Chapter 842

The dog beastman kept staring at me.

Then he slowly opened his mouth.

「You guys have been pretty busy since yesterday, huh?」

Since yesterday……? Did he already know what we were up to? I didn’t notice any signs of surveillance.

We used teleportation to move around, so no one should be able to track us easily. Maybe they set up such a large surveillance network that they could find us no matter where we were?

Probably more likely that the goons we threatened reported us to their superiors? Maybe we didn’t threaten them enough.

「……What are you talking about?」

I tried to play dumb, but the guy seemed convinced.

「Your threats were too effective. Anyone would be suspicious if a guy who usually hangs out in the back alleys was trembling under his sheets in the middle of the day.」

「Oh……」

I guess it was the opposite.

The terrified goons acted too suspiciously, so anyone with eyes knew that something was up. Even if we threatened them to stay silent about us, they couldn’t keep their mouth shut while being questioned by their superiors.

So it seems word has spread among some of the outlaws that there’s a black cat girl asking around about illegal slavers.

「Uhh, we weren’t trying to antagonize anyone in particular. We just fought back after getting tangled in some fights.」

「……Obviously. Those as powerful as yourselves would have plenty of methods if you really wanted to destroy someone.」

He sensed not only my strength but also Fran’s and Urushi’s. Maybe his ability to sense danger was higher than I gave him credit for.

「Keep her on a tighter leash. That was a close call earlier, no?」

「Yeah, I’ll scold her again later. That was a little bit nerve-wracking for me too. She’s sorry now so I’m sure she’ll think a little more carefully next time.」

I shrugged my shoulders and the man shook his head with a wry smile. I guess he saw my attitude and realized the relationship between me and Fran. I’m her guardian, but it’s not like I can order her around. Not that I wanted to control her anyways.

「I’m fine with that, as long as you don’t make a mess of this place.」

「We’ll be gone as soon as we get the info.」

「……Fine.」

The man muttered as he slowly lifted his cup. He then lightly bumped it against the cup I was holding.

The pressure of the stares the outlaws were giving me faded away at once, much to my surprise. I guess he was more than just a powerful loner, but sort of like the boss of this area.

The fact that we made friends with this dog beastman seemed to indicate that we were no longer outsiders.

「If you want to know something, ask the bartender.」

「So it’s him after all?」

「Yeah.」

「Got it. Thank you.」

「Don’t thank me, just go. I’d appreciate it if you stay out of this neighborhood afterwards too.」

「That would depend on where the people we’re looking for are. You don’t know where, right?」

「I don’t know anything more than the rumors. We have nothing to do with it…… as far as I know.」

The dog beastman spoke the truth.

This man got his information from the thugs, so he must know that we’re looking for the black market slavers.

And if he’s not lying, then they really had nothing to do with him or his organization. However, he couldn’t deny the possibility that there were members who betrayed the organization and were personally involved in the slave trade.

That’s why he added the “as far as I know”.

「Sorry for trouble.」

I apologized again to the man and left my seat. Then, I sat down next to Fran, who was still slumped at the counter.

「Bartender. I need some info, okay?」

「What did you wanna know?」

Apparently, drinking with that guy was like getting a letter of introduction.

I blocked out our voices with wind magic and told the bartender what I needed.

「Anything you can tell me about the black market slavers, mostly the location of their base. I also want the identities of any notable members of their organization.」

「……I knew it.」

The bartender looked at Fran for a moment and muttered. He already had information on Fran, so he must have known what she was after from the beginning.

「As for their base, I dunno exactly where it is. Probably somewhere in the restricted area.」

「Restricted area? There’s such a place?」

「The center of town, with the headquarters of the Sanatorium, is the restricted area. There’s even a section in the back where only executives and their direct subordinates are allowed in.」

The security there was so tight that even info brokers like him had difficulty obtaining any detailed intel. They avoided that place like the plague, because anyone digging too deep would be erased.

「In other words, the Sanatorium is……?」

「They ain’t the ones leading the business, but at least one of the executives is involved in the slave trade. And it’s gotta be one with a lot of authority.」

In other words, it’s highly likely that our enemies have infiltrated the upper echelons of the one organization we needed to avoid antagonizing…… How annoying.

「We believe the captured slaves are collected at their base before being taken out of the city, but we dunno how. Maybe some underground tunnel, maybe teleportation. Either way, they can’t move them in plain sight.」

「Even if they are eventually taken to the restricted zone, is there any other place where the slaves are collected? Or maybe some building where their members stay?」

「Nah. The illegal slavers all have fronts as members of other organizations. There are few people or organizations that can be clearly identified as suspicious.」

「You said “few”, so you have some idea of them?」

「Well… I know of three.」

Surprisingly many.

「First, the Sanatorium’s security force. They’ve got many members and it’s easy to join. Also, no one would blink an eye if they enter the restricted area.」

「I see.」

「The security force also has some blue cats.」

Fran’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of the blue cats. Despite her depressed mood, she would not miss the mention of her mortal enemies.

But she did not interrupt, perhaps reflecting on what her mistakes from early. She remained still, listening to the bartender’s words.

「Second, the adventurers. They can be people of all backgrounds, and they sometimes enter the restricted area depending on the request, so they would be perfect for blending in. There are also blue cat adventurers.」

This city’s Adventurers Guild had a particularly large amount of ruffians, so it was quite possible that some of them were connected to the black market slavers.

「Third, the outlaws of the Beastmen Union. The faction calling themselves the “Bloodfang Brigade” are apparently such brutal villains that even the rest of the Beastmen Union can’t handle them. No crime would be too low, and some of them are blue cats.」

Apparently this Bloodfang Brigade was so nasty that other members of the Beastmen Union detested them. I guess they seem to be the most likely among all the suspects?

Anyways, the bartender also seemed to think that the blue cats were suspicious. Or rather, he was convinced that they were connected.

「That’s all I can say. You gotta to find out the rest by yourselves.」

「……So we look for blue cats?」

「Hmm. That’s what we’ll do for now.」

I guess the blue cats will always be the enemies of the black cats.