Chapter 527: Resuming Adventurer Activities

Since this was Tauro and his group’s first adventure in a year, they decided to operate for a while in the city of Mandek.

Before long, Black-Gold Wings became well known at the Mandek branch of the Adventurers’ Guild.

Tauro normally kept the insignia proving his status as an honorary viscount hidden away in [Magic Storage].

Even so, a first-rate adventurer team from elsewhere led by a child was bound to stand out. Trying not to attract attention was impossible.

On top of that, Tauro’s group completed quests in the B-rank band on their own in a single day.

This left the other teams operating in the B-rank band at the branch holding their breath in disbelief.

After all, most quests in the B-rank band were difficult enough to require considerable time. It was common practice to hire C- and D-rank adventurer teams as assistants and tackle them with multiple teams, since that was more efficient and significantly improved survival rates.

Yet Black-Gold Wings took on monster-subjugation quests in the B-rank band by themselves, hired no assistant teams at all—aside from local guides on site—and returned after completing them in a short period.

Naturally, they showed no signs of having struggled. When their child leader said with a cool expression, “It was tough,” it was unconvincing for entirely different reasons.

Some of the regular adventurers suspected they might be cheating, but adventurers in the B-rank band knew all too well that such quests weren’t something anyone could “cheat” their way through.

Furthermore, it was known—through the Mandek Branch’s quest reports, which only higher-ranked adventurers were allowed to view—that this was the team that had defeated the legendary monster, the basilisk, together with Fangs of the North Wind.

If it had been Black-Gold Wings alone, it might not have been so convincing.

But the report had been prepared by the branch’s famous team, “Fangs of the North Wind.”

Their leader, Kantaro, had clearly written that his own team had been helpless and nearly wiped out, and that Black-Gold Wings had saved them. At that point, it was practically the same as saying Black-Gold Wings had defeated the monster on its own.

As for the details of the fight, the report contained only a single line from Black-Gold Wings’ leader Tauro: “The basilisk was strong, but we somehow managed to defeat it.”

Because of that, it was impossible to gauge the actual circumstances of the battle—something the higher-ranked adventurers who read the report found frustrating.

“Leader. That report—what it says—that was on purpose, wasn’t it?”

Ankh pointed this out, referring to the report that had become the talk of the branch:

Basilisk Subjugation Quest Report

Reported by: Kantaro of Fangs of the North Wind / Tauro of Black-Gold Wings

“Well, there wasn’t really any way to explain it beyond that. We all have [Abnormal Status Resistance], so we can charge in without worrying about being petrified, but writing that won’t help anyone, right?”

Tauro couldn’t really be blamed for answering that way.

Quest reports are meant to serve as references for future adventurers facing similar monsters.

But recording circumstances that wouldn’t be helpful—and might instead encourage dangerous imitation—was far worse.

That was why Tauro had deliberately settled for wording that amounted to: This is the best a child’s vocabulary can manage.

The male receptionist had asked, “Could you please write a little more detail…?”

But Tauro deliberately answered with sound effects: “Then it went slash here, and stab to finish it off,” leaving the male receptionist at a loss.

He tried asking the other members to explain, but they all refused, insisting that they were leaving it to Tauro.

In the end, since they also had the actual basilisk remains as proof, the Adventurers’ Guild accepted the report as it was.

From the perspective of other adventurers, it was utterly useless as a reference document for basilisk subjugation.

“More importantly—it’s fun being an adventurer again after such a long time!”

Ragune said this as they stepped outside the guild.

Four days had already passed since they resumed their activities.

In just those four days, Black-Gold Wings had already completed three quests.

That might have been possible with C- or D-rank quests, but quests in the B-rank band were on an entirely different scale, so their reputation in this new region was skyrocketing.

“The Olog-Hai we fought today was pretty tough, wasn’t it?” Zion said cheerfully.

“It seems to be a superior species of troll, but it was certainly tough and strong,” Ankh agreed with a nod.

“Yeah. There were a lot of them, too. In cases like that, it might be better to hire people,” Ragune said, recalling how the male receptionist had repeatedly suggested hiring assistants when they accepted the quest.

“This time couldn’t really be helped. The receptionist didn’t even know what an Olog-Hai was, and it didn’t seem to be a naturally occurring monster either. If anything, I think they need someone to investigate what caused them to appear,” Tauro said.

After the battle, Tauro used [True Eye] to examine an Olog-Hai corpse. The result was: “Remains of a superior species of troll, artificially created.”

“There are a lot of unusual monsters along this border. There are also several quests to ‘investigate an unidentified monster, or subjugate it.’ Is that something unique to the B-rank band at this branch?” Aeris asked Tauro curiously.

“I wonder? What bothers me is that this Olog-Hai was artificially created… There are plenty of powerful monsters in the unexplored Antas Mountain Range around the Dragonfolk Village, but ‘artificially created’ means it didn’t arise naturally. Doesn’t that sound suspicious?” Tauro replied, taking the [True Eye] appraisal into account.

“This is the border with the Empire to the north… so there’s probably a lot going on here,”

Aeris said, understanding his concern—but making a face that clearly said she’d rather not get involved.