The beastmen were completely in the dark about Fran’s Evolution. They probably felt like they were losing their minds. Telling them the whole story would be asking for trouble, and it wouldn’t hurt to keep a few secrets to ourselves.
Or so I thought.
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
Fran!
I have a plan. Fran was confident in the face of my panic.
Can you share your plan with me?
I got this.
Sure, but…
Don’t worry.
Well, if she insisted.
“On one condition.”
“Yeah? Shoot.”
“I’m looking for a Godsmith. Do you know where I can find one?”
I see. The Godsmith might be hidden by the royal family themselves. Rigdith wouldn’t give him up so easily, no matter how much he favored the Black Cats. Although, knowing him, he’d probably end up telling us anyway.
Teacher, Essence of Falsehood.
You got it.
This was how she planned to figure out the Godsmith’s whereabouts. We would find out something about him, whether the Beast King lied or told the truth.
“What do you think?” Rigdith asked Rosch.
“I…defer to Your Majesty’s wisdom on the matter.”
“Hey, no fair! Help me out here. Royce is gonna yell at me if I mess up.”
“I am a mere bodyguard.”
“If you were, you wouldn’t be calling me ‘muscle-head’ and ‘dumbass’ all the time!”
Rosch was the Beast King’s bodyguard, but he also felt like a glorified babysitter. His superior was Royce, who was taking part in the tournament today. Rigdith consulted him for a while before finally coming to a decision.
“Get over here.”
“Hm.”
The Beast King signaled for Fran to come closer. She leaned in, and Rigdith whispered into her cat ear. “There’s one in our kingdom.”
Good news. My only problem was that he was getting a little too close for comfort. Chapped lips would be the least of his problems if they brushed against Fran’s ears.
“Really?” Fran asked.
The Beast King kept feeding Fran information, unaware of my dark thoughts. “Yeah. Doesn’t like being bothered, though. Tough character to meet.”
“Just tell me where he is.”
“That one respects my office even less than you do. Well, come over and I’ll write you a personal introduction.”
“You don’t mind?”
“As long as you tell me your secret.”
“Sure. I’m using a skill.” Fran told them about Stealth Evolution.
“Stealth Evolution…never heard of it.”
“But it does explain how she can conceal her form.”
Neither of them had heard of the skill before, which led them to think that it was exclusive to Black Sky Tigers. The two had yet to wrap their minds around Fran’s Evolution.
Teacher?
He’s telling the truth. He knows where the Godsmith is and he fully intends to introduce you.
So we need to visit the Beastman Nation.
Sounds like it.
“Sorry to leave you out of the discussion after you came all the way here to see us.” Rosch apologized, mistaking Fran’s conversation with me for silence.
“No problem. Can I go now?”
“Yes. That is all we wanted to ask. Thank you for the valuable information.”
“Hm.”
“If you don’t mind, we would love to continue this conversation once things settle down.”
“Sure.” Details would have to wait until after the tournament.
“Thank you so much. These are for you. They’re not much, but it’s the least we can do after calling you here.”
“What’s this?” Fran took the two tickets from Rosch.
“These are tickets for the assigned seats. You’re going to watch the fights after this, right?”
“You’re famous now,” said the Beast King. “People will spot you in the stands as soon as they see you. They’ll swarm all over you.”
“Which is why you should use these. They are a safe distance away from the stands, and no one will try and talk to you there.”
“Thanks. But why two?”
“The other one’s for your familiar. Consider it a reward for locking down Godo so well.” The Beast King smiled as he remembered Jet’s fight.
“Imagine my surprise when His Majesty insisted that the wolf get a ticket.”
“Sorry,” Fran said.
“Oh, it’s not your fault. My foolish king is to blame.”
“Why are you putting this one on me?!”
“Because it’s your fault. But seriously, it’s not like anyone’s losing out from this transaction. I trust that you will entertain Lord Solberd.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The Beast King had bought the tickets off a beastman aristocrat who had come to the tournament for a good old-fashioned brawl. The noble wasn’t one to hold grudges against his liege, especially when the Beast King had invited him to the VIP room to watch the fights. It was a perfect chance to curry favor.
“We figured you wouldn’t want to watch the fights from here.”
“Hm.”
The passage leading to the assigned seats was spacious. The other guests saw Fran, but no one attempted to talk to her, probably because they were afraid of the direwolf at her side. I didn’t blame them. Jet’s tail stood at the ready, his face fixed with excitement for the coming match. Adrenaline coursed through Fran’s blood, making her look more intimidating than usual. I didn’t think a civilian would dare approach them. I enjoyed the privacy, so I let Jet play guard dog today.
Match still hasn’t started.
“Hm.”
“Woof.”
Perhaps it was because we’d blown up the arena. They were still in the middle of fixing the ring with Earth Magic. Maintenance mages were in the process of drawing out a magic circle. Twenty minutes went by before a new arena was formed and the combatants entered. Fran had finished her meal and was prepared to watch the battle.
The second match of the day was Amanda versus Elza.
“It’s been a while, Elza.”
“Oh, yes. You look beautiful as ever…”
Amanda’s confident smile earned a dreamy look from Elza. Her eyes were those of a maiden in love, and I remembered Dias saying that Elza was into both men and women.
“Ugh. I see you haven’t changed, either,” Amanda said.
“I love those cold eyes of yours! You’re slaying me!”
The air around Amanda started to grow heavy, and the match hadn’t even started. The two of them talked like they had known each other for ages. More importantly, who were we supposed to root for? The match began before I could decide.
“Haaaa!”
“Graaaah!”
“Too slow!”
“Speedy as usual, I see.”
Elza stood in place as Amanda pelted her
