Chapter 13 True Answer
AN: Really suggest you to read Author at the end.
The Baharuth Empire lived up to the rumors.
According to the surveillance report, E-Rantel only subjected those entering to a quick visual inspection, and it was relatively easy to bypass either by bribing the guards or through magic.
On the other hand, the Empire's capital, Arwintar, was much stricter on this aspect. In order to enter one had to pass through both, visual and magical inspection, and the capital was regularly patrolled by magic casters and sky cavalry, making any attempt to sneak into the city through magic quite difficult.
That being said, Harry still considered that passing through the inspection had been relatively easily. As a magic caster, he had been the one to go through a heavier inspection, but in the end that low-level crystal ball hadn't been able to detect anything unusual. His items had been subjected through inspection as well, and although it had instigated a few awed stares — why if everything was low level? — it had been allowed.
"The inspection took a long time, I thought we would be stuck there until dinner," Harry complained with a small roll on his shoulders, as he led the way into the Empire's Capital.
"It could have been worse though, keeping Shizu's weapon in the inventory really was for the best…"
"Most definitely, I don't think anyone here knows what a rifle is, so it would have taken all day."
The group of four advanced calmly on the road made of bricks and stones, which was a sharp contrast with the muddy roads that were present on the villages and other lesser cities. According to the intel gathered so far, no other nation had attempted such a grand endeavor in paving a city, due to the sheer scale and cost in funding such a project. An impressive feat of civil engineering; Arwintar's existence was testament of the might and wealth of the Empire.
The architecture and layout of the city were advanced, with roads segregated into separate lanes to ease traffic, and raised sidewalks and fences bordering the streets to ensure the safety of pedestrians.
"Momon-san, is there something unusual on our attire?" Yuri asked with concern, looking up at the dark 'warrior' of the group.
"It shouldn't be… but I also feel that they're staring at us for too long. Do they notice—?"
"Don't you dare," Harry interrupted, knowing better than anyone Momonga's tendency to think the worst of any given situation. "We're just better equipped than most adventurers, that's all. And yes, I'm sure, I've been eavesdropping a few conversations exactly for that reason."
His friend hummed thoughtfully, and Harry simply rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. If anything, Momonga's paranoid worries had actually saved them a lot of trouble when it was time to decide who would accompany them.
Since Yuri and Shizu had been the ones to go with them to the village, and they intended to keep that same half-improvised guise, Momonga had deemed that changing companions could be risky if someone that knew them from the village were to see them at the Empire's capital.
…Which was so improbable it was almost laughable, but at least it served as an excuse for not choosing one of the floor guardians.
"Ha— um, James, Is that the Imperial Palace?"
"Should have chosen something more similar to my actual name, eh?" Harry teased before dodging Momonga's predictable shove to his shoulder. "And yeah, I'd say it is, looks bigger and fancier than anything else around."
The Imperial Palace was at the center of the city, its structure being wide enough to be at least half as big as Hogwarts had been. If rumors held true, it was the home of Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix, The Bloody Emperor, and the current monarch of the empire.
True to the tales, it seemed that the Palace was surrounded by lesser, but still quite impacting buildings. Those should be the universities, magic academies and governmental institutions, displaying their importance as the heart of the empire. These significant constructions were surrounded by an enchanted wall —at least judging by the layer of magic present over it— and patrolled by the Imperial Knights, elite bodyguards of the Emperor.
All in all, it made Harry grin wolfishly, glad that their adventure could begin in this interesting city.
"If that's the Palace, then… the Adventurer's Guild should be over there?"
"According to the guards at the entrance, yeah," Harry replied with a small shrug.
"In that case, please allow me to guide the way."
Nodding in agreement to Yuri, they followed the pleiade at a moderate pace. Momonga was trying not to be too obvious when looking at his surroundings, but Harry didn't have any qualms in turning around to look at everything like a newbie tourist, grinning whenever he found anything worth seeing. Merlin, did he want to visit the Central Market, what kind of items would be there? And the Grand Arena looked menacing, imposing; he couldn't wait to go take a closer look at it.
By the time they reached the Adventurer's Guild — after asking for directions a couple of times— the sun was beginning to hide for the day. This made the public lighting flare up to life, magical orbs floating all around the streets, which made for quite a spectacle.
"It looks like a festival, eh? Nocturnal life must be prominent in this city," Harry commented as they entered the building, looking at the street that still had many pedestrians and carriages passing through.
"They must feel safer. The streets are paved and well illuminated, and the Knights are patrolling regularly to ensure public order…" Momonga replied softly, looking at the street one last time before making a hand motion for Yuri and Shizu to enter the building.
The receiving area was almost empty, there were only two magic casters— at least judging by the robes— chatting quietly in a far corner, whispers halting at their entrance before they seemed to pick up pace, probably having switched over to gossip.
Harry mentally shrugged and followed Momonga to the main desk, where a petite, blonde female was looking interestingly at them.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild, how may I help you?"
"Goodnight. We would like to know more about the regulations of the Adventurer's Guild, and the process to register as a party." Momonga's baritone voice resounded on the otherwise-silent room, which seemed to make him feel self-conscious, since he straightened up and looked even more imposing when compared with the poor, very short lady.
Well, Momonga was unfairly tall, his voice was oddly deep, and the armor made it look like he was buff, so Harry couldn't fault her for looking nervous.
"Ah— yes, of course, yes… g-give me a moment please."
She hurriedly bent down, seemingly searching for something below the desk, and let out a small triumphant sound before straightening.
"A-about the— ehem, sorry. About the regulations of the Guild, this manual contains all the specifications, I can give you a copy for a silver coin if you'd prefer."
The goddamn book seemed to be well over 800 pages, with nothing but gibberish written in the cover. Ugh, the Empire's written language was so weird… they would have to use a translating item. Or well, more like Harry would have to. He was completely sure Momonga would be a bad friend and assign the task of reading thatheavy-enough-to-use-as-a-weaponbook to him. The lazy bastard.
"We'll purchase a copy then," Momonga said as he took a small bag filled with coins, taking a single silver coin out. Harry chuckled at the sight, coughing loudly when Momonga's head turned towards him. Helmet or not, he could feel his friend's unamused glare quite clearly.
It wasn't his fault though, the story behind how they had obtained those coins was funny—
"Thank you for your purchase. Would you like to register your party now?"
"I would like to know the preliminary stages for registration, but we will only do so once we've evaluated the Guild's regulations."
Well, if anything, Momonga was careful enough for the both of them. If Harry had become an adventurer on his own, he would have given about two damns about the rules. He knew himself enough to predict that he would end up breaking them either way.
"Understood. In that case, allow me to explain the registration process—"
Deciding Momonga was doing well on his own, Harry turned away from the counter — giving a silent signal to the Pleiades so they stayed at the desk with Momonga — and walked towards the board that, he supposed, was covered with mission requests. Taking a pair of translating glasses from his pocket, he read a few to pass off the time, finding most of them boring or too easy to complete, before finally reaching one that was odd in every aspect.
The paper was old, which meant that the request had been pending for quite a while. Next, was that only Orichalcum and Adamantite adventurers —the strongest ranks, if he recalled correctly — could take it. And finally… it was lacking detailing information.
The mission consisted on "cleaning the Katze plains" … whatever that meant.
Nothing more was said about it, only to ask at the counter for more information about the mission and the reward that such a feat would imply, as if it were the most complicated thing on the board.
Taking the yellowish paper, he decided to approach the couple of magic casters that was whispering in the corner of the room.
"Hello! got a moment?"
The youngest-looking jumped, obviously startled, while the oldest simply tensed and narrowed his eyes distrustfully at him.
"…what is it?"
Did he arrive at a bad moment?
"Er, sorry to bother. I just wanted to ask about this mission since it doesn't really say anything… do you know about it?" Harry said with an apologetic smile, keeping a polite distance from their table.
"Why don't you ask at the counter?"
"I'm not an adventurer yet. Besides, it's not like I'm going to take it, I'm just curious."
If anything that seemed to make the glare become harder. Harry held the stare for a short moment, before sighing in defeat and shrugging.
"Guess not. Thanks either way—"
"—it's not something you should take lightly," the youngest whispered, sending an apologetic look to his bad-humored companion before turning to face Harry. "That… it has taken the lives of many adventurers. The Empire's adamantite team, the famous Eight Ripples, were killed in that."
"…What is that?"
"That's the problem, no one knows."
"No one— what? Then what's the mission about?"
A humorless smile was drawn on the male's face, and suddenly, he didn't look so young anymore. Harry knew that look, had seen it plenty of times before. The tired gaze that only those familiar with a battlefield had.
"It's exploring. Figure out what's out there and either come back alive with the information… or die trying to defeat it."
Harry sighed and nodded somberly, before looking down at the worn-out page that detailed the mission.
Well, Momonga and him had determined that the best way to gather information was escalate to the highest ranks quickly, so they could gain a good network more easily. Perhaps this was the quickest way to climb up? Not the safest sure, but then again… the humans in this world seemed so weak, perhaps the creature behind this mission was only level 60 or so…
"Where are you from?" the male that had been glaring daggers at him suddenly asked, gaze moving between him and Momonga, the latter seemingly bidding farewell to the lady at the counter.
"Why would you assume we aren't from here?" Harry asked back, making a hand motion to Momonga, to let him know that he was already ending his conversation. The 'warrior' nodded and stopped, turning instead towards the entrance of the building with the Pleiades on tow.
"…whatever. I don't care either way."
Well, that was one heck of a way to finish a conversation. Shrugging lightly, he thanked them for the information and excused himself, going to place the tattered paper back in the board before catching up with Momonga on the entrance.
"Did you meet someone interesting?" Momonga asked softly as Yuri held the door open for them, before starting to walk in the direction of the pre-selected hotel they would be resting at.
"Not really, I just asked about a mission that was on the board. What about you? Something remarkable about the registration process?"
Momonga hummed, glancing around him as if afraid someone would be listening in, even if the street was apparently empty at the moment. Understanding the silent gesture, Harry placed a silent muffliato with a flick of his wrist before confirming, "Placed a ward, no one can hear our conversation now."
"Thanks Harry," Momonga said with something akin to relief before cursing out loud at the slip, which made Harry chuckle. "Ugh, still getting used to it… oh well. Harry, about the registration, I can't help but think it's odd… according to our intel, the Kingdom gives new adventurers a copper rank, and they must escalate from there. No exceptions."
"I remember. I suppose here's different then?"
"No, the lady said it was the same for most cases, but… since our equipment is of high quality, she suggested we apply for a ranking examination."
"…so, we over-equipped ourselves? I don't think our current gear is something to gawk about."
"No, that's not the problem. I think our equipment is fine, but the process of ranking is… I don't know how to say it. We would have to do a mock battle against whatever they set us up against, and a wizard would come to perform a health exam among other things…"
Harry hummed, thinking that the process was like the Auror application he had gone through so long ago. He didn't really get what was worrying about it.
"Sorry, I'm not following you. What part of the test makes you worry?"
Momonga sighed tiredly, muttering something that sounded remarkably like "so careless" before speaking in a serious tone, "Harry, what if they use the 'test' to make us get rid of something no one else can? Or do something that would be like shouting to the world that we're players? What if the health exam is actually just to see what's our level? What if they try to remove my armor? There are so many things that can go wrong."
Harry smiled at Momonga's familiar apprehension, before thinking about each specific concern.
"Well, about defeating something no one else can, I guess we can decide whether to win or not based on the opponent's level, right? If they place us against a level 80 thing, maybe we can drag on the battle or something."
"Hmm, make it look more difficult than what it would be. Perhaps receive some injuries?"
Yuri and Shizu looked alarmed at the thought, but this was only a hypothesis either way…
"Yeah. I don't know how they would have a method to differentiate players from natives though, so can't really prepare for that… all I can do is peek at their general thoughts and search for something fishy."
Momonga nodded wholeheartedly, and Harry felt a familiar tinge of guilt before he forced it to recede. When speaking about this adventuring mission, Harry had told him about his Legilimency, saying he could only peek at unprotected minds… Momonga had assumed that it meant only humans and demi-humans were on that list, and Harry didn't bother to correct him.
Since most heteromorphs had some level of protection against mind control, the undead's being the strongest, Momonga probably assumed most of Nazarick was out of reach when it came to this special ability.
Harry didn't use it with his allies though, or at least tried not to do it too often or if it wasn't an emergency, but he knew the doubt would always be present if they knew he had the ability to trespass their privacy like that. From experience, it was better if this particular skill wasn't detailed more than it had to be.
Clearing his throat, he pushed the topic to the back of his mind and continued. "Will do then. About the health exam, we can place some protections beforehand so they can only perform basic tests, but we would need to know what exactly they would be evaluating. We can ask that to the healer if it comes to that."
The conversation halted at that as they finally reached the inn. With a silent gesture, he took down the Muffliato at the entrance just as Yuri held the door open for them to go through.
The interior was simple, with a small receiving area at the front and the bar/restaurant at the back, the stairs at the left side. Momonga registered the four of them and requested a single room to share — much to the receptionist's surprise, who insisted the room wasn't exactly equipped for housing four people — but in the end the overlord managed to convince her.
Bypassing the bar/restaurant without a second glance, they went up the stairs to the third floor and entered their rented room. It was simple, two beds that seemed to have seen better days, a simple wood-made curtain to block the sun's light in the morning, a desk and a single wooden chair, and some candles to barely illuminate it at night. Presumably, using magical illumination was a little too expensive for this kind of inn.
Then again, since all of them were heteromorphs, there weren't any issues by the lack of proper illumination.
"T-there are… only two beds," Yuri whispered in something akin to embarrassment, before instinctively going to properly make the beds. The covers had wrinkles on them, something that probably triggered her as a maid.
"It's fine, since we don't really need to sleep we can just use them as seats or to rest if needed," Momonga answered, armor disappearing to be replaced by a more comfortable-looking robe, before he placed a high-level lock on the closed door.
Harry took out his wand and added a few repelling and privacy wards around the room, before going to sit down in one of the beds. Momonga sat down in the other one, so they were in front of each other, while Shizu stood over the door as if to guard it. Yuri in the meantime, seemed to entertain herself by tiding up the room.
"I know you're going to assign it to me, so just pass it over already," Harry grumbled as Momonga guiltily took out the heavy book of regulations. His friend laughed sheepishly, muttering a quick, "You read faster than me," as if to excuse himself before tossing the book at him.
"Yeah, yeah, I should be done by next morning. Before that though, what about the ranking examination? Are we going to take it?"
Momonga took a deep breath — looking at the ceiling as if searching for the right words — before starting to discuss, this time in more detail, about the testing process, the few examples he had managed to get from the lady at the guild, and what he thought could go wrong before, during, and after the examination. Harry listened attentively for the most part, discussing possible countermeasures for the, honest-to-God improbable, worries of the overlord, which turned into an even bigger picture of hypotheses and preparations.
By the time they reached an agreement on how to tackle the ranking test, the sun was beginning to peek out at the window, so Harry excused himself and went to the single desk present in the room to have a quick read at the unnecessarily-heavy book of regulations. Momonga in the meantime reported via [Message] to Nigredo, who was in charge of following their movements and send support in case of emergency. Honestly, they had had to prepare for so many emergencies before the NPCs felt reassured…
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he focused on the heavy tome of regulations for the rest of the morning, mildly wondering if preparing this much was even necessary.
— Fluder —
The carriage ran like the wind over the paved roads of the Imperial Capital Arwintar.
A pair of skilled-looking warriors occupied the driver's seat, while above the carriage's cabin — in a place modified from a cargo rack — were four magic casters and bow-wielding warriors, vigilantly watching their surroundings.
The reason why such an excessive detachment of security personnel — like a mobile defensive formation — was travelling so boldly over the roads was because they were escorting Fluder to his destination. He had discussed with Jircniv that this level of security was unneeded considering the reason he was traveling, but the young emperor had insisted that it was necessary, at least considering the report they had received.
The day prior, one of his most adept disciples — who could use up to the fourth tier of magic — reported to him about the results of a magical inspection that had taken place in Arwintar's main entrance. The report wasn't as detailed as Fluder would have liked, but it seemed that someone was in possession of a strong magical staff, belonging to the highest class: Legacy.
The Baharuth Empire prided in its magical knowledge — most of it obtained by Fluder's own investigations — and it was for this reason that they knew exactly how beneficial, and how dangerous, magic could be.
One of his investigations was regarding the strength of magical items, valued depending on their capacity to store magic, how fast it could be used, and how powerful the result would be in terms of permanency and damage. Based on this, there were only two items in the Empire that qualified to be in the Legacy class, and both were in Fluder's possession. It was so rare to find any such item, it was hard to think that a stranger — one that had passed through the inspection at that — was also in possession of one.
After discussing these findings with the Emperor, Jircniv, they had reached the conclusion that no one was foolish enough to pass through the magical inspection without expecting to attract attention, so this must have been a deliberate action, even if the reason still eluded them.
What did these strangers want from the Empire?
The reason that man — James, if the report was to be trusted — and his companions had given at the inspection post was that they wanted to become adventurers. Fluder had sent a couple of his disciples to stay at the Guild's reception area for this purpose, and they had confirmed that the party of four had entered the building.
James had even talked with them, seemingly asking about the mission at the Katze Plains, and Fluder mildly wondered why the man was feigning ignorance. With the situation as it was, even the Roble Holy Kingdom — a nation that was past Re-Estize and thus, not a border nation — knew of it. It was something citizens complained about daily as well, since it impacted all markets quite heavily.
Fluder couldn't understand the man's behavior, and much to the Emperor's chagrin, neither could he.
This was the reason Fluder himself was "appointed" to witness the ranking examination that was scheduled at this late afternoon. He was to witness the party's strength first hand, add other tests as needed to compile information, and check the results of the health examination.
In a sense, traveling in this carriage could also be considered as a test.
Anyone with the slightest bit of academic knowledge would immediately recognize the emblem of three crossed wands on the side of the carriage, and from there they would know who it belonged to and who rode within it. Whether they recognized it or not, it would give Fluder information to work with… and then, there was also their reaction towards his very own presence.
Just as Gazef Stronoff was a famed warrior, when one spoke of magic casters, nobody's name echoed across the surrounding nations like his own did. He was the Empire's most powerful grand magic caster, "Tri-Arts" Fluder Paradyne.
He passed a hand through his long, white beard, a gesture he did whenever he felt contemplative, so the only other man accompanying him in the carriage knew better than to interrupt his thoughts.
Or should have, in any case.
"Master, what about his Majesty's orders?" his best disciple nervously asked.
Fluder internally sighed at the impatience of the youth, before he replied in a calm, inscrutable voice:
"This is his Majesty's will, and as his vassal I must investigate. However, doing so through magic is far too dangerous. We ought to see it for ourselves, to gather information."
"So that means you don't know either, Master?"
Fluder closed his eyes, then opened them a few seconds later.
"Unfortunately. I can't help but wonder… if this party are hidden heroes that finally decided to make their move? If they go against that creature at the Katze Plains, there might be an intense battle like the one against the Demon Gods 200 years ago."
"...Will there be one?"
"We don't know yet. However, only a fool would discard it. The wise are always on watch against the future."
The conversation ended at that and, eventually, the carriage reached its destination.
This evaluation was taking place at the border of the city, an area that was chosen specifically because it was the easiest to evacuate. The building was, in a sense, comparable to the Empire's Arena in size, but this structure wasn't designed to have many people overview the events. This way, instead of concrete bleachers, there were only a few designated seats at the furthest wall.
The security team dismounted, and after a silent evaluation, opened the carriage door for Fluder and his disciple to step out.
There were only a handful of people present. The Adventurer's Guildmaster, the City's Mayor, and Fluder himself were the only ones present to evaluate this ranking examination. And then, of course, were the party of four that would be evaluated.
Fluder was surprised to see that both females remained unperturbed by the carriage's arrival, not looking surprised or impressed at all. It was… unexpected. The Sleipnir pulling the carriage was a luxury not even nobles could afford, and the extensive security team that had escorted him was only comparable to his Majesty's personal guard. And yet, they remained impassive.
As for the males of the group, the warrior's expression was hidden behind his helmet, and thus inscrutable, while the magic caster simply whistled appreciatively before receiving a reprimanding nudge from his taller companion.
"I apologize for my late arrival, I hope I didn't make you wait for… long." Fluder apologized courteously, pausing at his discovery.
Or lack of.
"…I can't see?" he muttered incredulously, which made his disciple gasp in surprise.
Fluder had a natural talent for determining the level of magic one was able to use, simply by observing the aura that the magical caster gave off. By all rights, his eyes should have been able to see how much magical talent this James character possessed, but he was unable to do so.
An anti-detection spell. This was the only conclusion he could reach, but that raised another question. Why would someone have to protect themselves from being investigated? Also, his talent to perceive magical auras was unusual, so few people would bother taking precautions against it…
Not to mention, it was rude that they would throw this kind of defensive magic while they were being evaluated.
Well, I was also quite rude for trying to use my detection skill... But why hide?
Fluder's talent was well known, so this could be a countermeasure against him? He couldn't really reach any conclusion.
"Excuse me, is something wrong?" the warrior asked simply, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.
"Oh no, sorry for being rude," Fluder replied apologetically, but he couldn't stop looking at the wooden staff that was held so inexpertly on James' grasp. Perhaps this man was only lucky to have found such an item? Or he may be ignorant of his power. After all, James didn't hold himself with pride, or confidence that denoted that he had in his possession a legacy weapon.
Fluder looked at his own staff then, mildly wondering which would be stronger.
"Well then, since everyone is here, let's start," The Adventurer's Guildmaster commented impatiently, lazily scratching the scar that adorned his right cheek. Upon receiving nods of agreement from the others, the man explained that the test was simple: defeat the enemy.
That said though, no one present thought them capable of doing it. In reality, the only reason such a creature was being released was due to Fluder's presence, and the fact that they had made preparations for containing the monster when it became necessary.
The Empire had discovered this monster in that place known for being haunted by the undead— or at least back at the time, it used to— the Katze Plains.
The squad of Imperial knights that first encountered this monster had never seen it before, but they were under orders, so they attacked it as per standard procedure. Several moments later, they realized how rash and foolish they had been.
They had been utterly and one-sidedly overwhelmed — their opposition far too strong for them.
Of course, the Empire couldn't just leave such a monster be, especially after personally witnessing the murdered knights become undead beings, serving the monster as its minions. Clearly, the more time they gave their opponent, the worse the situation would become.
After intensive debate among the Empire's higher ups, they decided to open with their trump card; the most powerful fighting force in the Empire, which was to say they would mobilize Fluder and his adept disciples.
This way, the Death Knight had been captured and imprisoned… only to be released again in this mock battle.
Unbeknown to Fluder, the party of four that was currently on the field just looked disbelievingly at the Level 35 undead, before engaging in "battle".
— Pandora —
He strode happily on the 9th floor, only stopping occasionally to salute the regular maids he encountered, performing a flourish and a bow with a small spin. They did strange expressions upon seeing him, but he attributed that to bafflement. He was the Guardian of the Treasury after all, so it was no wonder that they were surprised of seeing him on this floor.
Walking on high spirits, he continued to explore the hallways. It was nice, finally having permission to leave the treasury… not that he disliked his job or anything! It just got lonely after a while, so a break was very much welcome. He had yet to find any of his friends though, perhaps he should move to another floor? Or maybe— yes! One of them just appeared!
"Jarvis mein freund, fancy seeing you on this revered floor!" Pandora exclaimed happily, tipping his hat in welcome before jogging lightly to catch up with the other.
"Pandora? Oh, you're just in time. Come with me, I don't know what to do," Jarvis said with a worried look, skeletal wings shifting restlessly on his back.
"No problem, how can I help?" Pandora had only just reached this floor, and he was already going to aid someone! His Masters will be so proud!
"I need someone to discuss things with, but the others are— hmn… different. I believe your point of view may be better suited for this delicate topic."
Reaching a door that had twisted symbols carved on it, Jarvis quickly opened it and stepped inside, motioning for Pandora to follow him. The room was simple, with nothing but a desk and a few stands with books adorning the walls, and—
"OH! This room is magical! Is it thanks to an item? Can I take a look at it? I'll be very careful, I promise," Pandora exclaimed excitedly as a couple of chairs appeared from thin air, looking around as he searched for the item.
"Not an item, this is Sir's room. I'm under the belief that it works through runes," Jarvis explained with a small smile, taking a seat in one of the recently created chairs. Not wanting to be left behind, he happily let himself fall over the other one, the chair unbalancing for a moment before he shifted his weight to correct it.
"Such a pity. I love, love, love studying new items!" Pandora said while shifting his weight from one side to the other, playing with the chair's balance as it moved along with him. "But worry not my friend, for I will live through my disappointment. Now that we're seated, let me know what troubles you so, and I will support."
He moved his arms and legs wildly to emphasize his statement, and was happy to see that Jarvis chuckled lightly, momentarily in better humor, before looking serious again.
"Ah, I have bad news, but I don't know who to report them to…" the Zerg said while looking at the ceiling, seemingly just thinking out loud. "On one hand, I could [Message] my creator directly, but I believe that would be troublesome since I may interrupt something important… that and I don't want to seem like I'm bypassing Albedo's judgment. If I tell her though… hmn, I can't predict her reaction, so I can't prepare for it."
"You're too vague my friend, what exactly are the bad news?" he inquired simply, leaning forward while placing his chin over his palms, an absolutely necessary gesture to demonstrate that he was paying attention.
"The zerglings that had infiltrated the Slane Theocracy… I'm not sure what happened, but all of them died at the same time." Jarvis admitted, looking frustrated as he tapped the chair's arm distractedly. "I can't even give a proper report. All I know is that the hosts were killed, and thus, my minions as well, but I can't even fathom how they were discovered!"
The Zerg stood up abruptly, pacing from one side to the other as he ranted hypotheses and their possible consequences. Pandora thought he was worrying too much though.
"Calm down, calm down, it's not like they can track us~"
"Not directly, but since those soldiers were sent to Carne Village, it is logical to assume that the Theocracy will investigate its surroundings—"
"Ja, but we're hidden! They can't possibly find us, if the last time Nazarick was invaded required a World item—"
"The thing is," Jarvis interrupted him, looking even more distressed than before, "that I suspect they may have one or two."
"…World items?"
His friend nodded gravely, and Pandora finally understood what worried him so.
"Let's go tell Albedo then. She's the best for this kind of situation, don't you think?" Pandora spoke seriously, his previous playful nature disappearing without trace. "We may need to take drastic measures."
"That's… exactly what I fear. I'd rather not take action until having Sir's confirmation— no wait, I think Sir Momonga would be better. My creator is too careless."
Pandora chuckled at Jarvis' fed up statement, curiously wondering why the Zerg thought as much about his own creator. Not like he didn't agree, but maybe something happened to reinforce that image?
"Harry-sama is a carefree soul," Pandora commented with a light shrug, receiving an unimpressed raised eyebrow from his friend.
"Sir is the kind of person that would go head on towards a World Enemy. Alone. Unarmed. I believe carefree is putting it lightly."
Pandora laughed at the blatant exaggeration. The Zerg was so dramatic, it was no wonder they got along so well.
"Ja, I understand. We can't do anything else though, so let's just go with Albedo. If the both of us go, surely we can stop her from acting right away even if she tries to!" Pandora exclaimed, swiftly standing up and saluting determinedly.
Jarvis didn't seem to share his certainty, but he nodded nevertheless. The Zerg sent a [Message] to the Guardian Overseer, explaining that he had news to deliver, so it wasn't long before they both started to walk towards the opposite side of the 9th Floor.
Reaching Albedo's room — or at least, the room that had been assigned to her when she brought to attention that she didn't have one — Pandora gave one last reassuring pat at his friend's shoulder before entering.
"… you didn't knock," Albedo immediately reprimanded Pandora, but he just twirled around in greeting.
"That's because I really couldn't wait to see you Miss Guardian Overseer!" he exclaimed happily, bowing with a small flourish while tipping his hat with the other hand. "And of course, greetings to you as well dear friend!"
"Nice to see you again, Pandora's Actor," Demiurge's response was collected, simply nodding at him with his natural grin.
Albedo was looking at him funny, and Pandora merrily thought that she must be impressed with his performance. With his looks, sense of style and bright personality, it was only to be expected!
"…I apologize for our abrupt entrance," Jarvis muttered from somewhere behind him, and Pandora turned around to go to where the Zerg was standing, so they were side to side again. It would be rude to be so close to Albedo's desk when his friend was so far behind.
"I understand," Albedo said while looking directly at him, and Pandora waved playfully in response. The succubus' wings flapped once, and if he didn't know better, he would say she was irritated for some reason, "putting that aside, what news do you have?"
Jarvis took in a deep breath, before explaining what happened. The news were shocking enough to make Albedo rise in alarm from her chair, while Demiurge looked at the ground with a pensive face.
"That… was there really no sign that they had been discovered?"
"None that I could identify. Everything was running smoothly until a few minutes ago, when they died suddenly."
"What about the place? Could they have triggered an unknown trap?"
"They were… in a temple, but they had entered that place many times before without issues. I didn't notice any changes today."
Albedo paced from her place behind the desk, just like Jarvis had acted when he first told the news to Pandora. They were more similar than they would like to admit, he thought amusedly.
"Then, their next step will be to investigate the surroundings, in hopes of finding Nazarick. Which wouldn't pose of problem if not for those World items," Demiurge muttered matter-of-factly, turning to look directly at Jarvis. "Do you know their effect?"
"…No. I'm not quite sure they exist either, all I have is… a hunch, based on nothing but stray phrases and rumors," frustration laced his voice so heavily, it seemed to be physically dripping, so Pandora decided it was time to interfere.
Raising both arms to the ceiling, he exclaimed, "Then it's settled! Should we contact Momonga-sama and Harry-sama now?" with his best, serious voice, which no doubt made him look really cool.
There was a pause of dread silence, before identical looks of understanding turned to him. Well, everyone was in the same league here, intellect-wise, so it was no wonder they had reached the same conclusion as he had.
"Yes. We must move fast, if we want this to be contained," Demiurge commented with a nod of agreement, smile slowly turning into a smirk.
"We also need them to decide who, how many, and with which equipment," Albedo added seriously while crossing her arms under her chest, which made them bounce merrily.
"Can they be contacted right away? We should check with Nigredo just in case," Jarvis added, looking much calmer now that they were set on a resolution. Honestly, Pandora thought that the Zerg had the capability of reaching this conclusion from the very start, if only he had been less troubled.
His friend really worried too much, unnecessarily.
Albedo delicately grazed her temple, no doubt contacting her sister. Expectant silence fell over them, since her [Commander] class allowed her for silent communication, but overall it wasn't long before she spoke out loud again.
"We should be able to communicate with them once their battle is over," Albedo said sweetly, smiling angelically for the first time since their arrival. "Only a few more minutes."
Pandora internally smiled, feeling glad that everything was going to be solved smoothly.
— Kaire —
Perhaps she was getting too old for this.
Her legs would spasm from time to time in protest, as she forced them to continue moving. On normal circumstances, walking such a long distance wouldn't be necessary since they could use other means of travel, but they were trying to keep a low profile in this dangerous land, the Katze Plains.
"Kaire-sama, can you—"
"Yes, everything is fine. Move faster, we don't have much time," she interrupted the Captain's worried phrase with a reprimanding look, which made him chuckle. She may be old and tired, but she absolutely refused to admit it out loud. Not when it could jeopardize this delicate mission.
Silently, the Black Scripture continued to move. They had no option but to, not after discovering that.
Kaire clenched her teeth as she remembered those hideous creatures. To think they had been possessing the remnants of the Light Scripture under their very noses, from the moment those brave men came back from their unsuccessful mission on the Re-estize Kingdom— it was unforgivable.
The Cardinals — the Theocracy's higher ups— hadn't know what to think at first, since the mission of the Light Scripture had been in a small village situated at the border, how could they have had contact with that kind of creature? It took a lot of debating, but in the end, they had decided there was only one logical conclusion.
That small village, whose name she really couldn't recall, was situated at the border of the Slane Theocracy, surrounded by both, the Baharuth Empire… and the Katze Plains. Based on this fact, it wasn't difficult to understand what had happened.
Some decades ago, the Katze Plains used to be a place inhabited only by the undead that spawned naturally, which varied from the simplest of zombies to creatures as dangerous and rare as the skeletal dragons. Back at this time, regardless of the current political situation between the Re-estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire, both countries would work together to control the undead population by sending adventurer teams.
But then one day, the undead stopped spawning, and were replaced by something much, much more dangerous.
Hellhounds.
Instead of zombies and skeletons, that were dangerous but mindless undead, the dried land was now mostly occupied by the smart, infernal dogs, whose jaws dripped lava instead of saliva, and that moved in packs around the land. As if that weren't enough, other fire-based creatures could now be seen wandering around the deserted place, such as phoenixes, kitsunes, and worse, infernal spirits.
Adventurers were slaughtered, the trade routes that passed near the Katze Plains were closed for security— which in turn increased the prices of basic products like food and clothes in the surrounding regions — and the adventurers that were killed by the infernal spirits only served to increase the creature's strength.
At this moment, the infernal spirits were the main cause the Cardinals had sent the Black Scripture in this mission.
On normal circumstances, the infernal spirits — who looked like insect-like demons — were prone to momentarily possess their victims in order to feed on their spiritual energy, swiftly killing the host in nothing but seconds of agonizing pain.
…but the Light Scripture seemed to have suffered a different fate.
Kaire shuddered to think that, if that young child hadn't inquired about it, the possessed men wouldn't have been discovered.
The infernal spirits seemed to have possessed them to infiltrate the Slane Theocracy, a behavior previously unheard of, and the danger that strategy posed was simply too much to leave alone.
The source of the infernal spirits now needed to be eradicated.
The problem was that the source was known for having killed the Empire's Adamantite team— which was hard to accept, since it looked like an unassuming cave-like entrance — so the Cardinals didn't have much option but to place this mission on the same rank as preventing the resurrection of the Catastrophe Dragon Lord; and dispatch several teams to deal with it.
Kaire's team, the Black Scripture, was to perform recognition on that location, and break the outer layers of defense the cave was rumored to have. Once that was done, the Holocaust Scripture would take over with their specialized, wide-ranged warfare, so the cave could be mostly destroyed without the need of sending several teams inside. Both teams would then hunt down the remaining creatures, until all the Infernal spirits were annihilated.
Of course, the Windflower Scripture was monitoring the mission, and would help point out any creatures that may manage to escape from them. They didn't know how many were inside that cave after all, it was best to not underestimate their number.
"We're getting closer, be alert," the Captain commanded without raising his voice, as their formation silently fell into a defensive stance. "Cedran, you can give them the greenlight now."
Cedran — a muscular, robust man equipped with a mirror-like tower shield on his left hand, and a forearm shield with spikes on his right hand — nodded in agreement with a fierce grin, before using the mirror-like shield to transmit a visual message.
Naturally, killing the possessed Light Scripture right away upon discovery would have been foolish in extreme. It was best to postpone their death until the other Scriptures were ready to launch their attack on the cave, so the intelligent Infernal spirits wouldn't suspect anything until the last moment.
Now that the signal had been given, the Light Scripture would be killed in only a few more minutes.
Kaire clenched her dress, Downfall of Castle and Country, silently praying for their souls to rest in peace once they were freed from their possession.
"Windflower has confirmed our surroundings are clear. Let's move to its right side, be alert for underground attacks."
Following instructions, the Black Scripture slowly crept towards the right side of the cave that seemed to be protruding from the ground. Attacking from its entrance would be suicidal since they didn't fully know what could be resting within.
"Your turn Tenj."
The ranger of the team, Tenj, stepped forward with graceful, silent movements, before kneeling at a short distance from the cave's outer wall. Taking out a variety of items, he performed his analysis efficiently, sometimes using skills along with the items to move faster.
"The rumors were right; it's protected by a magical shield. I… I've never seen something like this before. I cannot rate this magic," Tenj murmured apprehensively, frowning as he stood up and returned to his previous position. "It's a good thing we came prepared."
"A gift from our Gods, we must organize a festival to thank them once we return," Kaire spoke gratefully, a hand still clenching her dress. She was mentally prepared to unleash its power faster than one could blink.
"Indeed Kaire-sama. Well then, is our gift ready, Divic?"
The holder of the 4th seat in the Black Scripture, Divic, smiled sweetly at the Captain before muttering a soft, "Of course."
She walked calmly towards the cave's wall, golden locks dancing softly with the wind. It was the image of an angel, if one ignored the small dagger that was expertly handled on her delicate hands. The dagger was shaped like a key would, which denoted its true function.
No matter the lock or shield, this item— the one their Gods had left behind— could break through them. It could only be used five times though, and after that it would stop working for 72 hours.
Kaire held her breath in anticipation as Divic pointed the dagger towards the cave, the sharp end just barely touching the wall before the young blonde activated its effect. Immediately after, a shattering sound was heard, as the magic covering the place was irremediably broken.
"Good, now we need to— eh? why is…?"
The Captain wasn't someone that would lose composure easily, but he still gawked as the magic covering the cave returned to its previous state on its own. It shone brightly for a moment, as if to mock them with its presence, before becoming invisible once more.
"It— why? True Answer activated correctly," Divic muttered in disbelief, looking at the dagger in her hands worriedly.
"Calm down, perhaps this is a shield that can be restored a certain quantity of times per day. Try again."
Divic nodded at the Captain before repeating the same action. Once more, the magic broke with a shattering sound, and again, it reappeared as good as new a few moments after.
"One more time."
In the end, the shield protecting the cave was shattered four times consecutively. After that, the magic blinked, as if the shield was trying to appear again, but in the end it disappeared without trace. Tenj came closer to confirm that it was gone for good now, but they didn't know if it would activate again after a certain time had passed.
They needed to act fast. With this in mind, Cedran used the mirror shield one more time, this time alerting the Holocaust Scripture that it was their turn.
They would get rid of this place before the sunset; that much was certain.
— Momonga —
Pretending to battle against such a weak undead… it was difficult. Against a monster of this level, they had to be careful not to end the battle too soon, or too easily. It really was hard to believe, was this really something the people of this world considered a threat?
Based on the awed looks of the judges, he was fairly certain it was. Ugh, against a Death Knight of all things, for how long would they have to drag on the battle?
Momonga and Yuri were "fighting" in close range, continuously parrying the monster's sword and evading its slow, slow attacks. It was like fighting off a toddler. Harry and Shizu, in the meantime, were "supporting" them from far away, continuously buffing and shielding them when "needed".
How much longer?
He was just waiting for Harry's signal, since the plan was for him to check the judges' thoughts from time to time, he was supposed to determine when it was ok for them to finish this.
Diverting the Death Knight's sword and forcefully pushing it back, he turned his head lightly to see Harry. He was… what was he doing? Harry was slightly bent over, using the staff as a cane with an exhausted look, as if he was about to fall unconscious at any given moment. Shizu was completely ignoring the "battle" now, seemingly fretting over him.
Was this an act? To look as if he couldn't fight anymore? This wasn't part of the plan though, was he improvising as he read the judges' thoughts? Truthfully, Momonga didn't like that old wizard in the slightest, he seemed to be the most sharp-witted of them all.
"James! are you ok?" Momonga shouted, trying to determine what was going on, what he was supposed to do. They had created a silent sign language for this kind of situations after all, the ones were they couldn't simply talk things over—
His train of thought was abruptly cut off, body freezing over as he saw Harry's signal. Completely forgetting that he was supposedly fighting off the Death Knight, Yuri had to step in to shove away the low-ranked undead, with a completely, genuinely terrified look on her face.
Emergency. The gesture for emergency. It was signaled as "level 4" so it was the kind that required them to go back to Nazarick as soon as possible.
Then… this wasn't an act? What was happening?
Worry and fear clouded his thoughts as he exclaimed "Now! Finish it now!" to Yuri, the only other combatant that was still fighting the Death Knight. He didn't care if it wasn't normal, didn't care what the judges thought of them, didn't care if they were discovered as players. Nothing mattered, it could be fixed, they could start over with a new guise in another land.
Understanding the emergency was the only priority now.
Moving in unison, Yuri punched through the head directly, at the same time Momonga's greatsword slashed the chest, cutting the body in two. On normal circumstances, the Death Knight could survive a fatal attack with 1 HP, so killing it two times consecutively was a most.
This way, in nothing but seconds, the Death Knight turned to ashes, and the examination came to an end.
"W-what?"
"The Death Knight is…! To think that such people existed! Fuhahaha!"
"Fluder-sama?!"
He didn't care. Momonga tuned out their incredulous voices, running towards Harry and Shizu even before the ashes of the destroyed monster could reach the ground. Yuri caught up to him only a moment after.
"How critical?" he asked in a low voice, glaring at the judges that were slowly coming towards them. They must have sensed something was wrong, or perhaps just sensed his killing intent, because they froze in their tracks with a frightened look, the Guildmaster even stepping back and taking the handle of his sword.
But the old wizard remained immune, continuing to stride towards them with a grin on his face.
"Fantastic, absolutely— move over boy, I need to talk to them!" Fluder shifted from excitement to fury in nothing but a second, as he glared at the young man that had stepped in front of him.
"Master, please hear me out first!"
Taking advantage of the situation, Momonga turned towards Harry again. His friend smiled weakly at him, muttering "Sorry, M'not feelin' well," with a voice so soft it was barely audible.
"What happened?" Momonga was itching to get rid of his armor, to check Harry for any negative status. Swiftly deciding that everything could go rot in hell for all he cared, he picked his friend up —worried when Harry didn't even protest — and motioned with his head for the Pleiades to follow him.
"Get out of the way— ah, please wait!"
By the time Fluder shouted out his plea, they were already too far away to hear it.
Momonga thanked whatever entity was helping them out there that this part of the city was deserted. The ranking test was dangerous for the population, since the chosen monster could end up escaping, so the whole area had been emptied for security reasons.
Deciding that they were far enough, Momonga placed Harry over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and used his free arm to bring the Pleiades to his chest in a one-armed hug, before muttering the key phrase that activated his emergency portkey.
Their surroundings immediately shifted, a city turning into a forest, as they appeared near Carne Village. Getting rid of his armor, he immediately opened a [Gate] to Nazarick and ran through, with the Pleiades right behind him.
"[Clear Eyesight]!" he activated the spell that would let him see another's status, even as he lowered Harry on the floor. He could find a bed later; he needed to know what was happening first.
…nothing? How could Harry have nothing?
"Isn't n'gative status," Harry said softly before yawning, "I th'nk magic ax— ex… exhaust. Lacking?"
He didn't seem to be too lucid. Momonga could feel his non-existent stomach twist with worry, even as he hurried to take off Harry's anti-detection ring and casted "[Mana essence]"
How— how the hell had he lost so much mana?! Harry's aura of MP, that should be similar to his own, was so low that he may as well not have one.
"What the fuck!"
"Ruuuudeee."
"Harry, we both know this— in that mock battle you only used low-tier spells. There's no way this is natural!"
"I know. I sorta' felt a munch."
Eh?
"What the— what?"
"A munch, and then pooff, a huge load of magic gone. Munch, munch… a few munchs. Some munchs."
"…As if you were transferring mana?" he tried to make sense of Harry's babbling, who seemed to be mildly entertained by his own vocabulary.
"Kinda? I didn' tho. Stolen? How's Nazik?"
"There's no spell in Yggdrasil that can steal— Harry? Harry can you listen to me? If this is a joke I swear I'm killing you!" Momonga started to speak faster, shaking his shoulders to instigate a response, but all he got was mumbled gibberish.
The aura of mana surrounding Harry grew even smaller in just a second, it wasn't noticeable anymore, and he was starting to look sickly pale. Momonga could hear sobs from somewhere behind him, which in turn only made him panic even more.
What is this? What was going on? Was this some sort of sickness in this new world? A curse? He didn't even consider—!
No, not now. Think. If Mana is the reason, then he only needed to lend Harry some. Rational. Logical.
"[Mana Distribution]" he muttered with new found determination, watching with relief as some healthy color returned to his skin.
But then, just as Harry's mana reached a decent amount, it suddenly disappeared again. Shit, shit, shit, this wasn't going to be solved until he discovered what was taking it away!
"Go, bring all the healers! Bring also anyone that has enough MP for a transfer!" Momonga shouted to the tearful Pleiades, surprised when they stood immobile. Why weren't they following orders? now of all times—
"M-Momonga-sama, this is the Treasury. We cannot— w-we don't have!" Yuri said between sobs, and he immediately felt guilty for losing his composure. They didn't have rings.
But why were they in the Treasury? Was this really the place he had imagined when he had opened that [Gate]? No, it wasn't possible to reach this place with a [Gate]. Had he unconsciously used his ring? when?
"Momonga-sama! Momonga-sama! Please, please teleport to the 9th Floor so we may support! To your office!" Albedo's terrified voice echoed in his mind. A [Message]? He didn't remember listening to the soft tinkling that normally signaled one. For how long had Albedo been trying to communicate?
He was a mess, he couldn't think clearly, and he couldn't help but curse colorfully at the lack of emotional suppression. Stupid panic wasn't helping. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Waiting until more MP was transferred to Harry, he signaled for the Pleiades to come over before activating the ring to leave the Treasury.
Appearing in his office, a chorus of relieved sighs greeted him, before some of the occupants used [Mana Distribution]. Now, Harry was receiving MP from three different sources, as Momonga, Albedo, and Mare were using the same spell, so he regained the lost MP fairly quickly. Harry took in a deep breath, as if waking up from deep slumber, and blinked sleepily.
"Haah… much better, thanks guys. Sorry I worried you," Harry muttered sheepishly towards the NPCs before turning his head to him, "And thanks bud, I think I can stand now. Let me down."
Harry wiggled in his hold, looking uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but release a short, relieved laugh before complying. He was still monitoring the aura of mana closely, worried that it may suddenly decrease again, but it seemed to be steady for now.
Harry seemed to be slightly disoriented, wobbling slightly from side to side before passing a hand tiredly over his eyes.
"Alright… before anything else, what tried to attack Nazarick?"
Eh? Nazarick was what?
The alarmed mannerism of the NPCs seemed to reflect this same thought, as they exchanged looks confusedly.
"We haven't— we didn't. The alarm didn't ring. Harry-sama, please sit down at least, you must rest!" Albedo tripped on her words as she signaled for a pleiade to bring a chair, seemingly torn between fretting over Harry's health and fretting over the concept that Nazarick had been attacked.
"Indeed, if something attempted to trespass, our security system was unable to notice it. To think we created such a defective—"
"I'll stop you there Demiurge, it's not your fault," Harry hurried to interrupt the Guardian with a calming motion, sitting down on the offered chair before muttering, "I can't think of anything that could pass unperceived. But for the wards to collapse…"
"The wards collapsed? Why in the— Harry, you need to explain fully from the beginning if you expect us to understand," Momonga reprimanded, crossing his arms over his chest. He hated not knowing what was going on, he hated the fact that he couldn't prevent this whole mess from happening. He hated the feeling of worry, fear, and anger that was coursing non-stop through him, and the way his fingers twitched as if itching to attack something, to retaliate against whoever was responsible.
"Right, sorry, sorry. Back in Yggdrassil, a few days after Nazarick was invaded by the use of that World item, I sort of…modified my wards. You see, since that item was a one-time-use, I thought that if my wards could become active again, automatically, immediately after their initial shattering, then no one would ever be able to trespass again," Harry said matter-of-factly, passing a hand through his hair worriedly "I think— no, I know they were shattered consecutively. There's no other reason for my magic to suddenly be borrowed in such large amounts so quickly."
A dread silence fell over the room as Harry's words were processed, but the look of panic and confusion remained on most NPCs — or at least for those that could show expressions.
"I haven't received any reports from the first floor, and the ones on patrol can't detect any intruders either…." Albedo whispered with a hand on her temple, seemingly communicating with multiple people.
"Well, I can feel Nazarick's wards are ok now, so I guess the attack was stopped correctly. I can't understand how they discovered our location though—"
"Sir, with all due respect," Jarvis politely interrupted him with a raised hand. "Could it be this isn't about Nazarick? since… wasn't there another place that you protected as well?"
Jarvis seemed to be trying to leave out something, choosing his words carefully while stealing looks at the other NPCs and at Momonga himself. Hiding something? Harry must have asked him to hide something.
"Harry?" Momonga pierced him with a glare, looking at him expectantly. He wasn't running away from this one.
"That's… no, that's not possible. That place was— eh?" Harry seemed genuinely confused, frowning pensively for a moment before his eyes opened in realization, "That son of a— a demon!"
Harry censured himself after a quick look at Mare, quickly raising from his chair and pulling the collar of his robe in order to take out the small bag hanging on his neck. "If he is— but why would he be here? It doesn't make any sense. I think I can feel something other than Nazarick's wards linked to me though? Ugh, where is that thing?! Accio!"
Harry was muttering to himself while searching for something in his pea-sized bag, where his whole arm had now disappeared. Momonga couldn't understand, and since Harry didn't seem to want to explain anytime soon, he did the reasonable thing and turned to face the Zerg.
"Jarvis, explain. That's an order," he commanded, trying to sound as authoritarian as he could, which probably wasn't much. Then again, all the NPCs in the room seemed to shift in response to his voice, so maybe he actually managed to pull it off.
"Understood," Jarvis muttered with a small bow, glancing at Harry as if asking for permission. When the homunculus didn't protest — didn't seem to be paying attention, really— he straightened and continued, "I don't recall the whole conversation, only traces of it, but I'm under the belief that Sir had an ally that didn't belong to this Guild. He would go often to visit them, discuss ideas and… place new wards, if I recall correctly."
Harry did? Why did he never mention anything?
Some of his friends, his guild mates, also had family or friends that played Yggdrasil but didn't belong to Ainz Ooal Gown, and they had brought those people to visit Nazarick a few times without problem. Harry could have done the same too, they wouldn't have minded.
"Yeah, he helped me a lot really," Harry confirmed Jarvis' explanation, seemingly having found what he had been searching for, since there was a small, round thing in his hand. "Let's see if that's really it. Point me: Jaldabaoth."
Looking over Harry's shoulder, he noted that the item seemed to be a compass of sorts, the little arrow running wildly for a few seconds before stopping to point in a single direction.
"Oh, that little— that!" Harry seemed to want to curse, but refrained from doing so in the presence of Mare. "He is here, which means my wards probably are too. And it's close enough to be detected quickly, so he must be—"
"Harry!" Momonga interrupted his rant, placing a warning hand over his shoulder as if that would get him to focus "Explain. Fully."
Some of his frustration must have leaked out in his voice, because the NPCs seemed to shudder for a moment, while Harry looked owlishly startled.
"Ah, right. Sorry, I tend to— right. Let me explain from the beginning," Harry muttered sheepishly after a moment, a hand rubbing the back of his head as if uncomfortable at being the center of attention.
This way, another tale ensued, as if the number of difficult-to-believe stories wasn't big enough yet, Harry added this one to the pile with nothing but a small smile.
A Guildbase. Harry had conquered a Guildbase on his own… How though? No matter how hard he tried to imagine it, he simply couldn't picture a single person cleaning a whole dungeon.
"Then…. you belonged to two Guilds?"
"Not exactly, I had to give it up if I wanted to belong to Nazarick, so I did."
The NPCs' eyes seemed to shine in this part of the story, tearfully happy that he had chosen the Tomb, that he had chosen them over his own, Volcano base.
"What… made you chose Nazarick over the Volcano?" Yuri's whispered question seemed to instantly change the atmosphere on the room, it now seemed…. concerned? Why?
Harry didn't seem to understand the sudden change in attitude either, looking puzzled at the NPCs in the room before slowly replying "Because, well, I wanted to have a proper Guildbase with my friends. The Volcano didn't have anything except for my old tests and notes either way, so I didn't see much loss in it."
Expectant silence seemed to fill the room, before Albedo tentatively asked "...there weren't— did you not have servants?"
Servants? Did she mean NPCs?
Harry seemed to realize something then, as he quickly replied "What? No! That base was only a place I considered safe enough to experiment in, I didn't— I was utterly alone there. Not even POP monsters generating, no nothing."
The NPCs in the room still seemed worried, so after a small pause Harry soothingly added "There's really no need— I will never, ever, leave Ainz Ooal Gown behind, alright? This is my home, and you are my family. Ok? Yes?"
Oh.
His guild mates, his friends… everyone had left the Guild, left Nazarick behind to move on other, real-life matters. It was no wonder the NPCs would worry about such a thing happening in this world too.
Momonga looked silently at the NPCs, that had gotten back to being happily teary-eyed, and wondered if they resented the others for leaving. What did it mean for them, the absence of the other members? Did they feel the same combination of sadness, anger, and betrayal that he did? Perhaps a stronger version? Being as dedicated as they were, it was no wonder they were affected.
After a few more soft words of reassurance, the NPCs seemed to finally regain their composure, encouraging Harry to move on with his explanation. Harry smiled, assured them one more time, and finally continued with the other half of the story.
As if the image of Harry solo-conquering a Guildbase wasn't disbelieving enough, the second part of the tale was just as much. Momonga stayed silent, happy that his face couldn't show expressions as he listened about the existence of a conscious, resurrected Raid Boss— maybe the same as Harry? — and POP monsters that seemed aware. Alive.
He could now understand why Harry hadn't invited them to Nazarick for a visit. They weren't players.
And then of course, was the cherry of the cake, the deal. Information in exchange of protection, Harry placing wards for every question answered until he ended up befriending the Demon Raid Boss. Information… if Yggdrassil was always 'real', then…
"Harry, this demon, Jal— jer…?"
"Jaldabaoth. It's a mouthful, so I just call him Jald," Harry said with an amused grin.
"Right, then Jald, if he is really here, then he must know how everything works better than we do. If he could explain things to us… it would be a great help."
"Yeah, I got many ideas for experiments thanks to him. We can—" Harry started to say before halting, excitement turning into a worried frown. "But the wards? If Nazarick wasn't attacked, then the wards that were broken were his. A World item that can break them consecutively…"
World item. There were world items in this world too. Momonga mentally chastised himself, having forgotten about the most important detail of this whole mess.
"We need to know who was behind the attack; if they were to try to invade Nazarick… we need to be prepared," Momonga muttered pensively. Truthfully, he wanted to use that compass thing to find Jald, and determine who was behind the attack to that base, to see who was in possession of the World items. But at the same time, it was risky. If they were to be discovered, if a battle ensued… were they prepared for that?
As if on cue, Mare's form suddenly shifted, revealing instead— oh no. Oh no. Why was he here?!
"Do not worry my creator, Momonga-sama!"
Just why?!
Pandora's Actor, in all his motion-expressive glory, dramatically took off the jacket hanging from his shoulders, and tossed it towards a surprised Demiurge before exclaiming, "We have information to deliver!"
Unperturbed silence followed that exclamation, everyone's gaze focused on Pandora before said Doppelganger gave one military-like step to the side and pushed Jarvis, as if saying, "your turn".
Why did you do that if you weren't going to say anything?! Take a goddamn hint! Momonga wanted to exclaim to his creation, who seemed unrepentant at having placed Jarvis on the spotlight, but surprisingly enough, the Zerg seemed to have been expecting it.
"Of course. Please allow me to deliver a briefing of the situation at hand," Jarvis' voice was collected, wings neatly folded behind his back, and Momonga mildly wondered if it was possible to somehow switch NPCs. Since his own was like that… ugh, no, that wasn't fair, he was like that because Momonga had programmed him as such. Fuck.
Why was he still thinking about that? Stupid second-hand embarrassment. World items! Focus on Jarvis!
After mentally chastising himself, he threw one last look at Pandora before focusing completely on Jarvis' report.
"…well, that was unexpected," Harry was the first to break the silence once Jarvis finished, looking quite unconcerned even after listening to such news, "but thanks to that, we can safely say the Theocracy is the one behind this, right?"
"No, there are other possibilities… but that one is most probable," Momonga countered, feeling cross at having been discovered so soon. What had they done wrong? What could they do now?
"Ja! And since it's like this, then we should do that. Isn't that right?" What was Pandora talking about? And why was he making that strange pose?!
"Indeed, it's the only way to prevent an attack against Nazarick," Demiurge nodded in perfect understanding, but he still didn't get it.
"Momonga-sama, Harry-sama, please say the word and we will immediately take action," Albedo said sweetly, placing a gloved hand over her cleavage. It was distracting, but his worry overpowered everything else. He didn't understand, why did nobody speak clearly? Was that too much to ask for?
"We will need to temporarily borrow your compass Sir."
"No, no, I'd like to go say hi in person so I'm going too. Momonga, since we're going against people with World items, which should we take from the Treasury?"
From the— oh. Ohhhh!
"I see," he muttered, feeling relieved that he understood their conversation now, "since it's like that… four— no, let's take five, that should be enough. Let's prepare quickly and depart before their location changes."
Quickly smoothing out the important details, they left the room to prepare as much as they could with such a short time.
AUTHOR NOTE:
Welp, Pandora has 50 sets for transforming, and there were only 42 Guild members, so it makes sense that Momonga made him to copy the best denizens of Nazarick, don't ya think? Floor Guardians included! So much protagonism for my boy this chapter~ As for the reason he didn't immediately go to the Treasury? That will be mentioned next chapter *wink*
Also, it wasn't written directly, so let's say it like this: zergs & infernal spirits look alike, and the Slane Theocracy has someone that can detect them— even see the zerglings — when the host is still alive. Too bad they got confused tho.
And for those that don't remember, this is the order of items from weakest to strongest! 1) low class, 2) middle class, 3) high class, 4) top class, 5) legacy class, 6) relic class, 7) legendary class, 8) divine class. Poor Fluder, eh?
Well, thank you for reading and hope you like it! See ya' around~ This chapter is long as shit, with 12K words = 28 pages in Word. Hope you didn't start reading it before sleeping!
P.D. Personalities from the most prepared to the less:
1) Momonga: he is the kind that thinks the worst will happen, likes to prepare for absolutely everything, and has the mindset that he will always be at disadvantage. The kind of person that would pass a whole hour practicing what he is going to say and how he is going to say it before a 5-minute meeting with Albedo and Demi! Can actually improvise when needed, but regardless of the result he will think he did something wrong.
2) Jarvis: behind that calm façade is actually someone that worries too much. He prepares everything up to the small details, and failure really gets to him. He has a clear mind most of the time, and is quite the intelligent prick, but when something unexpected happens he can't work at full capacity. He is the best when it comes to planning with time, having everything prepared beforehand, but utterly sucks to adapt to sudden twists.
3) Demiurge: as the defensive strategist of the Tomb, he is the best when it comes to adapting to new circumstances, his sharp mind almost never affected by emotions. The only thing that can throw him off a loop would be failing in such a way that it's irreversible. If his mind were to come up blank when searching for a solution… can you imagine his reaction?
4) Albedo: her intelligence and coordinating capabilities are the best to rely information to everyone in a timely manner. She is the one that is always aware of everything, and thus the first that can take action. When emotions cloud her judgment though, she is prone to taking the third best possible solution instead of the first best.
100) Pandora: he has a positive attitude, and firmly believes that everything has a solution. This is the reason that he only mildly prepares for things, trusting in his ability to adapt to whatever circumstances, but this only comes out right if he is the only one involved. He actually sucks at coordinating others, and can't really act like a leader would. Although he has a sharp mind, he likes to delude himself when it comes to the attitude or actions of the other NPCs, trying to think the best. Somewhere deep in his mind though, he is aware that he may not be as popular or likeable as he expected.
220) Harry: in his experience, no matter how much he prepares or plans ahead, in the end shit will inevitably hit the fan. Thus, he never prepares for anything unless prompted by others, and would rather just adapt as necessary in the middle of the unexpected. He is confident that he can get away with almost anything, trusting his experience, magic and items to pull it off, and is only concerned if his friends are also involved. In his opinion, his own death or health is unimportant since he will just end up coming back either way, so he would rather die or suffer a few times than let anyone close to him be truly endangered. This attitude tends to drive Momonga up on a wall with concern.