Chapter 587 – Fatal Weakness

While Tauro and his companions were spending the day on the outskirts of Swen—

A messenger arrived at Count Swen’s residence with reports from the investigation expedition, which was scheduled to return the following day.

“…So the military messenger’s report, which I thought had been exaggerated, was true after all…”

Count Swen’s expression grew grave as he read through the stack of reports.

“…Black-Gold Wings… And who’s this Honorary Viscount Giro Sugar leading them? This reads more like a heroic tale than an official report.”

Count Swen’s disbelief was understandable.

According to the report, a single [Puppeteer] had confronted a mysterious army of five thousand with fewer than twenty puppets. It sounded absurd.

The investigation expedition described its survival as a narrow escape from death, so the broad outline had to be true. Even so, the claim that such a tiny force had defeated nearly a third of an army composed mostly of monsters was difficult to accept.

What made the report even stranger was that Negame had written it. He was known for obsessing over calculations, expenditures, and administrative responsibility.

Negame was cautious to a fault and usually focused on preventing anything that might later become his responsibility. He was also notoriously reluctant to praise other people, which made the contents of this report especially remarkable.

Yet here he was crediting someone else with achievements so extraordinary that they sounded almost fantastical. Count Swen could only stare at the report in disbelief.

He asked the messenger to confirm what had happened.

“I believe the report is broadly accurate, my lord. If anything, I personally think the [Puppeteer] was responsible for defeating close to half of the enemy, so the written report may actually be conservative…”

The messenger was one of Count Swen’s soldiers and had been close enough to the fighting to understand the battle far better than Negame, who had remained in the rear.

Negame had compiled the report from the soldiers’ testimony, but had apparently toned down some of their estimates before sending it.

“…And you call this conservative? Either way, I need to meet this Honorary Viscount Giro Sugar who kept the expedition’s casualties so low. When does the investigation expedition return—tomorrow? Arrange a meeting with him then.”

“My lord, it appears the viscount has already returned. The Adventurers’ Guild confirmed it.”

“Already!? Then send a messenger this evening. I want to meet him immediately and see what kind of person he is!”

Count Swen’s curiosity about Tauro, the mysterious young honorary viscount and adventurer, grew even stronger.

At around the same time—

Tauro was in the forest outside Swen preparing to test [Holy Light Wave Sword], the [Holy Knight]-exclusive sword technique he had obtained from General Barbatos.

“What!? You learned a sword technique that only [Holy Knight] users are supposed to have, Leader!?”

Ankh, who took particular pride in swordsmanship, stared at him in surprise.

“Yeah. [Random Steal (Weak)] activated when General Barbatos died. This seems to be the technique he used to destroy one of the Rock-series puppets in a single blow, so I wanted to test it.”

“I’m supposed to be the sword specialist in this team. If you surpass me in swordsmanship too, I’m going to lose my place, aren’t I?”

Ankh sounded genuinely frustrated.

“Hahaha. You’re still our strongest pure melee attacker, Ankh, so don’t worry. Seth can’t fire shockwaves repeatedly, so you’re not being replaced.”

Tauro reassured him.

He drew Modified Shortsword Tauro and poured magical power into it, causing its blade of light to extend.

“I’ll try using the technique like this.”

Tauro faced a large tree and readied the shortsword.

“[Holy Light Wave Sword]!” Light surged from Tauro’s body, concentrated into the weapon, and then erupted forward from the blade.

The recoil was strong enough that Tauro had to brace himself. The wave of light slammed directly into the tree.

A deep section of the trunk was gouged away near the base. The tree lost its balance and crashed down with a series of cracking sounds.

“…That power is ridiculous…”

Ankh muttered in awe.

“Tauro has gained another extraordinary ability…”

Aeris stared at the fallen tree in astonishment.

“…Could I block that?”

Ragune looked intensely interested in whether her own defenses could withstand the technique.

“Amazing, Lord Tauro!”

Zion exclaimed, taking Seth’s hand and bouncing excitedly beside him.

“…This is…”

Tauro frowned despite the technique’s overwhelming power.

Then he reached his conclusion.

“I can’t use this!”

He declared it firmly.

“Why!?”

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

With enough power to destroy a Rock-series puppet in one strike, it seemed like an ideal trump card.

“The magical cost isn’t the real problem. After using it, I can’t use any light or holy-attribute magic at all. In that case, a full-power [Aurora Arrow] with the Bow of Artemis is much more practical.”

As if to demonstrate, Tauro poured magic into Modified Shortsword Tauro again, but its light blade would no longer form.

He returned the shortsword to [Magic Storage] and drew the Bow of Artemis, but the bow’s light-based power wouldn’t respond either.

“…Just as I thought. Using [Holy Light Wave Sword] temporarily prevents me from using light or holy-attribute abilities. I don’t know how long the restriction lasts. That must be why General Barbatos treated it as a last-resort technique. He used it to destroy one of the Rock series before fighting me, which meant he couldn’t fully use his abilities as a [Holy Knight] during our duel… I was lucky to face him when I did.”

Tauro shook his head with a wry smile, unable to use his light-based abilities for the time being.