While the Reys were sleeping by the tower of their birth... in the slums of Gillum, a certain figure was moving about.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
"Oh, no, don't... I was to blame.""Well, now..."

　The impact of the blow has swollen the man's face and prevented him from speaking properly.
　Still, a man riding on a horse swings his fist down joyfully over and over again.
　A face worthy of being called pretty by appearance alone.
　But the lovely face, illuminated by the moonlight, is now covered with red blood.
　That's why people who watch more will be scared because they're in such a cute state.
　The pretty man... the blood on Francois' face is not just the blood of the man riding down his fist.
　It's bloodshed from many men who are lying faint all around them.

"Oh, that's the first one that attacked you, right? But you don't like being beaten... don't you think?"

　Francois hits the man again, saying so.
　The man pleaded many times to stop, but in the end he was never heard of... with a blow of Francois's fist, he fainted easily.

"Now you're sloppy. ... Now you've secured a certain number of people. ... What should I do? It's troublesome for me to take you there. Then, should I wait until I wake up?"

　Francois muses, muttering.
　I came to the slums to lure these men by feeding on myself.
　Looking back on the future, it is better to have as many flesh walls as possible.
　...but telling the fainting men to attack Ray doesn't seem to take it on anytime soon.

(Then you'll need to tell them more thoroughly... ...but now it's a little difficult to be honest with them and follow them to the end.)

　For men beaten to death by Francois, it would not be conceivable to go against him.
　But that's just normal.
　...and men would obey me calmly if it was just an order to have a fight with someone around themselves.
　But what happens if the other party is Ray with Seto?
　If you really know the situation, you don't want to be hostile to Ray.
　If you attack Ray, it's clear what the future looks like.
　Given the circumstances, it's clear that if Ray asks me to attack him, it doesn't mean that there's no one to follow him... but it's still not many.
　If so, we still need to think about something else... in this case.
　The problem, however, is that we can't find a way to do it.
　But Francois doesn't have the option of giving up just because he can't find a way to do it.
　Francois could have given up easily if it was just for himself.
　But when I think of my brother, I couldn't have imagined Francois giving it up."
　That's why we think it's impossible, but we need to do something about it now.
　That's how I think...

"Who!"

　Screaming sharply, Francois' gaze casts into the shade of the building.

"Hooray! You never thought you'd find me. Well done!"

　As he spoke, he came out from behind the building, a very fat man.
　He's a man who, if not very much, doesn't think he'll be able to stay behind a building.
　I could tell from his voice that he was a man, but his face was covered with makeup like that of a street performer, so I couldn't tell exactly what he looked like.
　However, even now, I understand that he is definitely an influential person.

"I'll ask you again. ... Who?"

　Francois cast a sharp, murderous glance at the man.
　But the fat man didn't seem particularly concerned about Francois's appearance, and he just smiled silently.
　The crunching sound of his back teeth echoes around Francois' mouth.
　But I didn't immediately hit him because I understood that the man in front of me was obviously unusual... at least not the men who fainted around me.
　He emerged from a place where a man with a balloon-like figure could not hide.
　Clearly, it wasn't just hiding: magic, skill, magic item... or something else.
　Francois had no idea why, but it was clear that the man in front of him was not just a thing.
　That's why I can't act like I'm going to hit you carelessly.

"Well, how did I marry my wife?"
"...not,"

　Francois was momentarily taken aback by the man in front of him for telling a completely different story from what was going on, but he immediately returned so.
　It was surprising that the man in front of me was married in the first place.
　To Francois, choosing a man like this to marry seems like a bad taste.
　At least you wouldn't want to marry a man like this.
　Francois, however, has a great deal of blood on his face from men who are still faint, and no matter how sweet Francois looks, there is no doubt that there are not many men who want to marry such men.

"Oh, did you? So how did I meet my wife?"
"...if you're kidding me, can you go home? I'm busy now, as you can see. I still have a lot of other things to do, so I don't have time for someone like you to look after."

　Francois understands that the man in front of him is not a half‐powerful man.
　However, I don't want to allow the other person to act like they're wasting their time, and I can't afford to.
　That's why I told you to leave right away if you don't have anything to do with me. I told you so...The man laughs amusedly.

"Whoa, whoa. There's no point in dealing with a crimson ray."

　He laughed a little differently than before, but Francois did not seem to have noticed his laughter at all, and instead gave him a sharp look... that's what he opened his mouth with a murderous glance.

"How do you know I'm aiming for Ray?"
"Well, I wonder why, if I can say one thing... it's easy to gather that information if you want to."

　with a gulp
　Just like before... no, the sound of his back teeth biting harder than before comes out of Francois' mouth.
　The trippala under contract with Francois could be described as a small object if anything.
　However, even so, the accessories are accessories, so I know myself accordingly, and I don't act like I don't carelessly disseminate information.
　Moreover, Francois is the strongest piece for triparas to climb up.
　It's hard for Francois to give information about his strongest pieces.

"What is the purpose?"
"What, your purpose is the same as ours, so I thought we might join hands. ... By the way, as to the reasons for that, what would you do? Would you like to hear?"

　If you say so, Francois can't help but follow the words.

"All right. So what are you going to do now? I'd like to get to my goal as soon as possible.
"Well... for now..."

　そう言いながら、男はふわりと浮かぶ. ……正確には跳躍しただけなのかもしれないが、見ているフランソワにしてみれば、その風船を思わせる太っている体格と合わせて、本当に飛んだように見えた. 見えたのだが……
　ぐしゃり、と.
　男が着地したのは、フランソワから離れた位置に倒れていた男……の頭部.
　その軽やかな跳躍とは裏腹に、着地した衝撃が相当なものだったのは間違いないだろう.
　呆気なく頭部は潰れ、周囲には脳みそや血、骨の欠片といったものが撒き散らかされる.

「私の話を聞かれるのは困るので、処分しました. ……構いませんよね？　全く運の悪い. もう少し気絶していれば、特に死ぬ必要もなかったのに」

　一人の命を奪ったというのに、男に罪悪感の類は一切ない.
　とはいえ、ここがスラム街であると考えればそこまでおかしな話ではないのだが.
　元々この世界で人の命の値段は安い.
　それがスラム街にいる者ともなれば. その値段は更に安くなる.
　だからか、フランソワも自分が倒した男が殺されても、特に気にした様子はない.

「しょうがないわね. ……でも、これ以上ここで無駄な騒ぎを起こせば、また目が覚める人がいるかもしれないわ. 少し場所を移しましょ. そこで詳しい話を聞かせてちょうだい」
「ひゃひゃひゃ、随分とお優しいですな」

　三度笑い声が変わる男だったが、フランソワはそんな男の様子を全く気にした風もなく口を開く.

「そう思うのは勝手だけど、私には時間がないの. 出来るだけ早くレイの命を奪う必要があるのよ. その目的を達成する為には、貴方の提案に従った方がいいと思ったから、こうしているだけよ」
「なるほど、なるほど. ……では、ここで時間を潰すのもなんですし、さっさと行くとしましょう」

　そう男が告げ、その場を後にする.
　フランソワがついてくるかどうかも、全く確かめている様子はない.
　ついてこないのなら、それはそれで問題ないと、そう思っているのだろう.
　勿論、フランソワにとっては弟の命が懸かっている以上、ここで行かないという選択肢はない.
　肉壁を調達しようとしていた流れからは大きく変わってしまったが、それでもよりよい方に変わったと、そう自分に言い聞かせる.
　そうして男の後をついていき、三十分程.
　スラム街の中でもかなり奥まった場所に到着する.
　当然の話ではあるが、スラム街と一口で言っても、場所によって危険度は変わる.
　スラム街の中でも外側に……一般的な街中に近い場所であれば、危険度はそこまで高くはない.
　もっとも、それはあくまでもスラム街全体で見た話の場合であり、幾ら外側に近い場所でも、スラム街はスラム街.
　普通のギルムの市街地に比べれば、明らかに危険なのだが.
　ともあれ、スラムの中でも奥まった場所にある二階建ての建物の中に男は入っていく.
　フランソワは周囲の様子を警戒しながらも、男の後に続く.
　スラム街にある割には、比較的綺麗な建物.
　そう思いながら建物の中に入ったフランソワだが、その瞬間に素早く周囲を見回す.
　自分と目の前の男以外に、何人もの気配が周囲にあったからだ.
　フランソワも、自分の腕には自信がある.
　それこそ、その辺の冒険者程度であれば容易に倒せるだけの実力は.
　にも関わらず、フランソワは建物の中に入るまで他の者達の気配を感じることが出来なかった.

「へぇ、僕達の存在に気が付いたよ、この子. ……ダーブが連れて来たから期待はしてたけど、予想以上だ」
「けっ、それでも結局俺達の存在に気が付いただけで、対応は出来ないんだろ？　そんな奴が役に立つのか？　相手はあの深紅だぞ？」
「あら、私はこの子みたいな可愛い子は好きよ？　実力もきちんとあるみたいだし、心配はいらないんじゃない？」
「そんなことより、腹減ったよ. ギルムに来れば美味い食い物を食わせてくれるって言ってたのに」

　そんな声が聞こえてくる.
　老若男女問わず、何人もがいることに気が付いたフランソワは、自分をここへ連れて来たダーブという男に視線を向け、説明を求める.
　ダーブはそんなフランソワの視線に大袈裟な動作で肩を竦めてから、口を開く.

「ふむふむ. まずは前提条件となることを、一つ問おうか. フランソワ、君は現在ギルムに多くの裏の組織が入ってきているのを知ってるかね？」
「ええ. ただし、その多くが生き抜くことが出来ずに壊滅していったんでしょう？　……つまり、ここにいるのは……」

　フランソワに最後まで言わせず、ダーブは頷いて口を開く.

「そうです. ここにいるのは、このギルムで生き残った新興組織から派遣されてきた者達. そして……私達の目標は、深紅の異名を持つレイを殺すこと. ……どうです？　貴方の目的と同じでしょう？　なら、協力してみませんか？」

　笑みを浮かべて告げながら、ダーブは道化のように大袈裟な仕草で手を前に差し出すのだった.