Legend

Chapter 448

The day after the clash between the Silva and Levisor families, the number of people out on the streets was significantly greater than the previous day. The adventurers working with the Silva family, while still visible, were also less agitated.

「But, having this many people out and about probably means Schaffner hasn’t been found yet.」

「Guru~?」

Set, who was walking next to Rei, swallowed the dried meat that was handed to him and tilted his head as he gave a cry.

Elena, who was walking on the opposite side to Rei, petted Set on the back as she nodded.

「It seems the successor to the Levisor family has already been announced. But even so, the existence of Schaffner, the previous family head, will be troublesome for Vosk in many ways.」

Rei nodded at Elena’s words.

Because he had been the head of the Levisor family for so many years, even if a new family head was announced, Schaffner’s influence would remain to some extent.

(However, it was true that he conducted dangerous research in the Labyrinth City and released dangerous monsters known as abnormal species into the dungeon. Given that, it would be……difficult for anyone to work together with him.)

In both good and bad ways, the dungeon was the centre of everything in Labyrinth City Exil.

Both Rei and Elena were in agreement that it was unlikely anyone would take Schaffner’s side, as he had released abnormal species monsters into the dungeon and place Exil into danger. But……

「No one would take his side, huh. That might be true, but it doesn’t mean there will be those who will try to take advantage of it, which will be hard to deal with.」

Elena muttered with a sombre expression as Rei nodded with a sigh.

「I’d like to think that since the researchers were all killed, we have nothing to worry about……but it hurts that we don’t even know who killed the researchers.」

「Mm. I heard that all the documents of their research had been burned, but we don’t know what had been written in them. The murderers probably took some documents and burned everything else that wasn’t related to cover it up. That’s what I think.」

After confirming the existence of the research lab from reports they found in the Levisor residence, Vosk led the way to the slums where it was located. But, by the time they arrived, all the researchers had already been killed. In other words, someone other than the Silva family had done it.

「The easy explanation would be that Schaffner was afraid……for his misdeeds to become known.」

「But, I don’t think he would have had the luxury of doing that. Hadn’t he just appeared in front of Vosk? And then he was kicked straight to the curb in one go. It would have been a pretty tight time frame for him to realise he had lost and to send assassins to the lab to kill the researchers just to destroy the evidence.」

「I guess so……」

At that point, Rei paused for a moment to buy a Lizardmen skewer at the usual stall and exchanged a short greeting before returning to the subject.

「But, if Elena is right and it wasn’t Schaffner that killed the researchers, that means there is a completely different third party involved in yesterday’s incident, right?」

「……I think so.」

As Elena nodded, they arrived at the gate leading to the dungeon plaza and presented their dungeon cards before entering.

As if the small number of adventurers yesterday was a lie, there were many adventurers waiting in the plaza today as was usual.

The plaza was bustling with people holding meetings, recruiting for temporary parties, and some even trying to hire adventurers from the Church of Holy Light.

「It was like that yesterday, but already back to normal today. ……Hm?」

Rei muttered to himself as he walked over to the side when he suddenly noticed someone approaching them.

It was a typical warrior with a sword sheathed at his waist and wearing leather armour made from monster skin.

「Thank you for saving my life yesterday. And also, you know, the ones who died as well.」

The person who bowed at them was one of the adventurer that Rei and Elena had rescued in the dungeon the previous day.

In contrast to the adventurer who had tried to extort them, Rei had a high opinion of the adventurer with the sword.

Aside from saving his life, he was probably thanking them for stopping by the guild after leaving the dungeon to hand over the bodies Rei had stored into the Misty Ring.

「……Well, you know.」

Rei frowned slightly when he recalled the scene of the dead people’s relatives weeping as they clung to the bodies.

He knew and understood that being an adventurer was a profession where death was always close, but it was still a scene he wasn’t used to seeing.

(Even though I feel no resistance to killing people……)

While laughing at the state of his own mind, Rei exchanged brief greetings with the man when the man suddenly whispered to him, as if afraid of his surroundings.

「That’s right. About Onoma……」

「Onoma? Was he the man with the spear?」

The man nodded as Elena asked with a frown.

「Yes. So, about Onoma……apparently, he didn’t come back from the dungeon yesterday.」

「……Did he really go crazy and try to strip material from the Rock Spider and end up attacked by another monster?」

「Maybe. It was the first time I had formed a temporary party with him yesterday……no, it’s awkward to talk about him like this. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know.」

「Oh, thanks.」

Rei thanked him briefly and Elena also nodded.

Set didn’t have any particular reaction, but there was no doubt that he felt unhappy with Onoma because of yesterday’s incident.

Rei and Elena felt the same way and, while they thanked the adventurer who told them the news, they honestly felt Onoma got what he deserved.

(He died trying to grab more materials than he could carry. I guess he must have really wanted it all.)

Rei thought to himself as he sorted out his thoughts about Ononma.

The adventurer probably didn’t notice anything and bowed his head before leaving after telling them that.

It was clear what he was aiming for when he went over to a group of people looking to form a temporary party.

「……Well then, should we go too?」

Elena had nothing to say about Onoma either and simply pushed him out of her mind as she spoke to Rei before the two of them headed for the 13th floor.

「It really is best described as a sea of sand.」

Rei muttered from under the hood of his Dragon Robe as he looked out at the sight of the 13th floor spread before him.

Nodding silently back, Elena wore her cloak she took out from her magic pouch.

「Guru~?」

Aren’t we going to head off? Set seemed to ask as he tilted his head, but Rei just looked around while stroking Set’s head.

There was just a small room with a magic circle and stairs that sat just above the dunes as the rest of the desert spread out around them.

「Have you decided what to do first? You haven’t absorbed the magic stone from the Rock Spider and Skyfang yet. Especially since the Skyfang hasn’t even been dismantled.」

「However, isn’t it awkward to do that here? Although there are several sand dunes, the view of the surroundings is considerably clearer than on the previous floor. Other monsters might find and attack us, and above all, other adventurers might also spot us.」

「That is……」

As Rei was about to respond, something happened.

「Mmm, the desert is really hot in the end. Hey, is it really on this level……oh?」

A female warrior, wearing a cloak similar to Elena’s, and with a rapier at her waist exited the small room before noticing Rei’s group just outside the room.

She looked at Rei and Elena and tilted her head before looking at the Griffon next to them and nodding in understanding.

「I had heard that a title holder was clearing the dungeon at an unbelievable speed……I see that one of you is Crimson. If you don’t mind, may I ask who it is?」

At the woman’s words, Rei gave a small sigh as he stepped forward.

「It’s me. In the first place, didn’t the rumours say that Crimson was a man?」

Rei’s words made the female adventurer laugh a little.

「Ara~, you shouldn’t you know well that you have a girlish face? You’re not that tall either, so if you don’t speak, some people might mistake you for a girl. Don’t you think?」

Three adventurers appeared from the small room which the woman was look over at.

There were two human men in their 20’s and a Dwarf with a beard that grew to his chest outside his cloak.

Among them, one of the men turned to look at Rei.

「Yeah, that’s right. It can be difficult to tell if it’s a man or woman just by looking at his face.」

「Is that so? I knew he was a man immediately. What about you, Zugri?」

The other man looked confused as he asked the Dwarf.

However, the Dwarf called Zugri just shook his head and put his huge axe over his shoulder as he spoke.

「I can’t tell either. But if I hear his voice……no, it’s still a little high for a man, so it’s hard to tell.」

「Right? It’s not that easy to tell.」

The woman with the rapier smiled as if to say ‘my thoughts exactly’.

One of the men who had been staring at her with a smile on his face came back to his sense when the Dwarf coughed and tapped his cloak several times as if to dust it off.

「Anyway, we have to find the monster we want before the end of the day, so we’d better get going. ……Crimson was it? I’m sorry, but we’ll have to head off first, is that okay?」

「Yeah, that’s fine.」

「Thanks.」

Exchanging a few words, the party of four adventurers headed off.

Unusually for Rei, they showed no surprise at Set’s presence.

Was it because they had been in such a hurry that they didn’t notice Set, or was it because they had heard of Set’s reputation in the city?

(Maybe it was the latter.)

Next to Rei, who thought that from the way the woman with the rapier reacted, Elena nodded and pulled out a map from her magic pouch after seeing the adventurers leave before suddenly noticing something.

「Hmm? ……Oh, I see.」

「What’s wrong?」

「No, those people weren’t heading in the direction of the stairs to the next floor. I just thought they must have been heading for the monster they’re trying to catch. ……So, what would you like to do after this? Do you want to dismantle the Skyfang here?」

「……Given that we don’t know who will come like just now, it’s a bit risky to do that. I’ll have to hope there’s a place on the next floor or, if there’s a place that doesn’t stand out from the surroundings to the next floor, we’ll do it there. As for the Rock Spider’s magic stone we’ll handle it then as well.」

「Guru~」

Set gave a disappointed cry at Rei’s words.

However, Set’s disappointment was due to the fact that he couldn’t eat any of the Skyfang meat more than anything else, as well as the absorption of the magic stone.

Of course, it wasn’t always possible to eat the meat after materials had been stripped. But, even so, if he was lucky, there would be fresh meat for him to eat, which was a big attraction for Set when monsters were dismantled.

「Here, if you’re hungry, just eat this for now.」

Saying that, Rei offered a sandwich he took out from the Misty Ring to Set, who’s shoulders were drooped.

「Gururu~!」

The moment he saw the sandwich, Set grabbed it with his beak with a happy cry and in a blink of an eye, the sandwich was gone from Rei’s hands.

While watching Set happily eat the sandwich, Rei and Elena’s eyes met for some reason and the two of them burst out laughing.

「Ku-ahahahaha. As expected of Set. He looks just like you.」

「Hey, hey, even I’m not that gluttonous……kuku.」

「Guru~?」

Why are you two laughing? Set seemed to ask as he tilted his head.

He had already finished his sandwich and wasn’t quite satisfied. Tilting his head, Set seemed to ask if he could have some more as he rubbed his head against Rei and stared at him with his round eyes.

「Okay, okay. ……Then, just one more.」

「Gurururu~!」

Set gave a happy cry at Rei’s words and Elena placed her hand on Rei’s shoulder as he went to take another sandwich out from the Misty Ring.

「Rei, do you mind if I give him one? Fortunately, I brought some sandwiches as emergency rations.」

Saying that, she took out a sandwich wrapped in paper from her magic pouch.

「Gururu~?」

Can I have it? Rei nodded when Set looked at him as if to ask.

Seeing that, Set gladly went over to Elena and stretched out his beak to the sandwich.