Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 246: An Adversary with Deep Ties
“First, I must thank you. I owe you my life, Tauro. Truly, thank you.”
Count Dareder bowed deeply to the young adventurer.
A noble normally expressed gratitude through words, letters, or gifts rather than lowering his head to a commoner, but the count ignored that convention.
“Please raise your head, Count Dareder. If you mean the assassination attempt, I only became involved by coincidence.”
“Coincidence or not, you saved my life. I also apologize for taking so long to thank you.”
“I was the one who declined your previous invitation.”
“Even so, my subordinates treated you rudely because they suspected you might belong to the Assassins’ Guild. I had withdrawn from nearly everyone while the threat remained, so I didn’t learn the full truth until later.”
Count Dareder continued, “The interrogators were able to obtain information from the captured sorcerer because the curse you returned prevented him from killing himself. That information led directly to the operation that destroyed the local Assassins’ Guild branch. For that achievement as well, I thank you.”
“I returned the curse, but preventing his suicide wasn’t something I planned. It was only an accidental consequence.”
Tauro hadn’t realized that the returned curse was the reason the interrogation succeeded.
“Then there’s the recent operation,” Count Dareder said. “You and your companions secured the confidential documents and saved the lives of my soldiers and the participating adventurers. As the lord of this territory, I’m grateful for that too.”
He bowed again, though this time only slightly, apparently having learned that a deeper bow would make Tauro uncomfortable.
“For that part, please give the credit to my team. Everyone performed exceptionally well.”
Tauro accepted the count’s gratitude on behalf of Black-Gold Wings.
“Golden Mane’s leader also praised you as an excellent team. You’ve already received the official mission reward, but I wish to offer an additional gift as the territorial lord.”
An attendant brought forward a tray of coins.
“Tauro, who stood at the center of these events, shall receive three platinum coins. Each of your companions shall receive one platinum coin.”
“That’s generous indeed! Ha ha ha!” Ankh said, accepting his coin without hesitation.
Aeris and Ragune followed his example.
Tauro took one platinum coin and returned the other two to the tray.
“My reward should be the same as everyone else’s.”
Count Dareder studied him for a moment, then nodded rather than force the matter.
“Gratitude isn’t the only reason I asked you here. The documents you recovered revealed portions of the Assassins’ Guild’s financial network. When we compared those records with an investigation already underway, we found a connection to someone with whom you have a long and unfortunate history.”
“Count, are you certain this is something you should discuss with us?”
Tauro stopped him before he crossed into information that might be dangerous merely to know.
“It’s extremely sensitive. However, you recovered the evidence, and your past is directly involved. I believed you should be given the choice to hear it. Will you listen?”
Count Dareder met Tauro’s eyes and waited.
“Anyone who doesn’t want to know should leave the room,” Tauro told his companions.
None of them moved.
“Then please continue.”
“As you and Aeris probably know, I belong to the Prime Minister’s faction, one of the kingdom’s largest noble blocs. We’re in increasingly open conflict with the faction led by Marquis Halagoura, whose influence has recently grown enough to threaten even the royal family.”
“Our investigation has focused on three men within that faction: Marquis Halagoura himself; Count Ayanshi, one of his principal supporters; and Viscount Saissi, who became wealthy through mithril ore and has recently begun moving large sums of money after years of relative quiet.”
Tauro flinched at the final name. Count Dareder was right: this involved someone with whom he had deep ties.
“Soon after Viscount Saissi began distributing money on that scale, nobles in the Prime Minister’s faction started dying under suspicious circumstances. We recognized the methods of the Assassins’ Guild, but we couldn’t prove who was commissioning the killings.”
“We therefore watched Viscount Saissi closely. He had begun spending conspicuously, yet we could never obtain evidence that connected him to the deaths.”
“And the confidential documents supplied that evidence?” Tauro asked.
“Potentially. The Assassins’ Guild kept its own records on an important source of funds. Most of the documents are encrypted, but several numerical entries match payments we independently traced from Viscount Saissi.”
“Then you believe he was involved in the suspicious deaths among the Prime Minister’s faction?”
“Yes. That’s our current conclusion. The fact that you were the one who recovered those documents seems almost fated.”
Tauro’s conflict with the Assassins’ Guild already ran deep. He had never imagined that Viscount Saissi—the lord of the town where Tauro first became an adventurer—might also be connected to it.
It’s worth noting that Viscount Saissi also had the then 11 year old MC imprisoned and tortured for three months. The loss of guild rank from that event alone took nearly two years to recover… Mostly due to the rediculously counter intuitive and overly restrictive nature of said guild rank system.