Many of them pressed down on Dailas, who had collapsed on the floor, to stop his movements.
Rei in particular instructed them to pin his joints.
Some, perhaps displeased at following Rei's instructions, had tried to restrain his arms and legs instead—but—
"Gaaah! You bastard!"
A man who tried to hold Dailas's hand screamed as Dailas's fingers tore flesh from him.
Dailas had very little combat experience. In fact, most of the people here likely had more.
However, they didn't vastly surpass him in experience—not enough to overwhelm him entirely. That was why someone like this man would carelessly touch Dailas within range of his attacks and end up sustaining at least minor injuries.
"Don't let your guard down! Dailas himself has little combat experience, but his physical abilities alone are remarkably high! Like I said earlier, when you pin him, hold his joints so he can't move!"
Rei shouted, but there remained the issue of what to do next.
They had succeeded in pinning Dailas down, but they couldn't kill him. Severing his torso with the Death Scythe or piercing it with the Twilight Spear had dealt no damage whatsoever. Perhaps there was some damage, but ultimately, he hadn't died.
If they wanted to kill Dailas as he was, they would either need an attack with overwhelming destructive power that would prevent regeneration—or, if regeneration consumed stamina or magical power, keep burning him with fire until those resources were exhausted. Honestly, those were the only options Rei could think of.
But killing Dailas carried potential risks, so there was without a doubt a desire to capture him alive if possible. Since Dailas's public persona was famous as a good person, killing him without question risked directing the blame toward Robel. Given that, they truly needed to capture Dailas alive and expose what he had been doing behind his good-person facade.
"Rei, will this be alright?"
Orban, who had been guarding Robel and Dwanda, asked while looking at Dailas, who had been rendered immobile by the adventurers.
"I think it'll be fine for now. But... we can't keep this up forever, can we? ...Hmm? You had a potion?"
Rei asked about the potion because the blood that had been flowing from Dwanda's left elbow appeared to have stopped. Of course, the severed portion was likely not reattached, but the fact that the bleeding had stopped despite what was clearly a severe injury meant that a reasonably high-quality potion had been used.
The possibility that Healing Magic had been used couldn't be denied either. Healing Magic users were exceedingly rare, but if someone was in a position to run Egginis, it wouldn't be strange for them to have at least one such user among their subordinates.
However, from what Rei could see, there was no one like that anywhere here. That being the case, the likelihood was high that they had a potion.
As if to confirm this, Orban nodded at Rei's words.
"Ah. Dwanda holds a position of comparable standing. It wouldn't be unusual for him to carry a potion or two in case of emergencies. Robel has one too."
"That's quite cautious of you. Well, that's fine for now. The question is what to do with Dailas. If we bend metal rods and pin his joints to the floor, I think he'd have a hard time moving. Though considering his abnormal physical abilities, I can't say that's guaranteed, either."
He could unleash attacks powerful enough to pierce through someone's torso with his arm. Even if Dailas's combat experience was limited, his physical abilities were undeniably a threat. Precisely because he had gained such high physical abilities without proper training, it wouldn't be strange for him to make unpredictable movements.
Precisely because he was an amateur, he was troublesome. Dailas had become just such an existence now.
"Wouldn't it be better to just kill him quickly?"
Orban had arrived at the same thought as Rei, but...
"N-no, please stop. H-he's more useful to us alive right now."
Robel interjected, cutting off Orban's words.
Dwanda, beside Robel, nodded as well.
"That's right. If killing him is the only option, then it can't be helped, but if we can capture him alive, it carries great significance. Thinking about the future, I'd prefer not to kill him if possible."
"I understand wanting to keep Dailas alive. But from the look of things, keeping him alive carelessly means we can't predict what he might do."
Considering everything Dailas had done up to now, if they simply let him live obediently, there was truly no telling what he might scheme. Depending on the circumstances, it couldn't be denied that sparing his life here might lead to the worst possible outcome later.
"Even so. Given the current situation, killing him here is not an option. Besides, if it comes down to it, we have Rei here, don't we?"
Dwanda said that, but Rei directed a look of exasperation at him and spoke.
"I have no intention of helping you people out indefinitely, you know. If you're going to use me as you please, you'll need to prepare appropriate compensation."
"Hmm. Then let me ask. What exactly could Robel offer as compensation to hire you?"
"This."
Saying that, what Rei retrieved from his Misty Ring was a leather bag filled with a large quantity of jewels.
...In reality, these jewels had been given to him by Orban, and the original owner wasn't Orban either—they were items found inside the safe golem that contained evidence of Dailas's crimes. That said, receiving those jewels was one of the reasons Rei thought it would be fine to guard Orban, Robel, and the others, so that idea wasn't entirely mistaken.
"That's... impressive..."
Dwanda looked at the contents of the leather bag Rei had produced, astonished by the quantity and quality of the jewels inside. He was apparently capable of appraising jewels, and from what he could see, every single one in the bag was of high quality—jewels that would undoubtedly fetch a considerable price if sold.
He marveled at the jewels and simultaneously understood that hiring Rei would require at least that much. In reality, if Rei felt like it, he would accept requests for much cheaper—depending on the situation, sometimes for as little as a single copper coin.
"Setting aside my hiring price... if we're keeping Dailas alive, we'll need metal first. Don't you have anything?"
"Don't ask me so suddenly. Don't you have something, Rei?"
Orban's gaze was directed at Rei's right arm... or more precisely, the Misty Ring fitted there. He was implicitly asking whether there was some kind of metal stored inside, but Rei didn't conveniently have metal on hand either.
(If I used a spear... no, spears aren't entirely metal either. And the spears I carry are mostly disposable ones.)
In truth, there were a fair number of ordinary spears inside the Misty Ring as well. Some were confiscated from bandits, others purchased on a whim by Rei. But since they were decent spears, he didn't really want to use them as disposables. Spear throwing was a fairly frequently used attack method in Rei's arsenal. Given that, he preferred not to consume them if possible.
(I still have a few axes... but bending an axe would be a bit difficult. Should I have given the iron ingots to Fusetsu after all?)
If he had iron ingots, he could somehow fashion a certain amount of metal from them... As Rei was thinking this, something occurred to him.
"Ah, I don't have to go out of my way to figure it out myself. We could just buy what we need from a nearby blacksmith. I don't know if they'd have something like that, and I'm not sure whether there's even a blacksmith nearby. ...How about it?"
"Y-yes, fortunately there is a blacksmith nearby."
Robel must have had a solid understanding of the geography surrounding the building where the Holy Four Assembly was held.
At Robel's words, Dwanda called out to one of the nearby adventurers—one he had hired as a guard.
"Hey, you. There's a blacksmith nearby. Go there and buy as many iron rods as you can with this."
Saying that, he handed several gold coins to an adventurer who had been unable to approach Dailas because there were too many people.
"Eh? Me?!"
Perhaps not expecting to be chosen in this situation, the adventurer let out a surprised cry. He had followed the flow of the conversation, but in this situation, wouldn't it be fastest to have Rei go? He cast a glance toward Rei with that thought.
However, Dwanda shouted irritably at the adventurer's demeanor.
"Are you an idiot?! If Dailas makes a move, Rei is the only one who can stop him! And the only reason Dailas is behaving right now is because Rei is here! Given that, it should be obvious we can't let Rei leave this place right now!"
Being scolded like that—and perhaps because Dwanda was his employer—the man said nothing more and ran off with the gold coins.
(Probably... once he steps outside the building, things are going to get quite troublesome.)
Rei thought as he watched the adventurer's retreating back. Those outside the building with sharp senses would surely understand that a disturbance was occurring inside. Such people would naturally want an explanation of the situation.
"What about the people outside the building? Are you letting them in, or keeping them out? It doesn't seem like anyone's come in yet, but shouldn't we decide on that in case something happens?"
"That's... if we let people into the building in this current situation, it will undoubtedly cause trouble. Given that, there's no need to let anyone in right now. Right?"
At Orban's words, Robel nodded immediately, and Dwanda nodded after a moment's thought.
"Then it's settled. Hey, those of you who are free—several of you stand watch and don't let anyone in."
Several people followed Orban's instructions. Originally, those following Orban's orders were people hired by different employers. Dailas, Dwanda, Lusitania... though they didn't know exactly who each person was. Even so, they obediently followed Orban's instructions because they understood that among those present here, Orban was the one holding the initiative.
...Of course, there were still a fair number who disliked being ordered around by Orban, who hadn't even hired them. But Lusitania was dead, Dailas had gone on a rampage, and both Dwanda and Robel acknowledged Orban taking charge of the situation. Given all that, they must have judged that voicing their dissatisfaction here would fall on deaf ears.
For now, taking action was what mattered.
After issuing the instruction to keep people out of the building, Orban next turned to those pinning Dailas down.
"How are things over there? Is anyone getting tired?"
This wasn't out of concern for those holding Dailas down. It was a question born from the fear that if someone pushed themselves too hard, Dailas might exploit the opening.
"N-no problem! A few of us got hurt, but we're fine for now! Dailas... no, Dailas is exactly like Rei said—his physical abilities are high, but he's nothing but an amateur!"
One of those pinning Dailas down shouted.
In the end, even with high physical abilities, he couldn't put them to effective use, so once pinned down like this, there was nothing he could do. If he were someone more competent, he might have managed something even while being restrained—no, he would have done something before being pinned down in the first place. But in the current situation, he couldn't do that, so there was nothing that could be done about it.
"Understood. Someone's heading to the blacksmith right now to get materials to immobilize Dailas, so hang in there until he gets back. Once he returns, Dailas won't be able to move anymore."
Perhaps hearing Rei's words, Dailas thrashed about, trying to prevent that from happening—but he lacked the strength to overcome the situation where multiple people were holding him down. After all, it wasn't just his limbs being restrained—everyone was holding his joints, so that was only natural.
From the perspective of those holding him down, some felt reassured by Rei's words that this situation would soon be over, while others hoped Dailas would stop thrashing about.