Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 242: Post-Subjugation Meeting
Most Assassins’ Guild members taken alive were noncombatants—men, women, and children—or fighters who had been rendered unconscious by severe wounds. Many others killed themselves rather than be captured.
The subjugation force had also suffered heavy losses. Some B-rank adventurer teams and territorial units had nearly been wiped out. The assassins used lethal poisons and paralytic agents that could kill even when the original wound was shallow.
Tauro treated as many allies as possible with potions and status-recovery magic. Several survived only by a narrow margin, but for some he arrived too late.
“I’m sorry. This person has already died.”
Even Tauro’s magic and medicines could do nothing more.
“Damn it… We lost him, but you saved our healer. Thank you. They targeted the rear guard first. This happened because I, the vanguard, couldn’t stop them.”
The assassins had deliberately prioritized healers and support members capable of removing status conditions.
Adventurers normally fought monsters. They sometimes faced bandits, but the Assassins’ Guild’s specialized methods were far more difficult to handle. Once these first-rate adventurers adapted to the enemy’s tactics, however, they regained the advantage and won.
The dead and wounded were gathered in the stronghold’s central building. The prisoners were confined in the underground cells as a precaution.
Once the casualties had been stabilized, Golden Mane summoned the territorial captains and each adventurer team’s leader.
Tauro hadn’t originally been included, but the leaders of the Dansas branch’s B-rank teams White Night and Zekei brought him with them.
Both teams had been deployed in the west. Because they had trusted Tauro’s warning and remained alert for the black haze, they had avoided being caught inside it. They had nevertheless witnessed how quickly the instant-death effect expanded—and how Black-Gold Wings’ barrier limited the casualties. Without it, their own teams might have died as well.
For that reason, both leaders believed Tauro should report Black-Gold Wings’ achievements personally.
“Why is the leader of an E-rank team here?” Raiga asked with a displeased expression.
“Because Tauro’s information was correct,” the leader of White Night replied. “His team’s barrier minimized the losses on the western side. Black-Gold Wings also seized the treasury as planned and prevented the enemy from activating a much larger instant-death spell. There’s every reason for him to attend.”
The leader of Zekei nodded in agreement.
“But only that E-rank team claims a larger spell was about to be used,” Raiga objected.
The White Night leader removed a smaller magic stone and a cursed stone from his storage bag and placed them on the table.
“These were carried by the sorcerer whose spell we witnessed. Tauro, show them what you found.”
Tauro retrieved one of the enormous specially processed magic stones from [Magic Storage] and placed it before Raiga.
“Compare their sizes,” the White Night leader continued. “The smaller stone’s spell instantly killed three territorial soldiers and two vanguards from Hungry Wolf. More than ten people died when the enemy casualties are included—and that was after Black-Gold Wings contained the effect. Had the assassins activated the same method with this enormous stone, the entire force might have died. Tauro’s team prevented that. They saved our lives.”
Raiga started to answer, unwilling to admit his mistake, but the evidence silenced him.
“Raiga,” Eikoku said, “White Night’s leader is right. We must learn from this. The Assassins’ Guild possesses techniques outside our experience. We underestimated them, and the death toll reflects that mistake.”
Before the discussion could become an argument, Tauro produced the recovered classified document.
“We secured this as well. Please examine it.”
Eikoku accepted the document and read it. His expression changed immediately.
“This is… Raiga, this team has accomplished something extraordinary. I can’t explain the details here, but this document fulfills the additional objective Count Dareder assigned us.”
Golden Mane had evidently received a second mission alongside the subjugation order.
Tauro didn’t yet know what the document contained, but no one could deny that Black-Gold Wings had made the operation’s most important contribution.