Chapter 515: Ability Theft

Behind the tavern district, in a quiet corner of a secluded square,

Ankh lay unconscious. Nearby lay Alexa, the young man possessing [Hero] who had been sent by Marquis Halagoura to assassinate them and whom Tauro had just struck down.

As Tauro stood there, the Voice of the World echoed in his mind.

“One activation condition for the special skill [&%$#] has been fulfilled: <One Who Slew a Fallen Hero>. [Random Steal (Weak)] has been acquired. Attempting to steal the Hero’s power… [Great Fortune] has activated… The Hero’s ability [Teleportation] has been stolen.”

Tauro was startled.

Just as Maria had told him, the man Tauro had defeated truly did possess [Hero].

And he had fallen into darkness.

Perhaps he had dirtied his hands too many times while carrying out Marquis Halagoura’s orders and had been unable to find his way back.

There must have been some reason a person possessing [Hero] had chosen to serve a villainous noble and fallen so far, but now that Alexa appeared dead, there was no way to ask him.

Then it happened.

The Hero Alexa’s body began to glow.

And the wounds Tauro had inflicted began to heal before his eyes.

Was this some kind of ability?

Tauro himself possessed [Super Recovery and Regeneration] and [Automatic Self-Resuscitation Technique], so perhaps Alexa had a similar survival ability.

Once the wound had closed, something like an electrical discharge ran through Alexa’s body.

His body jerked.

It happened three times. There was no fourth discharge, and then everything stopped.

It seemed that was the end.

The next moment, Tauro began performing chest compressions on Alexa.

Alexa had been trying to kill them only moments earlier. Tauro had no obligation to save him.

Even so, Tauro continued the chest compressions and performed artificial respiration.

Then he placed an ear to the hero’s chest.

There was a heartbeat.

Once he had confirmed that, Tauro restrained Alexa.

He intended to hand the captured man over to the authorities.

According to the Voice of the World, Alexa’s trump card, [Teleportation], had been stolen by Tauro. Alexa should no longer have been able to use it.

Tauro knew Marquis Halagoura stood behind Alexa and worried that political pressure might free him quickly. But Tauro was now an honorary viscount with direct ties to the royal family, and he intended to use those connections to keep Alexa detained and interrogated long enough to obtain evidence.

“I need to move both Ankh and Alexa, but… should I test [Teleportation] first?”

Tauro decided to try the newly acquired ability on himself before using it on anyone else.

His earlier experience with [Spatial Transfer] had taught him to be cautious.

When Tauro first acquired [Spatial Transfer], it could move only one person over a short distance and consumed enormous amounts of magical power outside a dungeon.

He later learned that [Spatial Transfer] was primarily intended for dungeon use, but the disappointment he had felt at first made him wonder how useful an ability stolen through something as suspicious as [Random Steal (Weak)] would really be.

“[Teleportation]!”

Tauro pictured the place he wanted to reach and invoked the ability.

The next instant, he found himself standing on the roof of a house near the square.

“Whoa!”

 He shouted with delight from the rooftop.

Compared with [Spatial Transfer], [Teleportation] seemed to consume far less magical power, and above all, it was extremely convenient.

During the battle with Alexa, Tauro had repeatedly used [Spatial Transfer] while pretending it was effortless, but using it outside a dungeon consumed a great deal of magical power. In truth, he was already exhausted.

Standing on the roof, Tauro drank a magic-restoration potion with his hands on his hips as though he were drinking milk.

“Phew, this tastes awful! But I’m still alive!”

While Tauro was muttering to himself, the owner of the house appeared and scolded him, forcing him to apologize and climb down from the roof.

“All right. First I should hand Alexa over to the city guard or the Kingdom Knights… No, the Royal Guard.”

Tauro considered where to take him. Fortunately, the Commander of the Royal Guard was someone he already knew.

Even if Tauro appeared without warning, he should be able to explain the situation and be heard.

The Royal Guard specialized in protecting the royal family and fighting human opponents. Even a [Hero] would have difficulty escaping from them, and because they answered directly to the royal family, outside political interference would be much harder.

Then Ankh opened his eyes.

“…Where am I…? Leader…? Where’s he…? …Looks like you caught him…”

Ankh’s head was spinning as he looked around, trying to grasp the situation.

Then he saw the bound Alexa and understood that Tauro had captured him.

“I’m taking Alexa to Royal Guard Headquarters now. You’re coming with me, Ankh.”

Tauro caught Ankh by the arm as the man started to collapse.

“I’ll wait here—”

In the next instant, Ankh and the bound Alexa found themselves lying on the carpet in the Royal Guard commander’s office at Royal Guard Headquarters.

“…!?”

As Ankh’s consciousness faded, he heard the startled voices of the commander and the Royal Guard knights reacting to their sudden appearance.

At Count Graunewald’s residence in the Royal Capital, Ankh and Zion of Black-Gold Wings received intensive treatment.

Although Ankh had narrowly survived, the emergency treatment had only stabilized him, and he remained in critical condition.

Ragune’s whereabouts were still unknown, but she was likely either in the Dragonfolk Village, the fixed destination of her [Dimensional Corridor], or at Aeris’s home in the Van Dyne Marquisate.

Either destination gave Ragune a good chance of receiving help, so Tauro and Aeris chose to believe she was safe. For the moment, they focused on keeping Ankh and Zion alive until the two recovered.

Aeris continued treating both of them, while Tauro did everything else he could, including asking the royal family to send renowned physicians.

In the end, the physicians could only confirm that Tauro’s high-quality potions and Aeris’s healing were already providing the best treatment available.

Ankh regained consciousness on the morning of the fifth day.

Zion regained consciousness ten days later.

There was still no word from Ragune.

Neither Ankh nor Zion was ready to move yet, so Tauro and Aeris remained at the Graunewald residence and waited for Ragune to return to them.

Both Ankh and Zion were conscious, but neither could stand yet. Tauro and Aeris therefore continued to wait patiently for everyone to recover.