Chapter 2
Part 1
"I apologize for calling you here so late at night, Lakyus" (Renner)
"No need to worry, Renner." (Lakyus)
Lakyus entered the princess's room, followed by Evileye, Gagaran, and the twins, Tia and Tina. The twins simultaneously nodded to greet the princess, while Gagaran gave her a hearty "Yo, princess!". Evileye simply walked past without a word, stopping in front of the table at the center of the room, where a map of the Re-Estize Kingdom was spread out.
Official maps were still in the process of being redrawn, but on this map the recent border changes had already been sketched out with painstaking care. South of E-Rantel, a series of pins connected by a red string drew a path from the Katze Plains, through the mountains, then followed Kingdom's side of the southern border with the Slane Theocracy, ending southeast of E-Pespel.
"If it's bad enough for you to call us like this, we don't have time to waste like this. Hurry up and start." (Evileye)
"You are correct, Evileye-san. As you have probably guessed, the path I have plotted on the map is the route the Death Knights have taken since they were first spotted. They were first discovered accidentally by a group of adventurers, after which we had our own scouts track their movements. They are traveling at a walking pace, and are expected to reach E-Pespel by the morning after tomorrow." (Renner)
"Have you confirmed whether or not they are from the Sorcerous Kingdom?" (Evileye)
"Unfortunately, we cannot be sure. They have been advancing almost single-mindedly since we started watching them, walking past multiple mountain villages without sparing a glance for the villagers. However, when one local noble gathered his soldiers to stop them, they immediately charged into battle, killing everybody who resisted. While we can say for certain that they are not ordinary undead, they are acting neither like invaders nor envoys, so we are yet unsure how to respond." (Renner)
"If they've attacked the noble's army, isn't that already enough to consider them monsters? What's to hesitate about?" (Gagaran)
"Think for a second, Gagaran. Thus far they have been walking without proactively attacking anybody. No natural undead would act like that." (Evileye)
"Indeed, while they have crossed our border, this does not necessarily mean they have declared war. However, if our Kingdom were to gather its army to repel the Death Knights, it would no longer be avoidable. Meanwhile, not attacking is equivalent to admitting we are unable to defend our own nation.
As we have no evidence that they truly are related to the Sorcerous Kingdom, they could simply deny any relation, evading any fault for crossing our border. Should we attack, they could instead name them peaceful travelers, giving them just cause to invade. No matter what choice we make, they hold the initiative." (Renner)
Renner's explanation caused Gagaran's expression to gradually darken, while Lakyus continued to listen carefully.
"How has the Kingdom responded thus far?" (Lakyus)
"Onii-sama is prepared to leave them be, if they continue as they are. However, if they stop at E-Pespel instead of continuing past, he will order them to defend the city." (Renner)
"So in the worst case, the Kingdom could be back at war two days from now?" (Evileye)
"If the situation continues as is, I believe that to be likely." (Renner)
"Seriously…?" (Gagaran)
"So, Renner, what do you need us to do?" (Lakyus)
"You wouldn't call us here without a plan. Let's hear it." (Evileye)
Though their tones were polar opposites, Lakyus and Evileye were fundamentally in agreement. Both knew of Renner's genius, and trusted that she had already come up with a solution to the impossible problem.
"It is as you say. While any organized response from the Kingdom would be a response to the provocation and could be taken as a declaration of war, this may not apply to isolated actions by small groups. Although the Adventurer's Guild would most likely refuse to give out a request to attack these Death Knights, nobody could be blamed should a party of adventurers coincidentally encounter the Death Knights and fight them." (Renner)
"Wouldn't us suddenly leaving the capital like that be more than enough to show that this isn't some convenient coincidence?" (Tia)
"Perhaps. However, that alone is not enough to prove that you did not act by your own decision. More importantly, in the past the Sorcerer King had accepted that Momon-sama's defiance was his own. As equal adamantite-ranked adventurers, I expect he would hold you to the same standard. For that to be the case, however, we cannot provide you any assistance. You would have to fight all those Death Knights with just the five of you." (Renner)
"Not a problem. They are relatively strong, but cannot begin to be compared to Jaldabaoth or his maids. They won't be a problem for me, and Lakyus should be fine. As for the other three, well, they should survive if they stick together." (Evileye)
"Oi, what's with the rude analysis, chibi-chan?" (Gagaran)
"If you don't like it, figure these things out yourself. Death Knights are individually stronger than you three, and they outnumber us. You may have physically recovered, but you haven't fought for months. Don't go overestimating yourselves and getting killed again." (Evileye)
"What, so you were worrying about us, but too shy to admit it? You should have just honestly said that!" (Gagaran)
"Oh, just shut up already, musclehead." (Evileye)
Their banter was interrupted by Renner, who was laughing at their act, prompting Evileye to sigh and sit down.
"Thank you all for your help. Truly, I cannot count how many times you have all saved us. I'm truly sorry that I could not think of a better solution, one which did not require you to shoulder the fate of our kingdom like this." (Renner)
"Don't worry about it, Renner. We're friends, aren't we? You saved us with the warning about E-Rantel, we'd be glad to pay back the favor." (Lakyus)
Exchanging some final pleasantries, Blue Rose set off for E-Pespel, racing off in the middle of the night. Renner wished them luck, smiling and waving to them as they exited, Gagaran closing the door behind herself. The moment the door closed, Renner's smile distorted.
They really did leave like you promised, right on schedule. Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Albedo-sama, Demiurge-sama. Now, I only need to do my part.
"Stall Blue Rose?" (Tanya)
"That is correct. You are to get the adamantite adventurer party, Blue Rose, out of the Re-Estize Kingdom, and delay them for some time. Two weeks should be sufficient, but they should be back by the end of the third. During this time, you must prevent them from returning to or making contact with the kingdom. However, you are forbidden from killing them or taking any action which would result in war against the kingdom. Besides that, you may act as you wish, so long as the mission is accomplished." (Demiurge)
Tanya quickly began to think through the contents of the mountains of documents she had been provided, which she had been tasked with reading over the past few weeks, alongside her combat practice with the Pleiades. The vast archives of knowledge that Demiurge had collected through months of dedicated effort.
She had read up on everything from the history and legends of the world, the geography of the surrounding countries, the relative threat assessment of each country, and of course, the identities of royalty, nobles, and adventurers. At her request, Ainz had ordered Demiurge to provide her every bit of information he had about Nazarick's past, present, and future plans, which she had spared no effort to memorize down to the letter.
"May I ask what resources are available to me?" (Tanya)
She began by confirming the details with him. Her plans if she were to act alone would be completely different from if she had access to direct support from somebody like Demiurge.
"Should you require assistance, you may request it, and to some degree it will be provided to you. However, do take care not to interfere with our other objectives. I should not need to remind you to keep the cost and benefit to Nazarick at the core of your plans." (Demiurge)
"Of course, Demiurge-sama. In that case, I would like to take…" (Tanya)
"Dammit, what the hell is with these things?" (Gagaran)
"Gagaran, you're getting surrounded, fall back!" (Lakyus)
Despite being the one giving the warning, Lakyus was similarly being pressed back, having to constantly retreat to avoid being surrounded by the Death Knights herself. All their plans for the fight had long since broken down. They had expected the undead to charge them and get in each other's way, but instead they were being cautiously surrounded, each Death Knight perfectly covering those next to it.
"[Middle Magic Shield]! [Maximize Magic: Crystal Lance]!" (Evileye)
Even the one who had been confident in her ability to outclass the Death Knights was being pressed back by three of them, who were taking turns defending in sequence, preventing Evileye from being able to break through their great tower shields to deal any actual damage. At the same time, they would move to surround her, attacking from behind whenever she tried to focus her attack on one of them. Her strongest penetrating attacks were doing damage, but it would not be enough to defeat them all before running out of mana.
"Oi, chibi-chan, you said they wouldn't be a problem for you, so where has that confidence of yours gone?" (Gagaran)
"They have some kind of enhancement magic, but I can't identify it. Definitely not just 1st or 2nd tier, probably at least 4th. From how they're fighting, they might also be under the command of something, but none of them stands out as being superior to the others." (Evileye)
Evileye provided her analysis while continuing to fight the three Death Knights, taking advantage of her many decades of experience against all sorts of enemies to guess at their nature. That she could remain calm against the sort of enemies which radiated an aura of fear spoke of her capability, but even she was not without wounds, and was steadily being worn down.
"What should we do, Evileye? Do you think we should retreat?" (Lakyus)
"It'd be good if we could, but they might not let us. If it were just you and me, I could carry you away using [Fly], but not the rest. Even if we the two of us tried to buy time for the rest of you to run, half of them would get past. They wouldn't make it." (Evileye)
"So, what? You two should just run. Just come back and resurrect us later. It's better than getting wiped out here." (Gagaran)
Gagaran's words were confident, but Lakyus didn't miss Gagaran gripping her great war pick to stop her shaking hands. She was prepared to die again if it meant the party surviving, but Evileye's next words broke her resolve.
"It won't be that simple. Death Knights immediately turn anybody they kill into a zombie. If it were legendary [Resurrection] magic it would still be fine, but Lakyus's [Raise Dead] won't work on somebody that damaged. You dying here means real death." (Evileye)
"So we're screwed, then?" (Gagaran)
"It's all the oni boss's fault, then?" (Tia)
"Our only choice is to keep fighting and hope somebody comes to save us. That said, Renner made it clear she wouldn't be able to send help, not that I think the Kingdom has anybody left who can fight these if we can't beat them…" (Lakyus)
"Ah, if only Momon-sama could be here to save me…" (Evileye)
"You're seriously in love to be thinking of him even now, Evileye. There's no way he'd even know we're here, not to mention the undead king letting him-" (Gagaran)
Before Gagaran could finish her sentence, an explosion out of nowhere consumed the two of the Death Knights which were pressuring her. A third, which had been in the process of attacking Evileye from behind, was crushed into the ground by the figure which crashed into it from the sky at great speed.
"Momon-sama!" (Evileye)
"Are you kidding me, seriously!?" (Gagaran)
Responding to the impact, the remaining Death Knights backed away from the Blue Roses, raising their swords and shields against the intruder. Not missing the chance, Evileye moved to regroup with the others. The dust began to clear, but the figure revealed was not the pitch-black hero she had hoped to see. Instead, what had landed on the Death Knight appeared no taller than herself.
The figure wore only some light armor, a decorated vest over leather armor covered with brilliant green scales, except for a large boot made of a dark metal. In its hands was a short, gray, metal staff, which it pointed in the direction of the Death Knights. Behind it extended a silver-white tail tipped by a triangular blade, like the point of a harpoon.
The Death Knight turned landing pad was apparently not yet destroyed, as it raised its remaining arm to grab at the figure standing on its crushed torso. Without bothering to even look at the enemy, the figure trivially used its tail to impale the Death Knight's head, after which it crumbled into black dust. The figure lightly hopped onto the ground, never once sparing a glance for the monster.
"You've all been a real nuisance, running away from me for so long… Obediently crumble into dust." (Tanya)
Part 2
The exhausted Blue Rose looked at the small demon, which began to clean up the Death Knights as if they were mere pests. With each shot from its staff, it would fire magic blasts at the Death Knights, piercing them shield, armor, and all. Frozen by this display of force, the first to recover was Gagaran.
"Hey, Evileye, hasn't your Momon-sama shrunk quite a bit?" (Gagaran)
"What the hell is that? One of Jaldabaoth's kin? No, there was nobody like that among his maids. He shouldn't have hard the leisure to hold back this kind of force when he was cornered by Momon-sama in the capital." (Evileye)
Without even hearing Gagaran's joke, Evileye kept talking to herself, desperately trying to identify the newcomer. This was different from when she and Momon's partner Nabe were toyed with by Jaldabaoth's maids. No, this was the sort of panic she hadn't felt since they had encountered Jaldabaoth himself.
"Evileye! Do you know what that is?" (Lakyus)
Lakyus grabbed Evileye from behind, pulling her away to break her out of her rambling. Gagaran and the twins readied their weapons while backing up, not yet sure of whether they would fight or flee. Meanwhile, the demon fired its last shot, scattering the final Death Knight into black dust. They had spent a full hour fighting to defeat a single one of the Death Knights, but in less than a minute, it had singlehandedly wiped out the rest, all without taking a single step. Next, it turned its staff towards them.
"Now then, all that's left is… What are you?" (Tanya)
The demon now stood a few meters in front of them, tilting its head in confusion or curiosity, all while aiming the staff towards them. In response, Gagaran jumped forwards, aiming for the first strike. As if bored, the demon just raised its left hand towards her.
Gagaran's war pick struck a sphere which appeared between them, bouncing back with a high-pitched ringing sound, as if she had struck some crystal. Uninterested in the attack, the demon shrugged, then raised its staff with one hand towards Gagaran while muttering to itself.
"I wasn't particularly interested in you lot, but if you're hostile, I suppose I'll kill you off after all." (Tanya)
"Stop!" (Evileye)
Evileye jumped forward, trying to get in front of Gagaran, but knew she wouldn't reach in time. Surprisingly though, the demon just lowered its weapon and looked towards her, mildly irritated.
"What is it? If you're trying to ambush me while talking, could you just give it up? It's annoying." (Tanya)
"No, the crest on that armor, are you perhaps the Sorcerer King…-sama's subject?" (Evileye)
Evileye directed the other members' attention to the demon's armor, the light-gray vest which was indeed emblazoned with the emblem of Nazarick in a deep red.
"So you knew that much when you chose to attack me? Are you perhaps suicidal?" (Tanya)
"I apologize for my comrade's rudeness. We could not recognize that crest, so Gagaran must have believed you to be a subordinate of Jaldabaoth, who had previously killed her." (Lakyus)
Lakyus was the next to step forward, trying to explain the situation to the demon while defending Gagaran.
"Ahhh… I heard from Momon-dono that we look somewhat similar, as well. It can't be helped then, I'll forget what you tried to do. So, once again, what are you lot?" (Tanya)
"We are the adamantite-ranked adventurer team, Blue Rose. Please call me Lakyus." (Lakyus)
Lakyus reached under her armor and pulled out an adamantite plate which served as an adventurer's identity. Taking the hint, the others each took theirs out, naming themselves in sequence.
"Oh, you're the team with the…" (Tanya)
Tanya momentarily passed an appraising glance over at Evileye, before looking back to Lakyus.
"Well, alright then. Since it appears we will be working together for some time, I will introduce myself as well. You may call me Tanya." (Tanya)
"Tanya? But that's…" (Evileye)
"Working together? What do you mean by that?" (Lakyus)
Evileye and Lakyus responded to different part of the demon's introduction. While Evileye caught herself and stopped before finishing the sentence, she had correctly noticed that Tanya wasn't a demon's name. Names were of vital importance to demons, being the identity which allowed them to manifest in the world. The mere act of lying about its name was enough for a demon to lose its physical body and vanish. Even Demiurge was only able to act under the name 'Jaldabaoth' because that was in a way also his name, as had been written into his character description by Ulbert. Both names referred to the same demon, which had allowed that particular bit of deception to work.
While it was rarely possible for a demon to have two names, it was not possible for two demons to have the same name. Any demon which possessed a name was unique, powerful, and proud of that name. If by some extraordinary coincidence Demiurge ever encountered a human who shared his name, he would without hesitation kill that human, no matter where they were. This was part of the nature of demons, and the reason they usually had such unusual names.
Despite this nature, the demon girl in front of her had clearly named herself as 'Tanya', so that must really be its name. However, it was simply not possible for any demon with such a common name to ever appear. Far too many other beings would share the name for it to work as a unique identifier, so the demon would never be able to manifest itself in the physical world. Yet, here was such a demon.
Understanding this contradiction, Evileye realized what it must mean about the origin of the demon in front of her. However, fearing the possibility that this might be a delicate issue and provoke Tanya into killing her, Evileye shut herself up before finishing.
Unbeknownst to Evileye, Tanya herself was not actually aware of this naming contradiction, so her not saying anything saved both of them an awkward misunderstanding. Tanya, not noticing the importance of the comment, ignored her and only responded to Lakyus.
"I thought you'd want to, but I won't force you… How much do you know about these Death Knights? Where did they come from?" (Tanya)
"… We believed them to be naturally spawned undead, who had crossed the mountains from the Katze Plains to get here." (Lakyus)
"Don't be ridiculous. As if this level of undead could ever naturally spawn in these numbers." (Tanya)
Lakyus stuck with the story Renner had provided, playing dumb about the Death Knights. Adventurers would not be allowed to attack undead which were part of the Sorcerous Kingdom, so they had to have believed them to be natural undead to not have violated that rule. That she could remember to lie in front of the overwhelmingly powerful Tanya was a credit to her own discipline as an adventurer.
To her surprise, Tanya immediately admitted that they were summoned undead. With this the Sorcerous Kingdom would no longer be able to claim they were simply undead which spawned in the Katze Plains, and in the worst case, they could be considered the aggressors who had sent forces across the border of a country with which they had a truce. Lakyus couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"Do you mean to say that those Death Knights were sent here by the Sorcerer King?" (Evileye)
"Stop jumping to conclusions. If Ainz-sama wanted to invade your kingdom, he would simply do it, not waste time by sending such small-fry. I said they weren't natural undead, but they are not Ainz-sama's undead. I more or less know what was commanding them, but who sent that thing is another story. Whoever that entity is, they are the ones trying to invade your kingdom while making us look like the aggressors." (Tanya)
"That's bullshit, why should we believe anything you said? Your Sorcerer King has an army of those Death Knights, and you expect us to think there's another being which could create so many of those, yet conveniently only starts acting now, at the same time as you all come out of your tomb?" (Gagaran)
Gagaran yelled to answer Tanya's explanation, which had been delivered entirely in a sarcastic and mocking tone. Tanya ignored the provocation, shrugged, and continued in the exact same tone.
"I don't really care if you believe me or not, in the end it hardly matters. You need me to save your country much more than I'd like your assistance, after all. Like I already said, I know what created the Death Knights, what I'm interested in is what sent it." (Tanya)
"Your Death Knights are already all dead, why would we-" (Gagaran)
"Do you really think you could destroy a Dracolich with just the five of you?" (Tanya)
"What… did you just say?" (Evileye)
"You want several Death Knights and a relatively strong undead which is capable of creating and controlling other undead, all of which should be disposable?" (Ainz)
"That is correct, Ainz-sama." (Tanya)
Demiurge, unable to answer this kind of request himself, had instead directed Tanya to Ainz himself. He paused for a moment to consider his skills before answering.
"The Death Knights are plentiful, however the other part is more difficult. If you are in need of a capable commander which strengthens its minions, then a Crypt Lord would work. However, it would have to be summoned with YGGDRASIL gold, so I would prefer not to use it if you intend to discard it in the process. Aside from that… I believe a Dracolich would fit your description, however as I have not had a use for one up until now, I have not tried creating one. Still, I suppose we do have those Frost Dragon corpses lying around… Demiurge, where are those Frost Dragons now?" (Ainz)
"Yes. The majority of the Frost Dragons have obediently accepted Ainz-sama's rule, however there was one among the younger dragons who tried to resist. As punishment, we have been applying the same method we had been using to collect skin for low-level scrolls on it. Some of Cocytus's subordinates have been regularly cutting off its limbs, processing them into materials, then healing the wounds to repeat the process. As a result, we now have several storehouses full of Frost Dragon scales, skin, bones, bones, and meat.
While they are not nearly the level of the Ancient Dragon materials which Ainz-sama is familiar with, we have been able to replicate 5th tier scrolls using their skin and blood. I believe it may be possible to create a Dracolich if we were to gather enough of those replicated bones in one place." (Demiurge)
Demiurge's explanation caused Tanya to grimace at the torture which made Federation 'communication' sound mild. He did not comment, whether it was because she was behind him and he did not notice, or perhaps he simply accepted it as a former human's reaction. Ainz reacted in much the same way as Tanya, but his lack of facial expressions let him hide it.
"… Is that so. Good work coming up with such a method for producing materials. We will go with your idea. Go get those bones, and deliver my thanks to Cocytus while you're at it." (Ainz)
"We are unworthy of your praise, Ainz-sama. I will deliver your message and return shortly with the materials for your experiment." (Demiurge)
Demiurge bowed deeply to Ainz, then activated the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport to the fifth floor. Ainz and Tanya were left alone in the throne room.
"… Ainz, you're doing some really disturbing things down here, aren't you…" (Tanya)
"Don't say it. I didn't know he was doing that, either…" (Ainz)
"Oi, Evileye, what the hell is she talking about?" (Gagaran)
"The Dracolich is a legendary undead last seen almost 200 years ago. It appeared suddenly, gathering an army of undead from the Katze Plains. After that, it flew to the Slane Theocracy, devastating a city, their armies powerless to resist it. Finally, it flew north towards the mountains, and was never seen again.
Some say it angered the Platinum Dragon Lord and was destroyed, others that it had been sleeping in the mountains ever since. Neither was ever proven, but if what she says is true, we just learned the answer." (Evileye)
"Just like in the past, it suddenly appeared a week ago and attacked E-Rantel. However, Momon-dono stopped its attack, driving it off and heavily injuring it. Still, it escaped, and is now in hiding in a mountainside cave south of E-Rantel. Since Momon-dono cannot leave E-Rantel for too long, we cannot have him spend his time searching through caves. Instead, I was sent to destroy it, but found that it had created a pack of Death Knights and sent them towards your city, trying to turn it into an army of squire zombies to use against us." (Tanya)
"As expected of Momon-sama." (Evileye)
"If such a legendary undead really has awakened, we have to go warn the Kingdom" (Lakyus)
"Warn them and do what? Does the kingdom have an army of soldiers at least as strong as you hidden somewhere? The Dracolich can use the 7th tier spell [Undeath Army] to turn every nearby corpse into an undead. You're each strong enough to at least fight against it, but if you send the kingdom's army against it, forget being useless, they'd be creating enemies for us." (Tanya)
"She's right. That spell is the same one which turned every body in the E-Rantel's cemetery into an undead, the incident Momon-sama resolved. I don't know if the Dracolich can really use that level of magic, but it wouldn't surprise me." (Evileye)
"That doesn't change that we could at least get them to evacuate the city." (Lakyus)
"I've already spent too long tracking down those Death Knights, time it spent recovering. Any longer and it'll get its full strength back, by then there will be nothing I can do about it anymore. As it stands, I'm not certain I could win alone anymore, which is why I want your help to destroy it. With its minions dead, next it'll come out and personally raze your cities to build its armies. Waste any more time warning them, and there won't be anywhere left to evacuate to. If you understand, let's get going. Meet up at the foot of the first mountain southwest of E-Rantel." (Tanya)
Declaring the conversation to be over and refusing any further argument, Tanya turned around, activating her the flight gear and jumping into the air. From the air, she gave Blue Rose another glance, then flew off in the direction of E-Rantel.
"Dammit. We can't leave that sort of monster to recover. If delaying costs us her support, we can't afford it. Call your mounts and catch up, I'll go on ahead. [Fly]." (Evileye)
With Tanya flying considerably slower than normal, Evileye was able to catch up before long. The other four watched her fly off in disbelief.
"I didn't think she would rush off like that. What's gotten into her?" (Gagaran)
"I don't know, but it's possible she knows more about the Dracolich than just what the stories say. Maybe it had something to do with how she became who she is now. I don't intend to pry, for now we should just trust her." (Lakyus)
"Are we really going along with this?" (Tia)
"The kingdom's still in a mess from the war. If they get attacked again now, they'll get wiped out for real. If now is our best chance to stop it, we have to take it, even if it means trusting that demon." (Gagaran)
"Agreed. Let's follow them." (Lakyus)
Lakyus and Gagaran each took out a decorated whistle, which they blew into. As they did, the whistles shattered, and in their place great warhorses rose from the ground. The whistles were rare and expensive items that Blue Rose had held onto for years, yet Evileye had told them to use it, indicating just how much of an emergency she thought this was.
The horses would obey them for 24 hours, and while they were not as fast as Sleipnirs, they could carry the massive-framed Gagaran in her full-plate adamantium armor without slowing down much, something completely impossible for any non-magical mount. Lakyus and Gagaran each mounted the horse, while both twins got on behind Lakyus.
"Even with the three of us, Gagaran's horse is the one struggling. Poor horse." (Tina)
The two horses rushed off after Tanya and Evileye, following the long road to E-Rantel. For the next day, they rode without rest, arriving at the foot of the mountains shortly after them. They got off the horses as they vanished back into earth, greeting an annoyed Tanya and an exhausted Evileye.
"This monster… Who can keep flying for an entire day without pausing or even breaking a sweat…" (Evileye)
Evileye was sitting on the ground hugging her knees, grumbling complaints. Immediately following a fight to the death against Death Knights, she had been almost forcibly taken cross-country flying. Even with her innate ability to fly much more easily than with [Fly] magic alone, she had been using it continuously for an entire day without being allowed a break, maintaining her full speed for the entire distance. Even her inhuman mana supply would be naturally be depleted by such a nonsensical feat. Tia and Tina were staring at such an Evileye with amazed expressions.
"We're here. So, where is this cave?" (Lakyus)
"Up, obviously. No magic from here on, either, or it might detect us and flee. Rejoice, we're going mountain climbing!" (Tanya)
Ignoring the expressions of utter despair from the completely drained Blue Roses, Tanya gave a demonic smile.
Part 3
Nearly three days had passed since Blue Rose had left the capital, during which they had been running, fighting, riding, and flying continuously without rest. Only Lakyus, Tia, and Tina had gotten a bit of rough sleep by taking turns guiding the magic horse.
All pleas for mercy were promptly rejected. When Lakyus tried to argue that climbing a mountain while so exhausted was too dangerously, Tanya simply responded by saying,
"You who call yourself adamantite-ranked would balk at something as simple as this? Do you truly believe you could ever fight alongside Momon-dono with that kind of attitude?" (Tanya)
The argument honestly didn't make any sense, but Evileye practically jumped up to get ready. It was then that Lakyus realized just how perfectly this demon had them dancing on the palm of her hand. Having already agreed once, when Evileye told them to hurry up and start climbing, she couldn't do anything but sigh and accept it.
Just as promised, neither Tanya nor Evileye were using flight magic, climbing the mountain using just physical strength. Despite this, the pair of 'Magic Casters' had the physical strength of literal demons. Even without any enhancement magic to strengthen themselves, both were practically hopping up the mountainside. To the horror of the other four, both clearly expected them to be keeping up with their speed as they ran along the precarious cliffs.
In truth, Tanya's raw physical strength wasn't actually too special. With a demon's body, she was easily stronger than ordinary humans, but without using a support formula to strengthen her muscles, she was hardly heroic. Unlike Evileye, she couldn't beat Lakyus or Gagaran in a contest of plain strength. Unfortunately, this technicality wasn't of much consolation to them: Between her military training and mountaineering experience, she could take full advantage of her lightweight body to effectively run up cliffs without a single misstep.
"Hah… Our oni leader is plenty evil for dragging us into this mission, but she's on a different level altogether… Damn oni demon… How did she train our Evileye so quickly…" (Tina)
"Hahhh… hahhh… What are you… complaining about… why don't you… try carrying my armor…" (Gagaran)
"Good luck, Gagaran. Only a Gagaran could climb a mountain looking like that." (Tia)
They were out of breath. Of the four, Gagaran was clearly the one suffering the most, given that she had to climb while still wearing her full-plate armor and carrying the massive war pick on her back. The twins were joking about it, but they were still helping to pick out routes for her, letting Gagaran focus on just continuing to climb.
For all their complaints, they were keeping up with Tanya and Evileye surprisingly well. Even exhausted, they had the strength, stamina, and willpower of adamantite-ranked adventurers, worthy of being called heroes in their own right. It helped that when mapping out routes up the mountain, Tanya had picked out safer but slower routes, but without any experience, they wouldn't be able to recognize that they were being intentionally delayed.
The mountains they were climbing, usually just referred to as the 'E-Rantel Mountains' for the sake of simplicity, were considered by the Adventurer's Guild to be the site for mithril-ranked job at the bare minimum, though most involving monsters were orichalcum-ranked jobs. While the monsters involved were in isolation only gold-ranked in strength, the harsh environment meant that even a party of orichalcum-ranked adventurers couldn't afford to let their guard down.
It was therefore a silver lining for the gravely exhausted members of Blue Rose that Evileye and Tanya were leading the climb. To those two who could just ignore the supposedly harsh environment, even with their magic sealed, mere gold-ranked monsters were less than insects. So, they continued to climb relatively unharassed.
Without a doubt, all six of them had set at least a few world records with this climb. Although, the way they were going about it would have made any professional climber yell, "Are you mocking mountain climbing!?" at the top of their lungs. Fortunately for Tanya, in this world where mountains were home to wolves, trolls, giants, and dragons, nobody was suicidal enough to be a professional mountain climber. She narrowly avoided adding them to her already long list of enemies.
At long last, after six hours of climbing, Lakyus climbed up a cliff to find Tanya and Evileye already waiting, but not progressing further. In front of them, a massive frozen cave opened up, no less than ten meters across, extending into the darkness to an unknown depth. Behind her, Tia, Tina, and Gagaran similarly climbed up, then paused for a bit of rest.
"We've arrived. Evileye, do you have some magic to confirm that it's inside here?" (Tanya)
"No, that sort of thing is Lakyus's specialty. You can do it, right?" (Evileye)
"Yes, there is a 2nd tier divine magic spell, [Detect Undead]. However, the Dracolich will immediately know we are here if I use it." (Lakyus)
"Don't worry about it. Go ahead." (Tanya)
"Alright. [Detect Undead]… Nothing?" (Lakyus)
"Ah, looks like it really did move. I thought that might be the case." (Tanya)
Every member of Blue Rose simultaneously had a very bad premonition.
"Oi… What do you mean by that? You don't mean…" (Gagaran)
"Of course, it knows that I'm hunting it. I would have been more surprised if it didn't relocate after its Death Knights were destroyed." (Tanya)
"So where is it now?" (Lakyus)
"Like I said before, it's in a mountain cave. This mountain range has fourty-three caves large enough for a Dracolich to hide in. If it's not here, we just have to try the next cave." (Tanya)
"That cave wouldn't happen to be…" (Gagaran)
As if it were entirely natural, Tanya gestured over to the mountain south of them.
"Of course, it's on the reverse side of that mountain there. Let's go." (Tanya)
Having heard their death sentence, Gagaran, Tia, Tina, and even Lakyus collapsed to their knees.
"Well, I'd like to say that, but it looks like you really are getting to your limit. Besides, it's already too dark for you to be able to see, isn't it? We'll stop to rest here, be ready to depart at first light. Evileye and I will stay and watch for monsters." (Tanya)
Without saying another word to even complain, the four who had been given their temporary stay of execution just huddled together to sleep. Their eyes dead, they wrapped themselves in Gagaran's large cloak as a makeshift blanket to stave off the cold and get a precious few hours of rest.
Though she would not learn about it for many months, Tanya's mountain climbing excursion was being monitored by Ainz and Demiurge, who had been curious as to what her plan was. Her ability to break the Blue Roses' will in a way that even Demiurge had not been able to, all without using a single point of MP, had accidentally raised her evaluation in the Archdevil's eyes. Satisfied, they stopped monitoring her there, at Ainz's request.
While the other members of Blue Rose collapsed from their exhaustion, Tanya was busy building a campfire at the entrance of the cave. Although her armor was light and thin, it was no less effective at blocking the cold than modern winter equipment. This was one of the properties of the Emerald Dragonscale Armor, which provided all sorts of elemental resistances in addition to its exceptional defense, appropriate for its legendary class.
However, nighttime in these mountains was said to freeze any living being, and while that might be an exaggeration, Tanya saw no harm to taking measures against exposure. Even if she had a naturally high resistance to fire, cold was much more of a concern, plus she had to make sure her companions (luggage) didn't die.
In reality, the target they were 'hunting' would never move: She already knew it was in the 32nd cave they would check. No matter how much magic they used, it would never detect them, she just needed an excuse to stop Evileye from flying to each cave to check, or teleporting home to make early contact with the kingdom. Thankfully Lakyus had told her that [Detect Undead] would also get a reaction from the undead, so she would have to make sure the Dracolich responds to it once they arrive at the real cave.
Since the beginning, the Death Knights and Dracolich had been under her control, following her mental orders to play the foil in her grand stage production. The Death Knights would never have killed them, they just had to show off her strength. The fight between Momon and the Dracolich at E-Rantel had actually happened, so in case they tried to verify that at some point, everybody in the city would repeat her story. It further helped to boost Momon's reputation as a hero and defender of the city, killing several birds with one stone.
From here on, she just had to keep killing time by dragging them up each mountain in sequence, which should take up no less than the required 2 weeks. She would give them only the bare minimum rest time to make it through another day of climbing, keeping them too exhausted to think straight, just hoping that the next cave they reached would be the right one, continuing to climb mountains like zombies.
So long as they didn't think too hard about the schedule, her mission would be finished without an issue. Just as planned, the threat of a legendary undead from ancient times rampaging in the kingdom was enough to drag them in. Now, their pride as adamantite-ranked adventurers wouldn't let them quit without having even found their enemy, especially given that Tanya and Evileye were doing fine. If it were only her, she couldn't be certain, which is why she was thankful for Evileye's predictable behavior and bottomless stamina.
As Tanya was building up a small bonfire and thinking about her plans from here on, Evileye sat down across the fire from here, having made sure her companions were properly wrapped up.
"Hey. You used to be human, didn't you?" (Evileye)
This was unexpected. Tanya wasn't sure how she had figured it out, nor whether to affirm or deny it. After a brief pause to think, she decided honestly answering would be safer than trying to deny it and losing any trust she might have earned.
"You're right… and what of it?" (Tanya)
"For the Sorcerer King to have forced not only the noble Momon-sama into subordination, but also be turning turning children into war demons-" (Evileye)
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't apply your convenient misinterpretation to the situation. Nobody forced me into this, I serve Ainz-sama by my own choice." (Tanya)
"Why would you do something like that? If you gave up your humanity for that power, then…" (Evileye)
Ah, looks like I misunderstood her intentions. She wasn't just following along like an idiot, but rather she came along for this. Looks like making a mistake here really would turn her hostile and really mess up my plans. Agreeing is out of the question, but she wouldn't believe me if I outright deny it. In that case, I need to take back control of the conversation.
"… Are you asking that speaking from personal experience, Landfall?" (Tanya)
"…" (Evileye)
Hm. I was hoping for more of a reaction with that, but if she's not responding to that much, I'll keep pressing.
"Not going to deny it?" (Tanya)
"I suspected you all might already know. Lying about it now won't change what you think." (Evileye)
With a sigh, Evileye took off her mask and pulled down her hood, revealing her bright red eyes.
"Ainz-sama counts a true vampire among his subordinates. They could smell you from the next city over." (Tanya)
As if Shalltear would care about somebody like her, vampire or not. Renner was the one who told us, confirmed by what Demiurge heard as Jaldabaoth, but this excuse should throw her off their trail.
"… Is that so?" (Evileye)
"To answer your previous question… I did not stop being human seeking this combat power. I hate war more than almost anything else." (Tanya)
"Then why would you serve that monster? He's already destroyed one kingdom, and shows no sign of stopping! How can you agree to serve something like that!?" (Evileye)
"Calm down and let your companions sleep. I agree that was an unfortunate waste, but your kingdom is just as liable for responding to provocation. Do you really believe that the king had no choice but to go to war? He never even attempted to negotiate with Ainz-sama, nor so much as speak to him. At that point, we could only perform a show of force. No fool will start a war they have no hope of winning, which Ainz-sama personally made clear.
Now that they know they can't just treat us as monsters and attack, they will be much more willing to negotiate on even grounds. Emperor Jircniv understood this, and negotiated for the future of his own country. Now, Ainz-sama has guaranteed the safety and prosperity of the Empire, without a single sacrifice.
Ainz-sama does not wish for meaningless bloodshed. That is why he opposes Jaldabaoth, and came to the aid of the Holy Kingdom. I accepted this authority because with it, I can help Ainz-sama create that world. That is the peace I was willing to give up my humanity for." (Tanya)
Evileye was dumbfounded. She had tried to interrupt Tanya on multiple occasions, but each time Tanya cut her off by answering the argument before she could even say it. Evileye couldn't accept that the same being who would mercilessly slaughter some 180,000 soldiers could be anything except an evil god. She couldn't believe it, yet she couldn't refute any part of it. She couldn't deny Tanya's determination.
"Well, if you don't believe me, why don't you just ask him yourself?" (Tanya)
"Huh?" (Evileye)
Her thoughts were once again interrupted by Tanya's comment. Evileye definitely didn't have the authority to invite a potential enemy to speak with Princess Renner, let alone the king himself. Yet, she suggested it all too casually.
"Once this is all over, come to E-Rantel and ask Ainz-sama about it yourself. He's a lot nicer than you think." (Tanya)
"So the Sorcerer King really is still alive?" (Evileye)
Ah, crap. I wasn't supposed to say that. I want to tear off this useless mouth of mine. I'm seriously screwed if they rush back to report this now, but as long as they're delayed as planned, Demiurge should allow the news to spread himself anyway. For now, I can't let her find out it's a secret.
"Did the news not reach you yet? Ainz-sama defeated Jaldabaoth in the Holy Kingdom. They're still clearing out the last of the demihuman armies, but I'd have thought it already got through to your kingdom." (Tanya)
"Jaldabaoth is really dead?" (Evileye)
"Yeah. Sorry if you were hoping for revenge, but we couldn't allow him to keep rampaging any longer." (Tanya)
"No, you're right. I couldn't have defeated him myself anyway…" (Evileye)
For a while, the two sat quietly, both watching the fire between them. The first to break the silence was Tanya.
"Do you blame yourself for failing to stop Jaldabaoth before he could attack the capital?" (Tanya)
"Why are you bringing something like that up now?" (Evileye)
"You picked a fight with Jaldabaoth's maid, but lacked the strength to defeat Jaldabaoth himself. After that, or perhaps because of that, Jaldabaoth invaded the capital, killing or capturing some ten thousand civilians… Yet now that you learned he was killed, you regret having missed the chance to atone for your mistake, don't you?" (Tanya)
"But that's…" (Evileye)
This wasn't an idle question, it was a verbal attack. Even if she had never considered that line of thought before, Tanya's interpretation would worm itself into her head. Each word was picked to build a guilt for her own powerlessness, and a desire to make up for getting those people killed. This was not the effect of some magic, but simple persuasion, intentionally delivered moments after her comments about Ainz would disturb her assumptions. Having given her a break to begin doubting her worldviews, Tanya had interrupted to drive in another nail.
There was no endearing heart-to-heart between two uncertain enemies. From the start to the end, this was Tanya's mental attack, carefully designed to turn the girl into her sympathetic supporter. After this, she just needed to provide the method to her, one which would serve her interests.
"You're underestimating the value of your own position, misunderstanding the power you've gained when you had your own humanity taken away. There is no need for you to work as a monster hunting mercenary to save people. Instead, reveal your situation, and show them that it is possible for humans and non-humans to integrate. If that helps them to accept Ainz-sama's rule, we can end this without ever fighting another war. Those people, only you can save." (Tanya)
Evileye didn't respond. She just sat, watching the fire while listening to Tanya's offer. The mental wound had been opened, now Tanya just needed to let it fester. She stood up, walking around the side of the fire, putting one hand on Evileye's shoulder and leaning close to her.
"It's okay. Sleep on it. I'll take the watch until morning." (Tanya)
She turned away from Evileye, picked up her rifle, and walked out of the cave.
Part 4
As promised, the next morning Tanya forced everybody up after barely five hours of sleep, just as the first rays of the sun passed over a gap between two mountains. When Blue Rose first departed the capital, they had never expected to be away for more than a couple days, nor were they planning on climbing mountains. As a result, they were forced to rely on the travel rations provided by Tanya, of which she carried a nearly inexhaustible supply in her Magic Bag.
Once their short break for breakfast was over, they were led down the mountain and up the next one, checking the cave for the Dracolich – which of course was not there – before repeating the process. Tanya had expected the cold to be more of a problem, but the mountains were unexpectedly warm during the day, and everybody present had at least some cold resistance equipment, so they would at least not freeze to death.
Neither Evileye nor Tanya brought up the topic again, but she had gone back to wearing her mask. Unlike the first day, she was no longer rushing forward, instead matching the slower pace of the rest of Blue Rose, lowering the overall pace of the party. Adjusting to the new pace, Tanya changed their route to move the real cave up a few places so their trip would have the same overall duration.
The days dragged on, repeating this sequence of events each morning. Depending on the distance between the caves, they would get through anywhere between two and four caves per day, steadily working their way from the north end of the mountain range towards the south.
The relationship between Blue Rose and Tanya gradually improved, if only slightly. It was hardly what any sensible person would call friendship, but they could at least talk casually and trust each others' abilities. Instead of just handing out rations at dawn and dusk then leaving them alone, Tanya would join them to eat together around a fire every time they spent a night in one of the caves. Though her body no longer required food, the habit stuck around, so she went ahead and indulged it when given the chance.
From the second day onward, Evileye got much quieter than usual, not speaking except when necessary to give an order or warning. Concerned about their companion, the other members of Blue Rose tried to ask her about it, but she turned them away, wanting to be left alone. Thinking it was related to the Dracolich and her past, Lakyus accepted it, as did the other three.
Eleven days after they had started up the first mountain, exactly two weeks after they left the capital chasing after the Death Knights, they reached the last cave. Originally 32nd in sequence, now the 29th cave, they reached it shortly after noon. Like every other before it, Lakyus activated her magic at the entrance, expecting another dud. As she did, she opened her mouth to yell a warning, but before she could, a dry roar shook the mountain.
"We actually found it?" (Tia)
"It's 200 meters down and getting closer! One minute until it gets here!" (Lakyus)
"Get back. It may not be much, but I'll take the first strike." (Tanya)
As she raised the rifle, the cyan formula which began to visibly form in front of her spread not only in front of her sights, but grew like a complex circuit, filling the space in a meter-wide sphere in front of the barrel. Over the next 30 seconds, the magical circuitry reconstructed itself, collapsing into a glowing white cylinder centered around the barrel, slightly wider than the gun itself.
"Close your eyes and cover your ears." (Tanya)
Nobody dared to hesitate. For a few seconds, their vision was dyed white even through their eyelids. The roar it released was a full order of magnitude greater than that of the Dracolich, as if they came from a pair of competing animals. Calculating just by the amount of raw magic power put into the shot, it would be considered the lower end of 7th tier, but nobody who saw the result would seriously consider calling it that.
Narberal's [Chain Dragon Lightning] would consume a similar amount of magic power to activate, but the process of activating the magic had a critical difference. Narberal would gather enough MP to activate the spell, convert it to the lightning element, release it in a physical form, then fire it towards the enemy as a magic attack. Such magic could turn most living things within 20 meters to ash, but contrarily, that is all it could do.
From its design, the goal of the Elenium Type-95 was to permit the physical manifestation of mana, something which magic casters could only perform using a horribly inefficient process involving multiple conversions between states. Meanwhile, Lancer's Rifle was designed to fire bullets made of magic power, but could normally only fire a fixed amount of mana per shot. Within the bounds of YGGDRASIL's mechanics, this kind of synergy was impossible, but in reality it was possible, if only theoretically.
The end result was a blindingly bright beam of pure mana which would disintegrate anything it made contact with. Ainz would have complained that it wouldn't be hard for a level 100 character to evade, and that its cast time was far too long to be practical, but it did not change the fact that even a Floor Guardian would not come out unscratched if they took a direct hit from it.
This potency surprised even the caster herself, who naturally needed to continue looking at her target to aim. After the beam was fired, she had to grope around inside the Magic Bag for a potion to cure her own blindness. The magic rifle in her hands had also grown hot enough to melt skin, if not for her innate resistance. Thankfully, it was not enough to melt whatever metal it was made of, so it should recover given time. She nodded at her handiwork.
"It's been a while, but the result was pretty good… It feels really good to be able to do that without muttering some silly chant." (Tanya)
"Oni boss, was there a reason for us to be here?" (Tia)
"Don't let your guard down, the response hasn't disappeared!" (Lakyus)
From the mouth of the cave, a massive, eight meter tall dragon skeleton rushed towards them. Unlike the low-tier Skeletal Dragon, this was not a mass of various bones taking a dragon-like form, but an animated dragon skeleton. Back when Tanya had first seen it, it had majestic pearl-white bones and not a single scratch, but its current appearance was better described as battered.
The Dracolich's entire right half was scorched black and crumbling into ash as it ran along the ground. On its left, starting from the lower jaw, across several ribs and both limbs, large gashes covered its bones, remnants of the battle against Momon.
It was clearly on the verge of death, but still it charged out of the cave and lunged at Tanya, trying to crush her with its remaining body. Her shell held against the dragon's weight, but the ground beneath her could not, as her shell began to dig a spherical hole into the snowy earth beneath them.
"Evaded a direct hit, huh? Shame." (Tanya)
"[Maximize Magic: Shard Buck Shots]!" (Evileye)
Unlike Tanya who intentionally stood still and took the Dracolich's charge, the Blue Roses jumped to either side of the charging dragon. While it was immobilized trying to force Tanya into the ground, they attacked from either side. Simultaneously, Evileye's magic struck the left side of its skull while Gagaran's war pick crushed the already brittle right half of its torso.
The Dracolich roared, swinging its head to the left trying to bite Evileye, but she had already disappeared with [Dimensional Move], landing next to Gagaran to fire a [Crystal Lance] into the opposite side.
Trying to swat down the two, it swung its massive tail around towards them, which Gagaran blocked, but was still thrown backward. Landing in the snow some distance away, she got up and ran back in with the momentum of a charging bull.
While its attention was drawn to the right side, Lakyus swung the Demonic Sword Kilineyram overhead into one of its left legs, deepening the gash left from Momon's fight. The Dracolich gave another furious roar.
Realizing it could neither break Tanya's barrier nor swat down the others while holding her down, the Dracolich jumped back, releasing its magic to cover itself in a dark aura, which sunk back into its body, partially closing the wounds on either flank.
"It's healing itself with magic, but doesn't look like it has enough to fully recover from the first attack. Tanya, if you had time, could you fire another attack like that?" (Evileye)
"No, I can't. Magic power isn't an issue, but the gun won't hold out, it's already too hot to keep using. Can you break its charge?" (Tanya)
"Probably, but it'll break through after a few seconds." (Evileye)
"That's plenty. Give me one of those crystal lances of yours, as sturdy as you can make it." (Tanya)
Evileye nodded, casting the spell and leaving the lance in the air, which Tanya grabbed by the handle. Despite being made of magic, the lance was still a physical object, so it could be used like an ordinary weapon. However, given that it was longer than her entire body and heavier than she was, it was rather unwieldy.
"I'll go drive this in, here it comes!" (Tanya)
The Dracolich roared again, charging at the two of them. Leaving Evileye to stop it, Tanya jumped into the air and rapidly rose to around 500 meters above the battlefield.
Evileye calmly stood still as the Dracolich rushed towards her. Once she was sure it was too close to stop, she raised her hand to cast her spell.
"[Crystal Wall]!" (Evileye)
A colossal wall rose up right in front of the Dracolich, which it rammed from the front. Its head crashed through the wall a meter above the ground, but the rest of its body was stuck behind it.
"[Crystal Wall]!" (Evileye)
Using a second spell in the same location, the wall expanded to grow around the struggling Dracolich, now wrapped around its neck like a massive collar.
Far above the battlefield, Tanya stopped her acceleration and hovered in place. Putting the rifle into the magic bag, she changed her grip on the lance to hold it with both hands, then centered herself above the Dracolich's head while aiming it directly downwards.
"This feels like it might break a few bones, but I'll just heal it off. It should make for a believable finish." (Tanya)
Muttering words which did not fit a serious battle, she flew directly back down, using gravity to aid her own acceleration towards the ground.
The Dracolich pushed its forelimbs into the crystal wall, trying to tear it apart and free its head. As the wall began to crack, Tanya's dive struck the center of its skull like a meteor, shaking the entire mountain once again.
Although she had thrown the lance forward before landing, she had still crashed into the ground in front of its head with most of her speed intact, which had as expected broken her legs despite the magic shell and support formula. Flying to get off the ground, she pulled out a second potion and drank it, then landed back on her feet.
Surprisingly, the Dracolich was not dead even with that. Cracks ran along the length of its skull, the flames in its hollow eyes dimming, but still it slowly lifted its head while letting out a pained groan.
"Seriously? I really thought that would do it, though…" (Tanya)
"It's fine, even our meathead can figure it out with this much of a hint." (Evileye)
Right on cue, Gagaran ran up the struggling dragon's side, jumping onto its head, hammering the war pick down on the handle of the lance, driving it in like a giant stake. Too injured to dodge, having already used all its available magic on healing, Gagaran's massive strike drove the Dracolich's head back into the ground, shattering it into shards of bone on impact.
With the skull broken, the rest of the bones making up the Dracolich's body lost the energy holding them together, clattering into a pile all at once. They watched the pile guardedly to make sure, but they showed no signs of moving.
"We won?" (Tia)
"Looks like it." (Tina)
"Rather, where were you two? I don't remember seeing either of you during the fight." (Gagaran)
"If we're not seen, isn't that us doing our job?" (Tina)
"Are you sure you weren't just slacking off?" (Evileye)
"And Evileye, don't think I didn't hear that last comment." (Gagaran)
"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about." (Evileye)
"You really do have some impressive teamwork. I honestly didn't expect your team to be of that much help against it, but I'm glad to have been mistaken. I really wish you would come back to E-Rantel to work for Ainz-sama instead. It's too much of a waste for capable adventurers to be working as simple mercenaries." (Tanya)
"Thank you for your words, but-" (Lakyus)
"Alright. I'll go." (Evileye)
"Evileye?" (Lakyus)
Lakyus had started to refuse the invitation, yet the one who had expressed the most hatred for the Sorcerer King had accepted instead.
"Lakyus. I don't mind whether you come with me or not, but this is something I need to do." (Evileye)
"Wait, Evileye, you aren't seriously accepting just to go see Momon-san, are you?" (Gagaran)
"It's not that… It's not just that. What Tanya told me before is right. Ever since that war, we've continued treating the Sorcerer King as the enemy, but it's true that he has shown no signs of attacking again, and at times has even been helping other countries. If there is a way to see peace without fighting, I have to at least try looking for it." (Evileye)
"What about the rest of you? Even if you come along, there's no obligation for you to join. Try talking to the guildmaster in E-Rantel, if you're not certain." (Tanya)
Argh, I feel like I'm trying to convince them to sign up for some kind of pyramid scheme. The salaryman's soul inside me is crying out in pain.
"What'll we do, Lakyus? I don't mind giving them the chance, but if you don't trust them, it's up to you." (Gagaran)
"… It's true that if they just left the Dracolich alone, the Kingdom would have been in serious trouble. Not only did they warn us, but they sent help… Alright, let's do it." (Lakyus)
Ahhh, this is totally fraud. Any way you look at it this is fraud. I'm even making up fake customer reviews to support us. Please stop, you're making me cry inside.
"So, that cave was facing in the direction of E-Rantel, right? Should we take the new tunnel through the mountain?" (Tia)
"No, no, there's no way that shot seriously went through the entire mountain, right…? Right?" (Gagaran)
Incidentally, they went into the tunnel to check, but everything past the impact point was still largely molten, making it impossible to check just how far the attack had reached. The details of the battle were never recorded, so when the cave was searched by archeologists centuries later, it was believed to be a natural cave formation, and became one of the natural wonders of the world.
"You call this not much? What kind of standards are you used to dealing with?" (Evileye)
"Well, even if you ask that…" (Tanya)
