Elemental Cats

The sixteen individuals approached the conference table without much fanfare.

Since Toz had started walking across the bridge first, he was also the first to arrive, despite the young woman from the Obsidian Inheritance Kingdom subtly increasing her speed.

Toz didn't wait for anyone and sat down, much to the displeasure of the delegates from the kingdoms. The Obsidian Inheritance delegate's eyebrow twitched, and she huffed as she sat down opposite Toz.

The other participants of the peace talks also sat down.

No one said anything, and the pirates and delegates just sat in silence, watching each other, though most of the delegates' attention was focused on Toz, thanks to his attitude and actions.

Toz stared at each of them in turn before looking mostly at the duo from the Firebelt Kingdom. The tall, short-haired, and burly man stood behind the well-trained but rather slim woman with hair like fire.

The man wasn't very intriguing to Toz's eyes, but the emblem sewn into the chest of his leather armor was. A circle with triangular spikes made it look like a symbol of a sun. It wasn't the first time Toz saw that symbol, and he was curious what the relationship was.

Toz was also curious about the fire-haired swordswoman since she reminded him of two other people who shared the same traits.

Since no one had any intentions of talking or taking the lead in the meeting, Toz didn't bother restraining his curiosity and faced the Firebelt duo. Toz looked at the tall man with the symbol on his chest.

"Hey, what's your relationship with Rick?"

The symbol similar to a sun was the same as the stamp on the letter that Toz got from Rick, the branch manager of the Explorer's Guild in Sleepless Brights, Toz and the cats' first stop on their journey toward Treblor Forest.

Rick had told Toz that he could bring that letter to the Besre estate in the capital if he ever visited there. Unfortunately, a bunch of stuff happened, and Toz hadn't gotten the opportunity to visit the capital of the Firebelt Kingdom yet.

But Toz still held onto that letter since it might come in handy in the future or if he ever decided to stop by the capital.

However, now that he met a person with the same symbol as the one on the letter as the symbol on their armor, Toz couldn't just sit still.

Reinar looked a little confused since, according to what he knew, he was just there to support Avarin. He wasn't actually supposed to say or do anything during the meeting. He noticed Toz looking at him and had planned to ignore whatever he said and just focus on his duties. That was until he heard Toz's words.

Reinar's eyes widened in surprise, and he was about to answer Toz. However, Avarin was faster.

Avarin, the red-haired woman, locked a sharp gaze on Toz.

"Is that relevant to this meeting?"

"Maybe not, but my mood is. And don't you think easing up this tense atmosphere with some small talk is a good thing?"

Avarin didn't show any change in expression, but she didn't press the issue.

"Fine. It doesn't seem like anyone has any objections or willingness to talk anyway."

Avarin gestured for Reinar to talk if he wanted, which he did.

Reinar recognized he was probably lower in social standing than Toz, even if Toz was a pirate. Toz was sitting down, and Reinar was standing up, after all.

"Hello. My name is Reinar Besre, and if your question is about Rick Besre, he is my father and also the current patriarch of the Besre marquis family of the Firebelt Kingdom."

Toz's eyebrows rose in surprise at Reinar's explanation. He had expected Rick to hold some sort of political or financial power due to his strength and the fact that his family had an estate in the capital. But he hadn't thought that Rick was actually the head of one of the highest-ranking households of the Firebelt Kingdom.

Reinar looked a little hesitant as he continued since he wasn't sure it was okay for him to ask Toz a question, but he did it anyways.

"May I ask you how you know him?"

"Yeah, sure."

Toz began rummaging through his pockets as he answered.

"I met him during my trip to the City of Sleepless Brights on Roaring Skies. Long story short, things happened, and we got along well. I think he explains it better in this letter."

Toz reached out and handed over the letter to Reinar while he finished speaking.

Reinar hesitantly accepted the letter while thoroughly inspecting it. The letter showed some signs of aging and was kind of dirty and roughed up. But the stamp sealing it was indeed the Besre family patriarch's seal, so it was undoubtedly a letter sealed by Rick Besre.

Nothing pointed to it being a trap or forgery, but Reinar didn't open it at once since it was definitely the wrong occasion for it. Reinar slipped the letter into a spatial ring.

Avarin looked a little surprised. As a member of the Blazeblade family and one with significant achievements at that, she knew about the patriarch of the Besre family. Even Reinar, the patriarch's son, couldn't claim to be too close to his father due to Rick's habit of doing whatever he wanted.

But now, one of the most powerful pirates of Pirate Haven somehow had a connection to that Rick Besre. Avarin wasn't sure what to think of such a coincidence. But she didn't have the time to ponder much on the odds of someone knowing Rick Besre and Reinar Besre meeting in such a place since she wanted to get on with the meeting.

The sooner the meeting concluded, the sooner she could get back to the battlefield. Her superiors had decided she needed a break from the war and gave her this mission. But her gut instinct told her the geezers and nepotists were just wary of her racking up achievements like an apple farmer harvests apples.