A summons from Orban.
And the reason for it was that the meeting was ready.
That meant the preparations to meet one of the figures who governed Egginis—specifically, someone from the moderate faction—were complete.
(He's a city representative, so I figured it would take Orban at least a few days. To think it'd be ready today. ...Was I underestimating Fusetsu's influence?)
Fusetsu was the largest assassin guild in Egginis.
Rei had known that, and that was precisely why they had joined forces... but he had to admit he'd slightly underestimated their reach.
As he made his way through the corridors of Fusetsu's hideout, these thoughts ran through his mind.
Still, this was unexpected—in a good way.
He had no intention of complaining about it.
No, if anything, he wanted to say they'd done him a solid.
Upon arriving at Orban's room, which he'd visited before, the man who had come to fetch Rei knocked on the door, exchanged a few words with Orban inside, then swung it open wide.
"Hey, took you long enough."
"Should I have sprinted here at full speed, then?"
"Please don't. If you pulled something like that, this building would end up destroyed."
He said it jokingly, but for Orban, the sentiment was at least half-serious.
Rei was an alias-holding A-Rank adventurer. If he seriously broke into a run, it wouldn't be strange for the floor to cave in—or crack apart entirely.
"Then bear with my current pace. Besides, I came the moment I heard you were calling for me. No pointless detours."
With that, Rei stepped inside the room and closed the door.
Neither the man who had guided him there nor the apparent guards stationed outside showed any sign of following him in.
Rei couldn't help wondering if that was really wise, but this was an attitude born of a kind of defiant resignation—partly to show trust in Rei, and partly because if Rei came to kill him in earnest, no one could stop him anyway.
"I know. But you'd let me grumble at least a little, wouldn't you? Thanks to you, I've been running around since early morning."
"Yeah... I figured as much."
He had informed them about the Dolan Workshop situation last night.
At the time, they'd been drinking wine, so it had seemed like they had some breathing room... but by this morning, nearly twenty adventurers hired by the Dolan Workshop had shown up in the Slum District, and there were reports that the Workshop was trying to deploy golems toward the area as well.
Rei had gathered that intelligence himself, but for Orban, who led Fusetsu, it wouldn't be surprising if he'd learned it even faster.
(Nina seemed like she was hearing it for the first time, but maybe she already knew and just didn't let it show.)
Since Nina handled negotiations within Fusetsu, it was only natural she'd be more informed than most. But precisely because of that, Rei figured it was entirely plausible that even if he mentioned something she already knew, she'd keep her expression and demeanor perfectly neutral—as a matter of course.
"So, grumbling is fine and all... but how long am I supposed to listen to it? I want to meet the people running Egginis as soon as possible so we can put the Dolan Workshop down quickly."
"Ah, right, you did say that. However... there's still a little time before we need to leave. No—actually, considering what might happen, maybe it's better to head out a bit early. ...Alright. It's earlier than planned, but let's set out soon."
What a free-spirited guy.
The thought crossed Rei's mind for a moment as he observed Orban's demeanor, but he concluded that if anything, he himself was even more free-spirited, so he kept it to himself.
With that, Rei left the room alongside Orban, who had risen from his seat.
"I know I'm not one to talk, but is this really okay?"
"About what?"
Orban, walking beside Rei, asked with a puzzled look, as though he genuinely didn't understand the question.
Even as he spoke, Orban's hand was busy stroking Seto's body as the gryphon padded along beside him.
For Orban, even if he had gathered information about Seto beforehand, this was his first time seeing one in the flesh—so his fascination was understandable.
Seto, for his part, seemed to sense Rei's closeness with Orban, and perhaps feeling warmly toward the man for his gentle petting, he allowed the attention without protest.
"I mean this situation. Normally, wouldn't you bring at least one or two guards? You do understand your own position, right?"
Rei asked, half exasperated.
Indeed, the only ones beside Orban were Rei and Seto. Not a single Fusetsu assassin was in sight.
They weren't even being guarded from a distance. It was truly just Rei, Orban, and Seto.
"You're here, Rei. What other guards could I possibly need? I may not look like it, but I'm fairly confident in my fighting ability."
He was the man who led Fusetsu, the largest assassin guild in Egginis.
Naturally, a certain degree of confidence in his combat skills was to be expected.
Among assassins, there were those who considered strength paramount, and even those who didn't go that far were by no means few in number when it came to resenting being led by someone weaker than themselves.
"Fair enough. ...So, is it really fine to just walk there? The other party holds a considerable position, right? If we show up on foot, it wouldn't be strange for them to look down on us."
In fact, Rei had once accepted a quest at the Guild and gone to visit the client, only to be turned away at the gate—whether because they judged his appearance shabby, or simply based on his looks, he'd never known.
Recalling that incident, appearances clearly carried significant weight.
(Well, Seto is with me, so I doubt we'd get turned away. ...Though that in itself might be a problem.)
The fact that Seto was Rei's tamed monster was widely known.
And among both the Dolan Workshop's agents and the city guards, there were those trying to capture Rei.
Under those circumstances, if Rei were to brazenly walk through the city streets with Seto in tow... the odds of causing a scene were high.
"That's taken care of too. A carriage is arranged to pick us up from a spot just outside the Slum District. However..."
Orban paused there, glancing at Seto with an apologetic look.
"With Seto here, there's no way to conceal his presence. I feel bad for him, but if possible, I'd like him to wait inside the Slum District. ...What do you think?"
"You're asking me, but from what I'm hearing, bringing Seto along is pretty much out of the question, right? Then there's no choice but to do it that way. ...So, Seto, I'm going to have you stay behind in the Slum District, alright?"
"Gruu..."
At Rei's words, Seto purred in acknowledgment.
But it wasn't a purr of wholehearted satisfaction—there was a definite note of reluctance to it.
For Seto, going with Rei would have been the preference, but at over three meters in length, he inevitably drew attention.
There was the Size Change skill, but even using it, he couldn't shrink enough to go unnoticed.
(If the Size Change skill kept leveling up, maybe someday I could have a hand-perched Seto, like a parrot... but getting it to that level would probably be quite difficult.)
In the first place, for Seto to level up a skill through Beast Magic, a magic stone was required.
And not just any monster's magic stone would do—it had to be from a monster with skills or characteristics in the same category as the skill he wanted to raise.
On top of that, there was the restriction that a magic stone from the same type of monster could only be used once.
Perhaps that limitation had been necessary when Beast Magic was created, but Rei's honest feeling was that he wished magic stones from the same monster could be reused for Beast Magic.
...That said, Size Change was undoubtedly a rare skill even among those used by monsters, so even if reuse were possible, encountering the right monsters wouldn't be easy.
"Sorry, Seto."
Murmuring that, Rei stroked Seto, who was still being petted by Orban.
Being stroked by Rei, Seto purred happily.
They continued through the Slum District until they eventually reached its edge.
Upon arriving there, Seto turned back without Rei needing to say a word.
Exactly where Seto was headed, Rei didn't know.
But he could venture a guess—most likely, Seto had returned to Fusetsu's hideout.
"Alright, let's go. From here on, stay sharp. After all, the person we're meeting is a power broker in Egginis... one of its highest authorities, at that."
"For a highest authority, calling them 'one of' feels like a bit of a contradiction... but I'll let that slide."
"You just pointed it out. Well, whatever. For you, Rei, meeting bigwigs probably isn't anything unusual."
"I won't deny that."
Up to now, Rei had met with a great many people thanks to his abilities.
Among them were successful merchants and nobles alike.
In that sense, Rei had met far more important figures than Orban ever had—and among them was Daskar, the lord of Gilm and leader of the Neutral Faction.
That said, honestly, Rei's companion Elena was more widely known than Daskar, being the Princess General and the symbol of the Noble Faction.
For Rei, who routinely met such prominent figures, one of those who governed Egginis—even a semi-independent city—wasn't anyone he needed to be particularly nervous about.
"An adventurer, huh. Sounds like it'd be fun."
"Whether it's fun depends on the person. If you have the skill, you'd probably find it enjoyable. If you don't, you probably wouldn't. ...Actually, no—maybe the part where you're still struggling at the beginning is the most fun of all."
The reason Rei corrected himself slightly was probably because it reminded him of the games he used to play back in Japan.
When he first started a game, he'd been deeply absorbed while figuring things out through trial and error, but once he reached the later stages and grew accustomed to it, he found it easier to lose interest.
That said, that sort of thing probably varied from person to person.
"I see. Fascinating. ...If I can no longer stay in Egginis, it might be interesting to work as an adventurer in Gilm."
"You want to become an adventurer? As a resident of Gilm, I'd more than welcome scouts who can conduct reconnaissance."
While not to the same degree as mages, thieves with scouting skills were not abundant.
No, in reality there were a fair number of them, but thieves with the appropriate level of skill were few.
If Fusetsu's assassins were to join Gilm's ranks as thieves, that would become a significant force.
Of course, just because they were assassins didn't mean every one of them had superior scouting skills. And even if their scouting abilities were excellent, those were scouting skills honed for assassination work, not the scouting skills required of an adventurer. So if it came to that, they would need training to operate effectively as adventurer-thieves.
"In any case, if you're genuinely interested in coming to Gilm, I'd welcome it—and I could put in a good word with the lord and the Guild Master, among others. ...The problem is, I'm not sure how much weight my word actually carries."
"If you put in a word, Rei, I'd imagine it would have considerable effect."
From Orban's perspective, Rei was an alias-holding A-Rank adventurer.
As such, it was only natural to assume he received commensurate treatment in Gilm.
What's more, Rei was known as Daskar's trusted aide.
Given all that, it wasn't unreasonable for Orban to think that if Rei spoke on his behalf, things would work out to at least some degree.
"I wonder. I'd like to think so, but..."
They walked and talked, but Rei was the first to notice something.
"What's this?"
"What is it?"
"Looks like some kind of trouble has broken out."
"...I see."
Hearing Rei's words, Orban caught on as well.
They exchanged nods and headed toward the source of the commotion, and then...
"Ugh."
At the scene unfolding before them, a distinctly displeased sound escaped Rei's mouth.
In that spot, just outside the Slum District, several adventurers had gathered around a carriage.