Chapter 584 – A Shocking Report

Tauro and the rest of Black-Gold Wings returned to their base in Swen ahead of the investigation expedition, which was still making its way down from the mountains.

“Alright, let’s report to the Adventurers’ Guild right away.”

Tauro stretched, showing the fatigue of the journey. Seth, the boy-shaped autonomous-thinking puppet, copied the motion, while the Slime Emperor Pella stretched its round body with a squishy movement from Tauro’s shoulder.

“Hehehe. Seth and Pella really do imitate Tauro, don’t they?”

Aeris smiled at the sight.

“Yeah, but everyone around us seems more interested in Seth.”

Ankh pointed out the passersby staring curiously at Seth in front of the guild.

[Puppeteer] was a relatively rare ability, but it was generally considered to have limited practical value.

It was most often associated with traveling performers, whose puppets moved in obviously artificial ways. Seth, however, moved as smoothly as a real person, so he naturally drew attention.

Seth also wore leather armor and carried a sword Tauro had given him. At first glance, people assumed he was a boy, only to take a second look and realize, “Wait… that’s a puppet!?”

“Hahaha! If Seth wore a hat pulled low over his face, some people might not even realize he’s a puppet.”

Tauro was extremely pleased with Seth’s performance during the recent quests.

Partly as a reward, and partly for another reason, Tauro let Seth walk beside the group instead of returning him to [Magic Storage] after reaching town.

Because Seth was an autonomous-thinking puppet, Tauro believed it was better for him to keep learning directly from the world around him.

Seth could share thoughts and information with Tauro, but if Tauro wanted him to develop an individuality of his own, firsthand experience would be much more effective.

Pella, on the other hand, looked like an ordinary slime at a glance, so hardly anyone paid attention to it except children.

In that sense, Pella might not even need to disguise itself while they were in town.

The group entered the Adventurers’ Guild and went straight to the reception desk to make their report.

The guild was noticeably more restless than usual.

From time to time, they overheard conversations like:

“I wonder if those people are alright…”

“If there might be a monster stampede, why isn’t the Adventurers’ Guild doing anything?”

“I heard the army is moving. Apparently Count Swen himself went to lodge a protest.”

When the messenger adventurer from the investigation expedition had reached the military facility, the information had apparently been classified. The details still hadn’t spread through the city.

Ignoring the commotion, Tauro and his companions headed for the special room in the back reserved for high-ranking adventurers.

“Welcome back, Black-Gold Wings. You’re back early. Did the mysterious-monster subjugation quest go well?”

The receptionist clearly had no idea that Tauro’s group hadn’t only completed the quest, but also rescued the investigation expedition.

“There were a few enemies stronger than we expected.”

Tauro brought out the corpses of a Bloodsucking Wolf and the Bloodsucking Wolf King – Subspecies.

The receptionist had already noticed the apparent new member of the party and realized that Seth was a puppet. She kept staring at him with intense curiosity.

“Lord Tauro… what exactly is that puppet?”

She had been so focused on Seth that it took her a moment to notice the monsters Tauro had placed before her.

“Oh, I recently acquired [Puppeteer], so I made him.”

Tauro kept the explanation simple. There was no reason to reveal more than necessary.

“…That’s incredible. But are you alright? I mean your magical power. Controlling a puppet continuously should consume a great deal of mana.”

Her concern was understandable.

Ordinary [Puppeteer] users had to spend magical power to keep their puppets moving.

Tauro’s creations were different. Seth, Adam, Eve, and the Rock series all had their own internal power sources.

“I’m fine as far as magical power is concerned.”

At Tauro’s answer, Seth politely bowed to the receptionist.

“Such smooth movement… Amazing… Oh! I need to appraise the monsters you defeated!”

Still fascinated by Seth, the receptionist struggled to refocus on her work and finally began appraising the monsters Tauro had presented.

Then—

“A Bloodsucking Wolf!? I’ve never even heard of this species… Considering how many adventurers failed the quest, it should be at least in the B-rank band. And this one is a Bloodsucking Wolf King – Subspecies!? W-wait! A king of a B-rank-band monster, and a subspecies on top of that… Even a conservative estimate would put this in the A-rank band!”

The receptionist panicked and immediately asked another employee to summon the branch chief.

“Oh, and we also completed the Rainbow Grass gathering quest.”

Hoping to calm her down with a more ordinary report, Tauro took the Rainbow Grass out of [Magic Storage] and placed it on the counter.

“That quest too!? The Rainbow Grass request hasn’t been completed for an entire year!”

Instead of calming down, the receptionist became even more flustered.

This time she told another employee to contact the client immediately.

“…Things are getting pretty chaotic.”

Tauro looked back at Aeris and the others with a wry smile.

“If you tell her next that we rescued the investigation expedition, she might actually faint.”

Aeris whispered the warning to Tauro with a wry smile of her own.