"Whoa... so there really was damage here too, huh? ...There was, right?"
Arriving at the Slum District, Rei murmured to himself as he surveyed the surroundings.
During the battle with the Necro Golem, they had managed to lure it out of Egginis through the main street, away from the Holy Four Assembly building.
Given that, the Slum District shouldn't have sustained any damage under normal circumstances.
However, among all the Necro Golem's attacks, its purple Breath alone told a different story.
That single strike was extraordinarily powerful, with a range that dwarfed even its tentacles.
The Breath the Necro Golem had unleashed mid-transit had likely pierced straight through buildings across the city and reached all the way to the Slum District.
Fortunately, the only damage to the Slum District came from that Breath—and from what Rei could see, it was only a single shot at that.
Still, this was the Slum District.
Most of the buildings here were quite old, so even a single Blast of Breath had inflicted fairly significant damage.
"The one saving grace is that the Breath only hit buildings, not people."
At least within the range Rei had observed, it didn't appear that anyone had been killed by the attack.
"Gurururu."
Seto purred as if in agreement.
For Seto, the Slum District of Egginis was also a place with its fair share of memories.
Walking together with Rei, fighting off adventurers hired by the Dolan Workshop, battling golems—things like that.
Given all that, it was only natural that Seto found the damage to the Slum District regrettable.
"Seto, for now let's head to the Fusetsu hideout. I don't think it took any damage, but... I want to see for myself and make sure."
The Fusetsu hideout had an abandoned building on the surface, but that was merely camouflage.
The true base sprawled out underground.
In that sense, it was arguably the safest place in the Slum District.
(Then again, setting aside the Necro Golem situation, the fact that someone had once tunneled underground to invade meant this approach had its own problems. Still, there was no denying they didn't need to worry about the Breath this time.)
Rei pondered this as he walked through the Slum District alongside Seto.
From what he could see, the residents didn't appear particularly disturbed by the current situation; they seemed to be going about their business as usual.
For the residents of the Slum District, it might have been a different story if the entire district had come under attack, but a one-off strike like this wasn't enough to cause real alarm.
More precisely, when they were already struggling just to survive day to day, they had little leeway to worry about others.
"Ah, I can see it now. ...Looks like it made it through in one piece."
Seeing the Fusetsu hideout—the abandoned building serving as camouflage—standing intact, Rei breathed a sigh of relief.
He had expected as much, but being able to confirm it with his own eyes was undoubtedly a relief for both him and Seto.
As the two approached, the guard posted out front looked up. As usual, he was slumped against the abandoned building, pretending to be listless while keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings.
He showed a flicker of surprise at the sight of Rei and Seto, but that was the extent of his reaction.
Without any further display of alarm, he gave a small nod.
That was the signal: Rei was clear to enter.
"Looks like it really is safe. ...Seto, I'm going to check on things inside. You take it easy out here."
"Gururu."
Seto purred in response.
Rei noticed a soft light in the guard's eyes as he watched Seto.
For all intents and purposes, the guard and Seto had spent a fair amount of time together.
When other assassin guilds had launched raids, Seto and the guards had even fought side by side.
And naturally enough, the guards owed their lives to Seto.
As a result, their gratitude toward him had surely grown.
Seto, for his part, was fundamentally an affectionate creature when treated with kindness, so it was only natural that he had warmed to them.
(From the looks of it, Seto won't cause any problems here. In that case, I'll head inside right away.)
Making that call, Rei entered the abandoned building.
The building was naturally quite old—so much so that it wouldn't be surprising if it collapsed at any moment—but nevertheless, here it still stood.
(For Fusetsu, having this abandoned building to conceal the underground entrance was significant. Which meant... it was probably better to keep it as is. If it did collapse, would they prepare another similar ruin for camouflage?)
That was only a guess on Rei's part, but he had a feeling it was probably right.
They surely wouldn't construct a new building just to hide the staircase leading underground.
In a normal location, maybe, but in the Slum District, that would inevitably stand out.
Descending the stairs leading underground while thinking such thoughts, he found, as expected, a guide from Fusetsu waiting for him.
How the man had known Rei was coming, or whether he was simply stationed there on standby rather than waiting specifically for Rei—Rei had no idea. But having someone to guide him was hardly an inconvenience.
...That said, Rei had already been to the room sheltering Anne and her group many times.
Given that, there was no real need for guidance, but.
"There was apparently quite a commotion on the surface, but the fact that you're here, Rei-san—does that mean it's already been resolved?"
While leading the way, the man asked that question out of the blue.
Having been underground, he likely knew little about the situation on the surface.
"Yeah. It was apparently quite dangerous, but the commotion is over. Some of the fallout seems to have reached the Slum District, but being underground in this hideout, there's no need to worry about that kind of disturbance."
"That's true. Actually, until we were informed, I had no idea things had gotten like that on the surface."
"...For the record, Orban was also at the scene of the commotion this time."
Orban, who led Fusetsu, had been caught up in the commotion—had the man not been worried about that?
At Rei's questioning look, the man showed a brief expression of surprise, as if caught off guard, before speaking.
"I mean, it's Lord Orban. There's no way Lord Orban would die from something like this."
His words carried the conviction that Orban would absolutely never fall to a commotion of this level.
Since Orban had ultimately escaped without any notable injuries, the man's words were by no means misplaced.
(Should I take that to mean he's trusted?)
While mulling that over, Rei arrived at the room sheltering Anne and her group.
The guard-cum-watchman standing before the door bowed his head upon seeing Rei.
"I know Lindy left from here, but what about Anne?"
"She went with her."
Rei nodded with an expression that said just as I expected at the curt reply.
Lindy, Anne, and Golias all came from the same orphanage.
Naturally, Anne knew Golias too, and given that he had been found severely emaciated, it was entirely in character for Anne to go check on him alongside Lindy.
"Got it. How are the others doing? They were allowed to leave their rooms somewhat freely once they started helping out, right?"
"Given the situation on the surface, they're staying in their rooms for now, just in case."
That made sense to Rei.
Between the Dolan Workshop and Dailas, the surface was in considerable turmoil today.
Given that the commotion had erupted while the Workshop and Dailas were being cornered, it was reasonable to assume they wouldn't have the leeway to meddle with Fusetsu... but still, there was always the possibility.
In particular, Anne's group included Ilunara, a Non-Mainstream Faction alchemist from the Dolan Workshop.
For those at the Workshop who were being cornered, it wouldn't be unreasonable for them to blame Ilunara for their current predicament.
It wouldn't have been surprising if they bore a grudge and launched another attack on this hideout.
That was exactly what Rei had been worried about, but from what he was hearing, nothing of the sort had occurred.
"Understood. Keep up the guard as is. And thanks for guiding me here."
After addressing the watchman and the man who had led him this far, Rei opened the door to the room.
The eyes of everyone in the living room immediately focused on Rei.
But upon seeing that it was him, most of them visibly relaxed.
...However, one man among them wore a disappointed expression.
He was the one among the former illegal slaves who had harbored romantic feelings for Anne.
He was apparently bothered by the fact that Anne, whom he was fond of, had rushed off out of concern upon hearing that the captive Golias had been found.
In reality, it was Lindy who had romantic feelings for Golias. Anne's concern was because Golias was her childhood friend—no, someone who was essentially family she had grown up with—and he had been found in an emaciated state. In that sense, her worry was only natural.
"Rei-san, what exactly happened on the surface? We were cleaning the hideout, and then suddenly we were told to gather here."
One of the alchemists directed an anxious gaze toward Rei.
Faced with that look, Rei hesitated over what to do... but ultimately decided to tell them.
This commotion held great significance for Ilunara and the other alchemists as well.
Ilunara in particular had admired the Dolan Workshop since childhood.
Learning that the Workshop was in such a state, without any mental preparation, would undoubtedly come as a massive shock.
The other Non-Mainstream Faction alchemists aside from Ilunara surely had their own complicated feelings about the Workshop, but it was still better for them to know the circumstances to some degree.
Having made that call, Rei addressed everyone present.
"On the surface, the Dolan Workshop suffered major damage. At the venue where Dailas was being questioned, he went on a rampage and caused a commotion. When we headed to the Dolan Workshop as the ones responsible, they resisted and deployed golems. The Workshop took significant damage in that battle. And amidst all that, Dailas became a Necro Golem... I came up with that name on the spot, but since it's already spread, that's what I'll call it. He became that kind of existence."
"Necro Golem... going by that name..."
Ilunara looked at Rei as if dreading the answer, his voice trailing off.
Rei nodded.
"Your guess is probably right. The Necro Golem is what Dailas became by absorbing corpses into a golem. And it was fairly massive. Fighting something like that, the streets of Egginis took quite a beating."
Several people's expressions shifted at Rei's explanation.
That something had happened at the Dolan Workshop was something they could have anticipated upon hearing about Golias's rescue.
But the situation on the surface escalating to such a massive commotion was apparently completely unexpected.
Or perhaps the turmoil on the surface was troubling enough, but the existence of something called a Necro Golem may have been an even greater shock to Ilunara and the others.
As a Non-Mainstream Faction alchemist at the Dolan Workshop, Ilunara had known absolutely nothing about the incidents involving necromancy.
To learn that the Dolan Workshop—the place he had admired since childhood—had created something like the Necro Golem... telling him not to be shocked by that would have been impossible.
"In any case, that's why things are quite busy on the surface right now. Many of the people at the Dolan Workshop have been captured, so... I'm sorry, Ilunara, but having caused a commotion of this scale, it will be quite difficult for the Dolan Workshop to continue to exist going forward."
At Rei's explanation, Ilunara fell silent in shock, and the other alchemists were left speechless by a story that had grown far larger than they had ever expected.