. But if you have any leads, Marina, then I should ask the organizations in the Slum District after all."
"I'll say this much—try to avoid causing a disturbance as much as possible. ...Well, with you, saying it might be pointless."
In Rei's case, even if he didn't cause trouble himself, trouble had a way of approaching him.
Knowing that all too well, Marina did tell him not to cause a scene, though she didn't actually expect him to follow through.
Rei himself, apparently aware of this, fell silent without a word of protest.
But Rei shifted the topic as if to mask his discomfort.
He had no intention of changing the subject at all—from his perspective, this was something he had been planning to ask about from the start.
"Like I mentioned earlier, do you know anything about the unease I've felt since arriving in Gilm?"
"Even if you ask me that... I don't particularly feel any unease, you know?"
"...What?"
Rei asked back at Marina's words.
He had assumed that since he and Set had felt the unease since arriving in Gilm, Marina must have noticed it as well.
But according to what Marina just said, she felt no unease.
This was clearly strange.
It wouldn't have been odd at all to wonder what on earth was going on.
"Is that true?"
"Yes. In the first place, if there were an unease, there's no way I wouldn't notice it, right? No, even if I didn't notice it, Elena and Vihera would... and besides, Gilm has plenty of other skilled people, right? The idea that all of them failed to notice the unease... do you think that's possible?"
"Now that you mention it..."
She was right.
Rei and Set had noticed the unease when they arrived in Gilm, but it was strange that the skilled people in Gilm hadn't noticed it.
"In other words, only Set and I are being affected by this unease?"
"Probably so... Though I have no idea how they're pulling that off. What I can think of is, well..."
"Magic Item, Skill, or magic. Something along those lines?"
Rei had already anticipated what might be causing this.
However, there was a significant difference between his earlier assumption that everyone in Gilm was affected by the unease, and what Marina had just told him—that only he and Set were affected.
(They're specifically targeting just me and Set?)
Causing unease in a specific person rather than all of Gilm was probably not that difficult.
Even so, without knowing who was doing it, there was nothing he could do.
Conversely, it meant that if he could figure out who was behind this, he could deal with it however he pleased.
"Then the problem is how to find whoever's responsible."
"Right... Can't Set find them with its senses, for instance?"
"Unfortunately, it seems impossible at the moment. If Set had detected the enemy's presence, it would have let me know right away. Honestly, I have no idea how the enemy is doing this to us."
Saying this, Rei showed a genuinely troubled expression.
By talking with Marina, he understood that the enemy was using some method to target only him with the unease.
But even understanding that, if he couldn't find whoever was responsible, there was no way to deal with it.
"Can Spirit Magic do something about it?"
"Look... Spirit Magic is versatile, but that doesn't mean it can do anything."
"...So that's a no."
Rei muttered in disappointment.
The one thing he could count on in this situation was Marina's Spirit Magic.
With that ruled out, there were few ways to find whoever was taking action against them.
"Then I have no choice but to take out the source after all."
Ultimately, that was where it led.
Initially, he had only been thinking about gathering information in the Slum District, but being told there was nothing he could do here, he judged that it would be better to eliminate the mastermind altogether, even if the enemy was doing something to him.
"Hmm, but doing something like that in the current situation would probably lead to various problems, you know?"
"...Probably. Honestly, I understand that."
He had heard the reasons for that from the guards as well.
Gilm was currently busy, and the guards simply didn't have enough manpower.
Rei understood that, but given his current situation of being constantly targeted by assassins, his honest feeling was that he wanted to resolve things even if it caused the guards some trouble.
"Are you still going to do it?"
"Yeah. With this unease, it's harder to detect killing intent and the like. Considering that, I think it's better to act quickly."
Making the guards slightly busier in the current situation might not be ideal.
Rei understood that. But given the current circumstances, breaking through this situation took top priority.
"I see... Understood. Then, can you wait here a moment?"
With that, Marina walked away without even waiting for Rei's reply.
Rei felt slightly puzzled by Marina's behavior, but since she told him to wait, he decided she must have a reason and stayed where he was.
Fortunately, the wait wasn't particularly long—Marina returned in less than ten minutes.
In her hand was a letter.
"Here, take this. When you go to the Slum District, contact an organization called Black Dog and give them this letter. That should ensure their cooperation. Though, given that it's you, it wouldn't be surprising if they cooperated accordingly anyway... I've written a general outline of the situation in this letter, so they shouldn't panic just because Rei shows up."
Rei nodded, understanding that the latter was the true purpose of the letter.
Honestly, Rei had his own thoughts about this situation.
If there was truly no other way, that would be one thing, but as long as that wasn't the case, keeping other options open was perfectly fine.
With that judgment, he offered Marina his words of gratitude.