898: Tracking the Assailants

Five minutes after Fran stopped the three-way battle by force.

More than 100 adventurers and outlaws were lined up in front of the Dragon King Syndicate branch. Some of them were unconscious, but their friends carried them over as ordered by Fran.

Fran crossed her arms in front of the restless men, clearly angry. All of them were powerless in front of her intimidating aura.

She was completely recognized as a superior, so barely any people complained. A select few attempted to say something in return, but their bosses managed to convince them otherwise.

I can see why, since the more powerful ones would understand just how fearsome Fran could be.

「Drulay, come here.」

「O-Okay.」

Drulay came forward after being called, looking very timid. He used a casual tone the last time we spoke, but it seems he’s switched to a polite tone now.

Though he’s supposed to be the leader of the beastmen here, he certainly didn’t have the dignity of the role.

The young beastmen gave him looks of disappointment, but Drulay must have been more concerned with Fran’s anger.

He walked up in front of Fran, the rabbit ears on his head bobbing side to side.

「……Seiza.」

「Eh?」

「Seiza.」

「Y-Yes, of course!」

After Drulay quickly sat down in the seiza pose, Fran looked satisfied. Now she stared at the corner where the adventurers were gathered.

After observing the trembling adventurers for a while, she pointed at a warrior. He was the strongest one among them.

「You, the adventurer. Come here and sit.」

「O-Okay.」

The man she pointed at came forward with a pale face. Rather than stopping him, the other adventurers gave him a push to the back.

Probably a signal to hurry up before Fran gets angry again.

The man slowly moved forward before seating himself in the seiza pose.

「Who’s the highest dragonkin here?」

「M-Me.」

「Come here.」

「Urgh……」

I thought he might resist a little, but he ended up obeying as well. As Fran ordered, he too took the seiza pose.

「……Why were you fighting? Drulay.」

「Uh, well, the Dragon King Syndicate raided us, so we wanted to get back at them……」

After hearing Drulay’s words, some of the dragonkin tried to raise their voices. They couldn’t let this statement slide.

But none of them could open their mouths.

Because when Fran turned to stare at them, they immediately froze.

As a result, no one uttered a word. Some of the lower ranked adventurers and outlaws lost their balance and could no longer continue standing.

Well, it’s probably quieter that way, so we can leave it at that.

「Raid? The dragonkin attacked you?」

「Right! They sent like ten of them at us!」

「So why did you think it was the Dragon King Syndicate? There are plenty other dragonkin.」

「There was a guy from the Dragon King Syndicate among them! He’s a famous spearman, so there’s no way I could’ve mistaken him!」

「Hmm… Then you’re next.」

「Y-Yes.」

And so, Fran continued questioning the three of them.

In summary, it seems that the culprits were all members of the Dragon King Syndicate. The dragonkin man initially tried to deny these claims, but he quickly fell silent after hearing their physical descriptions.

However, none of them knew the reason behind this series of dragonkin attacks.

In the first place, the assailants worked for the Dragon King Syndicate, but not in the town of Sendia. All of them were warriors from other towns, serving the Dragon King directly.

Even fellow members of the Dragon King Syndicate were unaware of their arrival, as well as their current location.

If we believe the words of the beastmen, it seems they tracked the culprits down to this very building.

『Urushi… Any scents?』

（Woof!）

『Can you track it?』

It seems that Urushi’s nose locked on to something.

「Are they close?」

「Woof!」

Fran completely ignored the men and started walking away with Urushi.

However, her steps stopped after about 15 meters. Urushi had led us to the building neighboring the Dragon King Syndicate.

「What is this place?」

「T-This is our warehouse.」

She asked a nearby dragonkin, who said it was their warehouse building for storing various items.

Fran entered the warehouse without hesitation, but there was no one there. Well, that’s not surprising since we didn’t sense anyone either.

However, Urushi walked forward with confident steps and continued deeper inside.

He stopped in front of the wall at the end of the hallway. Then, he scratched the spot with his paw.

『A hidden passageway?』

「I got it.」

Fran kicked the wall. A large hole opened to reveal a staircase leading down to the basement.

Fran and Urushi went down the stairs, with Drulay and the others following behind them. We didn’t tell them to follow us, but I guess they were curious too.

We went down a long flight of stairs, about 100 steps. At the end of the stairs, there was a small room and a single passage leading forward.

This passage looked somehow familiar to me, just like the underground passageway connected to the basement of the Sanatorium. The size and the material of the walls were very similar.

Maybe both were constructed at the same time.

『Did they use this passageway to escape?』

「Nn. Let’s chase them.」

「Arf.」

「Urushi?」

「Khun.」

However, Urushi did not proceed through the passageway, instead walking around the small room at the bottom of the stairs. It seems the scent got cut off in this small room, so it didn’t continue through the passage in front of us.

Fran also tilted her head.

『What’s wrong?』

「Nn…… Something strange… like Seliadot’s wards……」

『What?』

More warding stones? I decided to use my Magic Disruption skill on the whole room. Then, something unusual appeared on the right-hand wall.

To my surprise, there was another passageway there. It seems to have been hidden by warding stones covering an illusion projecting magic tool. My Magic Disruption must have destroyed the illusion.

This passageway was more rough, clearly having been dug out haphazardly.

「Woof!」

Urushi barked happily. It seems he was able to follow the scent again.

The assailants must have fled into here.

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