「Now for the info you asked for, regarding the helpers of the Beastmen Union.」
「Nn.」
After hearing this, Fran straightened her posture. She stared at the old man with her eyes serious, waiting for his next words.
「It seems the two are a man and a young woman living at the headquarters of the Beastmen Union. They rarely leave unless the Beastmen Union gives the order, and they don’t go to any restaurants or bars in particular. No one knows their names, but they seem to be referred to as “Boss” and “Miss”.」
Prear paused after saying that. Both Fran and I waited for him to continue, but he simply scratched his head with a puzzled look on his face.
「……That’s it?」
「Y-Yeah.」
「……」
「I mean, I didn’t think I’d get such a crappy report either……」
Prear lowered his shoulders with a pathetic expression.
I was pretty impressed when he managed to get what we wanted in only two days, but it seems he found nothing useful in the first place.
So they live at the headquarters and never leave except when on duty. That’s info we could have easily gotten ourselves.
It seems he also learned that the two were well respected after listening to members of the Beastmen Union, but not much else.
「I-I’m really sorry about this. I’ll send them back in to gather more info, so don’t get too hasty! Please, I’m begging you!」
「……」
Prear bowed his head, while Fran simply stared at him.
「I understand your anger! But you’re a Rank B adventurer, the highest ranked in the city! If someone like you causes a commotion, the entire Adventurers Guild will be placed under suspicion!」
「……Ashwrath should be here.」
「He’s already left town.」
「Really?」
「Well, he said he’ll be back soon enough.」
Apparently, he sensed the signs of his oncoming Mad Oni Form activation. Since it was currently the antidemon season, there was a risk that he would need to fight, which would cause him to go berserk near the city.
Given these circumstances, he would be better off activating it somewhere very far away. Essentially, he needed to go let off some steam.
「No Rank A adventurers?」
「None who came to report to the guild at least.」
「There are other Rank B adventurers though.」
「You’re the only one with an alias.」
「Hmm…」
It seems we’ve somehow become the city’s top adventurer without our knowledge.
That might be a bit annoying, but it’s not like we can lower our rank or anything. It’s also true that Fran has an alias and is incomparable to the other Rank B adventurers.
I guess this is the first time we’re feeling the disadvantages of increased rank. Being a high-ranked adventurer comes with its own set of responsibilities.
「So just give me a few more days. Can you please stay quiet until then?」
「……Can I trust you this time?」
「Of course.」
Prear nodded seriously, with a look of confidence.
But is this guy really trustworthy? If he gives us the same crap again, Fran will be the one going berserk.
Was he trying to pull a fast one on us in the first place? Prear’s top priority must be to protect this city.
I bet he would do whatever it takes to achieve that. Maybe he would even look the other way if the illegal slavers offered their cooperation.
Looking at it from the guildmaster’s point of view, he must be thinking about how he can keep Fran in the city while reducing the damage to the outlaws.
If I was in his shoes, I wouldn’t play all my cards right away. I’d slowly drip feed the info, ensuring that Fran was stalled until the end of the antidemon season.
『Hmmm.』
When I think about it like that, Prear’s report is getting more and more suspicious.
Should we question Prear or not? While I was wondering about our options, I saw a figure run into the guild’s bar.
A high-pitched noise echoed through the bar as they roughly shoved the swinging door open, and all eyes turned to the figure.
Looks like an adventurer working as a scout. He must have come running in a great hurry, since he was gasping for breath with a waterfall of sweat dripping from his forehead.
「I-It’s happened……」
「W-What’s wrong? What happened!?」
Everyone could tell that this was an emergency. Even Prear was shaking when he questioned the man.
Could it be that the antidemons have started a major offensive? Considering that so many antidemons appeared in Castel, I wouldn’t be surprised if the horde attacked Sendia by now.
However, this time was different.
「T-The Dragon King Syndicate and the Beastmen Union……」
Prear seemed to have grasped the situation just from the man’s mutter. He asked the man back in a voice so loud and sharp that I could hardly believe his age.
「Where!?」
「T-The west plaza! Next to the branch of the Beastmen Union!」
「What about the others!?」
「They’re still watching! But no adventurer can stop them now……!」
So war has broken out in the west district, the outlaws’ territory.
This man must have been placed as a watchman there.
（Master, I’m going.）
『Okay. But it’ll only complicate things if you get involved. Let’s see what’s going down first.』
（Nn.）
Worst-case scenario, we might have to fire some thunder spells from the shadows to knock them all out.
But that can wait until we see how bad things are.
Maybe we could get them to quiet down more easily if guys like Drulay and Velmeria are there?
Fran ran out of the guild and through the back alleys, immediately hearing a commotion. Apparently, the battle had yet to begin.
Instead, we could hear both sides cursing at each other from a distance. Everyone was clearly riled up, and the words they shouted seemed to be bad for Fran’s education.
This might be pretty hard to stop.
I’d prefer as little bloodshed as possible, but……
