Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 363: The Eradication Operation Ends and the Aftermath
The operation to eradicate the Assassins’ Guild in Bomen’s territorial capital ended successfully in a single night.
Every stronghold scattered throughout the city was destroyed by the dragonfolk without a single target escaping.
Viscount Bomen had burned the guild’s confidential documents, but the dragonfolk had captured the man himself alive.
Extracting a confession wouldn’t be easy. Even so, taking alive the leader of an assassination organization that had operated throughout the kingdom for many years was an enormous achievement.
Viscount Bomen wasn’t the only important prisoner taken at the estate.
The dragonfolk had also captured a group of mages believed to have come from the Northern Empire.
According to the warriors who subdued them, the mages lacked combat experience but were highly trained summoners.
When cornered, they had attempted to resist by summoning a Goblin King.
Against the dragonfolk, however, even that threat was eliminated almost instantly, and the summoners were captured before they could escape.
The mention of a Goblin King caught Tauro’s attention.
“A Goblin King… Could it be…?”
Ankh and Ragune immediately understood what he was thinking.
“Wasn’t there a Goblin King and an entire goblin horde that suddenly appeared in Viscount Danton’s territory near the Royal Capital?” Ankh asked.
“Could these people have caused that incident as well?” Ragune added.
The five Imperial summoners were brought before them. None of the prisoners would meet Tauro’s eyes.
“They’re all avoiding our gaze,” Tauro observed. “Zumei, would you question one of them?”
“My turn, is it?” Zumei smiled. “There are five prisoners. It shouldn’t matter if one of them breaks. Leave it to me.”
The blond dragonfolk spoke with disturbing cheerfulness and dragged one captive into a separate room.
Zumei’s youthful appearance was deceptive. Information gathering was his specialty, and interrogation was one of the methods at which he excelled.
Malak had once described him as the most capable of their three-person intelligence team—and by far the most merciless.
Only a few minutes later, screams began to echo from the room.
“Gaaah!”
The prisoner cried out again and again, unable to endure the pain.
“Please! Help me!”
His pleas soon became even more desperate.
“I-I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! Please, just let me die quickly!”
Whatever Zumei was doing had made the man beg for death rather than release.
After several more minutes, the room fell silent.
Zumei eventually emerged, wiping blood from his face with a cloth.
“He had no resolve at all,” he reported. “The Assassins’ Guild members killed themselves before I could make them confess, but at least they possessed some courage.”
He glanced back toward the room.
“These five belong to the summoner unit of the Imperial Mage Corps. Just as Lord Tauro suspected, they summoned the Goblin King near the Royal Capital as an experiment. They wanted to measure how long this kingdom would take to eliminate it.”
“Then the earlier goblin outbreak truly was their doing,” Tauro said.
“Yes. The Goblin King was defeated much sooner than they expected. They therefore planned to repeat the experiment after joining forces with the Assassins’ Guild, which had recently reestablished ties with the Empire and begun accepting Imperial personnel.”
“Does that mean the Empire is preparing to move against this kingdom again?”
“The Empire has never stopped seeking opportunities to expand southward,” Zumei replied. “The dragonfolk have always known that and remained vigilant. What we didn’t expect was the involvement of people carrying northern dragonfolk blood.”
“Zumei is correct,” Malak said. “Now that northern dragonfolk descendants have entered the conflict, the Dragonfolk Village has sufficient cause to intervene as well.”
“Did the summoners know anything about the epidemic that struck the village?” Tauro asked.
“Apparently not. Their ranks are too low for that information,” Zumei answered. “Had we captured one of the northern dragonfolk descendants alive, I could have persuaded him to explain everything. Unfortunately, the [Great Hero] commander killed them.”
He delivered the criticism with such casual cheer that the commander gave him an apologetic look.
“My apologies, Zumei. Hearing them boast that [Ancestral Reversion] was an unbeatable trump card irritated me. I chose to end the battle immediately.”
“Then it can’t be helped,” Zumei said before turning back to Tauro. “That’s all we can confirm for now, Lord Tauro.”
“In that case, we should return to Caxart and report everything to my father,” Tauro said. “Viscount Bomen and the Imperial summoners can then be transferred to the Royal Capital.”
The operation had reached its proper conclusion.
“I agree,” Ankh said. “Viscount Bomen may be a traitor, but he’s still a nobleman. People like us have already done more than enough. The kingdom should handle the rest.”
“That arrangement is acceptable to us,” the commander said. “Our original purpose was to destroy the Assassins’ Guild, and that goal has been achieved.”
“Then let’s return to Caxart. Ragune, please open [Dimensional Corridor].”
Ragune created the corridor, and Tauro repeatedly used [Spatial Transfer] to carry the dragonfolk gathered at Viscount Bomen’s estate back to Caxart in groups.
During one of the breaks they took to restore their magical power, Ragune approached Tauro with an unusual request.
“Once we return to Caxart, may I have some time to myself?”
“Of course. Is something wrong?”
“I’d like to visit Aeris. Since we’re already in Count Graunewald’s territory, the Van Dyne Marquisate isn’t very far away.”
Ragune wanted to check on the companion and friend from whom she had been separated.
“That sounds good. When we return in that direction, we can all visit her together.”
“No. I think I should go alone this time. I only want to see how Aeris is doing, and I’ll return afterward.”
Her insistence suggested that there was something she wanted to discuss with Aeris privately.
“All right. Please give her my regards.”
“I’ll!”
Tauro nodded, drank another magic-restoration potion, and resumed transporting the remaining dragonfolk to Caxart.