Destroying the door, we burst into the room.

The men who were having a drinking party all turned their heads at once at the sound of shattering wood.

There are 15 of them.

All of them are marked in red.

This means I can swing my sword without any hesitation.

I begin slashing at the men who seemed unable to grasp the situation with Kurikara.

Aya-san also joins in, using her two daggers to take down the men one after another.

Fenrir Goon: “Who the hell are you guys, which family do you belong to?!”

Fenrir Goon: “A dagger wielder…members of 『Blood Ogre』?!”

Fenrir Goon: “Who cares! Kill them‼”

The men, sobering up from their drunken state, grab their weapons, escalating the situation into a brawl.

The average level of the men is between 30 and 40, relatively high by this world’s standards.

However, no matter how many people of this caliber gather, they are no match.

Facing the men who are swarming them, I unleash the ability 『Gale』.

Some of the smarter ones try to defend, but apart from the two who managed to dodge, the rest are sliced in half at the torso.

Fenrir Goon: “RAAAAHHH‼”

Fenrir Goon: “Die‼”

One of the two who dodged swings a mace overhead, while the other readies a short spear for a charge.

The abilities 『Crush』 and 『Triple Thrust』, perhaps?

『Crush』 is unlocked at level 5 of the club technique skill, and 『Triple Thrust』 at level 4 of the spear technique skill.

Both are high-powered abilities but leave a lot of openings when used individually.

Using 『Shrink』 to close the distance, I cut off the arm of the man holding the short spear.

Then, I kick the man swinging the mace to the ground, canceling 『Crush』.

While they are staggered, both are slashed apart with the ability 『Slash』.

Aya: “It seems to be over.”

Wiping the blood smeared on her cheek, Aya-san, who had finished her fight a step earlier, spoke up.

Aya-san has taken down 8 men.

Judging by the corpses, she precisely targeted vital points such as the neck and heart.

Even without using enhancement type skills or magic, she was quite the hunter.

I thought she was strong based on what I couldn’t see with the【Appraisal】skill, but this might be beyond my expectations.

Arata: “Are these guys famous thieves or something?”

Aya: “No, these are typical members of 『Fenrir』. They are troublesome because many of them have high levels and possess skills.”

I see.

It makes sense why the adventurer guild and the knights are apprehensive.

No matter how much a warrior has trained, the difference in level and the presence of skills greatly affect the battle.

Even Rose-san, who lacks skill, could become the captain of the knights, one of the strongest in the kingdom, just by brute force.

If you gather people with high levels and skills, creating a large-scale dark guild would be no big deal.

Aya: “Let’s go, Arata-san. If we take too much time, they will notice the anomaly.”

Arata: “Yes, you’re right.”

Urged by Aya-san, I hasten my pace.

In the end, I couldn’t grasp the true nature of the discomfort I felt at that time.

 

＊＊＊

 

We continued through the labyrinthine hideout.

『Fenrir』’s hideout seems to be quite extensive, and before we knew it, the map had switched from the slum area to the commercial district.

The levels of the 『Fenrir』 members we encounter are also increasing.

Players who have committed murder will have an increasingly darker red name displayed based on the number of people they have killed.

Among the defeated members, there were those with a deep crimson name, indicating that they had killed dozens of people.

Aya: “Arata-san, doesn’t something feel odd?”

Several minutes have passed since we breached the hideout.

At the end of a battle with the members, Aya-san speaks up.

Aya: “There are too many people who can use skills. Also—”

Arata: “The level and skill proficiency don’t match, do they?”

Aya: “The quality of the weapons is abnormal too. This knife is made entirely of mithril, and that long sword contains adamantite.”

It makes sense to have skill holders as members.

But in this world, where skill acquisition is through hard work and training, could a dark guild possibly gather this many skill holders?

Moreover, the quality of the weapons is abnormal.

In the game, the rarity of mithril ore is 5.

Equipment crafted from it has a rarity of around 4 to 5, making it of common quality.

However, in this world where levels and skills are scarce, it is the material for equipment used by top-class adventurers of B-rank and above.

It’s not something that the low-ranking members of a dark guild should have.

Furthermore, in this world, leveling up always involves life-threatening risks.

Certainly, the members of 『Fenrir』 had high physical abilities appropriate for their levels.

But when it came to crucial skills, they were merely using high-powered abilities, their techniques were crude.

It was as if they were beginners who had leveled up and increased their stats under the care of top players…

Aya: “! Arata-san‼”

At Aya-san’s scream, I felt something cold at the nape of my neck and jumped back with all my might.

Immediately afterward, the wall of the room was blown away, and where I stood just a moment ago was engulfed in an explosion akin to a grenade impact.

That was the ability 『Tornado Axe』 from the 【Axe Technique】 skill.

『Tornado Axe』 releases a slashing attack with piercing properties.

To have learned this means the enemy’s 【Axe Technique】 skill level is above 7.

No, more importantly…

How were they able to pinpoint my exact location from a nearby space that couldn’t even be detected by  『Detect: Creature』?

Arata: “Thank you, Aya-san.”

Aya: “Are you okay?”

Arata: “Yes, it seems we have a formidable opponent.”

A silhouette flickers beyond the rising dust.

Through the large hole in the wall, a man enters the room.

Unknown: “—Tch, managed to dodge, huh?”

The man mutters, looking displeased.

He carries a gaudy golden axe and wears different rings on each of his ten fingers.

Besides those, he wears eye-straining metallic-colored ornaments on his neck and arms.

Aya: “—That is the leader of the dark guild 『Fenrir』, ‘strong-armed’ Benedict.”