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Chapter 454

After Rei, Elena, and Set left the dungeon, they went to the guild and sold all but two of the Cactus Mimic magic stones they had collected. Next, they boarded a carriage they had taken several times before to head to the Silva family’s residence.

Normally, they would have sold all the materials they had collected to the guild, but most of the monsters they had killed this time, except for the Cactus Mimics, were just stored into the Misty Ring and materials had yet to be stripped from them.

If they had nothing planned after, they could have stripped the materials somewhere in or near Exil.

But, that was only if they had nothing else to do.

Right now, there was something Rei and Elena had to do no matter what.

That is, to deliver the corpse of the Cactus Mimic that had been about to turn into an abnormal species to the Silva family……to Vosk.

At the same time, they also planned to hand over the corpses and belongings, such as dungeon cards, of the three men who had been trying to create the abnormal species in hopes they would be big clues.

(Maybe I could hire them to help strip materials from the monsters like I did in Gilm before.)

「Rei, we’re almost there.」

「Hm? Okay.」

Elena called out to Rei, who was lost in his thoughts, bringing him back to reality.

Looking out the window, there were a good number of adventurers, just like the day before.

However, unlike yesterday, there was no longer any murderous tension.

(I didn’t think they’d be so easy going since they haven’t found Schaffner yet. ……No, did they make some progress while we were in the dungeon? It doesn’t seem like they’re celebrating though.)

As he thought about that, the carriage continued on its way, eventually stopping near the Silva family residence.

After Rei paid the fare, Set, who had been walking close behind the carriage, came over and rubbed his his head against him.

「Gururu~」

Scratching his throat, Set gave a comfortable cry.

While being healed by Set’s response, Rei started to have slight concerns over Set’s more and more cat like behaviour in recent times.

(No, I guess it’s not that strange since he has the lower body of a lion but……any more like this……)

Looking at Set now, he really didn’t look like the highly ranked monster known as the reaper of the skies.

But, if asked whether he didn’t like how Set was, Rei would shake his head.

Rei was attached to Set the way he was now.

「Rei? Is anything wrong?」

「Hm? Ah, no problem. It’s just that Set……」

「Set?」

Perhaps she didn’t understand what Rei meant. Elena turned to look over at Set, who was giving a happy cry.

She looked confused for a few seconds, but in the end, all she could see was Set being very friendly.

「Well, it’s fine how he is. Let’s get going.」

Saying that, Elena started walking to the mansion within their sight.

Set, who had been giving comfortable cries, quickly changed his mood before moving up next to Rei, with Elena on his other side.

The Silva family residence was surprisingly less crowded than when they had come previously.

The same two gatekeepers were there, but there weren’t any other adventurers, short of a few inside the residence grounds.

Of course, the last time they were here had been just before the Silva family clashed with the Levisor family. Now, there was no longer a need for adventurers to gather.

「How can we help you?」

One of the gatekeepers that Rei had talked with previously called out to him. Rei gave a small nod before speaking.

「Right. We have some information on the abnormal species. It would be a great help if you could let Vosk or Sanctions know.」

「……Please wait a moment. We will inform Sanctions-sama right away.」

The other gatekeeper went straight into the mansion after the first gatekeeper glance at him.

Looking around the mansion, Rei spoke out.

「The number of people has really dropped a lot.」

「Yes. After all, the Levisor family has mostly been dealt with. Vosk judged that he no longer needed that many people and disbanded them……but there are still some stubborn ones.」

The tough gatekeeper gave a rock like smile as he turned his gaze further behind the gate. It was the place where Rei had sensed several people earlier.

(Rather than loyalty……it seems they just like Vosk. It’s very different compared to Schaffner.)

As Rei was thinking about that, Elena, who had been listening in, spoke up.

「I had heard that all the researchers had already been killed by the time you reached the research lab. ……Was that true?」

「I’m a gatekeeper, so I didn’t follow them there. But, from what I heard, it is true.」

「Was it really all of them? There wasn’t a single survivor?」

「Yes, that’s what I heard. All the researchers in the lab were already completely dead.」

「……Hmm, I see. Then, in that case……」

As Elena was muttering to herself as if she had thought of something, Sanctions, the head butler of the Silva family, appeared from the mansion along with the other gatekeeper.

「Sorry to have kept you waiting. So, I understand that you have some information regarding the abnormal species……?」

「It’s something we found when clearing the dungeon today. Can we meet with Vosk?」

「Yes, no problem. He is happy to hear that you two have come and is waiting in his office.」

For some reason, Sanctions’ words gave Rei the impression that Vosk had been expecting them rather than just waiting for them. However, Rei nodded to indicate there was no problem.

「That’s fine. Then, please lead the way.」

Nodding in response to Rei, Sanctions led them through the gate.

Along the way, several adventurers waiting inside the gate were surprised when they saw Set head over to the garden. That said, they didn’t seem to be frightened by Set.

These adventurers were here because they admired Vosk……or rather, the Silva family. They also seemed to have more courage than others.

The most important factor though was probably that knowledge that Set wasn’t aggressive had started to spread.

「Gururu~?」

What’s wrong with those adventurers? Set seemed to say with a cry as he tilted his head. While the adventurers had the courage to stand their ground, it seemed that they still didn’t have the guts to go up and stroke Set.

Looking at the adventurers for a bit longer, Set realised that he wouldn’t be getting any attention from them and headed for the garden with a somewhat depressed and forlorn expression.

(Well, it will take a little longer for the residents and adventurers to get used to Set as much as in Gilm.)

There was no doubt that Set was now accepted at the various shops that Rei’s group often visited, mostly food stalls.

But, how quickly and widely that information would spread among Exil’s residents was something that Rei couldn’t predict.

That said, he wasn’t too worried about it. How friendly was Set? After seeing it with their own eyes, Set had become well loved by the residents of Gilm.

……Some of them fell in love with Set so much that they would go out of control, just like a certain female adventurer.

Anyway, after sending Set a small cheer in his heart, Rei and Elena were taken inside the mansion by Sanctions, eventually arriving in the room they had previous been to.

「Vosk-sama, I’ve brought Rei-sama and Elena-sama.」

「Come in.」

At those words, Sanctions opened the door and invited them in.

The difference to last time was that Sanctions also entered the room. He hadn’t done so last time because he knew that Vosk had been in a bad mood.

After all, Vosk’s ‘brothers’ had been killed. Although he had made the Levisor’s pay for it, Vosk still wasn’t in the best mood because the main culprit, Schaffner, had yet to be apprehended. That said, he wasn’t in a bad mood either.

「Oh, Rei, Elena. What happened today? Did you bring any information about the Levisor family?」

Vosk asked half jokingly.

Vosk said that because he knew Rei and Elena wanted to avoid being involved in Exil’s political problems. However, when Rei heard what he said, he didn’t laugh or get angry, instead he just nodded silently.

Seeing Rei’s response, Vosk realised it was no laughing matter. The smile on his face disappeared and he turned serious as he asked.

「……What happened?」

「Actually, we met some shady people in the dungeon today.」

「Shady people?」

「Yes. You know the area on the 13th floor where cacti and Cactus Mimics grow in great numbers?」

At Rei’s words, Vosk thought for several seconds before nodding.

He had heard from his younger brothers that entered the dungeon that there was an area that blocked the shortest distance from the small room to the stairs to the 14th floor.

However, as the desert was hard to walk through outside of the dune peaks, few would go out of their way to walk there, even if it was the shortest path, so it hadn’t been that big of an issue.

「Why did you guys go that way? Cactus Mimics are a trouble monster, I though adventurers hated them because they don’t provide any materials.」

「If we had known, we might not have gone that way.」

That had been a mistake on Rei’s part, who didn’t have that much skill in collecting information. Of, even if they had known, they might have taken that path anyway to avoid the trouble of taking the long way around.

Maybe he realised it himself, Rei cleared his throat before returning to his story.

「Anyway, when we passed through that area, we encountered a strange sight.」

「……A strange sight?」

Vosk probably realised they were about to reach the main subject. He silently prompted them to continue.

「After passing the area with the Cactus Mimics, we found three adventurers. We thought hey had just been passing through, but then we saw a dying Cactus Mimic lying near them. They used something called a chaos seed on it and the Cactus Mimic’s body started rapidly changing. ……It was changing from an ordinary monster into an abnormal species.」

Hearing that, Vosk’s gaze rapidly turned sharp as he looked at Rei.

「Continue.」

Nodding at those words, Rei continued to describe his experience.

「However, the Cactus Mimic seemed to be unable to withstand the drastic change and eventually died. We tried to catch the three men as they were about to dispose of it, but when they realised they couldn’t escape, they all committed suicide without hesitation using poison they had kept in their back teeth.」

「……I see.」

When Rei finished speaking, Vosk looked over at Sanctions with a curious……or rather, expression of understanding, as he gave a small nod.

In response, Sanctions spoke with a slight frown.

「It seems they didn’t take the bait that was Vosk-sama, rather they made their appearance in a very different location.」

「Yeah. However, the fact that they resumed their activities the very next day raises a lot of questions. ……Do you think someone who planned this far would be so careless?」

「Well, I don’t’ know. The other party may have a lot on their minds.」

Rei gave a small sigh as the two started to converse with each other.

「So. I’ve brought the Cactus Mimic and the three corpses.」

However, the moment Rei said that, Vosk quickly turned to look at him.

「What? ……Oh, I see. You did have an item box. That was how you brought the Spear Frog over.」

「That’s right. And, there’s also this.」

Seeing Vosk’s response, Rei gave a smile as he took out three dungeon cards from the Misty Ring.

The moment he saw them, Vosk’s gaze grew even sharper.

Of course the information on dungeon cards wasn’t always correct. ……No, they were definitely false information considering what they were doing.

However, information on the cards was still valuable information when searching for the identity of their enemy, it was still definitely a clue.

「The Cactus Mimic that died because it couldn’t turn into an abnormal species, the corpses of the three people transforming it, and their possessions, including their dungeon cards. ……Now, how much are you willing to pay for this?」

Rei asked Vosk with a grin.