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“These are the goblins and goblin archers summoned by the Goblin General>.”
If these goblins were under the control of the girl he gave the item to, then they
should avoid any hostile action. They should think of some countermeasures,
but since they were no match for Ainz or Narberal, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Looking at the calm and easy-going Ainz, the goblins said:
“That man wearing the full body armor, if possible please do not act rashly. We
do not wish to fight.”
Ainz once again stopped Narberal's actions and with a guarded and stiff voice
he said:
“Don’t worry, if you don’t attack us, we won’t move as wel .”
“I thank you. These guys may be strong, but they aren’t really scary... You on the
other hand, along with the lady next to you... my instinct tells me it would be
terrible if the two of you become my enemies.”
Ainz didn’t speak up, but shrugged in answer.
“Please wait here for a moment until elder sister comes over,.”
“Who is this elder sister you speak of! Is it that person occupying Carne Vil age!”
Enfrea’s agitated shout surprised the goblins.
“Enfrea, calm down. I don’t need to tell you has the upper hand right now.
Looking back at what Narberal has said about the vil age, there are stil some
strange areas. So before we know more about the situation, I hope we can
avoid any unnecessary conflict.”
Although he had heard Ninya’s advice, Enfrea could not conceal his anxious
mood.
Only that his face showing his determination to fight to the death, turned into a
face of discontent, his clenched fists slowly relaxed.
Seeing such drastic changes in Enfrea, Ainz felt both surprised and confused.
Of course, since it was just a short journey he didn’t know everything about the
youth’s personality, but even then he didn’t think his reaction would be that
extreme. Maybe this vil age was more to him than just a place he got his herbs
from.
Feeling suspicious, Ainz looked at the youth. The goblins on the other hand felt
Enfrea’s anger, and were looking at each other with puzzled expressions.
“Eh—— This feels different from before…”
“Elder sister’s vil age was recently attacked by Knights of the Empire, we are
just being careful.”
“The vil age was attacked…! I hope she’s fine!”
Seemingly responding to Enfrea’s cry, a girl under the protection of the goblins
appeared at the vil age entrance. Seeing the girl, Enfrea opened his eyes wide,
shouting the girl’s name loudly:
“Enri!”
Hearing his shout the young girl also replied with a voice that sounded like they
were good friends, full of kindness and warmth:
“Enfrea!”
At this point Ainz thought about what he heard before.
“A-hah, her pharmacist friend… wasn’t a woman, but a man.”
Interlude
Demiurge was walking on the ninth floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. His
shoes clopped on the floor, making a “da da da” sound, the echoes of which
faded into silence. Although a number of servants were on duty as a precaution
against an invasion, that stil didn’t harm the mythic atmosphere. Demiurge
looked around, a smile appearing on his face.
“How glorious and majestic.”
He was admiring the ninth floor in all its majesty. He admired the scenery here
because the scenery and the forty-one supreme ones complimented each other
wel , to the extent that it was worth Demiurge pledging his life to protect this
floor. That's why he was fond of the scenery.
Every time he walked on the ninth floor, he would be fil ed to the brim with joy
and would vow once again to devote himself to the creators. This sentiment
applied not only to him but also to the boisterous clowns and musicians.
Whenever they treaded on this floor, they would also be fil ed with awe, doing
their best to not utter any sound that would disrupt the tranquility.
If anyone disliked this scene, they were either disloyal to the 41 Supreme
Beings or harbor ‘thoughts of disloyalty’.
Demiurge turned the corner as he thought about that, his destination right before
him. That was the room of the last Supreme Being in the Great Tomb of
Nazarick, their overlord Ainz Ooal Gown.
When the door was within sight, he saw some people opening the door and
exiting.
They seemed to notice Demiurge too as they waited respectfully for them to
draw close.
One of them was dressed like a butler, dressed entirely in black except for his
white gloves. But instead of a butler, he looked more like a combatant.
He was one of the ten male servants in Nazarick. But even Demiurge was
unable to differentiate which of the ten servants he was. This was because all of
them wore masks covering their entire head, and they could only utter weird
noise.
And there was that thing standing before the male servant.
The strange thought of ‘naked with tie’ emerged in Demiurge’s mind.
That was a penguin.
It’s appearance was totally that of a penguin and it was wearing a black tie.
“Long time no see, assistant butler.”
When it heard Demiurge’s warm greeting, the penguin smiled cheerfully—— It
seemed to be doing that—— and it returned the greeting:
“It’s been a while, Demiurge-sama.”
It bowed deeply.
Of course, this was no simple penguin, but the assistant butler of Great Tomb
Nazarick. A heteromorphic race birdman known as Eckleya Eckleyer Eeckleya.
Birdman should normally be similar to the Pelucino of the 41 Supreme Beings
and possess wings and the head of beast, their limbs should be similar to the
talons of birds too. But this man had the appearance of a penguin for some
reason. But Demiurge wasn’t fazed by his appearance.
Because he was undoubtedly the creation of the 41 Supreme Beings.
“Is Albedo inside?”
“Yes, Albedo-sama is in there.”
With Ainz away, Albedo was in charge of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. But she
didn’t work in her own room, shutting herself in this one instead, something
everyone knew.
Al of her actions were permitted by Ainz, so the only one who might protest
would be Shalltear Bloodfallen who was away.
Demiurge told Albedo ‘Shouldn’t a good wife wait for her husband and take care
of their home?’. She answered ‘There’s nothing wrong with a wife guarding her
husband’s room’, and Demiurge couldn’t retort.
Demiurge nodded to express his acknowledgement asked Eckeya:
“How rare to see you here. Isn’t your work place in the guest room?”
“With Sebastian-sama away, I have to work doubly hard in his place too. I was
discussing the division of tasks with Albedo-sama in detail.”
“That is true. With him away, the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick wil be
in your hands.”
“Absolutely right, in order to rule the Great Tomb of Nazarick in the future, now is
the time to work hard.”
Even though some strange words were uttered before him, Demiurge was stil
smiling.
It was common knowledge that Eckleya was eyeing the throne of Nazarick. This
was part of the 41 Supreme Beings’ creation, so there was no problem with this.
Demiurge would dispose of him mercilessly if the Supreme Beings commanded
it, but there was no problems before that.
“That’s right, work hard. So what do you plan to do first?”
“Cleaning. Are there any other chores? No one can clean better than me! You
can even lick the toilet bowl after I cleaned it.”
Hearing Eckleya’s confident reply, Demiurge nodded with satisfaction:
“Wonderful. You have a very important job. If this floor becomes dirty, it would be
an insult to the Supreme Beings.”
Demiurge who was nodding raised another query:
“I know your work are of the utmost importance, but who is taking care of this
floor in place of Sebastian?”
“That’s the job of the head maid Pastry. Compared to cleaning, management is
no big deal.”
“I see… The servants created by the Supreme Beings have been delegated
corresponding tasks… Speaking of which, isn’t it hard to clean with your
penguin hands?”
“I can overcome this pair of hands and clean deftly with my skil s.”
Eckleya puffed out his chest and replied confidently, but he continued speaking
with a hint of displeasure:
“By the way, Demiurge-sama, this doesn’t seem like a question a person whose
intelligence was just beneath me wil ask.”
Eckleya took the comb handed to him by the male servant behind and started
grooming the golden feathers on the side of his head.
“I am not a simple penguin, but a rockhopper penguin created by Ankoro
Mochimochi-sama. Please don’t get that wrong. And this is not a hand─── it’s a
wing.”
“Pardon me.”
Seeing Demiurge bowing in apology, Eckleya didn’t take the matter to heart,
turning around to order the male servant:
“Carry me there.”
“Eeek~!”
Eskleya was carried under the male servant’s armpit.
Because Eckleya moved in shuffling steps, it was rather slow.
So he was carried by the male servants normally.
“I will bid my leave, Demiurge-sama.”
“Yes, farewell Eckleya.”
After glancing at the assistant butler being carried under the arm like a soft toy,
Demiurge knocked the door gently:
Naturally, the owner wasn’t in, but Demiurge stil acted respectfully. For
Demiurge, this room is a place that deserved respect.
Demiurge entered the room that didn’t gave him any response.
After looking around, he didn’t see Albedo. Demiurge sighed, open another door
and entered the interior room.
The rooms of the 41 Supreme Beings were designed in the image of a
presidential suite, with a large bath, bar counter, living room with a piano, master
bedroom, guest room, kitchen for personal chefs, walk in wardrobe and many
other rooms.
Demiurge head for the master bedroom without hesitation.
He didn’t wait for a response after knocking and opened the door.
There was a bed in the room, but its large size was extravagant. A lump slightly
bigger than a person was squirming under the covers.
“Albedo.”
Demiurge called out in irk. A beautiful face emerged, her bare shoulders could
be seen and she was probably naked. Her face was pink with excitement
probably because she was squirming inside the covers.
“...What are you doing here?”
“I want Ainz-sama to be surrounded by my scent when he returns.”
Her squirming actions was probably to leave behind her scent.
Demiurge was dumbfounded, looking silently at the highest ranking NPC, the
overseer of the Grand Tomb of Nazarick. He then shook his head weakly.
He didn’t say ‘Ainz-sama is an undead, he probably doesn’t sleep in bed.’ or
‘Even if he does, the bedsheets would be changed immediately.’ If this was
enough to satisfy Albedo, then let her be.
“But don’t go overboard.”
“... I don’t know how much would be overboard, but I have taken note. Right,
Ainz-sama.”
Demiurge was stunned beyond words.
He thought it was Ainz Ooal Gown for an instance, but it lacked depth and the
presence.
“Is that… a hug pil ow of him… who made it?”
“I made it myself.”
The fast reply made Demiurge slightly opened his eyes that seemed to be
always closed. He don’t think Albedo had such skil s.
“Be it cleaning, laundry or sewing skil s, I am at the level of professionals.”
Pleased to see the shocked expression of Demiurge, Albedo boasted
delightfully:
“For the child that might be born in the future, I had made clothes and socks. Al
the way til 5 years old.”
Albedo was all smiles, her “fufufu” laughter made Demiurge feel weak, thinking
of just leaving this woman here and leaving right away.
“Either boys or girls would be fine… Ah! What about dual sex or sexless?”
Demiurge had nothing to say, looking at Albedo chattering away.
Albedo was excellent in managing the Grand Tomb of Nazarick, surpassing
Demiurge by leaps and bounds. However, she wasn’t as well versed on the
military aspect, so Demiurge’s aid was necessary.
But without any clear enemies, there should be no problem.
Demiurge suppressed his unease after judging so. His master ordered him to
leave for a mission, so Demiurge can’t protest.
“By Ainz-sama’s command, it is about time for me to set off. Of the guardians left
in Nazarick, only you and Cocytus are free to act. I don’t have anything else to
advise you, please be careful.”
“After Aura, Mare, Sebastian and Shalltear, so you are next. Yes, leave it to me,
I wil ask my little sister for help in a pinch. I wil activate the Pleiades too, so I wil definitely hold until everyone returns.”
“... Even in the event of an emergency, you can’t mobilize your sister without
Ainz-sama’s permission. The Pleiades are the same. Two of them are out, so
you can’t gather all of them. You might want to move Victim to the higher floors if
the situation warrants it?”
“Something of that extent… I have made preparation to handle that. I wil
summon you back if there is a crisis. By the way, how do you plan to deal with
the survivors of the Sunlight Scripture? Ainz-sama had given the green light for
you to manage them right? You can leave them with me too, but I have no idea
what you were doing…”
“Ah, you mean them? I am conducting experiments by Ainz-sama’s orders.”
Demiurge was smiling happily, making Albedo frown her beautiful eyebrows.
“First would be healing magic experiment. If you cut off an arm and cast healing
on the wound, the arm that was cut off would disappear. What happens if you let
them eat the arm that was cut off and cast healing, would the nutrition
disappear? If we repeat this indefinitely, wil the one eating starve to death?”
“Ah-- I see.”
“Not just that, I let them vote to choose the one to become food, the one to cut
off the limbs with a blunt axe. The votes are not anonymous.”
“Is there any meaning in doing that?”
“Of course. There wil be a ranking among the prisoners, those who are eaten,
those cutting off the limbs and those who eat the limbs. The comrades will in
turn bear grudges. We wil then gently incite those who are eaten. This wil make
them revolt, the results are clear. Living beings that hate everything are scary.”
“... How discomforting. The beings in Nazarick are created by the Supreme
Beings and would never betray Ainz-sama. But humans wil turn against their
master… they have no loyalty.”
“That’s why it is interesting. Do enjoy this part of humans, Albedo. Just treat
them like toys and you will be fine.”
“I totally don’t understand your thinking.”
“Such a pity. Alright, chatting here all day wil delay the execution of Ainz-sama’s
orders. If something happens, notify me and I wil rush back immediately.
“Yes, but such things shouldn’t happen. I wil notify you if there is a need.”
“I will take my leave then. Oh right… Since you are making clothes for boys, I
should inform you earlier. The Supreme Beings seem to prefer young boys
wearing girls clothing's alright?”
“... Eh?”
Chapter 3 – The Virtuous King of the Forest
Part 1
Clementine returned to Kajit’s secret shrine base situated under Re-Lantier’s
cemetery. She was practically burning with anger.
Her steps were rushed, her eyebrows were frowning and her mouth was
crooked. Her fine features were twisted into an ugly mess.
Her personality was probably uglier than that.
Kajit mumbled in his heart, commanding his newly created zombies to the
undead holding area.
“Oh~? New zombies? That’s over 150, the Pearl of Death is exceptional
indeed~”
Using the 3rd tier undead creation spell
undead that can be controlled was dependent on the Magic Chanter’s ability.
The stronger the undead, the smaller the number that can be controlled. But for
low-class undead like zombies, Kajit who was unbelievably skil ed in undead
control could command more than one hundred of them. As for why Kajit was
able to do this, it was all thanks to the item he owned —— the Pearl of Death.
“The problem is that you like to play so much.”
“Sorry~”
The bowing Clementine had no hint of regret on her face.
“But~ Those fellows who die so easily are at fault~ They can’t even take that
much~”
“... The way you beat them up, anyone would die easily…”
“Adventurers don’t die so easily~”
“They are just normal people… They will die since they are not adventurers…
Clementine, is saying obvious things to pass the time one of your hobbies?”
“Alright, alright~ Sorry~ I won’t do it again, please forgive me!”
Kajit clicked his tongue:
“I don’t believe you, just stop kidnapping people for now.”
“Yes~”
Her casual response made Kajit frown. But since saying anything more was
useless, he stopped lecturing her. He showed his strong displeasure with a
frown, which was ignored as usual.
“But~ I am so bored~ By the way, where did he go?”
“He is not back?”
“Not yet, I came back empty handed again~ Now’s a good chance, how about
nabbing the granny~?”
“Don’t be rash. Don’t underestimate the granny, she can use 3rd tier spells and
is famous in this city. It will be trouble if we make a move on her lightly.”
“Eh~ But~”
Kajit reached into his robes and grab a black jewel:
“... Clementine, in order to turn this city into the realm of the dead, I had spent
years making preparations. I don’t want your sil y games throwing my plans into
disarray. If you keep stirring up trouble… I wil kil you, understood?”
“...It’s called the Spiral of Death, isn’t it?”
“That’s right, the ritual our master is executing.”
In places where undead gathered, it was possible to create stronger undead. If
strong undead were gathered, it became possible to create even stronger
undead. The magic ritual exploiting this spiral-like property, which endlessly
allows to create even stronger undead and was able to destroy a whole city, was
known as the
In the past, this evil ritual turned a city into the realm where the undead roams.
Kajit’s goal was to turn Re-Lantier into the 2nd undead city, harnessing the
power of death in the city to turn himself into an undead.
He had put in a lot of effort and preparation to reach this goal; he wouldn’t allow
the woman who appeared a few days ago to derail this plan.
“You understand?”
Kajit saw right through Clementine’s cute puffed up cheeks and sensed her cruel
expression. In that instant, Clementine’s kil ing intent burst out like a gust of
wind.
She closed the distance, striking with amazing speed. The sharp shortsword
shone as it stabbed towards Kajit’s throat—
The weapon Clementine used was a piercing weapon known as a stiletto.
Piercing weapons were limited in their ways of attacking and hard to wield. But
Clementine liked this type of weapon, so she trained her muscles, picked her
equipment and learnt the techniques. Al this was in preparation to kil with one
hit.
After developing this skil , Clementine survived countless battles against men
and monsters, and reached a state where it was impossible for normal people to
dodge her.
Clementine had innate talent and incredible potential, so it was natural for her to
reach such a state after spending most of her life learning this skil .
But her target was no pushover either.
The pride of Zuranon, Kajit of the twelve disciples wouldn’t die just like that.
───The unavoidable tip of the sharp blade was blocked by a white wal that
erupted from the ground. It was a claw made from countless human bones, the
claw of a lizard.
The claw moved and cracked the ground around it. This huge object appeared
to be controlled by Kajit’s will.
He felt the presence of a powerful undead by his feet. Feeling quite satisfied,
Kajit glared at Clementine:
“What a meaningless attack. The only harm you’ve done was to distract me
enough to lose control over the undead for a moment.”
“Eh~ Sorry about that~ but I didn’t even use my full power. You had to use all
your strength to block that blow, right?”
“Don’t talk nonsense Clementine. You are not someone who wil hold back.”
“Wah~ you saw right through me? Yeah, if you didn’t block it, your shoulder
would had been stabbed. But I wasn’t planning to kil you~ Honestly.”
Seeing the woman before him smiling, Kajit frowned.
“And I can stil defeat that thing~ It might have a chance against Magic
Chanters, but as a warrior I should be more than enough, right? It’s just that I’m
no good with blunt weapons~”
“... You might be strong against living beings with your one hit kil technique, but
how would you fare against undead that don’t have vitals? Do you really think
this is my final trump card?”
“Hmmm~... You are right~”
Clementine gazed towards the passageway, apparently sensing the undead
controlled by Kajit who were waiting inside.
“I should be able to deal with a few of them... But under these circumstances it
wil turn into a war of attrition and I’l probably lose~ Sorry Kaji-chan.”
Clementine moved the weapon she was holding in her hand back under her
cloak and the earth stopped trembling.
“But~ As expected of enhanced undead control~ that was impressive!”
Clementine turned and walked away after saying that:
“Oh yah. I won’t touch the granny until the very end. I won’t nab anymore
people, that should do, right?”
“... Yes.”
Kajit would never relax the power in his hands before Clementine was gone.
Even when her figure disappeared down the exit of the underground shrine.
“Madwoman.”
With these words, Kajit finished their conversation.
He was flawed as wel , but not to Clementine’s extent.
“What an incredible strength... no, it’s because of her incredible strength that
her personality became so twisted”
Clementine was strong, even among the twelve highest-ranking members of
their secret organization, only three were able to defeat her. Regrettably, Kajit
wasn’t counted among them. Even if he used his special item, he would only
have a 30% chance of winning.
“The former ninth seat of the Black Scripture, huh… A psychopath with the
strength of a hero is not to be trifled with.”
“So something like that happened.”
Enfrea sighed deeply and muttered.
Enfrea knew Enri’s parents wel . They were ideal parents. He envied the two
daughters they doted on.
Enfrea was orphaned from a young age and only had vague memories of his
parents. Whenever wonderful parents were mentioned, Enfrea would think of
Enri’s parents.
He felt anger against the ‘imperial knight imposters’ who took the lives of Enri’s
parents. He thought they deserved it when he heard they were kil ed. He was
angry at the higher ups of Re-Lantier for their unwil ingness to dispatch soldiers.
But the one who should be the most angry and sad, Enri, put her own feelings
aside, which felt a bit strange.
He watched as Enri recalled the past, uncertain if he should console her or not,
she wiped away the tears in her eyes and smiled:
“I stil have my little sister, so I can’t stay depressed like this.”
Enfrea, who had been about to get up, sat down again. He thought it was
regrettable having lost his chance to console her, but he also thought himself to
be really useless.
But—— His feelings of wanting to protect her remained the same. After
hesitating, Enfrea made up his mind. Other than himself, he wouldn’t let anyone
else sit beside Enri. Even if that person was strong enough to protect Enri.
It was a bit rash, but Enfrea didn’t want to lose Enri, so he decided to express
the feelings he had harboured since the first time he ever came to the vil age as
a child.
“Well then——”
He couldn’t speak, his throat seemed to be glued shut. Say it, say it. He wanted
to say it, but the words seemed to be jammed in his throat and wouldn’t come
out.
Both Enri and Enfrea were at a marriageable age, and the money Enfrea made
as a pharmacist was enough to take care of Enri and her sister.
It would be fine even if they had a child...
The scenery of building his own family appeared in his mind—— but he stopped
his imagination that was going out of control. Noticing that Enri was looking at
him with a puzzled expression, Enfrea became even more anxious.
His mouth opened and shut.
I like you.
I love you.
But he couldn’t say these two sentences. Because he was scared of hearing her
rejection.
He should say something that wil shorten the distance between them.
The city is safer, want to live together? I will take care of your sister too. If you
want to work, you can help out in grandma’s shop.
If you feel uneasy in the city, I wil do all I can do to help you.
Just saying these would be enough. The chance of being rejected would be
lower than expressing his love.
“Enri!”
“Wha-what is it? Enfrea.”
Enri was surprised by his sudden shout and Enfrea started his confession:
“——If... if you have any troubles please tell me. I will do all I can to help you!”
“Thank you!... Enfrea is a great friend, better than what I deserved!”
“Ah, ah, ermm… No, don’t mention it, we’ve known each other for so long.”
Unable to say anything else to the smiling Enri, Enfrea lamented his own
uselessness. At the same time, he felt that Enri was really cute and chatted
about their childhood for a moment.
When the topic reached its end, Enfrea asked:
“By the way, what’s with those Goblins?”
Those goblins addressed Enri as ‘anego’. And unlike the normal goblins he saw
on the road, each of them looked like a veteran warrior. Not only that, seeing the
traces of a Magic Chanter in the vil age was even more shocking. He wondered
how Enri, who was just a vil age girl, got to know that group of goblins and what
the nature of their relationship was.
Enri answered simply:
“I used the item left by the saviour of the vil age, Ainz Ooal Gown, and they
appeared. They wil obey my command.”
“I see…”
Enri’s eyes sparkled like the stars, which made Enfrea miserable as he replied
casually.
Ainz Ooal Gown.
Enri had mentioned this names several times already.
When Carne vil age was attacked by people disguised as Knights of the
Empire , a mysterious Magic Chanter who happened to pass by, saved the
vil age with his amazing powers and brought peace to the vil age. He was a hero
who saved Enri, someone Enfrea should give thanks to.
But Enri’s expression made it hard for him to express his gratitude.
This was the natural reaction when Enri mentioned her saviour, but the feelings
of jealousy stil sprang from his heart. The nature of a man is competitive, so he
felt jealous because Enri didn’t show that for himself. He was caught in these
murky feelings and ugly thoughts.
As he was feeling miserable, Enfrea tried to push these emotions out of his mind
and thought about the item Enri mentioned.
It was used to summon goblins, known as [Horn of the Goblin General].
The great Magic Chanter who saved the vil age obviously told Enri something
about this horn, but since her mind was confused back then, she wasn’t able to
remember everything clearly.
Enfrea thought it was strange.
She might not know what kind of item it was, but she shouldn’t have forgotten
about it. Since it was an item with special effects, you wouldn’t forget about it
after hearing it only once.
There were many items that could be used for summoning, and there were
summoning spells too. But the summoned beings will disappear after a fixed
amount of time has passed.
‘Summoned monsters’ were not monsters that could be controlled over a long
time.
If that item could accomplish this, the history of magic up to this point might be
overturned.
How valuable would an item like that be? Enri appeared to be unaware if the
item’s value, but if she were to sell it she would be set for life.
Enri used this rare item because she don’t want the vil age to get hurt again.
Enfrea thought this way of thinking was just like Enri, which was why the
summoned goblins protected the vil age, addressed Enri as anego, followed her
commands and even helped in the fields. Not only that, but he heard they were
even teaching the vil agers how to use a bow, teaching them ways of protecting
themselves. That’s how the vil age got their strange new residents.
Part of the reason why the vil age accepted the goblins was that they were
attacked by knights, who were fellow humans. They were no longer able to trust
other humans as before, and at the same time it became easier for them to
accept the goblins’ help.
The main reason was because the item was a gift from the Magic Chanter who
saved the vil age.
“That person called himself Ainz Ooal Gown, right? What kind of person was
he? I want to express my thanks.”
Enfrea had no idea who Ainz Ooal Gown was. Enri said she didn’t know how he
looked like under the mask, so even if he were someone Enfrea knew, they
wouldn’t be able to tell. But anyone who gave away such a valuable item must
be a great person. Enfrea would never forget if he had seen him before. After
telling Enri what he thought, Enri looked disappointed.
“I see. I thought Enfrea would know who he was…”
Enri’s reaction made Enfrea’s heart race and his back started to sweat.
“
Calming his uneasiness for the moment, Enfrea asked:
“En, Enri, what’s the matter? Why do you want to see that Ainz person?”
“Huh? Well, I want to thank him properly. The vil agers proposed building a small
bronze statue in remembrance of him saving our lives, I need to thank him
too...:”
Sensing that the feelings of love, which Enfrea feared, were absent, Enfrea
sighed in relief, relaxing his tensed shoulders:
“Oh I see, erm… phew. That’s right, we need to thank him. If there was
something special about him, we can narrow the search fields… Oh right, do
you know what magic he used?”
“Ah, magic. It was amazing. With a loud bang of lightning, the knight fell.”
“Lightning… Did you hear him say the word lightning?”
Enri gazed to the sky and nodded heavily.
“Yes!... I heard him say that.”
But it was longer… Listening to Enri’s mumbled language, Enfrea judged that
her mumblings were things said before activating a spell.
“That… is a 3rd tier spell.”
“... 3rd tier spell… is that amazing?”
“That is definitely amazing! I can only use 2nd tier magic, 3rd tier is the highest
normal people can achieve. For higher tiers, that would be in the realm of those
with innate talent.”
“Sir Gown is amazing!”
Enri was impressed and nodded, but Enfrea didn’t think this Magic Chanter was
limited to 3rd tier spells. He could give away that item casually, so he might be
able to use 5th tier magic that goes into the realm of heroes.
Why did such a great person come to this vil age?
The puzzled Enfrea couldn’t help tilting his head, but the doubt in his mind
disappeared when he heard Enri’s next words.
“Not just that, he also gave me some red potion——”
The story he heard was bits and pieces of the whole incident, which reminded
Enfrea of a conversation he heard some time ago.
“I will you pay you for your trouble, could you describe in detail the person who
gave you the potion?”
The warrior named Verita was displeased by Lizzie’s request:
“What are you planning by asking this?”
“Obviously, it would be a clue for me to find him. Find the mysterious man in full
body armor. If I get close to him, he might tell me where he got that potion from,
right? He might even spil it accidentally. If he is an adventurer, I plan to hire him.
What do you think, Enfrea?”
This was the reason Enfrea asked for Momon by name.
He wanted to find out information about the potion by deepening their friendship.
Aside from this, during the process of heading to the forest to harvest herbs,
Momon might unknowingly leak some other information.
Enfrea worked hard to hide his excitement, asking Enri carefully with a calm
voice like before.
“Oh, what kind of potion was it?”
“Eh?”
“You know that I am a pharmacist, I am interested in potions.”
“Ah, that’s right! These kind of things are your job.”
Enri told Enfrea everything about how the Magic Chanter gave her the potion.
Enri mentioned the amazing feats of Ainz Ooal Gown while doing so, which
would had made Enfrea from just now jealous. But right now, his mind was full of
something else.
After consolidating all the information and unveiling several layers of mask, the
hidden identity was finally revealed.
The potion in Re-Lantier and the potion Enri drank might be the same thing. And
the people who appeared in both of these places were duo travelers of Magic
Chanter and warrior in black armour.
There was only one answer, but there were two candidates for the one claiming
to be Ainz Ooal Gown. He seemed to be a man from Enri’s description, but to be
safe, Enfrea asked to confirm:
“... The person named Ainz Ooal Gown, could she be… a woman?”
“Hmmm? No? I didn’t see his face, but the voice belonged to a man.”
This evidence wasn’t enough to prove that the other party was definitely a man,
there could be spells and items to change one’s voice. But it felt wrong equating
Nabel with Ainz Ooal Gown. The cool and bumbling Nabel compared to the
intelligent, collected and helpful Ainz, they were too different. It was too far of a
stretch to link them together——
“The one in black armor seemed to be called Albedo.”
“I, I see…”
He remembered that Nabel mentioned that name.
The cat is out of the bag.
Ainz Ooal Gown is —— Momon.
This showed an amazing fact.
The Magic Chanter who saved the vil age was also an accomplished warrior.
There were warriors who were trained in magic, but the balance wil trend
towards one of the skil s. It was the same for Magic Chanters. If mana based
Magic Chanter wore heavy armor, they wouldn’t be able to chant spells.
A 3rd tier Magic Chanter and an adamantite class swordsman adventurer.
What an absurd existence. If there really was someone like that, he would
definitely be a hero among heroes.
But if that were the case, why was he asking so many questions during their
travels?
The most logical explanation would be that he was a Magic Chanter who
learned unknown techniques in a foreign nation, so he didn’t know these things.
If that were the case, it would be natural for him to possess foreign potions
which Enfrea knew nothing about.
Enfrea got this valuable information and his breathing turned ragged; he couldn’t
stop it even though he knew Enri was looking at him strangely.
Complicated feelings emerged in his heart at the same time.
Compared to Ainz, who saved Enri and gave her a potion, he was despicable
and detestable for getting close to him in order to learn the secrets of making
that potion.
Enri should prefer such a man.
He can’t help sighing when he thought of that.
“Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
“Erm, yes. I’m fine, just thinking of something…”
If he found out how to create the potion, he could save many people and
cleanse his sense of guilt. But the chance of that happening was slim. He just
want to obtain new methods of making potions as a pharmacist.
He wasn’t just a powerful warrior, but an excellent Magic Chanter too. A beauty
accompanied him, he possessed unknown potions and he had a strong sense of
justice to save the vil age that was in danger. Enfrea compared such a man with
himself.
Enfrea felt a depressingly wide chasm between himself and Momon—— no,
Ainz Ooal Gown.
“What’s the matter? You look weird?”
“Ah, yeah. It’s nothing.”
Enfrea held back his sigh and smiled, but he wasn’t confident that he could
smile naturally. Enri made an expression that showed she had seen through
Enfrea’s fake smile.
“... What should I do? Enri hates people who hide their shameful affairs right?”
“... Before we are called forth by God, everyone has things that he or she keeps
in their heart. Especially things that cause misfortune when said. But if keeping
these secrets cause misfortune to others, that would be another matter… I won’t
detest you for this, so no matter what crimes you committed, it would be better
to surrender yourself to the authorities!”
“...No, I didn’t commit any crimes.”
“Eh… Yes! That’s right! There was no way Enfrea would commit crimes! I trust
you deeply!”
Looking at Enri who was laughing forcefully, Enfrea relaxed the strength in his
shoulders.
“Yes, but I stil have to thank you. You made things easier in some ways. I wil
work hard to be as good as he is.”
In order to lift my face high and say to you that I like you, I love you.
In response to Enfrea’s determined announcement and his words earlier, the
confused Enri simply nodded and smiled politely.
Part 2
“Oh───”
Ainz sighed and looked towards the vil age in admiration.
There were many different vil agers all standing in a line. Men and women, old
and young, they were all there. There were forty year old plump women who
looked like mothers, there were also youths whose age looked around ten years
old. Al of them were serious to an extent that they appeared hostile. No one
was fooling around.
A goblin holding a bow was speaking to them.
Even with Ainz’s sensitive hearing, he couldn’t hear what they were saying from
this distance.
A few moments later, the lined-up vil agers slowly picked up their bows. They
were simple shortbows and judging by their shape, they were probably self-
made.
After fully drawing the bow, they aimed at the scarecrows some distance away.
The goblin probably issued a command and the vil agers fired in unison.
The bows might look simple, but the arc of the arrows was beautiful. Everyone
hit the scarecrow, no one missed.
“Not bad.”
Ainz praised.
“Is that so?”
Narberal asked doubtfully, standing behind him.
From her perspective, she probably wouldn’t understand why a technique of this
level was worthy of praise. Compared to the archers in the Great Tomb of
Nazarick, this was child’s play.
Ainz understood how Narberal felt and smiled bitterly under his helmet.
“You’re right Narberal, their skil with the bow may not be that amazing. But just
ten days ago, they couldn’t even use a bow. They aren’t passively hoping their
spouses, children and parents won't die in another tragedy, instead they’re
actively taking up arms to defend themselves whenever necessary. Isn’t the
technique they learned with this courage worthy of praise?”
What was praiseworthy, was the hate that pushed the vil agers to this extent.
“My apologies. I hadn’t thought about it so deeply...”
“It’s fine, no need to think too much, Narberal. Their technique isn’t worthy of
praise anyway.”
Ainz watched the arrows fly through the sky and pierce the scarecrow, and a
thought surfaced in his mind.
In YGGDRASIL, Ainz had already reached the level cap of 100. His experience
points were at 90% of the limit when he came to this world. This was just a
hypothesis, but since his other abilities were stil intact, the level system in this
world should be the same. The problem was whether he could obtain the
remaining 10% of experience points and reach level 101.
Considering this question, Ainz could guess the answer.
He couldn’t get stronger. He had already reached the peak of power.
Ainz was strong, but he won’t get stronger. But the vil agers were weak and
might become unexpectedly strong.
If the people in this world didn’t have any limit to their growth, they could exceed
the level 100 peak in YGGDRASIL. If that happened, Ainz and his underlings in
the Great Tomb of Nazarick wouldn’t be able to match them.
But this wil absolutely——
“It might happen though…”
Ainz thought it could be possible that the Six Gods of the Silian Theocracy were
players. He didn’t know why the time of their appearance was so far apart from
his, but if the Six Gods were from heteromorphic races without limited lifespan,
or if they had lifespan-specific class, there was a high probability that they were
stil alive.
If the Six Gods were stil hiding in the Silian Theocracy, then during the last 600
years there might’ve been those who used the strength of the Six Gods to power
level——gaining experience faster than normal through the help of powerful
players—— It wouldn’t be surprising if someone over level 100 showed up.
Then the reason Silian Theocracy didn’t rule this world would be due to an
existence with a similar level. Or maybe level 100 was nothing impressive here.
When he thought about that, Ainz’s non-existent stomach started to cramp.
If the Six Gods were players, he had to try his best to get on their good side,
even if the information gathering wasn’t complete. But according to the survivors
of the Sunlight Scripture, the Knights of the Empire who attacked the vil age
were actually imposters from the Theocracy, which would mean that saving this
vil age was the same as opposing the Theocracy.
“Maybe it was a mistake to help them…”
He needed to gather more information after all.
While Ainz was preoccupied with such thoughts, he noticed a young man
running towards him. The eyes, which were normally covered by hair, were
visible as his hair swayed in the wind. He was staring straight at Ainz.
Seeing Enfrea’s behavior, Ainz got a bad feeling. It was the same look of panic
he had seen in the vil age chief.
“What’s the hurry? Is there another emergency? This vil age is really…”
Enfrea reached Ainz, who was rambling on.
Enfrea was panting, and his forehead was drenched in sweat, causing his hair
to part. It revealed his serious expression, looking at Ainz and Narberal.
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, not sure how to speak. He finally made up
his mind and asked Ainz:
“Momon-san, are you Sir Ainz Ooal Gown?”
This sudden question dumbfounded Ainz. The correct answer should be no.
But could he say that? That was the name he and his friends created. Even
though it was his name right now, could he really deny it?
This period of hesitation was the best proof, and Enfrea went on.
“So it is you, Sir Gown. Thank you for saving this vil age and Enri.”
Ainz answered the bowing Enfrea, ”No… I…”
Hearing the words Ainz managed to squeeze out, Enfrea nodded
understandingly:
"I understand you’re hiding your identity for some reason, but I stil wanted to
thank you for saving this vil age—— no, for saving Enri. Thank you for saving
the girl I like.”
He felt like an old uncle, thinking that ‘like’ was a word only used by youths. For
a moment he allowed himself to reminisce about the past, while thinking about
other, more important things.
“Ah… enough… lift your head.”
This meant admitting that he was Ainz Ooal Gown, which meant he had no
possible explanation to refute Enfrea’s idea. It was Ainz’s loss.
“Yes, Sir Gown. Also, actually… I’ve been hiding something from you.”
“... Follow me. Nabel, stand by here.”
After issuing the order to Narberal, Ainz brought Enfrea to some place further
away. This was to prevent Narberal from hearing anything strange and getting
agitated.
After getting some distance away from Narberal, Ainz turned around to face the
youth.
“Actually…”
Enfrea gulped nervously, then made a determined face.
“Sir Gown, the potion you gave to the woman at the tavern is impossible to
create using normal methods and is very rare. I wanted to know what kind of
person owned such a potion and it’s brewing method, that’s why I requested you
for this job. I am very sorry.”
“Oh, so that’s it.”
That was the mistake.
Ainz gave a potion to Enri in this vil age, and he gave a similar potion to
someone in Re-Lantier. That was how his identity got exposed. Not only that
——
Ainz thought that giving her the potion was the best way back in Re-Lantier.
She said ‘With such a flashy armor, you must have some potions, right?’ She
probably didn’t mean to, but that greatly limited the actions Ainz could take.
For example, if someone got out of a classy car, wearing expensive clothes and
dressed extravagantly, you would think that the car fit the man. However, what if
he dressed poorly? You would think that man spent all his money on the car and
mock him.
Ainz wanted to avoid that.
If he rejected her back then, the beauty of his companion Narberal and his
flashy armor would be the subject of envy and unfavourable rumors would be
spread. Things like rumors would stick with you for life and people would pick on
that wound endlessly.
Ainz came to this place in order to raise his fame as an adventurer, so he
needed to avoid doing things that might damage his reputation.
After considering al this, he gave the potion away.
It was a gamble, but it wasn’t regrettable even though he lost. It wasn’t a total
loss yet, there were stil a chance to patch things up. Ainz wasn’t perfect and wil
continue making mistakes.
But he didn’t understand why Enfrea was apologizing.
“There is no reason to apologize, right?”
“Eh?”
“... It is uncomfortable to hide things and asking to shake your hand with a smile.
But the request this time was made in order to build a relationship right? So
what is the problem?”
Ainz asked in sincere bafflement.
“Sir Gown is really forgiving…”
Ainz didn’t understand why Enfrea was impressed. Human relations were the
basic requirement in society; there was no problem in wanting to establish
relationships. It might be vague, but Ainz had understood something. Maybe
Enfrea viewed himself as an industrial spy who was getting close to him in order
to his steal secrets.
“If I tell you how to make the potion, what would you do with this information?”
Enfrea yel ed in surprised and answered after pondering shortly:
“I didn’t think that far. I’m driven by curiosity… My grandmother is probably the
same.”
“I see. That isn’t a problem. It would be different if you were planning to commit
some felonies, but it’s fine if you don’t plan to do that.”
“How amazing. No wonder… she idolizes you…”
The mumbling youth’s hair had dried in the wind and covered his eyes once
more. But Ainz could see his envious eyes. They were the eyes of a youth, who
likes baseball, seeing a pro.
The young man’s expression was similar to the one made by Ainz and his
comrades who were rescued after being PKed repeatedly: being in awe by the
strength of a savior.
The feelings of embarrassment surfaced and were suppressed.
Enfrea’s attitude affected his heart, surprising Ainz, but he recovered
immediately and took action. He had to find out something first.
“By the way, are you the only one who knows I am Ainz?”
“Yes, I didn’t tell anyone.”
“I see, that’s great.”
Ainz thought about how to ask Enfrea as he said that. He had no clue how to go
about it, so he requested directly.
“... Right now I am an ordinary adventurer called Momon. I would be grateful if
you could remember that.”
“Yes, I thought you would say that. I know it would cause Momon-san a lot of
trouble, but I can’t help wanting to express my thanks to you. Thank you very
much for saving Enri and this vil age.”
With serious eyes, Enfrea sincerely expressed his thanks to Ainz.
“There’s no need to be so formal. I simply happened to be passing by.”
“But even so, there was no need to give that horn as a present.”
The horn wasn’t given for any special reason, but it’s good that Enfrea thought
of it as kindness. Ainz didn’t say anything, just nodded generously.
As the client, Enfrea said that they would head into the forest in an hour. He
expressed his thanks for saving the vil age again and left.
As he watched Enfrea’s figure move away, Narberal came before Ainz and
bowed.
“Ainz-sama, I am very sorry!”
“People are watching, raise your head.” When Narberal lift her head, Ainz spoke
thornily: “Yes, you should be sorry; it’s because you mentioned Albedo’s name.”
“Al ow me to atone for my crime with death!”
She didn’t sound like she was kidding.
Everyone in the Grand Tomb of Nazarick was like that, treating the 41 members
of Ainz Ooal Gown as the Supreme beings, the absolute authority and took glory
in serving them.
It was a bit heavy for Ainz, but it wasn’t bad if the NPC he created served him
happily. That was the fate of all creators.
Narberal was an NPC like that. If she were jokingly ordered to commit suicide,
she would oblige immediately. She was seeking permission because of her
sense of absolute duty to her master, since she saw her life as the property of
her master.
“... Enough. No matter who, everyone makes mistakes. Just work hard and
avoid failing again. Work hard step-by-step and don’t make the same mistake. I
won’t pursue this failure further, Narberal Gamma.”
Her feelings of wanting to die to atone for her failure and Ainz’s refusal for her to
do that. Narberal was trapped between these two emotions. Shortly after, Ainz
felt the scale of her emotions fall towards one end.
Narberal lowered her head slowly:
“I am very grateful! I will take care and not make the same mistake next time!”
“... Yes, don’t take it too hard. Because the adventurer known as Momon——
this disguised identity isn’t a complete failure yet, just be careful next time. But…
depending on how things pans out, we might need to dispose of Enfrea…”
“Right now?”
“Don’t joke with me. It would be more troublesome to mess up the assigned job.”
Enfrea’s grandmother is a famous pharmacist in Re-Lantier. Angering her would
make achieving Ainz’s goal even harder.
“Anyway… let’s see how things turns out.”
Right now, that was the best he could do.
Part 3
A few hundred meters away, there was a large clearing in the direction of the
forest.. The goblins felled the trees there to construct the palisade, but the
opening looked like the maw of a giant monster.
Ainz's group did their final check here. The young man who made the job
request was the first to speak up:
"We wil be entering the forest now, I wil be relying on everyone to act as
escorts. The territory of the Virtuous King of the Forest isn’t far from here, if
everything goes wel the chance of encountering other monsters wil be low. The
only problem is that the place where we encountered the ogres yesterday was
also inside the Virtuous King of the Forest's area of influence, so something
might be happening in the forest. This is a somewhat trivial matter, but
nevertheless I hope everybody wil keep their guard up."
Enfrea's gaze stopped on Ainz's face momentarily.
The members of the ‘Sword of Darkness’ also looked at Ainz.
"With Momon-san here, it shouldn't be a problem."
"If the Virtuous King of the Forest shows up, we will keep it busy. Please escape in the meanwhile."
Ainz's confident words made everyone swoon. After the battle with the Ogres
yesterday, he became the center of attention.
Ainz felt uncomfortable with everyone praising him.. His embarrassment was the
result of not having been praised much in his past life. Ainz envied Narberal who
accepted all this proudly.
"If there’s a need to run, could I trouble you all to clear the area? The stronger the Virtuous King of the Forest is, the more power I need to use and I don’t want
everyone getting caught in the crossfire."
"Understood. We will protect Enfrea-san and escape out of the forest. Please
don't push yourself too much either, Momon-san."
"Thank you. I wil run if I think it is too dangerous."
"Erm... Momon-san."
Enfrea who was hesitant about speaking up finally made up his mind:
"Could you spare the Virtuous King of the Forest and just chase him away?"
"... Why?"
"Well... Because of the influence of the Virtuous King of the Forest, Carne is
able to avoid the attacks of monsters. If you defeat the Virtuous King of the
Forest..."
"I see..."
"This is rather tough. Momon-san might be very strong, but the opponent is a
legendary monster. If he doesn't use his full power, Momon-san might not be
able to protect himself. How could he spare the effort——"
"I understand."
"Huh?!"
Lukeluther yel ed in surprise. The other members of the Sword of Darkness
didn’t speak up, but they stil had a surprised expression on their faces.
"It might be difficult, but I will do my best to hold back and endeavor to drive it away."
Listening to Ainz’s confident words, the group of adventurers felt shivers running
down their spines.
"Even though the opponent... is the legendary monster that lived for centuries..."
"This is the attitude of a powerful man..."
"Considering Momon-san's personality, he shouldn’t be boasting..."
Unlike the members of the Sword of Darkness, Enfrea had a rough idea of
Ainz’s strength and was showing a relieved expression. Ainz smiled in his heart
as he watched this young man.
The young man hoped that no monsters would attack Carne vil age. If Ainz
replaced the Virtuous King of the Forest with another monster to maintain the
sphere of influence, Ainz could stil grant the young man's wish.
Even if Ainz kil ed the Virtuous King of the Forest, he could resolve the issue by
sending an underling from Nazarick to take over.
"Alright! Let's make haste, the herb I want to harvest looks like this. Please
inform me if anyone finds these."
Enfrea took out a dried plant from the pouch on his waist.
"Oh, its Arnica grass!"
To Ainz, this plant was no different from the weed growing nearby, but the druid
Dyne could tell the difference and identify it by name.
Reacting to this name, Lukeluther and Ninya nodded in agreement. They
probably had some knowledge about plants and found the name familiar.
As Ainz was hesitating if he should pretend to know about it, everyone was
looking at him.
"Would you have any problem, Momon-san?"
"Hmmm? Ah, that plant? I got it."
Ainz nodded calmly.
If not for the mental tenacity of the undead, his voice would’ve wavered or
changed in pitch. But Ainz's expression was covered by his helmet, so no one
would know what he was thinking. Ainz who was covered in layers of metal
looked impressive, but he was wavering on the inside.
"Yes, this is the herb that is normally used in the process of making healing
potions."
"And it grows near the adventurers guild!"
"Oh, is that so. Then the mystery of why we made the trip to the forest in order
to harvest the herb is solved—— I heard that wild herbs are more potent than
farmed ones?"
That's correct. Al the potions from my place uses natural herbs, that is a selling
point to be proud of! But the potency only increases about 10 percent."
"For people with their life on the line, these 10 percent are very important.
Selling better potions for the same retail price as others... As expected of the
famous Bareal pharmacy."
Listening to the members of the Sword of Darkness discussing potions with
Enfrea, Ainz fell into deep thought.
YGGDRASIL's potion were made using skil s that were available to specific job
classes and enchanting ingredients with spells. Ainz had knowledge about this,
but he heard it was created from a specific material and alchemic liquid. He had
never heard about using herbs...
This meant that potion creation in this world was different from YGGDRASIL.
When Enfrea said 'it couldn't be made through normal means', this was probably
the reason.
Ainz believed that if he could harness skil s techniques related to the potions of
this world, it would strengthen Nazarick. The only question was how.
As he was deep in thought, the topic once again returned to the job at hand and
Ainz listened carefully.
"There is an large, open clearing in the forest; I plan to set that area as our
target. I already told Lukeluther-san about that place, so please lead the way."
After hearing Lukeluther reply 'Leave it to me', Enfrea returned his gaze to
everyone.
"Let's start the harvesting—"
"—— I’d like to make a suggestion."
"Please enlighten us, Momon-san."
"Since Narberal can use a spell similar to the
Everyone including Enfrea frowned. They felt uneasy about the strongest
combatant leaving in the middle of the most dangerous area.. Enfrea composed
himself and replied:
"That's fine, but please don't take too long."
"Of course. To avoid getting lost in the forest, I wil leave a trail of rope. Just pull it if anything happens."
"Should I come along? I need to watch out to make sure you don’t do anything
weird with Nabel-chan."
"Die you lower life form (Aphid). Is there only lust in your brain? Can you even
move if that is gone?"
"... Enough Nabel. Lukeluther-san, that won't be necessary. Ninya-san, is there
any magic that al ows us to locate each other if we get separated in the forest? It
would be convenient if there is."
"I have never heard of such a spell. Such a spell would indeed be convenient."
After hearing Ninya's negative reply, Ainz nodded.
Leaving this question aside, Ainz gestured at Nabel with his chin, signaling her
to get ready. Nabel received the order and watched the Sword of Darkness
members closely:
"Momon-san and Nabel-san are leaving for a moment; they wil start harvesting
when they return."
Since the client decided this, no one protested. Al the members of the Sword of
Darkness agreed and nodded.
After concluding the final check, Enfrea gave the cue to set off in a loud voice.
The ground where the trees were cut down by the vil agers had dried up. The
woodland was easy to traverse, but the scenery in front of them gradually
changed into a green maze.
The forest didn’t have any landmarks, to the point where one was unable to tell
which direction they were heading. It created a feeling of helpless anxiety, an
uneasiness that stemmed from having nothing to rely on. The trees covering the
sky reinforced that effect and normal people would be afraid. But due to the
mental strength of an undead, Ainz wouldn't feel any fear apart from his own
lingering human emotions, calmly watching the grandiose scene of nature in
awe.
Ainz, who was proud of the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s design felt conflicted; he
didn't realise that a natural forest could be so amazing.
As he watched the surroundings of the forest for signs of monsters, he noted
that it was really quiet. Apart from the cawing of far-away birds, Ainz couldn't
sense any living creatures.
He could see the back of the ranger Lukeluther, who used all his senses as he
cautiously advanced. Lukeluther seemed to think there weren't any living beings
hiding out there.
Ainz was proud of the person approaching them unnoticed from the back.
The group——except for Ainz and Narberal —— were quietly moving in the
sunlight while feeling extremely tense. The forest was surprisingly cool, but due
to the uneven ground and the psychological pressure, the group was sweating
buckets.
They finally reached an open space with a width of fifty meters.
"This wil be our base. Let's pick the plants with here as the center."
Upon hearing Enfrea's words and seeing him put down his bags, everyone else
followed suit but didn't let down their guard, prepared for any emergency as they
watched their surroundings.
This was no longer the world of men.
"Let's move as we planned."
After acknowledging Enfrea, Ainz tied a rope on a nearby tree and entered the
forest as he left the trail of rope behind him.
The rope was thin and strong, it wouldn't break easily because of friction against
the ground. Ainz and Nabel did their best to move in a straight line into the
forest.
Normally, it was impossible to move in a straight line through the forest as your
path would be blocked by trees. But with the rope as a guide, the two who were
inexperienced in forest navigation were able to advance in a straight line.
Their backs were covered by trees, so there was no danger of being spied on.
Someone who could detect anyone who was following them was nearby, so
there was no need to worry.
"This place should do."
"Yes."
"Let us discuss how to raise my fame."
"... May I ask what your plans are? Find plenty of the herbs they are after?"
Ainz silently looked at Narberal and shook his head:
"I intend to fight the Virtuous King of the Forest."
Ainz continued to explain to the baffled Narberal:
"Our goal is to display our strength in a clear and simple way."
"... Didn't we showed them plenty during the fight against the ogres?"
"... You are right, but monsters like goblins and ogres aren't enough. If they tell about my exploits back in the city, saying that I defeated the Virtuous King of the
Forest is on a whole different level than cleaving an ogre in half in terms of
fame. That's why we need to put on a good performance."
"I see! As expected of Ainz-sama! A flawless plan! But how would we find that
Virtuous King of the Forest?"
"I already planned for that."
Narberal was about to enquire further, but was interrupted by the voice of a third
party:
"Yes—— That's why I’m here."
The sudden sound made Narberal turn and look with sharp eyes. She extended
her right hand and prepared to fire her spell at the target, but after recognising
the owner of the voice, she regained her composed expression:
"Aura-sama! Please don't scare me like that."
"Sorry."
Appearing from behind the trees was a smiling dark elf girl.
One of the sixth floor twin guardians of the Grand Tomb of Nazarick, Aura Bella
Fiora.
"When did you arrive?"
"Hmmm? I was following you since you and Ainz-sama entered the forest.”
Aura was a beast tamer cum ranger, tracking in the forest was a piece of cake
for her. Lukeluther might be a ranger as well, but the difference in their skil s
were too vast for him to detect Aura.
"I was summoned here to find the monster known as the Virtuous King of the
Forest and make it attack Ainz-sama."
"That's right, according to the intelligence I got, the Virtuous King of the Forest has white fur, a snake-like tail, and is a four legged beast... Does this ring any
bells?"
"Yes, no problem. It's probably that fellow."
Aura looked upwards and replied confidently:
"If that’s the case, want me to tame it directly?"
"... That's a plan too, but there is no need."
If it was the tamer Aura, she would be able to tame the Virtuous King of the
Forest easily. But it would be bad if others found out it was just a show.
Removing all these issues from the very beginning would be the best way.
"By the way Aura, how is the other task I ordered you to carry out going?"
"Yes!"
Aura knelt immediately to pay her respect to her master.
It doesn't feel like Aura's style, but Ainz accommodated her actions and listened
with the attitude of a master.
"Ainz-sama ordered me to 'explore and understand the forest and find any living
beings wil ing to join Nazarick, and set up a warehouse to store resources.
Everything is proceeding smoothly."
“I see.” Ainz replied curtly.
Before heading to Re-Lantier, he issued different orders to each of the
guardians. Aura and Mare were dispatched to the forest to ensure the safety of
Nazarick and collect intelligence.
As for the warehouse, terming it as an emergency shelter would be more
adequate. Aura was ordered to set such a place up so that in the event of an
emergency preventing a return to Nazarick, it could serve as a hiding place.
Also, having another base would help in preventing Nazarick from being
exposed.
And of course, it serves as a warehouse to keep all sort of materials.
Tasking her to find creatures wil ing to work for Nazarick was to confirm the
possibility of power leveling, and what the ways of leveling up in this world were.
Because they were tasked with various missions, powerful beings like Aura,
Mare and their underlings came to the forest to establish a base, upsetting the
power balance in the forest. This forced monsters such as ogres to enter the
Virtuous King of the Forest's territory in order to escape the forest.
"But the construction of the warehouse will take a very long time."
"That is unavoidable. It hadn't been long since I issued the order."
Even though they brought golems and undead helpers that could work without
rest, it was stil a huge amount of work to be done.
"You can take your time, but do it right. And beef up the defenses so it won't fall easily when attacked."
"Yes! By your command!"
"Excellent. Well then, I leave the task regarding the Virtuous King of the Forest to you."
"Yes!"
Aura replied energetically and stood up.
After Ainz left, a giant black wolf with bright fur seemed to be waiting for this
moment and sauntered slowly out of the trees. It's crimson eyes seemed to be
burning and were full of intelligence, proving that it wasn't a simple beast.
That wasn’t all.
On top of the other trees, a 6 legged monster that seemed to be a cross of
chameleon and iguana was changing its skin color rapidly. It was as large as the
wolf.
"Fenny, Crackerlacile, what’s wrong? Were you guys worried about me?"
The giant wolf named Fenny whined and butted Aura with its head. Crackerlacile
stuck out its tongue and patted Aura's head.
"Hey, we stil have the work Ainz-sama ordered us to carry out."
Among the guardians, Aura was second worst in strength, even some area
guardians were stronger than her. But that was in terms of single combat power.
Aura’s strength wasn’t single combat, but group fights. Among the hundreds of
monsters tamed by Aura, the strongest was level 80. With the special support
skil s of Aura, it was equivalent to level 90. With her monsters, Aura's fighting
prowess could overwhelm the single combat power of the other guardians.
Among Aura's tamed beasts, these two were Aura's favorite high-level monsters
——the holy beast Fenrir, Fenny, and the similarly powerful Itzamna,
Crackerlacile.
Fenny and Crackerlacile stopped playing around after hearing Aura's words.
"Good, let's go!"
Aura brought the two beast along and ran through the forest. Her speed wasn't
affected even though she was in the forest, moving as fast as the wind.
After running for about 30 minutes, Aura reached her destination.
Aura had a cold smile that didn't match her young age. It felt innocent and cruel
at the same time. "I wanted to claim this for myself, but since this is Ainz-sama's order, it couldn't be helped."
Aura didn't seem to be talking to her pet. She was mumbling as if she was
talking about some accessories.
She knew about the Virtuous King of the Forest's nest because Aura wanted to
tame it before. The Virtuous King of the Forest was weak when compared to
Aura's monsters, so it wasn't worth much. But it was an unknown monster to
Aura, so it spurred her collector’s spirit. It was a pity to not add it to her
collection, but she had no complaints if it was for the supreme master she was
wil ing to offer everything to.
"Okay."
Aura changed the composition of the air in her lungs. The unnatural air
composition was breathed out of her slightly opened, pink lips. It was a
breathing technique to control emotions.
It radiates around herself normally and had a short range, so it was a special
passive ability. But if Aura desired it, it could be combined with her ranged attack
and hit a single target 2km away. Even if it was in such a dense forest.
But there was no need to do so this time. Her aim was to erase her presence
and approach the target undetected. Wild animals aside, even monsters which
had better senses couldn't notice Aura's approach.
Aura boldly walked to the side of the Virtuous King of the Forest with her
presence erased and took a light breath. Her breath was composed of elements
that incited fear, suddenly awakening the Virtuous King of the Forest that was in
deep slumber.
Al the fur on the Virtuous King of the Forest stood on end and it ran off in a
panic. A frightened four legged beast was surprisingly fast. But Aura, who was
chasing it, was faster.
With breaths from time to time to guide the Virtuous King of the Forest to Ainz,
Aura was chasing it just like 'death'.
The forest turned noisy.
Perking up his ears, Lukeluther was wary because of the change in the air of the
forest and observed the surroundings with a serious face.
"Something is coming."
Hearing this, the members of the ‘Sword of Darkness’ who were picking herbs
drew their weapons and prepared for battle. Ainz also held his giant sword
tightly.
"Is it the Virtuous King of the Forest?"
No one answered Enfrea, who put the herbs into his pack. Everyone looked into
the depth of the forest in silence.
"This is bad."
The carefree Lukeluther shouted in a stern voice:
"Something big is heading this way. I don't know why it is moving in a
meandering path, but judging from the sound of it trampling the grass, it should
be here soon. But... It's uncertain whether this is the Virtuous King of the Forest
or not."
"Retreat, it's dangerous to stay here even if it’s not the Virtuous King of the
Forest. We are in its territory, so even if it's not the Virtuous King of the Forest,
the chances of it attacking us is high."
Peter said as he looked towards Ainz:
"Momon-san, could you act as the rear guard?"
"No problem, leave it to me... I wil take care of the rest."
The members of the ‘Sword of Darkness’ offered words of encouragement as
they retreated out of the forest with Enfrea in toll.
"Momon-san, please don't push yourself too hard."
Enfrea's voice had absolute confidence in Ainz, his eyes covered under his
bangs were full of adoration. Ainz felt uneasy and urged them to leave faster.
After seeing the group disappear at the other side of the forest, Ainz
momentarily feared that he couldn't navigate out of the forest by himself. But he
immediately remembered that he could let Aura guide him.
The task at hand───
"Oh no... It might not be recognized as the Virtuous King of the Forest... Even if I want to take the Virtuous King of the Forest back to Nazarick, I have to obtain
proof that I defeated it... How about slashing off one of its legs?"
"───Ainz-sama."
In the direction Narberal was looking, there was a large shadow some distance
behind the forest. Ainz couldn't see it because it was hidden behind the forest.
The sunlight didn't reach it, so he couldn't confirm if its body was silvery white.
"Is the guest here?"
Virtuous King of the Forest's power. So Ainz naturally stood before the magic
chanter Narberal, who wasn't proficient in melee combat, to protect her.
Standing before Narberal, Ainz felt a flow in the air and used his giant sword to
shield himself.
The sound of metal clashing reverberated and Ainz felt a heavy pressure in his
arms. Something heavy hit Ainz's giant sword at a very high speed.
He could see a long tail with scales like a snake sliding back behind the trees.
Ainz lacked the special skil s of a vanguard and couldn't think of any way to deal
with it. The best he could do was melee combat.
Ainz sighed. He didn't have lungs, so he was just going through the motion. He
lowered his shoulders and adopted a stance. Seeing that Ainz was prepared to
fight, a deep and calm voice came from the forest:
"To completely block the first attack of this king, impressive... To meet such an opponent... This is the first for this king."
"This king..."
Ainz's il usionary face stiffens, then he remembered that these words were
translated. According to the judgement of Ainz's mind, these were the words
closest to what it said.
"Well then, intruder to the territory of this king. If thou is thinking of fleeing, I will let the matter rest since you displayed such excellent defense... How about it?"
"... What a foolish question. Of course I wil defeat you and reap the rewards...
Anyway, are you hiding because you lack confidence in your appearance or are
you shy by nature?"
"... What imposturous words, intruder! Behold this king's majestic figure and
tremble in fear!"
The Virtuous King of the Forest emerged from the forest slowly, showing itself to
Ainz.
After seeing it, Ainz's il usionary face stared with eyes wide open.
"Hahaha, this king could feel the terror and shock from beneath thy helmet."
The monster's face wrinkled in a smile and its long tail coiled up. Strange
markings that resemble words appeared on its silvery white body. It was about
the size of a horse but was very short, a stout body that developed horizontally.
The Virtuous King of the Forest closed the distance slowly.
"What is this feeling..."
Emotions that were hard to describe washed over Ainz. After becoming an
undead, every strong emotion would be suppressed. Considering this, this
wasn’t a strong emotion. Even so, including the time when YGGDRASIL was a
game, he had never felt this way after seeing a monster.
"...I want to ask one thing, what is your race known as?"
"This king is the Virtuous King of the Forest thou speak of. There are no other
names."
"Could your race’s name be... Djungarian hamsters?"
Virtuous King of the Forest.
From what Ainz knew, its appearance was similar to an animal known as
Djungarian hamster. It had silvery or white fur, black round eyes and a body
shaped like a Mochi.
Of course, hamsters didn’t have such a long tail and they wouldn't grow larger
than a man. Other than that, Ainz couldn't think of any other creature to describe
it. If you asked a hundred people, the answer you would get a hundred times
would be hamster. A gigantic Djungarian hamster, or a mutant Djungarian
hamster.
It tilted it's cute head───it didn't look like it had a neck───and kept sniffing the
air while it spoke:
"Hmm... This king has always lived a solitary life. I don't know about others of
my race, so I can't answer you... Might thou know what race this king belongs
to?"
"Eh... Yeah... You could say that... A past comrade of mine raised an animal
similar to you..."
Ainz recalled how said companion didn’t log into YGGDRASIL for an entire week
after his pet Djungarian hamster died of old age.
Behind his back, Narberal muttered a silent “Oh…”, probably because she
learned something new about the 41 supreme masters.
"What! To keep a being similar to this king as a pet!"
The Virtuous King of the Forest puffed its cheeks.
Ainz wasn't sure if that was an unhappy or threatening expression, or maybe it
was displaying some other emotions. Ainz was only sure it wasn't eating
anything.
"Hmmm... Pray explain the details. This king has the obligation to continue the
lineage of my race. If others from my race exist, I have the duty to raise the next
generation, or this king wouldn't be fit to be called a living being."
According to the Virtuous King of the Forest's theory, Ainz who couldn't produce
offspring wasn't fit to be a living being. Ainz thought about the excuse of an
undead not being a living being and answered tiredly:
"... Eh, that creature wasn't as big as you."
"Is that so... could it be a child?"
"... No, even fully matured, it was small enough to place in my hand."
The Virtuous King of the Forest seemed to be dejected as its whiskers drooped
down.
"That's a bit hard... Is this king fated to live alone til death..."
"... A cooler race would be more like it... but a hamster. I empathize with your
situation, but if you find another one of your race, your numbers would increase
exponentially and the world might be destroyed..."
The Virtuous King of the Forest's whiskers perked up while its beady eyes
remained the same. It sounded a bit angry: "How preposterous! Continuing to
raise next generation is of grave importance! And this king has always been
alone! It is natural to want to meet others of my kind!"
"Eh... Yeah... It's obvious to think about it this way... Pleases forgive my slip of the tongue..."
Ainz thought about his comrades in Ainz Ooal Gown and apologised. The words
of this hamster reminded him of his comrades and he actually apologised to a
hamster, which gave him some complicated feelings.
"... Never mind, I will forgive thee. It's time to end the useless banter, let's duel to the death... Be aware... Those who invade onto this king's realm wil end up as
food!"
"Huh... Yeah..."
Ainz felt he was losing his drive.
He knew that cute appearance was just on the outside, but Ainz was
unmotivated. The overlord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick dueling against a giant
hamster. Objectively speaking, this scene was too sad.
If he defeated it, would he need to drag the body of the giant hamster back and
tell others about it? 'This is the Virtuous King of the Forest, I couldn't chase it
away because the battle was too intense.' How would the other adventurers,
including the members of the Sword of Darkness, see this? The best case
scenario he could think of was them consoling Ainz with gentle eyes.
Don't kil the Virtuous King of the Forest then, just capture it alive and ask what it knows.
"Nabel, stand back."
Ainz finally gained some wil to fight and gave an order. Narberal had an
expression of absolute faith in Ainz's victory, bowing deeply before retreating to
a corner of the open space.
"Hmm—— it's fine if both of you attack at the same time."
"... Two people ganging up on a hamster, I would never allow such shameless
act."
Seeing Ainz adopt a battle stance after saying that, the Virtuous King of the
Forest lowered its posture and tensed its body:
"Don't regret it! This king is coming!"
With a bang, the giant body kicked the ground with enough force to make the
earth tremble, pouncing towards Ainz.
The Virtuous King of the Forest pounced with its gigantic body, which would
send normal people flying if they didn’t use martial arts to counter.
But Ainz used the giant sword as a shield and took the pounce head on.
It was an incredibly powerful blow, but Ainz blocked it easily.
"Oh!"
The Virtuous King of the Forest was surprised that Ainz didn't even take a single
step back, and slashed with its unexpectedly sharp claws. Ainz parried it with
the sword in his left hand while attacking with his right.
It wasn't a powerful blow, but it was stil a mighty strike.
With a high-pitched sound, Ainz swing was deflected, numbing his arm. The
Virtuous King of the Forest had defended Ainz's blow with its claws. Both their
attacks bounced back after colliding in the air.
"Impressive! How about this!
Mental attacks were ineffective against the undead. Ignoring the spell, Ainz
swung both swords at the same time.
The clash of metal erupted again and Ainz's swords were deflected again.
Ainz squinted the eyes under his helmet.
He was just testing the waters, but the Virtuous King of the Forest deflected that
strike with its fur. It was as tough as steel.
Judging from the levels of YGGDRASIL, Ainz estimated the physical attack
power to be on par with a level 30 warrior. But that might be boosted by spells
and equipment, so it couldn't be judged that way. But using that as a gauge, the
battle power of the Virtuous King of the Forest was about level 30.
Ainz's il usionary face frowned:
"Not bad... suitable for close-combat practice."
Ainz concluded he would definitely win the fight if he used his full power. He
couldn't let his guard down, but it was good sword practice for a vanguard.
Ainz swung the swords in his hands repeatedly while the Virtuous King of the
Forest deftly parried the blows with the claws on its front feet... Another sigil on
its body lit up as it activated another spell.
"
Unlike
Ainz. But since Ainz had a racial skil that nullified all low-level magic against
him, the spell vanished without causing any effects.
For monsters that could cast spells in YGGDRASIL, the number of spells it could
cast were dependent on the level and racial type, but it was normally around 8.
There were about 8 sigils on the Virtuous King of the Forest too, so Ainz felt as if
he was fighting a monster in YGGDRASIL.
The Virtuous King of the Forest didn't notice that his spell was nullified and
attacked with its front legs. Ainz blocked using the giant sword in one hand while
attacking with the other.
He was reminded of fighting together with his comrades in the past.
In YGGDRASIL, one of the strongest warriors that used a sword and shield was
TouchMe. The one with the strongest attack, Nishiki Enrai, dual wielding the
swords 'Amaterasu' and 'Tsukuyomi'. Claiming he didn’t need a second
attack─── although that wasn’t the truth─── using the two tachi 'God Slayer
Blade' and 'Takemikazuchi Mk. 8', Warrior Takemikazuchi.
He was also reminded of the warrior he met recently —— The knight captain of
the Kingdom, Gazef Strolonof.
Ainz assumed the appearance of a warrior when he headed towards Re-Lantier
because he was inspired by that man.
Ainz rebuked himself for thinking about such things.
The sword-attack movements his comrades used in the past appeared in Ainz's
mind, and he attacked continuously while mimicking them. At the same time,
Ainz blocked the counterattack of the Virtuous King of the Forest swiftly with the
sword in his left hand.
The fight turned into a stalemate before Ainz's giant sword finally broke through
the Virtuous King of the Forest's defense.
"What!"
With the sensation of the giant sword cutting into flesh, the stink of blood came
out. The sword in his right hand slightly slashed through the skin of the Virtuous
King of the Forest, sending some fur flying in the air.
Ainz followed up with the sword in his left hand, but the Virtuous King of the
Forest sensed the danger, leaped backwards and retreated.
It pulled about 10 meters away.
As Ainz thought idly with the feeling of fighting a giant hamster, the Virtuous King
of the Forest lowered its posture.
Ainz looked at his foe in surprise.
The coiled tail behind the Virtuous King of the Forest shouldn't be long enough
to reach here——
"——No, wrong!"
Ainz realized his miscalculation.
The first tail attack came from an even further distance. This was stil within its
attack range.
As expected, the tail swung towards Ainz with a large arc. Ainz used the giant
sword in his right hand to block and stared with his eyes wide open in surprise.
The tail was using the sword as a pivot point to turn.
"!"
Ainz flicked the sword to the side in order to shake off the tail, but he was a
moment too slow, the tail loudly hit the back of Ainz’s armor with a great impact.
Because of his racial skil s, Ainz didn't take much damage even though his
armor was hit by the tail. But if this was an arcade shooting game, it would’ve
been a slip up.
"Now the score is 1:1."
Just a mere hamster—— the feeling of anger wel s up.
Ainz decided as he increased the strength in his right hand. As Ainz was making
preparation, the Virtuous King of the Forest said in awe:
"Thy armor... is really great. No, thy power and swordsmanship are impressive.
Thou art a superb warrior. Were thee a famous figure among the society of
men?"
Ainz relaxes his right hand.
He asked with a hint of disappointment:
"Do I look like a warrior?"
"... Why would thou question that? If not a warrior, what else would thou be? No, perhaps a knight?"
"Virtuous King of the Forest... an undeserved title. The script had been a mess
since I found out you were a giant hamster..." It was difficult to see Ainz, who
was clad in full armor, as a magic chanter. But with an impressive name like
Virtuous King of the Forest, Ainz was hoping it could sense something was off.
Nullifying magic was only seen as fending it off through strong force of wil . The
effect of resistance and nullification wasn't much different in YGGDRASIL, but it
should have acted more like a wise sage.
But the title of Virtuous King didn't fit him at all. If it was named giant Djungarian hamster from the very beginning, he wouldn't have gotten his hopes up. The
people addressing it as virtuous king were the ones with the problem. It was
misleading advertisement or branding.
Ainz lost his wil to fight and lowered his giant sword.
"What art thou doing! It is probably impossible... Surrendering before the fight
concludes? Fight this king with all your might! This is a battle to the death!"
Whenever the hot blooded Virtuous King of the Forest said something
unexpected, Ainz would be hit psychologically. Since strong emotions would be
suppressed, Ainz should stil have some strength left.
"Enough... already."
Ainz said in an icy tone, pointing the sword in his right hand at the Virtuous King
of the Forest and activating his power.
Despair aura V.
Because the chance of causing instant death was too high, Ainz held back and
only utilized the terror effect of level I.
Air was emitted out with Ainz as the center, the chil that causes mental effects
spread out around him.
When it came into contact with the chil , the Virtuous King of the Forest's fur
stood on end and it flipped over at an amazing speed. The defenseless soft
stomach full of silvery fur was exposed.
"This king surrenders! This king admits its loss!"
"... Ah... it's just an animal after all..."
Ainz answered tiredly as he walked to the Virtuous King of the Forest's side,
looking down at its defenseless belly and thinking of his next move.
One of Ainz's job classes was necromancer. It was a class that enslaved
corpses, but the strength of the zombie created was dependent on the race of
the corpse.
The best corpses would be powerful races like dragons while human corpses
would turn into zombies or skeletons. What kind of undead would the Virtuous
King of the Forest which didn't exist in YGGDRASIL turn into?
"Want to kil it?"
A bright voice came from behind. Ainz turned and saw Aura had suddenly
appeared next to Narberal.
"If you want to kil it, I want its skin. I think it would yield great leather."
Ainz looked down and met the teary eyes of the Virtuous king looking upwards.
Its whiskers were trembling as it silently feared what its fate might be.
He recalled his conversation with the Virtuous King of the Forest. It reminded
him of his comrades.
After hesitating, Ainz sighed and made a decision:
"My real name is Ainz Ooal Gown. If you are willing to serve me, I will spare your life."
"Thank, thank you for your mercy! This king would repay you with my loyalty.
The Virtuous King of the Forest wil serve the great warrior Ainz Ooal Gown-
sama!"
Aura looked with eyes of pity at the Virtuous King of the Forest declaring its
fealty.
After exiting the forest, the group hoping Ainz and Narberal would make it
cheered their safe return. Only Lukeluther looked a little stunned.
Enfrea asked Ainz with a mixture of surprise and praise:
"No injuries at all... Did you avoid battle?"
As Ainz was about to answer, Lukeluther interjected:
"Momon-san, did you bring something back with you? Did you get bewitched?"
"I sparred with the Virtuous King of the Forest and tamed it. Hey, show yourself."
The Virtuous King of the Forest with pearl white fur slowly came out of the
forest. The Sword of Darkness members stood around Enfrea with a shocked
expression, raising their swords and took a step back.
Even though its beady eyes were cute, its gigantic size was stil intimidating. It
was natural of the adventurers to protect their client. Ainz lowered his volume
and said:
"Don't worry everyone. He has submitted to me and won't go berserk and harm
people."
Ainz approached the Virtuous King of the Forest and put on an act of caressing
its body.
"As my lord said, this Virtuous King of the Forest had sworn fealty to my lord and serves him as a vassal. I swear to my lord that I will not cause trouble for
everyone!"
The Virtuous King of the Forest declared its loyalty to Ainz once again.
Everyone might be wary of its gigantic body, but it was originally a cute
Djungarian hamster, they wouldn't be on guard after getting used to it. The
problem was how to convince everyone this was the real Virtuous King of the
Forest. Ainz was at a loss.
But things didn't go the way Ainz imagined.
"... This is the Virtuous King of the Forest! Amazing, what a grand beast!"
——
Ainz switched his gaze between Ninya and the Virtuous King of the Forest,
observing carefully to see if he was just teasing. But Ninya was serious.
"... Wow, this Virtuous King of the Forest... is as great as the legends! I can feel its tremendous power just by being in its presence!"
Dyne said in awe.
——
"Ara, my hat is off to you. To accomplish such a grand feat. With such power,
you are indeed qualified to bring Nabel-chan around with you."
"We would definitely be wiped out if we encounter such a monster. As expected
of Momon-san. You are too good."
Listening to the praise of Lukeluther and company, Ainz looked at the Virtuous
King of the Forest once again.
A gigantic Djungarian hamster.
That's the only comment Ainz had. Why would they think this monster was
threatening?
".... Everyone, don't you think the eyes of this monster are cute?"
Everyone stared with eyes wide open when they heard this, as if their eyeballs
were going to drop out. This probably sounded ridiculous to them.
"Mo, Momon-san! You think the eyes of this monster is cute?"
Of course. Ainz retorted in his mind as he nodded, wondering whether the
Virtuous King of the Forest was activating its bewitching passive skil .
"Unbelievable, as expected of Momon-san. What do you think after looking at its
eyes, Ninya?"
"... I think these eyes are full of wisdom and I could feel how powerful this
monster is. No matter how lightly I could take it, I won't think of it as cute."
"...?"
Ainz looked at everyone speechlessly. After understanding how everybody
thought, he felt dizzy.
"What about Nabel?"
"It's power aside, its eyes looked strong."
"... No... Way..."
Everyone was praising Ainz with shining eyes. This meant everyone felt respect
towards Ainz who described the eyes of such a monster as cute.
Ainz looked at the eyes of the Virtuous King of the Forest and couldn't see any
‘Wisdom’.
Since everyone except him thought so, there was a possibility that his
judgement had changed. But he stil needed a final confirmation:
"By the way, does anybody think a rat is powerful?"
"Rat.. Gigantic rats? Those monsters are nothing special."
"You can find them in the sewers of Re-Lantier."
"Giant rats can spread horrible plague. And also Ratmen… Ratmen are resistant
to any weapon that is not made of silver, so they can be quite a handful."
The baffled Ainz came to the conclusion that 'this world is a bit weird'.
While Ainz was troubled over the petty stuff about this world, Enfrea asked a bit
worryingly:
"But if you take this monster away, the other monsters would have nothing to
fear with the Virtuous King of the Forest's absence and attack En... Carne
Vil age?"
Ainz gestured at the Virtuous King of the Forest with his chin. The Virtuous King
of the Forest understood this and said:
"Art thou referring to the vil age over there? Hmmm... the power balance in the
forest has been overturned, even this king couldn't ensure its safety by staying
here."
"How could this be...
Ainz didn't console the dejected Enfrea and just smiled in his heart.
As Ainz pondered how to guide the topic, he noticed Enfrea's gaze. Enfrea was
opening his mouth, hesitant to speak up.
It was obvious to Ainz that Enfrea’s heart was conflicted.. Enfrea wanted Ainz to
save the vil age once again, but was hesitant about leaving everything to Ainz.
As the Sword of Darkness members discussed how to save the vil age, Enfrea
made up his mind and spoke with a serious expression:
"——Momon-san."
"What is it?"
Ainz gleefully awaited Enfrea's words.
Ainz had planned from the very beginning to protect Carne Vil age, which was a
rich source of information, but it was important to receive a request. Ainz could
do a favor for Enfrea and get a reward, kil ing two birds with one stone. This was
Ainz's plan, with this he wanted to make up for the mistake of miscalculating the
Virtuous King of the Forest's worth.
But Enfrea's words were beyond Ainz's imagination.
"Momon-san! Please allow me to join your party!"
"What?"
“I want to protect Enri... Carne Vil age. But I don't have the power to defend it.
So I want to become stronger! Even the basics would be fine, I hope Ainz-san
could impart some of your powers to me! But my wealth couldn't employ an elite
adventurer like Ainz-san in the long run! So please let me join your party! I am
confident in pharmacy and I am wil ing to carry the luggage or any chores!
Please accept my request!"
As Ainz blinked his nonexistent eyes in hesitation, Enfrea continued:
"I have always been researching pharmaceutical studies. My grandmother and
father were pharmacists, so I entered this career without much thought... But I
found the path I want to take, something different from being a pharmacist."
"You want to become a powerful magic chanter and protect Carne Vil age?"
"Yes."
Enfrea looked at Ainz with sincere manly eyes, shaking off his childishness.
During his time in YGGDRASIL, there were plenty of people who wanted to join
Ainz Ooal Gown. Most of them did this for their personal gain, wanting to get
something out of joining a high-tier guild. They didn't think about what they could
do for the guild, but what the guild could do for them.
Not only that, there were also treacherous people planning to infiltrate the guild
to steal information and rare items.
Because of this, the members of Ainz Ooal Gown maintained its core members
and didn't grow much. They were guarded, careful to not let their efforts go to
waste.
But Enfrea didn’t know about the guild Ainz Ooal Gown, he only had simple
thoughts── This thought that seemed right, but was off the mark, gave Ainz a
pleasant feeling.
“... Ha, hahaha!”
Ainz laughed heartily. He didn’t hold anything back. Ainz then stopped his
laughter, took off his helmet and bowed deeply with a sincere and serious
attitude.
He could hear Narberal gasping.
This attitude might not be appropriate for Narberal’s master, the overlord of the
Great Tomb of Nazarick, but Ainz felt he should bow and did so without
hesitation. He didn’t think that bowing to a youth half his age was shameful.
He didn’t mean any harm with his laugher, and Ainz knew he shouldn’t be
laughing. He raised his head and told the shocked Enfrea:
“... I apologize for losing my composure, but I hope you understand that I am not
making fun of your resolve. You need to fulfil two criteria to join my team, but
you only fulfil ed one. It’s regrettable, but I can’t let you join.”
The hidden criteria was the consensus of half the members, so even though
Ainz agreed, he couldn’t recruit any members on his own. But since coming to
this world, Ainz was fil ed with the joy of being treated with loyalty by the
guardians of Nazarick and continued:
“I understand what you are thinking and wil remember that you wanted to join
my team. As for the protection of this vil age, I wil do what I can to aid you. But I probably wil need your help as well——”
“Yes! Please let me help!”
“I see, I see.”
As Ainz nodded, his eyes met with Ninya’s for a moment. Ninya looked as if he
was seeing something interesting, which made Ainz feel awkward.
“Let’s talk about this later. Before that, I have to tell everyone about something
interesting. Which is the taming of the Virtuous King of the Forest.”
Chapter 4 – The Twin Swords of Death
Part 1
Taking one night to travel to Carne Vil age, staying in Carne Vil age for one
night, then leaving for Re-Lantier. The planned three day two night journey was
finally coming to its end, arriving back at Re-Lantier, they were welcomed by the
evening scene of the city.
The road was il uminated by the white glow from the
people travelling on the road also changed. Gone were the young women and
children, most of them now were working men travelling home. Shop houses
were lined side by side along the street, cheerful sounds and lights came from
them.
Ainz looked around.
After three days, the town didn’t seem to have changed. No, after arriving in Re-
Lantier, he straight away left for Carne Vil age the next day, so there was
insufficient knowledge and attachment to compare. However, he could stil feel
that the scene of the calm streets remained unchanged.
After reaching a turn on the main road, Ainz suddenly stopped walking.
Normally, stopping in the middle of the road would definitely obstruct the path of
other pedestrians, but nobody even complained. That was because nobody
even got close to Ainz.
Ainz hunched his back in resignation and observed the people around him.
Nearly everyone looked toward Ainz——No, they stared at Ainz, and whispered
lowly to the person next to them.
Hearing the sound of talking, Ainz felt as if they were laughing at him, but that
was his own misunderstanding. If he had actually listened, he would know that
their tones were fil ed with surprise, appreciation and fear.
Even so, there was stil a place that made it hard to release the tension.
Ainz silently looked down——under him was pearly white fur. That was because
Ainz was currently mounted on the Virtuous King of the Forest.
Al around the people looked towards the awe-inspiring brave appearance of the
Virtuous King of the Forest——Ainz was somewhat critical of this point——in
amazement, they were talking about the warrior who was able to ride upon such
a fearful, yet dignified magical beast.
Completely understanding the situation. The people here showed approval of
the majestic appearance of the Virtuous King of the Forest, but for Ainz, this was
already approaching something like a punishment game. To put it in other
words, it was like not having any family or girlfriend as a partner, sitting on a
carousel with a deadpan look, looking towards an uncle in loneliness.
His riding posture was also quite unsightly. Because the Virtuous King of the
Forest was completely different from a horse, Ainz’s butt would point outwards
while riding and he had to spread his legs wide. If he didn’t assume this posture
similar to jumping over a box, it would be difficult for him to maintain his balance.
Therefore, this idea of riding the Virtuous King of the Forest, was definitely not
an idea that Ainz thought of himself. In addition to the persuasion from the
Sword of Darkness members and the Virtuous King of the Forest himself,
Narberal also politely said “It would be too much for a ruler to walk.” which made
him think that riding it wouldn't be such a bad idea, thus ending up with this
result.
It looked like a hamster, as if coming out of a fairy tale, but it would only be
suitable for boys and girls to ride upon. Even as a slight compromise, a woman
riding it would also be alright. But it definitely wasn't right for a warrior to ride
upon it.
But the surrounding people thought the only one with a strange reaction was
Ainz.
Of course, the answer went without saying. As long as the majority thought it
was beautiful, then the one with the wrong aesthetic view must be Ainz.
Because of this, he did not strongly oppose to riding the Virtuous King of the
Forest. Also, if he could let the name of Momon the adventurer become even
more impressive, and gain a more solid position, then it would be even harder to
reject the idea. But stil ——
TL Note: Like a cosplay but instead shame play… Think Masochist or pranking
Ainz’s emotions would immediately be repressed once they reached a certain
point, but up til now, there was no such feeling, which meant there wasn’t too
much embarrassment. This result only told Ainz one thing.
“Now that we have returned to town, our job has come to an end.”
Replaying the scenes and stil images of his past, Ainz compared them to his
current mental state and agonized over his own fetishes. While doing that,
Enfrea chatted with Peter.
“Yes, you are right, with this your job is over. Then… Although I am ready to pay
the agreed reward, but… to also pay the additional reward that we spoke of in
the forest, would it be alright if you come over to the shop at my home?”
The rear of Enfrea’s carriage was fil ed to the brim with many herbs. Not only
that, but also some timber, some fruits that grew to look like branches, a huge
mushroom large enough to cover a person and a variety of very tall grass. If
seen by a layman, they would feel that these were just many simple plants,
however for an expert, this was a shining jeweled mountain.
These were all from the time when Ainz tamed the Virtuous King of the Forest,
this allowed them to safely explore his domain. In there they found a variety of
precious herbs and many other herbs that could be used to make potions,
Enfrea who harvested non-stop agreed to give them an additional amount of
money for it.
“Momon-san should first go visit the Adventurer’s Guild!”
“Eh, that’s right. Because I brought a magical beast into the city, I need to
register the Virtuous King of the Forest in the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Although it is troublesome, but there is no choice.”
“We also mopped up the ogres and other monsters together, how about it? Why
don’t we head to the Adventurer’s Guild together?”
“Well——no, this time we mostly relied on Momon-san, we wil head to Enfrea-
san’s home first, at least we will help with some chores or move some of the
herbs. Otherwise to receive the same reward as Momon-san would be
unjustified.”
The Sword of Darkness members all nodded in response to Peter’s remarks, but
Enfrea politely interrupted:
“There’s no need to trouble yourselves…”
“Because there is an additional reward, let us give you this free service.”
Hearing Peter’s joking words, Enfrea also respectfully said:
“Then, the next time you come to my store to buy potions, I wil give you a
discount.”
“That would be really great. Momon-san, you should go to the Adventurer’s
Guild first and then head over to Enfrea’s home. We wil go there first, and after
doing some chores we wil head back to the Adventurer’s Guild to settle the
formalities. Because we have to wait until tomorrow before going to the
Adventurer’s Guild to receive our reward for the ogre extermination, I’m sorry
that we wil have to trouble you to make another trip to there tomorrow… The
time we meet should be the same as the time when we first met.”
“Understood.”
Faced with this proposal, Ainz nodded in relief. Registering just requires one to
just calmly go up to the counter and asking, he did not want to go with them to
the Adventurer’s Guild, faced with the dilemma of “Please write this” and “Please
look at this”. That had the chance of causing al his previous effort to go to
waste.
“Then, sorry to trouble you.”
Gently nodding his head while riding on the Virtuous King of the Forest, and
separating from Enfrea and the members of the Swords of Darkness, with only
Narberal as his partner, they moved towards the Adventurer’s Guild. This time
Narberal leaned over and asked:
“Can we believe them?”
“... No big deal. Even if we are betrayed, the loss is just the reward for
exterminating some ogres. If we worried ourselves over this small amount of
money, we would be considered stingy, and that would be an even larger loss.”
Ainz came to this city in order to increase his fame, to be considered petty would
hinder his future plans.
Putting up a false front.
Thinking about that phrase, Ainz touched the money bag on his chest and with
one pinch he felt a few coins: it was easy to know how much was left. But it
should be enough to pay for accommodations for two tonight.
If he considered adding in the costs of meals, he might not have enough, but
considering that Ainz is an undead, and the ring on Narberal’s hand contained a
magic that allowed her to go without food, in terms of cost, that was a huge
contribution. Narberal was able to wear two rings, one of those was this ring, its
original purpose was to prevent eating poisoned food, he never thought it would
contribute in such a way now.
However, while looking at the Virtuous King of the Forest he was riding, his heart
thought “This guy must always eat something.”, Narberal once again said:
“Indeed… It is strange that the most supreme Ainz-sama would be left with so
little money. How rude.”
“Well..”
Ainz once again touched his money bag, feeling that his back which could not
sweat was seeping with sweat. He cursed himself for raising the threshold when
there was no need. Also——
He felt helpless in his heart, while Narberal stil joyfully said:
“These lower life forms (Mosquito), are all prostrating themselves to Ainz-sama’s
astonishing strength.”
“It hasn’t reached that stage yet.”
“Too modest. Although in the eyes of Ainz-sama, those Ogres were nothing
more than insects, but Ainz-sama’s sword skil s were at another level, truly
admirable.”
Below him, the Virtuous King of the Forest shook strangely, but Ainz paid it no
mind, towards Narberal he said:
“... It was just playing around with brute force.”
It sounded like he said that to make himself sound cool, but that was not so.
When he saw Gazef fight, Ainz saw his smooth moves, but when Ainz thought
back about his own movements, he felt like he was a child wildly flailing around
his sword, how unsightly. Their praise was only directed to the destructive power
brought about by his arm. It was completely different from the praise to a true
warrior like Gazef.
“Moving around like a true warrior is actually really difficult.”
“... Then how about using magic to turn into a warrior?”
While wearing armor, he was stil able to use around five different types of
magic, one of those was the ability to convert his Magic Chanter levels to
Warrior levels. Meaning that if Ainz used that magic, he could temporarily turn
into a level one-hundred warrior.
Although the advantage was being able to use certain equipment of the other
job, the disadvantages are also big. Firstly, during that time he would be unable
to use any magic, and once he turned into a warrior he wouldn’t have any
special skil s. His recalculated stats would also be very low for a warrior. Simply
said, he would be a half-baked level one-hundred warrior. It would be another
story if both he and a High Priest fought using only swords, but for him to go
against another warrior of the same job, there was no chance of winning.
Even so, it would be stronger than the current Ainz.
Problem was——
“There are too many disadvantages. If an opponent of the same level does a
surprise attack on me, then I won’t be able to use magic in such a short time,
which wil lead to my certain defeat. Even if I use Magic scrolls, considering the
preparation time and so on, there are stil too many disadvantages.”
Right now it was stil unknown whether there were any hostile players or not,
they must not be taken lightly. There was no need to specifically use that magic,
and create weaknesses for himself.
“Being a warrior is just an act to hide my identity, there is no need to feel bad
about it.”
“!”
The body of the Virtuous King of the Forest shook a bit and with a surprised look
he tilted his head up to look at Ainz:
“This underling has been listening from the beginning, isn’t Master a warrior?”
Returning its look, Ainz gave a quiet nod and Narberal explained with a
condescending tone:
“Ainz-sama is only pretending to be a warrior, just like playing a game. If he
used his real strength in magic, Armageddon would just be a small matter.”
Faced with such absolute trust, or thinking that this was just natural of Narberal,
Ainz was unable to say the words “Impossible” in response.
“..... Well, it’s probably like that. Virtuous King of the Forest, aren’t you glad you did not fight the real me in battle? If I had used my real strength, you would’ve
been unable to survive even for a second.”
“Th-that is so, Master. Your humble servant, Hamsuke, once again pledges his
undying loyalty to you!”
When the Virtuous King of the Forest said he wanted a name, the name that
floated into Ainz’s mind was Hamsuke. After receiving the name Hamsuke, the
Virtuous King of the Forest was also very satisfied with his name. But after
calmly considering, the name Hamsuke really has no taste at al .
Feeling some regret, Ainz who was sitting on the back of the Virtuous King of the
Forest —— Hamsuke, slowly wobbled to the Adventurer’s Guild.
The carriage moved directly into the backyard of the home, stopping in front of
the backdoor. Picking up the magic lantern, Enfrea jumped off the carriage’s
front seat and opened the door. Hanging the lantern in his hand on the wal ,
il uminating the dark room.
Because of the light, it was possible to see a few buckets inside the room. The
smell of dry herbs came from the room, indicating that this was a place used to
keep herbs.
“Then, sorry to trouble you, but could you help transporting the herbs over?”
Readily replying, the Sword of Darkness members carefully transported a
bundle of herbs from the carriage to the house.
Guiding the placement of the herbs, a question emerged from Enfrea’s heart:
“Is grandma not home?”
Despite Enfrea’s grandmother being of an old age, her hearing and eyesight
were not bad, she would have heard the sounds of things being transported and
come outside. However, if she was too concentrated on the creation of her
potions, then she would not pay any attention to any small noises. Feeling as if
this was the usual, Enfrea did not shout out in a loud voice.
Waiting until all the herbs were placed in their appropriate locations, Enfrea
called out to some of the Sword of Darkness members:
“Good work! There should be some ice cold juice in the house, please go ahead
and drink it.”
“That would be great.”
Lukeluther said, his forehead sweating slightly. The rest happily nodded their
heads.
“Then, this way please.”
Enfrea led everyone towards his home, then suddenly someone opened the
door from the other side.
“Hey~ Welcome back~”
In front of their eyes stood a lovely woman, but she gave off a vague sense of
unease. Her short blonde hair swaying.
“Aiya~ I was worried you know? I thought you went missing. How unlucky~ I had
no idea when you would come back, so I was just waiting here all this while.”
“.... Ma- May I ask who you are?”
“Hey! Don’t you all recognise me?”
Because of the intimate tone, as if the two of them were acquaintances, Peter
let out a sound of surprise.
“Eh? Hahaha~ I came to kidnap you~ we require someone to use a magic
artifact to summon a large number of undead, the
you become my toy? Onee-chan is asking you a favour, please?”
The Sword of Darkness members feeling this woman’s evil atmosphere,
immediately pulled out their weapons. Even in the fact of an impending battle,
the woman stil said in a frivolous tone:
“That is a seventh tier spell that is very hard for people to use, but through the
use of the crown it can be achieved. Although it is stil not possible to control all
the undead, but it can stil influence them! What a flawless plan~! Perfect~!”
“... Enfrea-san, retreat! Quickly leave this place.”
Wielding his weapon while being wary of the woman, Peter said in a serious
tone:
拿 起 武 器 的 彼 得 提 防 女 子 ，以 严 肃 的 声 音 说 道 ：
“That woman won’t stop talking, she must be confident about dealing with us.
Since you are her target, the only way to reverse the situation is for you to
escape.”
The Sword of Darkness members used their bodies to shield the panicking
Enfrea, standing in front of him.
“Ninya! You escape as wel !”
Following Dyne, Lukeluther also shouted:
“Take the kid and run! Don’t you stil want to rescue your sister who was
captured!?”
“Yes. You stil have something to do. While we may not be able to help you in
the end… At least we can buy you some time.”
“Everyone….”
“Hey~ How heart warming~I almost want to cry, eh. But if he escapes it would
be a bother. At least leave one person for me to play with~”
Seeing Ninya’s tightly pursed lips, with an appearance of not knowing what to
do, the woman showed a joyful smile, slowly taking out her stiletto from within
her robe. At this moment, from behind the back door came a few pale scrawny
men.
Realising this, the faces of all of the Sword of Darkness members became
serious.
“... Playtime is over.”
“Hey~ What are you saying, Kajit-chan. Weren’t you all helping me prepare,
helping me ensure that the screams don’t leak outside? But since it’s just one
person, please let me have some fun.”
Her toothy laugh made Enfrea’s hair stand on ends.
“Well now that there is no way to escape, let us begin~”
Part 2
The registration for Hamsuke was simple, but it stil took an hour and a half to
complete. The most time consuming was sketching a portrait of Hamsuke. It
could’ve been done much faster with magic, but Ainz didn’t want to spend the
money, which was why it took so long.
To avoid being viewed by others as being petty, Ainz made up an excuse.
“It’s a bit late to say so, but ‘being interested in drawing’ was a tedious excuse…
But never mind. I should head over there now.”
Ainz, who had finished the registration, said so to Narberal who was standing by
the entrance of the guild, and he then walked towards Hamsuke.
He had gotten used to it.
Carousels weren’t exclusive for the winners in life —— people with a significant
other or kids —— so it shouldn’t be a problem for a lonely old man to sit on it.
Ainz, who had given up, showed no hesitation in his actions.
He used his high agility and mounted the Virtuous King of the Forest like a
famed gymnast. Although there wasn’t any supporting equipment like a saddle,
a few hours of experience was enough for Ainz to master riding techniques.
The pedestrians who saw the scene sighed in admiration. There were even
squeals from the ladies. The eyes of the adventurers were exceptionally
passionate. After confirming the type of medal on Ainz’s neck, they had a face of
disbelief.
Someone called out to Ainz, who was retorting the crowd in his heart and
ordering Hamsuke to leave.
“Hey, are you the person who went to harvest herbs with my grandson?”
Ainz heard an elderly voice addressed him, turned his head to find an old lady.
“... Who might you be?”
Ainz asked although he already guessed the answer. If what the old lady said
was true, there is only one answer.
“I am Lizzie Bareal, grandmother of Enfrea.”
“Ah! So it is you? You are correct, I escorted Enfrea to Carne vil age, my name
is Momon. This is Nabel.”
Lizzie compliments Narberal who bowed respectfully:
“What an unbelievably beautiful girl. What is the monster you are riding known
as?”
“This is the Virtuous King of the Forest.”
“This King is Hamsuke! Pleased to meet you!”
“What! This fearsome monster is the legendary Virtuous King of the Forest!?”
When the adventurers who were eavesdropping nearby heard Lizzie’s
exclamation, all of them had a look of surprise. They seemed very shaken as
they whispered things like ‘That is the legendary monster?’.
“Yes, as requested by your grandson, I tamed it after an encounter at the
destination.”
“To… tame the Virtuous King of the Forest…”
Lizzie stuttered:
“Well… where is my grandson?”
“Ah, he returned with the herbs. We are on our way over to claim the reward.”
The old lady who breathed a sigh of relief looked at Ainz with amazed eyes and
asked:
“Oh, I see… Want to go together? I am curious about your adventures.”
Lizzie’s suggestion was a great help for Ainz.
“Yes, it would be my pleasure.”
With Lizzie leading the way, the group walked through the city of Re-Lantier.
“Please come on in.”
After reaching the shop, Lizzie took out her key and lowered her head. She
pushed the door and found it opening without any resistance.
“What’s happening, he is too careless.”
Lizzie mumbled to herself as she entered with Ainz and Narberal in tow.
“Enfrea, Momon-san is here──”
Lizzie shouted in the shop, it was quiet without any sign of people.
“Is something wrong?”
Lizzie tilted her head confusedly but Ainz answered curtly:
“This is bad.”
Lizzie was baffled, but Ainz ignored her and placed his hand on the hilt of his
sword. Narberal understood what Ainz meant and unsheathed her blade.
“What, what are you doing!?”
“Don’t ask, just follow me.”
Ainz drew his weapon after the short reply, entering with his sword in hand. He
knocked the door inside open and headed towards the right . It was an
unfamiliar house, but Ainz showed no hesitation in his footsteps.
Ainz came before the door at the end of the passageway and asked Lizzie who
finally caught up:
“What is this place for?”
“This is the storage room for herbs, and a door that leads towards the back
door.”
Although she didn’t know what would happen, Lizzie who felt the atmosphere
was weird was worried. Ainz didn’t bother himself with her and opened the door.
What he smelled wasn’t the fragrance of herbs, but something more stinging
——the smell of blood.
The ones at the front were Peter and Lukeluther, Dyne was further back and
Ninya was at the furthest end. Al four were leaning lifelessly against the wall.
Their legs were straight and their hands were hanging limply. A dark pool of
black blood was on the floor, which seemed to have drained from their bodies.
“What, what is happening…”
The surprised Lizzie wanted to enter with unsteady steps. Ainz stopped her with
a hand on her shoulder and he rushed into the room.
The collapsed Peter suddenly moved like a puppet, but before it could get up,
the flash from a sword went by without hesitation.
Peter’s head rolled on the ground. With a backhand cut, Lukeluther who was
attempting to stand was decapitated.
As Lizzie was stunned by the tragedy before her, Dyne who was situated further
in had stood up.
His face showed no signs of life and was pale. It looked at Ainz and Lizzie with
murky eyes. There was a hole in his forehead which was obviously a fatal
wound.
There was only one reason why the dead could move. When they become an
undead.
“Zombie!”
As Lizzie shouted, Dyne drew near with a hostile grunt. Ainz immediately
stabbed with his sword. It pierced Dyne’s throat and he staggered for a moment
before collapsing.
There was no other movement.
Ainz stared at Ninya who sat motionlessly on the ground in silence.
“Enfrea!”
Lizzie finally realized what was happening rushed out to search for her
grandson. Ainz glanced at her back and ordered Narberal:
“Protect her. My passive skil
shouldn’t be any other undead in this house. But there might be live ones hiding
somewhere.”
“Understood.”
Narberal took off after Lizzie after bowing lightly.
Ainz confirmed the departure of the two of them and turned his eyes on Ninya.
He slowly knelt down and gently touched the body. After confirming there was no
corpse trap which was common in YGGDRASIL, he lifted Ninya’s face. Ninya
wasn’t unconscious, but dead.
His face was swollen, probably from the blows of a blunt weapon. Ainz couldn’t
recognized him by his face.
His left eye was smashed and flowed out of the socket like a tear.
Al the bones in his fingers were cracked and the skin split open, revealing the
red muscle within. Some places didn't even have meat. When Ainz removed the
clothes for inspection, he was shocked with his eyes wide open.
He put the clothes back in place and mumbled:
“... Even the body was…”
The body was similar to the face, with wounds everywhere due to severe
bleeding. It was covered with the color of internal hemorrhage and it was harder
to find a spot that wasn’t wounded.
Ainz closed Ninya’s eyes gently.
“... It makes me feel… uncomfortable.”
His mumbling words were gone with the wind.
“My grandson! Enfrea is gone!”
Lizzie screamed when she returned. Ainz who gathered the corpses in a corner
of the room replied calmly:
“... I took a look at their belongings, there were no signs of them being searched.
Judging from this, the enemy’s objective was to kidnap Enfrea.”
“Ugh!”
“Please look this way.”
Ainz gestured to the bloody words under Ninya’s body. They wouldn’t have been
discovered if the body weren’t moved.
“This is… the sewers? It means Enfrea had been taken to the sewers?”
“... It might also be a trap made by the one behind this tragedy. I have no idea
how large the sewers are… It would take a lot of time to search it. What are your
opinions about this?”
“There are numbers here too! 2-8, what does this mean!?”
“This makes it even more suspicious. I don’t know what these numbers mean…
It could be dividing the city into 8 parts along the compass axis and the
intersection of 2 and 8, or some sort of address… Did Ninya really have enough
strength left to think so complicated? … Even if Ninya wrote it, how much
information was leaked by the enemy? This is too much of a coincidence.”
Lizzie frowned her already wrinkled face, and looked as if she was angry with
Ainz’s surprisingly calm demeanor. She then shifted her gaze to the four corpses
on the ground:
“Who were these people?”
“... They were adventurers commissioned along with me by your grandson. After
we parted, they probably came here to unload the herbs.”
“What! They were your comrades!?”
Ainz shook his head:
“No, they were not. We just happened to be adventuring together.”
These cold words made Lizzie disil usioned.
“Speaking of which, I had been thinking about this, but I would like to ask your
opinion. What do you think about them turning into zombies?”
“...
the 3rd tier. What other possibilities were there?”
“I think we should deal with this promptly.”
“Isn’t that obvious… What do you want to say?”
“... The enemy could have used either mind control or hidden the bodies, but
they didn’t. They only did something like this for their own amusement. They
either didn’t care about being exposed or had absolute confidence in escaping.
Hmm… I don’t know which is it. Since they could turn corpses into zombies,
they should be able to bring them back with them right?”
If the goal was to kidnap Enfrea, they could buy enough time to escape just by
hiding the bodies. But they didn’t do that, meaning they were planning
something else, or wanted Lizzie to do something.
The latter would be easier to deal with, but it would be troublesome if it was the
former. Enfrea’s life and ability was valuable, but might not be useful for long.
Would those merciless criminal let Enfrea go safely after utilizing him?
Lizzie who understood what Ainz meant turned from green to white. She didn’t
know where in this big city he was kidnapped to, but it would take too long to
search.
The only clue was the sewers, but Ainz had doubts about it.
Enfrea’s lifeline was diminishing with each passing second.
Ainz said calmly to the tense Lizzie:
“How about commissioning a rescue party?”
The calm voice continued:
“Isn’t this something you should request of an adventurer?”
Lizzie’s eyes shined, she seemed to understand what Ainz was getting at.
“You are lucky, Lizzie Bareal. Before you is the strongest adventurer in the city,
and the only one who could bring your grandson back safely. If you commission
this job to me, I wil accept it. But… The price is very heavy, because I
understand how hard this job is.”
“Indeed… If it is you… The one with that potion… tamer of the Virtuous King of
the Forest, there is no question that you’re strong… hire, I want to hire you!”
“Is that so… Are you prepared to pay this heavy price?”
“How much would satisfy you?”
“───Everything.”
“What?”
“Give me everything you have.”
Lizzie stared with her eyes wide open in surprised and trembled.
“Your everything. If Enfrea returns safely, give all that you have to me.”
“You…”
Lizzie backed away from fear and said in a soft voice:
“When you say everything… it doesn’t mean money or rare potions… I heard
the devil would grant any wish in exchange for human soul. Are you a devil?”
“... Even if I am, it doesn’t matter, does it? Do you want to save your grandson?”
Lizzie was silent, and nodded as she bit her lips.
“Then there is only one answer right?”
“Yes… I will hire you. I will offer everything to you, so save my grandson!”
“Good, the contract is agreed. Let’s make haste, do you have a map of this city?
Lend it to me if you have one.”
Lizzie felt it was bizarre, but she immediately took out a map and handed it to
Ainz.
“Next would be finding where Enfrea is.”
“You can do that!?”
“I have to use this method. I am not sure if the enemy is dumb or…”
Ainz didn’t finish and just shifted his gaze to the 4 bodies in the room.
“I wil start searching now, go to the other rooms and look for clues, see if the
people who kidnapped Enfrea left anything behind. If kidnapping Enfrea is also a
diversion, then things will be bad. You are more familiar with the house and
better suited for this.”
After chasing Lizzie out with a random reason, Ainz turned to Narberal.
“What does my liege plan to do?”
“Simple. Look, all their medals are gone, probably taken by the one who
attacked them. The question is why they didn’t take something more valuable,
but just the medals… What do you think?”
“My apologies, I have no idea.”
“That is because──”
Ainz heard a sound in his mind when he was talking halfway. It was a
『Ainz-sama.』
The voice was a bit excited, and the sound of buzzing could also be heard.
“Is this Insect Queen?”
『Yes.』
Insect Queen Zeta. A battle maid just like Narberal.
『I have something to report.』
“——I am busy right now. I wil contact you when I am free.”
『By your command. Please contact Albedo-sama when you are available.』
The spell dissipates and Ainz continued the discussion with Narberal:
“As a trophy, a prize of the hunt. The perpetrator probably took it as a momento.
But that was a devastating mistake. Narberal, activate the spell.”
Ainz took a scroll from his magic bag and gave it to Narberal.
“This is a scroll of
“Understood.”
Narberal who acknowledged opened the scroll. When she was about to activate
the spell, Ainz grabbed her hand and lectured the surprised Narberal coldly:
“... Stupid.”
The cold scolding made Narberal’s shoulder tremble:
“I, I’m sorry!”
“When using information gathering spells, you need to be prepared for
counterspells of the enemy before casting it, this is the ironclad rule. Keeping in
mind that the opponent might use
would be using
Also──”
Ainz prepared 10 scrolls, and explained each one to Narberal like a teacher.
When using information collecting spells, you had to make the necessary
precautions. Those were the basics.
When Ainz Ooal Gown PKed, they would collect every information available
about the opposition and settle it in one sneak attack. This was the ‘the battle is
concluded before it even started’ dogma of the guild member Punitto Moe, who
came up with the basic strategy for the guild, ‘PK can be performed by anyone
easily’.
That’s why Ainz taught Narberal the basics too, so when they encounter other
players in the future, they could gain the upper hand in battle.
“——That’s all. Normally a special ability should be used to strengthen it as wel
for insurance, but there shouldn’t be a need to go that far for the enemy this
time. If they had thought of more ways to deal with magic chanters, they
wouldn’t had cast that level of spell on the corpse. Well then, let’s begin
Narberal.”
Narberal who was finally unleashed opened the scrolls in order and chanted the
magic written on the scrolls.
Flames that weren’t hot emerged from the scroll and burned it to a crisp in
seconds, releasing the magic sealed inside it.
After expending all the scrolls’ magic, Narberal who was protected by numerous
defensive spells finally activated
map:
“It’s here.”
Ainz who couldn’t read searched his memories to deduce what that place was.
“... Cemetery. The chance of it not being the sewers were high indeed.”
Re-Lantier was a military base and that cemetery was unbelievably huge. The
spell indicated the deepest spot of the cemetery.
“I see, next would be using
Narberal activated more scrolls, and the screen that appeared in mid air showed
countless figures. But their movement seemed creepy and rigid. Not just that,
there were also things that were clearly not human.
In the middle of all that was a youth. The dressing was different, but Ainz
wouldn’t get it wrong.
“That is the place. The medals are in the vicinity… and a large mob of undead?”
It was a huge group of undead. They were low tier undead, but their numbers
were frightening.
“... What is my liege’s will? Teleport and destroy them in one go? Or use flying
magic to attack from the front?”
“Don’t be sil y. Wouldn’t the problem be solved in the dark that way?”
Ainz explained to the confused Narberal:
“To prepare so many undead, the opponents must be thinking of doing
something big with them. Since we are going to rescue Enfrea, we wil resolve
this crisis on the way there to raise our fame. Taking care of the problem in the
dark would only get us Lizzie’s reward and would be unlikely to raise our fame.”
That might be so, but if they didn’t resolve it as soon as possible, Enfrea might
die. Even Ainz couldn’t summon and manipulate so many undead in one go, so
there must be some sort of trick to this. Enfrea’s presence might be the crucial
piece of that trick.
If that was the case, Ainz wanted to find out the secret behind the trick even if he
had to sacrifice Enfrea.
For Ainz, the most important goal was how to strengthen the Great Tomb of
Nazarick. If sacrificing Enfrea could do that, Ainz would have no choice but to do
so.
“I want to collect more information, but there isn’t enough preparation time.”
Ainz mumbled as he walked to the front entrance, and hollered as he opens the
door.
“Lizzie! The preparations are done. We are heading to the cemetery!”
“What about the sewers?”
The voice came from afar, and Lizzie rushed over.
“The sewers are just a diversion by the enemy, the real location is the cemetery.
And there is an army of undead, numbering easily in the thousands.”
“What!”
It was just an estimate, how could it be possible to count accurately.
“Don’t be surprised, we wil be heading straight for the goal. The problem is that
I can’t guarantee the undead army won’t spil out from the cemetery. Try to tell
everyone about this, ask them to fend off the undead that wander out of the
cemetery. This information lacks evidence, but since it’s a request from a
renowned person like you, people should be wil ing to listen right? If the undead
came out of the cemetery and no one is prepared… Things would be bad.”
Ainz’s face under the helmet smirked.
“That’s all I want to say. Time is of the essence, so I will be heading there now.”
“You have a way to break through the undead army?”
Ainz looked at Lizzie as he pointed to the swords on his back:
“The way is right here.”
Part 3
A quarter of Re-Lantier's city walls was used to surround an enormous area,
which took up half of the city's western district. That was the public cemetery of
Re-Lantier. There were cemeteries in other cities too, but not one of such a
scale.
That was in order to suppress the rising undead.
There were stil many unknowns regarding why the undead rose, but unclean
things tend to sprout from places where the living meet their end. The probability
of the undead rising was higher for those who were kil ed and those who were
not mourned. Hence, it was common to find undead in places like battlefield and
ruins.
Re-Lantier, which were situated near the Empire’s battlefield, needed a gigantic
cemetery to prevent the undead from rising——a place for people to pay tribute
to the dead.
For this part, it was the same for the neighboring nation——the Empire. They
also had an agreement to pay tribute to the dead during the war. Even though
they were fighting each other, they stil see the undead that assault the living as
a common enemy.
Apart from that, the undead posed another problem. If you left them alone, they
might produce stronger undead. That’s why the adventurers and guards will
patrol the cemetery every night and destroy the undead while they were stil
weak.
The cemetery was surrounded by a wal , and this wal was the line separating
the living from the dead. The 4 meter high walls couldn’t compare to a siege
wal , but it was enough for people to walk on top of it. The gate was secured and
sturdy, it definitely was not easy to break down.
This was all done to guard against the undead that rose in the cemetery.
There were staircases to either side of the door and an observation tower was
erected beside the wall. Each shift consisted of five men, they yawned as they
took turns to watch over the cemetery.
The cemetery was il uminated by a lamp post enchanted with
so it was bright despite being night. But there were stil dark areas, and the tomb
stones obscured the view as wel .
A guard holding a spear looked over the cemetery absentmindedly, yawning as
he said to his watch companion:
“It’s quiet tonight too.”
“Yup, there were five skeletons just now right? Compared to the rate of their
appearance in the past, that’s almost nothing.”
“Yeah, were the spirits of the dead summoned back by the Six Gods? That
would be great.”
The other guards were intrigued by this topic and joined in:
“We can handle skeletons and zombies, but it is hard to take down skeletons
with spears, so it is troublesome.”
“I think wights are the hardest to handle.”
“Centipede skeletons for me. If the adventurers patrolling nearby didn’t come to
assist, I would already be dead.”
“Centipede skeletons? I heard that if you leave the weak ones alone, stronger
undead would spawn. If we kil them while they are weak, the strong ones won’t
spawn.”
“Yes, absolutely true. The team that patrolled last week was lectured viciously by
our team captain. The wine they offered as an apology was great, but I don’t
want to ever experience that again.”
“But… If you think about it, the undead not showing up could mean trouble.”
“... Why?”
“Well, it feels like our surveil ance is missing something.”
“You think too much, normally there won’t be so many undead. I heard that the
undead rise frequently after burying the bodies of those who were kil ed in battle
against the Empire. Conversely, this is how it is without war right?”
The guards nodded to acknowledge this theory. Although the vil ages in other
areas also bury their dead, they had never heard of such frequent spawning of
the undead there.
“... Now you mention it, the situation in Kaze plains went out of hand.”
“Yup, I heard incredibly strong undead spawned there right?”
The plains where the Empire and the Kingdom clashed. That place was a
famous zone where the undead roamed. The adventurers commissioned by the
Kingdom and the knights of the Empire exterminate the undead there frequently.
The importance of this job prompted the support division of the Kingdom and the
Empire to set up a small town there.
“I heard──”
The guard who was about to speak stopped suddenly.
The other guard who felt uneasy because of this said:
“Hey, don’t──”
“Quiet!”
The guard who stopped speaking seemed to be able to see through the dark
and stared at the cemetery. Affected by this action, the other guards looked
towards the cemetery.
“... Did you hear that?”
“Was it your imagination?”
“I didn’t hear anything… But I smell soil. Didn’t we dig a grave recently? It smells
just like that…”
“Don’t joke like that.”
“... Huh? Ah, hey! Look over there!”
A guard pointed towards the cemetery. Everyone focused on that spot.
Two guards were sprinting towards the main gate. They were out of breathe and
their wide open eyes were bloodshot. Their sweat-stained hair stuck to their
forehead.
The scene before them made the guards feel something was wrong.
The guards patrolling the cemetery moved in groups of ten. Why were there just
two? They were running without weapons and seemed to be running for their
lives.
“Quick, open the gate! Open the gate now!”
Seeing the way these two were screaming, the guards ran down the stairs and
opened the gate in a hurry.
The two guards scampered in without waiting for the gate to fully open.
“What in the…”
The two guards interrupted while panting with a pale face:
“Quick, close the gate! Hurry!”
Al the guards got goosebumps looking at their unusual actions, closing the gate
together and placing the bolt in place.
“What happened? Where are the others?”
Hearing this question, the guard lift his head and had a shocked expression.
“They, they were eaten by the undead!”
Hearing that 8 comrades had fallen, the guards looked to their captain. The
captain immediately ordered:
“... Hey, someone get up there and take a look!”
A guard climbed the stairs and stopped when he got half way up.
“What, what is it!”
The trembling guard shouted:
“Undead! A huge mob of undead!”
Straining their ears, they could hear sounds like a stampede of horses coming
from the other side of the wal . Not just the guard that first sighted them, all the
guards present were dumbstruck by the scene before them.
A mind numbing number of undead were advancing towards the gate.
“What is with these numbers…”
“It’s more than a hundred or two… There should be thousands…”
There were countless undead in places the light didn’t shine, it’s hard to gauge
the actual number if you include the figures wriggling in the darkness.
With their rotten stench the innumerable undead closed in on the gate with
unsteady steps like a dark cloud. Not just zombies and skeletons, there were a
few strong undead mixed in ── Ghouls, Devourers, Wights, Bloaters, Carrion
Crawlers etc.
The guards trembled in fear.
The city was protected by the walls, the undead couldn’t attack normal citizens
without breaking through the wal s. But even if they mobilize all the guards, it
was uncertain if they could keep such a large group of undead at bay. The
guards are just peasants wearing defensive gear, they didn’t have the
confidence to exterminate all these undead.
Not just that, some undead could even turn the people they kil into their own
kind. If things went bad, the guards might even be turned into an undead and
start attacking their comrades. No flying undead were sighted yet, but if they
didn’t take care of this soon, it would only be a matter of time before vicious
undead able to take flight spawned. This made the guards even more terrified.
── The wave of undead washed to the wal s.
Bang bang──
The swarm of low-intelligence undead couldn’t feel pain and bashed the door
haphazardly. They seemed to realize they could attack the living after breaking
down this door.
Bang bang──
The banging sound, the creaks of the door bending under the pushing force and
the moans of the undead kept coming.
With no need for brakes, the undead who didn’t mind shattering under the brunt
of the impact were like a siege weapon.
The guards witnessing this sight were breaking out in cold sweat.
“Sound the bell! Request reinforcement from the guard post! The two of you
inform the other gates of the emergency!”
The captain issued the orders after getting hold of himself:
“The ones behind use spears to attack the undead that approach the gate!”
The guards remembered their duties when they heard the orders, thrusting their
spears hard at the undead below. The mass of undead flooding the ground were
easily hit.
Thrust, pull back and thrust again.
Murky blood and the rotten stench numbed the noses of the guards who
repeated the same action like a factory worker. Several undead lost their
negative life force, and got trampled by the undead behind them after they fell.
The undead lack intelligence, so they didn’t fight back against the guard’s
repeated spear attacks. Repeating the same motion made the guards lose their
sense of danger.
As if it was aiming for this moment──
“Wahh!”
There was a scream and when they looked toward the source, the neck of a
guard was entangled by something long and squirming.
It was a smooth and pink—— an intestine.
An egg shaped undead stood at the place the intestine came from. In front of it
was a wide gap with the organs of several people squirming in it like parasites.
That was an undead known as Viscera Egg.
The intestine pulled the guard over.
“Yahh!”
Before others could help him, the guard fell with a scream──
“Help! Save me! Ah, Yahh──”
——The shriek started again. Al the guards saw the terrible fate of their
comrade as he was eaten alive by the congregation of undead.
The armor protecting his body and the action of protecting his face prolonged
this cruel moment. Fingers, calves, face, all of them were stripped bare.
“Fall back! Down the walls!”
Seeing the Viscera Egg squirming again, the captain sounded the retreat.
Al the guards rushed down the stairs and the sound of the undead banging the
gate became louder, the creak of the gate became even clearer.
The feeling of despair grew stronger. The chances of reinforcement coming
before a stronger undead appear were too slim. Once the gate opened, the
wave of death would rush forth, leading to the demise of countless lives.
When despair was written on the faces of all the guards, the sound of metal
clanking could be heard.
Everyone looked towards the source on reflex.
Before them was a warrior in full armor riding a monster with black intelligent
eyes. Besides him was a beauty who was out of place with the surroundings.
“Hey! It’s dangerous here! Hurry up and leave──”
At this moment, the guard saw the medal dangling before the warrior’s chest.
An adventurer!
But the flicker of hope was extinguished when they saw it was a bronze medal.
There was no way an adventurer of the lowest level could resolve this crisis. Al
the guards showed faces of disappointment.
The warrior leap off the monster nimbly and showed no signs of bulkiness.
“Didn’t you hear! Leave this place at once!”
“Narberal, hand me my sword.”
The warrior’s voice was obviously softer than the guards, but despite the noise
of the swarming undead it was unexpectedly clear. The beauty came to the side
of the warrior and drew the sword from his back.
“Look behind you, it’s dangerous alright?”
Heeding the warrior’s warning, the guards turned back and witness their end
looming before them.
There was a figure that was taller than the 4 meters high wall.
It was a giant undead made from countless corpses and ghouls.
“Wahhhh──”
As the group screams and was about to run away, something surprising
happened before them. That warrior held his sword with the stance of throwing a
spear.
What was he doing?
This question dissipated in the next instance.
The warrior hurled the sword out at an unbelievable speed. The guards tracked
the place the sword flew and saw something even more incredible.
The giant made from the undead, the undead monster that seemed impossible
to defeat was staggering backwards as if it was hit by an even bigger enemy. It
then fell, a colossal sound erupted, proving the giant had indeed fallen.
“——the undead are in the way.”
The dark warrior only said this as he drew the other sword and strode forward
“Open the gate.”
The guard couldn’t grasp what he was saying immediately, only understanding
after blinking a few times.
“Don’t, don’t speak nonsense! There is a huge mob of undead on the other side
of the gate!”
“And so? What has that got to do with me, Momon?”
Facing the absolute confidence of the dark warrior was stunned beyond words.
“... Never mind, it couldn’t be helped if you don’t want to open, I will go over
myself.”
The warrior started sprinting, leaped off the ground and disappeared on the
other side of the wall. And he was in full armor too.
The scene was like an il usion.
The guards couldn’t believe what just happened, staring with their mouths wide
open at that empty space.
The beauty who was left behind rose gently into the air and was about to go
over the wall when she was stopped:
“Please wait. Do take this king along with you!”
The sound came from the powerful monster the warrior was riding, its voice was
as dignified as its appearance.
The beauty frowned her brows slightly——which didn’t tarnish her beauty——
and answered:
“... Climb the stairs over there. You won’t be immobilized just from falling from
this bit of height, right?”
“Of course! This king wants to rush to master’s side! Wait for this king, master!”
The giant monster ran past the guards at a great speed, agilely climbed the
stairs and jumped off the wal .
The scene turned silent.
It was like the aftermath of a storm, they stood stunned in place for an
undetermined amount of time. When they gathered themselves, a guard asked
in a trembling voice:
“Hey… Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“The sound of the undead.”
Even when they strained their ears, they couldn’t hear anything. The endless
banging on the gate had also stopped.
The frightened guard shivered as he mumbled.
“Hey, do you all believe this? That warrior… in the face of that huge mob of
undead, he easily broke through… and proceed ahead unharmed.”
The guards felt shock and admiration.
The noise subsided because the undead were drawn away from here by a new
target. It was stil quiet because they were stil in combat and had yet to return.
This unbelievable thought compelled the guards to climb up the walls. The
scene before them made the guards question their eyes as they couldn’t help
but groan:
“What happened… that warrior… Just who is he…”
They could only see the countless bodies lying on the ground. The corpses piled
up like a hil , the entire cemetery was fil ed with fallen bodies. Some of the dead
stil had their negative life force, but they could barely move their body and lost
their ability to fight.
The rotten stench came with the wind as expected and the sound of fighting
could be heard in the distance.
“... No way… They are stil fighting? They broke through the huge amount of
undead! That is unfathomable…!”
“Who in the world is that warrior!”
“... I think he called himself Momon… Being a copper medal adventurer with
such skil s is too outrageous, it is impossible. He should be the legendary
possessor of an adamantium medal right?”
Everyone nodded in agreement with that assessment, that skil was definitely
not a copper medal adventurer.
He should be the owner of the highest medal —— a hero.
There was no other possibility.
“We… probably saw a legendary figure… dark warrior… no, dark hero…”
That mumbling made everyone nod.
♦ ♦ ♦
A flick of his right hand sent an undead flying, a flick of his left cut another in
half.
Ainz’s storm of one hit kil s finally stopped.
“Annoying minions.”
Ainz’s hands was holding swords that were magically created again, looking at
the undead in the surrounding with irritated eyes. He pointed the filth-stained
swords at them.
The undead were in an uproar, trying to get away from Ainz. The undead who
shouldn’t know fear seemed to feel just that from Ainz.
“...This king apologizes for its action.”
The voice came from somewhere high above Ainz. The Virtuous King of the
Forest floated in the air with its limbs spreaded out and whiskers drooping, it
sounded depressed.
The one answering wasn’t Ainz.
“Just… behave. It is hard to carry you if you fidget around.”
Narberal’s voice came from the Virtuous king of the forest’s stomach. Because
the Virtuous King of the Forest wasn’t able to fly by itself, it was being lifted from below by Narberal, who had activated flight magic. Half of her body was pressed
into the soft belly of the Virtuous King of the Forest.
“This one is very sorry…”
The low tier undead who lacked intelligence didn’t show hostility towards Ainz.
They were sensitive to ‘life’, so they sensed that Ainz was from their own kind.
But they couldn’t let go of the ‘life’ of the Virtuous King of the Forest that
appeared later. This dragged Ainz into this chaotic battle. Narberal lifted the
Virtuous King of the Forest with her flying spell so that the undead couldn’t touch
and hurt it.
When Ainz took a step forward, the undead would take a step back. Their
distance remained the same in this encirclement.
The encirclement with Ainz in the center moved according to Ainz’s pace. The
undead seemed to be searching for an opportunity to attack, but anyone who
wil step forward would be destroyed by Ainz with one hit. So the undead simply
encircled Ainz, not daring to engage.
There had been countless examples of undead being decimated when they get
close. Even the undead who lacked intelligence learned from this and formed
this encirclement.
“But this would become a stalemate.”
Ainz complained about the number of undead left.
If Ainz broke through seriously, an undead mob of this level wouldn’t be a
challenge. But if he broke through forcefully, the undead might scatter, which
might lead to the guards nearby getting kil ed. He would then lose his eye
witnesses, failing Ainz’s goal of being ‘the adventurer who resolved this crisis’.
So he had to lure the undead as he advanced in order to ensure the safety of
the guards. But this resulted in the progress becoming slow.
But Narberal took his words literally:
“Let’s call for reinforcement from Nazarick. With a few dozen helpers, we could
decimate the scum opposing Ainz-sama in this cemetery.”
“... Don’t be stupid. I have told you the reason for coming to this city several
times.”
“But Ainz-sama, if you want to gain fame, it would be better to wait for the
undead to break down the gate, and make an appearance after there are more
victims, wouldn’t it?”
“I have thought about that. If we knew information like the enemies’ objective
and the combat prowess of this city, we could possibly do that. But with the lack
of information, we need to avoid losing the initiative. If everything went
according to the opponent’s script, it would be displeasing. And based on my
observations, other parties might come in to snatch the glory.”
“I see… Ainz-sama is amazing. To consider every angle, as expected of the
supreme being, I am once again awed by you. Speaking of which… maybe you
could enlighten me about something. If we send servants proficient in
concealing themselves, like Eight-legged Spiderblade Assassins and
Shadowdemons to observe the situation before any major developments,
wouldn’t that help us act at the best moment?”
Ainz looked at the flying Narberal silently.
The air flowed quietly. Thinking this was a chance, some undead stepped
forward and were cut down by a casual sword swing.
“... If, if I have to teach you everything, how would you learn? Think about it
yourself.”
“Yes! My humble apologies.”
Ainz who was slightly shaken turned his head back to gauge the distance from
the gate, and whether the guards could see him.
“That, that might be so, but time is pressing. In order to cut open a path, I will
use my powers.”
Ainz released his abilities.
Collector>.
Two undead appeared after Ainz activated his skil s.
One of the undead wore a mask with a smiling face and an overcoat. The lower
half of its fingers were large surgical knives.
The other undead had a burly body shape and pustules all over its body. The
bandages all over its body were yel ow with several steel hooks. The hooks
were connected to a chain leading to moaning skulls.
The two undead obeyed Ainz’s command and attacked the undead mob that
had gathered. There were just two, but they had the upper hand in terms of
power.
While Jack the Ripper cut off the undead’s limbs with its surgical knifes and the
Cadaver Collector tore off the undead’s head with its chain, Ainz continued to
use his skil s.
“I wil settle all this at once.”
“If anything comes into the cemetery, chase them out. It’s fine to kil the
adventurers, but don’t harm the guards.”
The body of the wraith disappeared like a shadow while the skull vulture opened
its bony wings and took flight. Having finished his preparations, Ainz laughed.
Sending out the low tier undead as a precaution to prevent adventurers from
taking out the mastermind with flying magic and steal the glory of this job.
“Let’s go then.”
The two undead that were summoned displayed their skil s, letting Ainz break
through the diminishing amount of undead.
Ainz with only Narberal in toll came to the shrine near the depths of the
cemetery. He saw several suspicious figures in a circular formation before the
shrine, conducting some sort of ritual.
The black robes covering their bodies were unevenly dyed and of poor quality.
They used a triangular cloth to cover their face, showing nothing but their eyes.
The tips of the wooden staffs in their hands had strange engravings.
They were short in stature and judging by the silhouette of their bodies, all of
them were male.
Only the man who looked like an undead in the middle was showing his face,
and his clothing was elegant. The man held a black stone in his hand and
seemed to be concentrating.
Their soft whispers were transmitted into Ainz’s ears with the wind. Their pitch
changed in unison and sounded like a prayer, but it didn’t feel like the solemn
prayer offered to those who had passed on and more like an evil ritual
desecrating the dead.
“Shall we launch a sneak attack?”
Narberal said softly into Ainz’s ears, but he shook his head and said:
“It’s useless. They seemed to have noticed us.”
Having no special abilities to hide himself, Ainz just walked boldly towards
them.. He avoided the light of the cemetery as he moved, but the enemy could
see as clear as day if they used
summoner and the summoned monsters had a telepathic link. After kil ing so
many undead, by now their opponent should have detected Ainz’s approach.
In fact, several of them were staring at Ainz’s group.
They probably didn’t attack because they had something to say. That was Ainz
conclusion while he walked towards them.
When Ainz group walked into the light, the suspicious group took a stance and
one of them told the man in the middle: “Kajit-sama, they are here.”
“Ara, what a beautiful night. Don’t you think it is a shame to waste it on boring
rituals?”
“Hmmp… I wil decide if it is suitable for rituals. Anyway, who in the world are
you? How did you break through that mob of undead?”
The man in the middle of the formation——if it wasn’t an alias, this man called
Kajit had the highest status here——asked Ainz on behalf of everyone.
“I am an adventurer who was commissioned a quest to search for a missing
youth… You should know who without me saying the name right?”
The group took a stance, confirming Ainz’s suspicion that they were not innocent
bystanders.
Ainz looked from under his helmet at Kajit who was scanning the surrounding
with a bitter smile.
“Is it just the few of you? Where are the rest?”
Ainz shrugged weakly and replied:
“It’s just us. We flew all the way here using flight magic.”
“Lies, that is impossible.”
Ainz felt there was a hidden meaning behind Kajit’s confident words and asked:
“Believing or not is up to you. Back on topic, if you return the youth unharmed, I
could spare your life alright? Kajit.”
Kajit glared at the moronic disciple who addressed him by name.
“——And your name is?”
“Before that, I have something to ask. Apart from you all, is there anyone else?”
Kajit looked at Ainz with cold eyes:
“It’s just us——”
“——It’s not just you, all right? There should be someone using melee
weapons… Planning a surprise attack? Or are they hiding because they fear
us?”
“Ohh~ You investigated the corpse~ Impressive~”
A woman’s voice came from the direction of the shrine.
The woman showed herself slowly, a metallic clanking sound could be heard
with every step she took.
“You…”
“Ara~ We’ve been found out~ It’s pointless to keep hiding. By the way~ I was
only hiding because I am unable to use
The woman smiled bitterly, replying to Kajit who sounded rather fierce.
Despite showing a strong front, they stil didn’t use the hostage Enfrea───
Maybe Enfrea was already dead. As Ainz was thinking about that, the woman
asked:
“Could I know your name? Ah, I am Clementine. Pleased to meet you.”
“... It’s useless, but I wil humor you. I am Momon.”
“I have never heard that name before… what about you?”
“Me neither~ I have gathered information about all the high-level adventurers in
this city, but there wasn’t anyone named Momon. Why do you know about this
place? The death message indicated the sewers though~”
“The answer is under your cape. Show it to me.”
“Wahh~ Pervert~ Ecchi~”
After saying that, the woman─── Clementine’s face twisted. Her grin was so
wide it almost reached her ears:
“Just kidding~ You mean these?”
Clementine lifted her cape, revealing a scale armor with a multitude of colors.
But Ainz excellent eyesight saw through the truth behind the armor immediately.
This wasn’t a scale armor, but metallic medals.
There were numerous adventurer-medals there. Platinum, gold, silver, iron
copper, there were even mithril and orichalcum too. These proved that
Clementine had been kil ing adventurers and taking their medals as trophies.
The clanking of the metals were like the grudging moans of the dead.
“It was these trophies… that told me about this place.”
Clementine had a baffled expression but Ainz didn’t want to explain.
“... Nabel. Take care of the men including Kajit. I will take on this woman.”
After Ainz finished, he warned Narberal in a soft voice to pay attention above
her.
“Understood.”
Kajit smiled mockingly while Narberal had cold eyes and an uninterested
expression.
“... Clementine. Let’s fight over there.”
Ainz didn’t wait for Clementine to respond and walked away. He was very sure
his opponent wouldn’t refuse, and the sound of leisurely footsteps behind him
proved his point.
After going some distance, the place where Narberal and Kajit were at was hit
by a bril iant and deafening lightning. This lightning was like a cue, prompting
Ainz and Clementine to glare at each other.
“Could it be that the people I murdered in that shop were your companions? Are
you angry because your comrades are dead~?”
As if she was mocking, Clementine continued:
“Hahaha, that magic chanter was hilarious. Believing someone would come to
the rescue ‘til the very end~ It was impossible to last ‘til help arrived with that
tiny bit of stamina… Was that rescuer supposed to be you? Sorry~ I kil ed them.”
Ainz shook his head at Clementine who was all smiles:
“... No, no need to apologize.”
“Really? Such a pity~ It is really interesting to infuriate those who get agitated
when their comrades get mentioned. Hey, why are you not angry? How boring!
Are they not your companions?”
“... I did similar things too, so I would be acting wilfully if I was to accuse you.”
Ainz lifted his sword slowly:
“... They were tools to raise my fame. After they returned to the tavern, they
would’ve spread stories of my exploit to other adventurers, how just the two of
us defeated the Virtuous King of the Forest. Interfering with my plans displeases
me.”
Something in Ainz’s tone made Clementine smile:
“I see~ How sad of me to be despised by others~ Oh right, choosing to fight me
is a mistake~ That beautiful girl is a magic chanter right? It’s impossible for her
to win against Kajit-chan~ If the two of you switch, you might win if you were
lucky. But that woman won’t win against me either~”
“To win against you, Nabel is more than enough.”
“Don’t be sil y~ A mere magic chanter won’t defeat me. It would be over before
you know it~ That’s how it has always been~”
“I see, you are confident in your prowess as a warrior…”
“That’s obvious. In this country there are no warriors that can defeat me~
Correction, almost no warriors that can defeat me~”
“Is that so… I thought of a good idea. I wil give you a handicap and exert my
revenge this way.”
Clementine squinted her eyes and expressed unhappiness for the first time:
“According to the intelligence from the Windflower guys, there are only five
people who could put up a fight against me. Gazef Strolonoff, Blue Rose’s
Gagaran, Crimson Droplet’s Lucen Bagel, Brain Unglaus and the retired Wise
Croft de Lefan… but they couldn’t beat me even if they held nothing back. I
could even do that without the magic item bestowed to me by the country.”
Clementine showed a disgusting smile to Ainz:
“I don’t know how disgusting your face is under that helmet, but I, who has gone
beyond mortal limits~ and stepped into the realm of heroes, wil never lose!”
Compared to the fired up Clementine, Ainz was calm and collected:
“That’s the reason why I wil offer you a handicap. I won’t go all out.”
Part 4
“
In Narberal’s open palms were two lightning ball's that were twice as big as
normal, which she fired simultaneously.
───Strike.
The lightning ball with its magnified power expanded rapidly, the giant lightning
ball that flew out had a wide range, il uminating the area surrounding the
cemetery as bright as day. The magic powered lightning dissipated in an
instance and its destructive power was immense.
Kajit’s underlings who were caught in the effective area fell to the ground.
Only one man remained unmoved.
“Really… Why didn’t you fall like those lower life forms (caterpil ar)... Did you
activate
Narberal asked and saw that Kajit’s face showed signs of burns.
In that case, it should be a lower tier spell of
Narberal felt it was a pity that she couldn’t wipe them all out in one strike, but
consoled herself that this was within the acceptable range. It would be too dull to
settle it with just one hit.
“You are not a simple idiot, but an idiot that can use tier 3 magic!”
“... Idiot? This lower life form (tick) dares calling me an idiot!”
Narberal frowned.
“Anyone who foolishly attempts to derail my plans is obviously an idiot. Not
knowing my might and rushing here to meet your end! My preparations are
done! Let me show you the power of the supreme pearl fully charged with
negative energy!
Kajit lifted the pearl in his hand.
It shone like a black lump of iron, a plain pearl. It wasn’t polished and the shape
was rough, so it was closer to being an ore. Narberal saw the pearl was
pulsating.
Suddenly, the six disciples who were burned all over by the lightning got up.
That wasn’t the movement of a living being. The six disciples were manipulated
by undeath, stumbling into the space between Narberal and Kajit. Narberal
looked at the scene before her irritably.
“Sending zombies to be my opponent?”
“Hahaha, that’s right. That is more than enough! Attack!”
Zombies, the lowest tier of undead, didn’t have the ability to use magic. Narberal
cast a spell on the six disciples closing in with their claws extended.
“
A ball of white once against electrified the surroundings, swallowing the disciples
which were in range. The lightning dissipated instantly and the disciples fell once
again. The enemies were disposed of easily, but Narberal didn’t look happy.
must be the result of her opponent using some special support skil s.
Narberal shifted her sights onto the black ball in Kajit’s hand. The power of that
item allowed Kajit to control multiple zombies at the same time.
While Narberal was feeling displeased, Kajit said happily:
“Enough! It has absorbed enough negative energy!”
The black ball in Kajit’s hand absorbed the darkness of this cemetery and
seemed to be glowing. It seemed to be pulsating like a heart, and was beating
stronger than before.
If it was left alone, it could become troublesome in the future.
Narberal was about to act after judging so, but then she heard a sound. It was
the sound of the wind. Remembering the warning of her master, Narberal leapt
up strongly.
A giant object swiped down next to Narberal, floating slowly towards Kajit and
landed.
It was a being made from bones and about three meters tall. Composed of
countless human bones, it was mimicking a mythical creature with a long neck,
wings and four legs───a dragon. The tail formed from numerous bones
slammed the ground powerfully.
It was a monster known as Skeletal Dragon.
The level of such a monster wasn’t high for Narberal, but a feature of the
Skeletal Dragon was dangerous to Narberal.
Narberal looked surprised for the first time.
“Hahaha!”
Kajit’s unrestrained laughter erupted from all sides.
“The Skeletal Dragon with absolute resistance against magic, a powerful enemy
that renders magic chanters helpless!”
If Narberal’s spell wouldn’t harm the Skeletal Dragon, then──
She took out her sword along with the sheath, the weapon her master insisted
she should carry just in case. The sword was tied onto the sheath with ropes so
it couldn’t be drawn easily.
“——I wil beat you to death.”
Narberal took a step out.
Narberal deftly dodged the Skeletal Dragon’s foreleg swipe and wanted to
counter attack. As the swipe raised a gust of wind, Narberal made her way to
the Skeletal Dragon’s chest.
She used all her might—— and swung.
The three meter tall Skeletal Dragon was sent flying.
Followed by the tremble as it hit the ground.
“What!?”
Kajit was dumbfounded.
The Skeletal Dragon was formed from bones, so it looked rather light. But that
was just the appearance. Sorcery-based magic chanters sought the mastery of
spells every day, and shouldn’t have the strength to give such a blow.
Kajit hid behind the enormous body of the Skeletal Dragon and yel ed:
“——You, who the hell are you! Could it be mithril… No, orichalcum level
adventurers!? There shouldn’t be any adventurers like that in this city, did you
follow me or Clementine here!?”
Kajit ground his teeth irritably.
“Yes, this kind of agitation suits lower life forms (Burrowed Click Beetle) well.”
“You, you!”
How could the Skeletal Dragon, that exhausted so much negative energy and
took the grand ritual two months to create, lose so easily. This was his Magnus
Opus that took years of planning to execute.
While Kajit’s face was red from anger, the Skeletal Dragon stood up slowly with
a cracking sound. The bones forming the chest had a giant fracture with
fragments falling off constantly. It couldn’t take any more hits.
“No! No! No!”
“
Black rays shone from Kajit’s hand onto the Skeletal Dragon, repairing the
Skeletal Dragon’s damage with negative energy.
“It has absolute resistance against magic, but it can be healed with spells.”
Ignoring Narberal’s nitpicking, Kajit continued casting magic.
Kajit kept casting spells to strengthen the Skeletal Dragon.
The skeletal body of the Skeletal Dragon became tougher and stronger from
magic, a dazzling black flame covered its entire body. There was even an
invisible barrier before its body, shielding it from attacks.
“If that’s the case, I wil do that too.”
Narberal activated defensive spells too.
After both sides cast their defensive magic, the battle started anew.
Narberal swung her sword.
It hit the front leg of the Skeletal Dragon dead on, but Narberal frowned.
Although she could hit the opponent easily like before, the situation wasn’t good.
She wasn’t proficient in melee combat and the weapon wasn’t suitable.
The Skeletal Dragon’s body was made from bones, so piercing and slashing
weapons were ineffective. Since Narberal didn’t have any blunt weapons, which
would be the most suitable, she could only use the sheath. She had the upper
hand, but the balance of her attack was poor and she was unable to effectively
damage the Skeletal Dragon.
A professional warrior might be able to achieve balance, but Narberal was a
magic chanter, she was not proficient with this.
The front limb of the Skeletal Dragon swiped over the head of the squatting
Narberal. The black flames covering the Skeletal Dragon burned Narberal who
evaded the attack, but
the black flame disappears without a trace.
If she didn’t cast protection spells in advance, Narberal would had been hurt
from the effects even if she did dodge the attack.
“
Kajit healed the Skeletal Dragon with his magic rays.
This was another reason Narberal was frowning. No matter how much damage
she dealt, Kajit would restore the Skeletal Dragon from behind. Narberal wanted
to take out Kajit first, but the Skeletal Dragon was in the way, stopping her.
Even if she use piercing spell such as
Skeletal Dragon which could nullify magic. Wide area spells like
If she used mind control to release the defence, it could decide the match at
once──
“——
“——
Narberal and Kajit activated their spells at the same time. Narberal used a spell
that could bewitch humans while Kajit cast a defensive spell on himself that
renders mental attacks ineffective.
The result was—— Kajit smiling victoriously while Narberal clicked her tongue
and frowned.
Maybe she was distracted by Kajit’s smile, a shadow loomed over Narberal’s
face.
A white object that covered her entire field of vision appeared before Narberal.
——Impossible to evade.
With a flash of inspiration, Narberal rested the tip of her sword on her shoulder,
using the blade as a shield. Her sword hand and shoulder took the brunt of the
impact which numbed her body. Narberal flew into the air from this hit.
This was the result of the Skeletal Dragon’s tail swinging with Narberal’s face as
the target.
“Oh, ohh.”
Narberal didn’t fall as she landed agilely with both feet on the ground, but she
stil stumbled backwards.
It was a great chance to press the attack, but the Skeletal Dragon stood its
ground. It had to protect Kajit, so it couldn’t go too far. Watching the Skeletal
Dragon act this way, Narberal waved her arm to relieve the pain and numbness.
Kajit showed his face from behind the Skeletal Dragon──
“——
“——
The green spear-shaped object Kajit cast hit Narberal’s body. The javelin of acid
should have harmed her, but it was blocked a few centimeters before Narberal’s
body and dissipated. At the same time, the lightning was also blocked by the
Skeletal Dragon and rendered ineffective.
Kajit and Narberal glared at each other.
“... Using defensive spells? How troublesome.”
“... That should be my line, lower life form (Bagworm). How about fighting
honorably and stop hiding?”
“Why do I have to come out?”
“Wouldn’t it mess up your plans if you are trapped here?”
Kajit glared at Narberal when she mentioned that. In contrast, Narberal smiled
nonchalantly.
“...There’s no other way.”
Kajit who seemed to have made up his mind held the strange ball up to the sky...
“Witness the power of the Pearl of Death!”
The ground trembled and Narberal’s body followed suit. That was a sign of a
gigantic being showing itself.
The ground cracked the next moment and a second white beast slowly rose.
“... Another one.”
“Hmmp! The negative energy had been exhausted. Even so, I stil want to
dispose of you and your companion. If I spread death in this city, it should
recoup its energy!”
Compared to the emotionless Narberal, Kajit’s shout was full of wrath.
“Phew.”
After breathing out hard, Narberal charged forward with incredible speed. Kajit
wasn’t expecting that and was caught off guard.
The Skeletal Dragon swiped its foreleg at Narberal who was in its range.
Narberal turned to dodge the forelimb’s attack, but the other Skeletal Dragon
was lying in wait, attacking with its tail with a force threatening to peel the
ground off.
Narberal leapt a good distance backwards and the giant tail missed its mark. It
suddenly changed direction, went up and smashed downwards towards
Narberal.
Narberal dodged left to avoid the heavy strike that made the ground tremble, but
the Skeletal Dragon on her right closed in and swiped its foreleg.
“Ugh!”
Narberal used the sword to block the mighty blow. The weight behind the hit was
immense, but Narberal blocked it steadily and pushed back. The Skeletal
Dragon staggered back, and there was a short break in the action.
“... Just who the hell are you? To defend that with martial arts… How did you
train that skil !?”
“Because I was created by the supreme being that is greater than god.”
“Are you mocking me, idiot!”
“You wouldn’t understand even if you learned the truth, to call me an idiot when I
mention the supreme being… That’s why I say humans are lower life forms
(planarian).”
Narberal glared at Kajit with sharp eyes. It was a sharp cold gaze that makes
you want to back away.
Kajit who felt afraid ordered as if he was trying to shake off his fear:
“Go! Skeletal dragon!”
The two Skeletal Dragon maintained an adequate distance from Kajit and
attacked once again.
Dodging the Skeletal Dragons attack while attempting to get nearer, Narberal
lost her chance because of the other Skeletal Dragon’s attack. The back and
forth went on for some time, and the moment to settle the match finally
appeared.
“Acid Javelin.”
Narberal unconsciously averted her face to dodge the magic spear coming at
her.
That was a grave mistake. It had no effect even if it hits, so she could have
ignored it. But it was going towards her face, so she dodged on reflex. That was
a mistake a magic chanter who didn’t raise her melee combat skil s would make.
This mistake had serious consequences.
“Pew!” With a loud bang, Narberal’s field of vision changed drastically. She was
flying to one side.
She felt a short moment of weightlessness before falling heavily to the ground.
Her left hand was hit by the Skeletal Dragon’s tail attack. Rolling on the ground
made her dizzy and she couldn’t tell where she was.
Her body was protected by multiple spells, so it didn’t hurt, but the two Skeletal
Dragons were lifting their forelegs on top of Narberal.
It’s hopeless── that is normally the case.
“I wil spare your life if you surrender.”
Kajit who was sure of his victory smiled cruelly at Narberal.
Kajit wasn’t planning on sparing her. His expression was obviously hoping to
see the pitiful sight of the girl beg for mercy and stil getting ravaged in the end.
Narberal propped the upper half of her body up, her face was twisted with fury:
“... Mere… human…”
“... What?”
Narberal stared unwaveringly at Kajit:
“A mere human like you dare say such arrogant words? You trash.”
Kajit, whose eyes were wide open, trembled with anger and ordered Narberal’s
execution.
“Destroy her, Skeletal Dragon!”
When the forelegs of the two giant dragons lifted up, Narberal smiled.
The subject of Narberal’s adoration. No matter how far away he was, she
definitely would hear him.
“Narberal Gamma! Display the power of Nazarick!”
“... By your command. From now on, I am no longer Nabel, and wil handle this
as Narberal Gamma.”
The skeletal forelegs of the Skeletal Dragon stomped down, attempting to
squash Narberal. Narberal activated her spell in the nick of time.
“
Narberal’s vision changed to a different scene.
Narberal was five hundred meters overhead.
Since she didn’t have wings, she dropped straight down.
The howling wind slapped against her body as the ground got closer. Narberal
laugh out loud:
“——
Her speed of descent slowed and Narberal floated in the air, looking down at the
scene of battle below. Kajit and the two Skeletal Dragons couldn’t see Narberal
and were looking around in surprise.
♦ ♦ ♦
“Sigh~ I am tired~”
Ainz heard Clementine’s carefree words.
After a few minutes of battle, Ainz’s swords didn’t touch Clementine even once.
“By the way~ your abilities are great~ it’s worthy of praise~ but~”
Her expression changed into the grin of a predator.
“~ Are you stupid? You are just wielding your sword with your excellent physical
abilities. You don’t even know how to feint, swinging your sword around like a
kid with a stick. Even if you hold a sword in each hand, you would be better off
using just one if you don’t know swordsmanship. Are you looking down at
warriors?”
“Attack me then. You’ve been dodging all this time right? It would be
disadvantageous for you if this drags on for too long.”
Ainz responded with a cold laugh.
Clementine frowned. Indeed, Clementine didn’t attack Ainz at all.
She was just dodging Ainz’s attack because of his freakish athletic ability, so
Clementine was unable to find a chance to attack.
It wasn’t as effortless as Clementine made it out to be. Her strong words were
caused by her frustration of not being able to take the initiative to attack.
“Where did your confidence that no warrior could beat you go?”
“......”
Clementine finally drew her weapon after Ainz taunted her. On her waist were
four short blades known as stilettos and a morning star. She took one of the
stilettos out.
Ainz confirmed the morning star was stained with filth that looked like blood and
minced meat with his extraordinary eyesight. Ainz tightened the grip on his
sword.
As both of them were preparing to make a move, the earth trembled.
Ainz couldn’t look away from Clementine who took a stance and just glance a
little. He saw two giant dragons made from bones where Narberal was fighting.
“... Are those Skeletal Dragons…?”
“Correct~ You are quite knowledgeable. That’s right~ That’s the nemesis of
magic chanters.”
“I see. That’s the reason why Narberal couldn’t win.”
“That’s~ how it is.”
Clementine regained her cool after the Skeletal Dragon appeared and she
teased Ainz. Ainz frowned his il usional face under his helmet.
For magic chanters, Skeletal Dragons are tough enemies. And there were two of
them at the same time, so it was impossible for the current Narberal to deal with
them.
Clementine seemed to realize Ainz was worried so she made a movement.
This action served to keep Ainz in check and there should be a follow up. For
warriors, they would use the chance to attack when they see a stronger enemy
than them show a weak point.
Clearing the issue with Narberal out of his mind, Ainz thrusted his left sword out
and waved it slightly to keep Clementine at bay as he readied the sword in his
right hand.
Clementine’s weapon was the piercing type and lacked variety in attack
methods like hack and slash weapons. It was a weapon reinforced for thrust
attacks. The delicate structure of the stiletto wasn’t strong enough to clash with
the great sword.
That was why Ainz kept his distance by using the sword in his left hand as he
waited for Clementine to get close by herself. But the opponent knew this too.
“You have any way of closing this distance?”
“What do you think~”
The crafty Clementine looked calm and collected and had a faint smile. This
showed she had a plan.
Clementine slowly changed her posture, similar to the starting position of a
sprinter, but she was stil standing so it was awkward. It looked funny, but wasn’t
a position to take lightly.
At this moment── Clementine took action. Before the tight defence of Ainz,
Clementine shot out like a fully loaded spring that had been released.
She charged straight on.
It was hard to believe, even for Ainz who had extraordinary physical abilities.
Like the storm taking everything in an instance, Clementine appeared before
Ainz in a blink of an eye, running under Ainz’s sword with the agility to match her
speed.
Facing Clementine’s nimble action, the anxious Ainz swung hard with his right
hand, attacking Clementine with a power beyond his imagination.
At that moment, Ainz saw the grin of that woman became wider.
“——
The absurd scene shocked Ainz.
The slender stiletto blocked the great sword which was ten times its weight from
the front.
If she blocked Ainz’s powerful blow, the short blade would probably break. But
even if it miraculously didn’t break, it would be knocked away by the strong blow.
But Ainz’s great sword seemed to have hit a solid siege wal and the blow was
deflected back instead.
As if she was throwing herself into a lover’s embrace, Clementine charged into
Ainz’s defenceless chest. Half of Ainz’s vision was taken up by Clementine’s
smiling face.
Compared to the retreating Ainz, his opponents attack speed was faster.
Combining the momentum of the sprint with all her strength, her strike used the
shift in gravity terrifically like a shooting star.
With a flash, a screeching sound erupted in the cemetery.
Clementine dodged the counter attack from Ainz’s left sword and backed away.
Ainz grasped the secret behind Clementine’s attack.
“——Martial arts!”
Skil s that do not exist in YGGDRASIL, the magic of warriors—— martial arts
which Ainz had to be wary of.
The effect is probably defending against sword attacks and nullify the power of a
sword. She must have used martial arts to deflect Ainz’s attack.
“... How tough~ What is that armor made from? Adamantium…?”
It doesn’t hurt, but he stil heard the sound of friction and the feeling of
something sharp hitting his left shoulder.
Ainz glanced at the shoulder which received the blow and the armor there was
only slightly dented. It didn’t have unique powers, but this armor was stil created
by a level hundred magic chanter. The toughness of the armor would increase
with level, so the dent was telling of how powerful Clementine’s strike was.
“Forget it. Since it’s like this, next time~ I wil attack somewhere more
vulnerable~ I wanted to weaken you slowly and torture you when you couldn’t
move~ What a pity.”
After learning Clementine didn’t attack his shoulders randomly but was trying to
disable Ainz’s arm, Ainz felt impressed by Clementine for the first time.
Ainz could only wield the sword simply to hurt the enemy. With just one direct
hit, he could end his enemy. When facing skil ed foes, he had to consider how
the fight would flow as the battle goes on.
“Well, I am coming~”
While Ainz was feeling impressed, Clementine adopted the same forward
leaning position like just now. Ainz lifted the great sword in his right arm in
anticipation of the attack. He didn’t thrust out the left sword this time.
Clementine scoffed at Ainz’s posture and charged over. She was so fast even
Ainz’s incredible dynamic vision had a hard time keeping up. If she wasn’t
coming in a straight line at him, she might escape out of sight.
Facing the premonition of Clementine’s charge, Ainz swung his right sword to
attack──
“
───and was deflected by the opponent’s martial art once again, but this was
within expectation. In the previous clash, Ainz lost his balance because he was
attacking with full strength, so he held back this time.
Absorbing the recoil that was similar to hitting a wal , Ainz swung the great
sword in his left hand. Ainz was confident the opponent couldn’t block this
second strike.
But in an instant, Clementine activated another martial art.
“
This martial arts created an unexpected result.
Time in this space seemed to be manipulated──as if he had fallen into a
viscous liquid, al his movements were slowed down. Ainz great sword became
really slow.
But Clementine retained the same speed in this slow world, dodging the sword
easily and made her way in front of Ainz.
It might be the imagination of Ainz. To prevent his movement from being
interrupted, Ainz had a magic ring that prevented his movements to slow down
because of external factors——or unknown situations.
It was probably because the fight with Clementine was intense, that’s why he felt
her speed increased drastically. Most importantly, Ainz had seen this martial arts
before and didn’t feel this way back then.
“Gaz──”
Gazef Strolonoff used this martial arts before.
He didn’t finish uttering the name when the stiletto stab towards him. It was
aimed at the gap of the helmet—— the eyes.
Ainz turned his head hard. Although the gap wasn’t hit, the sound of screeching
steel stil reached his ears. Before he had the chance to sigh in relief, he saw
from the corner of his vision that Clementine was raising her stiletto, ready to
strike again.
“Tch!”
Even taking the difference in physical abilities into account, Clementine’s
straight thrust was faster than Ainz’s swing. The stiletto didn’t miss this time,
scoring a direct hit on Ainz.
“Hmmm~?”
“Ugh!”
A surprised sound and a panicked voice could be heard at the same time.
Ainz pressed his hand against his helmet without letting go of his sword and
jumped a huge distance backwards. But Clementine didn’t press her attack.
Looking at Ainz with slanted eyes, Clementine looked at the tip of the stiletto and
said mockingly:
“Don’t give me any handicap, you wil die if you don’t use your full power, you
know~”
In order to clear her doubts, Clementine continued asking the silent Ainz:
“But how did you do that? Being unharmed after taking that hit just now. I was
sure it would definitely hurt you~”
“... Ara ara. This battle… has been very fruitful. It tells me about the existence of
martial arts, taught me not to simply use brute force in battle, and the
importance of keeping my balance.”
“... Huh? Are you an idiot? To talk about this now… You are not worthy of being
a warrior. But it doesn’t matter since you will die here anyway~ But I hope you
wil answer my question… Was that a defensive martial art~?”
Clementine spoke as if she has had enough. Ainz smiled bitterly under his
helmet, thinking that she was right.
“I have much to learn… I am grateful. But time is short, let’s end this game.”
Ignoring the baffled Clementine, Ainz shouted:
“Narberal Gamma! Display the power of Nazarick!”
Spinning the swords in his hand, Ainz stuck both swords tips down into the
ground. Ainz reached out with one empty hand at Clementine, gesturing gently
for her to come:
“Well then, come at me with the resolve to die.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“... To really know
But how did you dodge the attack just now? I was behind the Skeletal Dragon
and didn’t see…”
Narberal who slowly descended from the sky heard the wary questions. Kajit
couldn’t fathom why she didn’t escape using the
retreated since she was facing Skeletal Dragons, which baffled him.
“Hmmp, you think you can win? In the face of Skeletal Dragon with absolute
resistance against magic?”
“There are countless ways to win… But before that…”
Narberal grabbed her shoulder and pulled off her robe:
“I am Narberal Gamma, one of the battle maids (Pleiades) who swore fealty to
the overlord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the supreme being Ainz Gown Ooal.
You lower life form (Human) should be honored to battle with me.”
Her dressings changed completely. Wearing gold, silver and black metal
gauntlets and knee guards. Wearing armor designed after the maid uniform of
manga with a white bonnet taking the place of a helmet. Narberal held a staff
that was gold on the inside, silver on the outside.
The abilities of a user-designed item in YGGDRASIL could be altered with data
crystals. Narberal’s robe included a highspeed clothes-changing crystal. So
Narberal didn’t need to waste time changing her equipment and put on her
preset gears immediately.
The robe that was taken off would be put into her item box.
Seeing the maid appeared before him, the confused Kajit blinked repeatedly
before he grasped the situation──
“What?”
── And then he shouted in surprise.
Seeing a magic chanter morph into a maid was definitely surprising.
Kajit felt displeased to see this joke like dressing, but Narberal’s composed
demeanor made him feel danger, so he ordered the Skeletal Dragons to attack
immediately. The two Skeletal Dragon approached Narberal with unexpectedly
nimble movements, swinging their forelegs made up from countless bones. As
they were about to hit, Narberal activated her spell.
“
“Again!”
Narberal disappeared again.
Kajit looked up in the sky to searched for the missing Narberal, stil
remembering what happened earlier. But a sense of pain told him where
Narberal was.
“——Ahhh!”
Kajit’s screamed echoed in the cemetery. Kajit’s left shoulder suddenly burned
with pain and the pain spread all over his body with the beating of his heart.
The shocked Kajit looked at his wound as the sharp blade was about to be
drawn out of it.
“——Ugh, ugh!”
The sword was pulled out crudely, inducing a sharp pain once again. He felt his
bones being grinded, which accentuated his discomfort. Blood sprayed out of
the sword wound, staining Kajit’s black robes.
Kajit who was drooling from the pain turned his head in a hurry to see what was
happening.
He saw Narberal standing before him with a puzzled face.
“Is it that painful?”
“——!”
Narberal used her hand that wasn’t holding the staff to toy with the dark,
bloodstained shortsword.
Kajit couldn’t speak because of the pain.
A magic chanter who seldom fought in the front wouldn’t experience a lot of
pain. And Kajit was usually served by others and the one inflicting pain. That’s
why he had such low tolerance for pain.
Kajit’s head was sweating as he ordered the skeletal to attack with his mind.
Narberal retreated, putting some distance away from the approaching Skeletal
Dragon. The speed of
The two Skeletal Dragons charged into the space where Narberal had been.
Hiding behind the Skeletal Dragon, Kajit regained his calm after getting into a
safe position and finally understood which spell Narberal was using.
That is──
“This is teleportation!”
But that was the limit for magic chanters with poor physical abilities. For magic
chanters who were as skil ed as warriors in melee combat, this spell was as
good as an offensive spell. No, with its element of surprise, it might be stronger
than some half-baked offensive spell.
Kajit pressed on his shoulder and glared at Narberal: “I see, your ace in the hole
is using teleportation to kil me! You used that to escape earlier too right!?”
It was a troubling ace. Since spells were ineffective against Skeletal Dragons,
Narberal just needed to kil their summoner, an obvious tactic. With her skil ful
use of teleportation, Kajit might not be able to evade.
But Narberal answered casually:
“That’s impossible.”
Kajit couldn’t understand what she meant for an instant and kept blinking his
eyes. As if to reinforce her explanation, Natberal sheathed her sword:
“I’m just showing you that I could kil you easily.”
Narberal displayed a way to change her crisis into an opportunity, but gave up
on it herself. Kajit couldn’t understand what she was getting at.
“Are you crazy?”
“You might be a lower life form (Flea), but what kind of answer is this? Use your
head.”
Seeing Narberal’s icy glare, Kajit shivered.
He wasn’t shaking from anger── but fear. Uneasiness flooded Kajit’s mind.
“It’s about time to end this. As his underling, It is rude to let Ainz-sama wait…
you seemed to think spells are ineffective against Skeletal Dragons, so let me
enlighten you, lower life form (shore fly). The price would be your life.”
Letting go of her staff, the sound of a clap could be heard── white arcs of
lightning could be seen between her parting palms. The surrounding air sparkled
brightly because of the twisting dragon shaped lightning.
Narberal was enveloped by a white glow.
“...Eh.”
Kajit was dumbfounded. He knew that was an incredible magic beyond his
intelligence. He could see Narberal smiling coldly in the glaring white light.
Before him was the gigantic body of the Skeletal Dragon. Remembering their
presence, a shril alarm sounded in Kajit’s heart.
“──You think you can defeat Skeletal Dragons with their absolute magic
resistance!? Go! Kil her!”
Kajit couldn’t conceal the fear in his shril voice as he shouted his orders.
When the two Skeletal Dragon drew near, Narberal smiled like a cold master
schooling her foolish disciple:
“Absolute magic resistance? Skeletal dragons do have resistance against
magic, but that is only against spells of the 6th tier and below.”
The Skeletal Dragon would take a moment more to reach Narberal. In this time,
the strangely calm Kajit understood what Narberal meant.
“──That means the Skeletal Dragon can’t resist me, Narberal Gamma, who can
use spells of an even higher tier.”
She was telling the truth. Kajit’s instinct told him that.
Which means this woman could take out the Skeletal Dragon and send Kajit to
hell──
“Why! The fruits of my labor over 5 years is gone in less than an hour!”
The wailing Kajit saw various scenes in his mind like a carousel.
Kajit Dale Batantier.
Because of work in the vil age, his father with a chiseled body and his matured
mother gave birth to him in a vil age bordering the Silian Theocracy and he
spend a ‘normal’ childhood there.
He turned out like this because he saw his mother’s corpse.
That day── when the sun set was stil bright, Kajit ran home panting. His
mother wanted Kajit to return early, but he was late because of some small
matters which he couldn’t remember. Searching for pretty stones or holding a
stick pretending to be a hero. He was delayed by such insignificant matters.
Kajit ran home fearing the lecture of his mother and saw her collapsed in the
living room. When he rushed in and touched her mother, that warm sensation
was stil fresh in his mind.
He felt this was a joke, but things didn’t went as he hoped.
Kajit’s mother was no longer of this world.
According to the priest, the cause of death was ‘blood clot in the brain’.
Which meant there was no foul play, no one was at fault. No, Kajit felt someone
should be responsible.
Which was himself. If Kajit had returned earlier, he might had saved his mother.
There were many faith based magic chanters in Silian Theocracy, and Kajit’s
vil age had several of them. If he ran to them for help, his mother might stil be
smiling healthily right now.
His mother’s face twisted from pain was all his fault.
Kajit made up his mind to fix his own mistake── which meant resurrecting his
mother.
The more he learned about magic, the bigger the problem he faced.
Faith based magic of the 5th tier had a resurrection spell, but it couldn’t revive
his mother. Because the resurrection will exhaust a large amount of life force,
those who didn’t have enough life force wouldn’t revive and disappear. Kajit’s
mother didn’t have any life force to expend.
Kajit didn’t have enough time to develop a new resurrection spell. If he gave up
his humanity and became an undead, he could buy more time to research new
resurrection spells── That was his conclusion.
Abandoning the faith based magic he accumulated in the past, Kajit took the
path to become an undead through sorcery based magic. But there was another
obstacle in his way.
Even if he took the route of a sorcery based magic chanter, it would take a very
long time to become a high tier undead after abandoning his humanity. He was
also limited by his talent and potential, and might even fail to become an
undead.
One way to break through these obstacles was to accumulate a large amount of
negative energy── That’s right, kil ing the people of an entire city and drawing
the negative energy of them becoming the undead.
Just when his wish was about to come true, why did another obstacle appear?
“I spent five years to prepare in this city! The wish I couldn’t let go after thirty
years! Do you have the rights to destroy all this!? You, who suddenly showed
up!”
A cold smile answered Kajit’s howl:
“I am not interested in the wishes of a lower life form (you). But your efforts are
laughable. I have some words for you… Good work in being the stepping stone
of Ainz-sama.”
“
Bursts of dragon shaped lightning came from both of Narberal’s hands.
The lightning that was thicker than an arm hit the Skeletal Dragon, and shook
their massive white bodies. The lightning flowed through the entire body of the
Skeletal Dragon, ending its false life.
The results were clear.
Under the might of the lightning, the Skeletal Dragon that should have absolute
resistance to magic started to shatter.
Even after shattering the Skeletal Dragon, the lightning stil remained. The two
lightning dragon seemed to be searching for their next prey as they flew towards
their final target.
Kajit’s vision was covered by white lightning.
He had no time to beg for mercy or howl in despair.
The tears from the corner of his eyes vaporized instantly. Kajit moaned ‘mama’
as he was swallowed by an even brighter light, pierced mercilessly by the
lightning.
Kajit spasmed while he was stil standing, as if he was performing a weird
dance.
After burning the insides of the body, the lightning disappeared, leaving a
smoking Kajit rolling on the ground.
The charred, burning smell was everywhere.
Narberal shrugged, mumbling at Kajit who was now a heap of charred flesh:
“Even a lower life form (worm) smells nice after gril ing… I wonder if its fine to
give it to Entoma as a present.”
When she mentioned her colleague who preys on humans, Narberal had a
sarcastic smile.
♦ ♦ ♦
The warrior was holding up his arms, as if he was waiting for a hug.
“... What are you playing at~? Giving up?”
“Give up what? Since I gave Narberal the order, I thought it’s time for us to settle
this.”
“What? Are you daydreaming~? Your martial arts are laughable, do you think
you can win against me, the great Clementine? How infuriating.”
“It’s impressive for the weak to crack such jokes.”
The agitated Clementine wanted to rebuke ‘that’s you right?’, but she calmed
herself.
The warrior skil s of the man in front of her were laughable, but his physical
might was abnormally good. From what she knew, he was just beneath the two
celestials── The black scripture’s ‘Special’ and the chief captain. He swung the
swords chaotically as he pleased, and it would be deadly if she slipped up and
got hit.
Acting her usual self, Clementine taunted with a mocking smile:
“...Never mind, I agree we should finish this~”
The warrior Momon shrugged in reply.
Clementine observed the posture of this man calmly. He was full of openings,
but that couldn’t be all. This must be a trap.
But Clementine had no choice. What she said sounded as if she was kidding,
but she was actually serious. She could escape with the power of the Skeletal
Dragon, but she couldn’t waste time. It was needed to throw the members of the
Windflower Scripture off her tail, but she already spent too much time playing
around.
Clementine squatted down slowly, tightening her grip on the Stiletto.
Finish the fight quickly. If possible, do it in one hit.
Not having time to waste was a reason, but the warrior before her was getting
more coordinated in his movements. It would be safer to dispose of him before
he grew any stronger.
Breathing out deeply, Clementine sprinted. Evasion>,
matter what Momon does, she could stil use more martial arts.
In the accelerated world, she could grasp the movement of her opponent
perfectly.
He might draw the sword from the ground or use martial arts, unarmed combat
or hidden weapons. No, maybe he would use a throwing weapon.
Clementine thought of the dozens of ways her foe might fight. Clementine was
confident she could break through all of them.
But all of Clementine’s guesses missed the mark.
── The opponent didn’t do anything.
The dark warrior simply open his arms, waiting for the attack to land.
A chil went down her spine. This was beyond Clementine’s imagination, a fear
of the unknown.
Should she strike courageously or retreat and escape?
She had only two paths to take.
Clementine might be cruel and heartless, but she was no fool. In that split
second, she rapidly considered countless possibilities and ways to counter.
The last thing that encouraged Clementine was her confidence and pride.
She had already left, but she had once been a member of the Silian Theocracy’s
strongest special unit──the Black Scripture. Someone like her shouldn’t be
escaping with her tail between her legs in the face of the unknown and unskil ed
warrior Momon.
After making up her mind, the rest of the pieces fell into place. With no
hesitation and regaining the calm of a first class warrior, Clementine ran towards
Momon’s chest── So close they were almost hugging.
“Die~!”
Using all the muscles in her body, Clementine shoved the Stiletto into the gap of
the helmet. And she twisted her blade forcibly to jab it deep into the brain. Not
only that, she was planning to destroy his other organs, to deal him a fatal
wound.
Although the armored arms were closing in on Clementine in the movement of a
hug, she didn’t care and continued her attack.
Clementine followed through with her thoughts of giving a fatal blow, releasing
the magic sealed in the stiletto. The spell was
Ainz’s body was pierced by lightning.
Clementine’s weapon was enchanted with a sealed spell. If the sealed spell was
released, the magic stored within would be exhausted. But different spells could
be sealed within, so a variety of magic could be prepared in advance according
to the situation, so it was really convenient.
The Stiletto stabbed into his skull along with the big lightning present── a
definite fatal blow.
But──
“I’m not done yet!”
“
She used her enhanced speed to draw another Stiletto and released the sealed
burning from the inside, and thought she smelled charred flesh.
But── Clementine was stunned by the unexpected scene before her and
opened her eyes wide.
“Hmm, I see. YGGDRASIL doesn’t have such magic weapons. I learned
something new.”
Even though both of Ainz’s eyes were stabbed by Stilettos, he was stil speaking
casually. This made Clementine realize there wasn’t any blood when she
stabbed at the helmet’s slit earlier.
“No way! How could this be! Why aren’t you dead!”
She had never heard of such an invincible martial art. Or he had some ways to
deal with piercing attacks? If that is so, how did he defend against the magic
attacks that followed?
Even Clementine who was a veteran of hundreds of battles couldn’t answer this
question.
“!”
Clementine’s body was hugged, pushing Momon and Clementine close together
as the adventurer’s medals crankles.
“Let me tell you the answer.”
The dark armor disappeared without a trace, revealing the terrifying face below.
It was a skull without flesh or skin. In the hollow eye sockets── were the
Stilettos had pierced his goggles, but it didn’t seemed to hurt Ainz.
Clementine knew what that appearance meant:
“Undead… Lich!”
“...? ...I had many things to ask you, but forget it. I can only say your answer is
very close. Well then──”
Clementine thought that the monster before her shouldn’t have any expression
since it lacked skin or flesh, but she felt it was grinning.
“How do you feel? Dueling with a sword wielding magic chanter? Unable to end
it in a flash, what did it feel like?”
“Don’t, don’t look down on me!”
Clementine struggled with all her might, but she couldn’t move as if she was
chained tightly.
Liches were powerful undead proficient in magical abilities, but their physical
abilities weren’t high. So Clementine should have the advantage. But──
“Why, why!”
──She couldn’t break free.
Once she realized that the giant strength──and the powerful physical
abilities──weren’t the magical effects of the armor, Clementine stiffened. The
scene which came to her mind was a helpless butterfly caught in a spider’s web.
“... This is the truth behind giving you a handicap. An opponent like you isn’t
worthy of my full power── which is using magic.”
“Damn it──!”
“Since the truth is out... before we start, this is annoying.”
With a hissing sound, the lich plucked the stilettos in his eyes out and threw
them to the side. While the undead was picking the blades, Clementine
continued struggling desperately. But she couldn’t match the power of just one
of his arms with al her might. She couldn’t alter the hugging position and was
immobile.
After pulling out both Stilettos, the empty eye sockets shone with evil crimson
light, looking at the gasping Clementine who was using all her strength.
“Let’s begin.”
Clementine was wary about what her opponent was up too, and was closer to
the lich than lovers.
A weird creaking sound could be heard.
When Clementine understood what the lich wanted to do, an icy chil went down
her spine.
“... No way… no way, you bastard──!”
That shril sound came from her own dented armor.
──
The lich would be subjected to the pressure of the armor too, but he probably
used some method to harden his body. His unyielding body was as sturdy as a
wal .
“If you are just a bit weaker…”
The lich took out a short sword from somewhere. It was black with four jewels in
its hilt.
“I would think about using this sword to end you… But there isn’t much
difference in dying from a sword or breaking your back right? You’l stil die.”
Clementine was trembling all over.
When she heard this casual joke, the pressure increased and the force on her
chest felt unbearable. The adventurers’ medal she got from murdering others
couldn’t withstand the pressure and fell to the ground. The first to fall was the
silver medal she just got.
Breathing became more painful and scary.
She hated the arms hugging her.
She hated herself for wearing light armor in order to increase evasion and
wearing the medals.
Knowing that swords were useless, Clementine punched the lich’s face wildly,
but that just hurt Clementine more. Since Clementine didn’t have the time to feel
the pain, she pulled out her morning star to hammer Ainz, but her position was
awkward and she hit herself instead.
She could imagine her fate easily. The increasingly painful breathing, her belly
that was being flattened and the squashed armor. Al these facts told Clementine
her fate.
“Stop struggling. I could end you quickly by changing the position of my arms,
but you spent lots of time kil ing them, so I will take my time torturing you too.”
Clementine attacked wildly.
She tried pushing his face away, scratching until her nails were falling off, even
biting with her teeth── but all these were ineffective and the unbearable
pressure continued.
No matter how she struggled, she couldn’t break free of the arms’ restraint. But
Clementine didn’t stop struggling, it was hard for her to breath and her vision
narrowed.
“The dance of death?”
She didn’t have the strength to listen to the soft voice.
With the sound of vomit, filth was sprayed onto Ainz. The red light within Ainz’s
eye socket flashed with disgust
Clementine who had been using both of her arms while struggling to escape had
become a spasming corpse.
Ainz didn’t lessen the strength in his arms, but squeezed harder. Shortly after,
Ainz felt the sensation of a thick bone cracking from his arms.
Ainz release the body that couldn’t even spasm.
With a splat, Clementine’s body fell to the ground like trash. Her face was
twisted into a bunch from pain and horror, a terrible sight. She was like a fish
caught from the ocean, her organs visible from her mouth.
Taking out his infinite flask, Ainz washed himself clean from the vomit with the
endlessly flowing water. At the same time, he said quietly to Clementine:
“I forgot to tell you… I am very stubborn.”
Part 5
Just as he was feeling unhappy about being wet and dirty in his clothes, Ainz felt
as if some kind of huge animal was galloping over. Looking towards the direction
of the sound, he saw that it was Hamsuke.
Compared to Ainz and Narberal, Hamsuke’s combat effectiveness was worlds
apart from them, if they had let him participate in the battle, it would’ve cause
unnecessary casualties. Therefore they had him on standby a little far away.
Hearing that there was no longer any sounds of battle, he must’ve run over.
Realising that the gigantic hamster’s cute face was painted with a certain
expression ──The worry for Ainz’s safety──Ainz felt a little depressed.
The gigantic hamster, not knowing that his master was harboring such feelings,
using unimaginable speed and agility as he looked around his surroundings, and
also at Ainz in a flash.
“Wa——!”
Showing his exposed belly, he kept shouting:
“... There is a scary monster here! Master——! Master——!”
Stil feeling some weakness, Ainz held his head.
undead, although it was difficult to judge the distance, they probably could not
hear him, but no one could guarantee that.
Ainz, using a stern voice rebuked:
“... Stop playing around.”
“Eh? This high and mighty voice… So it is my master!”
“... Correct. So can you lower down your voice.”
“No way! Such an unimaginable appearance… If I had known earlier of my
master’s powerful strength… This underling, Hamsuke, would have sworn his
undying loyalty even more!”
“I see. But I say again, lower your voice.”
“Th-, that is too much master! Please do not treat this king’s oath of fealty so
lightly!”
“... Did you not hear Ainz-sama’s words? Idiot.”
Hamsuke’s flat body was kicked, flying into the distance. Narberal’s foot was
where Hamsuke had just been, and slowly went back.
“Ainz-sama, this stupid animal probably has no feeding value to it. Could you
allow this one to fry it with lightning?”
“No… The Virtuous King of the Forest has a high value, just taking him out onto
the road has already shown his value. Back to the point, Narberal, there is not
much time, quickly collect all of their belongings. There is a possibility that we
have to hand over the remnants to the local authorities, we must quickly discern
the value of these items.
“Yes sir.”
“I wil be in the shrine, I leave the rest to you.”
“Yes! May I ask how to dispose of the bodies? Should I transport them to
Nazarick?”
“No, perhaps these were paid out by the mastermind of this situation, so just loot
them for their equipment.”
“Yes sir.”
“Painful….”
Hamsuke who was running back purposely heaved out a big sigh, making
Narberal send him a cold stare:
“Compared to giving it their all, more importantly is to listen to the words of Ainz-
sama. This is the duty of a servant. For you, who is comparably the most inferior
of servants, every word must be said with care, else you will be instantly
slaughtered.”
Hamsuke’s whole body shivered.
“Next time it wouldn’t be a physical attack, instead it wil be a magical
punishment. Without going against Ainz-sama’s orders, I wil let you feel pain
until you beg to be kil ed.”
“I understand… Please stop having such a scary expression… But master’s new
majestic appearance is amazing, truly wise and strong.”
Narberal’s expression warmed:
“Of course. Ainz-sama’s appearance is truly wise and powerful, to be able to see
this much, this means that you stil have some insight.”
“Thank you for your praise. If this is master’s original appearance, then does
Narberal-sama also have another appearance?”
“... I am a doppelganger. This face is my ability. See.”
From her gauntlet exposed three fingers, they were longer than those of a
human, looking like inchworms.
“I, I see.”
“No need to be so surprised, you are also among the servants of the Grand
Tomb of Nazarick, no need to cause so much fuss on such a small matter. Back
to the point, I need to collect the equipment off these bodies, you should also
come help.”
“Yes! Understood!”
♦ ♦ ♦
The youth, Enfrea was currently inside the shrine. The youth’s bril iant red eyes
were dull.
The strange transparent clothes that he was wearing were impressive, but Ainz
noticed his face.
Across his face was a long cut over his eyes, one could also see tears and dark
blood clotting, it was obvious that he was blind.
“But… Blindness can stil be cured… Magic sure is convenient.”
The problem was Enfrea’s condition.
Standing straight, he did not respond at all to Ainz’s arrival, even though his
eyes couldn’t see, he should stil be able to know if someone stood in front of
him. But there was no reaction, that meant──his spirit was being controlled. The
question was, what kind of control?
“It definitely is this thing.”
Ainz looked at the crown worn on Enfrea’s head, a crown that looked like a
spider web. Other than that, there was no other suspicious thing.
Extending his hand, thinking about taking off the crown, Ainz suddenly stopped.
Since he did not know what caused this condition, he shouldn’t act casually. So
Ainz cast his magic onto the crown.
“
In YGGDRASIL, using this magic allowed one to learn about the effects of an
item. It was also possible to use the spell in this world. No, even worse, a
message like in YGGDRASIL slowly appeared in Ainz’s mind.
“... Crown of Wisdom… I see. However… This item would’ve never existed in
YGGDRASIL… It cannot be reproduced in YGGDRASIL.”
After gaining the knowledge, Ainz heaved a small sigh, and thought about what
to do.
He considered the benefits of bringing Enfrea back to the Great Tomb. The draw
of having access to a rare item and innate ability was large.
But he hesitated only for a moment.
“Since I accepted this quest, deliberately failing it would be detrimental to Ainz
Ooal Gown──let’s smash it then.”
“
Ainz cast his magic onto the crown. The sight of it turning into a myriad of tiny
lights was beautiful.
Ainz warmly held the limp youth, then gently laid him down and looked at his
face:
“Next… I just need to heal the eyes… but not in here…”
Ainz touched his face, then slowly got up. The undead he had summoned before
had not yet been completely destroyed, but there were a few things to resolve
first. Soon, reinforcements will surely find this place. Before that, he had to re-
apply his il usion and recreate his sword and armor.
And there were all the items being recovered as wel .
Compared to when he PKed in YGGDRASIL, Ainz chuckled at the fact that he
could take all the weapons and equipment.
Just as he was thinking about whether he should go back and help Narberal loot
the items, Narberal appeared at the entrance of the shrine.
“Ainz-sama.”
“How is it? Have you taken all the items? Including the money?”
“Yes. Just a little question, about this.”
In the hands of Narberal, who was at the entrance of the shrine, was a black
bead, its shape was not flat and it looked like a stone similar to those found near
a river, it didn’t look like it had any value.
“... What is that?”
“Yes, this looks like the precious item that the lower life form (hairpin planarian)
was using during my battle with him. However I do not know what effect it has…”
“I see.”
The spells that the NPC Narberal has learned were far less than Ainz, most of
them were combat magic, so she was unable to discern the item’s worth.
Ainz took the black ball, and activated his magic again.
“
The red light in Ainz’s eye shined:
“What is this..? Orb of Death? And… Also a sentient item?”
The name Orb of Death sounded impressive, but it was nothing special.
The item helped supplement the power of the undead, it also al owed one to use
multiple necromantic magics in a day, but all these didn’t appeal to Ainz at all.
Although this was able to manipulate those who were afraid of the Orb of Death,
it couldn’t control Ainz, Narberal or any other kinds of demi-humans or
heteromorphic races and those who have immunity against mind control.
“Can’t be said if this was a good or bad item…”
The only point that interested Ainz was the part about being a
Ainz lightly poked it, and almost wanted to ask it to speak, when a voice
suddenly appeared in his head.
───Greetings, Great King of Death.
Hearing the voice. Ainz stared intently at the orb, because in this world that was
full of magic and magical monsters, something like this was no reason to cause
a huge fuss.
“Ah, truly a sentient item.”
Ainz flexibility rolled the orb in his hand. Then carefully looked, the orb had no
sign of speaking. Ainz thought for a while, then said what came into his mind:
“I allow you to speak.”
──Thank you very much. Great King of Death.
This made Ainz think about his loyal NPCs back in Nazarick, and gently
laughed.
──I am deeply impressed by thy unmatched aura of death and offer my deepest
respect.
“Continue.”
──My thanks, supreme Lord of Death. For the chance to encounter someone as
great as thee, I offer my deepest thanks to all the death in this world.
Although it was words of flattery, but these words seemed like heartfelt words
from the heart. Which caused Ainz’s spine to feel itchy, he proudly stood tall:
“So? Other than flattery, do you have anything else to say?”
──Yes, I know that this may seem disrespectful, but I would like some help to
achieve this wish.
“What wish?”
──Yes. Al along, my wish was to spread death across this world, but after
meeting you, the Great King of Death, only did I realise what I was born in this
world to do ── I was born into this world to serve you.
“... Oh.”
── O Great King of Death, please accept my oath of fealty. I hope that I could
have a place among your faithful servants.
The voice sounded pretty sincere, if it had a head, it should be bowing down
right now. Ainz brought his left fist to his mouth, and started thinking. Thinking
about the underlying advantages and disadvantages, whether it could be trusted
and more.
Ainz carefully looked at the item. If he considered “Safety” then destroying it
would be the best option, but for an item that did not exist in YGGDRASIL, that
would be too much of a waste.
After applying a few defensive spells on the orb, Ainz called for the giant
hamster at the entrance of the shrine:
“Hamsuke.”
“What is it master?”
“Take this.”
Ainz threw the orb in his hand over. Hamsuke skil fully caught it.
“May I ask what is this, master?”
“It is a magical item. Do you know how to use it?”
“Ah… This one should be able to! But how noisy! So noisy that this one wants to
give it back to master.”
Narberal stared wide-eyed at Hamsuke:
“You want to give it to the newcomer?”
Sounding a little out of tone, one could see how shocked Narberal was.
“Although measures have been made to counter its discovery, it can’t be said to
be completely safe, so I handed it to Hamsuke.”
“I see! As expected of Ainz-sama. Such impeccably sound judgement.”
In front of him was Narberal, who felt enlightened, and Hamsuke, who was
puffing his cheeks which were slightly bigger than a human fist as he nodded his
head.
Just as he was about to tell the two of them to retreat, Ainz saw his own red
cloak and on a playful whim, he grasped the edge of the cloak:
“If the recovery is complete, then bring Enfrea along—— “ Ainz exaggeratedly
waved his red cloak.
“——And let us triumphantly return.”
Chapter 5 – Epilogue
The door of the tavern opened.
The place turned quiet with countless sets of eyes being focused on Ainz. No
one stopped him this time while he made his way to the tavern owner.
“You…”
Al their gazes were directed at the metal plate on Ainz’s neck.
Lightheartedly, Ainz said only two words:
“Double room.”
He put down a silver coin and took the key from the silent tavern owner.
Ainz walked into his room and dispelled his magic, reverting back to his true
form.
The mithril plate touched the Nemean lion and making a clear clinking sound.
When he told the guild about the incident at the cemetery last night, he received
this plate .
The silence in the tavern was due to this plate. A man who wore a copper plate
just a few days ago had jumped through the ranks. Now he suddenly appeared
with the mithril rank’s plate, it overturned the knowledge they had accumulated
over the years about how an adventurer should go through the ranks.
Their frank reaction gave Ainz a sense of superiority, but he also felt unsatisfied.
His plan was to rise to Orichalcum rank in one shot, instead he was one ranks
below. If he obtained the Orichalcum plate, what kind of reaction would they
make?
But it wasn’t possible.
This incident was only known to a small group. But after explaining how the
events unfolded, it was determined that Ainz’s accomplishment was incredible
and it should merit a promotion to the Adamantium rank. Instead he was
awarded with mithril plate because Ainz doesn’t have a history of commendable
exploits and the investigation was stil incomplete. The guild made that decision
to err on the safe side.
Which means that the higher ups of the adventurer’s guild have already
acknowledged Ainz to be at the level of the only two Adamantium class
adventurers in the Kingdom.
Furthermore, with passage of time, the battle at the cemetery and the name of
Ainz──Momon the adventurer, should definitely spread throughout the
Kingdom. The guards who had escaped death would definitely talk about Ainz’s
exploits over meals.
The plan is progressing so smoothly that Ainz couldn’t help but smile. It was
more than just smooth, it was a perfectly executed first step.
Ainz flicked the mithril plate with his fingers as Narberal voiced out her doubts:
“Please advise on how to deal with those two? They said that they would contact
us with regards to the payment.”
Narberal was refering to Enfrea and Lizzie── the two pharmacists. Ainz had
already decided what to do with them.
“Lizzie said that she would give her everything, so I told her to bring her
grandson to Carne vil age. I want her to assist me── no, assist the Great
Underground Tomb of Nazarick by concocting potions.”
“... Nazarick has people who can make potions too, why do we need these lower
life forms (Penis fish/fat innkeeper worm) to do that?”
“Because I want a fresh source of powers.”
Narberal simply stared without any response, so Ainz continued to explain:
“Considering that our potion ingredients might dry up, we need to develop ways
to create potions outside of YGGDRASIL’s current manufacturing methods. We
need to research for new technologys that might incorporates techniques of both
this world and YGGDRASIL. We might even be six hundred years behind in
technology. And of course, we have to warn them sternly not to circulate the
manufactured potions… but from how she acted, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Ainz remembers Lizzie’s reaction when he brought Enfrea back.
Though he had already healed Enfrea’s eyes, he was stil unconscious probably
due to shock. Even so, Lizzie who found out that her grandson’s life wasn’t in
danger, broke down in tears and expressed with great gratitude that she would
definitely pay as promised.
“Lizzie’s matter aside, we have more pressing matters to deal with.”
Ainz activated ‘message’ to contact Albedo.
Though he received a message from Entoma, he was busy so he could only
contact her now. Ainz could only ask them to not bother with him until all are
finished.
After ‘message’ linked with Albedo, the first phrase he heard was far beyond his
imagination.
“── Ainz-sama. Shalltear Bloodfallen has rebelled.”
For a moment, he couldn’t understand. After Albedo’s words finally made it into
his mind, his reaction was really stupid.
“... Huh?”
Chapter 6 – Afterword
Dear readers, it has been a while. I am Maruyama.
There was a little story behind the editing of the battle scene, and that was
acting out the movement. My left hand accidentally hit a cup fil ed with coffee
milk. The coffee liquid splashing all over made me want to cry. The beddings
were hit, but it wasn’t too serious. The draft surviving was a great fortune…
Interested readers could try and identify which scene caused the coffee milk to
spil .
It’s that place that stinks of milk.After such hardship, I present to you ‘Overlord 2
The Dark Warrior’. I would be honored if my dear readers were to enjoy it.
This story should be recommended to those who tires of the cliche of rescuing
the damsel in distress right? Since both gender are equal, rescuing a man
should be fine right? The main character always think about himself
immediately, but if everyone likes such a scheming character, I would be very
happy.
Let me express my gratitude next.
And So-bin-sama with his wonderful il ustration for this book. The finished
product was more amazing than what the author had in mind. Inspired by the
completed drawing, I rewrote the battle scene seriously.
Once again, my thanks to Chord Design Studio for completing the dust jacket
and book sleeve. Osako-sama for editing and proofreading the weird parts,
thank you this time too. Editor F-ta-san, I have troubled you a lot. And add a bit
more red! No, I know its better without it…
TL Note: Its not really Book sleeve… Its that small little piece of paper wrapped
around the book at the bottom whenever you buy a book like this, it has the
advertisements and stuff on it.
And my good friend from college Honey-- Thanks for your help this time too.
Lastly, I want to thank all the readers who purchased this book, and the netizens
who gave me your comments while I’m stil publishing on the web. Thank you
very much, everyone’s comment had always fueled me with motivation.
So the next volume… should be more relaxed than this one… should I review it?
I don’t really want to… No, I should do it in order to write an interesting work…
Oh, well enough of my ramblings, it’s about time to say goodbye.
I wil continue to work hard, and I hope we have the chance to meet again in
volume 3.
See you next time.
Document Outline
Prologue
Chapter 1 – The Two Adventurers
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Chapter 2 – Journey
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Interlude
Chapter 3 – The Virtuous King of the Forest
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Chapter 4 – The Twin Swords of Death
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Chapter 5 – Epilogue
Chapter 6 – Afterword
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