The Tiger's Path
Thanks to the information extracted through torture, a new milestone had emerged. We would head to the Holy Kingdom, dismantle the illegal slave market, and rescue the kidnapped elves of Yudica. The risk was enormous, but the potential rewards if we succeeded were equally massive.
First, I could become a hero to the elves. Who could possibly hate someone who crossed into another country at great personal risk to save their abducted kin? When mixed with my interspecies affinity pheromone, I’d become an unrivaled star in their eyes.
Second, I could apply political pressure on the Silverion Holy Kingdom. The mere fact that another nation had commissioned criminals to kidnap their own citizens would be enough to flip the country upside down. Moreover, Yudica was a kingdom advancing through the unique technologies of elves and various other races. The revelation that they had abducted citizens specifically to steal those technologies would make international condemnation unavoidable. Of course, most humans had probably just been bewitched by elven beauty and dragged them off to fuck them, but we could simply twist the narrative however we wanted. The core issue was that they had stolen people from another country. Once this incident came to light, Silverion would have no choice but to pay Yudica an enormous amount of compensation. And my unauthorized border crossing could be conveniently overlooked. After all, I had simply followed the kidnappers’ trail to recover the missing elves—what else could they say?
Third, this operation could completely ruin the ambitious plan Cardinal Chaluto was preparing. If he was involved in the elf kidnappings, his position would sink to the bottom. Of course, being the sly bastard he was, there was a high chance he would cut off his own tail at the appropriate moment to escape responsibility. Even if he managed to avoid blame, it wouldn’t matter. The Pope would likely use this atrocity as an excuse to scrap Chaluto’s plans entirely. In a supposedly holy nation where kidnapping and slavery scandals were exploding left and right, who would dare talk about systemic reorganization? The Pope would consider rooting out these serious crimes the top priority, and the citizens of the Holy Kingdom would support him. Chaluto’s plan would naturally be pushed to the back burner. If he tried to force it through while public sentiment was this volatile, he’d only get beaten down for it.
“Just like you said, I asked Aquila to send the kidnappers over to the elves.”
“Thank you.”
“But we’ve already squeezed every last bit of useful information out of them. Is there any reason to keep those bastards alive?”
“Yes. They still hold value as witnesses.”
The more evidence and witnesses we had, the better. If Silverion conducted its own investigation and linked it to the kidnappers, it would create an inescapable situation. That was why we needed to keep them alive for now.
“What if they escape? Those guys are ridiculously good at running away, you know?”
“Hmm. After the brutal torture they endured, do you really think they’d have the nerve to try escaping? If you’re going to worry, you should worry about suicide rather than escape. They’re probably thinking that once we return, they’ll be thrown back into that same agony again.”
“With the elves watching them and Aquila’s saliva, they won’t be able to kill themselves.”
“There’s no such thing as absolute in this world. Let’s hurry up, rescue the elves, gather the evidence, and get out before they try anything stupid.”
Scarlet nodded. We turned to head back across the mountains into Silverion Holy Kingdom territory when a voice called out from behind us.
“W-wait! Please wait a moment!”
“Cattreya?”
“The spirits told me everything you two were discussing. You’re heading to the Holy Kingdom to bring back our captured kin, right?”
“That’s correct. If you intend to report this to His Majesty Sherdin, then…”
“I have no intention of doing that! That’s not what’s important right now!”
Cattreya shouted, but unlike our first meeting, there was no trace of hatred or anger in her voice this time. It was purely the cry of someone driven by desperation.
“Then is there some other problem?”
“There are plenty of problems, but even if I pointed them out, you wouldn’t listen to me anyway.”
“I’m not that closed-minded. If an opinion makes sense, I accept it properly.”
The only times I treated others harshly were when they were far more likely to be beasts than people—arrogant, greedy creatures who constantly tried to steal what belonged to others. Giving those kinds of scum any human treatment only hurt me in the end. I had been harsh with Cattreya because she had seemed like just another arrogant person. She was simply a proud bitch who instinctively acted domineering. That’s all.
Seeing how she cared for her own kind and was even willing to offer up her own asshole for others, I didn’t think her heart was truly rotten. She was the future queen who, with proper training, would gladly spread her legs for me in the audience chamber someday. Royal sex on the throne—just imagining it was thrilling.
“Then, if you’ll forgive my rudeness, may I ask you for one favor?”
“What is it?”
“In the elven forest, there was a tiger beastman who was always friendly with us. Her name is Kasha. After the elves started disappearing, she suddenly vanished without a trace.”
“She disappeared at the same time as the abductions…”
“I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering if Kasha might be connected to the kidnapping incident, right?”
I nodded silently. The circumstances made it look like she had sold out the elves’ location to humans and then fled. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for her to vanish so suddenly.
“At first, we thought the same. That Kasha had betrayed us and helped kidnap the elves. But that wasn’t the case.”
“Why are you so certain?”
“Because the first elf to go missing, Arnai, was Kasha’s best friend.”
“Just because they were best friends doesn’t mean she couldn’t have been a traitor. That’s hard to accept.”
“The reason we can be certain she wasn’t a traitor is because of the news we received about Kasha afterward.”
Even though equality was supposedly one of their doctrines, in the Silverion Holy Kingdom, some privileged elites abused their power for personal gain. To fight against that, Kasha had created a resistance organization within Silverion and was actively working there.
“We thought she was a traitor. But if the Silverion Holy Kingdom is truly behind the disappearances, then Kasha, who is operating as a resistance fighter…”
“Even though she was branded a traitor simply because she didn’t want to drag other elves into it, she’s still fighting alone.”
“Yes. Due to our position, we elves can’t meet with Kasha, let alone go to Silverion. But we believe you could meet her. That’s why I’m asking.”
“Exactly what do you want me to do?”
“…Please make sure to bring the elves back to the kingdom together with Kasha. If you do that, I and all the other elves will swear before the World Tree that we will support you forever.”
I said nothing. I simply turned my back. I could have gladly accepted the request, but I didn’t want to classify pure altruism—helping others with no expectation of reward—as a mere “quest.” Even if Cattreya offered no compensation, I intended to help Kasha anyway. So I gave no answer and simply started walking toward the Holy Kingdom.
She’s probably going to get angry and accuse me of ignoring her now, right?
I imagined what Cattreya would do next. Just as I wondered if she might even try to block my path, Scarlet suddenly tapped my shoulder and gestured for me to look behind us. When I turned my head, the sight was completely different from what I had expected.
Cattreya was bowing deeply at a perfect ninety-degree angle toward me. My prediction about what was in her heart had been completely wrong. Instead, it seemed she had seen straight through mine.
“Ha…!”
A dry laugh escaped me involuntarily. This wouldn’t do. If I successfully rescued the elves and Kasha from the Holy Kingdom, I would have to ask her to sleep with me. As payment for completely shattering my expectations, I’d make her sob and cry out on the bed.
“There she is!”
“We can’t let her get away!”
“This time we’ll definitely catch her!”
In Ruil, a small city on the outskirts of the Silverion Holy Kingdom, hurried footsteps echoed through the back alleys. A beastman was desperately running while carrying an unconscious, naked elven woman on her back. Her head was covered with a cloak, but a tiger tail poked out from underneath.
“Ugh…! We’re almost there…! Just a little more, you can do it, Kasha. You’ve got this, Kasha! I’m proud of you, Kasha!”
The tiger beastman Cattreya had mentioned—Kasha—was muttering to herself as if casting a hypnotic spell. It seemed to be working. Even as she panted with her breath reaching all the way to her chin, she never stopped moving for even a second. She was bleeding heavily from injuries sustained during her escape, yet Kasha kept running. All the way to the hideout she had prepared.
But the moment she turned at the fork in the road toward the direction of her hideout, despair filled Kasha’s face.
“Finally caught you, you damn cat bitch…!”
“We figured you’d run this way, so we were waiting in advance.”
“Tsk…!”
When she tried to turn the other way, soldiers who had already been lying in ambush there approached as well. She was completely surrounded. Kasha gritted her teeth and tried to back away, but the back of the elf she had rescued bumped against the wall. Considering a tiger beastman’s physical abilities, she could have easily escaped by climbing the wall if she abandoned the elf. But Kasha didn’t want to do that. Because her closest friend in the world had sacrificed herself for her sake, she could not lose another elven friend.
Kasha steeled herself for death and extended her sharp claws. She resolved to at least break through the front line and send the elf back home, even if it cost her life. Just as she was about to charge forward—
“Guh?!”
“Aaaargh!”
“Kuhk!”
The knights standing in front of Kasha all let out short death cries and collapsed at once. Behind them, Alvin appeared and slowly walked toward her.
Since Alvin was also human, Kasha did not let down her guard. Instead, she lunged at him with her claws raised. Just before her claws could reach his face, he effortlessly grabbed her arm, yanked it hard, and pulled her behind him.
“Go on ahead. I’ll take care of this place.”
“Huh…?”
“What are you standing there dazed for? Hurry up and go.”
“O-okay!”
Receiving kindness from a human for the first time, Kasha looked utterly bewildered. But this wasn’t a situation where she could afford to refuse help, so she ran straight toward the hideout.
Meanwhile, the Holy Kingdom’s soldiers were absolutely furious. They had almost caught Kasha, only for some random bastard to make them lose her. Seeing their faces twisted with rage, Alvin shrugged his shoulders with a sly expression.
“You bastard! Do you even realize what you’ve done?!”
“I just protected a woman from a pack of criminals who go around gang-raping women.”
“It’s the opposite! The criminal isn’t us—it’s that beastman!”
“Oh, is that so? But no matter how I look at it, you guys seem like the trash here.”
“Tsk! So you’re working with her. Can’t be helped then. We’ll execute you right here and carry out justice.”
“Justice? You people are talking about justice…”
At the word “justice” that came out of the Silverion soldiers’ mouths, Alvin let out a short, mocking laugh. With a derisive sneer on his lips, he pointed his sword at the soldiers.
“Looks like the villain has arrived, you little shits.”