In the end, Rei alone would meet the man leading Fusetsu.
Several people had been curious about what kind of person led Fusetsu, the largest assassin guild in Egginis, but given the current situation, none of them could possibly say they wanted to meet him too. It was left entirely in Rei's hands.
"You'll find more skilled people this far in."
The Fusetsu hideout was underground. Since they were heading toward the location of the person who led Fusetsu, it was only natural that the number of people who appeared to be skilled assassins increased the closer they got.
Nina didn't seem to have any intention of hiding that either. Upon hearing Rei's words, she showed no sign of disturbance and even smiled.
"That's right. It's essential for guarding, isn't it? ...Though if you seriously set your mind to it, Lord Rei, guards like these might not be of much use."
"That's not true. Time is consumed while fighting. If that happens, the chances of escape naturally increase. ...Or am I wrong?"
"I wonder. I'd like to think so, though."
Nina and Rei's conversation was, naturally, reaching the ears of the assassins nearby. Even though they heard someone say that protecting their leader would be difficult even with them present, they showed no particular reaction.
In other places—specifically, among the assassins they had encountered right after entering the underground hideout—many had been watching Rei with looks of clear displeasure. But the assassins near them now were clearly a cut above those.
(Well, they're protecting the person who leads them. A guard who pointlessly picks fights with the very person they're supposed to protect... that would be nothing short of a suicide move.)
If a guard provoked the person they were guarding, that would defeat the entire purpose of having a guard. Of course, if the goal was to deliberately provoke and create a pretext for an all-out fight, that would be a different story.
In that sense, it was fair to say the assassins here were fulfilling their role as guards adequately. Whether they themselves were conscious of it, Rei honestly couldn't say.
No—if the reason they weren't showing hostility toward Rei was precisely because they understood this, then that assumption wasn't wrong after all.
"I heard Fusetsu is the largest assassin guild in Egginis. The personnel here live up to that."
"Oh, you think so?"
At Rei's words, Nina smiled with genuine happiness.
For Nina, having the Fusetsu she belonged to praised was apparently that gratifying. It was surely because she had that much attachment to the organization that she could put her body on the line for Fusetsu.
"Yeah. Though it's a mixed bag—there are some useless ones in there too."
"That's true."
Surprisingly, Nina answered honestly upon hearing Rei's words. Given how deeply attached she seemed to the organization called Fusetsu, Rei had assumed she would rebut that statement.
But that didn't lower Rei's assessment of Nina. Because she understood the organization called Fusetsu thoroughly, such words had undoubtedly come from that understanding.
As they talked, they eventually arrived at the most secluded location within the Fusetsu hideout, and Nina came to a stop.
"The head is waiting for you here."
Nina said this in front of the door. From the look of it, she had no intention of going inside.
"Is it fine for me to go in alone?"
"Yes. The head instructed as much. Besides... he believes that you won't do anything strange inside, Lord Rei."
"I wonder about that. Well, if you're saying it's fine to enter, I'll take you up on that."
As befitted an assassin guild leader, he no doubt had considerable confidence in his own abilities. So judging, Rei opened the door.
"Hey there, come on in. I've been wanting to talk with you at least once. I can't let an opportunity like this slip by."
Hearing the voice from beyond the door, Rei stepped inside to find a single man sitting on a sofa, drinking what appeared to be wine.
He looked to be in his forties. But his body was toned to a degree that belied that age.
Physically, he could probably pass for someone in his thirties—no, even his twenties.
His features were by no means handsome, yet he possessed a mysterious charm all the same.
I see, Rei thought with understanding. It was precisely because he possessed this kind of charm—a certain charisma—that he had been able to build an assassin guild as large as Fusetsu.
Though that said, Rei couldn't help but wonder—if that were the case, there was no need to lead an assassin guild specifically. He could have built some other organization, one that didn't need to be an underworld group like those in the Slum District, one that could have its base on the main streets without any issues.
"Yeah. I'd been wanting to meet the person leading an assassin guild like Fusetsu too."
Rei replied in kind. In truth, he had indeed wanted to meet the person who led Fusetsu—that was an undeniable fact. And since the other party was being friendly, Rei had no reason to take hostile action here. For that matter, Fusetsu was sheltering Anne, Ilunara, and the others. In that sense as well, there was no need to end up in a hostile relationship with the head of Fusetsu.
"For now, have a seat. It's unsettling having you stand there like that. ...How about a glass, Rei? This wine is from a rather good vintage year—not something you can easily get your hands on."
At those words, Rei sat down on the sofa without complaint but shook his head.
"No, I don't drink much. I know plenty of people think it's delicious, but unfortunately, I've never found alcohol tasty even when I do drink it."
He didn't find alcohol delicious, and he wasn't particularly strong against it either. Given that, Rei had no habit of drinking willingly. He knew it was used reasonably often as a secret ingredient in cooking and the like, and in that case, he was more than welcome to it—not for the taste of the alcohol itself, but for the way it enhanced the flavor of the dish.
"Is that so? That's a shame. You're losing out on half... no, eighty percent of life's pleasure."
"...That much?"
From that statement alone, Rei understood just how much of a drinker the person before him was. Though, with his memories of living in Japan, Rei had seen things on TV like wine bottles worth millions of yen, so it might not be something worth getting too worked up over.
(Ah, but wine worth millions of yen was more of an investment thing, not something you actually drank, wasn't it?)
He couldn't remember completely, but he had a feeling there was that side to it as well. Still, talking with the person before him took priority right now, so Rei put that matter out of his mind.
"Who was it who said alcohol is the friend of life? ...Well, if alcohol's no good, at least have some of this."
Saying so, the head placed smoked meat in front of Rei.
It wasn't as devoid of moisture as dried meat, though—rather, raw meat had been flavored through smoking, and the moisture was still firmly retained.
It wouldn't last as long as a preserved food like dried meat, but in terms of taste, this was clearly superior.
And indeed, when Rei picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, a rich, mellow aroma spread across his palate, and the moist texture of the meat combined with a somewhat stronger salt content—likely intended to pair with alcohol—stimulated his appetite.
Even without alcohol, eaten alongside bread, it would undoubtedly be delicious—Rei could judge that much from the taste.
"It's good."
Rei said so, but for some reason the man didn't look particularly pleased at hearing Rei's praise... if anything, he wore an expression of surprise.
"I'm impressed. To eat the food I served you so readily."
"Was it bad?"
"Rather than bad, this is food served by the man who leads Fusetsu, you know? Thinking of it that way, it wouldn't be strange to hesitate."
Ah, I see. Rei understood what the man was getting at.
He had eaten the food served by the head of an assassin guild without any hesitation whatsoever. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be strange to suspect poison. That kind of boldness—or perhaps the appearance of not thinking about it at all—was likely what surprised the other man.
"But there wasn't any poison in it, was there?"
Rei said it casually. Not only that, he continued further.
"Besides, despite how I look, my five senses are sharp. My sense of taste is naturally sharp too, so if poison had been planted in this meat, I would have detected it."
"There are tasteless and odorless poisons in the world, you know."
"That's only from the perspective of an ordinary human, isn't it? With the sharpness of my senses, it wouldn't be strange to pick up on something like that."
Also, though Rei had no intention of mentioning it, his current body was a creation made using the Zephyle Clan's technology to the fullest. His poison resistance was considerably high, and his ability to detect poison was undeniably excellent.
"Is that so. So this is what it's like for an alias-holding adventurer. ...Well, considering you have enough power to destroy Fusetsu single-handedly, it's not that strange a story."
"You don't look particularly angry."
Rei had expected to receive at least some complaints, but nothing of the sort seemed forthcoming from the man's mouth.
"A Rank A adventurer, and an alias holder with the power to match. I'd never want to make an enemy of someone like that."
Put another way, that meant if Rei had been an opponent that Fusetsu's assassins could handle, he would have taken action. Rei understood that as well, but he had no dissatisfaction with it. For that matter, he had expected his actions would provoke exactly that kind of response. Thinking of it that way, it wouldn't be strange for Fusetsu to harbor such thoughts.
If anything, the fact that Orban had stated it to Rei's face so boldly was the real surprise.
"You say things pretty bluntly."
"Do I? I thought I was being rather circumspect."
"...That just now?"
"Yes, that just now."
Seeing the way he stated it so confidently, Rei was slightly at a loss for how to react. Because he couldn't tell whether the man was being serious or joking.
As Rei hesitated over how to respond, the conversation continued.
"Ah, come to think of it... better late than never, but we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Orban."
"You probably already know about me, but just in case. I'm Rei, a Rank A adventurer."
He figured Orban already knew a fair amount about him, but since Orban had introduced himself, Rei needed to do the same out of courtesy.
After finishing their brief introductions, the two remained seated on the sofa, enjoying light snacks as they continued talking.
"Still, the Dolan Workshop, huh. You've gotten tangled up with another troublesome place."
"They started it by hiring Blood Blade to come after me. I'm not at fault."
"You investigated the bandits who went missing, right? And it turned out to be the Dolan Workshop's doing."
"You knew that?"
"No, from gathering information... and more than that, from your series of actions this time, anyone could guess that much, couldn't they?"
Put that way, Rei couldn't possibly deny it. After all, looking at the flow of this entire incident—and above all, considering tonight's infiltration of the Dolan Workshop—predicting that the bandit case Rei had initially investigated was connected to the Dolan Workshop wasn't all that difficult.
"So, what was the Dolan Workshop doing with the bandits they captured?"
Orban asked Rei with evident curiosity, apparently unable to figure that much out. Rei hesitated over what to do, but if he could drag Orban—and by extension Fusetsu—into this matter, he might be able to make things easier for himself this time around.
Or perhaps—though Rei considered it unlikely—if some means caused them to lose communication or become unable to stay in Egginis, it would be good to have told them about it in advance.
"If you hear this, you might get dragged into it. You still want to hear it?"
When Rei asked just in case, Orban nodded to indicate it wasn't a problem.