Chapter 854

Drulay pleaded for the lives of his subordinates, the two blue cats. Fran heard his words and asked back with a frown.

「……Why would you go that far for these scum?」

「Hahahaha. That’s harsh, but scum still has their uses. Besides, they’re like my brothers. I can’t just abandon them.」

It seems Drulay really believed what he just said. They’re his brothers, so he’ll protect them. Simple, but not many people would really go all the way.

「And I’m ashamed to say it, but these guys remind me of myself back in the day. I can’t let them die here. I’ll discipline them properly from now on, so can you let them off the hook this time?」

「They can never be fixed.」

「Maybe so, but I’ll figure something out! Just this once. Please, I’m begging you.」

「……In exchange, you’ll do whatever I ask?」

「Yeah.」

Drulay nodded immediately, and he wasn’t lying.

Fran hesitated. She had no reason to believe that these blue cats would ever reform themselves, so she had every intention of killing them.

But if she could make a connection with one of the leaders of the Bloodfang Brigade, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let them go. Fran knew the benefits to doing so.

「……I’ll hear from them first, then I’ll decide.」

Fran said that to Drulay and approached the blue cats. She created water with magic and splashed it all over them.

The men were startled by the cold water and jumped up with a scream. While they were still panicking, we restrained them and knocked them back onto the ground.

「W-What the hell!」

「Stop screaming!」

「Y-You’re――Ghmrgh!」

The conversation wasn’t going anywhere, so I covered up their mouths with telekinesis. The men continued to grunt, but Fran simply ignored them and asked a few questions.

At first the men remained silent, but they reluctantly began to answer the questions after Drulay yelled at them. I guess they can’t ignore their bro like that.

It turned out that these men were not slavers, nor were they connected to them, at least currently.

The reason why they seemed so familiar with the slave business was because their parents were slavers.

It seems their parents continued the slave business behind the scenes even after the ban on black cat trafficking. And as a result, they were purged by the current Beast King. Since the two could no longer stay in the Beast Kingdom, they fled to this continent.

So these two blue cats were certainly criminals, but they presently had no connection to the illegal slavers.

They had a history of violently harassing black cats, but they never killed any or tried to enslave them.

In the first place, the Beastmen Union as whole despised the trafficking of black cats since they too were fellow beastmen. It would be difficult to enter the illegal slave trade as long as they were a member.

「So the Beastmen Union has nothing to do with illegal slaves?」

Drulay shook his head at Fran’s question, somewhat sadly.

「No, I wouldn’t put it that way. We have a number of blue cats, and I’ve heard nasty rumors about some of them.」

Drulay was probably on the side against enslaving black cats, since there was a hint of pain in the look he gave Fran.

「……I can spare your lives. In exchange, go and gather information on anyone connected to the slavers in the Beastmen Union.」

「Fine. I’ve lost to you and you’ve spared us. I’ll do my part.」

「Bring the info to the Adventurers Guild. You’ll get through if you mention my name.」

「What’s your name?」

「Fran.」

「Fran……? Y-You’re! The Black Lightning Princess! Dammit! No wonder I couldn’t win!」

Drulay spoke as he looked up at the sky, then laughed loudly.

「Bwahahaha! I’d be honored to be of service to you!」

He really meant it. He must be the type that admires strength and considers hierarchical relationships based on power alone. In that case, he shouldn’t betray us easily.

「I heard that the Black Lightning Princess has a black wolf with her……」

「Urushi.」

「Woof.」

Urushi came out of the shadows in response to Fran’s voice.

He had been hiding in the shadows since Drulay destroyed our wards. Of course, he wasn’t simply hiding, but readying himself for a surprise attack if necessary.

After we’ve fought together for so long, he was able to make quick and precise judgments without us having to tell him what to do.

「H-He’s huge……」

「Grr.」

「Hey, we’re not enemies anymore! Seriously! I’m not going against you!」

Drulay yelled in panic as Urushi snarled, bringing his face closer. Did he have a hard time with wolves since he was a rabbit beastmen? No, I guess anyone would panic if Urushi growled in your face while you were tied up.

「Okay, I’m leaving.」

「Got it!」

Fran turned away after releasing the restraints on Drulay and the blue cats. She understood that Drulay was not the type of guy to try attacking her from behind.

But the same couldn’t be said for the blue cats. They were the complete opposite of trustworthy.

「Oh, and about those two. If they haven’t changed by the next time I see them, I’ll show them no mercy.」

「Hyaah!」

「Ahhh!」

Fran announced with a deadly fury, and the blue cats slumped back down to the earth. The men managed to hold their ground during the interrogation, but they couldn’t stand after a taste of Fran’s full killing intent. Their faces turned pale.

「In that case, you do what you gotta do, Fran-dono.」

「Eh? B-But, Bro!」

「It’s all because of your shitty behavior in the first place!」

As Drulay yelled back to the underlings clinging onto him, Fran walked away.

『Fran. You did a good job holding yourself back there.』

（Right now, the number one priority is to get info about the slavers.）

『Even so, it’s great that you managed to keep your wits about you against the blue cats.』

（Nn.）

In order to obtain information on our primary target, the black market slavers, Fran needed to spare the blue cats. The fact that Fran was able to make such a judgment proved her growth. Back when we first met, she would have sliced them up for sure.

『I wonder what juicy info they’ve got for us?』

I don’t know about the two blue cats, but Drulay will certainly put in the effort. We should have a high chance of him bringing us some good info.