Glare.

The moment Rei mentioned last night’s matter, the gazes of the two men serving as gatekeepers intensified.

It wasn’t quite murderous intent, but if anything happened, they were ready to kill. One of the gatekeepers spoke with signs of such determination.

「To confirm, you’re talking about the warehouse that was attacked last night?」

The words that he spoke were polite despite his fierce appearance that would scare children.

However, because of that, the sense of incongruity was only greater.

There was a certain intensity in the gatekeeper’s words that would instil fear of some kind. However, Rei nodded as if that didn’t bother him.

「Yeah, I heard something like that happened the same day we brought in the corpse of the abnormal species we had killed. I was really concerned.」

「……I understand, please wait a moment.」

A short reply was given and one of the gatekeepers went straight into the mansion.

「The atmosphere is quite harsh.」

The other gatekeeper gave a small nod in response to Rei as they saw the other gatekeeper off.

「As you know, yesterday’s attack has put everyone on edge. I’m sorry.」

「No, you don’t have to apologise. Losing your friends. I know how that feels.」

「Gururu~」

Rei muttered and Set gave a cry in agreement.

The gatekeeper didn’t show any surprise at the presence of a Griffon, probably because he was too concerned with his own thoughts.

After that, the gatekeeper just stood there without saying anything more. Rei and Elena also stood there in the harsh atmosphere.

About five minutes later……

「I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. Vosk-sama is waiting, so please enter. However, regarding the Griffon……」

After the gatekeeper returned and spoke to Rei with a bow, Rei nodded.

「Set.」

「Gururu~」

At Rei’s words, Set gave a cry, knowing what to do without being told, as he headed for the garden with Yellow on his back.

The garden had more or less been turned into a training ground, but there was still some greenery left in the area, so Set decided to spend his time there.

The gatekeeper had reservations about letting Set go where he pleased, but since Vosk had personally told them to let him be, he said nothing more and went back to their duties as a gatekeeper.

「Welcome guests.」

A man in his late 20’s to early 30’s greeted Rei and Elena as they entered the mansion. His sharp eyes and green hair stood out. It was Sanctions, the head butler of the Silva family.

His expression was calm, the same as when he had met Rei for the first time in a hallway at the guild.

Because of that, he was quite conspicuous compared to the adventurers guarding the surrounding area with a harsh atmosphere.

(……No, he still looks less relaxed than before.)

Although it didn’t show on his face, Sanctions’ body gave off a feeling of tiredness.

Seeing that, both Rei and Elena thought the same thing.

As far as the two of them knew, the Silva family was a more physical oriented group, Vosk himself was very active in that role. Rei had seen several times that Vosk could also do paperwork, but his essence was still that of a fighter.

Then there were those people that served or worked with the Silva family. Those people basically all had similar personalities and looked up to Vosk.

Under such circumstances, Sanctions was the only one who used more of his brains. In a sense, he was the one who held up the Vosk family, more so than Vosk.

For that reasons, the current burden on Sanctions must have been considerable.

「I think you know why we’re here without us saying anything.」

「Yes. It’s about last night. We were hoping to get in touch with you as soon as possible, so this is convenient for us.」

「Get in touch with us?」

When Rei asked involuntarily at Sanctions’ words, Sanctions nodded.

「Yes. But, please ask Vosk-sama for more details. This way.」

Saying that, he immediately made his way down the hallway as if leading Rei and Elena.

Rei and Elena looked at each other for a moment, but since there was no point just standing there, they decided to follow Sanctions and hear about the situation.

After walking for about 10 minutes, they arrived at a room at the far end of the mansion. Sanctions knocked on the door.

「Vosk-sama, Elena-sama and Rei-sama are here.」

「Come in.」

A short reply.

However, even with those brief words, they could feel the anger contained in those words coming through the wall.

(I know why of course……)

The face of the Silva family had been crushed, smeared with mud, and made a mockery off. It should be said that it was already good that they hadn’t started to run amok.

Any how, Rei and Elena, who entered the door opened by Sanctions, were surprised to see Vosk sitting on a large chair made to fit his body.

He was definitely angry, but for some reason, his expression was calm.

That said, they soon realised they were mistaken.

He could be called calm, but there was an intense anger burning at the back of his eyes.

He was like a carnivore on the verge of devouring its prey, emitting killing intent while hiding itself.

Maybe it was because Vosk was in such a state that Sanctions did not enter the room.

「You’ve come. I thought you wouldn’t want to get involved with our business.」

Such a calm voice would send shivers done the spines of people who heard him.

However, the two people in the room just nodded their heads slightly, not seeming to feel anything in particular with regards to Vosk’s state.

That was because they had both been through the same types of ordeals that Vosk had just been through.

「What, after hearing that the place we brought the abnormal species to was attacked the same night, of course we’d come.」

Especially for Rei, as he also wanted to find out more information about the abnormal species.

Why did the Death Scythe have a back flow of magic power when absorbing a magic stone but nothing happened with Set absorbed the magic stone of the Queen Bee?

Why did abnormal species show up in various floors of the dungeon?

Why did abnormal species have a higher strenght compared to other monsters?

It was for that reason that he handed over the abnormal species Spear Frog to the Silva family’s warehouse, hoping to find out even a little more information, but this was the result.

「I see. Well, I guess that’s true. Don’t worry. I know who did it.」

Vosk replied to Rei with a fierce smile on his face, like a predator.

Hearing that, Rei’s eyes widened in surprise.

Because the people of the Silva family were still searching for the people that had done the attack, he hadn’t thought that they had collected much information regarding the matter yet.

Rei had come to the Silva residence because, in this situation, he didn’t really have any other way to find out any information.

However, in that case, there was still one question. That is……

「Then, what are those people doing in the city?」

Yes. What were the adventurers looking for clues of the criminals doing in the city.

If the attacker was already known, why bother doing that? At Rei’s question, Vosk spoke with a fierce smile.

「It’s so that they don’t know we’ve identified who did it. They wouldn’t expect us to find out it was them so quickly. We’ll make them think we’re working hard to find the culprit and catch them off guard so we can finish the job in one swoop.」

「It’s that easy?」

「It shouldn’t be a problem. They shouldn’t have realised they’ve made a mistake yet. The evidence we have was found almost by accident.」

Rei decided there was no point in saying anything more to Vosk, who just said he would show them the results.

Besides, Rei hadn’t come to the Silva family to stop Vosk. It would be strange for him to do that as he had come to find out more information regarding people who might be related to the abnormal speices.

In the middle of all this, Elena, who had been silently listening in, spoke up.

「Vosk, may I ask what the evidence is?」

「No, I’m sorry, but I want to minimise the number of people who know about this matter. Few people know there is any evidence at all. The only reason I’ve told you two is because you were involved in the original matter. But I can’t give you anymore information than that.」

「……Even at my request?」

Even at the request from Elena Kerebel, daughter of Duke Kerebel?

Knowing what she meant, Vosk nodded without a second of hesitation.

「That’s right. Even at your request. A lot of my brothers were killed in this attack. It was a one sided ambush. In order to avenge the deaths of those who looked up to me, I cannot give up here.」

The sound of his grinding teeth could be heard throughout the room.

Elena must have judged it was useless to say any more. She eventually gave a small sigh.

She was about to speak again, but Vosk interrupted her, taking control of the conversation.

「However, if we have adventurers as skilled as you on our side, we’d be happy to have you. I’m willing to share the evidence if it’s someone I’m comfortable with, someone who won’t divulge secrets……what will you do?」

At that question, after a few seconds of silence, Elena shook her head.

「No, I can’t get involved in Exil’s power struggle. If my position is made clear, it will cause all sorts of trouble.」

「I understand. Then, what about Rei? You’re not part of a duke’s family or anything like that, right?」

Vosk immediately asked Rei as he had half expected Elena’s refusal.

From the beginning, he hadn’t expected Elena to help them in their fight, but he had thought that Rei, who had no direct relationship with nobility, might.

Rei did have some relations with nobles, such as Daska, the lord of Gilm. However, it was true that he was primarily an ordinary adventurer, albeit a very skilled one, and had significantly less relations with nobles compared to Elena, who came from a duke’s family.

However……after thinking for a few seconds as well, Rei also shook his head.

「No, let’s stop here. There are many things to consider, but as Elena said, if we side with the Silva family here, there will be a lot of trouble later.」

「……I see. It can’t be helped. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave for today. We’ll be busy from now on, so I don’t have the time for you two.」

At Vosk’s words, Rei and Elena looked at each other before nodding.

「We understand. Even if we stay here, we will only take up your time. ……But, will things be fine? Whether it’s a power struggle or retaliation, if the general public of Exil is hurt in any way……」

Elena stopped her words there as she looked at the giant Vosk with a sharp gaze.

It was an intense glare……her gaze seemed to carry some sort of physical pressure as Vosk twitched for a moment, but he eventually nodded as he spoke.

「Of course. I am the head of the Silva family who governs Exil. Even if I were corrupt, I wouldn’t ever do anything that would harm my people. I promise you that.」

「I see. That’s fine then. ……Rei, let’s go. There’s nothing more we can do.」

「Yeah.」

Turning away, they left the room while feeling Vosk’s eyes on their backs.

As Vosk watched them leave, the moment Elena and Rei went out of sight, a large amount of sweat broke out on his forehead and back.

His body was cold, but his forehead and back were hot. At the same time he felt a chill completely opposite to the heat.

「Her title of General Princess is not just for show….. But, I can’t stop. Not until I’ve had the chance to avenge all those who have died.」

Focusing on what he needed to do, he desperately put strength into his body that was on the verge of collapsing.

 

 

「……Is that so, Vosk-sama won’t stop.」

Sanctions gave a small sigh as he sent Rei and Elena from the room to outside the mansion.

Rei and Elena couldn’t help but look at him with a strange expression.

The reason was that as someone who served Vosk, it seemed like he thought it would be better not to retaliate.

「Is there anything wrong?」

「There is certainly evidence of who the attackers were, but I feel like it was intentionally left behind……no, it was certainly hard to find. It feels like I’m overthinking this when I think about it……but it just seems like we’re dancing in the palm of someone elses hand.」

「Then, shouldn’t we stop Vosk?」

Sanctions shook his head at Rei’s words.

「No, this is only my own feeling, I have no proof. And since Vosk has a lot of compassion towards his brothers, and because they were all cruelly murdered……」

Hearing Sanctions’ words, Rei and Elena had no choice but to consider what they should do themselves.

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