Kays Translations

Chapter 238: An Encounter with [Fa]ther

Tauro and the others were bound on the spot and taken to a building constructed within the ruins of an old castle.

“What are you doing here? Talk, or I’ll kill you one by one.”

A man with a cloth covering his face, apparently the person in charge, interrogated them.

“Wait. We were only asked to scout this area.”

“Scout it…?”

“Yes. We came to find out whether you people were here.”

Tauro answered with deliberate ambiguity.

“You little…! What else do you know? No, this isn’t the place to make him talk. Take all of them to the underground cells. We’ll interrogate them there.”

At the man’s order, the black-clad assassins dragged Tauro’s group through the low wall built among the old castle ruins.

The original walls had mostly collapsed, but new walls had been erected atop the remaining foundations and made to blend into the surrounding forest. Trees grew thickly inside, making the compound look like an ordinary patch of woodland from a distance. Perhaps the Assassins’ Guild preferred the obstructed sightlines.

The buried cellars beneath the castle had been excavated and put back into use. Tauro and his companions were taken to a cell on the second basement level.

“Hey, Salk! We’ve got work for you. Since you’re usually nothing but a waste of food and money, watch these prisoners until it’s time to interrogate them. Don’t let them escape.”

A man came trotting out of the dim depths of the basement.

“Prisoners? That’s unusual in a remote place like this!”

The lantern light revealed Tauro’s estranged biological father, Salk Satou.

“One of them’s quite a beauty! Heh-heh. If only the little girl were older… Huh?”

Salk brought the lantern close to each prisoner’s face. When he reached Tauro, recognition struck him.

“Hey! This is the brat who turned me into a criminal!”

Salk cursed at the sight of his own son. Tauro had severed their relationship long ago, but they were still related by blood, and neither considered the reunion a happy one.

“You brought everything on yourself. You sank this low, became a wanted man, and now you’re working with people like these.”

Tauro sighed in disgust.

Aeris, Ankh, and Ragune didn’t know how to react to the stranger who clearly knew him.

“I don’t care about your history. Lock them up until we’re ready to question them.”

“Yes, sir!”

Salk unlocked the cell and shoved all four prisoners into the filthy room.

“The tables have turned, Tauro! I don’t know why you came here, but this is one of the Assassins’ Guild’s strongholds. You’ll never leave alive!”

He began boasting triumphantly.

“Do you know what I’ve endured because of you? I became a bandit, escaped when the bandits were subjugated, wandered from place to place, served a kidnapping ring in a large city, got driven out of there too, and finally the Assassins’ Guild recognized the value of my skills and took me in. It’s been nothing but hardship!”

He struck the bars with a stick as he shouted.

“You deserved every bit of it. Your own actions led you here.”

Tauro dismissed him coldly.

“Tauro, you clearly know this filthy-looking man. Who’s he?” Aeris asked without attempting to soften her words.

“…My father. Or rather, my former father.”

The words tasted bitter.

“What?!”

The other three stared in shock. They had heard that Tauro’s father existed, but they had never expected to meet him here—and he was every bit as contemptible as the stories suggested.

“You’ve had a hard life, Tauro. Having a man like this for a parent…”

Ragune looked at Salk with open disdain.

“The Leader’s success is about as unlikely as goblins producing a gryphon,” Ankh muttered sympathetically.

“I’m glad Tauro doesn’t resemble him,” Aeris said with relief. “He must take after his mother.”

“Shut up! I can hurt you as much as I want before the interrogation. In fact… I can do whatever I like with that beautiful woman over there.”

Salk hammered the bars again, grinning at the vile thought.

“Scum.”

All four voices overlapped perfectly.

Salk unlocked the door and entered the cell. He struck Ankh, who stood nearest to him, driving him toward the rear. He clearly intended to reach Ragune.

“I have no patience for this man!”

“Damn it!”

Even while Salk beat him with the stick, Ankh planted himself in front of Ragune.

“Stop, you piece of filth!” Aeris shouted.

“To think such scum exists… Damn it, kill me!” Ragune spat, falling back on her usual phrase.

“Shut up and stay out of this! …Huh?”

Salk kept striking Ankh, then swung at Tauro.

Tauro vanished. The rope that had bound him fell empty to the floor, and in the next instant he appeared beside Salk through [Spatial Transfer], catching the descending stick.

“For now, go to sleep.”

Tauro twisted the stick from Salk’s hand and brought it down on his head.

“Gah!”

Salk gave a short cry and collapsed unconscious.

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