The masked man—the reason Rei could tell he was a man was simply that his body lacked a woman's curves.
That said, it wasn't entirely impossible—though truly an extremely slim possibility—that he was actually a woman with a slender build.
"You must be Lord Rei. Coming to the Slum District...and bringing this many people with you—may I assume you have business with us, Fusetsu?"
At those words, Rei understood. The man was a messenger from Fusetsu.
He hadn't sensed any hostility or killing intent, so he hadn't been particularly on guard, but having the man properly identify his affiliation was a relief.
...Of course, given that this was the Slum District, it wasn't impossible that he belonged to some other organization and was merely impersonating Fusetsu.
Considering the possibility that the Dolan Workshop had sent someone to contact him, that couldn't be entirely dismissed either. It couldn't be dismissed—but even so, Rei was fairly certain the masked man before him was a member of Fusetsu.
The biggest reason was that he gave off an aura somewhat similar to Soleil, whom Rei had previously dealt with.
"Yeah, I have a favor to ask of Fusetsu."
"...Because of those people with you? From what I can gather, they appear to be from the Dolan Workshop."
From Fusetsu's perspective, they were the ones who had handed over the contract for Blood Blade to assassinate Rei.
Given that, Rei assaulting the Dolan Workshop was something they had anticipated. And being the largest assassin guild in Egginis, they naturally gathered intelligence on the Dolan Workshop as well. They also knew Ilunara and the others by sight as non-mainstream faction alchemists.
As for why Rei was together with such people—that was a question that was difficult to answer.
"That's right. I caused a bit of a situation at the Dolan Workshop. They learned something inconvenient for them...something that, if it got out, would leave them no choice but to kill us. So I brought them along."
Rei said it casually, but to the man from Fusetsu, the thought of his own organization being dragged into this was understandably concerning.
That said, if asked which was more terrifying to make an enemy of—Rei or the Dolan Workshop—anyone who knew Rei's strength would answer Rei without hesitation.
"Then...you're asking us to take them in, is that what you mean?"
"That's right. I'm not telling you to take them in permanently. Just temporarily, until this matter is settled."
At Rei's words, the masked man thought for a moment...then nodded.
"Unfortunately, that isn't a decision I'm in a position to make. I apologize, but could you discuss that with our negotiator, Lady Nina?"
"I know. That was the plan from the start. With that said, I'm thinking of heading to the Fusetsu hideout now—will that be a problem?"
"No problem. However, moving with this many people as we are could invite unnecessary trouble. I'll guide you to the hideout."
"I'm counting on you."
To be honest, those words from the masked man were exactly what Rei had been hoping for.
Since he had entered from a different direction than when he'd previously visited the Slum District, whether he could safely arrive at the Fusetsu hideout had been uncertain.
He remembered that heading toward the central area of the Slum District would be enough, but as for the exact location, Rei had no choice but to search while moving.
However, with a Fusetsu member here, they would guide him properly.
For just an instant—truly only an instant—the thought crossed Rei's mind that this person might be an underling of someone who had taken over Rei's assassination contract in Blood Blade's place. But he immediately dismissed the notion.
He understood that if he distrusted someone to that extent, he would end up unable to trust anyone at all.
"Yes, leave it to me. I brought a few people from Fusetsu, so you needn't worry about your escort."
The masked man's words were undoubtedly a relief to Rei.
Protecting everyone here with just Rei, Seto, and Lindy would have been an extremely difficult proposition.
That said, the fact that they were dispatched from an assassin guild naturally meant the dispatched individuals were assassins themselves.
Whether such people could truly serve as escorts was a slight question in Rei's mind, but...the masked man was this confident, so Rei judged it would be fine for now.
"With that said, we're following this guy."
Rei announced to the others, but several of them showed uneasy reactions.
If one were an adventurer, a merchant, or a Slum District resident, it wasn't impossible to have occasion to interact with assassins.
However, for a group composed mostly of ordinary people, assassins were beings that inspired nothing but fear.
That was why they showed uneasy reactions upon hearing the word "assassin."
...Furthermore, Ilunara and the other alchemists also had little involvement with assassin guilds.
It was the current mainstream faction alchemists who had ties to Blood Blade, so that was only natural.
Even so, there was no option to refuse to act together here.
If someone were to say they wanted nothing to do with eerie beings like assassins and separated from Rei's group, they could very well be caught by the Dolan Workshop's pursuers who would inevitably come—or even before that, the possibility of being attacked by Slum District residents couldn't be dismissed.
And so the group proceeded through the Slum District, guided by the masked man.
Unlike the residents near the entrance, those dwelling in deeper areas were often people who had steeled themselves for whatever might come.
Under different circumstances, there might have been those who would have attacked even with Rei and Seto present, but right now, the man from Fusetsu was with them.
The masked man, and the assassins secretly acting as escorts.
Knowing that such individuals were present, no one living in the Slum District would consider making an enemy of Fusetsu, the largest force in Egginis.
Or if there were such a person, their companions would stop them.
As a result, despite having entered the Slum District, they were able to continue walking without being attacked by anyone in particular.
"W-Wow. I thought the Slum District would be a terrifying place, but...it's not that scary after all."
"Right? I was sure the Slum District would be much scarier."
"Huh? Wait—when I came to the Slum District before, it was way scarier."
"That was just a coincidence that it turned out that way."
Watching the people exchanging such words, Rei hesitated over whether this was really fine.
The reason they were able to travel through the Slum District safely this time was solely because Rei, Seto, and the masked man dispatched from Fusetsu were present.
If they had come to the Slum District without such people, they would definitely be harassed.
No—if it were merely harassment, that would be one thing, but the possibility of being attacked and killed could absolutely not be dismissed either.
Thinking that, Rei felt that leaving them with this misconception about the Slum District was indeed a problem, and he spoke up.
"Let me make this clear—we were able to get here without any problems this time because I and Seto are here, and from partway through, a guide from Fusetsu joined us. If you came to the Slum District without us...what do you think would happen?"
"You'd be made into food. In the worst case, in a physical sense."
"...Huh?"
One of the people who had been casually chatting about the Slum District let out a dumbfounded sound at the masked man's words.
Being made into food could be understood as being sold off as a slave or being tricked and lured into some kind of trap, but being eaten in a physical sense was an entirely different matter.
That essentially meant being eaten in the most literal sense—consuming human flesh, which was the only way it could be interpreted.
At first they thought it might be some kind of joke, but there was not the slightest hint of such an atmosphere about the masked man.
The man's face was hidden by the mask, but that only made it clearer that he was being completely serious.
Given that, even those who had been saying just moments ago that the Slum District wasn't such a scary place had no choice but to fall silent.
"Seems like you understand. Then don't talk too much and do anything to provoke the Slum District residents. You are nothing more than guests here."
At Rei's words, everyone—even the adventurer Lindy—nodded quickly.
And so the group proceeded through the Slum District, the carefree atmosphere from moments ago completely transformed.
Feeling relieved by the now-quiet march, Rei stroked Seto, who had come to his side.
Seto had moved from behind to beside Rei precisely because he understood that Fusetsu's assassins had taken up escort positions.
At the same time, another significant factor was that Rei knew Seto had the ability to detect any surprise attack from behind in advance.
"Seto, sorry for making you wait outside all by yourself...Were you okay?"
"Grrrrrr!"
At Rei's words, Seto purred as if to say he was fine.
Even so, perhaps waiting outside alone for an extended period had been lonely, because Seto rubbed his face against Rei.
Marina's house in Gilm was one thing, but the Star River Inn where Rei stayed in Egginis naturally had stables.
And at night, Rei slept in his room while Seto slept in the stables, so it wouldn't be strange for someone to think the time spent waiting outside the Dolan Workshop hadn't been that long.
However, for Seto, those two situations were entirely different.
That was why Seto was being thoroughly affectionate with Rei.
...The earlier talk about the dangers of the Slum District seemed utterly impossible to imagine, given such a scene.
Seeing the two of them like that, there were those who wondered if the masked man's words had just been a bluff.
However, based on the conversation just now, it was also a fact that it hadn't seemed that way at all.
For the time being, everyone understood it was better to stay quiet, and that was indeed the correct choice.
They continued walking in that state for a while...and when several people with low stamina naturally began to feel fatigued and their legs started to waver, a familiar building finally appeared in Rei's line of sight.
Since they had approached from a different direction compared to last time, there was a slight sense of incongruity at first, but even so, once they got close enough, Rei was able to confirm it was the Fusetsu hideout.
"That's the place."
Rei muttered briefly.
Hearing that, the people walking through the Slum District showed signs of tension.
That the person guiding them was a member of an assassin guild was something they had been able to predict from the conversation with Rei.
They had been able to predict it, but even so—being told that the hideout of an assassin guild was now in view, for ordinary people, not feeling tense would be the harder thing.
"Will I be able to see Nina immediately?"
"Yes. Lady Nina seemed to be looking forward to meeting you, Lord Rei."
There was an envy in the masked man's words that he was trying to conceal but couldn't fully hide.
For the masked man as well, Nina—someone possessing rare beauty—was likely an object of admiration.
Rei could understand that feeling, though.
"I see. Then I need to negotiate right away...Now, the question is what to offer as compensation."
Initially, Rei had thought it would be fine to just push all his remaining iron ingots onto them, but there was also the question of whether they would truly accept that.
That said, if he took a strong stance, Nina would likely accept.
To Nina—no, to Fusetsu—the important thing was to avoid antagonizing Rei as much as possible.
However, Rei didn't particularly want to strong-arm things like that.
If he did such a thing, it would without a doubt become troublesome later on.
To prevent that, he needed to offer something beyond iron ingots—something Fusetsu would genuinely want.
(Axes? Well, they have their uses as weapons, but...then spears? No, no. Most of the spears I have are more than half-destroyed.)
If he offered such spears, it wouldn't be strange for them to think he was picking a fight rather than offering compensation.
(Then...should I use the potions and such obtained from Blood Blade as compensation? There were also various medicines whose effects I'd had them investigate.)
Judging that he needed to pay some sort of compensation that would satisfy Fusetsu for the time being, Rei proceeded toward the building that served as the Fusetsu hideout.
As when he had visited before, there were several individuals who appeared to be guards, but since they had apparently been informed of Rei's arrival this time, there was no attempt to interfere or obstruct them.