Kay, Chapter 4.

Slightly longer at 6k words, but I doubt too many will complain.

Lots of explanation going on in this Chapter, so be mentally prepared for that, but at least best boi makes his appearance as well so there's that.

Well, not a lot else to say, the things I said in previous AN's still apply so yeah.

Enjoy the read. (which I did not double-read for mistakes -_-)

Kay bye.

XXX

A short while earlier, Nazarick 1st Floor…

Despite the fact he had cast his Skill some time ago the servants of Nazarick did not dare to lift their heads or speak for a good half a minute following the disappearance of his physical body as well as his aura, the aura of one of the Forty-One Supreme Beings.

As servants of the Forty-One being inefficient was the greatest of possible shame for them, thus this sort of waste of time would in fact not be something they would usually actively engage in.

However, their Master had neither cast [Greater Teleportation] nor [Gate], and he didn't make use of his Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown either.

Then how were they to be sure he was not still present, watching them and testing their discipline and worth alike?

And so, without the need for words or a wide-spread [Message] they all continued to show their respect to their Master for an adequate amount of time.

"Now then…" Demiurge, having taken it upon himself to act as the leader of the Floor Guardians in Albedo's stead spoke first as he lifted his head and pushed his glasses up. "I believe we should get to work least we gain our Lord's ire."

"His. Orders. Were. To. Protect. Nazarick. In. His. Absence. But. His. Instructions. Were. Unclear. Demiurge. Do. We. Go. About. This. Task. As. We. Would. Usually. Do?" The insectoid Guardian asked with uncertainty.

Indeed, he was not wrong. They were Floor Guardians and protecting Nazarick was the very purpose behind their creation. With that said, was Eidolon's order even an order at all, if all it instructed them was to perform their normal duties?

"I do not believe so, Cocytus." The Archdevil's words gained the full attention of his fellow Guardians. "Eidolon-sama made his disappointment in our previous actions known. He also made repeated use of the words 'unknown territory'."

"And what does mean?" The True Vampire asked next.

"Raising the security level of Nazarick to the highest level would probably satisfy our Master the most. We should also discard our usual strategy regarding invaders and coordinate with them on the 8th Floor and their Floor Guardian, Victim."

Demiurge's proposal was not one made lightly, everyone present understood that much. He was proposing to go against the battle setup the Supreme Beings themselves choose for them, after all.

"...Understood, Demiurge." Shalltear responded after a long moment of silence. She was not happy about it, but understood why it was necessary. "I will contact Victim and ask him for reinforcements to help strengthen the defences of the 1st to 3rd Floor."

"Please do. Also, I will be activating Gargantua and have him be on stand-by. The surrounding geography is hardly ideal for someone of his size, so I will have him stationed on the 4th Floor as usual. Lastly, Sebas."

The Head-Butler turned to face Demiurge, his expression as disciplined as always. "What is it, Demiurge?"

"For us to raise the security level to the highest we would require all the Guardians to be present and battle-ready, but with Albedo in that state…" There was a subtle change in his tone not unlike his disappointment in the Overseer made clear. "Sebas, can we count on your strength in case we come under attack?"

"But of course." Sebas answered with a confident nod of the head. "I am but a servant of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, not unlike everyone else present. If my strength can help defend the domain of the Supreme Beings, there is only one answer I can give."

Demiurge nodded.

Though there were many areas in which the two of them disagreed there was no doubt in Demiurge's mind that Sebas was a reliable servant of Nazarick, his strength on par with that of the Floor Guardians. "Good. Then, as for who shall set out to track down Eidolon-sama…"

"What. Blasphemy. Are. You. Saying. Demiurge?! Are. You. Planning. On. Going. Against. Eidolon. Sama's. Orders?!"

The mood immediately tensed as the gathered servants all turned to the Archdevil, their hostility towards him palpable on his skin. Indeed, what he was saying did go against Eidolon's direct instruction that he would scout the area outside Nazarick on his own, but..."Cocytus, think about what Eidolon-sama asked us a short while ago."

"...I. See…"

"Indeed. He asked us: 'You can think for yourselves, can you not?'" Demiurge repeated his Master's words and the gathered servants seemed to understand what he was implying. "I believe that was a test from Eidolon-sama to us all, a test meant to discern our ability to act on our own. With that said, though it goes against our Lord's direct orders, is it not the duty of servants like us to perish as shields in case the Supreme Beings come in harm's way even if we are to pay with our lives as punishment for going against their direct orders?"

His question left the other servants silent for a long, full second. He was right after all: that is what their whole purpose was. Even if it meant angering their last Supreme Being to whom they could pledge their loyalty to, his safety was the highest of priorities.

"Then, who will be granted this task?" Aura asked in return.

"It cannot be any of us Guardians. Unfortunate as that may be, our direct order was to protect Nazarick in Eidolon-sama's absence. To perform this task as efficiently as possible, the strength of us Floor Guardians is instrumental." In truth every single servant of Nazarick would gladly give their lives to protect their Masters, but Floor Guardians had the bitter-sweet duty of being required to preserve themselves as their Masters strongest creations.

After all, if they all died and potential invaders reached the Supreme Beings forcing them to deal with the invaders themselves, then the servants would have failed in their assigned task of guarding Nazarick.

It was always a hard decision to make, and now was no different as they were forced to weigh Eidolon's direct orders with that of choosing servants capable enough of tracking down their Master once he set forth and proving strong and capable enough to be useful shields for him.

"We will have Aureole and Nigredo work together. Aureole will use her command-type buffs on the servants we will send out while Nigredo will monitor their movements with her divination Spells. That way, when the servants reach Eidolon-sama and in case he finds himself in a dangerous situation, we can have Aureole create a [Gate] at that location. Cocytus, Shalltear and Mare: you three will be on stand-by here on the 1st Floor and rush to Eidolon-sama's side if that situation comes to pass."

It was a solid plan, one which left enough forces in Nazarick to protect it while also preparing strong enough servants to be deployed in the worst-case scenario.

Nonetheless this course of action did go against Eidolon's orders, and in the very likely case that Demiurge misinterpreted the meaning behind his question…

'Then we will have angered Eidolon-sama again. But, that matters not. Even if we were all to perish as punishment for our actions he is our last Master. We cannot allow him to come to come to any harm…'

"Then, you three." Demiurge turned to look at the servants most suited for the task of tracking down Eidolon. "Can I count on you?"

XXX

'Shit, I haven't been here in a long time…' Eidolon thought to himself as his Ring teleported him to the entrance of the Treasury, the spatially isolated area physically a part of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

As his race granted him Poison Immunity he was fortunately not affected by the toxic air produced by the Item called "Blood of Jormungandr", one of many lines of defense protecting the Treasury from invaders and thieves.

With that said he could smell the poison in the air and it was by no means enjoyable. He was here for three reasons however and so he decided to ignore the foul smell to the best of his abilities while moving forward.

Despite not having visited the Treasury in a long time Eidolon had burned all passwords and hidden areas in his memory so he easily passed through the door leading further in by stating the correct words, the door blocking his way which looked like a black, bottomless pit shrinking into non-existence moments after as he uttered the password.

Next was the Armoury, the hundred meter long tunnel just after the first door. Here, on both the left and right side were weapons of impressive design put on display. Some were actually incredible Legendary Items, others were simply worthless junk made to look impressive.

Though he could not remember how they gained all of them, a good chunk of his time after they conquered the Great Tomb of Nazarick spent scouting YGGDRASIL on his own, Eidolon nonetheless knew the history behind a fair amount of the weapons on display.

'Damn, we sure went wild back then...Going around picking fights with other guild despite being the smallest high-tier guild...Ah, that's the Axe I stole from that asshole after he jumped and killed my man Blue Planet. Shit, I stalked and killed him four times in a row, looting his only Legendary item and setting him back twenty levels. I remember he reported me but nothing serious came of it as I always choose a PvP designed areas to murder the fucker. Though, I did receive some penalties for killing a lower-level Player. Good times, good times...'

While reminiscing about the past Eidolon had already walked the long corridor and arrived at the next area, the Lobby. This area was meant to receive guests, though of course no else except the members of Ainz Ooal Gown would ever be allowed entrance into the Treasury.

It was all meant to be role-play, nothing else.

Two sofas stood opposite of each other in the middle of the room, with one simple table placed between them. Deciding to wait there for the NPC he was here for, Eidolon took a seat and waited.

If the system worked as he believed it would then the NPC responsible for the Treasury would have felt his arrival and would be with him shortly.

'Man, seeing Nazarick real like this makes me realize just how grand this place actually is. Well, we did spend whole years creating it, so that's to be expected I guess…' Eidolon thought as he looked around the tomb-like rectangular room.

It was simple, yet elegant.

Sublime even.

As was the rest of Nazarick, of course. He wondered just how much money a place this size would cost in the real world, including all the valuable materials used throughout the 9th and 10th Floors as simple decoration. If a palm-sized diamond could be valued in the millions…

'Holy shite aren't we actually rich as hell, if all our wealth became real as well?'

Before long Eidolon heard the echo of footsteps from the niche in the wall opposite of him. He shoved his thoughts in the back of his mind and leaned forward as his elbows rested on his knees, the mouth area of his mask hidden by his overlapping hands.

Slowly but surely, the NPC he was here for came out of the shadows, his yellow military uniform standing out in the otherwise dark lobby.

'Come on, come on, come on…' Eidolon repeated the words in his mind like a mantra, and had he not wore a mask he had no doubts the intensity in his eyes was the same as that of the NPCs while looking up at him expecting his orders.

Then the NPC, Pandora's Actor, came to a stop a couple of steps away from the couch Eidolon sat upon and he clicked his boots together while bringing his right arm forth to perform a salute. "I welcome you to the Treasury, my Lord, the Shadow of Nazarick: EIDOLON-SAMA!" He finished his greeting by taking off his hat and performing a bow with the same arm while his other arm shot to his side in what could only be worded as an exaggerated manner.

'Yes. YesYesYesYesYes!'

"YESSSSS!" Eidolon could not contain his excitement and thus he yelled the word out as he rose to his feet, arms spread to his sides in a show of absolute gratitude.

As one of the more hardcore role-players within the Guild he was very, very familiar with all of the NPCs and their backgrounds. Pandora's Actor was no different, despite his secluded role.

However, up until an hour or so ago, they had all been just that: NPCs with a backstory slapped on them, but otherwise emotionless and static. Simple packages of data given a form.

But now, that had changed.

How and why, Eidolon did not know.

Not yet, anyway.

Obviously, Eidolon had already been given real proof of the NPCs acting and possessing a personality similar to what had been written for them. But he wanted to see for himself if the NPC he liked the most besides his own creations took on the personality that was written for him.

And it looked like he hit the jackpot.

Because Pandora's Actor was every bit as cool as Eidolon thought he would be.

"M-My Lord, is everything alright?" The surprised Area Guardian asked while still maintaining his pose.

'Ah...The excitement got the better of me. I should focus on what's important for now.'

"Mhm. Don't worry about it. Pandora's Actor, take a seat. We need to discuss a couple of things."

"MY LORD, how could one such as me dare to stand on equal level as-?"

However just as the Doppelgänger turned around and put his hat back on his head in a dramatic manner Eidolon spoke over him, interrupting the NPC. "Shut the hell up and sit your ass down you egg-head. I ain't got all day."

"A-Ah...Understood, my lord. This egg-head will take a seat, then."

"Mhm. Much better." Eidolon nodded as Pandora's Actor sat down opposite of him, the both of them now on equal level.

"Then, may I inquire as to your reason for visiting the Treasury, my Lord, EIDOLON-SAMA?!"

"A couple of reasons, in fact. First of all...Are you aware?"

Though he could not read his face as the Doppelgänger only had three holes acting as his eyes and mouth Eidolon could feel Pandora's Actor sadness at the question, his head dropping ever so slightly.

"Yes, my Lord. As his creation I felt Momonga-sama's departure…"

"...I know it's a pretty fresh turn of events so this might be an unwanted question, but...How are you holding up?"

The Area Guardian did not respond immediately, probably taking a couple of moments to formulate his answer. However, he replied far faster than Eidolon would have expected. "I am, of course, saddened by my Creator's departure from Nazarick, but…" And then, just as unexpectedly as Eidolon expected, Pandora's Actor jumped up and landed on his knees on the sofa, extending one hand at the Supreme Being before him. "YOU are still here, MY LORD! I have purpose, STILL!"

'Shit he's cool…'

"...I see. I am glad to hear that." He gave the Doppelgänger a nod of approval. "However, if you need time-off from your assigned duties just tell me."

After a couple of silent moments passed Pandora's Actor bowed his head slightly. "Thank you, my Lord. If the need arises, I will make sure to inform you."

"Please do. Now then, to my next question: Are you aware of Nazarick's current situation?"

"What do you mean, my Lord?"

"Hmm...I know keeping you secluded was not a good idea...Ok, I'll explain to you as much as I know myself."

Eidolon proceeded to inform the Area Guardian of the situation at hand and how they were no longer in Helheim, Pandora's Actor silently listening to everything he had to say without interrupting. "I see...I apologize for my lack of awareness at our situation, Eidolon-sama."

"It's fine. You are here most of the time, it's understandable. However, Pandora's Actor."

"Yes, My Lord?!"

"You are a Level 100 individual, able to use the forms of us Forty-One members. In my own opinion you are nothing short of an ace up the sleeve. A trump card, if you will. As such, the time may come sooner rather than later when Nazarick will be in need of your power. If and when that time comes, can I count on you? It will mean abandoning your assigned duties..." Eidolon asked as he sat back into the couch, examining Pandora's Actor every move and gesture.

By all means, as the creation of the guild master himself there was no doubt in Eidolon's mind that if anyone would feel entitled to not listen to him, it would be Pandora's Actor. His answer would give Eidolon the insight as to how far he could use the NPCs in case of an emergency.

To his pleasant surprise the Area Guardian rose to his feet and saluted once again. "Of course, my Lord! I am but a servant of GLORIOUS NAZARICK, as well! It would bring me utmost pride to be able to defend the Supreme Being's domain against our enemies, my Lord, EIDOLON-SAMA!"

"Good, good. I feel better knowing I can count on you, Pandora's Actor. Thank you. Then, to the next subject: our World Items-"

"WORLD ITEMS!" The Doppelgänger exclaimed with excitement as he extended one arm to the ceiling above them. "The Supreme Being's SYMBOL OF GRETNESS! Nazarick's most sacred treasures, with THE POWER to change the world!" He then dropped to his knees and extended both arms to his sides. "Is it finally time...to unleash their potential?"

'Damn he's cool…'

"...Not yet. I simply wanted to check if all our World Items are still present. I was thinking that our sudden translocation might have caused them to disappear from our Treasury."

"In that case, please REST ASSURED, Eidolon-sama! All of Nazarick's World Items are still accounted for!"

"Well, that's a big relief. Losing those Items would cut off our strength by half. Pandora's Actor, take good care of them. Worst-case scenario, we are going to need to use them, depending on what dangers are out there in this new place we find ourselves in."

"I shall defend them with my very life, Eidolon-sama!"

"Mhm. About that. I'd rather you just flee with them instead of laying down your life."

"Ehhh…?"

"Anyway, I got one last thing I'm gonna need. Some crafting materials."

"Crafting materials, my Lord?"

"Yeah, I got some stuff I want to experiment with. Not right now, as scouting is going to take priority, but soon."

"Understood, my Lord! What materials exactly are you looking for?"

"Ingots. Get me Ingots. Ten of each you can, at least."

"I shall do so immediately, my Lord!"

"Mhm."

XXX

'Well, that's taken care of, so now…' Hovering above Nazarick by means of his racial ability to use [Fly], Eidolon gazed upon the surrounding area. He had actually done the same earlier before he somehow arrived in what he believed to be the Abyss, but he did not take as much time to inspect the area as he did now.

Firstly, they were located somewhere within some mountain, Nazarick being located within the valley of two tall mountain on each side.

To his left, in the far distance, he could see a white sheet of fog spreading over an incredibly large area. It looked to be some plains, but it was too foggy to make out.

From his high altitude he also saw what seemed to be the walls of a city a distance away from the foggy area, but his eyes only worked so far, as well.

Opposite of the foggy area were flatlands which stretched as far as Eidolon could see. Unlike the area where Nazarick was located, the flatlands appeared green and lush.

And behind him, there were only snow-capped mountains.

'The foggy area does make me suspicious of what dangers it could hide, but it is rather far away and from our position it should be possible to notice any approaching enemies beforehand. Those walls past the foggy area makes me understand there is some sort of civilized culture located there. I would like to visit it right now and see what I can learn, but…'

Though he was neither a Thief nor a Rogue, his Stealth abilities were of the highest calibre possible. It was extremely hard to see through his [Abyssal Cloak]...but it was not impossible.

High level divination-magic could spot him. And as he was unaware of what sort of magical protection a city of that size might utilize in it's defense…

'It's an attractive location, no doubt about that. But I should not take too high a risk at the moment when I lack any sort of knowledge about this place. As for those flatlands over there…'

He could not spot any sort of settlement from his current position and approaching enemies could be spotted easily from their high ground. It should not be a priority for now.

'So that leaves...Those mountains all around us. Yeah, enemies could easily hide within the crevices and caves. I should prioritize our immediate area. Heh, Punitto Moe would no doubt scold me right now for taking this long to figure out the right answer…'

With a shake of his head Eidolon flew forward at a moderate pace, flying higher above the tallest peak in order to get a complete bird-eye view of the area. In truth, the sun was starting to set already but thanks to his passive skill Dark Vision apparently being a thing, the lack of light hindered him little.

'Heteromorphs for the win, bitches.'

Now with a clear goal in mind, Eidolon set forth to scout the area, though he would be lying if he said he went out alone solely for that.

The cold that he could now feel, yet didn't affect him.

The high-altitude winds brushing against his clothes.

The absolute sense of freedom granted to him by [Fly]…

He felt amazing.

More than in his entire life so far combined, he felt free and unshackled.

It was a great feeling.

'I wish those idiots could experience this, too. Both the idiots from Ainz Ooal Gown and the other idiots, too...Haaa…'

Suffice to say, he was slightly disappointed that for over half an hour of flying he failed to spot a single enemy. Granted, he did see some sort of animals that looked like deer or chamois or something of the likes, he wasn't sure as he had little knowledge on animals, but nothing which could prove dangerous to either him or Nazarick as a whole.

However, just as he was about to change course and move slightly more towards the centre of the mountain range, he spotted it.

A fort.

His eyes immediately began to glitter behind his mask.

'Oh yes, stalking time!'

Descending down to ground level on a cliff facing the fort Eidolon threw himself on his belly and crawled on his arms to the edge of the flat area. Then he began to silently observe the fort.

It was located at the edge of a mountain, built within a large crevice with a wall roughly five meters in height and a double-gate made of wood. A wide slope made up the way up to the fort, a slope which descended down to the lush flatlands he saw before while hovering above Nazarick.

All his goofiness shoved into the back of his mind, Eidolon switched over to his stalker mode in less than a second.

'I flew around thirty to thirty five minutes until reaching this fort. Taking in consideration my speed and applying that distance to known paths between locations in YGGDRASIL, I'd say…' He tapped the side of his mask a couple of times, thinking hard in order for his estimate to be as close as possible to the truth. 'I'd say about eight to ten kilometres between Nazarick and this fort. This is good. The area between us is mountainous and highly disadvantageous to marching groups. If attacks were to be launched from here directed at us, their movement and progress would be slow. At least one day on foot, two if they encounter bad weather. If they use weather changing Spells, we could spot them from afar. If they use fire, it would be visible in the night. In such a case they could only rely on air-based forces and we can easily set up defences against that.'

He looked to his side, at the flatlands facing the fort with it's gates shut closed.

'A fort positioned in a place like this usually signals the end of one domain and the start of another. I doubt any groups with friendly relationships going on between them would have their gates closed like that to the other. Is the group in control of the flatlands not on good terms with the group owning this fort and the area behind it? That is good, if worst comes to pass we should not have any reasons to fear a pincer attack by coordinated, allied forces.'

Then he looked back to the fort, inspecting it's defences.

'Unless those walls are made of some sort of magically enhanced stone, we should have no problem punching through them with Mare's Spells. The area surrounding the fort is highly disadvantageous for humanoids, but Aura's beasts should have little trouble charging down the slopes until they reach the walls connecting and built into the mountain itself. Worst-case scenario, even if the walls are protected against magical attacks, we could have Demiurge use his 10th Tier Spell, [Meteor Fall] and target the open area located in the centre of the fort. Even if they have some sort of magical barrier a Spell of that Tier should cause at least some partial damage…'

Next he took a good minute to observe the soldiers patrolling the fort and it's walls.

'Around thirty soldiers. More could be resting inside the barracks. Let's raise their numbers to 100. Their equipment looks shabby and cheap, but that could be just cosmetics to throw off possible invaders. Divine Class might be too much, but let's rank their equipment as Legendary Class. Can we take care of 100 soldiers equipped with Legendary Class weapons and armours?'

…

…

'Depends on their level. If they are under Level 50, then hell yeah. If under level 75...Yeah. If they are all the equivalent of Level 100 Players? Hmmm...We would need to bring the fight to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, where we would have the advantage of the Tomb's defensive systems as well. But yeah, we could take them on.'

Then he nodded. 'Yeah. And if all of the above doesn't work, we can just bring the mountain itself down on their heads and bury the fuckers within their own walls. So with that said, I'll rank this fort as threat: moderate.'

With the initial scouting out of the way Eidolon decided on something slightly riskier than what he would usually consider. But, he needed to know if his Skills were as effective as in YGGDRASIL.

And so he rose to his feet and faced the fort, waiting while holding his breath.

Of course, he was a distance away from the fort itself and also positioned slightly to the left, but right at that moment a group of two soldiers were walking down the wall battlements while facing in his direction. The mountains were snow white behind him and no trees were nearby.

If they could see through his [Abyssal Cloak] then he could be not mistaken for anything else but a human.

Then one of the patrols turned their heads and looked in his direction. Eidolon felt the need to throw himself down to the ground, to keep true to his Race and role and remain undetected but fought the desire to do so.

Then the soldier looked straight ahead once again, not even stopping their walk after looking in his general direction.

'I'm...safe? Huh…'

Now having at least some evidence the soldiers could not see through his concealment Eidolon decided to use [Fly] again and slowly descend down the cliff to the battlement. His feet touched the snow-covered stone and he quickly looked around: many of the soldiers were positions in such a manner that they would have easily seen him appear on the wall if the area was under some sort of divination-type AoE or the effects of an Item which rendered Stealth invalid, but none of them seemed to notice him.

'...Suckers.'

Now fully confident the soldiers would not see through his Stealth Eidolon placed his hands inside his pockets and began to walk behind the two soldiers he used for his test previously.

Then came the time for another test.

"...Hey ugly." He called out to the older looking of the two soldiers. "You smell like fucking shit."

Yet despite his provocation the soldier did not stop his patrol nor did he even look over his soldier.

'Geez, they really smell like shit. Lack of hygiene much?' The spectral troll thought to himself as he sniffed the air while walking behind the soldiers, their smell of sweat reaching his nostrils.

"I'm gonna kick you all in the balls with my iron fucking boot you twats!" Eidolon screamed at the top of his lungs yet no heads turned to look his way. He was completely safe and untraceable to the human soldiers. "Huh, this is kinda really fun. And still…"

He glanced around at the soldiers, all human, male and worst of all: greasy. He felt his face twist in disappointment. "Urgh...If you're gonna mess up my suicide attempt and bring me to a strange game-world-turned-reality at least let me see some cute Cat Girls with fluffy ears and tails...Or Elves, for that matter...Haaa…Talk about unfair..."

His motivation now cut in half Eidolon moved forward until he stopped in front of two other soldiers flanking a wooden door. He decided to run another test and leaned on the wall opposite of the two, crossing his arms across his chest and waiting.

Around two minutes passed until the first of the soldiers let out a long yawn.

'Ah, here we go…'

"Man, it's boring…" The yawner voiced.

'As expected, casual NPC dialogue start. Still, their mouths don't match their words at all, do they…? Is this some form of translation Spell…?'

"Hey, at least be happy you ain't fighting the Beastmen in the south."

This drew Eidolon's attention immediately. 'Cat Girls?'

"Guess you're right. Still, I don't know how to feel about this. Did I become a soldier just to guard a plain old fort my entire career…?"

'Nobody cares about your personal life, Bambi. Tell me something of value.'

"Hey, you get paid a salary and you have rather high security while on the job. Not like the Baharuth Empire past this gate has reasons to attack us."

'Oh? So the flatlands past the gate is where something called the Baharuth Empire is located? Good, good...Talk more…'

"Yeah. It ain't a secret the other nations around us use the Dragon Kingdom to hold the Beastmen to the south at bay. Man, we sure pulled the short stick, didn't we?"

'Oho? So this mountainous area around us belongs to the Dragon Kingdom? Then I guess this is the nation we should learn the most about, seeing how we are possibly located within it's boarder.'

"Our Queen, may the Gods bless her, has done a splendid job of protecting the kingdom so far, but it's now far out of her hands. Those damn Beastmen already breached the south and took over several cities, holding feasts every single night and eating our people alive."

'Geez, that escalated quickly…' Eidolon, though slightly surprised at the information, did not feel shocked at the revelation in the least. He found it strange, especially since he was just a normal man just until a couple hours ago, but decided not to ponder on it. For now, gathering information was the priority and nothing else.

"I heard about that, but...is it really true?" The younger of the two asked.

"Sure is. I fought them in the south when the invasion began. Two of those damned bear Beastmen grabbed my buddy from the village and ripped him in half using their bare hands, then feasted on his intestines like he was a fricking delicacy."

"Urgh…What did you do?"

"I shat myself and ran away, what else? My buddy was dead and I wasn't a good enough friend to join him that day. Not a lot you can do against those fricking Monsters. Their hides and furs are their armours, a spear or sword swung by a normal soldier like you and me can barely scratch them."

"Ten times stronger than a man, right?"

"You got that right. They are all monsters. And because of them, this Kingdom's done for."

'Ten times, you say? Hmm...Stat distribution was not this unbalanced in YGGDRASIL, that's for sure. Hmmm...'

"Way to motivate your juniors, gramps."

"If you know what's good for you you'll leave the army and get far away from here."

"And abandon the kingdom?"

"That was just some friendly advice. I'm going to retire in a couple months. Then I'll grab my son and his family and go straight to the Re-Estize Kingdom. I have some money stashed away and my son's a good craftsman. We'll be much better off there than here with Beastmen chewing on our bones. Don't get me wrong, I love our Queen. Few of the royals are as dutiful as her, and she did a good job of leading our country for so long. But she can't deal with the Beastmen."

"...Haaa...So we drew the short stick, then, right?"

"You got that right."

'Well, you suckers sure have it rough. Still, if this kingdom is at odds with those Beastmen then their attention should be mostly focused on the conflict areas. Which gives us a breather as we should not have to worry about too many patrols in our immediate area. If this is the north, that is. I'll need to check that out later and figure out the cardinal directions and where we are located exactly...Haaa…'

Noticing the two soldiers switching their banter to more trivial things Eidolon pushed himself forward from the wall he was leaning against and thought for a long second about his next actions. Noticing the snow on the ground between him and the soldiers he got an idea and took a knee, pushing his hand into the snow and leaving the imprint of his palm on the snow.

Yet the soldiers did not see it.

'So, [Abyssal Cloak] now extends the concealment to the things I interact with, as well? Neat.'

Just to be sure he grabbed a handful of snow and made a snowball within his palms then held it between his fingers in front of the two soldiers. Again, despite the snowball being mere inches away from their eyes, the humans did not give any signs that they noticed him at all.

'...Well this is super useful. Shite, I can do whatever I want while cloaked as long as I don't touch others, huh? Guess who is going to abuse the shit out of this new skill effect?'

Now confident in his absolute Stealth Eidolon grabbed the handle of the door the soldiers were flanking and pulled it open.

And the soldiers noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

'Scuse me, passing through…'

Closing the door behind him Eidolon took a moment to look around then began to stroll through the inside of the fort. He found some empty rooms, some rooms with spare weapons and the likes, sleeping quarters and then finally…

'Jackpot.'

He felt a smile beginning to form on his face as he opened a slightly better-looking door and found himself within a larger room with a desk placed near the window overlooking the inner court. 'Probably the Captain's office or something'

And there was a bookshelf located on the left wall.

With books on it.

He walked up to the bookshelf and grabbed a book at random, opening it and examining it's first page. "Hmm. Mhm. Can't read shit. But, unreadable shit and be translated to readable shit. Maybe the Skellies in the Library can start something with this? So with that said...Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine…" Eidolon repeated as he grabbed the books and threw them in his Item Box which he figured out how to use after Pandora's Actor brought him the crafting materials he had requested.

Within half a minute every single book on that shelf was within his possession and Eidolon was far more happy now. He had a quick look around the room and within one of the desk compartments he found a most valuable thing.

A map.

Granted, it was slightly rough and no cities were named except the countries themselves, but it was a start.

'Who knew a shabby fort like this would have a map…? Huh, anyway: Mine."

He looked in the opposite compartment and found a bag moderately filled with gold and silver coins which looked nothing like the currency they used in YGGDRASIL.

"Mine."

And that was about it.

There was not much else he could hope to find in the fort.

He learned the nearby countries names, came to learn that the possibly closest nation to them was at war some Beastmen, gained copies of books written in a language he could not understand, gained possession of the local currency and even grabbed a map they could use to figure out where they were located.

What more could a man hope for when he's transported across games and realities?

'Cat Girls, that's what…Haaa...'

Having completed his initial task far, far quicker than he believed possible Eidolon left the fort and headed towards the direction of Nazarick again. He would of course go out scouting again but for now dropping his loot at the guild was the best idea as the others could get working on translating the books and figure out the map. Time was of the essence, the quicker they figured out their situation the less mistakes they could hope to avoid.

"Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~, I'm a productive dude, stranded across space and time~..." Halfway through his way back to Nazarick he began to hum and sing, happy at his achievement and the fact he learned more about his Skills and how they worked differently than in YGGDRASIL.

Of course, he was well aware that he could just use the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport his ass back to the home base within a second but he wanted to enjoy the physical sensations of flying and of the wind while he still could.

And it was this decision of his that led Eidolon to notice what was going on.

'...Interesting. Very, very interesting. Was I not clear enough, or is this the result of some sort of rebellious action taken against me…? I mean, it's not like it's a guarantee those NPCs won't attack me. One of the Floor Guardians is a fricking Archdevil, after all. Not a Devil, a fricking Archdevil. Haaa...What to do now, I wonder?'

He asked himself as he crossed his arms and observed the three NPCs in the distance using [Fly] to scout the surrounding area.

Lupusregina Beta.

Solution Epsilon.

And CZ2128 Delta, aka Shizu.

Had they simply used [Fly] and nothing else, it would have been less suspicious in his opinion. But Eidolon could tell, thanks to his passive Skill which allowed him to see through Stealth: all three of them were using concealment on their bodies.

Was this simply to avoid being seen by possible enemies?

Or something else entirely?

"...Then again...I don't really care either way. I'm the slipperiest motherfucker out there. I can escape if worst comes to pass."

With a nod directed at his next action Eidolon flew forward until he neared the three Pleiades, positioned himself to the side of the youngest sister, Shizu, then cancelled his [Abyssal Cloak]. "...Boo!"

Suffice to say, the startled and shocked expression the otherwise expressionless Automaton gave him as she realized he was just an inch away from her would be one of the most precious memories of the New World he would burn into his memory.

XXX

Yeah they are in the Dragon Kingdom.

Open up a map of the New World in Overlord.

Find the Katze Plains.

Look to the right: you will see a fort there.

That is where Eidolon just went all like: "Hippity hoppity, your shit's now my property."

As for the location of Nazarick right now, look to the left of the fort, there is a separate mountain range that looks like a bit of an "S", or a reverse "?" if your mind works weirdly like that.

I'm thinking of that being the new location for Nazarick.

Why?

No reason.

Jk.

Because of the Dragon Queen, and what she possesses which might interest Eidolon later down the line.

That's about it, kay bye.