Hello Scrolls and Followers of Justice, I'm Mr. Bones bringing you the chapter of the week of my Overlord fanfic.
In this part we discover Rumble's betrayal, I hope you like it.
I've already passed the twenty chapters so I'll post them soon but my beta reader who does the proofreading from Portuguese to English is very busy, so I'm sorry for the delay.
With you the
One Who Came Back
Chapter 04: Farewell
If before there were warnings signs inside the Supreme Being's head, now there were all kinds of emergency signals – 'Nazarick! He said Nazarick! It's not something people know about, I barely mention it to the subordinate nobles, Jircniv knows, Renner, her dog, Gondo, maybe someone else who overheard some conversation' – Ainz mentally martyred himself for the lack of care he occasionally had when mentioning his home.
Gondo was surprised and quite apprehensive, he saw where the problem was, a stranger looking for the Sorcerer King's abode was something of note. Such a delay in reporting such a suspicious attitude could simply bring the relationship between the two kingdoms to ruin. If any of His Majesty's subordinates had heard about it, heads would have rolled.
— Nazarick, are you sure about this!? – Ainz asked, trying to maintain his composure.
— Yes, absolutely, he asked me if I knew or had heard of it, in fact he even asked me if there were any rumors about some ancient ruins.
— That's when I mentioned that I'd already heard a story about a newly discovered ruin. At the time, an acquaintance who had spent time in Arwintar learned that workers were needed to explore a ruin, but as he had broken a leg he could not participate.
— "Arwintar, I understand. Maybe I already have my next destination" – he said.
— So Your Majesty, I indicated a possible way to your house, to someone I barely knew – a dying Rumble confessed.
— Calm down Rumble, even if you knew it was my house, which you didn't, you still pointed to something that is nothing more than a rumor, from a place that has nothing to do with me – 'HE SENT HIM STRAIGHT TO THE FALSE NAZARICK!!!' – shouted Ainz internally.
— I'm very relieved, Your Majesty, but even so, I think someone looking for your home should be something to report quickly…" – Gondo muttered apprehensively.
— Don't worry, Gondo, now that I know this, I'll take the necessary precautions and investigate the origin of this Telcontar. Did anything else happen while you were with him, Rumble?
— Nothing too noteworthy, sir. After breakfast, he asked me if he could take a ride to the crossroads, as we were leaving, I gladly accepted, after all, I still owed him for the problem the night before.
— We found Fineas and Vulku in the wagons, the others were already there, and the families heading to Karne Village were also ready.
— We followed the main exit tunnel, which today has a much more modern structure, but at the time it was being updated and the other passages were expanded to improve the flow that went to other parts of the city.
— When we reached the exit we ran into old Brotkin, the night watchman, who seemed quite sullen. When he saw Mr. Telcontar, his mood seemed to improve, they greeted each other and exchanged a few words, it was like this:
— "Hello Brotkin, good morning!" – I said.
— "Good morning only if it's for you," – he replied in a grunt.
— "Hello Brotkin, I see you haven't finished your shift"– Mr. Telcontar said.
— "Hello Telcontar, are you leaving yet? Hope your stay wasn't too bad." – he said changing his tone.
— "No, no, no problem, but wasn't the night good? Why was he in such a bad mood so soon?"
— "Well, the night was fine, but Brock's son of a rock who was supposed to replace me is an hour late, so I have to stay here until someone shows up."
— "Don't worry my friend", 'every cloud has a silver lining' – said Mr. Telcontar with a pompous and funny air, kind of on purpose I think, this improved the general mood.
— "I hope you have a good trip, sir" – said Brotkin, and then we were on our way.
— During the trip we didn't talk much, I asked if he intended to walk all the way to Arwintar and he said that maybe not, even though I knew he had no money and hardly anyone would pay attention to him on the road.
— A few hours later we arrived at the crossroads where we were going to separate and there was a cart driven by a boy, stuck up to the axles. Mr. Telcontar got out and went towards an elderly gentleman who was pulling his horse, who reacted without much enthusiasm.
— "Greetings!" – he said – "Looks like you guys need help".
— "Yes, thank you, we kind of got stuck here, just pulling isn't working" – the old man said.
— "I think my colleagues over there must have some shovels, let's get this out of here soon." – Mr. Telcontar said waving to us.
— You know, at the time we didn't even think of denying help, the way Mr. Telcontar spoke was so natural, it seemed that we were old acquaintances.
— Some of us got down with the shovels and we started digging together with Mr. Telcontar and the old man, in minutes we freed the wheels and the wagon unraveled.
— "Thanks a lot, but I don't think I have any money to pay for the help" - said the old man, a little embarrassed.
— "No problem, mister, 'helping those in need is a duty of those who can' – said Mr. Telcontar.
Ainz thought – 'That sentence… is not the same, but it is very similar to the one Touch Me said, it could be…'
— "Well, if you want to reciprocate, it looks like we're heading in the same direction, could you give me a ride?" – he said.
— The old man smiled and gestured to the wagon – "I won't go very far, but the path you want to share will be welcome".
— And that was it, we said goodbye and went on our way. Ah, before he left he told me another one of his witty phrases to me, "the shortest path is not always the best". At the time I thought it was just another thing he did, but when we got to the fork at the edge of the forest, I kind of decided to take the long way out.
— In the end it was a good decision, we learned that the road had become impassable in places because of the rain, and with the wagons full we would have been stuck there for days.
— I see your memory is great Rumble! If that's all that happened, I just have one question, how did this traveler arrive at the Dwarf Kingdom? – Ainz asked.
— Hmm! I don't know much about how it went, but old Brotkin could tell you more since he was on guard.
— Then let's talk to him! –Ainz said heading towards the exit as if he was going for a walk, his curiosity was piqued and he was enjoying himself despite his worries.
A funny scene unfolded with a King running in front of another King, as if he were a mere guide on a tour.
Gondo struggled to keep up with His Majesty's pace until they reached the carriages, and then they made their way to the freight exit with Rumble as coachman.
The tunnel through which they were going had been enlarged in recent months to accommodate the flow of wagons, as this was the lowest part of the mountain, it was obvious that such a place would become the point of entry for the loads.
Usually, merchants used the upper entrance, it went straight to the commercial district and government areas, but the constant arrival of products forced the expansion of the lower exit, giving access to the warehouse area more easily.
Even though this is not the main entrance to the underground city, the wagons with products passed through here, generating a high movement of coachmen, porters and the like that formed an army of workers who lacked accommodation, food and entertainment while they rested or waited their turn to load the wagons.
So the warehouse district grew, gaining new inns and taverns that provided food, drink, rest, and other diversions if you were interested in dwarven female company.
Off the mountain, commerce has also expanded in the same way and where there are people, there is money, and where there is money, there is someone trying to earn it or steal it. Logically, security was increased with the Death Knights provided by the Sorcerer King, even though not in as many numbers as in the Kingdom, they kept things in line.
Arriving at the end of the tunnel is the Dwarf Kingdom customs area, here the transport wagons are inspected. What used to be just a guardhouse is now a large inspection structure.
The inspection chief in this area is the longest-serving worker, rewarded for all his years of work with… more work. He thought about retiring in a few decades and maybe he could still become Head of Security for the area, but maybe it was a long way off dream as the Chief General of Customs didn't like him very much.
— Check under the bags too and inside them with the testing rod – shouted a dwarf who looked like he had many years on his back, but no one would dare challenge.
— Hello Chief Brotkin, what's new around these parts?
— Rumble! You miserable stone-roller, how have you been? What brings you here?
— I come on official mission, we need to speak with you in private.
— Sounds serious, I imagine whoever is inside the carriage is important.
— Yes someone very important, don't be alarmed but the Sorcerer King wants to talk to you.
— THE SORCERER KING! HA HA HA HA! Good joke, you almost got me, if you'd said you were the King Under the Mountain I would have believed you – chuckled Brotkin, but then he stopped at the sight of Rumble's serious face and wide eyes.
— Wait a minute, are you serious? By His Majesty's bones, please tell me you're not serious.
Rumble just nodded his head before Gondo and Ainz exited the carriage.
— Hello, I'm Gondo Firebeard, King Under the Mountain.
— And I am the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Master Brotkin.