Rei left the room and headed toward the second-floor stairs, with Mirusu and several others in tow.
At first, Mirusu and the others hadn't entirely believed Rei's words.
Still, figuring they should humor him just in case, they had stayed close. But as they neared the staircase, the sound of frantic footsteps descending from above made them tense.
"What is it?"
"Someone's coming."
The moment Rei said that in response to Mirusu's mutter, Orban came down the stairs, dragging Robel along.
Perhaps owing to his training, Orban's footwork remained steady even while pulling another person. He descended briskly, skipping several steps at a time but never losing his balance.
Behind the two of them, Dwanda also appeared.
Seeing the three of them rush down, some of those gathered around Rei felt a flicker of doubt. It was fine that they had hurried down—but what about the remaining two? What had happened to Lusitania and Dailas? For that matter, why had they rushed down here in the first place?
Such questions were only natural.
"Orban, what happened?"
"It's Dailas! I don't know what he did, but he gained overwhelming power and tried to kill us!"
A stir ran through the listeners.
Orban's shout—that Dailas had tried to kill them—planted doubt in the minds of everyone who heard it. The only reason no one dismissed it outright was that Orban's demeanor made it clear he was dead serious. That desperate, urgent cry carried enough force to convince anyone listening that this was no joke.
(So there really was a hidden trump card. Though the fact that Dailas himself was the trump card is a bit surprising.)
Rei had never met Dailas in person. But considering the incident at his mansion, he could imagine the man was cautious by nature.
The hiding spot for the safe golem had been extremely well-concealed. The door was covered by a barrier that would normally be impossible to dispel or destroy. The passage beyond it was trapped. And the safe inside the room beyond the trap was itself a golem—that was the level of caution this man operated with.
On top of all that, there were the adventurer guards he had hired, his direct subordinates in metal armor, and even additional reinforcements. Wasn't that level of caution perhaps a bit excessive?
Given the kind of person he was, even if he had a trump card, Rei had assumed he would use it through someone else rather than himself—for instance, one of Dailas's subordinates who had been waiting in the same room as Rei.
"Wait a moment! What about Lusitania!?"
Hearing Orban's words, Mirusu finally noticed that only Orban, Robel, and Dwanda were present. His employer was nowhere to be seen.
At Mirusu's question, a look of surprise crossed Robel's face—he seemed to realize only now that Lusitania was missing. Orban, meanwhile, closed his mouth; since Lusitania wasn't here, he could guess what had happened.
"Lusitania was killed by Dailas."
It was Dwanda who spoke. He had seen it in his peripheral vision as they fled the room—Lusitania's torso pierced by Dailas's arm.
Those who heard this, particularly the men in Lusitania's employ, wore expressions of sheer shock. They had been hired as his bodyguards, which meant his death equated to a failed mission. And for those who served him directly rather than as hired adventurers, having their master killed came as a devastating blow.
"So what happened to Dailas?"
"I don't know. If he was satisfied after killing Lusitania and isn't going to act further, I could accept that."
Orban's response to Rei's question carried a bitter edge. Getting Robel out alive had taken everything he had; he hadn't had the luxury of looking back.
"I see. Do you think he'll come down? Would make things quicker and easier if he did. ...Just to be clear, don't any of you try to stop me in this situation."
Those last words were directed at Dailas's subordinates, who had been listening to the exchange in alarm. As Dailas's men, if Rei were to fight—or worse, kill—their master, they might well attack him, deeming it unforgivable.
Even if they did, it wouldn't be fatal for Rei. Still, it would be a hindrance, and the potential for unnecessary casualties meant he needed to lay things out in advance.
"Don't worry about that. If any of them try to get in your way, I'll stop them."
The one who spoke up was Mirusu. He had already failed his mission as Lusitania's bodyguard. Given that, he needed to help Rei now, even a little, and improve his standing in the eyes of those around him. The same held true for the others who had been hired by or served Lusitania.
Under the weight of those stares, Dailas's subordinates faltered. Yet they couldn't simply back down entirely, and one of them spoke up.
"That may be, but we are Dailas-sama's bodyguards. If someone intends to harm him, we cannot stand by and allow it."
"Dailas went on a rampage and killed Lusitania-sama."
The retort came from a man who likely served Lusitania. His master had been murdered. There was no way he could quietly accept that.
And so neither side yielded an inch. Though, among those on Dailas's side, those who recognized how dire the situation had become found it increasingly difficult to maintain an aggressive stance, haunted by the notion that pressing forward would only make things worse for themselves.
"Still, he's not coming."
Amid the standoff, Rei had been watching the exchange between the Lusitania and Dailas factions. Now he muttered the observation while staring at the stairs.
Several minutes had already passed since Orban and the others had come down. By all rights, Dailas should have appeared at the top of the staircase by now. Yet there was no sign of him whatsoever.
"Because there's powerful combat strength here, including you?"
At Orban's murmur, the eyes of most everyone present turned to Rei. They all understood, without needing to be told, that Rei was the strongest among them. Even Dailas's subordinates, who had been glaring at him with open hostility, couldn't dispute that.
"So you're Rei. I'd heard the rumors, but... you're strong."
Dwanda looked at Rei and said it plainly.
Rei raised an eyebrow. Normally, judging solely by his small build, "strong" wasn't a word anyone would use to describe him. Yet Dwanda had said it without hesitation.
If the person making that assessment had been a warrior capable of reading an opponent's true ability, Rei might have accepted it. But while Dwanda may have been a first-rate merchant, his own combat strength was no different from an ordinary person's. Despite that, he had declared with certainty that Rei was strong.
(I suppose being a first-rate merchant means he has an eye for people.)
Accepting that, Rei spoke again.
"There's no point standing around here. I'll go take a look upstairs. But if I go alone, someone might come up with a strange accusation later... Mirusu, come with me."
"Huh? Me?"
Mirusu hadn't expected to be chosen at a moment like this, and his surprise showed. But from Rei's perspective, there weren't many people in this group he could trust even slightly. He hardly knew Mirusu, but since Mirusu was Lindy's party member, he could trust him more than some unknown party.
"Yeah, you'll do."
"Hold on! Then let me—"
"Do you think I'd bring along someone who might attack me from behind on a reconnaissance mission?"
"Ugh..."
Rei's words left the subordinate speechless. This was a man who had been directing hostile glares at Rei ever since they entered the building. Naturally, Rei had no desire to bring someone like that along.
Even if the man tried to ambush him, Rei could handle it without difficulty. Still, given the situation, he saw no reason to deliberately bring along a potential enemy.
"Seems you understand."
The man glared at Rei, who said this. In truth, he hadn't accepted anything—but in this situation, even if he insisted on coming along, he knew they wouldn't listen. He had no choice but to back down.
"Let's go, Mirusu."
"Right."
"P-Please be careful."
Rei gave a brief nod to Robel's words and headed up the stairs with Mirusu. What awaited them above was unknown. No—it was probably Dailas, but the real question was what state Dailas was in right now.
"Almost there. ...But this is..."
"What is it?"
"No... it's possible Dailas isn't here."
"Huh?"
Mirusu's face betrayed his surprise. For a moment he nearly blurted out "Are you kidding?"—but knowing who Rei was, the words never came.
"Then where did he go?"
"No way to know that easily. But I can't sense any presence from inside the room. ...Did he escape outside?"
It was a possibility. But a sizable crowd had gathered outside this building—guards, escorts hired by each faction, serving soldiers, and Rei's partner, Seto. In that situation, if Dailas had fled the room, someone would have spotted him and raised an alarm.
Yet no such commotion had occurred. That meant either Dailas hadn't gone outside at all, or he had escaped without anyone noticing. The latter was something Rei simply couldn't believe. He knew better than anyone just how sharp Seto's senses were.
"Anyway, let's go inside. According to Dwanda, Dailas pierced Lusitania's torso with his arm—bare-handed, without using any weapon. In other words... he's not normal."
If Rei really tried, he could probably manage to punch through a person's torso bare-handed. But that didn't mean he'd ever want to. Dailas, however, had done exactly that, with ease. The act itself wasn't particularly strange, but the fact that it was Dailas who had committed it—that was what bothered Rei.
Rei had never met the man in person. Still, from everything he had gathered, he understood Dailas to be a cautious individual. He also possessed, without question, the ability and accomplishments to govern Egginis. Would such a man get his own hands dirty directly?
Of course, the evidence of his hidden dealings that had been surfacing one after another from last night's raid could well have driven him into a corner. But even so, given the current circumstances, it was enough to make Rei doubt.
"Anyway, let's go. I can't sense anyone in the room anymore, but there might still be a clue as to where he went."
Mirusu nodded, his expression serious and tense. He was known in Egginis as a reasonably capable adventurer—but only reasonably. That being the case, he couldn't help but wonder whether someone of his caliber belonged at a place that would likely carry great significance for Egginis's future. Someone like Rei was suited for such a place; his own presence could only be in the way.
Still, watching Rei step into the room, he couldn't simply stand back.
Following Rei inside, Mirusu found a room where the floor had been melted open—a hole large enough for a person to pass through.
And at the same time, screams erupted from the first floor below.