Chapter 844

「……Damn. No one told me the helper of the Beastmen Union would be this powerful……」

Fran pointed her sword at Gazzol, the dragonkin who attempted to assault us, as he grunted in lament.

Did he say Beastmen Union? If he attacked us because of a mistake like that……

『Is this guy a member of the Dragon King Syndicate?』

「Are you from the Dragon King Syndicate?」

「……」

Silence, huh? He doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who talks much in the first place. Guess we need to try and force some information out of him.

「What made you think I was helping the Beastmen Union?」

「……?」

「I’m not a member of the Beastmen Union.」

「D-Don’t lie to me!」

「I’m not lying. So are you from the Dragon King Syndicate?」

「……」

Hmm, he still won’t talk. I guess rough interrogation won’t work too well with this guy, since he’s got the Pain Nullification skill.

He’s already stopped bleeding, so a few wounds wouldn’t be enough to scare him either.

While I was brainstorming a way to get him to talk, Fran continued threatening him for the time being.

She pushed me against Gazzol’s head and unleashed her killing intent.

「……If you don’t talk straight, you’re gonna get hurt.」

「Hmph.」

Gazzol was unfazed despite being blasted by Fran’s full killing intent. That’s pretty impressive.

However, his expression changed the moment he heard Fran’s next words.

「First the horns. Then the tail. I’ll crush it thoroughly so it can’t regenerate.」

「……!」

This was a threat that could only be used against beastmen and dragonkin. Their tails and horns were the pride of their race.

They may be prepared to lose one of their limbs, but they cannot stand the humiliation of losing their tails and horns.

I remember one blue cat still holding a grudge after Kiara took his tail, even decades later.

This kind of threat worked even better for someone like Gazzol, who had a more pronounced manifestation of his race’s characteristics.

「Then I’ll cut off the claws. Finally I peel off the scales, one by one. The result is a bald dragonkin with smooth skin all over.」

「……」

「Not talking? Then, let’s――」

「Okay! I’ll talk!」

The instant Fran pushed me against the base of his horn, Gazzol screamed with the blood drained from his face.

He must have sensed that Fran was serious.

「What a terrifying girl…… You have a tail too…… but no blood or tears.」

「I don’t want to be told that by a street-slashing scumbag.」

「……Grgh. I can’t say anything in response.」

Gazzol completely gave up. The sight of the giant dragonkin slumping his shoulders was somewhat comical.

I found it a bit hard to hate him.

He had clear hostility towards Fran when he attacked her, but no killing intent. He also showed no signs of taking pleasure in defeating her or anything either.

On the contrary, he even seemed to be dissatisfied with the attack on a child like Fran.

「Who are you?」

「……I am Gazzol, a warrior of the Dragon King Syndicate……」

「A warrior? More like street slasher.」

「……Call me what you want. I’ll take it as it comes.」

Even though he was dejected, he still accepted Fran’s words. He seemed to have a certain amount of grace in defeat.

「So? Why did you attack me?」

「My superiors have instructed me to defeat the powerful warriors assisting the Beastmen Union and drive them out of the city.」

「Warriors of the Beastmen Union?」

「Indeed. Many members of the Dragon King Syndicate have already been defeated and captured.」

If they managed to capture several dragonkin working for a militaristic gang, wouldn’t that make them pretty dang strong?

Fran also showed interest in these guys.

「What kind of people are they?」

「A pair of cat-type beastmen warriors.」

「Cat beastmen……」

「Yes, and one of them is a small girl carrying a big sword. With that appearance and strength, the number of candidates was limited.」

If that’s all he heard, then it would make sense if he mistook Fran for that person.

Fran is certainly a small cat-type beastman girl. She also carries a sword on her back and is obviously strong. She matched the description perfectly.

As far as I can remember, Mea was the only other person who fit that description besides Fran. Well, not that there was any way Mea could be here since her home is in the Beast Kingdom.

「I was searching for her around here, when I heard a report from one of my men that there was someone matching her description. Then, I came and found you.」

「Are these helpers strong?」

「They are indeed strong. Including all the missing, more than ten people have been captured by the Beastmen Union in the past few days. The young chief knew this was problematic and ordered me to take care of it.」

「……Why didn’t you intend to kill me?」

「I heard that they were temporary helpers rather than official members. That means they have no loyalty to the Beastmen Union, and therefore would run away if I gave them a beating. I could not bear to kill them when I heard one was a child.」

「I see.」

「And the result is this…… I suppose this is my just desserts for becoming a coward who assaults a young girl under the cover of darkness. Sigh……」

Gazzol sighed. He had no choice but to attack Fran because he was ordered by his superiors, but he never wanted to assassinate anyone.

He preferred fighting fair and square, but was willing to do the dirty work if his superiors ordered him to. I guess that’s just how he was.

「Next time you want to assault someone, you’d better make sure you’re dealing with the right person.」

「Indeed. If there is a next time, I will certainly do so……」