Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 428: An Unexpected Connection
Although Tauro and Chief Gaze had settled on a verbal agreement, Gaze immediately offered to provide Black-Gold Wings with additional “support.”
That’s merely an excuse to keep us under surveillance.
Tauro could tell that the chief didn’t trust them, so he quickly found a reason to refuse.
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but having outsiders accompany us would make the investigation more difficult. If one of us makes a mistake, we can accept responsibility. But if someone assigned by you exposes us and forces us to abandon the job, we’d have no way to recover.”
“Naturally, I’d assign only our most capable people.”
“If they’re capable enough to obtain the information without being noticed, then you wouldn’t need us. If they can’t, adding them to our party would only increase the risk.”
“That is… true. Very well. We won’t provide any surveil—any assistance.”
You nearly said surveillance.
Tauro noticed the slip but pretended not to.
“Then we’ll return to the Adventurers’ Guild, report the completion of our current request, and begin gathering the information you asked for.”
“Proceed. And forgive me for repeating myself, but none of this may be discussed with anyone.”
Gaze had issued the same warning so many times that the party was tired of hearing it. They offered the necessary assurances and left the hidden village.
The journey back to the territorial capital took an entire day.
“We’re finally back… and Gaze has people following us.”
Through [Presence Detection], Tauro had noticed two villagers trailing the party since their departure.
When they entered the capital, one of the two separated from the other. By the time Black-Gold Wings had completed the quest-reporting procedure at the Adventurers’ Guild, two unfamiliar men had taken over the surveillance. The original pair exchanged a few quiet words with them, reunited, and returned in the direction of the village.
The replacements followed with practiced familiarity. Ankh noticed them as well.
“Leader, the villagers who followed us here are gone, but we have two new shadows, correct?”
“Yes. Apparently, the hidden village has associates in the capital.”
As they walked toward the inn, Tauro considered whether to lose the tails, capture them, or leave them alone.
Simply shaking them off would solve nothing. Attacking Gaze’s people would also create unnecessary complications. The two strangers, however, were another matter. If necessary, the party could claim that it hadn’t known who they were.
“Shall we take them down?” Ankh asked with a grin.
“Not yet. Once we reach the inn, I intend to report to my father.”
“If you go directly to the castle, they’ll realize we’re working against them.”
Ankh lowered his voice.
“What have you two been whispering about?” Ragune asked. She had been walking with Zion and had noticed their exchange.
“I’ll explain at the inn.”
Once the four had gathered in their room, Ragune immediately demanded an answer.
“Did neither of you notice that we were being followed?” Tauro asked.
“I noticed the pair from the village,” Ragune replied. “But they disappeared near the guild, so I assumed they had stopped.”
“I noticed them too,” Zion said. “Ragune-san and I discussed it on the way.”
“A different pair replaced them.”
“Then these new men are also connected to Gaze?”
“Most likely. All of you should remain here. I’ll go to the castle alone.”
“What will you do about the person following you?”
“I want to test one possibility.”
Zion immediately offered to accompany him, but Tauro persuaded her that traveling alone would make the test easier.
When he left the inn, one of the two men followed. The other remained nearby, presumably to watch Tauro’s companions.
Tauro wandered through several busy streets and narrow alleys while his pursuer struggled to maintain the proper distance.
“Let’s see how you react to this.”
Tauro turned into a familiar dead-end alley.
A concealed entrance there led into the sewer system. Grado had used it during the dangerous-drug investigation, and the passage was protected by perception-inhibiting magic. The warehouse supervisor and the organization’s true leader were still at large.
As soon as Tauro entered the alley, he activated his improvised invisibility magic.
The man following him rushed around the corner, froze when he found the alley empty, and then hurried directly to the concealed wall. Without searching, he pressed the hidden switch and opened the sewer entrance.
“He isn’t here? Then where did that brat disappear to?”
The man peered down the stairway, then ran back to the street and searched in the wrong direction.
Tauro remained motionless until the pursuer was gone.
“He knew exactly where the entrance was…”
Anyone connected to Gaze who also knew the drug organization’s hidden route could hardly be dismissed as an innocent observer. The evidence didn’t yet prove that the entire village belonged to the organization, but it established a connection that Tauro had considered extremely unlikely.
He grimaced, wondering whether [Great Fortune] had once again guided him toward the one clue he needed.
Still concealed by magic, Tauro headed for the castle to report everything to Count Graunewald.