The words that came from Gigalana's mouth caught Rei by surprise.
He had been certain that since Fusetsu was presiding over this matter, he would be told something along the lines of how the command authority belonged to Gigalana and that Rei wouldn't be permitted to act on his own.
But what actually came from Gigalana's mouth was simply to do as he saw fit.
Toward someone like that, Rei naturally felt favorable.
"In the middle of a fight, polite speech is a hassle, right? Just talk normally, however is easy for you."
"Is that so? ...Right, I understand. Then I'll take you up on that."
From Gigalana's perspective, Rei was someone whom even Nina, an executive, addressed with an honorific.
Crow hadn't particularly seemed to be using polite speech, so Rei had figured Gigalana wouldn't need to worry about it that much either. But even so, Gigalana had been using polite speech, given that this was their first meeting.
Rei probably hadn't picked up on Gigalana's demeanor, but he had told him there was no need for polite speech, and Gigalana had accepted it favorably.
Rei was an external combat force, but he was the strongest one present. For him to be on friendly terms with Gigalana, who would command Fusetsu's unit in tonight's assault, was not a bad arrangement at all.
"So, this is rather late to ask... truly belated, but where exactly are we heading? I still haven't heard any concrete information about who we're attacking."
"Ahh, it's not just you, Rei. Crow doesn't know either. At this point, those who know are probably only a handful of people, myself included."
Those words were enough to surprise Rei, and at the same time, enough to convince him.
"In other words, you think there's a traitor inside Fusetsu?"
As Rei asked in a slightly quieter voice, Gigalana neither nodded nor shook his head, but simply spoke.
"Honestly, I don't know. But for them to carry out an operation that large... wouldn't you say it's possible there's a traitor inside Fusetsu? Or more accurately, not a traitor, but someone who's had their own agents infiltrated into us?"
If this were a smaller organization, it wouldn't be strange for every member to know each other by face.
Fusetsu, however, was the largest assassin guild in Egginis.
Even among those belonging to the same organization, it wouldn't be unusual to encounter a face they were seeing for the first time.
Of course, those who held executive positions or specialized roles within Fusetsu might well remember everyone's faces. But for ordinary assassins—those without such special status—memorizing every member's face was nearly impossible.
"I see. What odds do you put on such people actually existing?"
"Around forty percent, I'd say."
"That's higher than I expected. At forty percent, that's nearly a fifty-fifty chance."
"It can't be helped. Given the current situation, it's better to move cautiously."
If Gigalana said so, Rei wasn't in a position to voice any objection.
"Alright, I understand that. But can you tell me already? Where exactly are we heading? Given the situation we're in, I don't think there's any need to keep it hidden anymore."
Saying that, Rei looked up at the sky.
Above them stretched a night sky where the moon was partially obscured by clouds. The moonlight, as if signaling the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, poured down onto the ground.
Rei was wearing his Dragon Robe with its simplified air conditioner function, so he had no issues with the cold, but among the assembled assassins, he could see a few who looked chilled.
At such a nighttime hour, with nothing left but to launch the assault, Rei told him there was no longer any need for secrecy. Gigalana considered for a moment before nodding.
"Right. It's about time I told you. I kept quiet because I thought some people might be shocked when they heard."
After saying that while looking at Rei, Gigalana suddenly raised his voice.
"Listen!"
The assassins present naturally understood that it was Gigalana who had spoken those words.
If anyone other than Gigalana had said something like that just now, many would probably have pushed back. That was how much authority Gigalana's voice carried, and above all, the fact that most of those present acknowledged his standing was significant.
Having judged that the gazes of those participating in tonight's assault had been sufficiently gathered, Gigalana spoke again.
"I believe you already know that tonight we're assaulting the mansion of the one who ordered last night's invasion, as retaliation. But at the same time, you shouldn't have been informed of specifically where we're attacking. Part of that is to prevent information about this operation from leaking, but there's another reason. I judged that if you knew in advance, there would be some who simply wouldn't believe it."
At Gigalana's words, those listening began to murmur.
The fact that he was saying such a thing in this setting meant that the target was truly someone unbelievable.
Specifically, who that opponent was.
Met with such questioning gazes, Gigalana took a small breath before voicing the name.
"Where we're heading is the mansion of Dailas, chairman of the Dailas Trading Company."
A stir ran through the crowd.
The instant they heard the name Dailas, the assassins began to murmur. But for Rei, it was a name he was hearing for the first time, so being told it didn't particularly surprise him.
"Crow, who's Dailas?"
"Huh? Are you seriously... no, right. You haven't been in Egginis for that long since you arrived, have you? Then it's not strange for you not to know."
"Yeah, that's right. So much has happened since I came to Egginis that it feels like I've been here for quite a while, but actually not that much time has passed yet. ...So? Who's Dailas?"
"You know that Egginis is an autonomous city, right? And that merchants run it?"
"Yeah, I know that."
Rei himself had met Robel, one of the people who ran Egginis, after being brought there by Orban. He had already known that someone among those who governed Egginis was behind the Dolan Workshop, so being told they were heading to the mansion of one such person didn't particularly surprise him.
"Dailas-san... no, Dailas is also one of the people who run Egginis, but..."
"But?"
For some reason, Crow said that much and then faltered.
Rei showed no sign of rushing him and waited in silence.
Gigalana, too, watched those around him murmuring at the words that had come from his own mouth, without making any move to stop them. Forcing them into silence here might cause trouble down the line, or so he likely thought.
"Dailas is, to put it simply, known in Egginis as a good person."
Eventually breaking the silence, Crow stated as much.
The phrase "good person" that came from his mouth was unexpected for Rei as well. Considering what they had been doing at the Dolan Workshop, those actions could be called atrocious.
No, they could only be called atrocious.
"A good person orders the use of illegal slaves and necromancy to create golem cores, and gathers bandits around Egginis? It seems the meaning of 'good' in Egginis is quite different from the 'good' I know."
"Rei, you know this already."
At Rei's teasing words, Crow responded with a look that mixed chagrin, resignation, anger, and indignation—various emotions intertwined.
"Well, yeah. It's probably more convenient to present yourself as a good person on the surface. Even when you're doing something behind the scenes like this time, there'll be people who'll find it hard to believe."
In Rei's case, he didn't know the person called Dailas at all. So even when Gigalana stated that Dailas was the one behind the Dolan Workshop, Rei accepted it without particularly caring. But among those who did know Dailas, some were asking Gigalana if it was true.
"That's right. In fact, there have been quite a few occasions where the trading company brought bread to the Slum District on Dailas's orders. Thanks to that, many people survived."
"I see."
Among the assassins belonging to Fusetsu, there were probably some who came from the Slum District. For people like that, it wouldn't be strange for some to feel indebted to Dailas, believing they had survived thanks to him.
(Along with his surface facade of performing good deeds, distributing bread was probably also intended to make people hesitate at least somewhat if his involvement ever came to light like this time... I suppose.)
Distributing bread required a corresponding amount of money. That said, since he ran a major trading company in Egginis, preparing the funds to buy bread wasn't difficult.
(Besides, for the bread too, there'd be no need to buy freshly baked expensive loaves. Leftover bread baked the day before, or even the hard-baked bread that adventurers used as preserved rations, would do. Or, if this guy Dailas's trading company was a major one, a bakery might even be part of the company itself.)
Since there were any number of ways to prepare bread, distributing it in the Slum District to win popular support was by no means a bad strategy. Among those who survived because of it, it wouldn't be strange for some to want to work for Dailas in the future.
While acknowledging that Dailas had thought things through cleverly, Rei turned his gaze to Crow and spoke.
"I understand the situation. ...So, Crow. Can you fight against Dailas?"
"That's..."
As expected, was Rei's honest thought upon seeing Crow's reaction.
The agitation when Dailas's name came up, and the various emotions that had surfaced on his face. From that, it was likely that Crow was also from Egginis's slums, and had survived thanks to Dailas's charity.
As if to confirm Rei's thoughts, Gigalana spoke.
"There are probably some among us who feel indebted to Dailas. But Dailas is unquestionably the enemy!"
At Gigalana's words, the agitated assassins began to calm down. Even so, there were still those who clearly had mixed feelings, but their numbers had undoubtedly decreased.
This was likely proof of how much Gigalana was acknowledged by the other assassins. Even if Dailas was known as a good person, if Gigalana said otherwise, then it must be true.
If this were an organization where the leadership wasn't trusted, even if such words were spoken, few would believe them outright. It wouldn't even be surprising for them to remain half in doubt.
Gigalana's past achievements were sufficient to convince most of those present that Dailas was the mastermind behind this incident.
Having assessed the surrounding atmosphere, Gigalana spoke once more.
"Then, we will now head to Dailas's mansion. That said, naturally, moving as a single group with this many people would stand out. Therefore, I want each of you to travel in groups of several. Understand? It's true that we're launching an assault, but the flashy diversionary assault will be left to a small group... and above all, to Crimson Rei."
Saying that, Gigalana turned his gaze to Rei.
Drawn by Gigalana's movement, the other assassins each directed their gazes toward Rei as well.
Being subjected to the stares of so many assassins would normally be enough to make anyone cower. But Rei received those countless gazes as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Among those stares were colors of gratitude and affection, as well as suspicion—and even some tinged with hostility.
Due to Rei's actions up to now, his standing within Fusetsu was complicated. That was precisely why he was now being subjected to such varied gazes.
Even so, the fact that the overall tone was largely favorable was probably because of how much Rei had accomplished in last night's battle.
There were undoubtedly those who had been saved by his actions. If Rei hadn't been there, while one couldn't say the Fusetsu hideout would have outright fallen in last night's turmoil, they would have certainly suffered far greater casualties.
"Leave it to me. Me and..."
"Gruu."
In the middle of Rei's words, Seto, who had been quietly staying put until now, purred as he stepped beside Rei.
"Me and Seto will be more than enough to serve as a diversion. In exchange, I'll leave things like searching the interior to you all."
While stroking Seto, Rei made his declaration.