"You saved us."
"Don't worry about it. More importantly, what about the evidence? Still nothing?"
"Yeah. The door in this room is suspicious, but it's protected by a barrier and won't budge no matter what we do."
After killing every man stationed in front of the door, Crow spoke with his companions who had been waiting there.
However, what they had to report was not the answer he had been hoping for.
No, the fact that they had found a suspicious door at all was undeniably significant.
But as long as they couldn't open it, it meant Crow's objective remained unfulfilled.
"Can you destroy the door?"
"Impossible. It's firmly protected by a barrier. I don't think we can manage it. If anyone could, though..."
The man trailed off and turned his gaze toward the window.
More precisely, toward Rei outside—it was obvious who he meant.
The Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear Rei carried were both powerful Magic Items.
Knowing that, the assassin had naturally looked in that direction.
Crow understood what his companion was suggesting, but he couldn't just nod in agreement without hesitation.
Rei stood out. His Twin Spear Style with the Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear was conspicuous enough, and having Seto with him only added to that.
It was precisely because Rei drew that kind of attention that they had him serving as a diversion.
Calling someone like Rei into this room would mean leaving the diversion entirely to Seto.
(Wait... wouldn't that still be enough of a diversion?)
Gryphon Seto was rampaging outside, and his presence naturally drew every eye.
Given that, it was only natural for the adventurers hired as guards to focus their attention on Seto.
Besides, even if they called Rei in, they wouldn't need him to stay inside the mansion the whole time.
Of course it would be ideal if he did, but they also recognized that handling things from here on out was their own job.
Given all that, it made more sense to have Rei destroy only the barrier and leave the rest to them. Or so he thought—but the possibility that there might not be just one barrier was, in this particular case, a very painful prospect.
If they asked Rei to destroy the barrier and go back outside, only to find another one beyond the door, they would have to call him all over again.
Wasting time like that seemed unwise, and more than anything, he had an extremely bad feeling about this whole affair. That much was certain.
"I suppose we really should just have Rei help us out here."
"Are you serious? There's no need to rely on Rei, is there!?"
Perhaps unwilling to depend on Rei, one of the assassins who had overheard Crow's muttering shouted in protest.
(So this guy is part of the Faction against Rei.)
Crow shot the man a vexed glance.
Within Fusetsu, there were still many who disliked Rei.
After last night's incident—where they had fought alongside him and he had been the most conspicuous of all, helping the members of Fusetsu—many were genuinely grateful.
However, it was also a fact that some still could not accept Rei even after all that.
Because they took pride in the organization called Fusetsu, many resented having to fight Blood Blade on Rei's say-so, and many believed that Fusetsu's hideout had been attacked last night because of Rei in the first place.
Crow couldn't say that every one of those opinions was wrong.
In truth, it wasn't incorrect to say that Rei and his group were the reason they had come into conflict with powerful figures like the Dolan Workshop and Dailas.
But what would come of saying that now?
It was undeniable that Rei was involved in how the current situation had come about.
But it was equally true that saying so wouldn't change the present circumstances one bit.
Besides, Rei might have sparked this incident, but it was Fusetsu who had chosen to accept it.
Considering that, refusing to cooperate with Rei at this point was clearly meaningless.
"Think calmly. Right now, this isn't about personal feelings. First, we need to do something about the barrier protecting that door. Given that, is there anyone here who can handle it?"
"That's..."
Among the assassins who had stormed the mansion, there might be someone skilled enough to deal with the barrier.
But the problem was that even if such a person existed, they weren't here right now.
No one present fit the bill, and it was clear that Rei was outside.
Given that, there was no need to even think about which option was fastest.
"Understood."
Reluctantly—truly reluctantly—the man who had been opposing reliance on Rei gave in.
He must have concluded that they couldn't do anything about the barrier as things stood.
"First, we need to see what the barrier is actually like. I know I've been talking a big game here, but there's a chance we might be able to handle the barrier ourselves."
"That would be... a little difficult, I think."
One of the assassins who had actually seen the barrier with his own eyes replied to Crow's words.
Precisely because he had seen it himself, he understood how robust that barrier was.
Gauging from his companion's demeanor that the barrier must be quite sturdy, Crow decided that lingering in front of the door was dangerous and stepped into the room.
He told a few of them to haul the corpses somewhere else.
If a force arrived to retake the room, another battle would break out in front of it.
Having corpses scattered about would make fighting difficult for Crow and his group.
Of course, corpses on the floor would hinder the enemy just as much.
Crow knew that too, but given the current situation, he felt it was better to ensure they could fight in perfect condition rather than simply hoping to disadvantage the enemy.
Upon entering the room, the first thing that caught his eye was a bookshelf against the wall.
This bookshelf, however, was designed to slide sideways, and behind where it had stood was something that appeared to be a switch.
On the opposite wall, a massive painting hung.
That painting too had been moved aside, revealing a door where it had apparently been hanging.
"I see. So the mechanism behind the bookshelf moves the painting and exposes the door."
"That's right. We searched fairly thoroughly for any other mechanisms... especially anything that might dispel the barrier keeping that door sealed, but unfortunately, there was nothing of the sort anywhere."
One of the assassins who had been searching the room for additional mechanisms—particularly one to dispel the barrier—reported this to Crow.
Even so, Crow had no intention of blaming them for coming up empty-handed.
They were assassins, not thieves or spies.
Compared to ordinary warriors, they were accustomed to such tasks, but they were by no means specialists.
In that sense, he felt they deserved praise simply for finding a hidden door protected by a barrier.
"You did at least try to see if the barrier could be destroyed, right?"
When Crow asked, as if to confirm, those who heard him nodded as though it were obvious.
Given that something might lie beyond that barrier-protected door, they couldn't have possibly skipped such a step.
"If the door is a no-go, what about attacking from the hallway and breaking through the wall?"
Crow's suggestion wasn't particularly far-fetched.
If the proper door wouldn't yield, breaking through the wall beside it to access the hidden passage beyond was something anyone with a bit of ingenuity could come up with.
However, the assassins listening to Crow shook their heads.
"We tried, but the wall is built quite solid. Unlike the door, it doesn't seem to have a barrier or anything, but it's physically tough."
"That's... troublesome. In that case, we really should call Rei. He could either destroy the barrier on the door or break through the wall—either way, he'd manage. Then again, carelessly destroying the wall might bring the hidden passage down with it, so smashing through the door is probably better after all."
"Understood. What about the others? If there's a secret Dailas can't afford to make public beyond this point, should we gather everyone here?"
That proposal was a genuine dilemma for Crow.
Given the existence of such a labor-intensive hiding place, it was safe to assume that Dailas's secrets lay beyond.
But at the same time, considering Dailas's cautious nature, the question arose: would he really keep all his secrets in one place?
...Then again, carelessly dispersing secrets would only make them easier to find.
Thinking of it that way, keeping them in one place did make sense.
"We want to keep the fact that we've discovered this room as quiet as possible. We need to cause disturbances across various parts of the mansion to disperse Dailas's attention. Especially those men in metal armor—they're troublesome to fight head-on."
The others nodded in agreement.
Those wearing metal armor were quite well-trained.
Fighting them head-on would inevitably cost Crow's group casualties.
With a surprise attack or ambush, they weren't difficult to deal with.
Even so, given the current situation, none of them wanted to fight them head-on if they could help it.
To avoid having to fight while those metal-armored soldiers were concentrated in one place, it was only natural to think it better to spark multiple disturbances simultaneously throughout this spacious mansion.
(I'm grateful that Dailas's mansion is so large. ...Or perhaps, if the mansion were smaller, those metal-armored fellows might have been fewer in number as well.)
Thinking along those lines, Crow decided that fetching Rei was the top priority for now.
"Send a message to the ones searching for evidence in other locations—tell them to ramp up the chaos as much as possible. Pass along the warning that the metal-armored group might head their way. As for Rei... should I go?"
Among those present, the one closest to Rei was undoubtedly Crow.
Given that, it only made sense for Crow to go and bring him back.
Even so, Crow had naturally assumed command here.
This was because his name carried a certain weight within Fusetsu, but having him leave would pose a minor problem.
"I'll go. Crow, stay here and keep command," said the man who had been examining the barrier in this room.
Had the one volunteering been the man who had earlier expressed displeasure at Rei's involvement, Crow would have rejected the offer outright.
But he recalled that the man volunteering to fetch Rei hadn't been so hostile toward him.
He would have preferred to think it over a bit more carefully, but right now, speed took priority.
"Understood. Then I leave it to you. Just don't do anything to offend Rei. If he doesn't come, we can't do anything about that barrier."
"I'll manage somehow. Right now, above all else, we need to do something about that door. Given that, I want to do whatever I can, however small."
In this case, "what he could do" meant going to fetch Rei himself rather than making Crow do it, thereby keeping Crow in command to gain even a slight edge in the battle here.
He had judged Crow's leadership to be competent and was relying on it.
"Everyone, you understand what you need to do. Begin at once. Also... anyone who's free, help clear away the corpses in front of the room. Assist the ones already doing it. We want to keep our presence here a secret if possible, so we should move the corpses out of sight."
"But Crow, even without the corpses, we can't do anything about the traces of combat."
The "traces of combat" in this case referred to bloodstains and gouges in the walls and floor.
Given that a flashy battle had taken place here, there were large marks on the hallway and walls as well.
Even someone who knew nothing would understand at a glance that a fight had occurred here.
In light of that, moving the corpses would be pointless—that much was certain.
"Even so, it's better than doing nothing."
At Crow's words, most of them sprang into action.