Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 234: A Sudden Turn After Returning to the Village
After spending the night near the destroyed Assassins’ Guild facility, Tauro and his companions began the journey back to Dansas.
The peddler who had submitted the request might have been connected to the Assassins’ Guild. He had appeared perfectly ordinary, which would make him an exceptionally convincing operative if the entire encounter had been an act.
“We were completely fooled,” Tauro said. “Even [True Eye] revealed nothing suspicious. The Assassins’ Guild certainly deserves its reputation.”
“They may have hired an uninvolved peddler,” Ankh suggested. “He could have been told only to submit the request and wait for you, without knowing its real purpose.”
“Then they may have arranged for every other adventurer to refuse until we accepted it,” Ragune said. “I should have stopped you. Damn it… Kill me!”
As one of the team’s defensive vanguards, Ragune was ashamed that she had walked into the enemy’s trap and nearly allowed her benefactor and friend to die.
“I chose to accept the request,” Tauro replied. “The enemy probably studied me and concluded that I’d take an unusual job even if the reward was low.”
“Exactly,” Aeris said. “If they studied Tauro and prepared specifically for him, the trap was almost impossible to recognize. What matters is that he came back to us.”
“That area instant-death curse was still terrifying,” Ankh said. “Every plant and animal touched by the black haze died. Anyone but the leader would have had no chance.”
“Even among the dragonfolk, very few people could produce an effect on that scale,” Ragune said. “I never imagined a boy around Tauro’s age could use it.”
“He didn’t cast it through his own power alone,” Tauro corrected her. “The effect required a large specially processed magic stone, a cursed stone, a specialized ritual, and the caster’s life. It wasn’t something a human child—or even an ordinary dragonfolk warrior—could perform unaided.”
“I see. I thought he had obtained the ability through training similar to ours. So there was another method… but one that required him to die.”
“A mission is meaningless if the person carrying it out dies,” Ankh said grimly.
The Assassins’ Guild taught its members to sacrifice their lives to complete a mission. That philosophy was the opposite of Ankh’s former mercenary creed: survive, defeat as many enemies as possible, and live to collect the payment.
“They must have taught him that way of thinking from childhood,” Tauro said with a sigh.
The dead boy hadn’t been much older than Tauro’s current body. Tauro possessed memories from a previous life and therefore had experience far beyond his apparent age, but the boy had known only the world created for him by the guild.
Because he was already gravely ill, the guild may even have convinced him that dying in the trap was his only chance to be useful. The thought made Tauro even less willing to forgive the organization.
If the Assassins’ Guild ever learned that he had survived, it would probably target him again. Tauro decided that he needed to consider his next move after returning to Dansas.
The group went directly to the Adventurers’ Guild and reported to Branch Manager Chloe.
“The entire request was an Assassins’ Guild trap?” Chloe exclaimed. “I’m relieved all four of you returned safely. Tell me everything.”
Tauro and the others described the incident in detail inside the branch manager’s office.
“There’s something confidential I need to tell you,” Chloe said after listening. “Our strongest adventurers have just received a request to participate in an operation against an Assassins’ Guild branch in Count Dareder’s territory. Count Dareder himself commissioned it after the attempt on his life.”
“There’s an Assassins’ Guild branch in Dareder territory?” Tauro asked in surprise.
“Apparently so. The count’s elite troops and selected high-ranking adventurers intended to strike secretly before the guild could react. But if your report is correct, an area instant-death curse could annihilate the entire force.”
Chloe then asked Black-Gold Wings to join under her authority. Aeris’s barrier magic could contain the curse, while Tauro’s direct experience with assassins and the instant-death trap could prove invaluable.
“I don’t intend to force you,” she added. “Dansas branch’s second-ranked B-rank team, Zekei, can accompany you as protection.”
“Please assign Zekei to the main operation instead,” Tauro said. “The three of us will protect Aeris. Ankh and Ragune are more than capable.”
“Come on, Leader,” Ankh said, looking pleased despite himself. “Flattery won’t get you anything from me.”
“Of course I’ll protect Aeris!” Ragune declared. “Wait… after praising me like that, are you trying to get my body? Damn it, kill me!”
Tauro smiled awkwardly. His companions were dependable, but perhaps a little too susceptible to praise.