272. Guendalfa

Guendalfa

Translator: SupremeTentacle

Editor: Exkalamity

Urushi, full of spirit, raced non-stop down the highway connecting Roserraccoon and Vestia. After a mere eight hours of travel, we spotted the capital city looming in the horizon. This was the first time I had travelled to any capital city since reincarnating as a sword, so I was absolutely stunned by the sight. Barbara was the largest city I’d been to so far and it paled in comparison to Vestia. It was night time, so the whole city was illuminated by torchlight and magical fire. The flickering lights dancing on the massive 20 meter high ramparts were magnificent to behold. The Royal Castle could be seen standing tall over the walls and towering over the city. Its spire was easily the tallest building I had seen yet, easily visible even from a distance.

“You’ll think they’ll let us in at this time of night?”

“Nnn… Don’t mind camping out.”

“Yeah but I’d rather we not. Let’s just keep that in mind as a backup plan.”

Some cities closed their gates after dark as a preventive measure against thieves and monsters, and I wasn’t sure if the capital had similar policies. As we approached, we thankfully found that the gates were still open. Merchants and adventurers were lined up outside the gate in an orderly fashion. There appeared to be some formal procedures that must be taken care of before being allowed to enter. As expected of a capital city, the security was much tighter.

We joined a line that was around twenty people long with Urushi once again in his smaller form. People were already nervous because it was night time and we didn’t want to exacerbate that by having a giant wolf suddenly appear in front of them.

I wanted to casually join the line without drawing any attention but apparently Fran stands out a bit too much for that. We’re getting a lot of stares.

It seemed people were surprised to see a girl her age travelling with only a wolf by her side. Even more so that she was a black catkin, which was supposed to be the weakest of the beastkin tribes. Those that curiously observed her would realize that she had evolved, which caused them to be taken aback.

“Huh, wha?”

“Are my eyes actually working?”

“No way! It’s her, the…”

“Dude, it’s the Black Lightning Princess.”

“Black Lightning Princess? Who’s that?”

The merchants and adventurers around us whispered in hushed voices. But since we’re already used to it, Fran, Urushi, and I paid no heed to it. After waiting in line for a few minutes, we were approached by three catkin.

“Umm… sorry to bother you. Are you perhaps the Black Lightning Princess?”

“Nn?”

“We call ourselves The Six Whiskers. We’re a party of catkin. We’re huge fans of you and your accomplishments. ”

The speaker was a young red catkin. Standing behind him were his companions, another red catkin who looked to be in his twenties and an older blue catkin likely in his thirties or forties.

“Dang… She really did evolve.”

“Looks like those rumors were true.”

The two whispered to one another. I was on guard against the blue catkin. I expected him to try badmouthing Fran, but he did nothing of the sort. If anything, his face showed only a look of admiration.

Huh, I’m surprised to see a blue catkin that isn’t a scumbag. Though, I probably shouldn’t be, given the Beast Lord’s black catkin-related reforms. [1]

In the end, the Six Whiskers didn’t have any particular business with Fran besides wanting to greet her. They were mostly interested in her because she evolved. At first, I got a little nervous over questions that might expose the exploit we used to evolve her, but thankfully that didn’t come up. Our discussions did however inform them about the conditions needed for black catkin to evolve. We explained to them that black catkin needed to either slay a thousand Evil Beings or defeat an A ranked one in single combat to evolve. It was good way to kill some time while waiting in line.

As more people started to approach us, a huge figure suddenly cut in through the crowd. The man stood two meters tall and was emanating a clear aura of hostility.

“Hey you,” he said. “Are you the brat they call the ‘Black Lightning Princess’?”

“Nn? Mhm.”

“Gwahaha! My shitty uncle must be losing it if he even lost to a brat like you!”

I was filled with an unpleasant feeling when he burst into laughter. I appraised him and saw that he was a white rhinokin, not yet evolved. His name was Guendalfa. Given his race and the similarity of the names, I could only think of one acquaintance that he could possibly be related to: Goldalfa, the white rhinokin and Beast Lord’s guard that fought Fran in the tournament at Ulmutt and lost.

“Hey Fran. I think this guy’s related to Goldalfa.”

“Goldalfa’s acquaintance?” she said.

“Hah!” he snorted. “A little brat is addressing you without a title. Look how far you’ve fallen.” He pointed to his chest. “I am Guendalfa. The one you speak of, Goldalfa, is a coward. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s my father’s older brother.”

“Coward?”

Fran’s face twitched in annoyance. Goldalfa was a warrior Fran came to respect through fierce battle. She did not like some condescending little shit disrespecting him.

“He’s a fucking coward,” said Guendalfa. “He threw away his position of patriarch of our clan just to become the Beast Lord’s little bitch.”

“Not coward. Strong, brave warrior!”

“Strong? After losing to someone as fucking puny as you? What a joke. How about I kick your little ass and prove how much of a pussy he really is?”

“You’re free to take him down but be mindful of our surroundings.” I tried to calm Fran down. “We don’t want to be refused entry because we caused a scene.”

“Nn. Change locations.” said Fran.

“Haaaaaaah?” he sneered. “Why? You scared? Come at me, brat!”

“Don’t wanna cause a scene.”

“Stuff your bitch-ass mouth and just fucking do it!”

Fran did not respond.

“Hey Fran. Calm down a bit. Rather, you’re totally ready to go at it aren’t you!?”

“No problem. Instant victory.”

Welp we’ve passed the point of no return.

The crowd began to shout.

“Don’t worry Black Lightning Princess!”

“We’ll testify that he started it!”

“Go kick his ass!”

Oi! Peanut Gallery! Don’t encourage her dammit!

I quickly used Stonewall to enclose Guendalfa and Fran to block them from the surroundings.

“Take this. Awakening. Brilliant Lightning Rush. Serious Punch.”

“Guboh-!” Fran’s lightning straight landed square on Guendalfa’s chest.

“-GWUAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

ONE PUNCH FRAN!

Guendalfa was sent flying, crashing straight through the stonewall I erected. His armor was completely caved in and blood was flying from his mouth.

Fran shook her wrist.

“Hmph. So weak for talking so big?”

***

[1] For those that don’t remember. The beast lord’s reforms fought back against black catkin slavery and effectively ran a lot of blue catkin out of their original line of work. Master is stating that fewer of them are criminals because they had to pick up more respectable jobs.