Kays Translations

Chapter 273: A Group of Heroes

　Tauro finally arrived at the dungeon entrance to transport the conquest force to the deepest floor they had previously reached.

　He had come from the dragonfolk village surrounded by the five warriors assigned to escort him. Their presence alone told him that they were even more formidable than the escorts who had accompanied him before.

　After the danger Tauro had encountered during his previous visit, Chief Ryuga had clearly taken greater care in selecting his guards.

　Tauro felt that the precautions were excessive, but he was indispensable to the expedition. Conquering the dungeon was the long-cherished wish of Chief Ryuga and the dragonfolk as a whole.

　Moreover, Tauro was the person who had saved their people during the epidemic.

　Chief Ryuga blamed himself for Tauro’s previous predicament, when he had assigned off-duty guards to protect him. This time, he had selected reserve members of the support force with deep-floor experience.

　As Tauro had sensed, every member of the escort could have served effectively on the deepest known floors.

　When Tauro and his escorts reached the entrance, an extraordinary number of dragonfolk were waiting for them.

　It was quite literally a crowd.

　The conquest force consisted of three five-person teams, for a total of fifteen people.

　Each conquest team was accompanied by two five-person support teams. Six support teams meant thirty people, bringing the expedition force to forty-five in all.

　Every one of those forty-five dragonfolk possessed strength that adventurers would place within the S-rank band.

　Even gathering heroes from across the entire kingdom wouldn’t normally produce so many people of that caliber in one place.

　Standing alone before them, Tauro felt like a low-level game character who had reached the final dungeon because of a bug.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I look forward to working with you.”

　His nervousness made the greeting come out stiffly.

“No, Tauro-dono. The honor is ours. You saved all our lives, and you’re also the key to this dungeon expedition. On behalf of everyone here, allow me to thank you for your assistance.”

　A dragonfolk warrior whose magnificent equipment and bearing immediately marked him as exceptionally powerful bowed deeply.

　The other forty-four members followed his example and bowed to Tauro in unison.

　At that moment, the Voice of the World echoed inside Tauro’s mind.

“One activation condition for the special skill [&%$#] has been fulfilled: <One Who Has Been Thanked by Many Heroes>. You have acquired [Heroic Style].”

　That’s an incredible-sounding ability!

　That was Tauro’s first thought, but the new skill wasn’t the immediate problem.

　Dozens of this world’s heroes were still bowing before him.

　The sight was far too overwhelming for him to accept calmly.

“Please, everyone, raise your heads. I haven’t done anything worthy of this. Helping with the expedition is simply my way of thanking the dragonfolk for allowing me to stay in the village. Being treated with such reverence only makes things difficult for me, so please act normally.”

“Our apologies for troubling you. Everyone, raise your heads. Tauro-dono is uncomfortable.”

　At the representative’s command, the assembled heroes finally straightened.

　Tauro was relieved, although being surrounded by so many heroes remained intimidating.

　Remembering the skill he had just acquired, he decided this was the perfect opportunity to ask about it.

“Excuse me, but do you know what [Heroic Style] does? I only just acquired it.”

“What? Tauro-dono acquired an ability associated with [Hero]? That’s unusual. [Heroic Style] is normally one of the abilities a hero gains early in their growth. It slightly raises the user’s basic attributes and charm, and it also grants resistance to illusions. It’s extremely useful during the early stages.”

　An increase to his basic attributes would certainly help, however small it was. Tauro was less certain what to make of the increased charm.

　With mixed feelings, he explained to the representative that his only innate skill was the garbled skill.

“The garbled skill? I haven’t heard of anyone possessing it in a very long time. Its nature has been debated among the dragonfolk, but it remains a mystery. Forgive my request, but may I appraise you? Please deactivate [Appraisal Obstruction (Extreme)] for a moment, provided you don’t object.”

“Certainly. Go ahead.”

　Tauro immediately deactivated [Appraisal Obstruction (Extreme)].

　As expected of a hero of this caliber, the representative had noticed at once that Tauro’s displayed information was false.

 “This is… I see. The appraisal result for the garbled skill itself must have improved. You truly possess no innate skill other than it, yet it has granted you an extraordinary number of abilities. Calling such a skill defective or useless is plainly incorrect. Thank you for allowing me to appraise you.”

　The representative bowed once more.

“It’s powerful, but it’s also troublesome and difficult to understand.”

　Tauro answered with a wry smile. Still, if anyone could discover how to make proper use of such an unreasonable skill, it might be the dragonfolk who subjected themselves to the equally unreasonable training of the Dragon’s Den.

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