Chapter 583 – Handover and Descent from the Mountain

Tauro’s party and the investigation expedition remained for several days at the hastily built fortress deep in the Antas Mountain Range, near the cave leading to the ancient underground ruins. Once fifteen hundred soldiers of the Kingdom army arrived, however, there was no longer any reason for them to stay.

Several representatives of the investigation expedition explained everything that had happened to the adjutant who had brought the Kingdom troops and was acting in the general’s place.

“I had no idea something like this was happening… His Excellency, the general responsible for the Antas Mountain Range front, is currently under disciplinary suspension for certain reasons, so I came in his place as his adjutant. But my authority is limited, and fifteen hundred soldiers were the most I could mobilize. If you hadn’t already crushed the enemy, this force might have been little more than a drop in the bucket…”

The adjutant wiped cold sweat from his brow after learning that the enemy had been a mixed force of roughly five thousand monsters and soldiers.

“We’ve spent the last few days hunting down the remnants of the monster army, but there still seem to be a few hundred left. We’ll leave the rest to you.”

For some reason, Tauro ended up speaking for everyone as he handed responsibility over to the adjutant.

After Tauro revealed that he was a noble, the expedition’s representatives had asked him to help oversee matters during the past several days.

More importantly, Tauro’s Rock-series puppets had done much of the work in crushing the mysterious army. No one objected to placing responsibility in his hands; everyone seemed to regard it as the natural choice.

As a result, Tauro had spent those days helping the territorial-soldier captain direct the hunt for the remaining monsters.

Tauro and his companions were especially active during that mopping-up operation.

The ten surviving Rock-series puppets were divided among the hunting groups so they could assist with monster subjugation.

The Olog-Hai and Bloodsucking Wolves were dangerous opponents even for experienced adventurers and soldiers, so the Rock series proved invaluable.

Seth, the boy-shaped autonomous-thinking puppet, coordinated the Rock series to reduce Tauro’s burden. That left Tauro free to control Adam and Eve, the male and female human-shaped puppets, while fighting alongside the others.

Even with that division of labor, Black-Gold Wings achieved overwhelmingly greater results than the other adventurers, further increasing the team’s reputation.

That performance only deepened the expedition representatives’ trust in Tauro.

Once the handover to the Kingdom army was complete, the investigation expedition began preparing to descend the mountain.

Tauro’s group did the same, returning all ten surviving Rock-series puppets to [Magic Storage].

The four destroyed units had already been recovered, but several of their cores had shattered into pieces, so fully repairing all four would probably be difficult.

Even so, Tauro thought he might be able to reconstruct at least one usable core by combining fragments from the four.

The investigation expedition had lost more than fifty people, including territorial soldiers and adventurers, in the battle against the mysterious army. Considering that the enemy had numbered around five thousand, the survival of so many expedition members was nothing short of miraculous.

The defensive walls they had already been constructing when the enemy appeared had allowed them to barricade themselves. The adventurers’ experience fighting monsters had also played a major role.

But there was no question that the reinforcements who had done the most to limit casualties were Tauro and Black-Gold Wings.

If that five-person adventuring team—and one slime—hadn’t arrived, the expedition would likely have been wiped out. More than three thousand monsters could then have scattered into the surrounding villages and towns, causing enormous devastation.

If the chaos had spread far enough, the Northern Empire might even have mobilized its army, turning the entire northern region into a battlefield. By preventing that possibility before it could unfold, Tauro had earned the kind of praise normally reserved for a hero.

“Lord Tauro, we’ll make certain that your achievements and those of your companions are reported to our lord and to the kingdom!”

The territorial-soldier captain, who had effectively taken over from Negame as the expedition’s practical leader, praised Tauro enthusiastically.

“We’ll also report Black-Gold Wings’ achievements to the Adventurers’ Guild and recommend the team for promotion. Thank you very much.”

The adventurer representative agreed with the captain and once again expressed gratitude.

“Well… I don’t think you need to make such a big deal out of it…”

Tauro tried to decline, uneasy about how excited everyone had become.

He was worried about drawing too much attention.

More than that, the Northern Empire would probably start watching him even more closely than before.

If he became celebrated as a hero throughout the northern region, he could easily become someone the Empire regarded with hostility.

The thought made him reluctant to accept fame if it also meant earning the resentment of a major power.

“Leader, you can’t stop people from talking. You might as well accept it.”

Ankh gave Tauro an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

“But remember—everyone here may have earned the Empire’s hatred because of this. Be careful.”

Tauro pointed out the danger again.

“Ugh!”

That single remark made everyone realize that Tauro wasn’t worried about fame itself. He was worried about the consequences.

“So that’s what you meant! I thought it was your usual modesty… Yeah, that could definitely be a problem…”

Ankh finally understood the reason for Tauro’s reluctance.

“…What should we do, Tauro? Maybe we should go somewhere else for a while and wait for things to cool down…”

Even Aeris hadn’t expected Black-Gold Wings to attract the resentment of the Northern Empire, and the prospect made her uneasy.

“I’ll protect Lord Tauro!”

Zion declared energetically.

“Protecting everyone is my job. Leave it to me!”

Ragune thumped her chest confidently.

Unable to speak, Seth copied Ragune and thumped his own chest as if pledging to protect everyone too.

Pella, perched on Tauro’s shoulder, bounced energetically to show that it felt the same.

“For now, let’s return to Swen and decide what to do next.”

With that settled, Tauro and his companions left the fortress ahead of the investigation expedition’s descent.