Chapter 2

Part 1

The desert: An environment so hostile to life that the term itself has become virtually representative of the term 'inhospitable'. Missing the humidity which makes up the most fundamental building block of all living beings, few other regions could be so uninhabitable as a vast desert.

From the limited plant life which made agriculture impractical for early civilizations, all the way up to the crushing heat and endless dust particles in the air which crippled tanks and grounded aircraft, the unstable ground which restricted construction and flowing sands which paralyzed trains. Superhuman mages would frequently be grounded, stranded under fire without cover better than the dunes themselves.

Despite all that, Tanya's memories of her time in the deserts of the southern continent were not nearly so negative. Prolonged mobile warfare in the Barbad Desert was obviously dangerous, but in the middle of a world war, so was anywhere and everywhere else.

More than anything, it seemed to prove the idea that the quality of any job was exactly equal to the quality of one's boss – when your commanding officer properly understood how best to let you loose on the enemy, even combing dunes for snipers while outnumbered four-to-one could somehow be made enjoyable, or at very least tolerable.

On a battlefield where aircraft struggled to fly and the hostile aerial mages were hastily pulled off other fronts to reinforce gaps and replace losses, the presence of an elite battalion of mages already trained for combat in assorted climates could collect accolades more easily than if they literally grew on trees, for those were few and far between in the desert, whereas hostiles were very much plentiful.

However, fanciful childhood memories were often embellished into a rose-tinted alternate to reality, up until the moment they were disillusioned by a second visit a few years down the line.

Her first trip over with Tia and Tina left her with a persisting discomfort, yet she returned almost immediately to not waste time. The second and third repeated and reinforced this worry, but again she remained for only a minute before teleporting back again.

When next they appeared in the great desert, Tanya, Momon, and Nabe arrived to the unexpected scene of the already-waiting Blue Rose, crowded around the small figure of Evileye lying down on her cloak, collapsed backwards on the sands.

And, it wasn't only her. At her side, Lakyus was similarly clutching her head in agony, and neither were the other three completely exempt from the pain, though visibly to a much lesser degree.

As soon as she saw them, Gagaran, who seemed the least affected, shouted out.

"Oi, what the hell are you planning, bringing us to this place!?" (Gagaran)

"What, you say, I finished explaining it five minutes ago, don't tell me you've seriously forgotten already?" (Tanya)

"That, their condition, you don't seem surprised at all, huh? You didn't mention anything about it!" (Gagaran)

"Of course I'm surprised, that it would be this bad. Surely you could all put up with a little pain?" (Tanya)

"… What part of this is 'a little'…" (Evileye)

Evileye muttered out from the ground, apparently still conscious despite not moving.

"A feeling similar to asphyxiation but for a lack of magic, combined with the tearing pressure of all the mana in your body simultaneously trying to tear its way out and escape violently… is it? It's perceptible, but hardly the worst… right?" (Tanya)

Tanya tried describing the strange feeling she had each time she stopped by through teleportation. It was not entirely dissimilar to how it felt being out in space before applying any magic for protection, albeit to a far less severe degree, so she hardly felt the need to mention it.

At the end, she glanced over to her side, where Nabe stood pressing one hand to her own temple. With the other, she conjured a small spark of light in her hand, testing out whether there was any issue with her using magic.

"… Not a problem, it's just a headache. Nothing that will interfere with combat." (Nabe)

She confirmed Tanya's reasoning – who, despite not being fully familiar with any fine differences of anatomy between ordinary humans, doppelgangers mimicking said humans, vampires with their individual variation, and demons which were so diverse that they couldn't even be grouped into a single species – took it as an assertion that her logic was not flawed.

"So the effect appears proportional to how much magic power each of us possesses, particularly severe for magic-based species?" (Tanya)

Tanya put together a conclusion based on the small samples of examples present here. Thinking about it that way, Ainz himself would be the most affected of all, so she looked over to check on Momon, but he didn't seem particularly affected.

"… What should we do? Do we abort and withdraw?" (Tanya)

"Do not worry. Right now, I have no MP of my own, at worst it's like having a little muscle stiffness. Besides, leaving was never an option, since we finally found something to discover." (Momon)

He quietly muttered a response back to her.

"… Any ideas what could cause this?" (Tanya)

"No, it's not an environmental effect I'm familiar with, no such status condition existed during the game. I think it couldn't be a World-Class Item either, seeing as we're being affected, we would have been protected." (Momon)

"Curious how beings with a dead or inert nervous system, or missing it entirely with just bones can still feel pain… but, no matter. The magic power in the air is unusually weak, that's probably what we're feeling, but I have no idea as to the cause. You're right, it's a problem we'll have to investigate further if we are to get anywhere." (Tanya)

The two of them quickly whispered an exchange back and forth, but neither had enough information to put together a useful answer about the phenomenon.

Much like an air-filled balloon placed in a vacuum, the magic inside would try to escape out into the surroundings. Those with more magic power would feel more pressure, and species which required magic for sustenance would therefore suffer pain instead of simple discomfort.

What they were feeling was a natural phenomenon, yet at the same time it was clearly unnatural.

Had she tried going down to the surface during her initial exploration, Tanya might have noticed this before they left as a party, but her scouting had been limited to high-altitude photography and the like.

Since of course, trying to explain what somebody with her appearance was doing alone in the middle of the desert would more than likely get in the way of any information gathering. But then, after everything they had gone through to put together an excuse for this trip, returning immediately wasn't much of an option for either of them to take.

She briefly considered whether environment-altering Super-tier magic such as [The Creation] or [Change The World] would be capable of correcting this abnormality, but decided against it. Most likely, merely changing the biome in this area would only be able to change its physical characteristics, not create more magic power from nothing. That was the domain of World-Class Items, if not something superior to even those masses of coagulated irrationality.

Remaining in place would do no good. In which case, there was no path but to proceed. Tanya stepped forward and began calling out orders to the group.

"Alright, you've spent long enough lying around, let's get a move on! Life isn't generous enough to be ideal, and I don't care if you cry about it, but do so while marching to town." (Tanya)

She stepped over the fallen girl, then covered the two of them with something like an oversized defensive shell.

"Although a defensive barrier should be able to limit how much magic we leak out, you'll just have to acclimatize. Can you walk, or do you need to be carried around like a bag of rice?" (Tanya)

Evileye looked around to her companions, concerned for her. She turned her head sideways, looking past Tanya at Momon and Nabe, who were whispering to each other off in the distance, though she could hear neither clearly, being isolated by the barrier made impermeable to magic, which likewise muted most of the sound passing through.

Only she was on the ground, and as Tanya had just commented, the air around them did seem to be improving slowly, no longer quite so unbearable to remain in.

"… Don't insult me…" (Evileye)

She muttered back while slowly staggering back to her feet. She, too, had experienced pain infinitely more severe than this, long ago. This time, she would stand and walk through it.

"Our destination is a town some two hours south of our current location. The current situation is full of unknowns, but for the time being, assume the environment will cripple your magic regeneration, and keep unnecessary usage to a minimum." (Tanya)

Tanya called out, then turned on her heel and started walking. Immediately behind her, Evileye began to follow a couple steps back, though she may as well have been shackled, as the alternative to following was falling outside the artificial mana-rich environment inside the bubble.

For their part, Momon and Nabe stepped up to take an adjacent position to the two. Only after seeing that did the rest start to hesitantly follow behind, several steps behind, equally out of concern and the awareness that they would otherwise be left behind with no way out of this great desert without her.

Despite Tanya's promises of answers, the situation had changed all too suddenly, into one where not even she could provide a proper explanation. As such, with everybody feeling unusually tired, there was no conversation to be had as they continued to march on through the sand.

They did carry a supply of disposable magic items to protect them against the heat. Though where they ended up was further from civilization and deeper into the desert than intended, spending several days in the sands under the midday sun had been accounted for within their plans.

Still, those were only effective to the extent of preventing dehydration and heatstroke under the blazing sun, which still exacerbated their pain and discomfort, until they could at least reach town and finally lay down to rest.

In essence, it was a miserable adventure for everyone, excepting the demon with a constitution highly resistant to fire and far too used to pain to still feel anything from it.

Yet, not even she was immune to the frustration and worry brought on by the situation, and her irritation only grew with time. For everything she might have said, she could clearly feel her magic fighting inside her, trying to tear its way out.

The level of magic in the environment was a fifth of normal. With some effort, she could collect and compress it inside her bubble up to around half of normal, but even that was far from ideal for a magic-based lifeform to exist in. Most likely, forcing her body to work through it was self-destructive, but since she could continuously regenerate any damage she felt, this shouldn't be an issue.

However, the world was missing its usual color and clarity.

After so many years, she had all but forgotten what it was like to live before obtaining the power of magic. It had been her lifeline in that demented world, which she had honed to survive, but it was admittedly addictive, to be able to obtain power. If ever she thought about returning to the past, one experience was enough to discard any such notions.

It was sickening. She hadn't had the power for even a full decade, yet to lose her power – or even simply feel enough resistance against magic in the world, as if her talent had regressed back to years prior – was a crippling pain unlike anything else. To gouge out her own eyes would be easier still, for even her base senses had become less a part of her than the magic power she had honed.

In reality, the magic in this world was so much greater than the last, that halving it was nonetheless superior to that in the last. Her tool-enhanced ability was incomparable to merely a year ago, even against a persistent resistance cutting it down. And yet, compared to the ever-present high of wielding pure magic, losing access to a portion of that felt all the more brutal.

Power could itself turn into an addiction. Without all of it, here and now, Tanya was left feeling naked.

Worse than any ordinary physical pain, which could be locked away with a bit of knowledge of neurochemistry and the proper application of magical interference, or even a simple painkiller, she trekked through the sand with a scowl, with one critical portion of herself missing.

How long had this phenomenon existed? Ten years? One hundred? Was it recovering naturally, or growing worse with time? How wide is the affected area? Would it spread to envelop the entire world, turning it into an unlivable area?

There were too many questions, not enough answers, and no intelligence division to even ask. For a soldier who preferred a well-planned offensive based on concrete intelligence, it was the worst sort of situation to be in.

Her own magic power was recovering, albeit slowly, far more so than usual. After so many repeated long-distance group teleportations, she was already drained to below half capacity, not enough to make an equal number of trips back again. She did still have ways to unstop some more power, but the cost of doing so would be to reveal yet more cards of hers not widely known.

Besides, fleeing now wouldn't advance anything. Without ever encountering an enemy, or even confirming the presence or absence of an enemy, to retreat now would be like marching into the Federation only to turn around at the first chill, without having fired a single bullet.

There would be no excuse then, only clear evidence of poor planning. There was no tactical retreat here, only escaping a problem which needed immediate fixing, and nobody needed a soldier who fled a battle without permission.

As they had said, there was no way but forward.


Part 2

One man stood upright under the blazing midday sun, leaning against the corner-post of the watchtower, half-relaxed but glancing back and forth across the endless sands spread out as far as the eye can see. From just a dozen meters up, he could see clearly for a couple kilometers, but the haze of the desert heat began to obscure his vision far closer than where the horizon hit the nearest hill.

The woolen gambeson central to his uniform was next to unbearable after six hours in the heat, hence his languid appearance, but he at least had a roof providing him shade. The same couldn't be said for the guards outside the lord's mansion, who were stuck without so much as a leaf to shelter them from the sun.

But then, this is how it went every time. Some upstart commander would get sent out here to one of the border territories, his caravan of personal soldiers in tow.

He would admonish the entire militia about uniforms, screaming at them that a robe wouldn't stop a single arrow, that they were to wear their armor at all times during their shift – not that the scorpions even knew how to use bows, nor would a simple gambeson do any more to stop the brutes' clubs or stingers than if they were to stand guard in the nude.

He would make them drill through the night, complaining that they lacked training and discipline – as if ordinary militia border watchmen would ever be a match for elites who used practice swords as baby rattles.

They were the sort who had their own honor guard wear black steel plate to show off the lord's dignity, at least until noon of the first day, when it started fusing to their skin. Even though they only barely seemed to understand what a desert was, yet they ran from the capital, all the way out to here, just because there were Scorpionmen to fight, somewhere out there in the wastes.

Within a few days, they would head out there again, and he could go back to standing around with an ordinary robe on. Perhaps they would die out there, or more likely, hunt some scorpions and maybe a few monsters, get lost, and wander to another of the numerous border villages. Either way, it'd be the last he would see of their sort, at least for a few more months. Then it would all repeat again, with a new face spouting the exact same words.

Based on the weight, he estimated it would be his last sip, which, combined with the shadow of the sun, should mean that his own shift was almost up.

Eagerly, he pulled down his bandana and emptied the skin into his mouth.

"What the hell are you slacking off for!?"

A sharp shout from behind made him jump and nearly drop the empty waterskin over the edge, though he leaned forward and caught it before it fell into the sand. As soon as it was secure, he hurriedly turned back around with a rigid back. Only after he spotted the owner of the voice did his heart begin to beat again, and he released his held breath as a sigh.

"… Azat, man, if you make me drop my skin into the sand again, I swear I'll throw yours down with it, and do you the favor of pissing in yours to clean it out."

"Hah, go ahead, all I've got today is mud. What do you think, Serik, would it really taste worse?" (Azat)

The man who had just climbed up to the tower, Azat, was a few years older than his friend, Serik, and often saw fit to make good use of his voice being unnaturally similar to one of the visiting lords' captains. It was a pointless talent of his, which he used to scare him half to death every other day while there was a lord in town.

Just once he had made the mistake of assuming it was his friend instead of the actual captain, which happened to be the very same day a new lord came visiting out of nowhere. Never again.

Azat also happened to be the leader of the dozen or so members of the local militia, both by trust and seniority. However, the position earned him a gift of the special drink in place of ordinary water. He eyed his own waterskin, carefully considering whether he could get away with dumping its contents and getting a replacement from the well, without being noticed, before his shift started.

In the end, he decided against it. From here, he could see a good few of the lord's men wandering around the village. Uncapping the skin, he sipped the contents.

"… Damn bitter…" (Azat)

Going just by the involuntary expression on Azat's face, Serik could himself feel the dull bitterness on his own tongue. He'd tasted it just once before, when he was younger, back when he had just joined the watch. Azat had bragged to him about receiving a luxury drink from the capital as a gift from one of the lords, and offered him a sip.

Serik, in his youthful stupidity, drank an entire mouthful, which he almost spat back out onto the ground. It was so bitter, mud itself was sweeter still, hence the name he gave it, which stuck with them all these years later.

"I'm amazed they can call this a luxury with a straight face. Do gourmands in the capital eat bullshit for dinner?" (Serik)

Azat brought a hand to his chin, slowly stroking his brown beard, deep in thought.

"… I wouldn't put it past them, if somebody convinced them it would give them strength…" (Azat)

Seeing Serik's jaw drop in genuine horror, Azat laughed and continued.

"… Well, it's not really that bad, more an acquired taste, you get used to it, eventually. Back there they make it with water that doesn't have sand or dirt in it, with fresh milk or white sugar imported from the islands in the far west, served while it's boiling hot… it's actually damn good, or so I hear. Out here all we've got is mud to stick the beans into, so of course it's going to taste like mud." (Azat)

He took a second sip, then capped it off, gazing into the distant sands. Then, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"… Oi, Serik, pass me the spyglass." (Azat)

Catching on to the sudden shift in mood, Serik reached down to the bag sitting in one corner of the tower, brushing a bit of sand off it before opening it up and digging through it. Inside, he found a long cloth cylinder, which he slowly unwrapped, pulling out the delicate instrument within. He passed it over to Azat, who brought it to his own eye and began gazing out.

Though Serik also tried looking out in the same direction, there didn't seem to be anything of interest, in his eyes.

"What is it? Do you see something?" (Serik)

He asked cautiously, as Azat continued to stare and scowl.

"… There's definitely something out there, still too far out to see." (Azat)

"Enemies attacking!?" (Serik)

He reached over to the bell on the roof, ready to call for reinforcements.

"No, I don't think so… there are a few figures in the haze, but there's no dust behind them. They're not running, just walking in a line. At the very least, they're not monsters." (Azat)

The older man continued holding the spyglass steadily to his eye, calmly reporting what he saw. Meanwhile, Serik started digging through the bag again, pulling out and unrolling another couple packages of cloth, this time assembling a pair of metal crossbows, setting them and a pile of bolts up against the front wall.

With how often a strong wind would blow across and scatter sand across everything exposed to the air, precision machinery like these crossbows or the spyglass Azat was making use of would be worn down within a matter of weeks if they weren't packed away from the elements.

With how difficult and expensive it was to receive replacements all the way from the capital, wrapping them up in some cloth and storing them in a sealed bag was only common sense, even if it did mean that pulling them back out and assembling them cost a couple minutes.

"Could it be another lord who happened to return near our village?" (Serik)

"I don't know… sure hope that's it." (Azat)

That would be the best possible outcome, if this really was just another lord's private army returning from a successful hunt. Let alone having to fight, there would be a grand celebration for the entire village. Even if the two lords were rivals, they would be obliged to set aside their differences and celebrate a victorious expedition.

For the next few minutes, the two continued watching silently. The approaching figures would occasionally dip below and disappear behind one dune, before reappearing shortly thereafter.

When they at crested the last hill, they finally became distinct.

"I can see them clearly now, looks to be half a dozen people?" (Serik)

They had been exchanging the looking glass several times between each other, where one of them would watch the approaching group, while the other would scan the surroundings to make sure they weren't missing anything else trying to sneak around using the first group as decoys. In the end, they didn't find one even as the first group came fully into view.

Serik passed the spyglass back over to Azat, who again used it to get a closer look. After a few more seconds of this, he began calling out his own observations.

"… Eight people in total, look to all be human. Two large armored men, four women… and two children. They're foreigners, beyond any doubt." (Azat)

Hearing that already all but disqualified the possibility of this being a second lord's party returning. Under no circumstances would the lord be bringing women and children along with him on a dangerous hunt into the great desert, nor to travel with so few soldiers in tow.

Even before that, their choice of clothing made it impossible with just one glance.

"Could they be refugees from somewhere?" (Serik)

"They're way too well-armed for that… It'd make more sense if those two were some small-bodied demihuman slaves, with the rest being travelers or mercenaries, but…" (Azat)

When Serik proposed a theory, Azat shot it down, as well as a few other ideas of his own. Whether due to their clothes, weapons and armor, or the very group's composition, nothing seemed to quite fit.

To begin with, this was a border village, at the furthest end of the northern colonial territory. There was nothing else to be found beyond this point, except sand, sand, and more sand. However, these people were neither carrying packs of food and water with them, nor were they followed by any pack animals.

On top of that, their equipment seemed ill-suited for a long trek through the desert, yet nothing they wore showed even the slightest sign of degradation. They were neither emaciated nor dehydrated, but fresh and healthy.

It was as if they had simply flown in from somewhere else and landed within walking distance of this very gate. Azat shook his head. Delusions would do him no good here.

As he watched on, for just a moment, he felt one of the girls' gazes perfectly meet his own, despite the impossible distance. At the same time, he felt a deep shiver run up his spine.

"… What should we do? Do we ring the alarm after all?" (Serik)

Serik again offered, arming and loading one of the crossbows. The group of strangers was already approaching a distance at which they could be clearly seen with just the naked eye.

If they were hostile, it was now or never.

However, he found Azat's hand grasping the crossbow, pressing it down, preventing Serik from raising it up and setting it on the guard tower's railing to take aim.

He couldn't justify it logically or place why, but something in the old veteran's intuition told him that above all else, raising the weapon was the one thing they should never do, an irreparable mistake. Instead both of them continued to watch on, standing over the palisade gate into the village, as the group continued to close the distance.


"… It's the middle of the day and they've closed the gate, seems they don't trust us at all…" (Tanya)

Tanya muttered while scanning the palisade and towers at the entrance to the first village they had come across.

Not even twenty kilometers meant much to a mage with their magically-enhanced sight, let alone one or two. Even taking into account the scattered sand in the air adding noise to the signal, it was simple enough to correct by composing visual input out of magical radiation to get a more clear view, far more so than the crude telescope she could see the guard using. Fortunately, enhancing a sense required only a basic formula, entirely internal to the body, the sort which no amount of mana interference in the environment could interrupt.

"… This girl, does she not understand how suspicious a party traveling through the desert with no supplies must look? Most people live their entire lives without ever seeing a magic bag-type artifact." (Evileye)

Tanya's step froze for a fraction of a second as she heard this explanation of the obvious. Her standards were built on the logistics division having access to aircraft and at least a passable railroad network. Between those two transports and her simply being able to fly around, it had been far too long since she actually had a reason to walk anywhere. In hindsight, it was indeed obvious that ordinary humans who had to carry their own supplies would want a carriage or pack animal if the trip was longer than three or four days.

Though in her defense, both Momon and Nabe paused at this revelation as well, the former having always lived in a world without the freedom to travel and having no reason to plan an expedition before, the latter wearing a Ring of Sustenance whenever she played this role and thus having no reason to consider food or water.

And, though she did have several tons of food, water, and snacks stored away, none were clearly visible to the outside viewer. Neither was the 'inventory' normally accessible to YGGDRASIL players or NPCs widely known, so those familiar with ancient magic would generally associate it with some of the magic bags and backpacks left behind from the Eight Greed Kings, which would on occasion find their way into the market.

Since there existed no method to reproduce them even after decades of dedicated study, only a few dozen were known to exist in the outside world, not including those once owned by the Six Great Gods, which had been stored and monopolized, to be used rarely only by the Theocracy's secret Six Scriptures, but for the most part just held for safekeeping.

They were among the rarest of artifacts, and among the most prized treasures for adventurers and magic researchers alike, though most tended to find their way into the treasure stores of various nations instead – this explanation being provided by Fluder Paradyne, who personally owned one of three bags in the Baharuth Empire.

Fluder had, over the years, tracked a number of the artifacts for his own research into magic, locating the owners of several: The hero, Rigrit Bers Coural, who had owned one but left it with Blue Rose upon retirement, or Azuth Aindra of Red Drop, who were said to possess a small cache of the Eight Greed Kings' treasures, though details of its contents were unknown.

However, as these were for the most part treated as national treasures, those who so much as knew of their existence were normally limited to scholars, high nobility, and top-tier adventurers.

By no means would an ordinary gate guard at a remote village know of such an item.

"Well, maybe they're just surprised to see anybody coming out of the desert, it would be nice if they didn't notice." (Tanya)

They continued to close the distance with the gate guards, passing over the last large hill, with only flat soil until the wall itself. She could see one of the guards fumbling around, likely preparing weapons. Since the spears they held were only barely long enough to reach over the wall and poke at somebody trying to force the gate open, they likely had bows or something else to actually keep away invaders and wild animals.

If the guards were going to start shooting, it would be now, when they no longer had the option of retreating behind the hills for cover.

"From the look of it, there is nothing of value in this village. Even if it is the closest, why don't we find a city where travelers aren't as rare instead of wasting our time here?" (Nabe)

Nabe questioned while continuing to advance.

"Even still, they might at least have a map, and somewhere to learn about this country." (Momon)

"… And, it's just a small village, so if something goes wrong, in the worst case, there's always the option of wiping it off the map to get rid of the evidence." (Tanya)

"… Understood. Certainly, that makes sense." (Nabe)

When Tanya added on to the explanation Momon gave with a laugh, Nabe nodded and acknowledged her understanding. Although it really was a joke, she decided it was better to have support in the event it really came down to that, so she let it go.

The people of this world seemed to be misaligned with her own sense of humor, even more so than her own battalion had been.

Joking aside, how are we to get anywhere in this country? Should it be as an envoy, or an ordinary traveler, I wonder? The authority of the former would be convenient, but hell if I know how to be a diplomat. Everything is unknown and there's absolutely no direction to go on.

It's at times like this that I almost prefer dealing with communists, where the answer is always to shoot first and ask questions never. If only they would just attack so we can take what we need…

Glancing over at Momon, he nodded back. Tanya slowed her pace ever so slightly to fall one step behind as they walked up to stand in front of the gate.

"Stop there!" (Azat)

As expected, the older guard shouted down at them once they reached twenty meters from the entrance.

"Yes? Is there a problem?" (Momon)

When Momon called back as if their presence was only natural, the guard paused.

There was no overt threat from him, merely apparent confusion as to why they would even be stopped trying to enter this village. At his side, however, Tanya slowly rested one hand on the pommel of her dagger, as did the others around them, ever so slightly shifting their weight to prepare themselves for sudden combat.

Each of these actions was clear enough to a veteran fighter, yet just subtle enough that he couldn't point to any definitive threat being made, especially since the man speaking to him, the man in the raven-black armor, did absolutely nothing of the sort.

He must be supremely confident in his abilities, to not even concern himself with the possibility of an attack, Azat concluded. Indeed, it was the right choice to not attempt to threaten them.

In this case, the only remaining option was to figure out how to signal some of the lord's guard to take over. They may be made up of exclusively arrogant assholes, but they could certainly fight, he reasoned. Shifting his view ever so slightly, he could see a couple out of the corner of his eye, walking in the market square, next to the well.

With Momon still watching him, judging him, he continued to think of what words might buy them time without offense. However, he never got the chance to speak.

"… Since there's no problem, won't you open the gate for us?" (Tanya)

The instant the girl spoke to him, her calm voice instantly washed away any and all worries he had, as if they had never existed.

It was just as she said, he had absolutely no reason to stall them.

"… Yeah, that's fine. Welcome to the Fourth North Frontier Village, Sufla." (Azat)

He set to work on twisting the winch to let the wooden gate swing open.

"Thank you very much." (Momon)

With just a nod of his head, Momon stepped forward to push open the heavy gate and enter. Even as confused whispering broke out between the two guards in the tower, the entire group continued through.

Though a few of the women in the back of the party glanced over to watch the situation develop, they did not stop to listen, opting instead to follow through and let the gate shut behind them.

Only after they made some distance from the wall did they again begin to speak among themselves.

"… It's been a while since I've seen such brazen usage of mental magic. Is this your Sorcerous Kingdom's way of doing things?" (Evileye)

Evileye quietly muttered her accusation.

"It's my way of doing things, the most efficient method for passing through that gate. I wouldn't claim to personally speak for the Sorcerer King on this matter. Unfortunate that I couldn't the care of both at once." (Tanya)

"… Those methods of yours, I despise them… Just what do you take the human soul to be?" (Lakyus)

"The most important bastion of free thought. If you don't like it, secure your mind enough that not even a god can break through to steal it. The people of this country who can't even do that have surrendered that right." (Tanya)

Though Lakyus asked her with mixed horror and disgust, Tanya immediately shot back an answer.

"That's unreasonable, where does that leave ordinary people? Are they to become slaves of the few who possess the power of magic!?" (Lakyus)

"Be quiet," Tanya began, when Lakyus started to raise her voice to the point where the surroundings might overhear them. Fortunately, there were few enough people nearby that nobody was right next to them, even though a couple were watching the unfamiliar outsiders with interest and confusion.

"Any other day I would be all for arguing philosophy, but now may not be the best time. Instead, tell me this: If not through magic, how would you suggest we guarantee entry into a potentially hostile village? Do you have a more palpable solution, or baseless idealism? Don't pretend you didn't notice him trying to signal reinforcements." (Tanya)

"Could you delay your arguing until another time? It's nice that we got in, but that is merely the first step. We must next figure out what to do from here." (Momon)

Momon once again interrupted to end the argument between Tanya and Lakyus. They were currently wandering around while avoiding the few oddly-dressed soldiers who were occasionally patrolling, easily recognized as the only ones wearing armor among the common people wearing loose robes.

"… I'll defer to all of you on this decision, until it inevitably comes down to drawing information out through force." (Tanya)

Momon nodded. "While I doubt a village of this size has any hotels, it should at least be large enough to have a tavern and inn. Perhaps we should start there?" (Momon)

"Then, if there is, it would probably be on the south side, rather than on the side facing the desert. I will take a look." (Tanya)

When next they turned a corner, Tanya disappeared. To the few people watching the group move, she was obstructed one second and gone the next.

A minute later, Nabe spoke up while continuing to walk.

"It is as you said, there appears to be a tavern which also serves as an inn, near the southern gate. We should take the next right to avoid a guardpost, then continue in this direction until the building comes into view. Presently, the rooms appear to be unoccupied." (Nabe)

"I see, that should be perfect. We will begin by gathering information and resting there. Whether there are adventurers or anything similar in this country, to register as cover. Ah, please message for her to meet us in that inn once we reserve some rooms." (Momon)

"As you wish." (Nabe)

She moved to the side to relay the message as they turned the corner, routing around a group of three armored guards talking among themselves in the distance.

"It's a nostalgic feeling, having to sneak around like this." (Tia)

"Right, like before we ran into the boss and became adventurers." (Tina)

"I don't like it… the way we're having to sneak around, it isn't even the way Workers in the Empire act, as if we were common criminals. It doesn't feel right to treat the entire country as enemies before we know anything about them." (Lakyus)

"… Lakyus, don't forget why we're here. We are not diplomats. If our goal can be achieved in the end, the methods employed hardly matter." (Evileye)

"Even you, Evileye…?" Lakyus cried out. "Maybe we shouldn't have come here, after all…" (Lakyus)

"It's a shame that it comes down to this, though I suppose in the end you don't have much reason to be here. If you detest it so much, you'd be better off leaving now. Just ask to be sent back, that girl is probably hiding enough power to teleport a few more times." (Evileye)

"Evileye, are you seriously saying that? Aren't we companions?" (Lakyus)

"… We are, of course, but everybody must eventually separate. Normally we would have spent the century together, and as much as I would have liked to do so, you know that isn't an option anymore. Not when I finally have a lead to work off of." (Evileye)

Their conversation hit a lull, just long enough for them to look forward and see Nabe glaring daggers at the both of them even while continuing to walk.

"-Ahem, I don't mean to meddle in another party's affairs, but could you pick a better time and place for it?" (Momon)

Momon interjected once again, due to their increasingly heated voices gathering a growing number of eyes onto their group. It was only because of the route they traveled, along some side streets rather than the main road, that they had been avoiding any more attention than they already were.

"… Yeah. We'll do that. Decide if you're staying or leaving then, Lakyus." (Evileye)

With those parting words, Evileye sped up her pace to walk ahead.

After that, the remainder of their walk was done in silence.


Meanwhile, as the group passed out of earshot, back at the gate, the two guards continued to quietly argue, the older guard justifying his decision to appease the younger guard's confusion.

"Were they somebody you knew? Is this really okay, can we let them in just like that?" (Serik)

"Sure we can, our job is to watch for wild monsters approaching, right? There are no laws banning travelers from entering the village, are there?" (Azat)

Azat stared down Serik with an air of intimidation.

"That's… you're right, but…" (Serik)

"… Enough, Serik. Your morning shift is finished, go back home already. There's no need for you to question our friends any further." (Azat)

Azat roughly collapsed the spyglass and began packing it away, followed by the two crossbows they had laid out and the small stack of bolts.

"For the love of all… Azat, man, what the hell happened to you? Did you mix too much liquor into that mud of yours? If- When the lord's men find them, the whole village will be drawn in!" (Serik)

Serik swung his hand to literally slap some sense into his friend, but of course it was easily caught by the veteran guard. There it was held for several seconds as he struggled to free himself, though there was no way he could win in a contest of strength, until it was simply released by his uncaring friend.

It wasn't an issue of just their own safety. Depending on how the situation developed, the lord might take one look at them and condemn the entire colonial village. From just the one time they had met, the current lord didn't seem the type to do so, but people from the capital were always like that – proud, up until the moment they decided to cull the colonials like livestock. In their eyes, they could always be replaced with another village worth of colonists.

For whatever reason, Azat was choosing to completely ignore this reality, though he no doubt already understood that possibility. Serik quietly thought about what to do, if nothing could reach him. In the end, he quietly asked,

"… Since my shift is over, I will go report their entry to the lord's captain, is that alright with you, Azat?" (Serik)

"Of course, by all means, tell him about our friends' arrival. I'd be delighted if they could meet." (Azat)

Still confused, Serik made his way back down the ladder off the tower, taking one last glance at Azat's proud smile before making his way over to the manor in the distance. If at least the report came from within, they might yet be declared unrelated and innocent.

Rather, it was now his only option to avoid the worst possible outcome.


Part 3

Roughly thirty minutes had passed since Tanya slipped away from Momon and the rest of the party, and she was currently waiting half a kilometer above the village.

It was a novel experience, to hover in the air over an enemy population center without coming under anti-air fire, the worst preparation against airborne threats she had seen since the Principality of Dacia.

Considering there did exist a good number of large flying monsters in the northern end of the desert bordering the Theocracy, such as Sandstorm Dragons and the Goliath Vulture, they likely didn't travel far enough south to ever threaten a village on the opposite end. Or rather, given that they had not sighted even the most basic Sand Scorpion in the few kilometers they walked, it may be that monsters didn't normally survive in this environment to begin with.

Besides that, she was also invisible by means of magic, and unlike somewhere like the Empire's capital city of Arwintar, a small village like this giving guards equipment to see through even the lowest level of invisibility magic seemed extremely improbable.

She briefly wondered whether a radar station or magic wave listening post could detect a mage who could make use of this invisibility magic.

Although the former would likely fail, radar would normally be intended for detecting large flying pieces of metal, not small flying humans. The only ones who would attempt to do so would basically be just the Federation's commies, who reject empirical evidence in favor of party truths.

As for the latter, it was more difficult to determine. At very least, she could assert that she herself could see through even the highest levels of illusion or invisibility magic without issue, though that wasn't a very useful measure for estimating the human standard of ability to do the same. Of course, this didn't mean she could see through all invisibility, either. There had apparently existed a World-Class Item which could entirely remove a player from all other players' displays, such that they could not be spotted even by cheating; The data simply didn't exist in their clients.

Though it was impossible to guess whether that particular World-Class Item also existed in this world, it did at least prove beyond any doubt that [Perfect Unknowable] wasn't the peak of what was possible for invisibility and concealment. Unfortunately, it also seemed likely that at least that level of magical ability would be the bare minimum when it came to beings which could reasonably be called gods.

Otherwise, standing against one on the battlefield would mean a technological disadvantage that not even the Dacian War could compare with. The only possible result would be a one-sided slaughter from the other side. The idea of struggling with all the force she could muster, only to see it all swept away with the brush of a hand, gave her the chills.

It would be foolish to assume everything would be over just because Being X wasn't threatening her anymore. That was the exact mistake the Empire had made in thinking the war would be over after breaking through the Entente Alliance, or in assuming everything would end if only the Republic's capital fell.

Somewhere out there, in one world or another, there would always be another enemy, and perhaps the only route to peace was to prepare until she could make the threat of mutually assured destruction.

To borrow from Ainz's philosophy, she wished to never make the mistake of assuming herself to be a unique chosen being.

From there, her thoughts began to drift towards teleportation magic.

In the brief time after when she had confirmed that the party on the ground arrived at the inn without running into any stray patrols, Tanya had taken a few minutes to mark this position before using teleportation several times a fair distance in each cardinal direction from the village in the center.

Though it was an effort to try quickly search if there was anything she could learn about the distribution of spatial mana density over the area, but couldn't register a measurable difference. If there was an epicenter from where the magic had been drained, it was distant enough that moving only a hundred kilometers in any one direction did nothing to help locate it.

That wasn't to say that it was necessarily impossible to locate the whatever it was that caused it – assuming it was even still around. However, doing so would likely require scanning every ten kilometers, in every direction, across a quarter of the planet's surface. Even if her mana was unlimited, the time required for such a comprehensive search would be monumental.

And in reality, her mana was far from limitless, particularly in this environment. Both her mana capacity and the rate at which she could recover it were severely hampered. Neither was to a degree where any low-tier utility magic would impeded, though combat which required tenth-tier spells was out of the question.

In particular the environment became an issue when using any sort of magic which worked outside the body.

For example, healing and muscular enhancement were entirely unaffected. Teleportation was in fact more effective than normal, as if traveling through lower resistance, though the difference had to be accounted for in displacement calculations.

Other magic abilities varied case-by-case: Mental manipulation with charm magic was possible, though exceptionally difficult to use, where merely selecting a single target was already a considerable challenge.

To reliably designate only a few targets out of everybody [Mass Charm Species] would affect, or maintain a spell which required the caster to hold a persistent mental connection, such as [Dominate], would simply not be possible.

When she had used it, a single cast of [Charm Person] had left her unexpectedly drained, such that she wasn't confident that she could do so a second time without making a mistake. As such, only the lead guard had been charmed, not his subordinate.

At the other end of the range of spells, a fireball would disappear into a simple flare within a dozen meters, as would a mana bolt fired from a rifle using a formula.

It might make things difficult, but at the end of the day, an Imperial Mage was one who was trained to fight even in the absence of magic, using the greatest invention of humankind that was the steel shovel.

Though Tanya was reasonably confident in her ability to bludgeon anything up to and including a passing dragon with only her fists, if it came down to it.

However, that did not by any means that this situation was without danger to her.

Most of all, she was all but certain that there would be hell to pay for bringing Ainz into a dangerous, unknown situation without warning.

This experimentation was a good excuse for her to justify delaying the inevitable, but the outcome was unlikely to change. After all, when she had exchanged a few messages with Narberal to guide them to the inn, her final message was to relay a command from Ainz: "Ainz-sama demands your presence in the room, as soon as we acquire a room at the inn," she had telepathically relayed.

There were things that couldn't be said from his position as Momon the adventurer, so he no doubt had a mountain of complaints piled up.

Worse, it was difficult to argue that he would be wrong for wanting to do so. Though the situation had more or less worked itself out safely, it could just as easily have wound up with his being completely unable to sustain unlife, either forcing an emergency return, or a very awkward explanation of why it was suddenly necessary to test out resurrection magic once more.

It would be like leading the Emperor himself on a stroll around the front lines, oblivious to any obvious danger, then have to come back and explain why he was walking in full view of enemy snipers and heavy artillery. Even if he didn't wind up shot in the end, it made for an awful display of blatant incompetence to have to explain.

Tanya continued to sit in the air, directly over the village, observing the same inn she had first spotted from the sky. Near the edge of her perception, she could feel out the number of people moving around inside by the different waves of magic power radiating out from three rooms in the second floor of the building.

After giving them some time to settle into position, she watched on as a couple of the signals suddenly dropped in intensity, as if blurred and dampened by some barrier.

This was their signal, she figured, them sealing off the room to prevent any information from leaking by magical or mundane means.

So she picked a spot on the floor, inside the protected room, and activated one more short-range teleportation to relocate herself in the blink of an eye.

The first thing she saw was Momon – or rather, Ainz, as his helmet was already removed, the skull below openly visible, without his own illusionary disguise.

"… So you're here. Just on time, I was about to have Narberal send a message." (Ainz)

Ainz looked down at her, then quickly glanced over at Narberal, then back. He continued,

"Ah, you should cancel your invisibility first. She doesn't have any racial ability to see through it, and there is no sense in wasting any MP on doing so now." (Ainz)

She nodded and complied, dispelling several spells to return to her natural appearance.

"I take it this room is safe to talk in?" (Tanya)

"Yes, well… you stepped in just as Narberal used the last scroll. I suppose it shows my error in not preparing against teleportation, but the security against information-gathering by the sort you may find in this place." (Ainz)

"… Ainz-sama has made no error. The fault is hers for entering without prostrating before the Supreme One." (Narberal)

"… Apologies, Ainz-sama." (Tanya)

After a moment of hesitation, Tanya bowed to Ainz.

"Considering the situation, it can't be helped. Raise your head. What have you learned of this situation?" (Ainz)

"Nothing usable, unfortunately. At minimum the source should be a full thousand kilometers away, likely several. As for the direction, my best estimate is 'not north'. Since it's not something we can blindly search for, we need to gather more intelligence. If there's any good news, although I previously said that we need to conserve the magic power we have, it seems that even in the worst case, it is possible enough to gather together enough atmospheric mana to absorb and recover. It's still not ideal, but at the very least we know we won't be stranded somewhere, completely dry." (Tanya)

"The worst case has been avoided, then… Narberal, what about you, what do you make of this?" (Ainz)

"Regardless of the outcome, the very act of endangering the Supreme One is one which cannot be forgiven merely with death." (Narberal)

There was no delay at all to Narberal announcing her own preferred verdict. That was what Tanya both feared and expected, the conclusion any of Nazarick's more zealous would likely have jumped to.

However, Ainz only sighed and pressed a bony hand to his forehead.

"… Narberal, do you perchance consider me a child in need of constant supervision?" (Ainz)

"B-by no means!" (Narberal)

Just as quickly, Narberal stammered back a response.

"Then don't make me repeat myself. There is a difference between standing against threats to Nazarick, as the Guardians and yourself were meant to, and jumping at the slightest hint of provocation." (Ainz)

"My sincerest apologies!" (Narberal)

Ainz sighed again, then turned away.

"Well, fine. It's not important right now. This is an 'adventure' into the unknown, after all. I don't intend to blame either of you right now. The issue at hand, is of course, to get to the bottom of the current situation. As to where the origin lies, and why its effect on the world is as it is. The former, we will have to learn with time, but the latter, we can attempt to determine here. More specifically, how it can be that you two are affected, where I am not." (Ainz)

"Didn't you already mention before, that you didn't have any magic power right now? It matches up with the reasoning that the mages and cleric are feeling it, but the warriors aren't." (Tanya)

Ainz shook his head. "No, that was a lie. Your explanation matched well enough, and since Momon himself should be without any magic, it worked. However, it is not true. Since we were traveling into the unknown, I wanted to keep the option of magic open, so I did not make use of [Perfect Warrior]… Presently I am merely concealing my magic with one of my rings, not suppressing it entirely." (Ainz)

After his explanation finished, the room again went quiet. Since, the theory they had been working with until then was no longer logically consistent.

"How irritating. Personally, I'd still guess the difference is in being undead, but…" (Tanya)

"Then, wouldn't the oversized mosquito defy expectation? It is much more natural to conclude that Ainz-sama is too powerful to be affected." (Narberal)

"Hm… going purely by MP, you two are within a factor of ten of me, I would expect to at least feel the effect. Perhaps with another sample…" (Ainz)

Ainz thought through the two proposals, then raised his hand to the side.

"[Create Mid-Tier Undead, Black Lich]" (Ainz)

A mass of darkness came out of his hand and settled onto the wooden floor next to them, before slowly forming up into bones, robes, and a hooded skull. The entire creature maintained that same color, and unlike many of its counterparts, the bones were not bleached an off-white, but remained pitch black, as if they had been scorched in a fire.

This was a Black Lich, one of the evolution paths above the Elder Lich which lost the undead inherent weakness to fire, at the cost of losing much of its magic, except that of the same fire attribute and necromancy.

The lich kneeled down before Ainz before slowly creaking out some words.

"Master… what do you require… of this one?" (Lich)

"Night Lich, are there any irregularities with your body?" (Ainz)

"… Irregularities…? This one… is always ready… to spread death…" (Lich)

"It's neither leaking magic abnormally, nor does it seem to be suffering any abnormal effects. It appears to be entirely like a normal lich." (Tanya)

Tanya took the chance to examine the flow of mana, and indeed, it seemed to be entirely contained within the skeleton's frame.

"Good. Next, use a single [Flare Bolt] towards her." (Ainz)

Ainz gestured lightly towards Tanya.

"Yes… [Flare Bolt]!" (Lich)

Immediately, the Black Lich did as it was ordered, raising its own arm to create a two-layered magic circle, from which an orange bolt of fire shot towards her.

Before the projectile traveled more than a meter, however, its form had already begun collapsing into mere scattered fire. By the time it struck her, she didn't even need to raise a hand against the fire, and let it wash over her. Let alone lukewarm, she couldn't even feel the heat.

It had taken some effort to get rid of the instinctive fear of fire shared by most living things, but she was at this point nearly immune to fire damage. Aside from hellfire, which partially bypassed fire resistance, or magic at the level of [Vermilion Nova] which could simply overpower it, a mere second-tier spell could barely be felt even under normal circumstances, so there was no sense in her wasting effort trying to avoid or defend against it.

In response, the lich appeared surprised for a second, then started casting again. However, Ainz raised his own hand.

"Enough. The outcome is as intended. Finally, yes… as an experiment, with myself as a target, cast a simple [Ray of Negative Energy]." (Ainz)

Upon hearing the order to attack its own summoner, the lich froze. Only after hearing the spell did it raise a hand towards Ainz.

Casting the spell, a beam of black light connected the Black Lich's hand and Ainz's body, which glowed ever so slightly. Being undead, negative energy would obviously heal him instead of causing damage, though he was currently uninjured, so the spell had no effect in particular.

More importantly however,

"… It's not scattering?" (Tanya)

As Tanya noted, the ray was not dissipating in the same way the bolt of fire had previously.

"So it would seem… interesting, very interesting… well, that's enough, you can return now, lich." (Ainz)

With those words and a nod, Ainz cancelled the summoning skill, and the Black Lich which had been there a moment prior disappeared into nothing.

"Just what did you figure out from that?" (Tanya)

"We were interested in learning the difference between you and I which changes the way we are affected by the magic in the air… Now we have learned that where – as you observed – the magic is deficient, the negative energy which fuels undead is unaltered." (Ainz)

Ainz turned back with both arms raised as he revealed his revelation.

"… Understood. As expected of Ainz-sama, your genius knows no bounds." (Narberal)

He shook his head. "This should have been the very first thought that came to mind upon analyzing the situation and hearing from you two." (Ainz)

"Is 'negative energy' not just another element of tier magic spells?" (Tanya)

Tanya asked in confusion. It wasn't a topic she had given much consideration to, as she personally had very little for negative energy-based spells. When it came to magic, it was among the lowest of priorities for her.

"I can see why you might assume that, if you only read spell descriptions… However, the topic is deeper. According to the lore text, negative energy is its own category, which can be controlled using MP, but is nonetheless distinct. For instance, a summoned fire elemental is fundamentally distinct from necromantic summons which rely on negative energy. In YGGDRASIL this was only an explanation, but in this world the contrast is even more significant. Take for instance the idea of summoning a Death Knight using a human corpse as an intermediary…" (Ainz)

Ainz continued to explain his theory for several more minutes afterwards, without interruption.

"… Although, it still doesn't explain why that girl wouldn't be immune as well. I suppose there was likely something to explain it in the stories she told Momon, but I don't remember. It might have been an instance where Pandora's Actor was taking the role instead." (Ainz)

Though it was just as likely that Ainz himself had indeed been the one behind the armor, he simply didn't remember anything specific enough to be relevant. Fortunately, he always had a cause for plausible deniability when it came to remembering anything the hero might have done.

"If we take what she said to be true, it's no coincidence that undead would be affected differently by this event, and personally, I'm inclined to agree with her. It's hard to believe that two world-altering events would share such a core factor by pure coincidence." (Tanya)

"Hmmm…" (Ainz)

Ainz pondered the issue. On one hand, this would certainly speed their way towards finding the next step on this quest. On the other, it would require them to rely on the girl who was not in any way bound to Nazarick. Who, if anything, was more cold than cordial towards the Sorcerous Kingdom, not at all like the cases of Nfirea or Renner, who were bound in one way or another. The closest for her was the relationship between her and Momon, though even that was more likely to end with them inducing rebellion together than tie her down.

"Either way, we can't reach a conclusion without having the whole story. How about explaining what you just put together and asking Keeno for the rest of it?" (Tanya)

"… Just what value do you see in that group?" (Ainz)

"The group? Absolutely none. A nuisance, if anything. However, her, her alone? A researcher with centuries of activity and experience, ready to be mined. The entire course of history can be twisted by a single scientist, especially during wartime, or during an interwar lull. That depth of knowledge, a comprehensive understanding of this world's system of magic, the secrets to transcending the limits of mortality, surely you see it?" (Tanya)

"… I see. Well, it's true that she knows spells that even I have never heard of. The possibility to learn something is indeed there." (Ainz)

Narberal nodded. "I recall Entoma mentioning something similar in passing. Since the Kingdom is no longer of concern, should we capture her and dispose of the rest?" (Narberal)

"Unfortunately, it wouldn't be so simple. It's just like with the Bareare family's potion-making. No, where he accidentally ended up discovering Momon's identity, her being undead precludes mental magic from being effective… building a cooperative relationship may indeed be the only option." (Ainz)

Tanya walked over to the single simple window in the room, sealed unsurprisingly not with glass but crude wooden shutters and plain cloth to keep out the sand.

"It would be nice if they went and dissolved naturally, though there is always the option to push them in that direction if that looks to be necessary." (Tanya)

Her ideal outcome would see the party dissolve naturally, though it was admittedly not terribly likely that a party of adventurers who lived by risking their lives together would break up over a mere moral disagreement. At best, she could continue subtly pressing them into these disagreements to build discontent.

"Assuming that works, how would you assure Nazarick would not be betrayed, if not using control or memory manipulation magic?" (Ainz)

"How? Just take a look at history, humans have been doing it for centuries." (Tanya)

"… Your argument is the Kingdom and the Empire? The Theocracy?" (Narberal)

"No, Narberal, most likely, the history she refers to is not that of this world." (Ainz)

"Precisely. The psychology of the matter has long been researched. Though, to be exact, we aren't describing betrayal in the sense of a personal relationship, rather a limited-trust business relationship. Whether you consider employee retention at a company, or preventing soldiers defecting during a losing war, it's largely a solved problem. Everything comes down to costs, benefits, and incentives. Betrayal is an entirely rational and human decision to make." (Tanya)

Tanya pulled the thin cloth covering the window, opening a crack just thin enough to glance out of, without moving it enough for the change to be visible from outside. Noticing her actions, Narberal also took a step in her direction.

"… Rational, huh…" (Ainz)

While it wasn't unreasonable to look at it that way, it was a fundamentally different way to look at it to how the Guardians would. There was no lenience in their view to so much as consider the possibility of betrayal. Hers, however, asserted that to betray was a rational conclusion anybody might reach, depending on the conditions.

"It looks like the rest will have to wait until another day." (Tanya)

"… Already, huh?" (Narberal)

"What is it now?" (Ainz)

"Please take a look outside, my lord." (Narberal)

Ainz donned Momon's black helmet once more, and walked over to the window, where Narberal stepped to the side to give him a view.

Outside, a dozen men in varying armor were marching through the street in a disorderly group, centered around a huge man in pure-white heavy full-plate armor, dazzlingly bright from how it reflected the sun's light.

"What's with that armor, not even Touch Me worse anything nearly so bright…" (Ainz)

Ainz muttered upon seeing the man leading the group.

"He might as well paint a target on it, you'd have to be insane to stand in battle wearing that. It's not something you can wear without the confidence to at least catch an artillery shell unharmed. On top of that, they're not even bothering to surround the building, just walking into the front, how careless can you get?" (Tanya)

"… It just looks like a hard-shelled insect. This is supposed to be the enemy?" (Narberal)

"At least he may be the gate guards' superior, though it's not yet clear whether they're hostile-" (Ainz)

"-To the foreign spies hiding in this building, hear me!"

Ainz was interrupted by a booming shout from outside.

"… I don't know, they sound pretty hostile to me." (Tanya)

"Unforgivable. Ainz-sama, please allow us to exterminate them all." (Narberal)

Narberal was already stepping up to answer the insult and aggression, ready to step out and fight.

From the hallway and adjacent room, a similar shuffling of movement could be heard, so they moved towards the door as well.

"For the time being, let's see what it is they want. If it comes to them drawing swords after that, then…" (Ainz)


Part 4

"… They'd damn well better come out soon."

"Patience, my lord, please. There is no door out but this one."

"… Tch. Fine."

The heavily-armored man clicked his tongue, but ultimately relented. There was no point in arguing against the slimmer man.

He himself was the twenty-second prince, but that man was one of his father's advisors, stuck to him by his father's direct order. A few words out of him would be enough to fail this test, even prior to them so much as setting foot into the sands.

Though the rite of passage he had to accomplish was to head out and track down and hunt a camp of the scorpionmen plaguing the grand desert, in reality what was required was to earn this man's approval.

More than likely, at least a few of the favored princes could do that without so much as holding a sword, depending on who their mother was. For men like him, however, trust would have to be earned through martial skill. Fortunately, if nothing else, he was confident in his sword arm.

He shuffled around on the spot. A couple days weren't anywhere near long enough for him to get used to this environment, so radically different from the temperate city he had lived prior.

Rather than the difficulty of fighting against the scorpionmen famed for their might, the very act of having to march through the desert worried him more. That battle of life and death he could be excited by, walking and sweating for days, far less so.

It was a brutal trip, which might decimate their numbers, or even end with them losing their way in the endless dunes, never to be heard from again. No amount of preparation could fully eliminate the danger of the unforgiving sun.

However, hot it may be, but the white sword and armor he wore was the sign of nobility, something he must never take off in public until the day he returns to the castle, victorious.

They were set to depart this afternoon, just as the sun began to set, cover as much land as possible under lantern and star light, and struggle to reach the first unmarked oasis outpost without running out of water. It was a difficult journey in the best of times, even with a special map marking hidden oases, especially for a heavily armored party intent on combat.

Just as they were finishing their final preparations, one of the guards from the northern gatehouse rushed in with a report. Unexpectedly, not to report an attack. Of all things, travelers, apparently no less armed than his own party.

It didn't take a genius to figure out they had to be spies. Dressed like mercenaries, perhaps, but there was no practical reason anybody else would be at a village this far into the frontier, except perhaps to build up their history and credibility while collecting information about himself.

The guard had come worried while reporting that the spies had entered the village, afraid they might be flogged for letting spies in, but this was perfect, far better than turning them away, letting them run free to another village inhabited only by colonists, where the spies could set up roots and blend in, or incite the colonists to rebellion.

Instead he pat that guard on the back with a smile, grabbed his father's advisor to ensure he would be present as a witness, and set off along with a squad of his personal soldiers.

He went out first to the gate, from where he figured out the direction the group went using some civilians who lived in the area and saw the group. Along the way, he gathered up a few of the patrols he ran into, grabbing them to help arrest the spies.

Their nation had its fair share of enemies – these primitives obsessed with mysticism had been easy enough to conquer under his grandfather's rule, but the kingdoms at both the east and the west guarded their borders carefully.

Those two kingdoms understood how to fight with a sword, instead of pretending to wield some ancient magics like these old fools. And, each would love the chance to monopolize the mountains at their own nation's southern border, so relations between his country and its neighbors were less than diplomatic.

If he could capture foreign spies and prove their hostile intentions against his father, that might well be plenty to earn his position, without wasting months searching fruitlessly in the desert.

So now they gathered up and stood in front of the tavern and inn which they had tracked the spies to – the only place they might stay, not hard to find just by pressing a couple civilians near the northern gate they had entered from to figure out the path the oddly-dressed group had traveled.

Though the prince was well aware that he was not popular among the people here, the villagers were at least cordial enough to answer such mundane questions. Or, judging by how scared the first gate guard had been when delivering his report, this village may have already been trained by some of his more brutal brothers and cousins that refusal was not an option.

A fair few of them were the sort who only knew how to attack and pillage, somehow failing to recognize that their father wasn't so stupid as to grant posts of knighthood off that single criterion.

Either way, they found this building, and gathered in front of its entrance.

A couple minutes had passed now since he called out the hiding spies, with no movement from inside thus far.

"Sir, should we head inside and flush them out?" (Soldier)

"Not yet. If there's an assassin in the group, we're better off in the open instead of cramped corridors. Plus, letting them escape through the window and flee would be a disaster." (Prince)

A soldier at his side – one of his own, not his father's – offered a suggestion, but he shot it down. The advisor similarly nodded to agree with his analysis. Annoying as it was to have him butt in, there was no meaning to arguing otherwise right now.

Still, the prince continued tapping the pommel of his sword in irritation, his own patience gradually wearing thin.

Until at last, the wooden door slowly creaked open.

First, a giant man whose physique was not inferior to his own, wearing raven-black armor which seemed the exact opposite of his own, devouring all light instead of reflecting any.

"So you've finally shown yourselves!" (Prince)

Though the prince called out again, the man stepped forward in confidence, as if ignoring his words. From behind him came another man(?), similarly sized but this time clad in a dark red, who stopped by the first man's side.

Each seemed to be wearing equipment of the sort he might expect the royal guard to wear. To say that these two were here to spearhead an attack might be more plausible than to suggest they were here for covert action, but there was no room to change his accusation now.

A quick glance proved that he wasn't the only one surprised. Not just his elite private soldiers who were shocked to see foreigners with superior equipment to their own, but even the advisor from the castle, whose understanding of the relative power of the surrounding countries was probably shaken, if not completely overturned by seeing this.

Behind those two, more women continued to walk out in sequence, until their number wasn't inferior to the soldiers he had brought along with him from the mansion. If not for the patrols he collected, they themselves would be outnumbered by now.

"Did you need something from us?" (Momon)

The man in black finally asked, without minding the wall of soldiers in front of him, only staring down the prince.

"… You, are you lot the foreign spies who broke through the border and snuck into the village? Who sent you, the east, or the west?" (Prince)

The prince asked back, inadvertently intimidated by the aura of power the man seemed to exude. The words he meant to speak were replaced by quiet questions.

"… Though it is obvious enough that we are foreigners, I cannot understand the reasoning by which you would accuse us of being spies. We come neither from the east nor the west, but the distant north. On the opposite side of this desert, a great nation known as the Sorcerous Kingdom." (Momon)

"North? Hah, don't be absurd! If you're going to lie, at least think up something reasonable!" (Prince)

Though he laughed at the ridiculous story – the sort charlatans who sought to sell magic dust often made up – the response he received back was instead outright hostility from the black-haired woman by the man's side, who began to reach for her sword before being stopped by the armored man.

Momon shrugged and muttered, "… It's a sad thing to tell the truth yet not be trusted. Though I don't suppose I should be surprised that this backwater wouldn't know of events which transpire on the opposite end of this desert." (Momon)

These words were plenty to provoke the prince's ire.

"… You piece of shit, you come out of nowhere and parade around the colonial village with your armor and women, who the hell do you think you are, to speak that way about this country?" (Prince)

"Well, calm down, why don't you? You've been nothing but incoherent this whole time…" (Gagaran)

Even Gagaran stepped forward to add a word, but hearing it only served to infuriate him further.

"You, shut up!" (Prince)

He paused after shouting, to catch his breath and calm down. His own hand had inadvertently gravitated towards his sword, but he couldn't kill them here, at least not without getting their secrets out of them.

"… Enough. I didn't want to fight here, but you've hardly left me any choice. I'll be generous and give you one chance, turn over your equipment and surrender, and you'll be tried in the capital." (Prince)

"-Ah, I figured it out!"

The answer to the prince's demand came out of nowhere – or rather, from where nobody had been the previous second.

While all his attention was focused on the man in black, she appeared – the girl in pure white, standing directly in front, between the two of them. His hand immediately jumped back to grab the handle of this sword, as he stared at her, wide-eyed. Every single soldier did the same, yet the girl barely noticed, turning her back for a leisurely chat.

"… They're dressed shabbily, speak incoherently, and try to steal and kidnap. These must be the 'bandits' everybody speaks of!" (Tanya)

She said, as if having a revelation, seeing a fantastical animal she had only ever heard described and read about in books.

Her reasoning could be said to be silly, childish even, to equate the two off only these few cursory similarities. But at the same time, if there was nobody around to argue the contrary, it could be sufficient to justify acting in self-defense.

"… I see. That reasoning makes sense. Should we defeat these bandits, Momon-saan?" - Narberal nodded along, accepting the justification Tanya offered.

"It's a barbaric country which allows bandits to freely threaten its people… It would only be polite to sweep them out, given the chance." (Momon)

Her words were practically an outright provocation, even more so than anything Momon said previously, yet to the prince and his men, they passed in one ear and out the other. Prior to saying anything, the route to negotiation had been cut off since the moment she appeared in front of them.

The first to reply was not the prince, but the advisor.

"… You dare to wear the white of royalty…? My Lord, these are no spies. No spy would ever be so foolish and ignorant. The crime of impersonating nobility must be answered with death." (Advisor)

"Of all things, that's what you're caught up on…? What the hell are you going on about now" (Tanya)

Tanya looked on in disbelief as the prince and his advisor, instead of even acknowledging her cheap provocation, instead found their own cheap issue to poke at. Her surprise leaked into a quiet mutter, but the prince was evidently of the same mind.

He drew the long white broadsword from his waist and raised it with both hands, and declared, "… You stand before Prince Baram Osman Murad, twenty-second for the throne of Murad! Prove that the dagger on your waist is not a decoration-" (Baram)

His sentence was interrupted by the black dagger embedded into his right lung.

"… Like this, you mean?" (Tanya)

Tanya quietly asked from right in front of his chest.

Before anybody had the chance to blink, she had closed the distance and stabbed.

So sudden was the attack that as the soldiers blinked, Tanya disappeared, leaving them no idea where to look. One moment she was drawing the long dagger out of its sheath, the next she was already gone.

It was only their prince's angry warcry which drew their attention back, as he swung down his sword with all his might, aiming for the girl literally within arm's reach.

However, she simply looked up at him in disinterest, deflecting his sword to the side with her other empty gloved hand as one might a stick swung by a child, while simultaneously pulling the black dagger out of his chest as she took a step back.

"… I hate men who don't die when they're stabbed…" Tanya muttered under her breath. Unexpectedly, despite being inflicted what should have been a lethal wound, he did not fall like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She swung the dagger in her left hand lightly, scattering a line of fresh blood onto the sand.

A number of the soldiers cried out, "My Lord!" as they saw him stagger back, a crimson stain clearly visible on his previously unblemished armor. Swords and axes were quickly drawn from all around.

"… Her weapon can cut through mithril! … Do not let your guard down!" (Baram)

Prince Baram coughed out a warning as he raised his sword again with a face rapidly paling from the loss of blood pressure, the cleanliness of his blade reflecting the outcome of their exchange.

In return, Tanya declared, "We've heard enough. Cut down these bandit pretenders."

Following that, the battle didn't last a full minute.

Even with only half the members present drawing arms immediately at her signal, the difference was overwhelming. That wasn't necessarily to say they were weak; against an ordinary knight, they would at least be a fair match, but their opponents were of another class altogether, even having their magic sealed.

Tanya, Momon, or Evileye, any one of the three had more than enough power to crush a knight's torso between their bare hands, that even though the four remaining Blue Roses were slow to the draw, the fight was overwhelmingly in their favor from the first second.

Now, the self-proclaimed prince lay dead with several stab wounds and cuts to the chest, every one of the guards he brought with him were left in pieces, and even the out-of-place thin man was quickly dying, after Tanya inadvertently stabbed him when he went to draw his own shortsword.

Doing so was arguably a mistake, since she really should have kept at least one of them alive to extract information, but he should really have known better than to take a swing at a soldier, or at very least, he should have been durable enough to not fall dead from a single injury.

Strictly speaking, he wasn't exactly dead, so it was likely still possible to save him with magic, but showing off the power of recovery magic here wasn't something that can be explained away as anything other than magic. In conclusion, it was a bit wasteful, but considering the cost-benefit nonetheless favored letting him die here.

"… What a waste…" Lakyus muttered, looking over the pile of corpses, blood, viscera, and scattered body parts they had created. "… Absolutely, an unfortunate waste," Tanya sincerely agreed. For all that, they failed to earn an iota of usable information.

By appearances he looked to be some sort of advisor for the meathead. Were she alone, Tanya could have healed him up, heard what she needed, then done away with him once she got what she needed out of him, but she wasn't. Worse, they were still in the middle of a street.

A fair few people lived in this area, drawn by that man's obnoxious rambling to look out their own windows to see the cause of the commotion below. Some on the street began to back away as soon as the threats began to fly, but many continued to gape like tourists. Naturally, they were witnesses to the events that followed.

Now then, what are we to do? That situation would inevitably have ended in violence, but how will they see it? Though it was supposed to only be a joke, must we really have this village go the way of Arene, in the end?

Tanya could sense them without having to look, the men and women peeking through the corner of their windows. The young looking in shock, the old more out of obligation rather than interest.

It wasn't only her. Nearby, the twin assassins were carefully looking around while moving their heads as little as possible, trying to figure out the positions of every witness.

"What next? Should we scatter and regroup elsewhere?" Tina whispered, so as to not alert the hidden witnesses to the fact that they in fact already aware of them.

The effort was largely wasted, however, as the rest of the party began to look around restlessly, being less familiar with the process required for executing a public killing. They turned to each other and began whispering amongst themselves, in an effort to plan out their next action.

Tanya briefly entertained the possibility of wrapping everybody up for a short-range teleport outside the city, before returning invisible for a clandestine operation to search the nearby mansion for maps and documents.

But the next to act was not any of them.

A dozen meters away, a door slowly creaked open to reveal an elderly man who boldly revealed himself. Even as he looked over the scene of carnage, there was neither anger nor condemnation in his gaze.

Everybody looking at him shared the same thought – to draw, or not to draw. It would only require a single action, and the outcome would be known to all of them. Nobody wanted to be the one to pull the trigger for second massacre, this one much worse than anything they had just done.

To stand calmly in front of this scene of a bloody murder would take nerves of steel, yet still he spoke.

"… These men are foreign invaders, they are no allies of ours. You will find nobody in this village who would mourn their deaths." (Old Man)

Ever so quietly, the man proclaimed the village's position. Nodding to one of the other nearby houses, a pair of youths ran around the back of a building and pulled out a hand-drawn cart. They quickly began to collect the bodies, pausing only to confirm whether they should strip them of their equipment first, to which the elder shook his head.

"… I will not commend murder… but know that not a single man in this village didn't wish to be able to do the same." (Old Man)

"This isn't the first time you've done this. Their movements were too practiced… and young men wouldn't handle the dead so casually were it their first time." (Tanya)

Tanya pointed out, confident in her conclusion. Even rookie soldiers struggled mentally the first time they encountered death, whether that corpse used to be their friend or enemy.

"… We lost the war. For them, that's all that matters. He may have been an arrogant fool, but to this lord, we were at least still human… there are always worse. Even the best-equipped party might lose their way in a sandstorm and fall prey to starvation and sand wolves, they are made to learn." (Old Man)

Another middle-aged man ran up, and after looking at Tanya's group with a mix of caution and suspicion, began whispering to the elder.

Listening in, Tanya heard him questioning what to do about the soldiers remaining in the village. Though many had been brought on the way here, a number were still patrolling around, and it wouldn't be long before they found this scene, or worse, the cart full of corpses.

"-We'll take care of them. Just handle the cleaning," Tia offered, having evidently also overheard the whispered conversation.

"Wha-" The messenger began to exclaim, but the elder nodded immediately and interrupted, "Take care of it. Lead them to the patrols."

Receiving that order, he finally accepted and ran off with assassins in tow.

"… You sure seem to be trusted… who are you, really?" (Momon)

Momon asked the obvious question, cautiously. He had seen old men with remarkable combat strength, according to this world's definition of strength. However, he couldn't feel anything of the sort from him.

"… Who am I? Haha, you say some funny things. There's no need for threats here, I'm nothing more than a failure of a soldier who couldn't protect his country. These old hands couldn't grab a sword if I tried, let alone swing one." (Old Man)

"It's true, His tendons appear to have been intentionally severed, and prevented from healing," Tanya added. "Hardly something anybody would bother doing to a random soldier, wouldn't you say?"

"… Tch. An observant one, are you? There are things in this world you're better off not noticing, girl." (Old Man)

Tanya answered with a chuckle, as if to say, "Try me."

Their conversation fell into a lull, until Lakyus interjected.

"Elder, would you tell us what happened to this country?" (Lakyus)

He hesitated upon hearing her sincere plea. A few seconds of thought later, he nodded and turned back to enter the small house, calling for them to follow him in.

"… The one whose story you should hear is not mine, but that of my wife. Come in"


Part 5

The house, if you could even call it that, was the very image of poverty. A photograph taken here wouldn't suggest the slightest presence of magic being used to improve the conditions of living, but for all intents and purposes, would be identical and indistinguishable from the furthest reaches of the modern third world, as advertised by certain charities.

To live in this shack for a prolonged period of time would provide comfort and quality-of-life comparable, if still inferior to, the front-line trenches of the Rhine. There, at least, you might have a drum of water to drink, high-calorie rations, and occasionally some rations of coffee or chocolate, assuming you had the right friends in the back.

The only thing this place had going for it as far as Tanya could see was that so far, the village had yet to come under a concentrated artillery barrage – an advantage to be sure, though it was unlikely to be one the locals knew to appreciate.

Nobody truly understands how beautiful a sound it is, to hear the guns fall silent.

They stepped quietly through the silent house, but for the creaking of rotten floorboards which hadn't been replaced since they were first placed on the ground. The cramped passages were much too thin for six people to pass through, especially when two of them were both too tall to fit without crouching down, and too wide to pass without accidentally knocking something over.

What little food could be seen was mostly a mixture of dry meat scraps and a few random grains. Most likely, not something the old man had purchased himself, but bits and pieces provided by the neighbors which allowed them to remain fed into retirement.

To begin with, there wasn't much in the way of food to be found in this climate. At best, there were a few small animals and wandering monsters which a capable hunter might be able to trap for meat, assuming one of those would choose to live all the way out here.

From the entry, it only took a few second before the party passed through two small rooms and reached their target. They entered another similarly small room, slightly better lit by the open window facing the back alley, sunlight illuminating exactly how plain and bare of decorations this room was. In fact, the only contents of this final room were a chair in the corner. The only resident, an elderly woman relaxing under the sun's indirect glow.

By the looks of it, she was the same age as the man, or slightly younger. Though more likely, she had aged somewhat better than her husband. What stood out was, as they opened the door and entered, the woman turned to look up at her husband, a tan blindfold covering her eyes.

From her husband, she looked over the group, and said with a smile, "… I never thought the day would come again, when I would set my eyes on another witch, let alone two of them… welcome, sisters."

"… Witches, you say? They are…?" (Old Man)

She glanced from her husband, first to Evileye, then to Lakyus, confirming her first impressions. The identical expression of confusion shared between the two was the best evidence of their decades of marriage, as they both thought through the miscommunication.

"It's true that some of us are magic casters," Lakyus offered, "but how did you…"

Her eyes met with the woman's – rather, where they would have been, had they not been covered by the blindfold.

"They took away my eyes, but even here, at this age, I can at least cast [Mana Essence] on myself, you know. It has been… ages, since I last saw colors this vivid." (Old Woman)

"A fourth-tier magic caster, all the way out here, is certainly unexpected." (Momon)

"You're a knowledgeable one. To which are you a knight?" (Old Woman)

When Momon tried to elaborate, her reply took the form of a question which only added to everybody's confusion.

"Won't you introduce yourselves first, elders?" Momon probed in return.

"… Do you mean to say my fool of a husband couldn't even name himself to you?" (Old Woman)

"-wait," her husband attempted to interject, but she continued. "Oh, shush. I am the sixth of the name Muriel, the Azure Witch, and this is my knight, Markus. And, you two, from which lineage do you descend?" She asked, with a fervent excitement unsuited to her age.

"I'm sorry, but you may have misunderstood. We hail from another country altogether, come to learn about your history. Although we can use magic, we aren't part of your… witches." (Lakyus)

When Lakyus finally stepped up to clearly explain the miscommunication which the woman's husband – Markus, had been trying to hint at, the expression of the so-called witch – Muriel, slowly shifted down from a beaming smile, to confusion, and darkened into realization and understanding.

"… Ah. Yes. I apologize, I… nostalgia got the better of me. Memories of the past, but… no, they wouldn't be here, would they. Of course." (Muriel)

"The warriors of this country are only at that level, yet they have the leeway to abandon a magic caster of the fourth tier… I'm interesting in hearing just how you came to this point." (Momon)

She hesitated when Momon asked directly, then answered, "… What I have already said should not have been heard by you, outsiders. The secrets of magic are not to be known by those outside the Order." (Muriel)

"Is that so? Then, allow me to change the question," Tanya began, causing Muriel to pause at the introduction of a young new voice, which belonged neither to the two magic presences nor the two whose footfalls could be heard.

"Humans struggle to learn that level of magic under the best of circumstances. Around here, the mana being distorted as it is, I dare say it would be impossible for you. So, we are left with two possibilities, either you were not trained anywhere near here, or you predate whatever event caused this… which is it, Azure Witch?" (Tanya)

"Hmph, no wonder my husband brought you here, you're the type who wouldn't give up just from hearing 'no', aren't you?" (Muriel)

"… They have at least proven themselves to be enemies of the capital, beyond a doubt. I'm sorry, honey, but couldn't you accommodate them?" (Markus)

Hearing her husband's request, she thought for a few seconds before relenting with a sigh.

"Well, fine. There's nothing else to the dead Order as far as they're concerned anyway, so not much point left in trying to hide it. It's the latter, girl, just as you guessed… a hundred years ago now, or close to it, it was the Eight Gods' punishment descended on us, which took away the power of our magic. Only a single year after I inherited that title from my mother, we lost it all." (Muriel)

"One hundred years? Exactly one century, is it?" (Momon)

Momon interjected, asking for clarification of the century coming up, once again.

"Well… just about. If we've been counting right, it should be ninety-eight this year. Does it matter?" (Markus)

"… No… I'm sorry, please continue." (Momon)

"Hm? Well, alright, where were we… the entire Order was incapacitated by the curse. We could only lay on the ground and moan, watching while King Murad's knights marched on in occupied our citadel… After that, it's all history. Our sisters had their eyes torn out, our brothers, their arms cut so that they may never hold a sword. In their mind, to be left unable to fight is an insult greater than death." (Muriel)

The room fell quiet.

"Did the entire military force of this country depend purely on magic? If you had knights of your own, couldn't you at least pull off a fighting retreat?" (Tanya)

"… Look from the side in hindsight and call it arrogance if you will. For us, that is the way it had always been. To begin with, we were less a country, only a collection of towns and villages split out of that very same kingdom, generations ago. There never was an army, let alone the people or spears to equip one. Only our Order… the year before, they knew we could hold them back, one hundred-to-one. The next, we were powerless, and they outnumbered us a hundred times. What more were we to do?" (Muriel)

"-I'm sorry about that. We have no familiarity with the history you consider to be common knowledge here, so I apologize on her behalf if some of our questions seem rude…" (Lakyus)

"Hah, at that age, I was quite the fool myself, such is youth! Besides, we have already seen where pride takes us." (Muriel)

"… While I have a thing or two to say about that… I'll leave that be for now…" Tanya muttered. "Just a few more questions. The magic interference, this 'punishment', as you call it, where did it originate? Who caused it? Was the kingdom of that so-called prince responsible?" (Tanya)

Muriel sighed before replying, "… I don't know. Without being able to communicate so much as a simple magical message to another town, we have no hope of exchanging information. If you need to know the truth, you'll just have to go ask him yourself – though it's his grandson on the throne, now." (Muriel)

"I see… perhaps I'll do exactly that, thank you. I've heard enough, I'm going to search the mansion for a usable map. If you have anything else, ask away, I'll find you later." (Tanya)

Deciding this was a dead end, Tanya left the room. Even as she did so, Muriel continued speaking to the spot she stood previously.

"Haha, and good luck to you with that… Now, you have heard a fragment of our history… what do you intend to do with that knowledge?" (Muriel)

"… The people of these villages, your people, don't they wish for freedom? To return to that past?" (Lakyus)

"There is no longer any color for me to see outside." (Muriel)

"… Without magic, there is nothing we can do to resist anymore," Markus added. "Teaching a few youths to swing a sword is the limit of my ability, but even they understand what it would mean, were they to raise those swords against Murad's Dynasty… thoughts of independence will surely die away with the last of the generation who were alive to know the meaning of the word." (Markus)

Lakyus clenched her fists upon hearing their answers. Even still, she didn't say anything committal.

"Hey. When we came here, why did you single out me and Lakyus? What about the girl who just walked out, or her?" Evileye asked, gesturing toward the nearby Nabe.

"… Who? Her? Was there something about her?" Muriel asked, confused.

"Ah, about that, Nabe possesses a ring to prevent spells such as [Mana Essence] from seeing through her magic, as a precaution against trouble." (Momon)

Momon stepped forward to clarify.

"To think such a ring existed… certainly, if you possessed an artifact such as that, a witch could hide even from another detecting artifact…" (Muriel)

"It was something passed along by the Sorcerer King. A gift, for Nabe's protection." (Momon)

"I didn't expect him to be so benevolent…" (Evileye)

"Appearances aside, he spoke the truth when he said that he would reward loyalty." (Momon)

"Hm… It makes sense that she would also have such a ring, then… speaking of which, I don't suppose the name 'Ainz Ooal Gown' means anything to you?" (Evileye)

"Gown, you say? No, it is not a name I have ever known. To whom does it belong?" (Muriel)

"A tremendously powerful undead magic caster… should you so much as hear his name in the future, surrender immediately." (Momon)

"… To think the day would come when such monsters walk proudly under the sun… should there come a day when we encounter it, we will fight, even if I must strike it with my cane." (Muriel)

Despite Momon's warning, Muriel proudly declared her defiance with a look of deep disgust.

"Then, you have chosen to ignore the only warning I have to give. It's time to leave, Nabe." (Momon)

"Of course." (Nabe)

Momon and Nabe responded in kind, and simultaneously turned to the door. A few steps behind them, Evileye followed behind them.

"… Lakyus, let's go. We'll meet up with Tia and Tina and search for clues then." (Evileye)

Both Lakyus and Gagaran looked to the elderly couple with a gaze full of pity, before also making their way out the doorway.

"… A warning to you as well," called Markus as they left. "If you truly intend to travel to King Murad's palace, your companion in white, she had best change into something else. Otherwise, you will find yourselves under assault by every single knight and soldier seeking to claim a bounty within the hour of your arrival." (Markus)

"… Let them try," Momon said in response, without so much as glancing back.


In the end, only the two owners of the building were left to quietly contemplate.

"… Markus, dear, did I hear correctly, was there truly one among them who wore white?" (Muriel)

"Yes, you did. A little girl in a white dress, who fought like a demon. She was the one who slew Prince Baram as if he were an afterthought." (Markus)

"The witch who could hide from my eyes, the one who lived for centuries without aging a day… to think she truly existed in this age, the White Witch of legends…" (Muriel)

Muriel said with a sly smile.

"Do you really believe that girl is the incarnation of our founder? Does such powerful magic really exist?" (Markus)

"… My knowledge is only to the fifth tier. But, the White Witch invented spells of the seventh tier. Surely there exists a spell to transcend mortality among the highest tier of magic." (Muriel)

"Was it not a bad idea to anger them, then?" (Markus)

"No… it is fine. She is destined to be our savior." (Muriel)


"-Rejected. Absolutely not," Tanya ordered. "We are here with a mission, not to meddle in the politics of some backwater country." (Tanya)

"Don't you feel the slightest pity for them?" Lakyus asked in disbelief, barely suppressing the urge to shout, just in case there were some curious civilians near the mansion. "Why must healing two individuals have anything to do with politics? Whether it's blindness or permanent damage, even if his entire arm had been torn off, you could still heal that, couldn't you?" (Lakyus)

"Trivially. But tell me, exactly why would I so much as consider offering free healthcare to somebody who so passionately named themselves our enemy? What sort of insane socialist would I have to be to even consider that?" (Tanya)

Tanya explained with a sigh and a tired voice, while also poring over seized documents, attempting to either decipher enough of the foreign language to make use of them, or alternatively find some which were usable without having to read them. To her misfortune, they were the very definition of disorganized, collected by a long series of lords who universally adhered to the philosophy of 'warriors don't read books'. It was now that she wholeheartedly wanted to kick her past self for not thinking to at least try to acquire a magic item from Nazarick with a translation ability.

"Momon-dono, would you please say something? We can't just let this stand!" (Lakyus)

"… Lakyus-dono, simply because we have power, you cannot expect us to attempt to save the entire world. Just think about it. Presented with the power to heal her eyes, her next words would be to demand she heal the rest of her 'witches' as well. Don't you think so?" (Momon)

Sounding similarly tired, Momon said while leaning against the wall, having gotten bored of simply standing in place for close to an hour.

"… Even if that wasn't an issue, there isn't the slightest use in trying to get anything from them. You heard her, even the one I assume to be the most knowledgeable of them all, is nonetheless a mysticism-obsessed fool who hasn't heard from the outside world since the era of the Eight Greed Kings. If their explanation for this is divine punishment from a group of dead people, then I'll try looking anywhere else before asking them… though at this point I'm half-tempted to grab one of them to at least read through these documents." (Tanya)

"How about this, then?" Tia called down from the second floor, dropping a rough scroll over the banister, which Evileye plucked out of the air and unfurled it onto the table.

Glancing over, she asked, "Which village did those guards say this was?"

"North-four. Anything helpful on there?" (Tanya)

"Looks like it. It's about as crude as crude goes, but it's definitely a map. The written numerals have always been shared by every country south of the desert, and neither did they change in the last couple centuries… which places us, up here." Evileye explained, tapping on one of the dots on the paper, spinning it to orient the north side.

"… And, I would gamble the capital is the uselessly large mark at the exact center is the capital they kept going on about," she finished.

"Here I thought there wasn't a single functional brain among them, but at least we know they had a cartographer at some point in the last century… this looks to be usable, just barely. As much as I doubt the scale is anywhere near accurate… it should be accurate enough to calculate a jump, at least in two axes." (Tanya)

"In 'two axes'? What do you mean by that?" (Momon)

"There isn't any indication of topography on the map. In other words, it's a blind jump, height-wise. Well, it's fine as long as you can handle some quick skydiving out the other side." (Tanya)

"Hm… yes, it won't be a problem." (Momon)

Momon thought for a moment before readily accepting. Narberal casting [Fly] wouldn't break character, and his own body wouldn't be harmed merely by falling a few kilometers.

"Understood. Then, please give me a couple hours to prepare the teleportation, and we can finally leave this place behind." (Tanya)

"Wait, do you expect us to accept it? To leave after what we heard, just like that?" (Lakyus)

"… Then be my guest and stay. By all means. As you have no formal association with the Sorcerous Kingdom, you would be completely correct in saying that I have no authority to give orders to you. 'Adventurers are free', was it? You are welcome to choose to break our agreement at any time and leave… just don't expect any further transportation service for finding the lost undead kingdom after that." (Tanya)

"What the hell sort of deal is that suppose to be!? 'Fall in line or I'll leave you stranded in the desert'? Is that what you're saying? Is that the true meaning behind your king's new adventurers?" (Gagaran)

"Did you come here expecting to be babysat? If you expect adventurers to ever become more than mere mercenaries, they must first develop at least a minimum degree of discipline. Otherwise, how do you expect to be of any help, exactly?" (Tanya)

"… Lakyus, Gagaran, won't you please give it up this time?" (Evileye)

"Even you, Evileye? Don't tell me you're seriously in agreement, that the people here aren't worth saving?" (Lakyus)

"… Lakyus, calm down. Whether I agree or not is irrelevant. This is an argument you can't win. Trying to argue on moral grounds against a demon isn't going to get you anywhere, you're not even fighting in the same arena as each other. We had a goal in agreeing to come here, and our getting involved in a rebellion we know nothing about isn't going to get us any closer." (Evileye)

"… Evileye's right, dammit. We don't even have a step to negotiate from, and begging sure as hell isn't going to work." (Gagaran)

"Wonderful, you can understand reason. Have you come to a decision, then?" (Tanya)

"… Very well. We'll continue to their capital. Depending on what we learn there, we'll make plans from there." (Lakyus)

With Lakyus's compliance, the two once again came to a shaky agreement for cooperation.

After that, there was nothing left for them to do but wait for Tanya to finish.

Conveniently enough, traveling through a weak atmospheric magic field meant less resistance, and removed one variable from the calculations needed to write the jump formula, and made it significantly easier to perform the trip with a larger group.

The detailed calculations for a manual blind teleport were comparable to figuring out the exact angle and velocity at which a ball should be thrown to travel from one continent to another, including everything form planetary motion to atmospheric changes.

They were difficult and time-consuming, but entirely possible to calculate on a computer, or computation orb. As such, the exact destination Tanya selected, fifteen kilometers due northwest of the city at four kilometers above sea level was correctly set as their exit point.

The map off which this assumption was made, however, was neither exact, accurate, nor even up-to-date.

When at last the ultra-long-range teleportation magic was activated, the scene immediately below their destination was already that of a large city.


Discord for random discussion, complaining, and pointing out errors: WZr7tET