At Rei's shout from atop Seto's back, the Slum District residents lingering around the golem wreckage scattered immediately.
They had clearly considered what might happen to them if they stayed.
In truth, Rei had no intention of attacking the residents unless they came at him first.
...Unfortunately, Rei was the subject of many unsavory rumors.
And several of those rumors were undeniably true. Given that, it was hardly surprising the residents were terrified of him.
(At least they weren't the type to fly into a rage and attack. That's something, I suppose.)
If they had attacked, Rei would have had no choice but to neutralize them.
With that in mind, having them flee was far more convenient.
"Alright, Seto. Let's load the wreckage of the golems you took down into the Misty Ring. ...This scrap might come in handy later. Plus, we need to deal with those golem cores."
"Grrrr."
Seto purred at Rei's words and angled toward the ground.
Their destination was, naturally, the pile of golem wreckage.
The moment Seto touched down beside it, Rei began stowing the debris into his Misty Ring.
(Come to think of it... these golems weren't already sold, were they?)
The thought crossed Rei's mind, but if they had been, he would simply offer his condolences to whoever had placed the order.
The ones who had deployed these golems in battle were the Dolan Workshop. Rei hadn't asked for any of this. Even if the golems he destroyed had already been sold, it wasn't his problem.
(Then again... from how they fought, they were definitely higher-performance than standard golems. But it didn't feel like their capabilities were all that extraordinary. Or maybe I just put them down before they could show what they could really do.)
True, when Rei attacked, the golems had moved semi-reflexively—almost like a human—to try to block. But in the end, they hadn't been able to stop his attacks and fell one after another.
In other words, the most accurate assessment was that Rei had struck them down before they could ever demonstrate their full potential.
In that sense, Rei was the natural predator of the Dolan Workshop's golems.
Whether he realized it himself was debatable.
At any rate, once every scrap of wreckage was stowed away, Rei addressed Seto again.
"Seto, could you take us back up? The Dolan Workshop's alchemist has probably already slipped out of the Slum District, but there's still a chance—a real, outside chance—we might spot them."
"Grrr."
Seto gave a nod, though he seemed to have his doubts.
Like Rei, Seto probably figured that even if an alchemist had been here, they were long gone by now.
Even so, Rei was hedging his bets on the off chance one was still lurking in the Slum District.
It wasn't impossible that the alchemist had run into some residents, caused a scene, and been delayed in their escape.
That said, if a Dolan Workshop alchemist had come to the Slum District, they almost certainly hadn't come alone. They would either be traveling with adventurer guards hired by the Workshop, or accompanied by escort golems.
With that kind of backup, a scuffle with local residents would be trivial to handle.
(Still, if there's even a one-in-a-million chance, I want to grab them here and wring out everything they know.)
Capturing a Dolan Workshop alchemist here would let Rei extract a wealth of useful information.
The actual interrogation, though, would be left to the professionals at Fusetsu.
Rei had conducted interrogations before, but next to the specialists, he was strictly an amateur. That being the case, it was only logical to hand it off to the experts.
If Rei handled it himself, he might fail to detect a lie, or overlook a lead the captive was still holding back. Either scenario was entirely plausible.
"Grrrr?"
Seto suddenly purred mid-flight.
What is it? Rei wondered. Guided by the thought that maybe—just maybe—Seto had spotted something, he turned his gaze in the direction the gryphon was looking.
Below them, a brawl had broken out among Slum District residents.
Not quite what he'd expected.
Fights between residents of the Slum District were far from unusual. The reason Seto had fixated on this particular clash, though, was surely because one of the groups involved was largely made up of children.
The two sides were roughly equal in numbers. But while one group consisted predominantly of children, the other was a band of adults.
Naturally, that meant a glaring gap in combat power.
And for a gryphon who loved playing with children, witnessing such a scene made his cry of alarm only natural.
"Grrr, grrrrr?"
Can I go help? Seto purred.
Rei wasn't entirely convinced this was the best time for such a distraction. But Seto was his most critical asset in the aerial search for the alchemist. He couldn't just dismiss a request from him.
(Besides... I already figured finding the alchemist here was a long shot. If it was a fool's errand to begin with, there's no point dragging it out.)
Abandoning the search, Rei called out to Seto.
"You want to step into that fight?"
"Grr..."
Seto purred apologetically.
He surely understood that doing so would get in Rei's way. But with children caught in the fray, standing by and doing nothing wasn't an option for him.
"Fair enough. I'd hate to see the kids get steamrolled one-sidedly... one-sidedly... actually, no. It's not one-sided, is it?"
On closer inspection, while the children were clearly at a disadvantage, they were holding their own and pulling their weight. Exploiting their small stature, they made darting movements that caught their opponents off guard, striking back with stones, wooden sticks, and in some cases, worn-out daggers.
(Gotta hand it to kids raised in the Slum District. They're sharp. ...Or should I say cunning? Shrewd?)
Rei observed them with a measure of admiration, but the gulf in raw strength between adults and children remained stark.
Sure, if the kids managed to land a hit with their makeshift weapons, they could deal some damage. But the sheer difference in body size meant even scoring a clean hit was an uphill battle.
There was no question the children were fighting tooth and nail. Still, the disadvantage they faced was simply insurmountable.
For Seto, the idea of not stepping in to help them probably didn't exist.
"Grrr!"
I can go, right? Seto pressed with a purr, and Rei couldn't bring himself to say no.
Brawls like the one unfolding below were everyday occurrences in the Slum District. Under normal circumstances, Rei and Seto had no business interfering.
Even so, Rei had no intention of stopping Seto from trying to save the children. The fact that he'd been helped by slum kids just that morning weighed heavily on his mind.
The children fighting down there weren't the same ones he'd met earlier. Strictly speaking, there was no obligation for him to lift a finger for them.
Even so, the choice to stand idly by didn't exist within Rei. After a beat, he called out to Seto.
"Go ahead."
Seto purred with open delight and dove toward the ground.
The fighters below hadn't noticed the gryphon at first, but a creature of his size descending from the sky was impossible to miss.
"H-hey! Above!"
An adult was the first to spot him. Partly because they were taller than the children, but more so because even mid-fight, they remained on guard against the possibility of a third party swooping in to pick the bones.
When two groups clashed, someone seizing the opportunity to scavenge from the aftermath was par for the course in the Slum District. Survival left no room for scruples about fairness or cowardice.
That was why the adults had kept watch even while trading blows, wary of anyone looking to meddle.
One of them caught sight of Seto and shouted a warning, but before the others could even look up, Seto had already landed.
To command the attention of everyone present and freeze the fight, Seto touched down with uncharacteristic roughness. A heavy thud reverberated through the surroundings, and every pair of eyes snapped toward him exactly as intended.
Bullseye.
"Grrrrrrrrr!"
Satisfied that all eyes were on him, Seto let loose a piercing roar.
He hadn't used King's Intimidation or any skill at all—yet the sheer force of the cry was more than enough to root everyone in place.
True to Seto's design, the fighters went still.
Until seconds ago, the only enemies in front of them had been their fellow Slum District residents. Now, suddenly, an overwhelmingly powerful creature had materialized in their midst.
Depending on what Rei and Seto planned to do—worst case, if they sided with the opposing group—resistance would be futile.
That much was clear. And that was precisely why no one dared make a careless move and risk provoking them.
"Both sides, stand down. The fight is over."
It was Rei who shattered the tense silence that followed Seto's roar.
In a sense, it was the only natural course of action. Seto had initiated the intervention, but he couldn't speak human words. Through the bond forged by Beast Magic—the link between creator and created—Rei understood exactly what Seto wanted to convey. But that was because he was Rei.
...Well, in truth, there were special cases like Mirene and Yohanna, who had grown to grasp Seto's intentions through sheer devotion. But even Rei could readily admit that lumping those two in with everyone else would be a mistake.
"H-hold on a sec. What's someone like you doing butting into a fight like this?!"
Perhaps because some of the overwhelming pressure radiating from Seto had eased once Rei spoke, a man from the adult group found his voice.
From the man's perspective, their opponents were children. They had the upper hand. Naturally, having the advantage didn't guarantee victory, but the momentum had undeniably been theirs.
Then Rei had appeared out of nowhere and ordered them to stop. Resentment was only natural.
"Sorry about that, but Seto wanted to step in."
He offered an apology, but the words rang hollow—perfunctory at best.
The man must have sensed it too. His face twisted with displeasure, but he fell into bitter silence, likely realizing that pressing the issue with Rei would get him nowhere.
Or perhaps he feared that pushing back might drive Rei to side with the children.
"So... what do you expect us to do, then?"
"If both sides just quietly back off, that works best for me."
The adults wore openly disgruntled expressions. In stark contrast, the group heavy with children looked visibly relieved.
Both sides understood their respective situations and surely had plenty of unspoken thoughts about Rei's directive. But in the end, both groups complied, and the brawl came to a halt.