The two explained the priestesses of the divine dragons to us, but someone had told us something similar earlier.
「So Velmeria, your mom is a priestess?」
「Did Ashwrath-sama tell you?」
「Nn. He said she was important, and the Dragon King is after her.」
「That’s correct. My mother Tilanaria is a priestess. That is why she is not allowed to leave the continent.」
We had already heard that Velmeria’s mother had an important role on this continent, so it makes sense if she was one of these dragon priestesses. That meant the Dragon King was after her Divine Dragon Form skill.
According to their legends, the person who possesses the Divine Dragon Form skill will be recognized as their king.
「But why is he targeting your mom? There are other priestesses.」
「Most likely because they share the same elemental affinity.」
The man who calls himself the Dragon King was said to be a fire dragonkin, and Tilanaria was the priestess of the divine dragon of fire. The Dragon King probably believed that he could gain greater power if their affinities were more compatible with each other.
The temple where Tilanaria lived had apparently been contacted several times, and they demanded that she give them the Divine Dragon Form skill.
The negotiations seemed amiable at first, but they got impatient after the repeated refusals. In the end, they resorted to threats, and appeared completely willing to take it by force.
「In order to protect my mother, I infiltrated the Dragon King Syndicate and began monitoring their movements.」
「You’re gonna defeat the Dragon King?」
「……If possible.」
Defeat him? More like assassinate him. Velmeria was unable to hold back her killing intent. However, she had not found the Dragon King’s location, so she was still at the investigation step.
It seems that Velmeria and Frederick were only given the position of external collaborators, so they wouldn’t get much good information about the Dragon King.
「Then, are you sure you wanted to leave those Dragon King Syndicate guys alive?」
「It was indeed an opportunity to reduce the Dragon King Syndicate’s numbers…… But a large-scale war is not our intention either.」
To begin with, the Dragon King Syndicate had a long history as well as great influence in many different areas. It was only recently that the newly crowned head of the organization named himself the Dragon King and began to make noise.
Damage to the organization might hurt dragonkin as a whole. It was especially a bad idea to cause a big commotion during the antidemon season. She only wanted to save her mother, not cause tons of collateral damage.
「But please let me know if you have any information on the whereabouts of the Dragon King.」
「Nn. I’ll tell you if I get any. In return, let me know if you have any info on illegal slavers.」
「Illegal slavers……? Oh, I see. You are a black cat after all.」
Even without giving any details, she knew why a black cat would be looking for slavers.
「Illegal slavers…… I’ve heard some rumors about them……」
「Even rumors are fine.」
After Fran said that, Velmeria and Frederick gave us what they knew.
First, they said the Dragon King Syndicate was unlikely to be connected with the slavers. That coincided with what Gazzol had told us.
However, the Dragon King himself clearly had different values than most dragonkin, since he called himself the Dragon King despite Trismegistus’ existence.
That meant the possibility existed for a connection between him and the slavers.
「And then there is the Beastmen Union.」
The infamous Bloodfang Brigade of the Beastmen Union had supposedly been making a lot of moves behind the scenes recently.
Several of their confirmed strongholds had a lot of traffic, and they also involved themselves in some major battles.
At the same time, the watchouts of the Dragon King Syndicate reported that some of the Bloodfang Brigade’s leaders vanished off the grid. The Dragon King Syndicate believed they were starting some kind of operation.
And apparently, some blue cats were among those few that made it past the Dragon King Syndicate’s surveillance network.
「Perhaps they were not conducting some kind of operation against the Dragon King Syndicate or the Adventurers Guild, but something related to slave trafficking.」
「I see.」
The Bloodfang Brigade of the Beastmen Union seems really suspicious now. If only we could get some solid information on them……
「Hey, where can I find them?」
We were still waiting on the information from the Adventurers Guild, but it’d still be good to do our own research just in case. After that, they told us what they knew about the Beastmen Union, and that brought our trade to a wrap.
Since we now knew where they were staying, we promised to exchange info again in the future.
I thought it was time for us to leave, but Fran had one more thing on her mind.
「Did you feel something strange?」
「Strange? What do you mean?」
「Nn…… Something…… weird.」
Fran tried to explain, but she didn’t really understand it herself. It was hard to put into words.
「I’m afraid I don’t follow……」
「Before we left the scene, you seemed to be concerned about something. Is that what you are referring to?」
「Nn.」
Frederick thought to himself for a moment.
「Actually, I had a strange feeling too. I thought it was just my mistake and did not pay it any more attention……」
Apparently, Frederick felt something too, but he didn’t know what it was either.
「I’ll make sure to look around more closely next time.」
「Nn.」
「I’ll watch out as well.」
And so, we parted ways with Velmeria and Frederick. Then, Fran suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.
「Yo! Hold on for a second. You weak cat brat.」
「……What?」
「The fuck’s up with that face? You know you’re an inferior race that can’t even evolve.」
「Blue cats.」
「That’s right! We’re blue cats, the rightful rulers of you trash cats!」
「You’re standing in the presence of your masters here! Lower your head to the ground and meow for us!」
Two blue cats were blocking Fran’s way, and they obviously weren’t the friendly type.
Fran had been strolling around in a good mood after reuniting with Velmeria and Frederick. They just went and ruined it.
Immediately after she heard the men’s words, she flared with killing intent.
Her face was still expressionless, but she was completely ready to fight.
The blue cats were bewildered after seeing Fran’s aura, since they thought she was just a weakling. They must not know Fran’s identity.
They probably just saw a black cat girl walking alone, and decided to harass her, even though we were currently in a residential area.
Maybe they were just stupid enough to forget the unspoken rules. Or maybe they had enough friends to cover up their crimes. Either way, they were scumbags for sure.
『They might be members of the Beastmen Union. Don’t kill them.』
（……I’ll be as careful as possible.）
I guess I have to prepare a healing spell just in case I need to save them. No one can stop Fran now after hearing all that trash talk from the blue cats.
