"The hideout of Black Dog."
Rei fixed the man with a wary gaze.
He had been on guard from the start, given that the man had called him over. But the man had brought up the name Black Dog without Rei having said a single word.
Considering he had just been lured into a trap by someone claiming to guide him to the Black Dog hideout, dropping his guard and taking this man at his word would have been unreasonable.
"Who are you?"
He asked the question while preparing to counterattack instantly if the man tried anything.
But the man under Rei's scrutiny simply raised both hands as if to say he meant no harm.
Seeing that, Rei relaxed his guard—just a fraction.
...Though Set, standing beside him, showed no sign of letting his guard down at all.
"I'm not your enemy. You can believe that much, at least."
"Isn't it a bit much to ask me to believe that without any proof?"
Rei demanded some kind of evidence. The man thought for a moment before speaking.
"When you approached this building, the people nearby averted their eyes, didn't they? Isn't that reason enough?"
"That's..."
The man wasn't wrong, and Rei couldn't deny it.
It was an undeniable fact that many who had been watching Rei looked away as he drew near the building.
"Well? Does that make you a little more willing to trust me?"
"...I suppose so."
Rei nodded, though he didn't necessarily believe the man's words.
Still, the readiness to strike back immediately had faded, so the man offered a smile and spoke.
"That's good enough for now. Now, as I said, I'm not your enemy. To be precise—I'm the one you're looking for."
The one you're looking for.
At first, Rei wondered if the man was part of the group of assassins targeting him. But given the flow of the conversation, he quickly grasped what the man meant.
"Black Dog?"
"Bingo. That's why I called out to you."
Those words reminded Rei that when the man had first hailed him, he had asked whether Rei was looking for the Black Dog hideout.
(I see. If this man belongs to Black Dog, it would be no surprise that he knows the location of their hideout. Though that's only if he's telling the truth.)
Having already been deceived once and nearly killed, Rei couldn't fully take the man at his word.
He couldn't... but with no other options available, trusting the man was the only path forward.
(Besides, if it's a trap, I just need to crush it.)
Making that judgment, Rei decided to go along with the man's words for now.
"Understood. So you'll guide me to the Black Dog hideout, is that right?"
"Yeah, that's fine. But what exactly do you want with the Black Dog hideout? I can't just lead you there without hearing the circumstances."
"You already knew I was looking for the Black Dog hideout. Doesn't that mean you already know the reason?"
Rei found the man's slightly inconsistent demeanor a bit odd, but the man shook his head.
"Even so. I still need to hear directly from you why you want to go to the hideout. If there's nothing that'd be troublesome if I asked about it, then it shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"That's... well, true."
In reality, it would be troublesome if, by some off chance, Black Dog was involved in the assassination attempts.
But since Marina had been the one to introduce him to Black Dog, he wasn't too worried about that.
"Right now, I'm being targeted by assassins. Just today alone—no, ever since I arrived in Gilm, it's happened multiple times. I want information on the organization behind it. Also, ever since arriving in Gilm today, Set and I have felt a strong sense of unease. So much so that I can barely detect the bloodlust of assassins."
The man nodded in understanding at Rei's explanation.
On the surface, he looked impressed by the explanation, but in truth, he was likely checking Rei's account against the information he already had.
Rei, watching the man, could sense as much. But given his current situation—trying to reach the Black Dog hideout and obtain information there—he was in no position to object to the man's attitude.
After several dozen seconds passed, the man finally nodded.
"Understood. Then there's no problem bringing you along. So, what do you say? Shall we head out right now?"
"For someone who played coy, you certainly decide quickly."
Rei sounded slightly surprised.
He had assumed the man would hesitate far longer before making a decision.
Yet the man had readily agreed the moment Rei finished speaking.
If so, it was only natural to think he had already made up his mind from the start.
"There's a lot to it. A lot."
Saying only that, the man gestured toward the back of the building.
"Come on, let's go. Follow me."
"...Wait, can Set come inside too?"
Normally, Set couldn't enter buildings.
Its sheer size made it impossible.
If forced inside, it might end up destroying the building entirely.
That was why Rei asked whether Set would be allowed in.
"Ah... right. Set might be a problem. But if we don't go through here, it'll be a pretty big detour. What do you want to do?"
"I'll ask just in case, but this door doesn't teleport you somewhere against your will with a Magic Item or anything, right?"
"Obviously. Never seen or heard of a Magic Item like that. ...Well, but for someone like you, I suppose it wouldn't be strange to know about something like that."
The man posed the question as though entertaining the possibility, but Rei shook his head as if the answer were obvious.
From Rei's perspective, the teleportation concern was something he had voiced purely as a worst-case scenario.
In the Bestia Empire, teleportation had already been achieved—though it required enormous costs, could only reach limited destinations, and demanded prior preparation.
Considering that, the possibility of teleportation being used here couldn't be entirely dismissed.
"No such Magic Item exists. If it did, it'd be convenient, I'm sure. ...Though with Set around, we rarely have trouble with travel speed."
In truth, Set's travel speed was incomparably faster than a horse galloping across the ground.
...Even so, Rei did think teleportation would be more convenient for covering long distances.
"Hmm, I see. ...Oh, it was Set, right? If it's Set, it can just fly over the top of this building, can't it? That way, it's no problem for us either."
"...It's that simple?"
"This is the Slum District. That much is a given. More importantly, come on—let's go."
At the man's words, Rei told Set to fly over the building, then stepped through the indicated door to the outside.
"Gururururu!"
A few seconds after Rei emerged, Set descended from above with a cry.
(This really stands out. ...Well, I suppose worrying about that is pointless when Set's already here.)
While stroking Set, who was rubbing its face against him, Rei guessed that by now it had probably caused quite a commotion in the Slum District.
After all, Set had suddenly flapped its wings and vaulted clear over an entire building.
"Looks like Set made it. Alright then, let's go. I'll guide you. ...I'm telling you now, Black Dog is an underworld organization. You understand that, and you still want to go, right? It goes without saying at this point, but still."
"Of course I understand that side of things. But to gather the information I need, I need a source. In that sense, Black Dog is the perfect choice."
Naturally, even if he searched for an Information Broker outside the Slum District, he could obtain a certain amount of information about the area.
But when it came down to it, you went to a specialist.
If he wanted information about the Slum District, the best people to ask were its residents.
And if he was going to ask the residents anyway, it was undeniably better to speak with someone among them who possessed superior information-gathering capabilities.
In that sense, Black Dog was the ideal organization.
...The biggest deciding factor, though, was that Marina had recommended it.
"Hmm. Well, whatever. This way, then."
Whether the man was satisfied with Rei's answer or had never cared to begin with—Rei couldn't tell—but either way, the man led them forward.
Emerging from the back of the previous building, the path was by no means wide.
"Guruu."
Set, wings folded, let out a sound that clearly said 'narrow'—and for good reason. The path was only just wide enough to squeeze through.
"Set, you can use your skill."
"Guruu?"
At Rei's words, Set purred as if asking, really?
Originally, the skill Rei was telling it to use—Size Change—wasn't something that should be casually revealed to strangers.
But while they could still manage to push through for now, there was no guarantee the path ahead would stay the same.
It wasn't impossible that it might widen, but given that this was the Slum District, that seemed unlikely.
And with assassins after him, if they were attacked in this situation, Set in its current state would make an easy target.
That was why he needed to ensure at least some degree of mobility in case of an ambush here.
"Hm? What's wrong? Something happen?"
The man leading the way glanced back at the exchange between Rei and Set.
In response, Rei looked at Set as he replied.
"The path is a bit too narrow for Set. It's going to shrink a little."
"...Shrink?"
The man looked as though he had no idea what Rei was talking about. Rather than explaining, it would be faster to simply show him, so Rei turned his gaze to Set.
Set must have immediately understood the meaning of that look. It let out a short cry and activated the skill.
"U-whoa!"
A cry of astonishment burst from the man's mouth.
Naturally—Set had shrunk from a body length of three meters down to about seventy centimeters.
If the Size Change skill were at a higher level, Set could become even smaller, but at level two, seventy centimeters was the best it could manage.
At this size, navigating the path would be no problem at all.
"There. Set isn't too cramped now, right?"
"Gurururu."
Set let out a happy cry at Rei's words.
The man, who had been staring at Set in blank amazement, finally snapped back to reality.
"No, no, that's not the point! Why did it suddenly shrink?"
"It's a skill effect. Set is a Rare Species that can use a wide variety of skills."
Rei offered the standard explanation.
Of course, the truth—that Set was a monster born through Beast Magic and acquired new skills by consuming the Magic Stones of other monsters—would have been far more convincing.
And indeed, the man did appear at least somewhat satisfied by the explanation.
"Rare Species, huh. Come to think of it, I feel like I might have heard a rumor like that... or maybe not."
While watching the man mutter to himself, Rei patted the now-shrunken Set.
...Though that said, 'small' was only relative compared to three meters. Seventy centimeters was still a decent size.
"Come on, let's get going. Standing around here isn't ideal."
"...Y-yeah. Got it. Let's do that."
The man nodded and resumed leading the way.
In truth, Rei still hadn't fully trusted the man. But judging by his reaction, he felt reasonably reassured.
It was only that Set had shrunk, but the man's genuine shock at the change was plain to see.
Even if the man were to suddenly reveal himself as an assassin in this state, Rei felt confident that dealing with him wouldn't be difficult.
Either way, the two and their companion pressed on... making their way through the gaps between buildings and along paths so narrow that most people would struggle to pass.
(Could this be counter-surveillance against tails? With Set around, I wouldn't normally worry about that. Oh wait—maybe because of this unease, it's not just bloodlust that's become harder to detect, but presence too?)
Judging from his combat experience earlier today, that didn't seem to be the case. But as long as the true nature of this unease remained unknown, Rei couldn't bring himself to relax completely.
Either way, Rei and Set continued through terrain that was difficult to navigate on foot... and after roughly thirty minutes, the man spoke.
"There, you can see it. That's the Black Dog hideout."
At the end of his gaze stood a two-story building.