"Talking"

'Thoughts'

[spells]

Momonga was lost.

It had been nearly 3 hours since he started to fly in a random direction in search of a town. The sheer size of the titan's corpse was starting to sink in, as the undead had only barely cleared the ankle when the sun started to rise above the horizon. Signifying Momonga's first day in this new world. He had put the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown away to avoid the chance of it being destroyed.

'Mmh, I hope there are towns on this island. I must have flown at least 100 km by now and all I've seen so far is this never-ending orange pine forest. It'll be some pretty bad luck if I fly to the head only to find out that nobody even lives in this place. Uwah, that'll be such a pain.'

But just as the undead finished that thought his superior eyesight caught something in the far distance.

"Smoke?"

Small black smoke columns were slowly rising above the treeline, hidden slightly just behind a bone mound. When Momonga flew closer he could start to make out the distinct shapes of medieval-styled rooftops and chimneys.

'Yes! So people do live on this island. But I shouldn't just wander into town unprepared, I need to observe how the people here live and act so I don't stand out too much.'

Nodding to himself, Momonga landed just a way out on a hill that overlooked the small village. From here the undead could even make out the silhouettes of the residence of the town going along with their morning routine.

The undead reached his hand into a small black portal and pulled out a 1 meter tall, oval mirror with a bronze frame covering its sides and edges. It's an item called Mirror of Remote Viewing, and it allows the user to see and observe any known or unknown location. Like a touch screen, the user can manipulate the image being shown, enlarging or minimizing the view using specific hand gestures to move through what the mirror is displaying. It could be counted with low-level anti-spying spells but even still it's a very valuable scouting and surveillance tool. So much so that Momonga himself keeps several copies on his person at all times.

Activating the item, Momonga was met with a crystal clear reflection of his undead self. Waving his right hand, the image in the mirror suddenly turned around to face the town, with another wave the image then started to fly at an extremely high speed towards the town's gate. But before it crashed right into the big doors Momonga raised his hands suddenly, bringing the image to a halt.

Satisfied with his handling, the undead gestured lightly and the image in the mirror started to fly gently through the small village's main road.

"Interesting"

The undead overlord purred with interest. The sight he was seeing through the mirror was extremely bizarre and had caught the skeleton by some surprise.

Momonga had been expecting the usual sight of a medieval village or town when he saw the old title-styled rooftops. But the living buildings he was seeing how had certainly dashed that idea. horns, eyes, and even mouths stuck out from the buildings in this town at odd angles, sometimes even completely consuming it.

'How does that even work? Is it like a golem that's built into a house? Or are the eyes and mouths sticking out from the sides of the houses merely for show?'.

As if the universe had heard his question, Momonga saw a small bird fly a little too close to one of the houses with a jaw as a wall and eyes on the roof. The mismatched eyes immediately locked onto the small thing and it began to bite the air with its horrible jaws in an attempt to catch the bird.

'Mmh, so I guess that answers that question.' Momonga thought with a bit of amusement as he watched the small bird start to terrorize the living house, swooping down to peck at the house's eyes. Causing what Momonga could only believe to be pain and discomfort to the ironically defenseless house.

'But that still doesn't answer the main question, does it? Why would they build houses and buildings with these beings? Is it a stylistic choice? A status symbol for the rich? Or maybe it's for defense? But if one of these house faces can't even stop a bird I doubt it'll do any good against any thieves. Tch, too little information again.'

Waving his boney hand again, the view spun away from the living house and instead turned towards the main market in the town's center where some of the vendors were starting to set up their stalls early.

"This is a Heteromorph town?"

Momonga widened his eyes metaphorically as he finally got a good view of this world's residence. Every being he could see was a heteromorph of some kind, there were orcs pushing wheelbarrows, an elf setting up potion stands, a transparent blue slime with eyes cutting its lawn, and many more races he couldn't even begin to describe. It was truly a fully heteromorphic town, there wasn't even a human insight.

'Do humans live in a different area? Or maybe they're hunted for food. Or they might not exist at all, this is a different world after all.'

Setting that minor thought aside, Momonga spent the next half hour simply observing the residents of this small town going about their business. Unfortunately, the mirror doesn't broadcast sound, so he would still have to go in person to gather any meaningful information.

'There doesn't seem to be any undead here. My appearance might not make me stand out, but me being an Overlord might. I'll have to disguise myself.'

Momonga reached into his inventory once more and pulled out two thick silver gauntlets and a stylized red mask with blue, non-see-through eyes. It has green lines running up and down the face and a wide smiling mouth. The mask's design is similar to a Barong mask from Bali. With its expression being described as neutral. It's called the mask of Envy, and it has no ability or usage as it was a giveaway item for those who logged on during Christmas.

Putting on the gauntlets, mask, and closing his robes up, Momonga managed to completely hide any skeletal traces.

The overlord looked over his disguise, making sure that there was no trace of any telltale white bone. Satisfied, Momonga put the magic Mirror back into his inventory before setting off on foot towards the town's entrance.

—

"I hate mornings"

Rivity Handersmith was not a morning demon. No, instead he despised the act of waking early to do anything when it was so clear that sleeping was what the titian intended everyone to do.

But the small frog demon had to get up early to ensure that he could get a good spot for his stall of slugs and slug accessories. So in the end his webbed hands were tied.

"God damn bottom feeders the lot of you."

Rivity sneered lowly while slowly eyeing the other vendors setting up around him. The market in this place was as cutthroat as the big cities despite Femmor Gatto being on the smaller size. If you want to make a living as a vendor here then you gotta work for it.

And Rivity Handersmith hated working for anything, if the frog demon had the option then he would spend the rest of his days scamming dumb suckers out of their snails. But everyone in Femmor Gatto already knew his tricks, and he didn't have enough snails to move towns to start again. So he was here, stuck, making an "honest living".

Rivity felt a shiver go down his spine at the thought of honesty. Ooh, if only some rich sucker would wander into town for him to scam big bucks out of. That would just make his day.

Rivity snapped out of his daydreaming/scheming when he heard the other vendors whispering among themselves. Turning around he could see all the lot of them all pointing at the town's gates, signaling that that's where the disturbance is coming from. Squinting his yellow eyes, Rivity could see some guy in purple robes making his way into town.

As he got closer to the market, Rivity could begin to make out some defining features. He was pretty big, maybe standing at around 5ft 9 wearing some weird mask and gauntlets. But what really caught the amphibious demons' eyes were the guys' clothes. His robes had to be the most luxurious thing he had ever seen, the stuff seemed to practically shine and he was wearing some massive shoulder pads with red orbs connecting them to the robe.

'This guy is obviously wealthy, so why aren't other bottom feeders jumping on this guy to buy their junk?'

Rivity rubbed his chin in thought before snapping his fingers in realization.

'His mask of course! These chickens probably think he's part of the emperor's covens or something. HA! These no-brained hillbillies don't know anything, that guy doesn't even have the right color scheme. Well if they're not gonna act then I am.'

Getting onto his vendor cart, Rivity began to wave his arms emphatically while jumping up and down.

"HEY BUDDY! PAL! OVER HERE! IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THEN I'M YOUR DEMON!"

Rivity's shouting seemed to work as the masked stranger stopped walking and turned his attention towards Rivity's stall. After a pause, he began to make his way towards the small amphibious demon.

'Hehehe. Perfect, I got the rich bag's attention. Ooh, I can already smell the snails.'

As the masked stranger got closer, it became abundantly clear that Rivity had underestimated just how big this mysterious guy was.

'O-okay, so he's bigger up closer. Doesn't matter I've dealt with worse, alright come on Rivity you've done this a hundred times by now. Just snatch the sucker with some of your charisma, and rack in the snails.'

Rivity cleared his throat and with a practiced charming smile, began his usual sales talk.

"Welcome to Rivity's fantastic slug shop! For all your slug and slug accessory needs. I've got the best slugs on the Boiling isle, you won't find any better! We've got slugs of every kind from pets to food, we even got ones that glow, see!"

Rivity ended his speech holding up a little yellow slug that pulsed slightly with light towards the masked stranger's face. The stranger in response looked on in silence.

'Alright, so the guy isn't a slug fan. No problem, I can work with this.'

"But I can tell that you're a demon who's looking for something else. Well, you're in luck! Because I have items from all over the isles! I guarantee, whatever you're looking for I've got it!

Another short pause before the stranger finally spoke.

"I am in need of a map."

The stranger's voice caught Rivity off guard. It was so deep, rich, and commanding, like the voice of a king. But Rivity wasn't going to be scared off just because this guy has a deep voice, so he pushed forward with confidence.

"Maps? I love maps! That's my second most favorite item to sell, other than slugs I mean, hahaha."

The masked stranger didn't laugh.

"Haha… well anyway I can give you a map of the whole isle, for a price."

"Mmmh"

The masked stranger seemed to be deep in thought about something. And Rivity took this time to silently swear at the guy for wearing a mask. Rivity takes pride in his skill of reading witches' and demon faces, he could practically figure out what they were feeling at that moment and adjust his behavior appropriately for a sale or scam. But this guy's mask throws all that skill out the window.

The masked stranger reached one hand into his robe and pulled out a singular gold coin.

"I currently only have these as my money, how much would you say this coin is worth?"

The masked stranger asked, holding the coin out for Rivity. The frog demon jumped slightly to grab the coin and started to inspect it thoroughly.

The coin was pretty big, maybe 1.5 times the size of a snail coin. And from what he could tell from its weight and shine made completely from gold. But the most stunning aspect was the graving on the coin, one side had the beautiful carving of a female witch's face while the other side had some stylized tree with a massive snake coiling around it. Combined this work of art could be worth a hundred snails or more.

'Oh my titan, this is a snail's mine. If I could get 10 of these things then I would be set for life!'

"Mmmh."

Rivity said while faking a look of deep concentration.

"Well this coin of yours is pretty, so I would say about 10 snails."

The masked stranger didn't say anything as he took the coin back. His mask was locked onto the frog demon's face in silence, and Rivity was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable staring back at the unblinking, slightly unsettling mask.

"Is that so? How much was the map of the isles worth again?" He said pointing to a rolled-up paper in the back of his cart.

Rivity let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Their conversation was once again back to his merchandise.

"Well, maps for this quality are pretty hard to come by and are pretty hard to replace. So 2000 snails, but since you're a first-time customer I'll give you a discount. 1500 snails I-."

The rest of his sentence was cut off as he felt a powerful wave of energy hit him in the face like a gust of wind, and all of a sudden the masked stranger was emanating an aura of pure hatred. Rivity felt needles in his skin as a sudden spike of fear hit his heart. The world around him seemed to darken away leaving the masked stranger to tower over him, and Rivity instincts screamed at him to run away as fast as possible.

"Really? That much?" The stranger asked, his masked face tilted slightly in a mocking manner. As Rivity looked into the lifeless blue eyes he couldn't help but feel like the mask was scowling at him.

'D-does this guy know I'm trying to scam him?! Dear titan, what is this fear that I'm feeling? How's it coming from him? Was it magic? I didn't even see him draw a circle damn it!"

After a very long unbearable pause, the masked stranger's right hand began to rise once more and Rivity's pupils shrunk to pinpricks as his panicked mind began to flash unsettling scenarios through his head.

'He's gonna hex me! He's gonna hex me! He's gonna turn me into frog soup! Oh titan I gotta do something to save my skin now!'

"T-that's w-w-what I would say if you were just a regular customer! But you're my 500th client, meaning you get one item for my stall for f-free!"

Rivity finished with a shaky smile, with sweat slowly rolling down his forehead. He didn't even care that he blurted that out a little too quickly. All Rivity wanted was to get this terrifying stranger as far away from him as possible.

The stranger's hand paused mid-air before falling back to his side.

"Umu, really for free? Well, I'm glad that I was so lucky then."

Rivity handed the rolled-up map to the stranger who placed it inside his robes, gave the frog demon a slight nod before setting off for the town's gates once again.

Rivity was about to let out a sigh of relief before catching it in his throat as the stranger turned again to face him once more.

"I'm also in search of some information, do you happen to know a place where I could obtain that?"

Rivity was sweating hard.

'Pleaseleavepleaseleavepleaseleavepleaseleave' He was silently begging before an idea popped into his head.

"A-ah, information? Mmmmmh sorry pal Femmor Gatto is an isolated hamlet filled with idiots, so I doubt you'll find anyone with the information you need. Trust me, don't check. I suggest heading to one of the big cities far away from here like Bonesborough, you'll probably find what you need there hehehehehehehehe."

Rivity ended with an undignified giggle as his fear crept into his voice. He just hoped the guy bought his lie and left forever.

"Really? Uwah, such a shame then, but thank you for the information. Have a good day."

As the masked stranger finally turned and began to make his way towards the town's entrance, the frog demon felt that unbearable pressure on his shoulders disappear and the primal fear in his heart slowly began to fade. Rivity finally collapsed on the ground panting, drenched in a cold sweat. Watching as the person who made the demon fear for his life slowly disappear, Rivity only had one thought on his mind.

'I really hate mornings.'

—

'That went a lot better than I was expecting'

Momonga was happily walking back down the main road of the small town with a little pep in his step, the map safely tucked into his inventory.

'I was worried for a second there, I hadn't had to make small talk in a long time. I think my social awkwardness kinda showed there.'

Momonga was embarrassed at how he had frozen up when he heard the price for the map. He was even going to pay with Yggdrasils coins before the nice vendor told him the great news of being the 500th customer. He was so surprised that he even activated his Despair Aura I skill by accident which produces an aura of fear around Momonga.

'But the frogman didn't seem to have been affected at all. Mmh, maybe the Heteromorph in this world aren't affected by mind-altering effects. Or maybe they have immunity to it like undeads.'

Now outside the town's border, Momonga took out his newly acquired map gently to study.

'So this place is called the Boiling isles, and here is where I am.' Momonga thought, pointing a gloved finger at a small town symbol on the titan's right thigh.

'And the city he told me about is right in the middle' His finger then began to trace a line from the titan's thigh to its stomach, ending on a much bigger town symbol with the label Bonesborough.

'Bonesborough hun? I wonder what this city is like, and if it has the information I need.'

Rolling the map up and placing it back into his inventory, Momonga began to fly back into the sky before setting off to his new destination.