Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 135: Griffon Subjugation
　After climbing farther into the mountains, the three stopped some distance from the suspected nesting area.
　Advancing any closer might carry them inside the griffons’ detection range.
“Please wait well behind us. We don’t want you caught in the battle,”
　Tauro told the hunter.
　The man nodded vigorously and hurried away.
“What should I do?”
　Aeris asked, visibly eager to begin.
“Set up a barrier here and place magical traps around the area.”
　Tauro inspected their surroundings as he answered.
“Here? We’re so far away that the griffons may never notice us. Would the traps accomplish anything?”
“This position is just barely within my range.”
　Tauro examined the nearby trees, climbed among them, and removed several coils of rope from [Magic Storage].
　He tied the ropes between the trunks with painstaking care until a broad web spread overhead.
“I understand. The ropes will make it difficult for them to dive at us from above.”
　Aeris quickly recognized the purpose of the arrangement.
“Please add a magic-resistant defensive barrier as well. Griffons are said to use wind magic.”
　Aeris understood the need for that precaution and immediately began casting.
“The preparations are sensible, but they still mean nothing unless the griffons come here,”
　she said after completing the barrier.
“Ideally, I’ll kill them before they reach us. We don’t know how many are nesting there, however, and even B-rank adventurers struggle against griffons. Preparing a fallback position is essential.”
“That’s true. One legend even claims that a griffon drove away a dragon that attacked it. Caution is definitely warranted.”
　Tauro stared at her, eyes widening.
　There was a legend like that?
“Griffons really are that formidable…”
“Of course. Even among first-rate adventurers, few willingly fight them. Anyone who does is probably either unusually reckless or completely desperate.”
“Perhaps that isn’t the most encouraging thing to say in front of someone who’s about to attack two of them.”
　Tauro couldn’t resist pointing out Aeris’s lack of tact.
　He climbed the tallest nearby tree and looked toward the nest.
　Because [Divine Archer] allowed him to see clearly throughout the effective range of his bow, he could examine the distant site with his unaided eyes.
“There are two griffons. Aeris, I’m beginning the attack.”
　He warned her from above.
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
　Tauro descended, raised the Bow of Artemis toward the sky, and nocked two arrows at once.
　The web of ropes stretched above him in multiple layers.
“[Divine Archer], [Long-Range Sniping], [Light Arrow], and [Rapid Fire]…”
　Tauro released the bowstring.
　The two arrows became streaks of light, threaded through the ropes, and followed separate curving paths toward the distant nest.
　He immediately nocked and released another pair.
　The arrows tore through the air and struck the griffons.
　Tauro couldn’t see the impacts through the trees, but piercing cries echoed across the mountains.
　He had felt the hits through the bow.
　A griffon’s silhouette then appeared within the range of [True Eye], approaching at tremendous speed.
　The forest blocked Tauro’s ordinary vision, but [True Eye] revealed the creature’s position. He fired repeatedly into the sky as it closed in.
“It dodged them!”
　Tauro looked up just as the griffon plunged toward him.
　It struck Aeris’s barrier and was thrown backward. At the same moment, one of her magical traps activated and engulfed the creature in lightning.
　The griffon shrieked as the current paralyzed it in midair.
　Tauro seized the opening and loosed an ordinary arrow. There was no time to charge another [Light Arrow].
　With the strength correction from [Divine Archer] and the Bow of Artemis’s amplification, however, an ordinary shot from Tauro was no longer ordinary.
　The arrow roared through the air and pierced completely through the griffon.
“I have it!”
　The moment Tauro felt certain of victory, the dying griffon used its remaining strength to cast the wind spell [Vacuum Blade].
“I expected that.”
　The blade of compressed air struck the magic-resistant barrier Aeris had prepared and dispersed harmlessly.
　The griffon died in the air and fell onto the rope web, which prevented its massive body from crashing directly onto them.
　At that moment, the Voice of the World echoed inside Tauro’s mind.
“One activation condition for the special skill [&%$#], <One Who Defeated the Noble Guardian of the Skies>, has been fulfilled. You have acquired [Levitation].”
　Tauro set the unexpected announcement aside for the moment.
“The animals should gradually return to these mountains now.”
　Relieved, he thanked Aeris for the barrier and began recovering the griffon’s body.