Sorcererous Kingdom, E-Rantel bar.
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"Hey man, did you hear about what happened in the Kingdom?" A ragged looking man with messy hair asked glancing his head over to another person. The man noticed his voice and replied,
"Yeah, but I haven't heard about the details."
"Apparently demihumans invaded the kingdom and there's a magic caster on par with Momon's strength." He said in a grievous tone, his eyes narrowed as he grips on the edge of the bar table, after hearing this the other man turned his head curiously.
"Huh? A magic caster on par with Momon? You must be joking." He replied flicking his hand as a smirk bolted on his face.
"No, no it's true, just like the demonic invasion if it weren't for Momon the Kingdom would have collapsed." The man with the messy hair said as he shifted his seat over to the guy creating creaking noises on the cheap wooden floor.
"The world is falling to shit... we have an undead as a king, rumour has it that Fluder betrayed the empire and the Draconic kingdom are barely scathing alive against the beastman." He said as he swallowed half a jug of alcohol. "Bartender, Another!" He shouted, his head dropped face flat on the table, he closed his eyes and lost the sense of gravity in his arms.
The bartender nodded as he walked towards the barrel, the man continued speaking, "The king put a huge bounty on the mysterious magic caster, like a thousand platinum coins,"
"Eh? Really, that's a lot - Maybe some stupid adventurers will try to capture that old magic caster, speaking of which what does he look like?"
"In the papers, they say that he's a more human-looking demi-human with goat horns."
"Right..." The bartender walked back with a drink and slid it to the man.
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Sorcererous Kingdom, E-Rantel streets.
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An old man was walking along the streets of E-Rantel. Months before the subjugation of the city human guards were everywhere acting as nearly a military fort between the Kingdom and the Empire, tensions were high as the people were scared, right now in the present time the city was flourishing reaching the level of an average country's capital, the roads were remade in new stone and wider walkways were created, people felt safe in the presence of magical lights. The old man smiled at the sight at all this, he wore a butler's outfit, taking a look at the old man from a distance it was easily spottable that he was very toned and muscular.
"Sebas-sama, where are we going this time?" She joyfully asks, her smile grinned from ear to ear as her eyes were brimming with excitement.
"I've heard that there was a new cafe being built two months ago, do you want to go there?" Sebas asks with a straight face.
"Yes, Sebas-sama!" She hopped for a bit before continuing, "Anywhere with you is a good place." She blushed and put her wrist on her face.
"Very well then, let us go." Sebas elegantly turned his head to the front continuing to walk.
After a few minutes of roaming around Sebas spots three men, two of them ganging up on the other. One wore full plate armour holding a spear belonging to the Sorcerer Kingdom, while the other wore leather boots and armour with a knife swaying on his knee, the victim looked like a peasant male with ragged clothes and unclean face. They were right in front of the alleyway until one of them pushed the weaker man in, bystanders saw this but did nothing and continued walking with frowns on their faces.
"Where's our money?!" One of them shouted, "It was due today! And you're telling me you don't have it?" The man who shouted had a sadistic smile on his face, his eyes showing pleasure as he kicked the peasant to the ground.
"P-please, give me another week I have a family to feed." He begged, his skin paled as they continued to kick him, purple bruises appeared and scratch marks opened up, gushes of blood squirted on the floor as his eyes shut in agony. His hands rushed to his face to protect himself but it was no use they just continued punching and kicking him,
"You fool! I said it was due today! Not next week, we'll give you a few broken bones to send to your godforsaken family that you care so much about." The armoured man said as he held back laughter.
"Please... please stop!" The peasant shouted hoping someone will help him. In response to this they kicked him hard in the liver, he spat out blood from his mouth as leaks of tears started running down from his eyes.
The leathered armoured man grabbed his knife and stated,
"This will remind you to pay back on time." The knife rushed down, the peasant flinched and started screaming, the knife hissed over his body and was suddenly stopped. The peasant moved his fingers to peek at what had just happened, he suddenly hears the voice of an old man. The leathered armoured man feels something holding his wrist.
"You will do no more." An elegant noble voice calmly said.
The two men turned themselves over and tilted their heads to the side to see an old man with a sturdy shoulder in a butler uniform.
"Pfft, you think you can take us on? You measly butler dog, which noble do you serve?" The leathered armoured man spoke as he tried to brush his hands off,
Damn, this old man's grip is tight
The leathered man looked over to Sebas's shoulders and saw a blonde woman with a maid's outfit and spouted, "You tryna impress your lady friend over there? Heh, just wait until I rape her after beating the crap out of you."
After hearing that Sebas slightly frowned, he tightened his grip further, the man squealed in pain as the knife drops down to the floor, the blood stopped flowing through the wrists, the hand slowly become blue as he fell to his knees in pain and screamed.
"Y-you, stop please you've proven your point j-just let go aarrghh!" He screamed, his face was pointing to the ground as he squinted. The plate armoured man saw this and braced his spear pointing it towards Sebas.
"In the name of the Sorcerer Kingdom, I demand you to let go of this innocent civilian!" He shouted while sadistically smiling, he thought of how much money he could make if he could bring this case into court. Sebas in response let go, the leathered man gasped in pain, he was sure his wrist was broken from that. Sebas glared at the so-called 'guard' of the Sorcerer kingdom with beaming hatred.
"People like you... How dare you ruin the reputation of Ainz Ooal Gown!" Sebas said slightly shouting, "You dare claim to work with the Sorcerer kingdom?"
In response, the armoured man spoke, "Yes I do, I can have you hanged for this imbecile, who do you work for? I'll send your head to your noble, the power of the mighty Ainz Ooal Gown is on my side." He grinned.
This man was the very meaning of second rate lawful evil, Sebas knew this and kept a straight face and elegant posture, he wanted to kill this man. While he would not wish death on anyone random, he would kill any of those who would use or insult the name of Ainz Ooal Gown or anything related to it. Instead, he ordered the shadow demon to cast a minor 4th tier illusion spell surrounding them, [Blind] on the peasant and restrain the armoured man. He then began to [Message] Shalltear
[Shalltear-sama, my apologies for disturbing you and your work but I am in need of a request.]
[Oh Sebas-san~arinsu, what is it that you need?] Shalltear asks in a curious tone, it was not very often that Sebas would [Message] Shalltear for help so naturally, she was really curious.
[If it is not a problem, I would like to inquire a gate to be opened from where I am and to Neuronist's room.] He replies regally.
[Alright, of course~arinsu. But why do you need a gate to go over there?] Shalltear asks,
[Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding, this is not for me - It is for a 'guest'.] Sebas said.
[Hahaha, Sebas-san 'guest' I did not know you were capable of jokes,] Shalltear continued to laugh until speaking again, [So what did this 'guest' do to deserve to be sent to Neuronist?]
[He indirectly insulted Ainz-sama and is staining his name.] Sebas said in a slightly angry tone,
[I will open the gates at once and send a personal undead of mine to retrieve him, do not waste your time on that scum.] Shalltear seriously answered immediately, on the other side of the [Message] she could be heard frowning and gritting her teeth. Anyone who stained the name of Ainz Ooal Gown deserves first-rate torture.
[Understood, Shalltear-sama]
The message had ended,
Sebas took a look at the peasant on the ground and ordered the shadow demon to uncast the blinding spell,
"Are you alright?" Sebas said in a gentle tone.
The peasant was confused to what went on just before but ignored that and spoke.
"T-thank you, kind s-ir," He stuttered, "How can I repay you for this?"
"You do not need to repay me," Sebas replied in a noble tone, "Take this bag of money and go."
Sebas threw a bag full of gold coins, upon catching it the peasant ran as fast as he could back to his family.
A gate appeared in front of Sebas in the tight and narrow alleyway. A huge undead appeared with fake muscles, skin rearing with rot and black teeth showing - It grabbed the two men by the neck with its claws and threw them into the gate.
"ExcUsE mE sEbAS-sAmA," It said as it slightly bowed, it then proceeded to walk back into the gate. Sebas nodded and walked back to Tsuare.
"Sorry for the wait let's go."
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Baharuth Empire, Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix's Office.
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A young stunning man with reflective golden hair and eyes as purple as amethysts. He wore glorious gold and red clothes that make him almost look like a Roman emperor, he was leaning back on his well-cushioned chair relaxed but after he heard the latest news of the kingdom he tilted his head and assumed that the foolish messenger wanted to lose his job, but after hearing more information about this from other people and with [Message] he frowned and laid his hands on his hair.
"Dammit, is this another ploy from that damned undead?" He whispered, letting go of his head he put his hands back down on the table, he could see strangles of hair hanging from his hands.
After the undead figured out his plan to create an alliance with the Slane Theocracy he started drinking more and his stress levels grew substantially, but he was slightly eased that tension from nobles and other nations disappeared.
On his desk was a full file of the public details about the invasion, he glanced at it for a few seconds before grabbing it. An Adamantite warrior getting beaten? A magic caster on par with Momon?! He screamed in his head but kept an almost straight face squinting his eyebrows a little.
This has to be a plot from the Sorcerer Kingdom, there is no doubt about that. Jircniv could do little to nothing as he was a mere vassal of the Sorcerer Kingdom, spreading things like 'It was the Sorcerer kingdom's fault' would not only get himself killed but the empire might potentially fall for doing so.
He continued reading and spotted what he would think is a foolish statement, An angelic being saving a little girl from demi-humans? Must be words of a madman.
People called him Emperor but after the vassalization it would be more suitable to call him a puppet ruler.
He put his hands on his chin, there was a sour taste in his mouth as his vision narrowed, trying to think of a reason why such an attack would happen, Attacking the kingdom can put pressure on the Draconic kingdom, the Draconic kingdom is crumbling away as it is with the beastman constantly invading and with the chances of being slaughtered by the Demi-humans they would turn to no other than the puppet empire of the Sorcerer kingdom which in turn.
He relaxed his arms as thought about how deep the Sorcerer's plans were, it would not be a jest to say that this could be a plan in a greater plan scaling the entire continent. He dropped the report back on his desk.
"Hahahah... we'll see how this plays out."
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Sorcerous Kingdom, Carne village
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Inside a slightly large room full of narrow tables with pink, purple and red potions stood two men, one of them had blonde bangs long enough to cover both eyes, he was analyzing the red potion, frustratedly he slams his hand on his head.
"So? Is that all you've come up with?" The man wearing a suit says,
"Y-yes Asher-san, I've tried all sorts of methods - While I had them turn pink it is still far from turning red, I feel as if I am missing one more thing.." Nfirea replies.
Asher covers his chin with his hand and closes his eyes, with his other hand he clenches and says,
"First off, we need to clean this room and sort out the ingredients you have recovered," He said while biting his lips and frowning. "It is too unclean."
"Right away!" Nfirea shouted, he rushed to the potions and began to stack them up neatly before he heard a knock on the door. Asher's spine trembled slightly as Nfirea said, "Come in."
A fairly young beautiful woman in her mid-teens walked in, her blonde hair swayed as her brown eyes emitted anticipation fitting the gentle smile she bore, it was Enri the village chief. She glanced at the handsome man at the side of the room and said.
"Hello sir, I heard from Lupusregina that you came here to help Nfirea in his research. Your name is?" She asked as she slightly bent her head to the side-emitting a welcoming aura.
"Greetings Chief Enri," Asher said as he slightly bowed. "My name is Asher, a representative of the Sorcerous Kingdom." He spoke in an elegant tone rivalling Sebas. He untensed his muscles after realising that it was not Lupusregina.
"Eh, you don't need to call me chief just Enri."
"Alright Enri-san, what did you come here for?" Asher asked,
"Oh, I just need to talk to Nfirea." She said as she turned her body and glances towards Nfirea, she cucked her head signalling for him to leave the building.
"Huh? Me? Alright." Nfirea said, they walked out of the building and shut the door.
Asher went on to continue with his work, he grabbed the pink potion and analyzed it carefully, Hm, I sense no magical power, did he actually expect himself to make a lesser healing potion without using any form of magic? Asher placed the potion down and started sorting out the ingredients, There and there no, maybe here.
After a hellish 10 minutes of cleaning and sorting out the entire room, the door creaked open and brown leather boots stepped in creating tapping noises, Nfirea walked in after a long conversation with Enri that Asher was oblivious about.
He shifted his head two times before speaking, "Woah, you cleaned the entire room that neatly?" Nfirea opened a closet to see it bristling clean and glanced at the neatly stacked coloured potions,
"You really are good cleaning," Nfirea said,
"It's no big deal," Asher responded. "Anyway, I found out why the potions aren't turning red," He said, Asher leaned on a table with both hands and looked at Nfirea.
"What!? What is it? Tell me please!" Nfirea said as he paced towards Asher with glimmering an aim of sparkles in his eyes.
"Uhm, well first off - You are missing one special ingredient and you also need magic to create a red potion."
"M-magic?" Nfirea said in a low sad tone, he falls down on his chair and allows gravity to take over his body, his head was pointing towards the ground as he hunched his arms and back. "I can cast spells... but I can't make potions out of magic." He continued despairingly.
"Yeah, you don't need to worry about that, that's why I'm here - More importantly, it is the special ingredient that will be troublesome to find.
Nfirea brings his head back up pointing it to Asher and asks, "Special ingredient? What is it? I'll find it, all I want is to make that potion!" He said enthusiastically,
"It's a magical herb. I am pretty sure those are rare here in the New wor- Uh," Cough "Around here."
"Magical herbs? Yes! We have that! My grandmother Lizzie found a batch a long while ago." Nfirea replied,
"Oh really? Where are they now?" Asher asked, he let go of the desk and put his arms behind his back.
"Uh, I think the magical herbs are in the storage area around the opposite side of the village," Nfirea answered, his facial muscles tensed up showing a slight smile of excitement all ready to go and make the potion, "Let's get it now!" He shouted.
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Outskirts of the Lizardman village, Windflower scripture
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"Is that it?" A frail magic caster man spoke, under his eyes were black circles, his cheeks were deprived of fat, his frail skinny hands were holding a binocular type of magical item that allows him to locate anything within a reasonable distance, right now he was looking at Cocytus as he was training lizardmen, "That big for nothing insectoid creature is instructing some lizardmen how to fight, are we sure this is the stupid undead king's servant?" He said while almost laughing, he puts down the magical item and turns his head towards the leader of this squad.
A muscular middle-aged man wearing a robe equipped with the same type of magical items and a wand, he had a defined jawline and hair gelled back with ferocious eyes. He replied,
"Yes, if you had the willpower to glance at a report the insectoid monster you see before you fit the description of what was given by the Thousand Leagues Astrologer,"
"Come on Sir Titor, how can this thing be of strength - From what we know all big demi-humans only use intimidation to scare off others, this one is no different. We should secretly murder it now, no one will know."
"That's right," Another lean man with blonde hair said, "I call dibs on his spear." In response to this, four other men spoke.
"I call dibs on his exoskeleton!" A guy shouted.
"No fair! I wanted that."
"His sword is mine."
Titor the squad leader squints his eyebrows and clenches his jaw before shouting, "Be quiet you fools! Do you want to get demoted? Idiots."
The four men stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the squad leader in terror, they started to tremble after finally realizing that what they did was unacceptable.
"Sorry, Sir Titor!" They all shouted,
"Get back in your positions and keep searching. We are spread thin as it is."
The men walked back to their positions and used their magical items to spy on the lizardmen village.
It was true that the Windflower scripture was spread thin, squads were dislocated from the entire body of the scripture to gather information on many settlements that were suspected of being the territory of the Sorcerous kingdom or the demi-humans that attacked the Kingdom.
The Cardinals did not come to a conclusion on whether or not the demi-human invasion was an ally of the Sorcerous kingdom so each of the squads had a secondary order which was to 'Identify an old magic caster with goat horns'.
Sorcerous Kingdom's domain, Lizardman village
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"Wrong. Do. It. Again." Cocytus shouted. In front of him were five lizardmen warriors swinging their swords in the air creating a woosh sound. The lizardmen were standing elegantly in a professional position befitting of warriors, they swung their swords with might but still seem to still disappoint Cocytus.
"Adjust. Your. Thumb. Bring. It. Down." The Lizardmen did just that and continued to swing at the air grunting and puffing out air. In the distance watching over the five lizardmen were Zaryusu and his wife Crusch Lulu.
Noticing this Cocytus stomps towards them, the exoskeleton foot banging against the concrete road while approaching Zaryusu. Both of them seeing their lord approaching them to begin to kneel on one knee and bow down their heads in respect.
"Zaryusu, Crusch." Cocytus said.
"Yes? Cocytus-sama." They both responded.
"How. Is. Your. Child. Doing?" He asked, the cold air coming from Cocytus's mouth spraying over the two lizardmen as Zaryusu begins to speak.
"Cocytus-sama, with the goods that Ainz Ooal Gown-sama bestowed upon us, my child is doing well educationally with the help of an elder lizard man and an elder lich."
At first, Zaryusu was sceptical about having an elder lich educate his son but after a few days of supervising he found out that even undead can make great teachers if they were controlled properly, undead did not have emotions so it getting annoyed was not an occurrence.
"Very. Good. More. So. I. Am. Asking. About. His. Progress. Oon. His. Warrior. Skills." Cocytus asked.
"Ah about that, with the help of weekly tutoring from you he has grown to be an exceptional warrior and I would assume that he would become a great asset to Nazarick." Zaryusu answers.
"Very. Good," Cocytus responded as he glances his head to a visible mountain far from where he is before looking back at the two lizardmen. "You. May. Return. To. Your. Duties." Cocytus said as he left.
He walks towards his house in the Lizardmen village - It was a two-story building made with rich wood and stone almost like a mansion. The five lizardmen who were training stopped they sensed that training was over and began walking towards the lake.
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Cocytus sat down on a large and flat Luxurious red pillow and crossed his legs, he placed his spear on his right side lying down and before beginning his warrior meditation like he always does he starts a [Message].
[Demiurge. I. Need. Your. Assistance. Again. If. Its. Not. A. Trouble]
[Oho? Of course, What is it do I owe the pleasure to?] Demiurge asks.
[I. Do. Not. Know. If. This. Is. Part. Of. Ainz-sama's. Great. Plan. But. I. Sense. A. Few. Men. Spying. On. Us. In. The. Mountains. Should. I. Go. Eliminate. Them. Or. Leave. Them.] Cocytus pleads.
Cocytus was given an item by Ainz that allows his to sense any magical hints towards him, the item beeped whenever they sensed sensory magic during the entire course of the training it beeped constantly only stopping for a few minutes before continuing.
In response to this Demiurge slightly laughed as he spoke.
[I appreciate that you take the time to ask me this but, if it's 'them' I presume then leave them be, they are most essential for Ainz-sama's plans.]
Curiously Cocytus questioned how,
[How. Would. A. Few. Humans. Have. Place. In. Ainz-sama's. Plans?]
Through the [Message] Cocytus clearly hears Demiurge attempting to muffle up a hysterical sadistic laugh - After a few moments he reponds.
[Oh Cocytus you'll see, and you will understand how much Ainz-sama uses them to change a whole course of action.]
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