Chapter 591 – Arrival at the Destination

After leaping straight to B-plus rank, Black-Gold Wings left Swen first thing in the morning even while the city was still celebrating them as heroes.

Their destination lay deep in the Antas Mountain Range.

Part of the route followed the road toward the ancient underground ruins, so they encountered Kingdom troops along the way.

The soldiers knew Tauro and Black-Gold Wings extremely well.

More precisely, descriptions of their appearances had been circulated all the way down to ordinary soldiers.

Tauro’s actions had contributed to the general’s disciplinary suspension, he carried the royal crest as an honorary viscount, and Black-Gold Wings had played a major role in ruining the Empire’s operation.

So even though they weren’t military personnel, every soldier they encountered saluted them.

“Having soldiers salute me makes me nervous…”

As Tauro’s group climbed the road at the foot of the Antas Mountain Range, the soldiers continued saluting even after the party had passed.

“That only shows how outrageous what we did really was.”

Aeris gave a wry smile as she glanced toward the soldiers.

Some of them became excited when the beautiful Aeris happened to look their way, whispering, “Our eyes met!” The reaction was almost endearing.

“How long do they plan to keep troops stationed at the border deep in the Antas Mountain Range? Supplying a place like that’s difficult. It’s hardly ideal ground for a permanent deployment.”

Ankh observed, sounding every bit like the former mercenary he was.

“They may stay there for a while. The Empire’s scheme this time was probably to send a huge monster army through the Antas Mountain Range, throw the northern region into chaos, and then invade while everyone was distracted. I doubt they’ll try exactly the same trick twice, but we still have to stay alert.”

Tauro offered his assessment of part of the Empire’s scheme while considering how the Kingdom army would respond.

“The troops are probably there mainly to hunt down the remaining monsters, aren’t they? Even with the general summoned to the Royal Capital, his subordinates can make that decision on their own.”

Aeris gave what seemed the most obvious explanation.

“Hunting the remnants will still be difficult. I already reported what happened to the Dragonfolk Village, so some of our people should arrive soon to help with the cleanup.”

Ragune supplied the reassuring news.

“That’s good to hear!”

Zion agreed.

Several days later—

With Seth guiding them, Tauro’s group continued through the harsh, pathless terrain of the Antas Mountain Range and eventually crossed the border into the Northern Empire.

“To think they advanced through terrain like this with five thousand troops… They must have been extremely serious about the operation.”

Tauro said admiringly as he followed Seth.

“No kidding. This terrain is brutal. A normal army would have a terrible time getting through here.”

Ankh grumbled while catching his breath.

“But now that we’re this far in, there are several trails that look as though a lot of people—or something—have passed through.”

Aeris pointed out that repeated footsteps had packed down even the rough mountain paths.

“Right. They’re not even trying to hide the tracks anymore. Doesn’t that mean we’re close?”

Ragune asked Seth, who couldn’t answer verbally.

Seth nodded.

“I knew it!”

Satisfied that her guess had been correct, Ragune looked where Seth pointed.

Far ahead, the roof of a dull-brown building could just barely be seen blending into the landscape.

“…That must be it.”

Realizing they had reached their destination, Tauro asked Seth through their shared thoughts to use Adam and Eve to check for guards.

Seth nodded, moved Adam and Eve so they could survey the surroundings, and shared their views with Tauro.

“…There are fewer guards than I expected. We hardly ran into any monster troops on the way here either. Maybe they’ve pulled everything into that large facility?”

At Tauro’s observation, Seth directed Adam toward a steep rock face so the puppet could gain a vantage point above the compound.

Using Eve’s view to identify a viable route and Seth’s control to execute it, Adam climbed a slope that would have been extremely difficult for a person.

From Adam’s vantage point, Tauro could finally see the full scale of the facility. It was enormous.

A single maintained road ran from the compound down toward the foot of the mountain.

Long defensive walls surrounded the entire site. They were designed not only to keep intruders out, but also to prevent monsters from escaping.

There were two entrances: one appeared to be a transport gate connected to the road downhill, while the other lay on Tauro’s side of the compound.

“…With defenses like these, I understand why they don’t need many guards. In an emergency, this place could function as a fortress.”

Tauro groaned as he studied the compound through Adam’s eyes.

People were moving busily between the buildings inside.

If Tauro’s guess was correct, the failed monster-army operation had caused enormous losses, and the facility staff might now be scrambling to make up for them.

The Imperial army along the border had probably been waiting in readiness to invade, so Tauro suspected that whoever ran this facility was now receiving a severe reprimand.

“So what’s the plan, Leader? Our main striking force is your Rock-series puppets. Are we attacking head-on?”

Ankh asked as he studied the heavily fortified facility.

“That was my original plan… but I think I’m going to change it a little.”

“Change it?”

Aeris and the others echoed the question.

“…Yeah. I think we can turn what they tried to do to us back on them.”

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

“That’s pretty wicked, Leader…”

Ankh replied, half exasperated.

“…I suppose you could call it karma…”

Aeris was just as taken aback by Tauro’s idea.

“…So what exactly are we going to do?”

Ragune sounded intrigued rather than alarmed.

“I’ll follow your decision, Lord Tauro!”

Zion, as devoted to Tauro as ever, had no objections.

“Then once night falls, we’ll use [Teleportation] to infiltrate the compound. Adam’s shared view lets me see the inside from above, so I have a destination I can target.”

Because Adam had climbed the rock face and given Tauro a clear view beyond the high defensive walls, even this heavily fortified site could now be infiltrated with [Teleportation].