Chapter 589 – A Secret Proposal
The day after their meeting with Count Swen, around noon—
The investigation expedition returned to Swen.
The adventurers went straight to the Adventurers’ Guild to report, while the territorial-soldier captain and Negame, the expedition’s supervising official, went to Count Swen to deliver their report on the losses.
Tauro’s own account had been restrained. The expedition’s version, by contrast, sounded almost wildly exaggerated.
They described not only their own desperate resistance, but also how Tauro’s Rock-series puppets had arrived as reinforcements and helped scatter an enemy force of roughly five thousand.
They even reported in detail that Tauro had personally defeated the enemy commander in single combat after the fierce battle.
To ordinary townspeople, it sounded like a heroic epic. The Adventurers’ Guild, however, had to report accurately to its higher authorities and tried to remain impartial. Yet every adventurer who had taken part told essentially the same story, leaving the guild little choice but to accept it.
Count Swen, on the other hand, had already received Negame’s much more restrained report. Because it matched the impression of Tauro he had formed during their meeting, he initially found Negame’s version easier to believe.
When Count Swen met with the Swen branch chief to reconcile the conflicting accounts, he concluded that the adventurers’ grander version might have been inflated by collective excitement.
There had been many casualties, so the count still praised the expedition’s efforts and provided generous compensation to the bereaved families. For Tauro and his companions, however, he intended to base his evaluation on Negame’s restrained account.
Tauro might reasonably have been angry about being undervalued, but instead he welcomed the decision.
That didn’t last. Reports from the expedition’s soldiers, researchers, and scholars repeatedly criticized Negame’s arrogance and his disrespect toward Tauro, and Negame’s account was ultimately rejected.
Tauro’s achievements were therefore on course to receive enormous praise—yet Tauro himself objected.
An excessively high evaluation would only create problems for Black-Gold Wings.
If such an account reached the Royal Capital, it could restrict the party’s future activities. Worse, people might try to exploit Tauro’s abilities—or begin to fear them.
So Tauro spent considerable time persuading the investigation expedition to submit a more measured account, asking it as a favor in return for having helped save their lives.
A few days after the debriefing—
“After some persuasion, we managed to keep the evaluation fairly restrained. Hopefully the report to the Royal Capital won’t be exaggerated either.”
Tauro was relaxing in their usual forest outside Swen as he voiced his concern that excessive fame might make future adventuring more difficult.
The report didn’t hide the fact that Black-Gold Wings had defeated more than a thousand monsters, but the wording and overall assessment were moderated enough to keep the evaluation from becoming excessive.
Even so, the sheer scale of Tauro’s monster subjugation through [Puppeteer] was more than enough to establish Black-Gold Wings as heroes.
“The adventurers who were actually there haven’t changed their opinion. Apparently, all of them are recommending that we be promoted without an exam.”
Ankh had gone to the Adventurers’ Guild to check on the situation and brought the news back to Tauro.
“Blue Thunder Beast, the A-minus team, and Silver Twin Mages, the B-minus team, are recommending us too.”
Ragune, who had accompanied Ankh, confirmed it.
“Really!? A promotion… Normally there would be an examination and a review of our achievements. I actually wanted to experience the exam at least once.”
Tauro sounded almost disappointed.
“…Our promotion to B-minus was already unusually fast and practically forced on us.”
Aeris gave a wry smile, understanding exactly how Tauro felt.
Tauro nodded, then asked:
“I appreciate the recognition, but what has the guild actually decided? It’s already been a few days since the debriefing.”
“They told us to wait a little longer. The military still has to compile its report and send it to central command, and the honorary-count general has been summoned to the Royal Capital, which is making the procedure more complicated.”
Ankh explained.
The honorary-count general had been placed under disciplinary suspension after taking responsibility for the earlier incident involving Tauro. Now he had been summoned to the Royal Capital and was busy explaining the situation.
With the northern army’s chain of command temporarily shifted to deputies, the military was struggling to operate smoothly.
A few days later, reinforcements under a replacement general would arrive from the Royal Capital to watch for movements by the Northern Empire—but that was another matter.
“Then should we take some quests while we wait? The guild and the military are going to cooperate on hunting down the remaining monsters, right?”
Tauro prompted Ankh for the latest details.
“Yes. The guild and the army have strengthened their cooperation in case the Empire attempts an invasion. The northern nobles will be even more vigilant along the border after this incident, so Swen is likely to stay tense for a while.”
Ankh’s years as a mercenary gave him a good sense for such military and political shifts.
“Maybe we should leave Swen soon… but before that, there’s something I want to do.”
Tauro lowered his voice and looked at Aeris.
Understanding immediately, Aeris raised a sound-blocking barrier around the group.
“What do you want to do?”
Ragune asked, suddenly wary.
“I’m thinking of crossing the border through the Antas Mountain Range into the Northern Empire and destroying the facilities that produced the Olog-Hai and Bloodsucking Wolves.”
“What!?”
Aeris and the others stared at Tauro, stunned by the audacity of the proposal.
Crossing a national border and destroying a state facility was, after all, essentially an act of terrorism.
“Leader! That’s far too dangerous!”
Ankh immediately pointed out the seriousness of the plan.
“Tauro, destroying a research facility in another country could trigger an international incident.”
Aeris firmly opposed the idea.
“…Research that creates new monster species is forbidden between nations. If that’s what the facility is doing, destroying it may not actually become a diplomatic problem.”
Ragune, unexpectedly, spoke in support of Tauro’s proposal.
“In that case, I support you too, Lord Tauro.”
Zion, as usual, sided with Tauro.
“We’re already at odds with the Empire. And as Ragune said, they can’t openly admit a facility like that exists. We can’t simply leave it alone, and if it’s destroyed, they can’t officially complain about it, can they?”
Tauro smiled as he laid out the chillingly practical logic.
“That may be true, but… are you sure about this?”
Ankh’s question carried several concerns at once: the immediate danger and the possibility of future Imperial retaliation.
“Of course. If anyone truly objects, I won’t do it. I’m not reckless enough to force something this dangerous through against everyone’s wishes.”
Tauro said so, but Aeris sighed when she saw the determination on his face.
“Tauro… if we all objected, you’d go alone, wouldn’t you? But if we leave that facility untouched, something like this could happen again. So I agree.”
Aeris, who had seemed the most strongly opposed, ultimately sided with him.
“…Alright, then. I’m with you, Leader.”
Ankh agreed.
“Of course I’m going too.”
Ragune joined in.
“I’ll go as well if that’s your decision, Lord Tauro!”
Zion declared.
“Thanks, everyone…!”
Tauro nodded, then began explaining the details of his plan.