Chapter 515: Ability Theft 

Behind Tavern street, in a quiet corner of a secluded square.

There, Ankh lying unconscious, along with a young man named Alexa, who possessed the Hero Skill and was an assassin sent by Marquis Haragura, whom Tauro had slain, laid dead at the scene.

As Tauro stood there, the “Voice of the World” echoed in his mind.

“One of the conditions for activating the special skill [&%$#], <the one who slew a fallen hero>. [Random Steal (Weak)] has been acquired. Attempting to steal the Hero’s power… The ability ‘Great Luck’ has been activated… The hero’s ability ‘Teleportation’ has been stolen.”

Tauro was startled.

Just as he had heard from the True Saint, it seemed the man he had defeated was indeed a hero.

And then, he fell into darkness…

It sounds like he gotten his hands too dirty under Marquis Haragura’s order to come back.

 There must be some reason why someone with the Hero Skill would side with a villainous noble and become corrupted by evil, but now that he’s been killed, there’s no way to confirm it.

There must be some reason why someone possessing the skills of a hero would aid a villainous noble and become corrupted by evil, but now that I’ve killed him, there’s no way to confirm it.

Then it happened.

The Hero Alexa’s body began to glow.

And the wounds Tauro had inflicted began to heal before his eyes.

Could this be some kind of ability?

Tauro himself had 『Super Recovery Regeneration』 and 『Automatic Self-Resurrection』, so perhaps this hero also possessed similar powers.

When the wound closed, a visible discharge occurred in the body. 

His body jerked.

This happened  three times, but there was no fourth time and it stopped completely.

It seemed that was the end of it.

The next moment Tauro began to give the hero CPR.

This is the same person who was trying to kill us just a moment ago. There’s no need to help him.

Nonetheless, Tauro continued the chest compressions, even performing artificial respiration.

But Tauro continues the chest compressions and even starts mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Then he placed an ear to the hero’s chest.

It’s moving…!

Having confirmed that, Tauro restrained the hero.

Of course, this was so he could hand him over to the security forces.

According to the earlier “Voice of the World,” the hero’s ultimate trump, the ability “Teleport,” should have been stolen by Tauro and he should be unable to use it.

Knowing that Marquis Haragura was behind him, Tauro suspected that the hero might be released immediately, but Tauro, as an earl and someone with connections to the royal family, intended to use those channels to detain and interrogate the hero to extract evidence from him.

“I’d like to move both Ankh and this hero, but… Should I try using 『Teleportation』 right away?”

Tauro decided to test the ability for himself by trying it on his own first.

After all, there is an example of “spatial transfer”.

Back then, I could only move a short distance, only a person at a time, and it consumed a huge amount of mana per use.

I later found out that it was something to be used inside the dungeon, but at the time I felt extremely disappointed, so I doubted how much use something stolen with a suspicious ability like 『Random Steal (Weak)』 could have.

“Teleport!”

Tauro pictured where he wants to go and recites the name of the ability.

Tauro then found himself standing on the roof of a house near the square.

“Whoa!”

 He shouted with delight from the rooftop.

Compared to 『Spatial Transfer』, the amount of magical power consumed doesn’t seem to be that great, and above all, it’s quite convenient.

To be honest, during the battle with the hero, I repeatedly used 『Spatial Transfer』 with a nonchalant look on my face, but using it outside the dungeon consumed a lot of magical power, so I was actually quite exhausted.

Tauro, was on the roof drinking a magic recovery potion with his hands on his hips as if he was drinking milk.

“Phew, this taste awful! But I’m still alive!” 

As Tauro was muttering his thoughts, the house’s owner appeared and scolded him, forcing Tauro to apologize and climb down from the roof.

“Okay, first, I should hand this hero over to the Guard or the Royal Knights… no, to the Royal Guards.” 

Tauro was worried about who to hand him over to, but the commander of the Royal Guard was no stranger to him.

Even if he unexpectedly visited them, it will be easy to explain things and they will understand.

Furthermore, since the Royal Guard Knights excel in interpersonal combat, it would be difficult for even a hero to escape, and since the Royal Guard Knights only serve the royal family, no one else would interfere.

Then Ankh opened his eyes.

“…Where am I…? Leader…? Where is he…? –It looks like you’ve caught him…”

Ankh’s head was spinning as he looked around, trying to grasp the situation.

Then he saw the bound hero Alexa and realized he had been captured.

“I’m going to take this hero to the Royal Guard headquarters now, and you’ll come with me, Ankh.”

Tauro grabbed Ankh’s arm as he falls.

“I’ll wait here—”

In the next moment, Ankh, along with the captured hero, found himself lying on the carpet in the Commander-in-Chief’s office at the Royal Guard Headquarters.

“…!?”

As Ankh’s consciousness faded, he could hear the surprised voices of the Knight Commander and the guard Knights, who were surprised by their sudden appearance, before he completely lost consciousness.

At Count Graundewald’s mansion in the royal capital, Ankh and Zion of the Black Golden Wings received intensive care.

Though he had barely survived, it was only a temporary recovery, and he remained in a critical condition.

Ragune’s whereabouts were still unknown, but it was likely she was either at her home in the dragon-people village, which is set as the entrance to the Dimensional Corridor, or at Aeris’ home in Marquis Vandyne’s territory.

Whichever the case, there was a good chance she would pull through, so Tauro and Aeris chose to believe she were safe. Meanwhile, Ankh and Zion would eventually recover, and the two kept vigil over them until that time.

Aeris, of course, was treating him, while Tauro, wanting to do what he could, visited the royal family to request the services of a renowned physician.

In the end, all they had confirmed was that Tauro’s high-quality potion production skills and Aeris’s healing skills were the best…

Ankh regained consciousness on the morning of the fifth day.

Zion woke ten days later.

There has been no news from Ragune yet.

It’s probably too soon for them to move yet, so we’ll just have to wait for Ragune to come to us in the Graundewald residence in the royal capital.

Both Ankh and Zion had regained consciousness, but they still couldn’t stand up. So Tauro and Aeris waited patiently for everyone to recover.