A/N: To answer some things, Raizel Silvestre, there's no real reason for Suzuki to tell Albedo that he was also Momonga- she loves him and not Momonga, and it would probably just confuse her. Unless it comes up in the story I don't think it'll be addressed. Also, thanks to Guest for suggesting places from where I can get ideas for undead summons- Overlord was kind of limited in describing the number and kind of summons Ainz could have. Here though, he is going to be using seventh and eighth tier magic much more, so we'll see other kinds of undead.

recordman, the paradox about Fluder is I think explained like this- those who had experience with magic like Raevan knew Fluder was probably dangerous, but most nobles just ignored most things about magic. As such, some people saw Fluder as being strong, while most others saw him as just "the Empire's poster boy", that's a line I got from volume nine.

I think even Jircnic might've played on this by making sure that Fluder never fought in the annual war so that maybe the Kingdom would underestimate the Empire. Jircniv only planned to send in Fluder when he wanted to really take E-Rantel for Ainz, so I think that's actually correct- get the Kingdom to underestimate the Empire's most powerful magic caster and then strike with Fluder Paradyne to give the finishing blow one year when they really wanted to take the city. So, since most people of the Kingdom had never actually seen Fluder in combat, they assumed he wasn't that strong, while Gazef had killed two of the Imperial Knights, they never saw Fluder do anything, so a lot of them underestimated him.

Regarding metamagic, I don't know how it works in Overlord. In D&D I think you need to be able to cast magic two tiers above a tier to use metamagic with it, but in Overlord we see Narberal use metamagic with a 7th tier spell when she can only use the 8th tier, and Ainz can use metamagic even with 10th tier spells, so I just sort of give Suzuki this abilties here.

Also, it wasn't Suzuki who was overconfident in the battle with the demon tree, it was actually Albedo. She was the one who moved too far away from Suzuki- I don't think Suzuki would've made that mistake had their roles been reversed. He was able to protect Evileye while fending off the Brightness Dragon Lord, after all, in the side story. The point there was that Albedo is far more likely to be arrogant and underestimate an enemy.

Suzuki had quickly learned how the new world levels scaled with things from his own world. No one could apparently go below level one, but a newborn baby and a grown farmer could both be level one, so there was a wide variation in strength there.

A warrior at level 3 had the physical abilities comparable to that of a professional athlete in Suzuki's world. When Suzuki had first gained a large number of levels after beating Clementine, he had been pleasantly surprised to find that his physical abilities had increased substantially. At that time, he had the physical stats of a warrior of level four since he had specialized entirely in classes related to being a magic caster, but it made a huge difference. It was quite noticeable because Suzuki was very used to this body of his- given it was nearly identical to the one he had on Earth. It had been a great feeling when he was able to jog a large distance or lift things easily that he couldn't before.

What surprised him at that time was the fact that he had not gained any muscle mass despite his increased strength. His body had gone through very few changes since he had first arrived, with a few of them being that his skin looked a lot healthier (probably due to the lack of pollution) and the fact that he had shed maybe one or two pounds of fat, but nothing major beyond that.

Then again, Suzuki had noticed that Albedo had startlingly little muscle whenever he would caress her while they were making out- and he was pretty sure that she had enough strength to crush a tank into a ball as easily as he would a sheet of paper. After all, this world seemed to work on a completely different set of rules and logic- it made no sense that a monk was stronger without a weapon and armor, but it was true here.

The issues began arising when he had gained a number of levels after the demon tree incident- now he had the physical capabilities equivalent to a warrior of between levels ten and twelve. A wild tiger or bear was the equivalent of a human being between the levels of seven and nine depending on the animal's size, and as such, Suzuki had accidentally broken several things as he was unused to his new strength. It would have been one thing if he had gained it gradually, but this had been a sudden change.

What really alarmed him was that he occasionally used too much of his strength with Albedo. Although someone such as him couldn't really hope to damage her physically, it still made his profusely apologize whenever it happened. If Albedo had been as frail as she looked, Suzuki would have definitely broken a few bones.

However, Albedo would just smile and say, "It's no problem Suzuki-sama! Please feel free to use as much force as you like!"

That honestly made him wonder whether or not she was a masochist... come to think of it, she had been extremely insistent on the fact that Suzuki should punish her for her failure to guard him.

"I made such a shameful mistake that lead to Suzuki-sama being injured. As your bodyguard, it is a great shame if even a drop of your blood is spilt or if even a hair on your head is cut off. Given that, please assign an appropriate punishment on this one!"

Suzuki felt that his injury had been a consequence of him being lax, and even if it was Albedo's fault, she had contributed more than enough to the team for him to let it slide completely, something he kept telling her whenever she demanded to be reprimanded. Not to mention if Suzuki was taking 100% of the credit of whatever they did, he felt that he should take 100% blame as well.

The two of them had teleported to a location two miles away from Carne, so that it would appear that they had travelled all that way. Suzuki felt it was a good idea to hide the fact that they could teleport from most people.

Taking a deep breath, Suzuki launched himself into the air and easily jumped over twenty feet before landing on his feet with no difficulty whatsoever. He had a wide grin on his face as he was savoring the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair- true, this was a bit childish, but then again, he had not had much of a childhood in the first place. Was it so wrong for him to act a little childish now?

He couldn't do something like this on the streets of E-Rantel, but there was no one else nearby except Albedo and his summons to judge what he was doing.

Would Albedo disapprove of how he was doing? Suzuki felt far more comfortable around Albedo than he had when he first got here, but he had no idea what she was thinking at the moment- as it was she would probably accept the explanation that he just wanted to test the limits of his physical ability. He had to admit it was quite enjoyable. Since his body was so similar to the one he had earlier, it was as if he was back in the Earth of 2138 but much stronger. If he used magic to buff himself, he could probably jump even higher, but he didn't for now.

Suzuki did not tire at all as they approached the village, and he no longer really ever needed Albedo to carry him now that he could teleport (something she seemed to be disappointed by), a fact that he was quite thankful for. A grown man being carried around by a woman would look as ridiculous as, well, a grown man riding a giant hamster or something like that, he thought to himself. Thank goodness he had not had to experience anything as ridiculous as that last thing.

Suzuki observed the village as he tread the dirt road. "They really should make a wall around them of some sorts at the very least..." As it was currently the village was completely open to attack from any direction. Then again, they probably did not have the manpower to waste on a nonessential like a wall.

That would change soon though, hopefully.

"Daniel! Chief!" Suzuki called out to the two men he saw near the village's entrance.

The two turned to him with smiles but then looked apprehensive at the line of undead who had been trailing behind him all this while. "Don't worry- they're under my control! They are undead I made!"

The two relaxed a little as Suzuki said this.

"How are you doing, Suzuki-dono?" Daniel asked him. "And didn't I ask you to call me Dan?"

"Right, right. Well, then, you can call me just Suzuki then," Suzuki said. "Um... I'm alright. I brought you guys a few gifts- these undead!"

Something about what he had said seemed to fly over their heads.

The thing was that Suzuki found it odd that the Empire kept declaring war on the Re-Estize Kingdom each year, and mentioned it offhand to Albedo once on a dinner date. She had then gone into detail about how the constant fighting would lower the Kingdom's grain reserves over time and eventually decrease its fighting strength to the point that the Empire would be able to conquer them in a few years. She had managed to infer all of this from her limited observations- a testament to her great intellect. She estimated that the Kingdom would probably be able to hold onto E-Rantel for only five or six more years before it would be conquered if things were to continue as they were.

Suzuki heard many complaints about food shortages hurting many villagers across the kingdom which had now intensified. And he could easily see how Dan's absence once he was drafted would affect Carne.

These undead were the solution.

"Well, since many of you are being drafted, and that will lead to a lack of helping hands," Suzuki said, "I thought of loaning you some of the undead I made as laborers. They're zombies, so they need direction, but the thing is that they can work without any breaks and all throughout the day and night! They don't need food either."

A medieval farmer would have to consume something between sixty and ninety percent of the produce he grew to support himself and his family, as well as store a little to tide over a possible bad harvest. In this world the percentage seemed to be a bit lower at about forty percent because of better food storage facilities compared to medieval times, but the villagers of the Kingdom were often taxed at rates between eighty and ninety percent.

Undead on the other hand did not eat any of what they produced, so by that standard, and the fact that they could work two to three times as long, one of them could generate about four times the produce a normal person would at the very minimum.

"Suzuki-dono, I thank you for your gratitude but..." the village chief seemed to have some complaints but seemed to be hesitant to voice them. "Is it really alright to use things such as undead?"

Suzuki knew that the temples generally frowned on people how practiced necromancy, but at least in Re-Estize, no one really commented too much on Suzuki, perhaps because of his high status as an adventurer, but he could see why even common folk would not trust the undead. "Don't worry, they are completely obedient to me, and will do whatever you ask. And if anyone protests..."

He pulled out an envelope. "Here's a letter from me if anyone ever asks you about the undead. It's like hiring workers to work your fields, right?" The letter had actually been written by Albedo and the only thing Suzuki had done was sign it, but that was not really a relevant detail. "Show it to someone and I don't think they should bother you- with that said though, you might want to hide them from other people as much as possible."

Dan pursed his lips. "But who will give them orders? I have to leave, and the village chief will be busy in his duties."

"Perhaps you can ask your wife?" Suzuki suggested.

"Ah, the thing is she is pregnant," Dan said. "She will find it hard to leave the house soon."

Ah, so Enri would have a little brother or sister soon, Suzuki thought. This would mean that Dan would have an extra mouth to feed, and his wife could no longer contribute to working in the fields as much as she normally would have. Someone such as Enri probably contributed enough labor to earn the food she ate, but a child as young as Nemu could not. That said, it was extremely short-sighted to see children only from a financial perspective given that humans were mortal creatures, and needed children to further propagate their species.

Not only that, but there was always the slight chance that someone of great renown such as Gazef Stronoff might be born in an unassuming village somewhere.

If the Kingdom had a method to screen people from villages to look for people with exceptional talents, many people who would otherwise remain simple peasants might be able to unlock their full potential, but sadly there was no system in place such as that. Given that the Kingdom had about a million more people living in it than the Empire, it should have also had more exceptional people, but given the current state of things most people had little means to improve themselves. They had to spend all their spare time taking care of their bare necessities.

"Well, why not have Enri use them?"

She was a bit young, but that also meant she was probably going to be less dogmatic about using the undead. Also, Suzuki didn't know many other people in the village and he couldn't be sure that they might not use the undead for nefarious means.

"Ah, Enri?" Dan thought about it. "Perhaps..." He called her over.

Enri approached them, but was slightly taken about by the undead.

Suzuki explained what she needed to do with them. She was getting one zombie ogre and six zombie goblins to use. Zombie goblins were slightly stronger than normal goblins and could probably rival the strength of a villager, so she was getting the equivalent of six workers and the ogre, who could do many tasks that the humans of Carne could not thanks to its strength.

"Is that clear?" Suzuki asked.

"I-Indeed," Enri said as she was able to get the zombies to start scooping dirt out of the earth. "But Suzuki-sama, is it really alright for us to take these? After all that you've done for us?"

Suzuki smiled. "Really, I don't need these undead at the moment, so you're basically taking them off of my hands." He then sighed. "Plus, after having saved you all once, how could I possibly see you all still in peril?"

Though he didn't know it, the loyalty of Dan and the village chief towards him had skyrocketed. "It is no issue then," the village chief said. "We will find a way to convince the others."

"Yeah, and here's a little hint- it would be good if you were to make a sort of fence around the village," Suzuki said. "You can use the zombies for any purpose- even defense, though I should point out that they're not that strong though."

"Understood, Suzuki-sama!" Enri said and bowed her head. "Won't you come dine with us another night?"

"Maybe some other time," Suzuki said. "There's something else I have to take care of."

This was a lie given he had nothing that needed to be done urgently- but he couldn't bear to see the villagers spend more money on him considering they would soon be running a deficit and would need every single hand available to them. Suzuki was afraid that they might insist on throwing him another feast.

"Alright then, I see," Dan said. He then clasped Suzuki's hands in his own. "I know this is a selfish request, Suzuki-sa- I mean, Suzuki, but while I am gone, could you please make sure that this village is safe?"

"Don't worry about it," Suzuki said. If any of his undead were killed, he would know and come to the village to intervene.

As they walked away, Suzuki thought that if this went well, he might be able to sell undead labor to other villagers. For that to work though, he would need to create as many undead as possible- but ah, he couldn't keep killing monsters otherwise it would drive other adventurers out of business.

"I wonder if that lich can do his job properly," Suzuki said. "If it's possible to create intelligent undead, I can have them direct other undead. With them, I could make an organization consisting of just undead. We might be able to solve many of this country's problems then- I could make a place where people could live in happiness. Where someone like Dan wouldn't need to be drafted, and people wouldn't be in constant fear of monsters, and food would be cheap. How does that sound, Albedo?"

What he left unsaid, but he thought was obvious, was the idea that he could charge rent for each of the undead he lent out. As such, what he had done for Carne could be seen as the equivalent of giving out free samples to increase brand recognition of your product.

The gears in Albedo's head began turning. "I understand Suzuki-sama, and it is a wonderful idea! Something truly worthy of your name!"

The Katze Plains were covered in a thick fog that not only obstructed vision, but also obstructed undead-detecting abilities.

Not only that, but undead constantly spawned over the area, making it a big problem for the people of both the Kingdom and the Empire.

For a necromancer like Suzuki, however, the place was filled to the brim with possibilities.

First of all, the large masses of undead were a rich source of experience for Suzuki as he burned them all away.

Second, Suzuki found that the Orb of Death that he had found, which was no longer able to try to mind control him as he had leveled up considerably, reacted very strongly to the fog.

He now understood a bit more about how the Orb of Death worked. It essentially let him gather negative energy and convert it like a currency to achieve various effects. He could still, even now, transfer his unassigned level along with a few of his committed ones into undead racial levels. But there was a limit to what he could do with it and to how much negative energy it could hold.

That said, it did have a large amount of negative energy stored inside. It seemed to be increasing more and more the longer Suzuki destroyed undead as if it was drinking their negative energy, and now was nearly bursting.

Suzuki smiled. There was one thing that he could do now thanks to the Orb and the fog. "Albedo, I'm going to use the Orb to materialize a Death Knight. I won't be controlling it though, so I think I can get XP by killing it."

He already knew that killing his own summons would not grant him any XP, but as he would not be controlling this creature, but rather, using the negative energy he had gathered to induce the fog to then create a Death Knight from it, it was technically not his.

There was only one way to know for sure.

He released all the negative energy in the Orb of Death, ignoring its complaints as a dark shadow formed in front of them, revealing one of Suzuki's favorite summons when he had been Momonga. A pang of nostalgia hit Suzuki upon seeing the monster, and he wistfully remember how easily he could once easily summon them.

The Death Knight, instead of charging at them turned and wandered in another direction.

"E-Eh?" Suzuki said. The Death Knight's hatred of the living should've propelled itself towards the two of them, so why had it wandered off? Could it sense that it was weaker than them? Or was it perhaps-

A scream cut through the fog, confirming Suzuki's suspicions. There was probably a larger group of people nearby which attracted the Death Knight's attention. He would have to act fast. "Twin Maximize Magic! Chain Dragon Lightning!" There was no way to stop the attack without magic, and the fact that it would repeatedly strike the target meant that it would bypass the Death Knight's ability to withstand a single blow. He had used metamagic enhancements to the spell so that it would guarantee a kill.

Suzuki felt his spell connect, and it turns out that he had been right. Killing the Death Knight granted him XP equivalent to one-fifth of his current experience bar.

As the two of them walked towards where they had heard the noise, and Suzuki hastily hid the Orb of Death, they saw the shadows of a large group.

As they got closer they saw twenty Imperial Knights surrounding four wagons, along with four people who were very clearly not knights and not adventurers either.

One of them had purple hair and was dressed up like a rogue- she also had pointed ears. One of them was a young girl with blonde hair clutching a staff. One of them was a man with blonde hair who was duel-wielding two swords. And one of them looked to be about thirty and was holding some sort of holy symbol in his hands.

"Ah, do not worry," Suzuki announced as they all came into view. "I have taken care of that undead."

All eyes went to the two of them, and then the plates visible on their necks.

"Adamantite adventurers!"

"Good thing too, I thought we were dead for sure."

"That thing looked really dangerous- do you think it was that monster which appears once every hundred years?"

"Don't be daft, Gorger, even Fluder's said to have trouble handling that thing. No way someone could've finished it off in a single spell."

"Right, the two of us were hired to hunt undead," Suzuki said. It was a job that one could pick up at any time, for there was always a need for it. "And we saw that monster moving towards your group and I finished it off."

"Well, thanks then," the man with the two swords said. He extended his hand after sheathing his blades. "My name is Hekkeran. This here is my group- we're a team of workers called Foresight. This here's my team, Arche," he pointed to the girl holding the staff, "Robberdyck," the man who appeared to be a priest held up a hand and smiled, "and Imina." The woman was probably a half-elf given her features. "I can't thank you enough for your help, I don't know about that monster, but it looked like we were in a tough spot."

"Are you also hunting undead?"

"Ah, in a way. We were asked to help guard these wagons," Hekkeran replied.

It would make sense that they would hire workers for it then. Suzuki had learned that the Adventurer's Guild would avoid trying to involve itself in battles between countries. As such, guarding these supplies which were probably headed towards the Imperial Army's castrum, especially with an impending war, was something that would fall upon workers.

"I see. My name is Suzuki, and this is my partner, Albedo," he motioned towards her and all eyes save for a single pair moved to look at her.

The eyes that didn't stray belonged to the young girl. She was looking at Suzuki intently, and it was honestly making him feel a little uncomfortable. Her gaze did not drift away from him for even an instant. Even Hekkeran seemed to notice and gave her a playful push. "See something you like, eh, Arche?" he teased at her.

Arche immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. Hekkeran was astonished, but he knew that she wouldn't do this without a good reason. "Hekkeran, that man over there can use magic of the eighth tier. He is stronger than even Fluder-sensei."

She had tried to keep her voice down, but some of the soldiers still heard her. "Stronger than Fluder-sama!"

"I-Impossible! Does someone like that really exist?!"

One of them, who was a magic caster, asked Arche again. "D-Did you say the eighth tier? Are you joking, girl?"

Hekkeran turned to the man with a stern look. "Arche's ability has never led us astray before- if she says it's true than it is."

"I would sooner believe that she is being deceived by an illusion than believe that that man can use magic of the eighth tier! Even Fluder-sama can only cast up till the sixth tier!"

This argument was broken up by Suzuki asked, "Pardon me, but who is this Fluder person you're all talking about?"

All conversation died down and everyone was now looking at Suzuki. Based on how they were looking at him, he had just asked something that was very obvious. "D-Does someone who doesn't know Fluder-sama even exist? Does he live under a rock or something?"

The knight who said that was knocked on the head by another knight. "Don't insult the person who just killed a monster like that, dumbass!"

It was Arche who answered. "Fluder-sensei was my teacher. He is the greatest magic caster in the Empire, and is able to use magic of the sixth tier. He has schooled the emperors and protected the Empire of Baharuth for over two hundred years."

"Ah, I think I heard of someone like t- wait, did you say, two hundred years?" Suzuki asked.

"Indeed, I don't know the details of how, but Fluder-sensei found a way to extend his lifespan," Arche said.

When these words reached Albedo, she became far more animated. Her wings began flapping in her excitement much as a dog would wag its tail. "Indeed!? How? Where can one find him!? Could we meet him?"

All eyes now snapped to her, who hadn't spoken a word until that point.

"Fluder-sensei will probably be somewhere in the Imperial Magic Academy, or with the Emperor, either way, he's probably in the capital," Arche asked. "You could ask for an appointment- I think he would see two Adamantite level adventurers."

She had no idea how her old teacher would react to seeing Suzuki's magical potency, but if Suzuki had somehow fooled her talent in some way, surely her teacher would be able to see past it. If Suzuki was not hiding his power, however, then he was probably someone who could destroy the Empire singlehandedly.

"Ah, I see," Suzuki said. "Could you perhaps write us a letter of introduction?"

"I am no longer one of his students," Arche said. "And a recommendation from me would not mean much anyway- I'm sure though that he would see you two as Adamantite adventurers anyway."

"Alright, thank you then," Suzuki said.

The two groups exchanged farewells and parted ways.

Suzuki turned to Albedo. "Why were you interested in him?" It was odd for Albedo to want to meet a human. She usually kept completely silent whenever Suzuki talked to any of them.

"His ability to extend his lifetime," Albedo said. "Suzuki-sama, you are a human, and will age and pass away. Should we not find a way to stop it? That way, we can be together forever."

Ah, right. Suzuki hadn't honestly thought of that, he was even unsure whether he would age in this world or not. There was no concept of it in Yggdrasil, after all. But other humans in this world did, and his bodily functions in this world were the same as that of a normal human, for example, the fact that he needed to use a toilet which was not something that existed in Yggdrasil, so it was definitely a possibility that he would age with time.

"Let us go and find out his secret of immortality," Albedo said. It was the first time that she had ever seemed very adamant about anything till now.

"Alright, we'll go," Suzuki said. As a matter of fact, a plan was slowly forming in his head of what they should do after they met with Fluder. "For now though, let's keep looking for that ship."

The third reason that they had visited the plains was because Suzuki had heard stories of a ship of flying undead led by an Elder Lich, and the story had fascinated him. He wanted to find it.

In the other direction, the people were having an animated discussion about the adventurers they had just met.

"So that's what an Adamantite team looks like," Hekkeran said. "I heard of a new Adamantite team in Re-Estize, so this must've been them."

"Are you sure he was of the eighth tier though?" Robberdyck asked. He was also a magic caster, and he understood what that meant.

"That's why I kept looking at him, wondering if I was mistaken," Arche said.

"Just- just how powerful is the eighth tier exactly?" Imina asked. She was aware that was frighteningly strong, but was unaware of just how much.

"A fifth tier magic caster could easily defeat three third tier magic casters," Arche said. "By that logic, that man is at least thrice as strong as Fluder-sensei, perhaps even more. After all, the eighth tier is something I've only heard of in legends before."

Imina's eyes widened as she understood the implications of what was being said. "Do you think the warrior beside him was also that strong?"

"I doubt it," Hekkeran said. "I mean, it's already hard to believe a magic caster that powerful exists- actually, I've heard that the woman in that armor is extremely beautiful. I think she must be weaker than him, and is tagging along because he's just that powerful. In the looks department, he's quite below average, so why would a gorgeous lady hang out with someone who's uglier than her? Isn't that usually because the man is much stronger or wealthier than her?"

As a matter of fact, Hekkeran was slightly disappointed that she hadn't removed her helmet- he had wanted to see if the rumors had been true.

Imina frowned a little- thinking that Hekkeran's comment was a little sexist, but it was certainly more reasonable than thinking that woman could be three times stronger than say, Gazef Stronoff, who was said to rival Fluder. And such woman like those that Hekkeran described did exist, so it wasn't entirely out of the realm of plausibility.

She was scouting ahead, but fell back a few steps to gently tug on Hekkeran's left ear. At least, it was "gentle" for her- Hekkeran's pained expression said otherwise. She whispered into his ear, "And just why are you so interested in collecting information on beautiful woman of other countries, hmm?"

Hekkeran's face twitched. "I-I'm not, I just heard it when I asked about the new Adamantite group, I swear! No one seemed to know a lot of details about them, aside from rumors that the warrior woman was extremely beautiful! And plus, you know I only have eyes for you!"

Imina withdrew her hand and muttered, "Well, we're on a mission right now, so I guess I'll drop this, but once we get back, I think then I'll let you really have it."

Robberdyck shook his head while listening to their banter, and normally such a thing would have caused Arche to smile, but she was far too preoccupied thinking of the magic caster she had just met.

"Well," Hekkeran said while rubbing his ear. "I guess we should all just be glad he was on our side, right? I'd hate to have to fight him, or a monster as strong as him. We'd all be slaughtered."

"Indeed," the others said in agreement. Arche did not doubt it at all- he could probably kill them all with a single spell.

A/N: So thanks for reading guys! We're going to meet Fluder soon!