The alchemists, with Death Scythe leveled at them, apparently had no desire to be slashed apart by its blade, and chose to obediently answer Rei's questions.
The fact that those who had first tried to flee from the scene had their legs mercilessly pierced by arrowheads generated by the Eye of Nebula likely played a major role in this case.
That was because it made them understand that Rei would not hesitate to injure them in order to extract information.
Faced with such an opponent, these men who were not adventurers or anything of the sort—mere alchemists—had no chance of defying him.
In that sense, there was no doubt the alchemists had made the best possible choice.
However, that was strictly speaking only for the time being. They would be subjected to interrogation by Rei and—more than anyone—Lindy, who was furious over the matters of Anne and Golias... and potentially torture, depending on the situation. Whether that outcome was fortunate for them was an entirely different matter.
"Anyway, I'm glad you've chosen to respond cooperatively."
Faced with Rei's words, the alchemists would normally have liked to voice their objections loudly.
However, with Death Scythe's blade pointed at them and Lindy before them—who would undoubtedly swing her longsword if Rei didn't stop her—there was no way they could raise a counterargument.
"So... to repeat myself, what do you want to know?"
"I have several things. But, well. I suppose I'll start with this. Is it true that the Dolan Workshop manufactures golems using humans as materials?"
"...Huh?"
Perhaps because he never expected to be asked such a thing, what came out of the alchemist's mouth was a dumbfounded sound.
For a moment, Rei wondered if the man was playing dumb.
If it became public knowledge that they were using humans as materials to create golems, it would be a massive scandal.
If they were using bandits as materials, there would be no legal issue.
That was because bandits were generally treated the same as monsters.
But... even so, bandits were still bandits.
Even if they were treated the same as monsters, there was no denying they were people—including beastmen, dwarves, and elves.
Even if there were no legal problems, it was a different matter ethically.
Upon hearing that humans were being used as materials, most people would feel disgust.
There might be some who thought there was absolutely no problem with using humans as materials, but such individuals would inevitably be a minority.
Given that, Rei reasoned that if the alchemists were aware of such things, it wouldn't be strange for them to play dumb... but judging by their demeanor, they didn't seem to be doing so.
(What's going on? Could an alchemist of the Dolan Workshop really not know something like that?)
Rei harbored such doubts, but looking at the alchemists before him, he couldn't believe they were truly hiding the fact that they used humans as materials.
"You do understand what will happen if you lie, don't you?"
Perhaps unsatisfied with that exchange, Lindy pointed the tip of her longsword at the man.
As if to show that she could pierce his body with that tip at any moment.
But even when she did such a thing, the man only shook his head.
However, the attitude of the alchemists was more than enough to stir irritation in Lindy instead.
"I see. You're going to hide it even to that extent. Well, then it can't be helped, can it. Shall we test whether you can still say the same thing after losing an arm or a leg?"
Normally, Lindy would not say such things, nor would she actually carry them out.
However, right now, she had the desire to rescue Anne and Golias as quickly as possible.
That was likely why she was trying to extract information from the alchemist before her.
Faced with Lindy, who looked ready to bring her longsword down at any moment, the alchemists shouted for help with rigid faces.
Just as Lindy was thinking about taking at least one arm or leg... Rei grabbed her shoulder.
"That's enough. From the looks of it, they don't appear to be lying."
He said this, even though he was usually the one in Lindy's role.
Rei knew that when conducting interrogations, dividing into an intimidator and a mediator allowed the interrogation to proceed smoothly.
It was knowledge he had gained from manga and TV while in Japan, but coming to Elgin, it was by no means mistaken—a fact Rei, who had extracted information from many opponents thus far, had experienced firsthand.
However, even in such cases, Rei usually played the intimidator.
This was simply because he was suited for that role given that he wielded Death Scythe, and the spread of information that he would not hesitate to use force even against nobles likely played a large part as well.
But for Rei, given the current situation, he had no choice but to yield the intimidator role to Lindy.
...Not just the intimidator role—if Rei hadn't stopped Lindy, she would have actually swung her longsword at the people she was interrogating.
"Rei, are you getting in the way?"
"Aren't you misunderstanding something? What we're doing is rescuing Anne. That, and obtaining evidence that they're using humans as materials. What's needed for that is information, not hurting these people."
"Ugh... that's..."
At Rei's words, Lindy fell silent.
And once her head cooled even slightly, it became clear exactly what she had been doing...
Yes, she had definitely been about to use force before extracting any information.
"Understood. Then, I'll leave it to you from here, Rei."
Understanding that she was not calm, she quietly yielded her place to Rei.
The alchemists, watching this exchange, unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
It was only natural. If Lindy had continued the interrogation, there was a possibility she would have swung the longsword in her hands.
But with Rei, even if he interrogated them, he might not go that far with the violence.
"Understood. ...Now then, that's why the interrogator has changed, but just because I stopped Lindy doesn't mean I'll be all that gentle either. If anything happens, I will use force immediately. Don't forget that."
At Rei's words, the alchemists caught their breath.
Unlike Lindy, Rei didn't seem like the type to resort to violence immediately.
But that didn't mean he would absolutely never use force—he was saying that if he felt like it, he would exercise that power instantly.
In particular, while Lindy held a longsword, a weapon that was in a sense familiar, the weapon Rei held was Death Scythe, a massive scythe.
Given its menacing appearance, when it came to actually using force, Rei was clearly superior in terms of sheer intimidation.
"Now, I take it you understand the situation? ...With that in mind, I'd like you to tell me the details. First, let's see. What were you doing here?"
"...We were collecting data on your golem fights."
"Figured as much."
Rei wasn't particularly surprised by that.
They had been in a room adjacent to the massive hall where Rei and his group had been fighting... a place so large that in Rei's mind, it wouldn't be strange to call it a gymnasium.
Given that, it was only natural they had been watching the fight.
"So, what did you think when you saw your prized golems lose to me?"
"Incomprehensible. Thinking about it normally, I can't imagine that a single person could win against that many golems... let alone ones that we manufactured."
"That's a bit of an exaggeration."
The alchemists displayed an attitude of being unable to accept such an unreasonable outcome, but from Rei's perspective, while he thought those golems were reasonably strong, compared to the formidable enemies he had fought thus far, calling them small fry might be going a bit far, but they were by no means difficult opponents.
"An exaggeration? An exaggeration, you say? When we manufactured those golems, do you know how much trouble we..."
The alchemist looked ready to shout in dissatisfaction at Rei's words, but Rei stopped him by thrusting Death Scythe forward.
"I don't care about your hard-luck stories. Next question. The Dolan Workshop uses slaves, doesn't it?"
"Huh? Ah, that's certainly true. But what about it?"
As if wondering what on earth Rei was thinking to ask such a thing, the man spoke with a bewildered tone, a complete shift from his earlier indignation.
In this world, slaves were something that existed as a matter of course.
Given that, what did it matter if the Dolan Workshop used slaves?
Rei had no intention of dragging along the values of Japan, either.
After all, Rei himself captured bandits and sold them off as criminal slaves.
But... if there were people they had decided to enslave from the start, and they had been enslaved through quasi-illegal means or intimidation, then that was a different matter.
Specifically, like Anne.
"I see. If they were slaves purchased normally from a slave trader, I wouldn't complain either. But when it comes to someone who was enslaved more or less by force at the request of Garby in Buldan, that's a different story."
At those words, the alchemist once again wore an expression of being caught off guard.
It wasn't just the alchemist Rei had been interrogating—the others were the same.
(Hm?)
The same sense of incongruity as earlier when they had discussed making golems using humans as materials.
Not that they were hiding it, but an attitude as if they truly didn't know.
Looking at their demeanor, it genuinely seemed that way to him.
(What's going on? Well, it's a bit late to be thinking about this, but come to think of it, alchemists are important personnel within the Dolan Workshop. Would they really gather such vital personnel in one place without any guards, no matter how thick the walls protecting them are?)
That's right—truly important alchemists would be a great asset to the workshop.
Roger, who had multiple guards, was a perfect example.
However, from what he could see, there were no guards in this room, nor were there any outside the room.
If there had been guards, they would have come out right away when some of the alchemists were attacked by Rei.
It was possible they simply had low ability as guards, but those guarding the Dolan Workshop's alchemists couldn't possibly be that incompetent.
In other words, the alchemists before him truly had no guards, which meant...
"Are you guys perhaps the non-mainstream faction among the Dolan Workshop's alchemists?"
Rei had simply voiced the thought that came to mind... but the reaction from the alchemists upon hearing those words was significant.
The alchemists wore complex expressions mixing frustration, sorrow, and various other emotions.
That indicated Rei's words were fact.
"I see. Because you're the non-mainstream faction, you don't know about the Dolan Workshop's darkness... but..."
The fact that the alchemists were the non-mainstream faction was almost certainly correct, which was why it was understandable that they didn't know about the Dolan Workshop's darkness. It was understandable, but... at the same time, Rei recalled the earlier battle.
The peculiar behavior some of the golems had displayed.
It had looked as though they were reflexively shielding their own faces.
Behavior that seemed more like a human reflex than a golem's action.
In other words, it provided sufficient grounds to suspect they were golems that used humans as materials.
That was why, given the current situation, it was enough to make him question why these alchemists had been using such golems.
"I don't know exactly what kind of performance golems made with human materials have. I don't know, but among the golems I just fought, there were some with suspicious reactions... golems that displayed behavior resembling human reflexes. What does this mean?"
"What? Which... golems were those?"
When the alchemist asked with a puzzled expression, Rei described the characteristics of those golems.
Perhaps unhappy with how their features were described, several of them looked dissatisfied with Rei's explanation, but...
"Those are... the cores. Golems that use the cores handed over by those people."
Whether he immediately understood the situation from Rei's explanation, the alchemist who had been speaking with Rei declared this at once.
"Cores? Those are important components for golems, aren't they?"
Unlike wild golems that had become monsters, golems created by alchemists used cores as substitutes for magic stones.
In fact, when Rei had fought multiple golems in the massive room next door, he had targeted their cores when attacking.
(They didn't make... what you could call the most important part of a golem themselves, but received it from someone else... from the mainstream faction? That's a bit...)
Rei found it questionable, but from the looks of it, the alchemists didn't appear to be lying, and so he continued the interrogation as is.