Black Dragon Slayer.
That was what they called themselves.
It felt a little too similar to Ulza's Dragon Slayer, but…
The customers at the large table in the back gave up their seats.
The Ashinto group sat down there.
"Hurry and bring the drinks! We are also the saviors of Ulza!"
Rumors were rumors.
Self-proclaimed was self-proclaimed.
Even so, it could not be outright called a lie.
They might really have killed the Five Dragon Warriors.
No one could definitively say otherwise.
No one except those who had been at the scene.
Still, they were bold.
There was no sense of sneaking around.
The collapse of the strongest knight order.
One would think countries would be moving, yet…
Or perhaps Ulza had already skillfully taken them in…?
The tavern customers gave off an atmosphere of not wanting to get involved.
I observed the Ashinto group.
For now they did not have the same intimidating presence as Shibito.
Not even close.
From what I could see they were simply enjoying themselves in the tavern.
It seemed fine to leave them alone for the moment.
I wanted them to work hard as my decoy for the time being.
The tavern customers gradually returned to their own pace.
I drained my water and spoke to Seras.
"Once we finish the remaining food, shall we head back to the inn?"
I had at least memorized the faces of the Ashinto members who had entered.
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
I waited for Seras to finish eating.
She was not a light eater.
But each bite she took was very small.
So her eating speed was slow.
Seras hurriedly tried to bring food to her mouth.
"…Take your time."
"I am sorry. Am… mogu, mogu…"
While I waited, conversation from the neighboring table reached me.
"So those guys are the Black Dragon Slayers?"
"Did they really curse them to death?"
"Well, even if someone else killed them, they can just say 'it was thanks to our curse working,' and that's that."
I see.
There was that way of looking at it too.
"Even if someone else killed them, those were the Five Dragon Warriors. Who could it be? The famous strong ones were not in Ulza at the time, right? Ah, and let's set aside the convenient mutual kill with the now-dead Seras Ashrain."
"Mguuugu."
Seras patted her chest in distress.
She seemed unused to her name suddenly coming up.
She was surprisingly careless in that regard.
The men continued talking.
"If we are talking about someone who has not appeared yet but could beat the Five Dragon Warriors, maybe that leopard person from the blood arena?"
"Ah~, that one really is a monster."
There were famous figures in the blood arena too.
"Oh, has the Forbidden Witch come up yet?"
"You mean that witch said to be in the Great Ruins Belt? She is a dark elf, right?"
"I heard she uses insanely powerful great sorcery. If it is that Forbidden Witch, could she not kill the Five Dragon Warriors?"
"But no one has seen her for over ten years, right? She lives in that terrifying Great Ruins Belt, so whether she is even alive—"
"Actually? There is apparently someone in this royal capital who has met the Forbidden Witch."
Hm?
"And they even know where she is."
"You mean somewhere in the Great Ruins Belt? Even I know that much."
"No, no. They know exactly where in the demon zone she is."
"Is that person an acquaintance of the witch or something?"
"I do not know that far, but… prepare to be surprised? The name of the person who knows the Forbidden Witch's location is none other than—"
"Hehehe, I have no interest in that story. Who cares about some dark elf whose survival is even in doubt."
The other man cut the conversation short.
"More importantly, they say a prostitute who looks like the goddess of Alion has entered Abrom's brothel?"
"Heh? And?"
"But in reality her face was nothing like the goddess, so the enraged Duke Zuan supposedly beheaded the prostitute right there!"
"Wahahaha! And it became public!"
"And then the next thing the duke demanded was a prostitute who looked like the Saint of Jonato—"
The conversation had drifted.
A person acquainted with the Forbidden Witch.
I wanted to hear who it was.
I grabbed several silver coins and rose from my seat.
"Mogu mogu… My lord?"
"I will be right back."
I placed my hand on an empty seat at the men's table.
"Excuse me. May I join you at this seat?"
"Huh? What is it, kid?"
"Sorry for the sudden intrusion. I would really like to hear the rest of the story about the person who met the Forbidden Witch."
"Ah~?"
The man who had brought up the prostitute story looked displeased.
"What the hell? Barging in all of a sudden—"
"Ah, before that, allow me to treat you to a drink each… no, two drinks each. Please order one dish each as well. Of course I will cover it."
The displeased man's expression changed completely.
"—Wahahaha! That is right, that is right! It was the story of the Forbidden Witch! Sorry, sorry! I ended up cutting the conversation short! To tell the truth I was interested in that story too!"
The other man also got on board.
"Good, boy! Satisfying intellectual curiosity is one of the pleasures of youth! All right, we will teach you! Hey miss, another round of the same drinks!"
This time I was invited to sit.
They were easier than expected.
"The one who apparently met the Forbidden Witch is the blood gladiator hailed as the strongest in Monroy. Her name is Eve Speed."
A blood gladiator, huh.
"Is the information Eve has different from the commonly heard 'she is in the Golden Demon Zone'?"
"No, they say she knows exactly which part of the demon zone. She apparently let it slip once to a fellow blood gladiator."
"So it could be unreliable…?"
"Maybe! But we still get the drinks, right!?"
"Yes, of course."
"All right, I like you!"
The men laughed heartily.
"…"
The location of the Forbidden Witch.
She was said to be in the Golden Demon Zone.
She was apparently a dark elf.
That was about all the information I had obtained so far.
Yeah…
Meeting that blood gladiator once might be a good idea.
"How can I meet this Eve?"
"Just go to the blood arena, right? That monster apparently even sleeps there. Well, these days she sometimes wanders around normally. If you can get through to Duke Zuan who runs the blood arena, you should be able to meet her easily."
"I see. Thank you. Well then, I will be going—"
A loud stir rose from the direction of the tavern's main door.
The man next to me placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, you are in luck, boy."
Light leather armor.
A sword at the waist.
A slender build.
Though slim, there seemed to be muscle.
But what first caught the eye was something else.
A leopard head.
It was not the sort of thing where a human form had some beast elements mixed in.
It was almost exactly the leopard head I had seen on the internet.
A bipedal humanoid form.
Yellow, black, and brown fur.
Should I call her a leopard person?
From her body shape she seemed to be female.
"Wahaha, is this your first time seeing a leopard person? Well, they are a rare race, so it is no wonder you are surprised."
Pon.
The man next to me slapped my shoulder.
"That is Monroy's strongest blood gladiator, Eve Speed."