"Why?"
The one who said that, sounding puzzled, was Rei.
Ilunara and the other alchemists at the receiving end of Rei's gaze looked bewildered.
Naturally. After all, they were the Non-Mainstream Faction.
They were the ones treated coldly within the Dolan Workshop. Why were they able to overwrite the commands of Anne and the others confined in this basement? They could not understand the reason.
Anne and the others confined in this room were slaves brought in through semi-legal or entirely illegal means.
Naturally, slave collars were fitted around their necks, with orders given to prevent them from leaving this room.
Although the door to this basement was locked, the reason not a single guard was present was likely because of the slave collars.
If that was the case, even if they found Anne and the others here, they could not get them out of the basement.
At worst, should he use Death Scythe to cut and destroy the collars? Rei had considered it, but naturally, slave collars were not designed to be destroyed so easily. In the worst case, it would not be strange for them to have a mechanism that killed the slave the moment they were destroyed.
Moreover, considering how the slaves in this basement had been gathered, it was certain that the possibility of letting the people here escape should be kept as low as possible.
Given that, it was highly likely the collars had some kind of mechanism for destroying evidence.
However, neither Ilunara nor the other alchemists had anyone knowledgeable about slave collars, so they could not manage to remove them.
So, just as they were wondering what to do about the situation... one of the alchemists, figuring he had nothing to lose, tried overwriting the commands, and it succeeded brilliantly.
Wondering if it was perhaps just a coincidence with that particular slave's collar, they tried doing the same with the others, and they too had their commands overwritten without any issue.
At first, they drew suspicious glances from the other alchemists, who wondered if they might be pawns of the Mainstream Faction, but when they tested it, the other alchemists were also able to overwrite commands.
What exactly was going on and how it came to be that way, Rei did not understand either.
But in the midst of all that, Ilunara spoke up.
"As a possibility, perhaps the owner privileges of the slave collars are set not just to the Mainstream Faction, but to everyone in the Dolan Workshop."
That explanation was enough to convince Rei and the others, but at the same time, it also raised a question.
"Why would the Mainstream Faction use a category encompassing the entire Dolan Workshop?"
With gazes directed at him not only from Rei but also from Lindy, Anne, and the others, Ilunara shook his head.
Thinking about it normally, even if the Non-Mainstream Faction like Ilunara and his group were kept out of this area, they still would not make the collars obey commands from everyone belonging to the Dolan Workshop.
And yet, for some reason, reality differed.
It was only natural to find that strange.
(Why? Why go out of their way to do such a thing? Could this be some kind of trap? Is that a possibility? No, but right now, as we're doing this, nothing in particular is happening.)
Even as he thought that, he judged there was no problem for now since they had somehow managed to deal with the slave collars.
Having made that judgment, the next issue was what to do from here.
"Lindy, will you stay here and protect Anne and the others?"
"Huh? But..."
Of course, Lindy wanted to protect Anne herself if she could.
Besides Anne, there were a few others who had been brought from Buldan, and while not as strongly as with Anne, she felt the desire to protect those people too.
While there was no doubt she held such feelings, whether she could actually protect Anne and the others here was, to be honest, questionable.
Lindy knew her own skills as well.
Because of that, if a skilled adventurer came... or if they deployed a golem small enough to fit into the underground passage, dealing with it would be difficult.
If someone of about Jane's caliber, whom they had encountered earlier, came alone, she thought she might still be able to manage the defense.
But that was not all.
Having saved Anne, the next person she wanted to rescue was Golias.
Anne had said she had not seen Golias here, but there was a possibility he was somewhere else.
Since the remaining basement was said to have an altar, she understood the likelihood of Golias being there was low.
However, since the left side at the initial T-junction led here, they had not yet gone to the right.
Originally, the information was that there was nothing but a meeting room on the left side, but in reality, there were these numerous basements.
If so, it was entirely possible that the area to the right of the T-junction also differed from the information Ilunara and the others knew.
Even as Lindy appealed that to Rei...
"I understand that, but then what about Anne and the others? We can't exactly explore the Dolan Workshop while bringing Anne and the others along, right? Besides, the purpose this time is primarily to rescue Anne and the others. Once I investigate the area with the altar, I plan to escape the workshop."
"That's..."
Lindy had probably sensed it faintly as well.
In this current situation, where Golias was not in this basement, searching any further for him was impossible.
But even so, wanting to find Golias was only natural for a girl in love.
"Yeah... you're right. I need to protect Anne and the others."
Lindy murmured, half talking herself into it.
Anne watched Lindy with concern, but thinking that anything she said in this situation would be meaningless, she showed no sign of opening her mouth.
"What should we do? Given that we would definitely be a hindrance if something happened, would it be better for us to wait here as well?"
For Ilunara, if Anne and the others could wait here and be protected by Lindy, he thought it might be better for his group, who lacked confidence in combat, to stay here too.
If they were going to be a hindrance anyway, it was certain that gathering such people in one place would be better.
His words stemmed from a desire to keep the alchemists who had followed him out of danger as much as possible, but Rei struggled with Ilunara's proposal.
"In terms of having a door and a limited entrance, there's no doubt this place is easy to defend. At worst, I can also take something out of my Misty Ring and leave it in front of the door."
For example, if a large quantity of iron ingots were placed there, anyone wanting to open the door would first have to do something about them.
Naturally, iron ingots were made entirely of iron and were quite heavy.
Just moving them would consume physical stamina, which would be somewhat advantageous for Lindy inside.
Considering Ilunara and the others' safety, doing so was unquestionably the right choice. It was unquestionable, but...
"There's the matter of the altar. I don't have much knowledge related to that sort of thing."
Given that there was an altar inside the Dolan Workshop building, it was naturally supposed to have some connection to golems.
Given that, it was necessary to firmly grasp how it related to golems by seeing the altar.
Since it was a significant existence like an altar, the possibility that it was involved in using humans as materials was high.
If Roger, who was analyzing the Dolan Workshop's golems, were here, they might have managed somehow, but given the current situation, there was no way they could do such a thing.
And with Roger absent, the only ones they could have cooperate here were, naturally, Ilunara and his group.
"Given the high possibility that the altar is related to golems, I want at least one person to act alongside me."
At Rei's words, Ilunara and the alchemists showed hesitation.
If it was true that the altar was related to golems, it was certain, just as Rei said, that it would be better for one of the alchemists to go.
However, it was also certain that going to such a place would be dangerous.
No, as long as Rei was with them, there probably was no real danger, but they were still alchemists unaccustomed to violence.
If such a situation arose, they could not completely deny the possibility that the worst possible outcome awaited them.
"I'll go."
In the midst of that, the first to speak up among the alchemists was Ilunara.
"Ilunara?!"
Naturally, the other alchemists tried to stop him.
Some even offered to go in Ilunara's place, but he would not change his mind.
That he, as the central figure of the Non-Mainstream Faction, going together with Rei was the best course... was the surface reason. If something shady was being conducted within the Dolan Workshop, and the altar was one of the causes, he wanted to confirm it with his own eyes.
It was, in a way, only natural for Ilunara to think so.
Ilunara told the other alchemists as much and asked them to let him go.
When told that by the person who led them and to whom they owed a debt of gratitude, the people present ultimately had no choice but to nod in agreement, unable to object.
"Then, Ilunara and I will go, so Lindy, I'm counting on you to guard this place. I'll leave some iron ingots in front of the door, so I don't think enemies will be able to rush in so easily."
"Yes... if Golias is at the altar, please save him."
Lindy said that, but she did not actually think Golias would be where the altar was.
Even so, she asked just in case, likely betting on an extremely slim possibility.
"Yeah. If we find him, I'll secure him here. The only problem is that I don't know Golias's face, but I can manage that by asking his name. I've heard his physical description."
Saying that, Rei and Ilunara left the room.
Then, just as he had told Lindy, Rei took iron ingots out of his Misty Ring and placed them one after another in front of the door.
"This is quite high-purity iron."
Whether out of curiosity, to kill time, or to relieve the tension before heading to the altar.
Rei could not tell which of those reasons it was, but after picking up one of the iron ingots Rei was stacking in front of the door, Ilunara made that remark.
"Can you tell?"
"Yes. While not to the extent of a blacksmith, alchemists are reasonably knowledgeable about metals as well. They're also heavily used in golem parts."
Ilunara's explanation was enough to convince Rei.
If this were an alchemist in Gilm, it would not be strange for them to be less knowledgeable about metals.
But many of the alchemists in Egginis were specialists in golem manufacturing.
Moreover, Ilunara had admired the Dolan Workshop and had studied golems desperately before joining, so he was considerably knowledgeable about metals as well.
He was, in fact, more knowledgeable about metals than a mediocre blacksmith, and his claim that he was less knowledgeable than a blacksmith was nothing but modesty.
Of course, it would be a different story if compared to a truly skilled, first-rate blacksmith.
"I wondered about this during the first basement too, but where exactly did you get this many iron ingots?"
"I took them from a bandit hideout."
"That's..."
At those words coming so casually from Rei's mouth, Ilunara was dumbfounded, his face showing surprise.
For Rei, bandit hunting was a hobby with practical benefits, but for Ilunara, a regular person—though whether an alchemist could be called a regular person was debatable—hearing that the ingots had been taken from bandits naturally came as a shock.
While Ilunara was still reeling in surprise, Rei filled the area in front of the door with iron ingots and spoke.
"This should do. Ilunara, it's about time we go. We still don't know specifically what kind of place the altar is. Given that, I want to investigate it as quickly as possible. That way, we can come back here sooner too. ...It would be handy if there were a golem to defend a place like this."
Rei wished the defensive golem he had requested from Roger was completed, but there was no point talking about something that was not here.
"A golem that could be used in this underground passage would have to be quite a small golem. And naturally, that would require a corresponding level of technical skill. With the Dolan Workshop's technology... I think it would be a bit difficult."
Ilunara said regretfully, but that was only in terms of their own technology.
If it were the Mainstream Faction's current golems that used humans as materials, they might be able to pull off such a thing.
Because he thought so, there was a tone of frustration in Ilunara's voice.