Stepping out of the building, Rei headed with the approaching Set toward the place where Lazaria was hiding.
"Come to think of it, no enemies showed up this time. Were you a little bored?"
"Gruu."
In response to Rei's question, Set purred in reply.
Just as Rei had said, the only bodies scattered outside the building were the enemies who had attacked when he first approached. There were no other Black Garb members around.
When they had raided the Blue Spear hideout, Blue Spear members who happened to be outside had entered the building while Rei was wreaking havoc inside, and Set had taken them down as a result. But whether fortunately or unfortunately, nothing of the sort had happened this time.
"Well, from Ninash's perspective, she was lucky. No more of Black Phantom's Black Garb members had to get killed or injured."
Muttering that, Rei recalled how several Black Garb members had been captured by the guards and the knight.
If Ninash and her people were withdrawing from Gilm, what would happen to those captured members?
Thinking about it normally, rescuing them would be next to impossible.
Well, perhaps if they managed something clever, they could save a few. But rescuing all of them was virtually out of the question.
In that case, what would happen to them?
The question surfaced in Rei's mind, but whatever happened to the Black Garb members had nothing to do with him.
Reaching that conclusion, he decided to leave the fate of the captured members to Ninash's judgment.
Of course, if Ninash did try to rescue them, Black Phantom would inevitably suffer even greater damage than it already had. And that would make escaping Gilm all the more difficult.
The most likely outcome is that she abandons them. But Ninash is someone those subordinates revere deeply. Thinking about it, I doubt she'd just cast them aside so easily. ...Though honestly, I'm not sure what she'll do.
Rei harbored that question, but he quickly decided not to dwell on it.
Ultimately, it was Ninash who would decide how to act in this situation. Rei had no particular need to involve himself.
"Rei-san, are you finished?"
When they reached the place where Lazaria was hiding, she asked the question. Her expression was one of surprise.
Naturally—since normally it would be impossible to crush an organization like Blue Spear and then immediately destroy another like Black Phantom right afterward.
Of course, describing Rei and Set with the word "normal" was all but impossible to begin with.
"Yeah. I didn't kill all of them, though. A woman named Ninash who leads Black Phantom surrendered, so we negotiated and worked things out to a certain extent."
So saying, Rei explained the situation to Lazaria.
Afterward, the shade of exasperation that mixed into Lazaria's gaze was definitely not Rei's imagination.
"Um... well, I don't really understand it myself, but if that's Rei-san's way of doing things, then I suppose that's fine."
Lazaria said that as if trying to gloss over something, but Rei vaguely understood what she meant, so he didn't press any further.
I didn't exactly destroy Black Phantom, but I did succeed in driving them out of Gilm, so it should be fine. Though just because they withdrew once doesn't mean they'll never come back.
Ninash had failed to manage the organization effectively. In that case, her superiors might assign a more capable replacement to establish a new branch in Gilm. It wouldn't be strange at all if Ninash's superior thought that way.
If Gilm were a place with little appeal, they wouldn't bother sending forces again. But Gilm, as the only frontier of the Kingdom of Mireana, held various attractions. Especially since it was now trying to expand from a town into a city.
At any rate, Rei didn't particularly care if Black Phantom reached into Gilm again, as long as they didn't meddle with him. That was something for the underworld organizations to sort out among themselves.
"For an organization called Black Phantom, they weren't the ones responsible for that unsettling feeling me and Set have been having. Which means it has to be another organization... Is the next hideout close?"
"Um, let's see. I think it's closer than the distance we traveled from the Blue Spear hideout to here."
"I see. Then keep guiding us. I probably won't be able to get through many more, so we might need to hurry a bit."
Rei wanted to wipe out every organization targeting him today if possible.
But once night fell, that would be when underground organizations truly came into their element.
Besides, Rei had other things to do besides destroying organizations. Guarding the Birth Tower, picking up Anastasia and the others who were researching the Wisp, collecting the trees the woodcutters had felled—the list went on.
Moreover, once tomorrow came, the organizations would naturally fortify their defenses. Even now, information about Blue Spear and Black Phantom being attacked was surely spreading, but their defenses weren't airtight yet. But with a full night to prepare, they would be able to shore up their defenses thoroughly.
"Understood. Then let's go. I'd be happy too if those kinds of organizations disappeared as quickly as possible."
From the way she said that, it wasn't flattery directed at Rei—she genuinely seemed to feel that way.
Despite belonging to an underground organization called Black Dog herself, she harbored that strong a dislike for the emerging organizations. It was something of a mystery to Rei as well.
Even so, destroying hostile organizations posed no problem for him either.
"Lead the way."
After that brief phrase, Lazaria started walking toward the next organization's hideout.
Naturally, she once again took narrow paths rather than main roads. This endeavor required moving without being detected by the enemy.
"So, what kind of organization is next?"
"An organization called Wind Fang. They employ a large number of assassins."
"...Blue Spear and Black Phantom had assassins too, didn't they?"
"That's true. But Wind Fang was originally structured around dispatching assassins as its primary function, so naturally a large number of assassins are affiliated with it."
"Another troublesome-sounding organization."
Being an underground organization, power carried significant meaning. In that sense, it was only natural that an organization focused on assassination would wield strong influence.
But even if that was natural, as the one who had to fight them, Rei would have preferred to avoid it.
That said, whether he would compromise against an organization targeting him was another matter entirely. The answer to that was, naturally, no.
"Alright, let's get going. Considering the time, taking out that organization and maybe one or two more is about all I can manage?"
"Normally, you wouldn't be able to destroy organizations so easily, you know."
With a hint of exasperation, Lazaria guided Rei forward.
Rei offered a casual reply as he proceeded along the narrow path with Set, who had been shrunk through Size Change...
"It's there."
Eventually, Lazaria stopped and pointed to a building.
In terms of size, it appeared narrower than the one Black Phantom had used as their base.
However, what caught Rei's eye was not the guards around the building, but rather the people who appeared to be sitting listlessly nearby.
At first glance, they looked like the apathetic individuals commonly found in the Slum District.
But anyone with a trained eye would notice that these people were clearly not ordinary civilians.
The subtle way they moved their bodies, how they directed their gazes, and the overall atmosphere they projected made it impossible to mistake them for the people around them.
If it had been just one such person, Rei might have written it off as a former adventurer.
But with close to ten people all fitting that description, there was nothing but a sense of wrongness.
And given that these individuals were loitering near the hideout of an underground organization primarily focused on assassination, it required no thought to figure out what role they served.
There were guards positioned beside the building as if for show, but those were merely a bluff—existences meant to divert attention from the real guards.
Rei made that assessment and turned his gaze to Lazaria.
"This organization seems different from the previous ones. It looks like they have quite a number of skilled people, so hide even more carefully than before."
"Yes."
Perhaps seeing the seriousness on Rei's face, Lazaria nodded with an equally serious expression.
After confirming that Lazaria had moved away, Rei next turned his gaze to Set.
"Set, first I'll call out to those obvious lookouts. That'll probably make the assassins lurking around attack, so while I'm fighting them, ambush them from behind."
"Gruu..."
Rather than purring energetically as if to say "Got it!" like usual, Set purred with a note of concern for Rei.
He fully trusted Rei's abilities, but even so, he couldn't help wondering whether it was really okay to use Rei as bait when there were people who appeared to be considerably skilled assassins nearby.
"Still, this is strange. From what I heard, Wind Fang had skilled assassins, but it didn't seem like there were so many that Rei-san and Set would need to be this cautious."
Lazaria, who had been listening to Rei and Set's conversation, murmured that. But since they were actually present, there was nothing to be done about it. Rei called out to her.
"That probably means Wind Fang was good at information manipulation. Or maybe they found out that emerging organizations were being attacked and urgently gathered combat power."
For an organization centered on assassination, it wouldn't be unusual to keep skilled members hidden. Or perhaps they had been dispatched from somewhere else.
Fundamentally, emerging organizations were by no means on friendly terms with other organizations. But for ones that treated business as business, it wasn't impossible to have combat power dispatched in exchange for money.
Rei's guess was that they had assembled their forces through such means.
"Is... that so? Hmm, but still..."
Lazaria seemed unconvinced by Rei's words.
But since no other explanation could account for the situation, she couldn't offer any rebuttal.
"Then I'm off. Make sure you hide properly. ...Set, I'm counting on you too."
Saying that, Rei began walking toward the Wind Fang building.
The men guarding the building, apparently not having been informed of the situation, cast sadistic grins at the approaching Rei.
Not knowing who Rei was, they must have thought some ignorant fool was wandering into their territory.
"Hey hey, what business do you have? Do you know where this is? ...Oops, too late to run. You're gonna get crushed by the fangs—the fangs of Wind Fang!"
Saying that, the man threw the dagger he was holding at Rei.
Perhaps befitting a member of an assassin organization, the thrown dagger flew at a considerable speed toward Rei's right shoulder.
But Rei casually caught the incoming dagger with his right hand.
While catching it, he directed his awareness to the assassins around the hideout... and sensed that around ten men and women in the vicinity had begun to move.
"Wha—"
The man who had thrown the dagger must have had considerable confidence in his own skill. His eyes went wide at seeing Rei so casually pluck the thrown dagger out of the air.
Paying the man no mind, Rei considered whether to throw the dagger in his hand... and decided that since he had it, he might as well use it as a weapon against the attackers coming from behind.
Until just a few seconds ago, they had appeared to be listless Slum District residents. But the approaching footsteps were swift.
That alone demonstrated just how skilled the people surrounding him were.
It was then that one of the Wind Fang guards—or rather, one of the men keeping watch—finally noticed the approaching presence...
Shock?
Seeing that the expression on the man's face was one of shock, Rei felt puzzled.
But the footsteps of those approaching from behind were already quite close... and he had no time to resolve that question.
Judging that a large number of attackers were about to strike all at once, Rei prepared to swing the dagger at the right moment... and noticed that not a single one of those approaching was emitting even a trace of killing intent toward him.
Naturally, a highly skilled assassin could kill without releasing any killing intent. And Rei's ability to sense killing intent was currently being disrupted by the unsettling feeling that had plagued him since entering Gilm.
Even so... yes, even so, a sliver of doubt lingered... and in the next moment, the approaching assailants all swung their daggers simultaneously.
Not at Rei, but at the men who had been guarding the Wind Fang hideout.
"...Huh?"
A voice of surprise at the unexpected development slipped from Rei's mouth.