Alright, so here's my attempt at an Overlord FF, please don't hate me for trying. Now, my previous work was a self-insert, but I'm going to try hard to keep the self-insertiness out. Unless you guys want it. Then I might go first-person.

I can't remember anything else I wanted to say, so here's chapter one, enjoy.

X
In the year 2126 a revolutionary game was released, a Full Dive Virtual Reality MMORPG, Yggdrasil. This game utterly demolished traditional PC games, and sent developers across the globe into a scramble as they sought to make their own FDVRs.

As gamers scraped together their money to pay the subscription fees, employment participation went up, causing wages and work hours to decrease marginally.

For the common school boy though, playing this masterpiece was only a dream, a dream that took years for Hatori Takashi to realize.

Eight years after the game's initial release, his older brother was already a legendary player, fully equipped in Divine-class or higher, and ready to retire.

"Takashi, I bequeath unto you this day my most valuable possession: The Infinity Sword." Hatori Natsume, or rather, Incursio, dramatically handed over an iron sword to Takashi, that is, his game character, Zauberklinge. It was a tasteless name that encompassed his lack of naming sense, or so his brother said.

"Infinity sword? Isn't this just a piece of junk?" Zauberklinge wondered as he looked at the stats. Indeed, the weapon barely fit the description, its dull sheen and almost-nonexistent blade hardly looking the part. Its only redeeming feature was the 'World Class Item' in the top right of the data screen.

"Now, now, I've been saving this thing up just for you and you say something so hurtful. Come here, I'll tell you its secret."

Zauberklinge leaned forward, listening as his brother told him the weapon's secret.

"This thing is awesome!"

XX

"Stupid five levels lost on death, that's just retarded, no game in the history of games has ever had such harsh parameters." While untrue, such sentiments were a common sight not only on online message boards, but also in the mind of Zauberklinge.

After dying twice in a raid against a famous PK guild, Zauberklinge was level back up to level 92, and farming level 95 field giants, along with their huge and often monstrous pets, to get back to level 100.

"There's no way I'm not going to be a hundred when the server shuts down. Double Maximize Magic: Fire Hail!" Balls of fire surrounded Zauberklinge's opponent, exploding in a brilliant display as they impacted against its tough skin.

"Lightning Split!" Zauberklinge jumped high into the air, launching an overhead elemental finishing strike with his greatsword.

"One more down." With that, the giant, measuring around fifteen meters in height, fell down in two parts, it having been cut in half from head to groin.

Zauberklinge's pitch black hair swayed in the breeze in a pre-ordained pattern, after-all, it was just a game, and the animations couldn't be wholly realistic. Although newer titles did boast better graphics, Zauberklinge enjoyed Yggdrasil's intense player freedom. With so many races it was almost impossible to choose, so many spells - with such animations that it had caused graphics designers to spit blood- and a huge range of classes, along with an enormous free-range world, Yggdrasil was a masterpiece.

"So why are they shutting it down? Dragon Lightning!" The answer was of course, money. While a few still played, keeping servers online wasn't free, especially in 2138. Therefore, the game was scheduled to be shut down in a week, with such obvious lines as 'It's been fun over these twelve years' and 'We hope to see in our next game' and 'This journey is over, but the next is about to begin'.

This nonsense didn't mean anything to Takashi, who just wanted to keep playing this game he loved. Alas, one man could not change fate, and railing on online forums wouldn't pay the bills, so, reluctantly, he moved his character to a safe zone and headed to work.

XX

With eight hours to go until the server shut down and being only level 97, the chances were slim for Zauberklinge to reach 100. He was soloing, and levels didn't come for free, after-all.

Fortunately, he hadn't joined a guild, so teary goodbyes or disappointing 'I can't come's were impossible. Takashi'd just drink a glass with Natsume after it was over and leech off the next incarnation of Incursio.

Zauberklinge was currently in a forest, a high level hunting ground, full of magical monkeys and other such craziness. Or, at least, craziness to his mother. To Takashi, magical monkeys who hopped around and shot tier 9 magic were better than sliced bread; they were XP.

"Come to papa. Haste! Demonic Regeneration! Elemental Blade: Fire!" With augmenting spells such as these, Zauberklinge mowed down the opposition with his [Sword of Infinity] and highly-honed sword techniques. While Yggdrasil was a game, it was a FDVR, which meant that certain real-life truths applied. Instead of hitting the attack button, players moved their weapons, so attack speed wasn't based on weapon stats, but on personal skill.

Knowing this, Takashi had diligently trained every day to be at least an average swordsman, joining clubs, watching videos, and working around the neighborhood to gather up enough cash for a lesson here and there.

It was enough to make his older brother say, "If he worked this hard at stuff that mattered, he'd already be through college."

That said, his talent fell short of his diligence, and Takashi was certainly not national championship material. Or perhaps it was because the reason he worked so hard was to eventually fight dragons that his anti-personnel techniques fell somewhat short.

In any case, the monkeys certainly were in no position to belittle his efforts, most of them not even being in one piece.

Zauberklinge wiggled his tiny little tail in delight, almost yelling in his victory, all for the change in one digit. Indeed, the five foot nine devil was now level 98.

"Onward!" Zauberklinge checked the time and winced, there were only three hours left for this world.

Did I really spend that much time grinding? Time flies when the server is about to shut-down.

"Haste! Summon Mount: Ghast Horse." A half-rotted horse appeared; which Zauberklinge speedily mounted, riding for half a minute in the forest until he reached the middle of the next monkey spawn point.

"Triple Maximize Magic: Darkening Blast." A forceful wave of dark energy exploded from Zauberklinge's sword as he swung it horizontally, successfully causing fear and considerable damage to his hairy enemy.

Zauberklinge checked his mana, and began swinging his sword blandly, dodging dodgeable spells as they hurled towards him.

"As if my MDef would lose to monkey magic," Another monkey bloodlessly lost its head, after-all, this was a game, they couldn't show gore properly if they wanted to attract a wide range of people. As an aside, there were quite a few gory VRMMO's these days.

Zauberklinge continued grinding until there was only one minute left, having failed to even reach level 99.

"…I could have done it if I devoted a little bit more time to Yggdrasil. Aish, I guess I'll stay until the time runs out, just so I can say I did."

33

"It was fun you know, playing this old game."

21

"Who am I even talking to? Monkey Corpses?" He laughed a fake laugh, bitter in spirit that his most beloved game was ending.

9

"I just wish I could have crushed those guys at least once. Stupid PKers giving heteromorphics a bad name."

1

I guess this is it, so long Yggdrasil, Zauberklinge…. On second thought, shouldn't that have taken more than a second to think?

He checked the game clock, or at least, he tried to. Only, it wasn't there, there was no clock.

Takashi looked around, his eyebrows contorting at what he saw, "Wasn't I in a forest?"

"Grr…" It seemed he wasn't, and it also seemed he had company, in the form of a zombie.

Takashi checked his hand, noting the presence of his [Sword of Infinity] glowing seemingly more realistically than in the game.

"On that note, didn't I raise an eyebrow earlier?" That level of detail wasn't possible in Yggdrasil, so he raised an eyebrow and checked his reflection in the sword.

"Only mirror items should reflect like a proper mirror…" He quickly mentally ran through the specifications of his weapon, "Nope, I didn't put a mirror function in."

"Call GM." Nothing, no response, nada. Which was crazy, the chances of 0 GMs being online in a FDVRMMO were 0.

He almost used message, but remembered that Natsume had probably logged out long before the final countdown anyway.

"Inventory." Takashi was greeted with a strange sensation as he put his hand into a portal to nowhere. Zauberklinge called the item to mind, a senbon, and strangely enough, it appeared in his hand.

"That wasn't weird at all. Now for the test." His weapon to his left hand, and keeping an eye on his HP bar, he stuck himself with the senbon. He'd lost one hitpoint.

Seems about right, senbon always do at least one damage.

Now to see if zombies were intelligent, unlike in the game, "Yo Zombie-san, are you feeling okay?"

"Grrr.."

Rude son-of-dog, you'll regret that insolence.

Before Takashi even realized what he was doing, the zombie didn't even exist anymore, and a crater had formed where the undead had been standing.

"Ok~." He glanced to his sides briefly, insuring he was alone, "At least it was only a zombie." He whistled innocently, and looked in every direction. Forest in the north, flat plains in the west, east, and south.

How promising.

"Flight." Stowing his greatsword on his back, Zauberklinge soared into the air. He looked beyond the forest to his north, spotting mountains. Civilization is what we want, not barren peaks, to the west there appeared to be a fortress, it looked medieval to Takashi's eyes, and beyond a speck of something between him and the forest it was the most inviting thing around.

Assuming this is reality, will wearing Legendary+ items and requesting entry be hard? NPC guards in Yggdrasil certainly didn't care how you dressed, but if you walked up to Tokugawa's castle with shiny armor, a really big sword, and gems on all over the place, it would cause a stir.

Zauberklinge settled for switching into a set of leather armor that was purposely designed to look like a common shop item. It was, after-all, just another set of that same common shop set. Incidentally, the pieces were all level ten equips.

Instead of putting away his treasured sword, he merely wrapped up the hilt and scabbard, so as to hide their true nature. And so it was with this massive object of somewhat indiscriminate shape - though to the trained eye clearly a sword - covered in white cloth that he crossed into the fortress-city of E-rantel.

Zauberklinge was not a large or particularly muscular-looking fellow, so the appearance of him walking around with such a huge object on his back was shocking.

Such comments as, "Wooden" "Hollow" and "Probably fake" were heard as he passed through the streets.

Everyone seems to be minding their own business to a reasonable extent. It's definitely too realistic to be a game, so I guess this is reality.

Troubling himself over the science of why he was in Zauberklinge in a totally foreign world would get him nowhere, so he instead set about finding food.

Using Yggdrasil currency is out of the question, I'd rather not set off questionnaires and inquisitions.

Thus, he needed to find work. Or sell off some of the stuff he'd looted from the monkeys, but again, from the looks of things, common folk weren't murdering level 90+ monsters.

Although Takashi hated looking like an idiot, he asked a teenage urchin where he figured a guy like him would find work. It didn't take much threatening to get the info, so Zauberklinge presently headed to the Adventurer's Guild.

Adventurer's Guild, with such a corny name, it's a wonder this isn't a novel from the 21st century.

Then again, from the looks of things, it wasn't so different from such a novel.

But something like I'm the only one from the Old World here is ridiculous, if we assume the moment of transportation was when the server shut down, it's likely that quite a number of enthusiasts came. The trouble is: Did everyone get transported to the same time? What if some got put in this world eons ago, and some more will come next year? And what about place, did some unlucky fellows get transported to underground?

In the end, Zauberklinge put such worries behind him in favor of survival, that coming in the form of his next meal.

The Guild building in E-rantel was a noisy place, and the appearance of a dark-haired individual with unassuming leather armor did little to quiet it. After all, while black hair was rare, Adventurers came from all over, and many died their hair anyway.

Zauberklinge's eyebrows stretched for the third time that day as he took note of the gear and appearance of these so-called Adventurers. They looked small and weak to him, and his instincts were demanding their submission.

Even the gold-plates look no higher than level 10, is this world truly so weak? Takashi correctly assumed that since everyone in the guild had a metal plate around their neck, and no-one outside did, it must be some sort of rank indicator.

"I want to register. I assume there's no way to raise my initial rank through some sort of test?" Zauberklinge's loud proclamation did quiet the room for a second, before laughter erupted.

"You've got to earn your rank boy!"

"Hahaha, you serious?"

"If there were a test every Tom, Dick, and Harry would be taking it right now!"

Zauberklinge smiled as he turned around, "It doesn't hurt to ask, right? Since I could beat any one of you anyway." A reputation as an arrogant, but capable, youngster was better than being unknown.

The cooler and weaker heads didn't care to take Zauberklinge up on that, but a silver-plated man with a full beard was less forgiving.

"I think it's better I teach you a lesson before you end up killed!" He kicked over his table as he tipped his chair backwards, somersaulting backwards before standing.

"Good. I'll teach you to show me some face." Zauberklinge spouted such a line at his opponent, hoping to rile him up further.

The silver-plate narrowed his eyes and did a double step forward, throwing a punch at Zauberklinge's guts. It never landed, Zauberklinge's own hand intercepting it with a small gap between itself and Zauberklinge's stomach. The surroundings grew quiet as everyone silenced their breathing.

"So you have a little skill." The man's beard widened out as his face stretched into a grin.

"I do." He smirked back as their legs dueled, feinting and stomping with ever increasing fury. The match finally ended when Zauberklinge kneed the silver-plate in the groin, finishing with a punch to his face.

"Anyone else?" Zauberklinge looked around the room fiercely, daring the next fool to challenge him. No one responded, and silence reigned for a few seconds.

"You said you wanted to register, sir?" The receptionist rained down on his little parade like a spring thunderstorm.

"Ah, right, I'm Zaug, I'm young, and I use some magic along with my greatsword." The reason he gave a fake name was painfully simple, a name like Zauberklinge was too long and strange for real life. Although, it wasn't as if Zaug was a common name on earth.

"So… you're a magical swordsman?" The receptionist betrayed surprise, and well she should, a jack-of-all-trades kind of job like magical swordsman was not only rare, but stupid. Casting magic while on the front-lines was impossible, and swords didn't have amplifying effects like staves. Not only that, but much effort was required to learn a spell, and also to learn the sword, resulting in half-baked skills in both. Of course, anyone who could pull it off was worthy of respect.

Zaug brightened, "Precisely. I like to think I'm quite good, but that will obviously have to be proven in the field."

"He's more swordsman than magical, I think." The beaten man spoke, "You'll live against goblins at least."

In actuality, Takashi had maxed [Archmagical Swordsman] before [Magical Swordmaster] and liked his magic more, thus, he was technically more magical than swordsman. But, showing off his true abilities while uncertain of his surroundings wasn't Zauberklinge's style.

"Can you read and write?" The woman at the counter asked, again taking back the conversation.

"Unfortunately, no," That surprised her again, either Zaug wasn't much of a magician, or he was a strange fellow who learned nothing from the written word.

"I'll fill it out for you then. Zaug, you said?"

Zauberklinge nodded in assent, "I'll pay if it's necessary, but after I complete my first mission, as I currently have none."

Her brow rose, a swordsman who could best a silver-plate in a fist fight, who claimed to use magic well, though probably only a few tier one spells, and who had no money. In addition, he had a strange hair color, an all-around bizarre man.

"Here's your plate, rankings go Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mythril, Orichalcum, Adamantite."

Zaug received his plate with a slight frown, before he turned back to the receptionist, "So, copper-ranked requests. Or any other request you feel I can handle, because I feel I can handle plenty."

She slapped a mission paper in front of him, causing him to give her a questioning look.

"So, what's this?"

"Goblin extermination. Their numbers are rising, so the Guild has accepted a commission to kill 140 of them. Proof of completion is a right ear, left ears will not be accepted, if you bring back more than fifty ears, your pay will be cut in half, if you exceed the request, you will only receive rewards for the number needed to finish the request."

Simple, understandable, and more importantly… "How suitable for a brute like me. I was worried you'd send me off to pluck herbs."

The woman smiled thinly at Zaug, "You'll be likely to find goblins to the north and slightly west, the Virtuous King of the Forest used to keep them away, but some adventurer in dark plate armor tamed it."

With a name like Virtuous King of the Forest it wouldn't be a wonder for this creature to be a marvelously powerful beast; I shall have to search this out… subtly.

Zaug however, didn't possess a convenient cloning ability or the like, and remote viewing magic was risky. While the average level was low here; in Yggdrasil it was common to have scrying alarms and countermeasures. And so far things seemed similar enough to Zauberklinge, sure, the political situation was changed, and the levels were low, but otherwise not much was different.

But again, Zauberklinge chose to put these matters aside in favor of earning money.

X

"So weak…" To a level 98 character like Zauberklinge, it was no wonder goblins seemed impossibly weak, and with a strong melee job like swordsman (he had to max this to learn [Magic Swordsman]) even if he used a twig he would still be able to split them in half.

"Should I just summon some Imps and cause an incident for me to deal with? I might at least get a gold plate." But in the end, Takashi decided against it. After-all, if civilians got killed he wouldn't be able to live properly. Regret is a powerful thing.

Even though they're just ants, I was once among their number.

Was he though? Sure, he'd been a part of the human race back on earth, but this and that were two different places, and real humans couldn't use magic. The game even described them as a different species.

But that's a wrong way of thinking, the question of their humanity isn't the issue, it's their sentience. But on that note, I've already slaughtered semi-intelligent life forms in the form of goblins.

Then to Zauberklinge, the question to ask was this: Did these humans deserve better treatment than the goblins? Well, as minions, humans were preferable, and goblins weren't paying for human extermination, thus, it only made sense to be on the human side of things.

The fact remains though, coexistence is impossible, it is not the natural order for a greater being to serve a lesser, and that natural instinct will gradually persuade future me to take violent supremacist action. Thus, it would make sense for me to separate myself from this country, and carve out my own kingdom at the edge of the world.

But to Takashi, leaving these people in their medieval lives and running away sounded wrong. If he could decrease the poverty rate here, if he could increase average living conditions, then shouldn't he? The moral issues of higher power and higher knowledge were confusing to him.

It was something that couldn't be put off forever, since both his remaining human emotions and his demon instincts demanded an answer.

XX

As a Guild worker who regularly encountered adventurers, Alicia was used to strange individuals, but too many had been popping up lately. First it was a fresh adventurer who never showed his face with a cool dark beauty. And then it was a magic swordsman, also with black hair. She couldn't help but wonder if they were related somehow, especially since both the males in question had huge swords.

To further increase her consternation, the newest anomaly, clad as he was in leather armor of good make, was already back.

He probably couldn't find any and got bored. Maybe he's some noble's son with a bit of talent who ran away from his daddy like a little brat. Such were the imaginings of the receptionist, who by no means expected the truth.

"I brought forty-nine, count them if you like." The adventurer, Zaug, smiled at her.

Had he had help? Did he have lackeys to bolster his fame? If he was indeed a noble, it wouldn't be strange. But Alicia was sure she would have heard of a handsome black-haired noble with at least a little skill in the sword. Nevertheless, it surely wasn't impossible she hadn't.

"Let's see…" She slowly confirmed 49 right goblin ears, and then proceeded to add up the amount.

Zaug sighed in exasperation, "How much per?"

"2 copper."

"Then 98 copper, its simple math." To a Japanese male, or a person living in any civilized country, this was a fact. However, it was perhaps to be expected that "simple" multiplication was less than well-known in an area resembling medieval Europe.

She ignored him however, opting not to trust the word of man who stood to gain much by lying. And so the slow counting went on for a full minute, until Alicia was finally satisfied.

"98 copper indeed, you're quite good at arithmetic to not require a calculation tool for multiplication."

In the Re-Estize kingdom especially, being able to do math with numbers larger than the number of fingers a human possessed at a time was considered difficult. This was because even basic education was a privilege, and not a right, as most developed countries believed it to be.

But when asked whether reading or mental multiplication was rarer, the answer would almost invariably be multiplication. In addition, when speaking of mental multiplication skill without being able to read, the numbers would be very low indeed. Had 98 been a lucky guess? It seemed extremely unlikely, at least to Alicia.

Zauberklinge however, found Alicia's lack of trust disturbing; for the simple reason that the utter lack of mathematical ability scared him. And a Guild receptionist at that! As the only employee in the building, other than a few waitresses, it would not be a gross overstatement to say she was middle management. Granted, higher ranking executives were a hop, skip, and a jump away, but she could hardly bother them over a few copper.

It was what we might call culture shock; in this case, it was more specifically education shock. But let's take a step back and look at the issue.

If you met an employed clerk who couldn't do 49x2, would you ask that they be replaced? Would you gossip to your friends? Would you rail against whoever you thought was responsible? Indeed, today such things as mental calculations are expected, but not so in E-rantel.

And so these conflicting worldviews caused both Zaug's and Alicia's minds to spin on, until finally an alarm bell rang.

"All mythril-rank or above adventurers are to report to the Guild leader's quarters immediately!" A magically projected voice called out within the confines of the guild building, and runners went out to where the two mythril-ranked teams in town were known to stay.

Some sort of emergency, obviously, should I risk a bit of eavesdropping? While far below the level of professional stealth classes like ninja and phantom, magic swordsmen still had a few lower level concealment magics that would certainly last long enough for this meeting.

Which means the question is: how likely is it for mythril adventurers to have stealth detection? From what he'd seen so far, gold-plates had no chance of detecting his spell, but mythril was two ranks above that.

Probably no, the maximum I can see a mythril-plate being is level 20, and even detection-oriented characters wouldn't have a shot. Which left items. While Zaug hadn't seen any so far, detection items might be commonplace for all he knew.

Zaug quickly concluded that if he never took any risks, he would never see any results. Thus, the newly-minted adventurer pocketed his money, bid farewell to the clerk, and left the building.

"Greater Invisibility." With this whisper in a back alley, Zaug turned invisible to his surroundings, though he could see his own outline.

XX

"Come, come, come, Momon-san, please find an empty seat."

There were six men in the room, three of whom were fully armed and ferocious-looking men. Another man, though also mighty and majestic but unarmed, stood up and welcomed Momon. There was another thin and neurotic-looking man wearing a robe. The last was an obese man in the innermost corner of the room.

After Momon sat down with everyone's gaze upon him, the man standing up immediately opened his mouth again.

"Let me introduce myself then. I am the leader of this city's Adventurers' Guild, Burdon Issac."

This middle-aged man looked quite capable and vigorous.

Exuding the atmosphere of a veteran of a hundred battles, there should be nobody who would question him being an outstanding warrior.

"This is the mayor, Panasolei Gierge Di Leitenmaya-san."

After the dark-plated adventurer slightly nodded, Panasolei lightly waved his hand in response. Panasolei was an extremely fat man, and whatever features his face might otherwise have possessed, the immense quantities of blubber covered them.

So the Virtuous King of the Forest was tamed by this man? Or whatever he really is under that armor.

"Scan."

[Momonga] - Level 100. At least that's what the screen in front of him said. A player? He turned back to the screen.

Guild: Ainz Ooal Gown

Most definitely a player, and one of those guys too! To Zauberklinge, Ainz Ooal Gown was not only an enemy, but also a diabolical guild that made players hate heteromorphic races. They were a bunch of idiots who fought racism with racism. It was a group that escalated conflicts and attacked the weak.

Whatever further thoughts Zaug might other have explored; they were cut short as Momonga cut at him with one of his swords.

But a physical strike fueled by the strength of a necromancer would never damage a level 98 magic swordsman like himself. Unfortunately for Zaug, being attacked did break his [Greater Invisibility].

Immediately, he drew his [Infinity Sword] and retreated a couple steps, "It seems we both had the same idea, only you arrived a little earlier. Why don't you take off that helmet and show your true face, Momonga?"

"Who are you?" A deep voice emanated sternly from within the metal plate.

"A humble player, like yourself. You probably shouldn't have decided to be a warrior-type adventurer; I have the distinct advantage now. So give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you." Truthfully, Zauberklinge had no desire to take hostile action against Momonga, but by inflating his own strength, he might gain something in negotiations. He also recognized the possibility that more than just Momonga had come to this new world, and thus was seriously considering ending Momonga to reduce the threat. Obviously, he also recognized that revenge was a powerful motivator, and thus the threat could actually increase.

"What is this?" Issac demanded angrily, "How dare you infiltrate this meeting!"

He was ignored. As Momonga's salary-man brain struggled to figure out something to say, and Zaug cursed his own stupidity, there was no room for a third man. What stupidity was Zaug cursing you ask? He was still wearing his leather armor.

Igavaruji glared at both of them, "Some unknown adventurer, apparently with two names, and now some less-known adventurer challenging him to a fight. Kick them both out."

"T-that's…" The mayor weakly interjected, to no avail.

Issac quickly recovered himself after his initial burst, "That won't be necessary, Igavaruji-san. Momon-san was invited, and there is no reason for him to leave. You, however," He took on a strong tone as he looked straight at Zaug, "Were not. Leave now; and you might escape with just a suspension."

Zauberklinge laughed loudly, "If I ever feel threatened by any of you, I'll let you know."

"Should you refuse to comply, don't blame me if I ask these good fellows to level their swords at you."

"If all of you pointed swords at me, I still wouldn't mind."

At that moment, Zaug felt something brushing against him, stealing information from him, he felt it. He looked to where he knew the source was, and found himself staring at that annoying dark helmet.

"Come now Zauberklinge, you shouldn't take such a hostile stance towards these good fellows. We'll talk later, but for now, can't you see I'm in the middle of a meeting?"

"A meeting I was spying on, and I'm sure 'these good fellows' don't take kindly to that."

"Indeed we do not; however, you did not hear anything beyond introductions before we were interrupted." Issac added in.

Zauberklinge felt anger welling up inside, anger that these humans dared to treat him like some insignificant thing. But he forced this anger down with a greater one, anger felt over the fact that he was angry.

"I suppose I ought to bow and scape and beg forgiveness, but the only one here I'll apologize to is Momonga. Sorry for scanning you, it was rude of me. And never mind the life threat; that was just bravado." Zaug's eyes scanned the room, "Teleport."

With that, Zauberklinge disappeared from the room, leaving its occupants stunned.

"I demand to know just what that was all about." Igavaruji spoke first, releasing a bit of anger with his scathing tone.

"Just now, that fellow you called Zauberklinge, he clearly said teleport, right?" Ignoring such proceedings as introductions, the Magician Guild's head of E-rantel, Theo Rakesheer, asked such a question excitedly.

In the Re-Estize kingdom, no, across the whole world, the number of users of the spell [Teleport] was not in excess of two thousand. And that was a very generous number that assumed quite a few undocumented third-tier magic casters.

"Fuee- yes, I heard it quite clearly, the last thing that man said was 'Teleport'." Panasolei agreed.

"For someone of that caliber to go so far as to eavesdrop, this vampire must be quite the calamity." A third man spoke up, a mythril plate around his neck, skillfully bringing the meeting back on track.

"Ah yes, I'm forgetting my manners. Momon-san, this is Theo Rakesheer, E-rantel's Magician Guild leader." Issac took back his position as head of the conversation swiftly.

Theo nodded to him.

"Like you, these three men were invited to join us. They are all representatives from three of E-rantel's adventurer teams that we take pride in. From the right to the left is Kuragura's representative Igavaruji-san, Sky Wolf's representative Berette-san, and Rainbow's representative Mokunaku-san." Each person's eyes carried a different emotion, but one common sentiment between all of them was curiosity.

Igavaruji glared strongly at the still-standing Momonga, "I've never heard of Momon, or Momonga, so how you got mythril-ranked is a mystery to me." He glanced around at the others, searching for an answer.

"Momon-san's feats include taming the Virtuous King of the Forest, and resolving the cemetery incident last night." Issac ignored the hostile tone of Igavaruji, and answered his query.

"The cemetery incident?"

"The incident involving a huge number of undead last night?" Letting out of small gasp, the representative of Rainbow, Mokunaku, asked.

"You're, fuee, quite well informed. Strange that information so troublesome and highly restricted would find its way to your ear. Where did you hear it from, Mokunaku-san?"

"Apologies mayor. I also heard little about it, and truth be told it is difficult to answer your question of the source from where it was overheard. On top of that, I do not know of any more details." As their eyes clashed, both men smiled. Mokunaku had a false smile whilst the mayor had a wry smile.

"Fueee— sounds like a lie, but so be it. There should be plenty of people who know about the undead incident anyways. Fueee, sorry to have interrupted, Guild leader."

Despite the fact that Mokunaku was the one who actually interrupted, the mayor ended up apologizing. Understanding this, Burdon Issac did not reprimand him at all, "Never mind that. More importantly, you now know the reason Momon-san is mythril-ranked, Igavaruji-san."

"And who was the other fellow? He certainly seemed to recognize you, Momon." Igavaruji turned sharply to Momonga, gauging the enigma's reaction as best he could through the helmet.

Silence hung in the air for a couple seconds as Momonga struggled to find an answer, "…The truth is, when we set out from our homeland there were quite a number of us. Gradually they stopped coming back, gone forever…" Momonga unintentionally sounded quite heartfelt, increasing his legitimacy, "Zauberklinge… a while ago, he died. Or I guess we just thought he did. He probably felt some anger over the facts that I left him for dead and didn't recognize him immediately. We'll sort it out."

Everyone but Igavaruji nodded in an 'I see' manner. Indeed, this sort of out-of-the-hat story had become Ainz's specialty, and it spoke either to his luck or skill that, once again, he pulled it off.

"Foreigners… who spy on meetings, and solve a little trouble to get promoted. With their level of morals I wouldn't be surprised if Momon here caused the cemetery incident himself." Igavaruji barbed angrily.

"That's going too far, Igavaruji-san!" Issac defended, his temper flaring in response to Igavaruji's incendiary accusation.

"Perhaps you say so because that's what you would have done." Momonga returned, turning the dialogue around.

"Nonsense!"

"That's ridiculous, Momon-san. Please calm yourself."

"I also feel that Momon-san's rank is wrong." Theo interrupted, causing Igavaruji to grin. Rakesheer smiled back, a mocking smile, but the arrogant adventurer didn't notice.

"Great minds think alike. See, even the magician guild agrees with me."

Rakesheer's smile grew, "Contrarily, our beliefs are as different as night and day."

A puzzled glance from the previous speaker was the only reply he got.

"You see, the guild believes Momon-san's rank to be somewhat low."

Igavaruji's face showed plain disbelief.

Seeing that expression, Rakesheer entire face twisted in a smile.

"With only two people, Momon-san… no, including the Virtuous King of the Forest, the three of them broke through thousands of undead, and defeated the individuals in the middle of carrying out an evil ritual."

"So what? A stealthy team could easily manage that." Igavaruji scoffed.

"What you say is indeed correct. If I thought it was just that, then Momon-san would still not be orichalcum class. However a certain set of undead bones revealed Momon-san's true strength." After Rakesheer said these words, he looked with solemn eyes at Ainz who was wearing dark armor.

"...Skeletal Dragon bones. Momon-san killed a terrifying undead with absolute defense against magic."

"That, that..! A S-Skeletal Dragon is indeed very powerful! But then, even mythril class adventurers are able to def—"

"— defeat two at the same time?"

Silence fell over the group as Rakesheer's serious words sunk in, not only Igavaruji, but also from the other two adventurers. Following this, the way the two men looked at Ainz appeared to have undergone a slight change, as if trying to gauge the depth of his skills.

"The remains of two Skeletal Dragons were left on the scene. Within such a short amount of time, would your teams be able to break through thousands of undead, exterminate two Skeletal Dragons and kill the instigators, preventing them from setting their scheme in motion? Amongst the adventurers who headed towards the cemetery, there were even some who witnessed wraiths, the twisted souls of the departed, and other powerful undead."

Igavaruji wordlessly bit his lip.

"Let me ask you another question. Allegedly, apart from Momon-san there was also a woman in his team. That young woman was a magic caster. Against Skeletal Dragons, which have absolute immunity against magic, she could only be said to be quite powerless. In this kind of situation, if you likewise only had two people… no, including the Virtuous King of the Forest, three people, would it be enough to accomplish that kind of feat?"

Rakesheer gave Ainz a respectful bow:

"As one of the representatives of this city, I express my heartfelt gratitude to Momon-san. If it wasn't for your swift response, who knows how many lives would have been sacrificed. I would like to express my personal gratitude. If you should require anything, you only need to say it and I shall do whatever possible to assist."

"You flatter me, Magician Guild leader. I was only accepting Bareal-san's commission and resolved the problem, that's all."

Theo laughed, "To be so humble about it, even though the merit easily deserves orichalcum rank. Nay, even Adamantite would not be an overstatement. I heard your companion could use magic up to the third tier, I would have dismissed it if not for this Zauberklinge character, but I must ask, is it true?"

"I am delighted by your praise, but, I do not wish to show my cards so easily."

"Ho ho, that's really a shame."

"My team would've been able to handle it if we had been there! In the first place, having such few members is his own problem! It must be because of some defect in his character that he was unable to gather many members! In fact, didn't he already admit to losing quite a few along the way? A man who lets his companions die is not worthy to be called an adventurer!" Igavaruji yelled, desperate in his pride to deny Momonga's ability.

The room's atmosphere became tense. As if to cool down the heat, an out-of-tune 'fueee' sounded out.

"Let's end this discussion here. Everyone here didn't gather in order to argue amongst yourselves, right?"

Hearing the last fueee sound, Igavaruji sat down deflated. However he still held eyes full of angst against Ainz. To this appearance, the two Guild Leaders reluctantly shook their heads.

"I can understand the feelings of those who value strength, but this is not the main issue at this time. We'd better resolve the question quickly, alright?"

"Mayor, thank you."

"Ah? Although I do not know why you wish to thank me, please continue. Truth be told I'm not too clear either about what is going on."

"Before that, at least some basic etiquette is needed. Shouldn't you take off your helmet?" With an ironic tone, Igavaruji once again interrupted. Even if it were justified, it was still aggravating, and the other adventurers almost frowned.

"It doesn't matter, what he said this time is correct, I have indeed been disrespectful."

But when Ainz calmly removed his helmet, he revealed a fake face created with magic. The appearance was ordinary, not that of a handsome man.

"Because I come from a foreign country, in order to avoid trouble, I've been wearing my helmet. Please forgive my rudeness."

"Well then, I hope there are no more complications on that topic. I wish to immediately tackle the main issue."

"Because someone was late, I have yet to hear the contents."

"I am very sorry about this, please forgive me." Ainz lowered his head in a genuine apology. When he was an office worker, he often had similar experiences where meetings would only begin after the boss declared that all members were present, and as a result he was had to suppress his urge to go home. Because of that he was truly able to relate to their feelings.

With his frank and honest apology, in stark contrast to the constantly cynical and sarcastic Igavaruji, Momon came off as more noble.

"...Enough of this. If there are more interruptions, get out of here."

That person was of course Issac. With his eyes full of anger and not even half of the steadiness in his voice as short minutes before, the one he glared at was obviously Igavaruji.

Igavaruji gently bowed his head in apology.

Seeing the other side's candid movement, Ainz was puzzled. From the hostility shown towards him, it would not be surprising if at this moment Igavaruji were to display an attitude similar to the rebellious nature of middle schoolers towards their parents. Why then would he withdraw now?

After a brief moment of thought, Ainz arrived at a hypothetical conclusion: At this gathering of mythril ranked adventurers, if one person was kicked out, what kind of criticisms would he provoke? Even if the truth was let out, there would still be the possibility that others would think he was chased out because he was worthless. With this, his position amongst adventurers would plummet. This should be the reason why he shut his mouth.

"First a brief report. About two nights ago, adventurers patrolling the roads on the outskirts of E-rantel came across a vampire. Of these adventurers who met the vampire, five were killed. Everyone's gathering this time is because of this.

Due to being too afraid, the surviving adventurer only vaguely remembered the vampire's outfit, hair color and appearance. However, what remained was the strong impression of a 'silver haired large mouth'."

After listening to the description of the vampire's appearance, Ainz' hopes were easily shattered. Even if they only had a vague recollection of its appearance, anyone who knew Shalltear and overheard this would quickly connect it with her. In his heart Ainz was already certain of who the vampire was.

I don't know how the situation turned out like this, but I should better alter the memories of those survivors. This isn't good. I have to quickly find an opportunity.

As Momonga furrowed his illusionary eyebrows, the discussion continued.

"So that's how it is. I'm not too clear on this incident either, but then explaining solely for my sake would be too much a waste of everyone's time, especially with the cemetery incident and the matter of Momon-san's former companion."

"Understood. Then everybody, are there any questions?"

"Where is the concerned area?"

"Beyond the city's northern gate, you can find a large forest after walking for three hours. It's just inside that forest."

"What rank were those adventurers?"

"Iron."

"... Please tell me, is it only because of a vampire that so many adventurers have been gathered? Are we intended to use a bidding approach for this?"

"That's right, if it's vampires, platinum class adventurers should be sufficient to handle it, right? I absolutely don't understand why so many mythril-class adventurers were called."

"The reason is simple, that vampire is very powerful." Rakesheer interrupted with his answer, and everyone showed surprise as they looked at him.

"A very powerful vampire…?"

"Could you mean that the opponent is a higher class vampire… the one who appeared in the tale of the thirteen heroes, the vampire lord 'Landfall'?"

"We don't know whether or not the opponent is that vampire lord, but when the adventurers encountered the vampire, the opponent used the 3rd tier spell 「Create Undead」. What this means, I shouldn't have to explain to you adventurers right?"

There was nothing more to say. Not only that, their stiff expressions spoke volumes.

"Well — fueee — I absolutely do not understand what it means. Can you explain it to me?"

"I am really sorry, Mayor."

"Being able to use magic of that kind of realm, if we were to make a simple evaluation, we can treat the opponent as having platinum class capability."

Panasolei who roughly understood this explanation frowned, "That also goes to say… I will stop talking in such a way."

The light in Panasolei's eyes sharpened, this was one of the changes that the others felt. From the lazy, sloth-like expression just now, it became a savage wild boar expression. No, this was Panasolei's true appearance.

"In other words, Magician Guild Leader, your meaning is as such: a monster with the strength rivaling a platinum team, has skills that match a platinum team as well."

"What you say is correct."

"So simply put, it just got stronger?"

"Thinking about it in this way isn't wrong either."

"If we consider in terms of military strength, what is the equivalent?"

"Military… this question is rather difficult."

Rakesheer was vexed for a moment, then spoke, "This is roughly my personal way of viewing this. I should say this first, this view is not absolute. If we take the opponent as an army for evaluation, undead do not tire or require food… grudgingly I'd say it should be equivalent to about an army size of ten thousand."

"What did you say!?" Hearing this conclusion, Panasolei let out a shocked expression, as if seeking the opinions of the other adventurers. Apart from Ainz, the others nodded in agreement with the Magician Guild Leader's statement.

"Generally speaking, approximately twenty percent of the country's adventurers are above platinum ranking. Within the Kingdom there are about three thousand adventurers, therefore in all of the Kingdom's lands which consists of more than eight million inhabitants, there are only around six hundred adventurers of platinum ranking or above. Do you understand this? Adventurers of platinum rank or higher are that rare."

"If it's like this, even if I do not wish to understand, I already have. Then to counter this situation, I would like to ask you adventurers. Do you have the confidence to go ahead with the subjugation? If there is no way… how about seeking the assistance of Warrior Captain Gazef-san?" The mayor asked seriously, taking a deep breath afterwards.

Gazef Stronoff— the Kingdom's most powerful warrior, exceeding Adamantite adventurers. He could be considered the Kingdom's final trump card.

However, Issac replied negatively, "Indeed, perhaps no warrior is able to defeat Stronoff-san. However in a situation where Stronoff-san faced off against an adventurer team weaker than him, the victor would be the adventurer team. This is because the adventurer team would have different methods of attacking. Taking Stronoff-san for example, the amount of magic and martial skills used by the adventurer team would be four times that of Stronoff-san. Against a monster possessing special abilities, the truth is that this difference is enormous."

Panasolei looked like he wanted to debate, but Issac continued, "The best policy is to gather adamantium class and orichalcum class adventurers. Before that, let us first allow this city's best adventurers to build a defensive net to stop the vampire's invasion."

"Wouldn't this method be too passive?"

"Considering the worst possible development, this should be the best strategy. After all, isn't the opponent a single person who is able to rival an entire army?"

"With a fighting power able to take on huge number of troops, scenes of terror in all sorts of places would appear… I honestly do not wish to imagine this happening."

If the opponent was an army of ten thousand, their location could be easily determined from the marching. Also, to maintain such a large army, it would be necessary to prepare a large amount of rations, making it difficult to carry out a long-term siege.

But then, if it were a single person, how would this change? The power would be concentrated in one place, in addition, if one imagined what would happen if this one person could use invisibility magic… It was too frightening.

"However, about the Guild Leader's opinion, speaking as an adventurer I say that establishing a defensive net is a very difficult task. This is because in order to harmonize each other's movements, long-term training is necessary..."

"No need for that, it is enough if everyone is able to fight together. What do you think, gentlemen?"

The adventurers immediately raised objections to the mayor's suggestion, "It should not be possible. If we are to have a tacit arrangement for action, then it is necessary to devise of a tight-knit operational plan. But the more detailed the plan is, the more likely it is for mistakes to occur when unexpected situations arise. If it is like that, everyone acting by themselves instead of together might even be better. Speaking of which, why has the vampire appeared in that place? What has the Guild's investigation come up with?"

"In this regard, because the opponent is a powerful vampire, the guild has no means to investigate finer details. Just as we were about to assemble an investigation group, the incident last night occurred, and our manpower was dispersed there."

"... So that's how it is. Are you concerned that these two incidents are related?"

"That is true."

"Wasn't the matter in the cemetery resolved by Momon-san? From the remains and relics of the first incident's instigators was there anything to suggest a connection between the two incidents?"

This question made the place fall into a brief silence.

Before this the Guild Leader never hesitated in answering, yet for the first time his eyesight slightly turned towards the mayor. It was a asking-for-permission look. Just thinking about it a little, this could be related information to a terrorist attack against the city, and it was possible that some information but not all could be told to the adventurers.

"From the relics we gathered, the opponent was Zuranon."

The three adventurer's expressions turned serious.

But for Ainz, this was the first time he had heard of this name. He could not help praying to a god he didn't even believe in, hoping that he wouldn't be asked about things he knew nothing about.

Ignorance is frightening. I must gather intelligence as fast as possible.

"The secret organization which deals with controlling the undead… if that's the case, then it must be related to the vampire."

"Is it their plot to divide our fighting force? Or is everything a diversion, and the real plan will appear once we take action? This would be too disastrous."

"The priority of the task at hand should be to conduct reconnaissance. According to the ranger's reports, there's supposedly a bandit's den close to the location where the vampire had been discovered... …"

"The possibility that the vampire has already left that place is high… but then again, the possibility of it still remaining there is not zero. People should be sent there first…" The adventurer who was speaking suddenly stopped talking. It was only a natural reaction, because heading into the most likely place to find the vampire for an investigation was tantamount to agreeing to jump into the most dangerous place. If there actually was an encounter, and if the vampire possessed the predicted battle prowess, it would be certain death.

The remarks just now were no different to politely asking someone to go to their death.

"...Let us put this aside for now. It is still more urgent to strengthen the city defenses first, because perhaps the vampire has already at this moment snuck inside the city."

"... It is an easy feat to sneak inside the city just by using magic. This place is not like the Empire's capital with sky cavalry and magic casters patrolling everywhere."

It was possible to use [Flight] to enter the city from the sky, and it was also possible to use [Invisibility] to invade from the front. Magic was that troublesome. Therefore, concentrating combat power and putting it into defense first was a very natural idea.

"But then it will be incredibly difficult to deal with a situation without any sort of intelligence, therefore the cave should still be investigated first!" This extremely reasonable proposal gathered the collected approval of everyone present.

This kind of situation was not favorable for Momonga, who absolutely wanted to conceal the details of Shalltear's appearance and abilities. Although it was uncertain why future developments there would be beyond today, if Shalltear's current appearance was well-known throughout the city— even the Kingdom itself, then it could become a great obstacle to behind-the-scenes operations in the future.

Thus, he absolutely had to redirect events so that investigation would not occur. But, even though Ainz struggled desperately, he couldn't come up with anything.

In the end there was only one method which would prevent Shalltear's appearance from being leaked out.

Ainz swallowed his saliva he couldn't have secreted, and said:

"First, there has been a misconception. The vampire and Zuranon are unrelated."

"Why? Momon-san, do you have some insider information?"

"I know that vampire's name, because that vampire is the one we have been chasing to kill all this time."

"What?"

The atmosphere in the room shook, and everyone stared at him. Ainz overclocked his brain thinking, in mental preparation for the main event that was about to start.

"That is an extremely powerful vampire. My true objective of becoming an adventurer was to obtain information on them." Once again, Ainz showed his true talent: bull.

"You said them?"

"Yes. There are two vampires, of which the silver haired females name is…"

He suddenly stopped here. Originally he was about to say Carmilla, but female vampires going by that name were just too common. If there were any players around, this name would let them detect his own existence. At the moment he hesitated in deciding what name, he suddenly got a stroke of inspiration, and blurted out a name.

"Henupeunuty."

"Hah?" He heard a stupefied question. However it was not just one person, but almost everyone in unison. After-all, this kind of name was just too strange.

"...It's Henupenko."

Although it was a name he said himself, it felt like it was said differently from just now. If anyone questioned on this point, he intended to insist that he pronounced it wrong earlier.

"Henupenu…?"

"It's Henupenko."

Although he changed the female vampire's name's last syllable to "-ko", just from this name itself, no YGGDRASIL players should be able to detect that it was a name he had come up with. Ainz felt full of confidence in this perfect name, and smiled proudly under his helmet.

"Is, is that so? Then that Henu…. whatever! Since we know that female vampire's name… isn't it about time for us to know your true identity? Which country are you from?"

"—Very sorry, now is still not the right time. I am charged with carrying out a secret mission. If you were to find out, I will have to leave your country, and the vampire will be yours to deal with. I do not wish to allow the matter to become a country-to-country situation. Mayor, you should understand this right?" Figuring that such a tale would cover for both lies he was spinning, Ainz spit out such a tale.

The mayor nodded slowly. Seeing this motion, Issac clenched his lips and glared sharply at Ainz. The Guild Leader's glare did not bother Ainz in the slightest, but to what extent would they believe his lie? Were there any contradictions? Ainz was unsettled by these two concerns, but pushing this restlessness aside, with a tone of anger not permitting others to intervene, Ainz continued to speak:

"Let my team be responsible for the reconnaissance. If we discover any vampires, we'll exterminate them on site."

The dark warrior who arrived late decisively declared as such. Although they could not see his face, they could clearly feel his confidence and determination from the tone of his voice.

Pressure, making others mistaken that it was in fact the air itself shaking, cause people to let out a gasp. All of the people present thought it was themselves which made that noise.

"T-then, the other teams—"

"—Unnecessary. I do not need any hindering burdens."

He interrupted the other's proposal, gently waving his hand to indicate this.

This rude announcement was made with an arrogant attitude. Facing adventurers of the same rank, such demeanor was inappropriate. However, the adventurers present who had experienced hundreds of battles felt that this attitude was not borne from narcissism, pride or arrogance, but from cold calculation. At the same time he was also able to make such an assertion on the basis of his true strength. In reality of course, Ainz was putting on airs to ensure that no one went with him.

It felt as if the dark armor was expanding in front of their eyes, the growing feeling of oppression, even the room had the illusion of becoming narrower. From this man they sensed an aura whom they would forever not be able to catch up with, for example that felt from an adamantium class adventurer.

This fellow could be called a hero.

Issac, who could not resist remaining silent, took several deep breaths. No, every person present did the same motion, and the mayor was even sweating, loosening his collar.

As if whispering, Issac asked softly: "What about payment?"

"It is fine if this issue is discussed at a later time. However, until the completion of this incident: after the vampires are discovered and exterminated, I hope to at least be able to obtain orichalcum class. So that when searching for the other vampire, my actions will be smoother, because having to prove my strength is troublesome."

Suddenly, all of the persons present made an understanding noise.

Adventurers neither work for cities nor countries, nonetheless until this date this city had never had an orichalcum class adventurer. If he became this city's highest ranking adventurer he would probably earn a lot of attention and reputation. Moreover, being able to give the rare blessing of orichalcum rank would make this reputation spread further. Like this there would be more coming to be entrusted with highly dangerous missions, which would in turn increase the chances of receiving news on powerful vampires.

However, even if it could be accepted rationally, there was one man who couldn't accept it on an emotional level.

A chair creaked. Looking towards the source of the sound— it need not be said. It was the one who kept picking a bone with Ainz… Igavaruji.

"I cannot completely trust you. S-speaking of which, it isn't certain either that the vampire is actually that powerful! Even if there was magic used to control zombies, it could have been through the use of items. I wish to go too!"

Even after being shocked, Igavaruji was still able to object, all because he held unsatisfied hostile intent against Ainz, unwilling to admit to the extent of Ainz' true strength.

Perhaps it was displeasure towards his fellow adventurer's attitude, Berette said in a prickly tone:

"Igavaruji, your attitude—"

"—No problem." Ainz very simply agreed. However this was not out of well-meaning, since the following words were extremely cold.

"However, if you come along… certain death? I do not know whether it will be a complete elimination."

It was spoken like he was decisively announcing to others his foreboding fate, causing Igavaruji to shudder. No, not only Igavaruji, but also all persons present felt as if they were encased by a cold biting wind.

Ainz gently shrugged, "I've already given my warning. If you still do not mind then come along."

"O-of course!" Although it was a bluff, he would not back down here, not like this. As a fellow adventurer of the same class, how could he lose face in front of those who held the power in this city?

Just as the two were butting heads, Issac who had regained his composure a little asked Ainz, "Self-confidence is good, but how can you be so confident? Of course we are all too clear about your exceeding strength, but from the evaluation of the opponent's strength, you should also know that this task is not that easy. We are also concerned whether to entrust everything to you to handle. If… in the unlikely event that you are defeated, we also need to have a fallback planned out…"

Like a gunshot, Ainz immediately replied, "I have a trump card."

"What is it?"

"It's this." Ainz took out a crystal, more specifically, a magic sealing crystal.

"It can't be, can it?" Nearly losing his composure, this man who asked was Theo Rakesheer, the Magician Guild leader of E-rantel.

"I've seen them in books… supposedly the Theocracy had one of that kind, hailed as a treasure… a magic item holding enormous power. This is one of that kind: A sealed magic crystal. Why would you have such a rare item!?"

"Really amazing… you're right. And sealed inside the crystal is a level eight spell." To Ainz, a level eight spell was something to toy around with, but not so for Rakesheer.

"I must've misheard! What did you say!" Ainz' reply made Rakesheer let out a cry, one so strange that even a chicken being slaughtered would not make such a noise. His facial expression had also contorted to the point it was quite terrifying.

The ones caught by surprise weren't just Rakesheer but also all those present— no, apart from the mayor, everybody let out a stunned expression out of astonishment and fear. Even adventurers with little experience would be able to understand the meaning of Ainz' words, and the value of that item.

"...Eighth rank… that must be a concocted fabrication right?"

"...Perhaps it is a fantasy, but if it is that magic of that realm… really it is at the realm of myths."

"Are you kidding? That is nonsense!"

The three adventurers—even Igavaruji— displayed a look of fear, staring at the crystal on the dark gauntlet without peeling their eyes away.

"Apologies in advance! T-that item, may I borrow it for a second?"

"Why?"

"That… simply for the sake of a magic caster's interest. I swear I will not make any strange movements! If you need anything as collateral, I can give all items on my body to you." Saying such, Rakesheer began unbuckling his belt without so much as waiting for a reply.

However, Momonga easily acquiesced, "No problem, have a look."

"Sorry, may I also touch it?"

"Then I want too!"

The sealed magic crystal was fumbled and passed around through many pairs of hands until it finally landed Rakesheer's hands. He, who was the last to touch it, stared at it with misty eyes, like a woman who obtained her long sought after, precious jewel. No, perhaps it was even like a youth who had obtained a desired item.

"Too beautiful… right, Momon-san, may I cast magic on it?"

Seeing Ainz wave his hand in agreement, Rakesheer delightedly activated the magic.

"Appraise Magic Item, Detect Enchant."

After casting the magic on the crystal, Rakesheer's eyes widened and his mouth slowly opened, "Incredible! It's the genuine article."

The next movement Rakesheer made was to take the crystal, licking it all over, then rubbing it against his cheek—it was simply crazy behavior.

"C-calm down! What are you doing!"

Frightened by his friend who was not the type to show such mad behavior Issac stood up and got closer to Rakesheer. In fact, everybody looked upon him with either amazed or insufferable eyes. For a man holding a key position in this city to do such an action, it was just too difficult to see.

"How can I calm down? This is just too magnificent! Sealed inside here really is magic of the 8th tier! Although there is no way to know what kind of spell it is!"

Rakesheer could not hold in his excitement, gazing at the crystal with shining eyes. Soon he finally regained a little rationality, and asked Ainz, "Momon-san! W-where was this crystal found? Tell me quickly!"

"It was found in some ruins, at the same time as many other items were discovered. Of course the magic was already sealed inside this crystal at the time. I've already had several great magic casters determine this."

"So it's like that! W-where are these ruins?"

"In a very faraway place… That's all I can tell you."

Of course, this answer of Ainz made Rakesheer clench his lips in regret.

"Well, isn't it about time to return it to me?"

"Woo...ooo."

Rakesheer reluctantly gave back the crystal to Momonga, who proceeded to wipe it off with a handy parchment.

"Now, getting back to the main topic, I object to Momon-san fighting the vampire!" Silence greeted Theo's statement as Issac clapped his palm to his face.

"While I'm already pretty sure, I'll ask. Why?"

"Well, obviously, because it would be such a waste."

"Ignoring Rakesheer's opinion, I think it's safe to entrust this to you, Momon-san."

XX

Zaug looked both ways as he finished teleporting to the alley he'd been in before. If he was lucky, Momonga would smooth things over, but that was unlikely.

More chance he'd incite the whole kingdom against him.

In any case, Zauberklinge needed to get out of E-rantel, at least for now. Which direction though? Zaug was unsure what land the Re-Estize kingdom, although he didn't know that name, controlled, but assumed that it was unlikely they owned the mountains he'd seen to the north.

If this is as similar to Yggdrasil as I suppose, then it would be natural for dwarves to live in the mountains. I doubt they have extradition treaties, so that could work.

Determined, he invoked several tier nine anti-location spells and set out, running north.

XXX

Comments, criticisms, violent tirades about inserting a character into the storyline… hit me.