We ran into the Adventurers Guild with Sophie in the lead, but the place was already in an uproar.
The news about the underground passage had already reached them.
Still, they found it difficult to believe that the Sanatorium was connected to slavers behind the scenes.
But this information was brought back by several adventurers. It had credibility.
They ended up having a huge argument between those who believed the report, and those who didn’t. Many were on the verge of breaking into a brawl.
That’s when their saintess, Sophie, appeared. She was quickly surrounded by adventurers who desperately wanted to hear about the Sanatorium.
However, no one could open their mouths.
They were attempting to question Sophie, one of the most important members of the Sanatorium, about the misdeeds of her organization. That’s like asking someone to their face if they are a criminal.
But perhaps unable to bear the silence any longer, one of the adventurers finally resolved himself to speak up.
「Saintess-sama! A-Are the rumors true……?」
His words became the first shot, and the other adventurers soon followed with a flurry of questions.
「I heard they captured a dragonkin and tried to enslave him……」
「And they have their own secret escape route!」
「Did the Sanatorium really do all that?」
The looks on their faces seemed to indicate that they wanted their saintess to deny it.
But Sophie did not give them the answer they wanted.
「It’s not the entire Sanatorium that performed these misdeeds. But it is true that Filuria, the Medical Director, held Gazzol-san captive.」
「Wha-……!」
「Also, Filuria attempted to lock me up too.」
The adventurers who heard Sophie’s explanation fell silent at once. They must have understood that everything was true after the saintess herself confirmed it.
No one knew what to say next.
Honestly, my first thought was that we shouldn’t tell them the truth, but we didn’t have much choice since many people already overheard Filuria’s interrogation.
The Adventurers Guild would find out sooner or later, so it’s better to tell them first and have the adventurers trust us a little more.
Everyone in the guild remained completely silent. Then, only moments later, the place burst into a tremendous clamor.
「Y-You mean to say that the Medical Director has a dark side?」
「I never knew!」
「N-No……! My precious Filuria-chan……」
It seems that many not only trusted Filuria, but also had slightly more intense feelings for her. They ended up being comforted by their friends.
But right when the guild regained some of its liveliness, an old man’s husky voice echoed through the building.
「You lazy fuckwads! What the hell do you think you’re doing at this busy time! Don’t be fooled by uncertain information!」
「G-Guildmaster! B-But!」
「The only thing you should be thinking about right now is the antidemons! Everything else is trivial! Get your asses back to work!」
Prear emerged from the back room and glared at the adventurers. His shaggy hair was even more disheveled than before.
The guy always had an eerie presence, but he somehow felt more intimidating today.
After dismissing the adventurers, Prear turned over to Fran’s party, his eyes burning with hatred.
「Come ‘ere.」
With a quick flick of his chin, he pointed toward the back room and walked away without waiting for Fran’s answer.
He was obviously holding in a lot of anger.
Fran and the others followed Prear into the room. He didn’t offer us a seat or anything, simply standing there with his back facing us.
I could see his clenched fist atop the table shaking.
Then, the guildmaster shouted.
「You’ve really fucking gone and done it now!」
He turned around, his face contorted with fury and frustration. His eyes were bloodshot, and he barely seemed sane.
Sophie seemed a bit overwhelmed, but Fran asked back in her usual tone.
「Done what?」
「You fucking spread information that will confuse the adventurers! At this critical moment, you just had to go and sow the seeds of discord! It’s because of you that the adventurers won’t be able to work properly now!」
「I apologize on Fran’s behalf for causing this commotion, but we cannot let Filuria get away with her crimes.」
「Like I give a damn! The continued existence of this city is my top priority!」
「But Filuria captured Gazzol and nearly enslaved him! She had bunch of other weird experiments!」
「So what! Don’t jeopardize the city with your completely worthless sense of justice!」
Fran grimaced after hearing Prear’s shouts. He was loud, yeah, but she could not let him call her justice “worthless”.
「Filuria tried to enslave Gazzol. So there must be other victims too.」
To Fran, this connection to the illegal slave market was more important than the cloning experiments. She was furious at the unforgivable crime.
But Prear didn’t care.
「I’ll say it one more time, so what!? If we consider the Medical Director’s influence, she is clearly essential to the city! Just overlook a few minor misdeeds! That’s the only way the city can stay afloat!」
「A few misdeeds?」
「Illegal slaves are everywhere! You won’t be able to live here if you cry about every single damn thing!」
Prear roared with a deadly rage, but Fran shouted back with even more fury.
「Slavers will not be tolerated! No matter the reason! Never!」
「T-Then what are you going to do about it! Don’t tell you’re gonna try something as unrealistic as hunting down every last person connected to the trafficking!?」
「Nn! I’ll do it if necessary. I’ll hunt them all down and destroy them.」
「……Why? Why do you care so much about the slavers? Because you’re a black cat? To protect your kin?」
「That’s part of it.」
「Wonderful! But the black cats won’t do anything in return, will they? You’ll see. You call them your kin, but they’re all just strangers in the end!」
We didn’t need to ask to know that Prear had been betrayed by his kin in the past. As Fran continued glaring back at him, Prear sighed and continued.
「A few decades ago, I worked in the Beast Kingdom.」
He was a highly respected Rank B adventurer based in a town with a large population of sheep beastmen.
Then one day, a monster stampede broke out. Prear led many adventurers to join in the town’s defense, but the small town didn’t have the necessary fortifications.
In the end, Prear decided to evacuate the town, but many adventurers chose to disobey his orders. The bloodthirsty beastmen refused to retreat.
The chaos in the chain of command combined with the dispersion of forces resulted in heavy casualties to both groups. And the responsibility for this disaster fell on Prear’s shoulders.
The beastmen ignoring his orders called him a coward, and the beastmen following him criticized his strategic blunder.
「All they had to do was obey me, and we could have kept the damage to a minimum! Why should I have to take the blame for those fucking morons!」
In the end, Prear could no longer stay in the Beast Kingdom, so he eventually drifted to this continent.
「My kin never protected me either…… Rather, it was they who denounced me most vehemently. Calling me the disgrace of my kind! What was I to do!?」
Prear, who had finished the lengthy account of his past, slumped down in the chair in front of us. The word “pitiful” fit his appearance perfectly. The old man must have had a hard time.
「You’ll be betrayed too, sooner or later.」
In that hoarse voice of his, I sensed his dark desire for Fran to be betrayed.
「You just don’t know it yet. Listen to me here, you need to give up that meaningless sense of kinship. No one will thank you for hunting illegal slavers. They are a necessary evil, and the slaves a necessary sacrifice. The black cats you save will be happy on the surface, but that’s it. Everyone forgets, they always do.」
Prear’s voice ringed in Fran’s ears, as if he was trying to break Fran’s heart.
Rather, that was his exact intention. After breaking Fran’s heart, he would be able to make her listen more easily. That way, he ensured her participation in the city’s defense.
After going over everything again in my head, I reconsidered Prear’s previous madness, his current pathetic attitude, and the dark words of advice. I began to think that this was all an act.
If so, it was only natural that his words would not reach Fran. She probably saw him as a weird old dude who didn’t know who he was talking to.
Fran looked right into Prear’s eyes. I could see him flinch under the pressure of her gaze. After hearing her next words, Prear could only gasp.
「……I was an illegal slave too.」
「……!」
