"So this is the place. I figured it'd be somewhere like this."
The location of the Morning Glow Inn, as heard from the stall owner, was an establishment on a back street—not quite in the Slum District, but close enough.
It was the kind of inn that anyone with money to spare would never set foot in.
That said, the Morning Glow Inn was on the cleaner side for a back-alley establishment.
Now I just need Lindy to be inside. No, wait—if she is, she could be attacked by an assassin. So would it be better if she weren't here?
Thinking such thoughts, Rei stepped inside the Morning Glow Inn.
The inn wasn't particularly large, so it had no dining hall or anything of the sort.
It was truly just a place to sleep.
That was probably why the lodging fee was what it was.
"Are you a guest, dear?"
Seeing Rei enter, the middle-aged woman behind the counter called out to him.
Rei shook his head at her and stated his business.
"I believe a woman named Lindy is staying at this inn. Do you know if she's here right now?"
The instant he said that, the clerk's gaze shifted to one she reserved for suspicious characters.
It was only natural. Rei was currently wearing the hood of his Dragon Robe, concealing his face.
For someone like that to show up asking about a person staying at her inn—it would have been unreasonable not to be suspicious.
Rei seemed to understand her thoughts as well.
He removed his hood, revealing his face.
"Huh."
Seeing Rei's face, the clerk let out a word of admiration.
His features were refined enough to be described as feminine, and combined with the aura he carried, they created an alluring, almost bewitching charm that drew the eyes of anyone who looked at him.
"I'm Rei. Lindy and I aren't party members or anything, but friends... no, more like acquaintances, I guess? That's the kind of relationship we have. Could you call Lindy for me? If you tell her Rei is here, she should understand."
At Rei's words, the clerk hesitated.
To the clerk, Lindy was a regular guest at the inn, someone she was fond of.
That was why she wavered, wondering whether it was right to call her just because someone she'd never seen before was asking for her.
She hesitated, but...
"Please hurry. Lindy might also be targeted by an assassin."
"Wh—!?"
The clerk was startled by the words that came out of Rei's mouth.
Living a normal life, the possibility of being targeted by an assassin was virtually nonexistent—so it was only natural.
And if Lindy really was being targeted by an assassin...
The gaze the clerk directed at Rei sharpened.
She had begun to suspect that Rei might be the reason Lindy was being targeted.
In truth, that inference wasn't entirely wrong.
Rei had heard about Golias, and in order to resolve that matter, he had gone bandit hunting today.
The only plausible reason someone would send an assassin after him was that.
There's also the possibility that someone involved in Roger's situation, or someone who wants to steal Seto, sent an assassin. But in that case, they wouldn't send one after Lindy—they'd come after me alone.
Even though some materials had been allocated to the Dolan Workshop, it remained a fact that Roger was an alchemist with top-class skill even within Egginis.
Rei had given Roger Orc Naga materials and commissioned him to make a golem.
If someone found that displeasing, it wouldn't be strange for them to send an assassin after Rei.
As for Seto, if someone believed they could only obtain him by killing Rei, it wouldn't be strange for such a person to target Rei either.
Of course, whether they could actually kill Rei so easily was another matter entirely, and even if they succeeded, whether Seto would then belong to the culprit was questionable at best.
"Anyway, I need you to find out what's going on with the—"
"Rei?"
Rei had been about to say "assassin," but at the voice coming from the stairs leading to the second floor, he turned his gaze.
Standing there was Lindy—the very person Rei had been searching for.
"Lindy? You're safe?"
"Huh? Safe? From what?"
Hearing those words, it was obvious that Lindy hadn't been attacked by an assassin.
Given Lindy's skill level, if she had been attacked by an assassin, repelling them would have been extremely difficult. Thinking about it that way, it meant that Lindy being targeted had been a mistake on Rei's part.
"An assassin. An assassin came to my inn targeting me. So I figured you might be in danger too, but... it seems you weren't targeted."
"An assassin!?"
At Rei's words, Lindy let out a cry of surprise.
Even as an adventurer, she was not a high-rank adventurer, nor did she hold any kind of secret. Her background wasn't that of a noble or a great merchant—she came from an orphanage.
Given all that, she had probably never imagined that she might be targeted by an assassin.
"Yeah. I was sure someone didn't like the fact that I was looking into Golias's case, but... if that were the case, they would have naturally attacked you as well, not just me. Which means the assassin sent after me is related to something entirely different."
"...Somehow, you don't seem particularly frightened despite saying you were targeted by an assassin."
"It's not like this is the first time I've been targeted by one."
At Rei's words, Lindy wore an expression suggesting she couldn't comprehend what she was hearing.
For Lindy, assassins were something from fairy tales—well, maybe not quite that, but she had certainly believed they were something she would never be involved with.
"In any case, I'm glad you're safe, but... what do you want to do? Want to hear more details? Or if you're fine already, I'll head back."
For Rei's part, he could either explain things in more detail to Lindy here, or return to his inn and interrogate the unconscious assassin about who had hired them.
He indicated with his words that the choice was Lindy's, and Lindy decided immediately.
"Tell me a bit more. Can you come to my room? We can't talk here, after all."
"Got it."
The female clerk tried to say something in response to Lindy's words, but Rei nodded firmly before she could.
With that, the matter was settled, and Rei headed for the stairs.
"Well... I suppose it's fine. Lindy acknowledged you, after all."
The clerk ultimately decided not to pry any further, reasoning that Lindy had invited Rei to her room herself.
After all, words about assassins had been casually tossed around since earlier.
She understood that anything she said while working at a cheap inn would be meaningless.
If Lindy were younger—or rather, still a child—she might have said something then.
But Lindy was already an adult, and several years had passed since she became an adventurer.
Given that, she judged there was no need for her to say anything here, and returned to her work.
"Please, sit down."
Saying that, Lindy urged Rei to sit on the bed.
If this were an inn with higher lodging fees, it wouldn't be strange to have at least one chair. But at the Morning Glow Inn, the cheap rate meant the room contained little more than a single bed.
It was truly nothing more than a place to sleep.
That was why Rei and Lindy both sat on the bed together, but... under any other circumstances, Lindy might well have been flustered about being alone in her room with a man, both of them sitting together on the bed.
However, right now she had just been told about an assassin, and she was in no state of mind to think about such things.
It also helped that she trusted Rei from the incident where he had helped the orphanage.
"So, about what you were saying... I'll ask just to be sure, but this isn't a joke or anything, right? You were actually attacked by an assassin?"
"That's right. Though, they weren't exactly a top-rate one."
What came to mind as Rei said that were the assassins who had attacked him previously in the Bestia Empire.
Compared to those assassins, the one who attacked today was clearly inferior in skill.
Not only that, but the fact that they had tried to kill the man in front of Rei's room before assassinating their target—whether out of considering him a nuisance or some other reason—made Rei question whether they were truly a professional.
Of course, Rei could understand the desire to eliminate someone who was in the way of assassinating a target. But to openly radiate killing intent right in front of Rei's room was, in his opinion, questionable.
In other words, Rei felt that the opponent's skill as an assassin was simply low.
That said, perhaps even with that level of skill, they had been operating just fine in Egginis.
"No assassin came for me, but... does that mean the bandit situation, or rather, Golias's case, is unrelated?"
"Hard to say. Among the things I'm currently involved in, the possibilities that could lead to someone sending an assassin are: someone targeting Seto for his materials, and me giving rare materials to Roger to have a golem made as a condition. And the remaining one is my investigation into the disappearance of the bandits, including Golias's case."
Among those, Rei thought the most likely reason for being targeted was the matter of the bandits and Golias.
"Other than that... let's see. I can't deny the possibility that someone who holds a grudge against me for some reason saw my arrival in Egginis as a convenient opportunity and sent an assassin."
Rei didn't harbor any delusions about not being resented by others.
Through his actions in Elgin so far, he had always accepted that it would be no surprise if many people bore grudges against him.
And numerous nobles and wealthy merchants came to Egginis. The possibility that some such person had spotted Rei and sent an assassin was one he couldn't deny.
Even so, the fact that they had sent someone who couldn't be called first-rate as an assassin might have been because the underground organization that managed to make contact within a short period after learning of Rei's existence was only at about that level.
Honestly, Rei didn't know the truth of that himself.
After all, the idea that someone holding a grudge against him had sent an assassin was itself nothing more than Rei's speculation.
Thinking about it that way, it would indeed be unreasonable to expect Lindy to simply believe this whole affair.
"It'd be fine if that assassin was sent only after me, but I can't rule out the possibility that one will be sent after you too. As long as that's the case, you shouldn't let your guard down."
"Even if you say that..."
Lindy was bewildered by Rei's words.
For Lindy, the thought that she might be targeted by an assassin was something she had never anticipated at all.
That was why she faltered, unsure of what she would do if she were actually attacked by an assassin.
If you actually get attacked, you realize they're surprisingly not that scary.
Rei thought about it somewhat nonchalantly, but that wasn't a baseless feeling.
Right now, Lindy was frightened by the very word "assassin" alone.
Humans inevitably feel fear toward the unknown.
Once that unknown becomes known, the fear doesn't disappear entirely, but it definitely lessens.
Assassins, in particular, were literally people who made a living out of killing others.
Given that, it wouldn't be strange for the very word "assassin" to carry an eerie quality.
In that sense, if Lindy actually encountered an assassin and survived even once, it wouldn't be surprising for her to stop feeling the kind of fear she had now.
The problem was whether Lindy could survive that one time.
"If you want, you could travel with me for a while. If an assassin is coming, the fact that they're targeting me is probably the biggest factor. If so, I think it'd be easier in various ways if you stayed with me."
"Even if you say that, it puts me in a difficult position. If I were acting solo, that'd be one thing, but I'm in a party. I can't just go off and do as I please in the middle of all that."
That was a natural thing to say for an adventurer who had formed a party.
She couldn't cause trouble for her party out of selfishness.
Her party members were kind, so they might accept her even if she caused some trouble, but... Lindy couldn't allow that.
Or rather, there was also the possibility that even her kind companions might say they could no longer party with her over something like this.
If Lindy's party members learned that one of their own was being targeted by an assassin, they would certainly have feelings about it.
"Even so. I can't exactly travel together with your entire party."
Saying that, Rei looked at Lindy with a troubled expression.