Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 300 Mission: 02-1 Salamander
"So, why did it become like this?"

In the audience room of the branch of [Salamanda] established at 4000000 Outer Gate, the eleven-year-old Ren Russell, the leader of [Nameless], finally saw his companions again.

His eyebrows drooped and his eyelids drooped, and his sad sigh was full of exhaustion and helplessness.

"This was a request from Shiroyasha. I was just responsible for warming up for the festival."

Izayoi smugly put the blame on Shiroyasha himself, who had sent out the invitation, while Kuro Usagi beside him slapped him on the back of the head: "Don't think of yourself as representing Shiroyasha only at times like this, you big idiot!"

Seeing this scene, Jin crouched down with his head in his hands. As the "leader" responsible for negotiating with other communities on behalf of [Nameless], his headaches had barely subsided in the month since summoning these three. Precisely because of their immense strength and talent, these three new companions were also incredibly self-centered, causing countless problems.

In comparison... this time it might be easier to solve.

"Forget it, Black Rabbit. Since I called you here, I can't escape responsibility for what happened anyway." Shiroyasha, who was watching from the sidelines, covered his uncontrollable mouth with a paper fan and turned to the topic, "Let the main character of the festival, the leader of [Salamandra], decide how to handle this matter."

"Humph!"

The one who snorted coldly was the leader of the guards who had arrested Izayoi and Kuro Usagi, the humanoid fire dragon Mandra. "But a mere [Nameless], how dare you disrupt our [Salamanda] festival! This matter should naturally be severely punished—"

"Alright, Mandela," Bai Yasha said gently, stopping him and closing her folding fan. A smile crossed her lips, but her eyes were a bit cold. "The decision should be made by the 'leader' of [Salamandra], right?"

You are overstepping your authority by doing this—Shiroyasha said this with his eyes.

Mandela shut up in displeasure.

On the crimson-gold throne at the end of the audience room, a girl with red hair like Mandela and about the same age as Ren stood up and said calmly:
"The [Hokuniwa Nobles] and their allies are grateful for your participation in the Fire Dragon Birth Festival. The streets you two destroyed have already been repaired thanks to the kindness of Master Shiroyasha..."

This statement defined the incident: First, [Nameless] wasn't just any [Nameless], but rather "[Hokuniwa Nobles] and their allies," invited guests. Secondly, there were no casualties, and the economic losses had already been compensated. Under these circumstances, it shouldn't be used to embarrass the guests.

Mandela turned his head away and made a resentful "tsk" sound with his tongue.

The leader had already said this, and no matter how dissatisfied he was, he couldn't refute it, even if the leader was a child under the age of twelve. So the matter was closed, and Kuro Usagi and Izayoi would not be punished for this.

The only problem was that Shiroyasha and Thousand Eyes had to pay for this. However, according to Shiroyasha, this invitation was originally intended to reward Wuming, and the travel expenses and the repair costs were only part of it.

However, the fact that they had to be paid for an invitation to a festival seemed to speak volumes.

Both Hakuyasha and the leader of [Salamandra], Sandora, signaled for the extra people to leave, and soon only Sandora, Mandela, Hakuyasha, and the three people from [Nameless] were left in the hall.

It was clear that the invitation from Shiroyasha wasn't just an invitation, but also an offer of employment, initiated by none other than Sandora, the leader of [Salamanda]. Mandela, who was responsible for assisting the young leader, was naturally aware of this, but his frown clearly showed his opposition. His dislike for [Wuming] was palpable.

"Jin, long time no see!"

However, unlike Mandela, as soon as the others left, Sandora happily put aside the airs of a leader she had been holding and trotted over from the throne.

To be honest, it's hard not to wonder how much selfish motive there was in her invitation to Wuming.

"Well, Sandra, you still look so energetic..."

Seeing the two of them suddenly acting so harmoniously, Mandela, who was standing nearby, instantly flew into a rage. He drew the knife from his waist and pointed it at Ren Russell: "Watch your attitude, [Nameless] brat! Sandora is not the same as the leader of a rubbish community like you!"

"Brother Mandela!" Sandra hurriedly stood in front of Ren, "After all, the other party was once an ally, and it was us who took the initiative to break the alliance. If we really want to talk about etiquette, shouldn't we be the first to apologize!"

"Becoming an ally of the Nameless Community will only make Salamander a laughing stock! Sandra, you don't understand at all..."

It was truly a good show, and Izayoi even wanted to grab a bucket of popcorn to watch. Unfortunately, there was no popcorn, so he could only quietly turn his head and ask Kuro Usagi, "Wumi and Salamander were once allies? It doesn't seem like that happened all that long ago."

"Well... until three years ago, when [Nameless] was attacked by the Demon King and his flag was taken away, everyone had a good relationship."

Kuroto's tone was a little low, as it always was when she mentioned the incident "three years ago".

"Eh—so when the Demon King attacked, not only did [Salamandra] not come to rescue its allies, it also abandoned the alliance."

Izayoi didn't lower his voice at all, which made Mandela's eyebrows jump again, as if he was about to really take action.

"I'm truly sorry, but my father happened to be seriously ill at the time, and [Salamanda] simply couldn't spare the time to go and help him."

"That's really not possible." After Sandora lowered her head to explain the reason, Ren also quickly responded: "But I never thought that it would be you, Sandora, who would inherit [Salamanda]."

Izayoi shrugged, provoking Mandela with his eyes, and silently said, "See, this is called sensible."

As for why the young Sandora inherited the leadership position despite having an older brother, it was easy to understand—it was because Mandela was too weak. As an adult fire dragon, Mandela was a "defective product," and perhaps it was precisely because of this that he was particularly concerned about the reputation of the [Community].

After all, reality is cruel. As a community of militants, especially as [class rulers] who have to stand up when the demon king attacks, [Salamanda] cannot tolerate its leader being a weakling who can only do clerical work.

(End of this chapter)