782: Tzaluta Camellia

「Thank you for your assistance. I am the Warrior Chief Chelsea, and I am in charge of this unit.」

「I am Orfalve, Queen of Snorabbit. You are the warriors of the western coast, I presume?」

「Yes. That is correct.」

Surprisingly, a female dragonkin was leading the unit. I had subconsciously assumed that she was a man after hearing she was a “warrior chief”.

The female dragonkin in front of us wore dark blue scales the same color as her hair. Those scales stood out against her chocolate brown skin.

She was nearly two meters tall, which seemed to be a little taller than the average dragonkin. Her dashing appearance combined with her cornrow braided hair made her look very handsome.

Female warriors are apparently not uncommon among the dragonkin, and they are sometimes even stronger than males because they are more talented at controlling magic. As proof, Chelsea was very strong, and would be more than a match for Colbert.

Also, blue-scaled dragonkin like her have talent in the widely valued water magic. The ability to create water is a tremendous advantage in the harsh environments of Gordicia.

I heard that many dragonkin were arrogant, but Chelsea had no such attitude. She sounded a bit like a haughty military officer at first, but her attitude toward Orfalve was very reverent.

That respect also applied to Hilt and Fran. She was not lying when she said she was among the moderate dragonkin.

Even when Fran asked her a few questions about the dragonkin, she answered politely.

「Warrior chief, the first aid for the wounded has completed.」

「I see. Then have them get ready to evacuate immediately.」

「Yes!」

「And call Tzaluta-dono over here.」

Their unit consisted of more than just dragonkin. The messenger just now was a half-dragonkin, and there were human soldiers mixed in as well. The emblems on the armor of the dragonkin, half-dragonkin, and humans were different, so perhaps they belonged to different organizations.

The magician who had been summoned by Chelsea was also a human. She was wearing a robe with a flower emblem on it, just like the other human soldiers.

She had short-cut brown wavy hair and a sleepy look. She must have been about 155 cm, but she looked much smaller when standing next to the huge Chelsea.

「You wanted to see me, Chelsea-dono?」

「Indeed. This is Orfalve-sama, Queen of Snorabbit. Brunen-dono, Admiral of the Belioth Kingdom. Hiltoria-dono, the current head of the Dimitris school. And Fran-dono, the Black Lightning Princess.」

Chelsea had a discerning eye to introduce these four first. She must have immediately recognized not only their abilities but also the power relations among the rescue teams.

「Orfalve-sama, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?」

「Indeed. The drink you offered me previously was really something!」

「That event was merely a coincidence. It’s a pleasure to meet the rest of you. I am Tzaluta Camellia, captain of the Camellia mercenaries.」

「I see, a mercenary company. Are you employed by the dragonkin?」

Hilt was also interested in them and listened to what she had to say.

The Camellia Mercenaries were based on the Camellia family, which was originally something like a noble family in Gordicia.

When the continent of Gordicia was destroyed, they started a group of mercenaries with their subjects and have been fighting ever since to regain their homeland.

But Fran seemed to have doubts about that story. I did too.

Because we’ve heard of the Camellia family before. They’re one of the three great families of Gordicia, along with Romeo’s Magnolia family.

I don’t know all the details, but they had the blessings of the Evil God. Well, it seemed that somewhere along the line, their faith changed from being blessed to being the guardians of the Evil God’s seal.

And long ago, they were supposed to have been attacked and destroyed by the dragonkin seeking the Evil God Fragments.

「The Camellia family is fighting alongside with dragonkin? Why?」

「Do you know of the Three Gordician Families by any chance?」

「Nn. I’ve heard a little bit about them.」

Not to say we know everything about them, but we do know that their bloodline has a special power. For example the Magnolia family had the ability “Evil God’s Communion” that allowed them to absorb the power of fiends.

However, I am not sure it would be a good idea to speak publicly about it here…

But there was no need to worry.

「So, do you also know about the power that resides in our blood?」

She brought up the subject herself.

「I know that there is a mysterious power in your blood. I also heard that the dragonkin destroyed you all.」

「Oh, now that’s an interesting story.」

Hilt also became curious.

「I see, so that’s why you asked that… Yes, I suppose you might find it strange if you were aware.」

Of course, her ancestors had some resentment toward the dragonkin. But they had more deep seated regret at the theft of the Evil God Fragment and it being used as a material to create the Abyss Eater.

They decided to put aside their hatred and fight alongside some of the more decent dragonkin.

It’s just that their descendants’ grudge against the dragonkin dulled over the years. Apparently, they still continued the mercenary business, half out of a sense of duty and half just because it pays the bills.

「The power coming from the bloodline of the Camellia family is effective in the war against antidemons.」

「Does it work even if they aren’t fiends?」

「The source of the antidemons, the Abyss Eater, contains a fragment of the Evil God. Therefore, antidemons also contain a small amount of evil energy.」

The evil energy of the lower class antidemons was weaker than that of goblins, which made it difficult to detect since the Abyss Eater’s evil energy covered the entire continent.

However, the evil energy of the knight-types and above were rather dense. Like she said, I could easily sense the evil energy from the knight-type earlier.

「My power has the effect of slowing down those with evil energy, so it is very effective against the antidemon hordes.」

「Slowing down fiends? To think there was a bloodline with a power like that…」

「Many people are surprised when they hear about it for the first time. From my point of view, it’s like a talent I’ve been able to use since I was very young.」

This continent was where they can most effectively use the power that resides in the bloodline of the leader. That made it such an excellent hunting ground that none of them thought of leaving.

The Camellia mercenaries didn’t seem to care much for their tragic past. Although it wasn’t as if they enjoyed this job either, they weren’t forcing themselves to be mercenaries in order to avenge their ancestors’ deaths or anything.

They were simply continuing their work as mercenaries in a business-like manner.

「Fran-dono, do you by any chance know the descendants of families other than Camellia?」

「Nn.」

「Where are they now?」

「…I can’t tell you because I don’t know if I should.」

「Oh, that’s true. I had forgotten about it since we don’t hide anything, but if we went to other continents, we could easily be persecuted as an wicked bloodline.」

Yeah, it’s certainly not information that can be passed around without permission.

「I’m sorry to interrupt this lively conversation, but I think it’s time for us to leave.」

「You’re right. Understood, Chelsea-dono.」

They had just finished recovering the magical tools that the dragonkin had used to build a simple encampment.

『We’re going back to Brunen.』

（Nn.）

The Camellia family, huh? She said she could slow down fiends, but I bet she could do even more if she fully activated her powers. The same thing was true of the Evil God’s Communion.

She didn’t tell us the name of her ability… Well, I guess she wouldn’t want to mention a creepy skill name like “Evil God’s ___” in the presence of Hilt and others.

I wonder what kind of power it is?

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