Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Mongrel Uprising (4)
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Since the quest had been generated, all I had to do now was investigate the full details of the incident.
Tiriel clenched her fist and spoke up as I declared that.
"I, I too...!"
"Huh?"
"Is there anything I can help with? Let me do something, anything! Gladiator sir!"
The wings on her back fluttered lightly.
As expected of the Seraphim race, she looked eager as if helping others was her greatest joy.
"Hmm..., then..., could I ask you for just one favor?"
"What is it? Anything, just tell me!"
Since I needed her help anyway, I decided not to turn down her goodwill.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Night had fallen.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' smirks slyly!] [Ancestor 'First King of the Beastkin' grins, baring his fangs!]
Tak!
I gazed at the moon floating in the sky, then looked down below.
My current location was the rooftop of some building in Parion.
From there, I surveyed the entirety of Parion shrouded in darkness.
'Feels like I've turned into a thief or something.'
The reason I could slip out of the Colosseum in the dead of night like this was all thanks to Tiriel.
Normally, gladiator slaves under the Colosseum couldn't leave after sunset.
But with the endorsement of Tiriel—a normal Seraphim, no less, and the Colosseum's clinic director—I'd been allowed out.
The excuse was treatment for wounds from the previous labyrinth expedition.
Traveling with Tiriel meant the guards waved us through without a second thought.
'Hope I run into them tonight...'
The reason I'd snuck out of the Colosseum specifically in the middle of the night was, naturally, to catch Anna's kidnapper.
Of course, there was no guarantee the culprits who'd snatched Anna yesterday would strike again the very next day.
But according to the slum residents, girls vanished more frequently than expected.
Two out of five had disappeared within just two days.
So the odds of them showing up tonight weren't all that low.
"Still, can't just stand around waiting. Might as well scout around."
I didn't have any proper detective experience.
But I'd played this game enough to unlock hidden characters—a true veteran.
And I'd tackled countless kidnapping-related quests along the way.
So I had my share of know-how.
'In cases like this, it's usually some vicious crime gang or a noble with a twisted hobby.'
There were no crime syndicates in Parion.
The reason was simple.
Any that popped up got their heads lopped off.
So the crime gang angle was off the table.
'Guess it's the upper crust after all.'
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
Trait: Quartet of the Wind Skill: Thread of the Wind
[Mobility enhanced / Silent traversal]
Ta-at!
I leaped lightly from the rooftop.
And using Thread of the Wind, I shot straight up to the roof of a tall building.
It was the rooftop of a mansion that screamed luxury at first glance.
'All the lights are out... This is..., an elf noble's place...'
Parion was ruled by Taira, a pure-blooded beastkin.
But it doubled as a resort haven for VIP guests from allied races.
The most esteemed among them often bought up villas here to stay.
And the mansion I'd just scaled belonged to elves.
'No signs of anything off... Guess I'll skip this one...'
This place looked clean.
Pure gut feeling.
Not entirely baseless, though.
Anna had been snatched last night.
So there should be at least some trace or reaction related to her tonight.
The elf mansion, by contrast, was eerily silent.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
Skill: Thread of the Wind (Lv. ?)
[Grapple / Swing to next rooftop]
Ta-at!
With that, I cautiously hopped from rooftop to rooftop of nearby VIP mansions, scouting the area.
I checked several mansions that way.
And it was at the fourth one.
'This... is a Draconian's mansion.'
As I gauged the owner from the entrance guards, their voices drifted up faintly.
"Man, the master's really one of a kind."
Typical idle chatter from night-shift grunts.
But since it was about this mansion's owner, I pricked up my ears.
"Kehhehe, ain't he though? Me? I'd be too terrified of knocking someone up to even try."
"As long as it's a pure-blood heir, he figures the rest ain't real kin anyway."
"Still, gotta hand it to him. Pure-blooded himself, and he'll bed any pretty face."
"Mongrels though? That's pushing it, right?"
"Hahaha! No kidding."
From the guards' banter, conviction hit me instantly.
'...Jackpot.'
Not some convoluted mystery.
Mongrel girls vanishing from the slums.
And right here, a perverted Draconian noble who doesn't mind mongrels.
Open-and-shut case.
'That fucker...'
And I already knew the star of this tired tale.
The Draconian who'd dropped by Karga's room yesterday.
Pure-blood dragonkin, Astro.
'Knew he was a creep for hitting on Karga..., but this filthy hobby...'
Sure, a pure-blood noble couldn't slum it in a mongrel whorehouse.
So he'd sicced his goons on the slums for fresh young girls.
Then just gag his underlings.
Kwaaak...
Maybe 'cause he's Cedric's spawn, it pissed me off extra.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' tilts her head in puzzlement.]
Then came Elisis's quizzical message.
She probably couldn't wrap her head around the situation.
I muttered an explanation to them like a soliloquy.
"Astro that bastard..., kidnapping mongrel girls to use as sex toys.... Fucking scum... "
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' is aghast!] [Ancestor 'The Creating Mortal' gapes in shock!] [Ancestor 'First King of the Beastkin' bristles his tail upright!] [Ancestor 'Star Prophet' clenches her fists tight!]
Looked like they'd caught on.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' cheers you on!]
I smirked at the follow-up message.
That cheer meant one thing.
——Go wreck him proper—we believe in you!
Damn right.
No way I'd let a creep like this slide.
'First things first—find the girls.'
Top priority: the kidnapped women.
Astro could wait.
I moved quietly, but swiftly.
And that's when.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Star Prophet' points downward!]
"Huh...?"
Astril tossed out an out-of-left-field message.
Down below?
But below was just the mansion roof—nothing unusual.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Star Prophet' points downward!]
"......"
But the second ping clued me in—this was Astril dropping a hint.
Star Prophet Astril.
Her prophecies via the Milky Way gave her killer intuition for navigation.
Back in my playthroughs, it'd sparkle on choice options.
She must've pinpointed the girls' location that way.
"Got it—basement, right?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Star Prophet' nods!]
Thanks to her, no time wasted.
I confirmed and slipped straight into the mansion's basement.
'...Bingo.'
The basement split into several paths.
At the end of one.
Two dragonkin guards stood watch at a door.
The only guarded room down here.
If the girls were anywhere, it'd be there.
'Guards are the issue...'
Guards for a pure-blood dragonkin's mansion.
No way they'd post hybrids.
Two standard dragonkin? My odds solo were shit.
Silently, without raising alarms? Near impossible.
'...Draw 'em off somehow, or... nah.'
I sighed, leaned against the wall, and stared at the ceiling.
I'd already mapped the bedroom where this dump's owner, Astro, holed up.
Success meant this was the cleanest play.
Problem: opponent was Cedric's blood.
Pure-blood—not strictly, but.
Cedric was Rahart's little bro, an NPC I'd maxed out as a party member back in the day.
As kin, Astro'd be a beast.
But.
——Him being Cedric's spawn was my edge.
"If it's your little brother's bloodline, you'll have to show—even if you hate it. Right?"
[......]
No reply to my mutter at thin air.
But he'd show soon enough.
To Rahart, Cedric was that kind of existence.
The real question.
Could I rein in Rahart's power?
"Fuck it—let's roll the dice."
Power I'd wielded deep once before.
Experience gave me a hunch it was doable.
Tatatak—!
With that, I left the basement behind and dashed quietly upward through the mansion.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"N-No..., please don't...,"
"Haha, putting on airs like a lady even for a mongrel."
In the mansion housing Parion's dragonkin VIP.
Its owner, Astro, leered with a sleazy grin at the cute black-haired girl before him.
"No worries—I'll pay top coin for your purity. Bet your folks'd be thrilled with the cash."
"Hic, please... "
Even talk of payment didn't stop Anna's teary headshake.
Astro, delighted, curled his lip higher.
"Dumb bitch—know how glorious it is to carry my seed? Prime pure-blood stuff. ...Get knocked up, and your kid lives as dragonkin lowly or not. Be grateful."
"Hiiik...!"
Suuuuk.
With that, Astro's hand trailed up her thigh.
Anna bolted in panic to the bed's edge.
Her terror only hyped Astro more; he chuckled gleefully, closing in.
'No..., hate it...'
Pure-blood lineage was treasured in this world.
To same-race folk, it outshone gold.
But Anna was mongrel.
To her, pure dragonkin blood was just outsider stock.
Irony of ironies—her mixed heritage amplified her disgust at his touch.
"C'mon, life's one-shot first time. Smile and savor—win-win, yeah?"
"No, I hate it...! Please, stop...!"
As Astro chuckled and Anna quaked in dread.
Knock knock knock.
"......"
"Eek, hic... "
Knock knock knock.
"Tch... Who the hell?"
An uninvited guest at Astro's bedroom.
[Direct slave of Lady Karga.]
"...Karga?"
[Yes. I bring a message from Lady Karga—apologies for the late hour.]
Karga's name flipped Astro's sour mood to a beaming smile.
'Ah, so the bitch finally caved.'
Astro's tastes were outlier even for pure-bloods.
Typical male pure-bloods didn't mind interspecies flings much.
Females were the ones who noped out entirely.
Males' raging libidos sparked interest in alien females.
Astro took it to extremes.
Regulars skipped hybrids—especially heavily mixed mongrels.
Not him. He loved claiming hybrid virgins.
'That beastkin half-breed... owner's little sis, yeah.'
Prime cuts?
Highborn blood in a hybrid body—noble stock slumming it.
Snatching Karga's first and dumping her?
The taboo thrill twisted his smirk sleazier.
"Enter."
He greenlit the slave's entry.
Zero suspicion.
Clunk.
Hwaaaak—!!
"Grk...?!"
"Gladiator sir...?"
Door swung open—Number 17 stepped in.
His potent scent flooded the room in a flash.
Astro recoiled, clapping hand over nose and mouth; Anna's eyes lit with hope.
And.
"I pay respects to the great Tyrant of dragonkin, his heir."
Number 17 bowed formally, then lifted his head for a icy glare.
His words hooked the mark—as planned.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Dragon that Scatters Karmic Flames' gazes upon you.]
'Wh-What the...?'
Simultaneously, Number 17's aura shifted—Astro's spine iced over.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Ancestor 'Dragon that Scatters Karmic Flames' narrows his eyes.]
From behind him.
Some nameless dread felt like it was watching.
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