Chapter 681

TENKEN 681 Fran’s Apology

『We finally arrived!』

「Nn」

『Glad we made it in time』

「Thanks to Urushi too」

「Woof!」

Two weeks has passed since the cooking contest in Barbra, and we had arrived safely in Ulmut. Well, a lot has happened in the past two weeks too.

First we were asked by Gamudo, the Guild master of Barbra, to go to Crystal Cage. A magical area near Barbra where we first saw Forrund during last year’s contest.

We were asked to procure magic beasts’ meat because there was a shortage of meat after the cooking contest.

We could have refused, but Fran was more than willing to take it. After all, a magical area was an attractive thing for her.

Moreover, her battle-crazed spirit seemed to have been ignited by her encounter with the mysterious red-haired woman during the cooking contest.

The hunt went well and we had gotten ourselves a good amount of magic beasts’ meat, but... we somehow got a little too deep into the woods and ended up having a tough fight with a pack of Thunderbirds, the most powerful magic beasts in Crystal Cage.

Thunderbirds are a magic beast with a threat level of B that could move at a speed that was on par with Fran. Well, I don’t think they could surpass Fran in her Brilliant Lightning Rush state though.

We were also lucky that our opponent’s strongest attack is based on the thunderbolt attribute. Fran would get a thunderbolt nullification effect during her Brilliant Lightning Rush state after all. And by also using my physical attack nullification at the same time, we were left unscathed after being hit by their strongest attack.

Well, that quickly deplete my magic power in a blink though, so we decided to escape in the end. I wanted to at least bring one back if possible, but I couldn’t let Fran take on five of them at the same time.

Without Urushi’s support, who had acted as a decoy despite being badly injured, Fran would not have been able to escape with her life.

As expected of a magic beast with a threat level of B. I think we should be able to handle up to two of them though.

And it’s not like we didn’t get anything out of that encounter, okay? I managed to pluck up a good amount of Thunderbirds’ feather with my telekinesis after all. Fran wasn’t interested in it at all because she couldn’t eat it, but we were able to sell it to Gamudo at a high price.

Not only that it can be used to make armor, but it can also be used to make bedding or a super luxurious item. Well, it certainly sounds amazing, but as expected, I can’t fathom why royalty or nobles would pay a million goldes for it...

After that, we were planning to leave for Ulmut right away, but we had a little problem there and had to stay for a while.

At the time of the incident in Barbra last year, there were companies that wrongdoing was exposed and brought to a close thanks to Fran and the others.

They were owned by the second son of the feudal lord, the Tolmaio Trading Company, which was under Brooke influence, the man who was planning a coup d’etat, and the Ysra Trading Company, which was its dark side.

They were supposed to have been eradicated, but the surviving members of the company were still lurking in Barbra and had developed a grudge against Fran.

They even hired several assassins to target Fran.

Well, I killed the assassins instantly and managed to catch the one who ordered them.

Some of them tried to escape, but there was no escaping from Urushi’s nose.

Thanks to that, we had to extend our stay for a few days due to the time taken for the interrogation. Well, I guess it was also our fault that we fought a little too flashy when we defeated the assassins.

In the end, we didn’t leave Barbra until ten days later than we had originally planned.

There were various things that happened along the way, but let’s leave it at that.

We have bigger problems than that right now.

「Glad you came, Fran-san, and, Master-kun」

「Nn」

『It’s been a while』

Naturally, when we arrived in Ulmut, we had come to greet the guild master, Diaz.

We’re not strangers, and Fran is already a B ranked adventurer. So, it’s not strange for her to show her face to the guild master.

But I didn’t really want to meet him this time if possible. Well, I didn’t expect to be able to avoid Diaz after coming to Ulmut though.

「What’s the matter? You look so strange. How unusual」

「I want to talk about Zelos Reed」

「...Hohou?」

That’s right. There was no way we could keep Zelos Reed a secret from Diaz.

But for Fran, who had chosen to let Zelos Reed go after meeting him, this was a decision she had made. And she refused to give in.

The mere mention of his name quickly changed his atmosphere. It seems that Diaz still has not forgotten his grudge against Zelos Reed.

「I’ve found Zelos Reed」

「Is that so?」

「Nn. But then, I let him go」

「He―...?」

Diaz’s smiling face now kinda scares me! I don’t know how Fran manages to stay so composed!

He’s smiling, but I can feel that inside, dark emotion must be swirling within him.

「Mind if I ask why’d do that?」

「Nn」

And then Fran told him the story of how we found Zelos Reed, almost killed him, and then let him go.

We’re not going to tell him everything. After all, he’d go to look for him if we tell where Zelos Reed is. Besides, Weena Rhyn’s condition is probably not something we should be talking about lightly.

「So, you borrowed his help for something big, then letting him go as to repay the debt? Or was it because of his ties with this Romio kid?」

「...Not quite right, but something like that」

In the first place, Fran doesn’t completely know what she’s feeling either.

「Fumu... So? You want me to let Zelos Reed out of my mind too?」

Diaz stared at Fran with emotionless eyes as he says that. It’s not that he’s glaring at her, but the pressure is tremendous.

A pressure that is like telling us that there was no room for lies or deceit.

However, the next words that came out of Fran’s mouth were something that neither I nor Diaz expected.

「Why?」

「Eh? Didn’t you come here to tell me to let Zelos Reed out of my mind?」

「It’s not」

Fran denied Diaz’s words. I thought she was trying to convince him to forgive Zelos Reed, but it seemed that I was mistaken.

「It was my decision to let Zelos Reed go. It had nothing to do with Diaz」

「...Hmm?」

「Of course, I want Diaz to give up on wanting to kill Zelos Reed. But Diaz’s feelings are Diaz’s」

『This could make a conflict between the two of you, you know? Are you sure about this?』

「I’m not really sure, but I don’t have a choice. It doesn’t mean that what Zelos Reed has done is gone too」

Having said that much, Fran now looked at Diaz.

「I can’t stop Diaz for wanting to go after him, but――」

「But?」

「Diaz can’t stop me from trying to protect Zelos Reed and his companion too」

「Fran-kun...」

「Sorry」

Fran then sincerely bowed her head to Diaz as he was about to say something. She must have been prepared to be called a traitor by Diaz.

But this time it was Fran’s turn to be surprised.

「...No need to be sorry」

「?」

Fran tilted her head at Diaz, who say that with a strangely calm expression.

「In the first place, Kiara is not the kind of person who’d ask me to do anything stupid like avenging her death. In fact, you should’ve been mad at me for trying to ignore it」

「Diaz...」

「Still, I need to sort out my mind a little. I’m sorry, but can you leave for today?」

「Nn...」

「...I’m sorry」