Page 198

Late Morning - Late Fall : Northern Gambling District (Valtivar)

*ding-ding* "And the winner is Amara Chalkos! After 21 consecutive wins, her bounty has been increased to 18 platinum and 21 gold! Are there any competitors who wish to give it a try?"

-My lord, how many broken bones did that guy end up with?

- I couldn't help but look at the poor guy in the area with awe after seeing him still trying to stand up after having his arms and a leg broken.

-She's really merciless today... I wonder if she is still mad at that rich brat from last night.

..- Idly thinking back to the scene of Amara knocking out a noble brat with a gold coin, I chuckled under my breath.

-It's a shame his guard didn't fight Amara.

.. That would've been a fun fight to watch. ..-

As I waited for someone to inevitably fall to the temptation of 18 platinum, I walked up to the top of the stair-like seating area and got myself a drink. "Haah..." -I wonder what Bjorn and Yolanda are up to...-

It was the afternoon prior that they actually left.

Although Bjorn did enjoy simply watching the fights, Yolanda wasn't so fond of it and ended up leaving only a couple hours after we got there. Unsurprisingly, Bjorn ended up following after her, while leaving me to watch over Amara.

But it was a simple task. Before Bjorn even left, Amara was absorbed into her fights, using the steady flow of younger, overconfident dragons and halfies as punching bags, letting me simply relax in the stands.

Whenever she had a break, she would come to chat, but most of the time, I just theorized about repairing the laboratory, only pulling myself out of thought to watch the occasional interesting fight. -Watching fights is an oddly good way to clear mental blocks, huh...-

"Here is your pink lily, sir!"

Quickly reaching over the bar, I grabbed hold of the wooden mug the bartender handed me. "Thanks."

Finally walking back to my seat with a drink in hand, I glanced down to look for the next competitor but was disappointed to see another overconfident adolescent dragon who was probably barely 30 years old. -I wonder what tricks this kid has up his sleeve.-

As I got to my seat and got ready to watch the match though, a well-built man walked up to me. "Sir, do you mind if I sit here?" He casually pointed to the empty spot next to me before getting ready to sit down without waiting for my confirmation.

-For an elder dragon, he really lacks manners...- "Sorry, but that seat is taken."

The man paused for a second before standing back up. "Is it too rude to ask where the owner of this spot is?"

Looking down towards the arena, I pointed at Amara. "It's that female fighter's spot."

He hesitated for a second when he glanced at her before quickly turning back to me. "Oh, do you happen to know her?"

-What's with the way this guy talks?- His voice was already getting on my nerves, but I didn't let it show. "Yeah, she's a good friend of mine."

"Ah. what a coincidence! You see, I am also quite familiar with her. I actually came to talk with her, but since she seems to be busy, I will sit here until she has a break." Not bothering to ask for confirmation again, he sat down in Amara's spot.

-Someone like you is familiar with Amara?- Although my gut told me it was basically impossible, I didn't have remotely enough reason to make my skepticism obvious. -I'll see if he's lying when Amara finishes anyways.-

There was a short moment of silence before he glanced at Ilios laying his head on my lap. "Would that happen to be your Fenrir?"

"He is, indeed."

Ilios gave the man an intimidating glance, making him pale slightly.

"He seems to be quite.. special." Although he tried to do it without me noticing, he did a hand gesture that caused a group cloaked with light magic behind us to scatter. "Where did you find him?"

"He was in the forest outside of my childhood home."

"Ah, how nice. What part of Siratha was it?"

-Who is this guy? Is he an interrogator or something?- "I'm actually not from Siratha."

There was a momentary change in the air around him as he hesitated. "In that case, where are you fr-"

"Don't you think you're being a little rude?" I gave him an annoyed glance as I cut him off.

Taken aback by my interruption, he looked at me like I was the rude one before forcing himself to smile again.

"Oh, my sincerest apologies. I got a bit carried away by old habits.

" He was quick to try and recover his image.

"My name is Vernados, an investigator that works within Siratha's investigation department. "

But although his words might have sounded genuine to onlookers, I wasn't buying it.

-A pure elder dragon works in Siratha's investigation department?

- Although it made sense for such a department to exist, the fact that he held his head and spoke like a high-noble dragon made me struggle to believe him. -He must be from Bahamut...-

But, thankfully, he continued normally without noticing my suspicion. "I originally came here in search of that young lady down there, to ask her questions about a current investigation, but I got sidetracked by your furry little friend." He lowered his gaze toward Ilios again.

"Please get to the point..." I had already lost my patience with the way he talked. -I just need to know whether I need to silence him or not...-

"In that case, I will be blunt." His expression turned serious. "According to some recently questioned witnesses, that girl down there and your Fenrir were spotted destroying the Helvig family estate, and are considered responsible for 83 deaths. Did you know of the incident?"

-Damn, so it was 83 total? She really did go on a rampage...- "Of course I do."

Vernados immediately got suspicious seeing how casual I was. "Are you aware that you, your pet, and your friend down there could be put in jail or killed because of what you just said?"

"Mhmm." Casually taking a sip of alcohol, I idly watched Amara's fight start. -Well, the adolescent kid is holding out.. sort of...-

"Sir, I am going to need you and your pet to follow me." As he stood up, he looked down at me like I was some pesky rat.

"Haah..." Not in the mood to move, I motionlessly put a simple silencing barrier up around us.

The man was put on edge instantly, but thankfully he didn't do anything stupid.

-At least it looks like he has some brains...- "You are working under Bahamut, correct?"

Like I pinched a nerve, his face scrunched up. "How does a mere demihuman-"

"Haah. I'm not a demihuman, dumbass..." Casually pulling out my ID, I tossed it up to him.

After nervously snatching it out of the air, he gave it a look of scrutiny before finally reading my name. "Whyte, huh?"

It was a much more laid-back reaction than I expected. -To be that casual about figuring out he was rude to an upper noble family member, he must be from one himself...-

But instead of continuing to be demeaning like I partially expected, he momentarily lowered his head. "I sincerely apologize if I may have offended you, Sir Whyte."

Although a part of me still wanted to smack him, his respect subsided that urge for a moment. "You're fine for now. Anyway, you're really from Bahamut, correct?"

"That is correct." He was quick to respond.

"Then I have to ask.." Seeing that Amara's fight was uneventful, I finally turned to the man. "Why does Bahamut care so much about who destroyed a random noble family to send you here to find them?"

"I cannot say that, sir." It was nice that he was finally showing a bit of respect, but I still didn't like him.

-He can't say, huh? In that case...- Quickly thinking back to everything Amara had told me about the incident, I decided to make what I thought was an obvious connection.

"Is it related to the dozen or so pure and half-breed dragons that were killed in the incident?

" I was confident I was right when I spoke, but his reaction was a little unexpected.

"Huh?" He just gave me a confused look. "Sir Whyte, now isn't the time to joke."

I was totally stunned for a moment. -Wait, what? Is he serious?- "Did you really not look over a casualty report or something before you came here?"

But he only got more upset. "Sir, there was only one dragon who was reported as dead. Please do not exaggerate."

-Wait seriously? Amara wouldn't lie about something like that.

. but for that to be the case, that would mean.

..- Deciding to put all my eggs in one basket, I looked him in the eyes with a serious expression.

"Sir, I promise under Bahamut's name that there were at least 11 dragons killed in the incident. "

His eyes widened when he realized what the implications of my words were.

"If you wish to ask Amara herself, she can give you a first-hand account of the whole incident, but I think you have bigger fish to fry now."

Seeing him deep in thought, I wasn't sure whether he even heard me, but after another moment, he looked back at me. "It seems I have an urgent matter I must.. deal with. Thank you for your time, Sir Whyte. Please be aware you may be called to Bahamut in coming days."

He was quick to turn to leave, but I stopped him to say one last thing. "Hey, a bit of advice. You might want to report that kind of discrepancy to the highest level you can... I'm sure you know what I mean."

Giving a strong nod, he finally walked out of the barrier and disappeared with the use of light magic.

As my barrier finally dissipated, I couldn't help but let out a deep breath. "Haah..." -I knew something was fishy when she said there were so many dragons in that damned estate...-

*crunch* *ding-ding* "And the winner is Amara Chalkos for her 22nd consecutive win!"

As the announcer yelled out into the crowd, I looked down at Amara, who wore a pure smile, oblivious to what just happened.

-I made her dodge a bullet and she doesn't even recognize it... How should I even tell her?-