The Slum District.
Rei had barely arrived when the residents approached him—not to accost him, but to welcome him.
"Rei-san, what brings you here today? If you've got business, I can help out."
"Yeah, me too. I'm not particularly busy today, so I'll tag along. The Slum District can be pretty dangerous, after all."
"You idiot. With Rei-san and Set-chan here, what's there to be afraid of?"
"You're the idiot. No matter how strong Rei-san and Set-chan are, if you can avoid getting tangled up in trouble, that's always the better option."
The people who approached the moment he set foot in the Slum District ranged from teenagers to folks in their forties, spanning all ages.
That said, Rei recognized most of the crowd that had gathered.
Well, "recognized" might have been too strong a word—they weren't exactly close.
They were the Slum District residents who had been hired for the Gigant Turtle dissection over the winter.
Thanks to the income from that job, quite a few of them had managed to leave the Slum District behind.
But some had chosen to stay, others had blown through their pay the very day they received it and couldn't afford to leave, and many more remained for all sorts of reasons. Even so, the majority held a favorable impression of Rei for giving them the chance to earn. With someone like that showing up in the Slum District, there was no way they weren't going to fuss over him.
Even among Slum District residents... no, because they were Slum District residents, many felt genuine gratitude toward Rei for letting them earn money.
Winter was especially short on work, and in a typical year, more than a few people would freeze or starve to death. The reason there were fewer such deaths this year was likely because Rei had hired so many of them for the Gigant Turtle dissection.
Thanks to that income, a lot of people had made it through the winter. To those who had survived because of it, Rei's existence was something to be deeply grateful for.
And, of course, there was also the calculation that they might get to work the Gigant Turtle dissection again next winter.
"Ah, I appreciate you all gathering around, but I think it's best if you don't get too close to me right now. I'm caught up in some trouble at the moment."
"Gruu..."
Set let out a cry as if to back up Rei's words.
The sound carried a genuinely apologetic tone.
To Set, the Slum District residents who had gathered here were by no means people he disliked. In fact, many of them had doted on him during breaks and downtime, so in that sense, he was quite fond of them.
That was exactly why he didn't want to drag the people before him into the mess he was currently dealing with.
"Listen, I'm sorry, but I need to head somewhere a bit dangerous from here. Can we catch up later? Also, like I said, I'm tangled up in some pretty messy business right now, so it's better if you keep your distance."
Rei could be utterly ruthless toward enemies, but when it came to people who were friendly toward him, that was another matter entirely.
Right now, the priority was making sure no one else got swept into the crossfire of the assassins targeting him.
The people who looked up to him getting caught in a fight with assassins and getting hurt—that was the last thing Rei wanted.
"Gruu? ...Grurururu."
Understanding Rei's intent, Set pulled away from the person who had been petting him, clearly happy to see him again after so long.
The woman who had been petting him looked disappointed, but reading Set's demeanor, she seemed to accept that he couldn't stay and let him go with an understanding nod.
"Come on, if Rei-san's in some kind of trouble, that's all the more reason for us to help! Right, everyone?!"
At the words of a man who looked to be in his twenties, the rest of the crowd voiced their agreement.
It was true that their willingness to help stemmed from their fondness for Rei, but there was also a practical calculation behind it.
Surviving winter in the Slum District required a fair amount of money.
As long as Rei was around, there was the prospect of earning from the next Gigant Turtle dissection.
Naturally, they didn't want Rei to die—and they didn't want him getting injured, either.
...Of course, the people here were Slum District residents. They knew exactly how powerful Rei was.
Above all, the fact that Rei had taken down the Gigant Turtle spoke for itself. Defeating a monster that powerful meant he possessed extraordinary strength.
...Even so, the thought of "maybe" was what drove many of them to want to help Rei. But to those people, Rei simply shook his head.
"No, this one is genuinely dangerous. Getting you involved in what I'm doing isn't something I want. But... let me put it this way. Do any of you know where the Black Dog hideout is?"
Black Dog.
The moment Rei said that name, many in the crowd turned anxious eyes toward him.
(What? Do they think I'd lose to this Black Dog group?)
That thought crossed his mind for a split second, but the looks the gathered crowd was giving him—worried, yes—weren't worried about Rei. They were worried about something else entirely.
"H-Hey, Rei. Could it be... the trouble you're in right now, is it with Black Dog?"
The man asked timidly, and Rei shook his head.
"No, it's nothing like that. I was simply pointed to Black Dog as an organization that might have information I need for this situation."
At that, everyone who had been listening let out a collective sigh of relief.
Judging from their reaction, Rei gathered that Black Dog wasn't hated by the Slum District residents—if anything, they were liked.
Of course, he couldn't say for certain how things actually were, but at the very least, the majority of the people present clearly held a favorable opinion of Black Dog.
"Oh, good. That's a relief."
Seeing the man exhale in relief, Rei raised a question.
"Based on how you all just reacted, it sounds like Black Dog isn't the kind of organization that causes problems for people."
"Yeah. I mean, sure, they do things that can't exactly be brought out into the open. But at the same time, they help out us Slum District folks in all sorts of ways."
"I got jumped by some thugs once, and Black Dog bailed me out!"
As one person spoke up, the others chimed in with similar stories of their own.
Listening to them, Rei understood that there were organizations in the Slum District that actually did good, and that this was precisely why Marina had given him that letter—a letter of introduction, essentially.
If Black Dog had been the sort of organization you'd expect to hear about when someone said "Slum District group," Marina never would have sent Rei to them.
If she had wanted Rei to crush a particular organization, then maybe she would have pointed him toward something like that. But she hadn't.
"Got it. So, where's the Black Dog hideout? I'd like to get there as fast as I can."
"I'll take you there!"
A young man in his late teens, brimming with energy, volunteered.
His confident demeanor made it clear he knew exactly where the hideout was.
The others seemed to agree he was the right choice—no one objected.
...Honestly, Rei would have preferred not to bring the guy along.
There was a real chance of running into assassins, and he didn't want to drag a civilian into that.
Until now, the encounters had technically taken place outside the Slum District, so there hadn't been anyone bold enough to attack out in the open. ...The ambush in that dead-end alley aside.
But this was the Slum District.
The guards wouldn't set foot here unless something extraordinary happened.
And the residents, as a rule, didn't intervene when trouble broke out.
...Well, if someone ended up dead in the commotion, they'd pick the corpse clean of valuables. But that was beside the point.
The point was, if an assassin struck, this young man could get caught in the crossfire.
If it were just Rei and Set, they could handle it—provided the attacker wasn't on the level of an Alias Holder-class adventurer.
But with a civilian in the mix? That changed things.
Sure, living in the Slum District meant he was no stranger to a brawl.
But there was a world of difference between a street fight and a battle where people were trying to kill each other.
"You sure about this? If you just give me directions to the hideout, we can handle the rest on our own."
"Hmm, that'd be a little tricky. The routes are pretty complicated."
The man scratched his head.
Dandruff drifted through the air.
This was the Slum District, so that was hardly surprising.
With summer approaching and the temperature climbing, there was also a stale, sour smell hanging in the air.
The buildings around them, left broken and unrepaired, were exactly what you'd expect of the Slum District.
But precisely because it was the kind of place it was, there were plenty of hiding spots—ideal ambush territory for assassins.
With countless spots like that scattered throughout, Rei's constant vigilance was only natural.
"Like I said, I'm in the middle of something dangerous right now. Going to the Black Dog hideout is part of that. If you travel with me, you could get dragged into it. At worst, you could die. ...You still want to come?"
"...Yeah."
The young man hesitated for a few seconds, but in the end, he nodded.
Truthfully, Rei had no idea why this guy was willing to go so far for him. But if he was that determined, Rei wasn't going to argue.
"Alright. Lead the way."
In the end, Rei gave in and accepted.
The young man broke into a wide, genuine smile.
Their destination was the hideout of Black Dog, one of the underground organizations.
A rare one, at that—held in genuine regard by the very people of the Slum District.
But an underground organization was still an underground organization. They had to be doing shady things behind closed doors.
Heading to a place like that, with the very real possibility of being ambushed by assassins along the way—and the man was smiling like he couldn't be happier.
"This way, follow me!"
The young man set off, leading Rei and Set through the streets.
The others who had gathered seemed content to leave the guiding to him, and drifted back to their own affairs—working, chatting with friends, or taking a nap in the shade to escape the heat.
One person was even drinking what looked like Fruit Water, though where they'd gotten it was anyone's guess.
(Seriously, where did they get that?)
Fruit Water wasn't cheap.
It definitely wasn't something you could just pick up in the Slum District on a whim.
...Then again, if you rose high enough in an underground organization, you could earn more than your average person in the legitimate world. So considering that, it wasn't entirely implausible.
"Rei-san, Set, this way, this way. ...Oh, and don't touch that building over there. It took a beating in a fight a while back, so it might collapse if you so much as brush against it."
He pointed at a house.
True to his word, the walls were riddled with holes. It looked like a stiff push would be enough to bring the whole thing down.
"Ah... yeah. Fair enough. With a place like this, it wouldn't be surprising if it fell apart from a touch. ...Does anyone actually live there?"
"Hmm, good question. People come and go, so it depends on the day. When I passed by yesterday, nobody was there."
"Is that how it works?"
That was all Rei could think to say.
"Hey, want to take a quick peek inside? There might be someone in there."
"No, if someone's in there, peeking through the wall would be rude, wouldn't it?"
Then again, maybe in the Slum District, that sort of thing didn't matter. Rei wasn't so sure, but the man nodded confidently.
"It's fine. If someone's sleeping in a house like this, they're obviously prepared for that kind of thing."
He gestured toward a hole in the wall, urging Rei to look through.
Rei would have much rather gotten moving toward the Black Dog hideout, but from the look of it, the man wasn't going to budge until he took a peek.
Finding the whole thing odd, Rei figured he might as well humor him. He leaned toward the hole the man indicated and peered inside.
In that instant, the first thing that met Rei's eyes was a man, short blade raised, lunging to bring it down on him.