Chapter 8: That's it?


A/N: Thank you to my Betas who edited this chapter so quickly!


She exhaled deeply. She knew it was going to be a bad idea, she contemplated as she leaned deeper into the comfortable muscle of her dragon, basking in its warmth.

This is what actually happens after that epic entrance.

Currently, she and Pentakrisis are sitting outside the border of E-Rantel. The white dragon sitting down on the grass while she leans her back on the soft scales of his stomach. A lot of the citizens of E-Rantel went outside the city to look at the majestic being and the Lady that supposedly owns it.

The citizens are causing a ruckus at the entrance gate of the city and that the Guards are trying so hard to push the citizens back because they don't know what the dragon would and wouldn't do.

A bunch of high ranking Adventurers ranging from silver to platinum tags are all spread out, as if to protect the city from the white dragon.

The cause of the brief chaos upon E-Rantel.

To be honest, they were quite shocked at this development. Someone from the high towers had seen a white blob came out from the Forest of Tob at a blinding speed. As it got closer to the city, he saw that it was a dragon, and in a panic, he rang the bell three times as per procedure upon seeing the creature.

The bell will only ring three times if there is a catastrophic threat level approaching the city, and all citizens in all the zones are to evacuate immediately, which is what the alarm means.

One of the high ranking Adventurers with platinum tag eyed the dragon, then the lady, then back at the dragon again.

There is no way...right? Is the only thought that crosses his mind.

How can this woman accomplish such an amazing feat?

He looks again at his Adventurers acquaintances, who still stand at their formations as instructed. But he can see clearly that their legs tremble in fear and they are bound to run away as far as possible if the dragon made the slightest move.

But he can't blame them. Even though this is their first time seeing a dragon in the flesh, dragons are known as fearsome beings. There are legends and lores about them destroying cities. Even the fabled Eight Greed Kings were said to look like dragons.

There are a lot of warriors or even Adventurers that he knows who dreamed of slaying a dragon to test their own strength.

But he doesn't think those dreams would come true.

Those gleaming scales, seemingly impenetrable against any weapons or magic attacks, any metal would shatter at the slightest impact. One of the low ranked Adventurers who was stupid enough to engage the dragon had broken his one and only steel sword, even if the dragon did nothing in return. So yes, it is impenetrable.

Moreover, even if something could penetrate those scales, the wall of muscles would stop such a weapon from injuring it deeper. Its huge claws and teeth could easily render steel useless. Its furnished wings could make it master of the sky; its size could destroy castles at the slightest touch, which was proven from when it landed in the residential zone of E-Rantel. Some buildings were totally leveled, and the ground shattered upon impact at its landing.

Not to mention its breath, even though this dragon had not used its breath on them, they knew that its breath would mow down those who oppose it.

The dragon's red orbs moved towards his direction, and it snarled as if to challenge him. He does notice that he had been staring at the dragon for quite some time, so he averted his gaze towards the silver haired woman.

Once again he pondered, how. How can this Lady tame this majestic being that most only heard from legends alone? And why such wise and powerful being would want this person to become its master?

Money? No that's impossible. No matter how rich she is, there is no way a dragon could be bought. Power? Now that's another separate issue…

But as soon as his stare changes to gaze at the silver haired beauty, the dragon snarled even harder.

Growl of dissatisfaction could be heard throughout the clearing – even the villagers who are some distance away from the dragon could hear its annoyance. At this low growl, their ruckus stopped, some mothers even quickly collected their children just in case something bad would happen. The guards who are focused on protecting the villagers turn their head towards the dragon behind them in fear. But those who were really scared were the Adventurers acting like a meat shield to protect the city from harm.

They would most likely be the first one amongst others to die a sudden death if the dragon were to unleash its wrath upon them.

"What are you looking at human…" the dragon had spoken again, its voice low and threatening. Apparently it was aimed towards one of the platinum tag Adventurers.

The rest of his friends could only look at him with vexation and nervousness, "What are you doing?! We are ordered to lay low for the time being, at least until the Guildmaster arrived…" one of them whispered harshly, afraid that this will be the end for his dear friend.

"I-I'm sorry…" he stammered, apologizing instantly towards both the dragon and its Lady.

She immediately caressed the white scales to calm down the dragon's anger. "Now, now" she said gently, "There is no need to get hostile, they didn't do anything...yet." her sharp amethyst eyes moves towards a band of gold tag Adventurers who are huddled together the moment the Guards and that panicking receptionist ordered her out of the city until the Guildmaster arrived to address the situation.

Even though she was disguised as a Priestess, it was only for appearance's sake. She did not lose any of her skills and abilities. As soon as they discovered that she, the seemingly weak and fragile Priestess owned a dragon, some of them started to brew plans to take advantage of this fact.

Her keen sense of hearing had heard one line in particular, and it had irked her, "Control the woman, then you can control her dragon."

They had been planning on using manipulation, and charm magic to woo her into their side, and then through her, they get to control her dragon to use it as they please.

Too bad her resist is over the chart. Such simple debuff wouldn't work on her. So she pretended not to notice their plain planning strategies, but to plan such idiotic action in front of her is an obvious insult to her intelligence.

She sweetly smiled at them and instantly the hairs on the backs of their necks stood in fear.

She knew that they knew that she knew.

Immediately they disbanded from their conversations, and went back to formation, staring at the ground in guilt and frustration.

'Idiots, the lot of them…'

"Oi," she called out to the Adventurers, "When is the Guildmaster going to be here?"

Some of the lower ranked Adventurers were afraid to answer her question. They didn't even look at her after the dragon had growled at one of the Platinum ranked Adventurers for doing so.

But sooner than later, her question was answered by the person himself.

The townspeople at the front gate were ushered away by other Adventurers as they seemed to part creating a way in the middle of the road for a man. Tiamat can see him advancing hurriedly exiting the gate and running towards her.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He panted for a bit, then looked at the woman in front of him in the eye, before eyeing the dragon in front of him with a look of disbelief.

Pluton Ainzanch is a capable man. During his adventurer days, he had captured an undead monster from the Katze Plains and delivered it to the Imperial Arena of the Baharuth Empire. As time went on, he had finally become a guild master of E-Rantel Adventurers Guild.

But in front of him was only something he had heard in legends.

He had heard of the Frost Dragon in Azerlia Mountains. Of course he did. He grew up with them.

And it was terrifying.

The Frost Dragon was a creature of legend and fear, for no one has ever tamed the beast. When it flew overhead, it left in its wake desolate cold and frozen land.

But Pluton was not afraid for he was a winter child.

On the day he was born, it was on the coldest month that anyone, even the elders, could remember.

With that said, he couldn't remember the first time he had seen a Frost Dragon. It seemed as if it was always in his life. Glimpsed from afar as he played in the cold snow after the other children had fled the frosty weather.

Yet, when he sees one in front of him right now, is everything he imagined a Frost Dragon to be.

Tiamat decided to give him a moment. Well she could somewhat understand from the reaction of the people around her that having a dragon here as a companion is not a common thing.

From here she could draw the conclusion that the adventurers system here are not as advanced as she thought and that the average level of Adventurers in E-Rantel is so much lower than the homunculi maids in Nazarick.

Quite pathetic…

After coming out of his stupor, the guild master cleared his throat, and her attention went back again to him.

"Nice to meet you, I am Pluton Ainzach." he offered a handshake towards her direction but instead of taking his handshake, she bowed instead.

The village chief's wife had told her that no man was allowed to touch a woman until they are married, that is proper behaviour on this world.

Afraid of causing a misunderstanding, she bowed instead of taking his handshake.

To be honest, now that she knew, she understood why the villagers were quite shocked when Gazef Stronoff suddenly took her hand when she saved Carne Village.

She's not blaming the Guildmaster either for not having proper ethics. He could've just forgotten, or being unused to it. There are not a lot of female adventurers in E-Rantel after all – he must be used to dealing with men more often than he thought.

"Nice to meet you too, Guildmaster. I am Hannah Annafelowz." after she gave a small curtsy, she showed the old man her newly acquired copper dog tag on her hips. "I'm new."

He took the copper plate to examine it, perhaps making sure if it was real. "Yes, I've heard."

"Seems like I've caused quite a commotion." She smiled on the outside, but on the inside she's excited, she could feel her blood flowing through her body and into her heart, causing it to beat loudly against her body.

This is her first move in the board game that Ainz created. She could only hope it would go her way.

"Yes." He returned back the copper plate to Tiamat, and looked at the dragon in question. "Destruction of property, posing a threat to the health and security of the people of E-Rantel, as well as scaring my fellow guild members."

"Aw, it can't be that bad." She replied, but he seems undeterred. "He was just saying hello. No one was harmed in the process?"

"You can understand it?" He simply asked her.

What…

"Of course. You don't?" She questioned the old man.

"From what I heard, your Frost Dragon growled loudly at the guild entrance, causing the members of the Adventurers' guild to collapse in shock and fear, and then I saw just now, it growled once again at that Platinum plate Adventurer..." he drawled, while the gears in Tiamat's head began to turn quickly.

Meanwhile Pentakrisis behind her had heard the whole conversation, and he growled angrily at the Pluton.

"How could you compare me to such insignificant, lowly creatures that are no better than mere horses. I am Pentakrisis! ŇƗǤǤĦØǤ Ħ€ŁŁĐƗĦƗ Đ€ΔŞ ƤƗŇŦΔҜŘƗŞƗŞ, an Ancient Primordial Dragon Emperor!" As he spread his wings threateningly at the Guildmaster.

At this point the meat shields had ran away to the safety of the walls of E-Rantel while the Guildmaster stayed.

Tiamat eyed the dragon disdainfully. This is an important first move against Ainz and no one, including her own summon would jeopardize it. At this point she could see that her application towards the adventurer's guild would be taken from her especially after Pentakrisis was disrespectful towards the Guildmaster.

"Stand down." She simply ordered. She did not move, and her eyes only looked to the dragon beside her.

The dragon obeyed, he folded his wings gracefully into the side and went back to sit behind her, just like before.

In return, Tiamat gave him a pat on his soft scales as a reward for following her orders.

She could understand the need of not wanting to be compared to Frost Dragons, but to be honest; he doesn't need to growl that loud.

"W-what was that!" Asked the Guildmaster in shock.

Tiamat could only sigh as she told the Guildmaster the truth. "He's offended."

"How do you know? Don't tell me…" he paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "Incredible…" he said quietly in awe.

His eyes widened in realization of fear and revelation and in one breath he said. "You can communicate with dragons…"

'Well, I'm fucked.' She thought to herself.

Apparently, all that epic entrance and Pentakrisis epic speech means shit because no one could understand what he said. To them he was just spouting growls, and that makes them fear him.

They thought the dragon came here to destroy them. Just like 200 years ago. She berated herself in her own mind, if only she paid more attention to her surroundings and how the people would react she would come with a plan to counter this situation.

"...yes." She modestly replied. "At the beginning I thought everyone could understand what my dragon said." She bowed at the Guildmaster apologetically. "I am really sorry. Now I understand why I was ushered out of the city. My dragon did not come to cause any harm, he just came by to say hello. I didn't know that. I sincerely apologize."

She bowed in accordance to the Japanese custom, a 90 degree bow, to sincerely convey how apologetic she was. She was still seeing the blades of grass from her position, fearing that the Guildmaster may be angry at her for causing such problems. This reminds her when she was chewed out at the bakery when she was first learning about baking.

And now it's going to happen again.

Even from her position, she could see that the Guildmaster was clenching his fist in frustration, and his body even trembles. She could only imagine how angry he would be in this kind of situation.

"...zing." He said quietly to Tiamat.

She raised her head, questioningly looking at the Guildmaster. "W-what?"

"Amazing! Simply amazing, young lady!" He Guildmaster excitedly said to Tiamat. "Most people aim to conquer a dragon and carry their carcass like a trophy, but you tame them, making them yours. Not only that you are able to tame a dragon, but you can also communicate with them. Such talent is unheard of!"

She stared at him in shock.

"I had heard of intelligent beast like the Wise King of the Forest who is able to communicate with humans, but humans having a talent to speak with beasts would be the first." He continued.

"I-I see…"

"This place won't do. Come with me. We have a lot to discuss." He turned his back from her and walked into the village.

"W-wait! You're not angry? You're not firing me?" She asked.

"Why would I be? Your talent is even greater than Nfirea Bareare's! I would be the most idiotic Guildmaster to turn you away from my guild."

"Oh…" she was shell shocked and pretty confused. In her head she had made ten different scenarios just in case the Guildmaster had rejected her application at the Adventurers Guild from moving to the Kingdom or the Empire, to use any form of violence to make this man agree to her proposal.

'I guess I don't need any of those plans now…' she thankfully thought in relief. Yes, winning against Ainz is important, but to torture someone for it wouldn't be her style.

The Guildmaster lead the way, waiting for Tiamat to come and follow him back into the city.

She turned to Pentakrisis and ordered him to go back to Nazarick as quick as he could without being followed. He obeyed by spreading out his large wings and flew away quickly to the sky, his scales gleaming against the sunlight.

She stood there, looking into the distance. The shadow of the dragon had become smaller and smaller until it couldn't be seen by mere human eyes. She won't walk away from the empty field until she had received a message from Aura that Pentakrisis had returned to Nazarick. Which apparently didn't take more than a couple minutes.

Then she gracefully walked behind the Guildmaster into the city with her staff in hand.

When she arrived at the gate of E-Rantel, the citizens and Adventurers who were bundled up together as if to watch a show parted ways, creating a path for her to walk in the middle of the street.

Knowing how awkward it was, she quickly followed behind Pluton towards the Guild Hall, which is thankfully not too far away from the main gate.

She knew she was going to be a spectacle, but the emotional burden as well as the people talking behind her back was making her body burn in embarrassment.

Adventurers who were spectating the scene returned once again to the guild hall as well, but they were still silent, observing her carefully when she and the Guildmaster climbed to the second floor to go to his office.

She guessed they must be judging her again by this point.

But she didn't pay any heed to that.

The Guildmaster opened the door to his office, "Ladies first." He offered.

"Thank you." She nodded politely.

It was a small, humble office with a wooden desk, and two brown worn sofas in the middle of the room, between them is a simple wooden coffee table. There were no decorations in the room that could brighten the place and documents were piling up on the wooden desk as well.

On the corner of the room were spider webs entwined together. One of the arachnids even dared to get close to her, but she just shook it off.

Despite all that, the room was unexpectedly neat.

To be perfectly honest, why is the interior design of this world so simple? Everything seems to be made out of wood. Tiamat with her keen sense of smell could smell the mustiness of the room, and from the corner of her eye, she could see termites slowly eating away at all the furniture.

As she entered the room, she could feel a thin layer of paper tape circling around her body. Must've been a spider web clinging to her, so she just broke it by sending brushing it off with her hand

She sat on one of the sofas, and small cloud of dust rises up in the air.

Yet all she could think was how excited she currently was.

She was now in the office of one of the most influential persons in E-Rantel. It was literally too easy…

Well for the time being she was comfortable.

On the opposite side of the sofa sat the Guildmaster, and the receptionist stood behind him.

She could see the receptionist trembled at the sight of Tiamat, even though she was not threatening her in any way. The receptionist eyes kept wandering around, as if she didn't want to look at Tiamat. Perhaps she was traumatized by the sight of the dragon at the entrance from before?

"Well, I'm really sorry for the sudden invitation. Right now we are going to discuss about your companion and your status within the guild."

"Is having a dragon as a companion considered a bad thing?" She quickly interjected the Guildmaster by playing dumb, asking him innocently like a child who did not know anything about the world.

"Well it's not bad per se. This just complicates your ranks as well as the request that is going to come for you personally. But aside from that I want to personally ask you something."

She nodded. "Of course, ask away."

"Are you the same Hannah Annafellowz who was rumoured to have saved Gazef Stronoff at Carne village the other day?"

As soon as the question was thrown away by Pluton Ainzach, the receptionist finally looked at Tiamat with her mouth wide open.

The Adventurers Guild is an organization that is not tied down to politics so that the guild can cooperate with each other in different countries.

With such a wide array of bureaus between these countries, there is also a lot of information that went back and through each guild through the form of rumours.

Two days ago, they have heard rumours that Carne village was attacked, and Gazef Stronoff came to their rescue. But he was late. Instead of him, a traveller had been generous enough to save the village, and the only thing they knew about this traveller was her name.

Hannah Annafellowz.

Even after she had saved the village she had stayed because apparently there was an assassination attempt directed towards Gazef Stronoff, and she had chased the assassins off, saving Gazef and his company of warriors in the process.

It was one of the most talked about rumours that had been circling around the Adventurers' guild these past few days.

She should've known.

She did mention when the lady registered at the guild that her name was somewhat familiar, but she had failed to connect the dots.

The lady that is currently sitting in front of them could probably be a legend in the making.

At that moment, Tiamat stared back at the guild master and she lightly shrugged her shoulders as she answered.

"Perhaps…"

To be honest, Tiamat didn't want to confirm this information, even if it was true. This is because she doesn't know what is the point that the Guildmaster is trying to achieve.

The Guildmaster nodded his head at Tiamat's ambiguous explanation.

"You have to understand that there had been rumours going around the city about the attack at Carne Village. Moreover, another rumour has also been circling around that the same person had also saved Gazef Stronoff in his time of need. This is unprecedented in the guild. However, with that kind of achievement, a copper plate is no longer suitable for someone of your calibre."

The Guildmaster continued his speech calmly, "Not to mention this could also affect the guild, such action will trouble us as it would set a bad example and represent us negatively in the eyes of society. They will see a guild not giving the correct rank to someone who clearly deserves it. Even though your action is tied politically towards Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff is considered a hero, and the action of saving innocent villagers from being plundered is an act that deserves to be rewarded. With your current rank, you would be unable to stay at the guild if affected by fame of this calibre. Also, someone could aim at your life too."

Finally saying it in a manner that Tiamat could understand, Tiamat nodded in understanding.

But this all she says is "I see…"

Hearing her words, the Guildmaster flapped his mouth in disbelief, like a fish out of water. Both him and the receptionist stuck into silence, their expression unmoving, just like stone.

The same thoughts cross into their minds. Does she really don't care about her own safety and security?

"...Was it really you?" He asked once again.

"You can say that." Tiamat phrase her words in such a way that would give them reaffirmation of what they had already speculated, but no words of confirmation had left her mouth.

"Hearing that, I'm really relieved. Honestly, with that being said, a copper plate wouldn't be enough for you. Especially after you have told us that you also have a dragon companion." His face darkened for a minute. "Is it possible for the Adventurers guild to borrow your dragon for requests?"

Tiamat could see it in his eyes. Unimaginable greed. Someone who would do anything to achieve what they want. And in this case, her dragon is at risk.

She had two options at this point. She could refuse him, or she could lie.

"Even though the dragon is my companion, he does not belong to me. A dragon is like the wind, you can't hold it, you can't control it, and it is free to do whatever it wants to. I can't force him to do anything if he doesn't want to." An obvious lie. Her dragons are loyal, they will fall on a sword if she commanded them too, but this is something that only she and anyone in Nazarick would know.

"But you are its Master, are you not?" He persisted.

"Sir, with all due respect. Do you know what I am?"

"No, I don't."

"You see, I am a Priestess." She showed him her staff. "A disciple of the Goddess of Dragons, and for my journey, she has kindly lent me one of her children. That dragon is mine, but it does not belong to me. Everything I do with regards to the dragon will have to be approved by the Goddess herself." She bluffed smoothly.

Using her title of a divine being to hold back this growingly greedy Guildmaster is one way to get out of the situation.

She had heard from the Elders at the Carne village that most people in this world believe in divine entities and that they are afraid of making those beings angry.

By tying herself to a divine entity, they wouldn't dare to force her into something she didn't want her or her dragons to do.

Finally the Guildmaster relented. "If that was the case…"

The receptionist, who up until now was silently listening to the conversation, began to speak.

"Master, about the copper plate…"

Pluton scowled in disappointment at the piece of information he had just received. But no matter. As long as they had the Priestess on their side, the dragon would surely follow. "Ah yes. Lady Hannah, I will promote your rank from Copper to Mythril. This will be effective immediately. Congratulations for your promotion. You are the first person in history to have gone up to Mythril in just one day."

Hold up…

Just Mythril?!

"With this you can access A-rank quest through the guild receptionist, moreover you will also receive personal quests where the client would be asking for you personally. Do you agree with this decision?"

She smiled at him through gritted teeth. "I see, that's not bad."

Even though Tiamat doesn't know, but this compromise is the best the Guildmaster could afford at this point. Pluton had the assumption that Hannah is a fast thinker; it was really regrettable that they couldn't use her dragon as they please.

"We seem to have no problem with this. What do you think Lady Hannah?"

"Actually, I do think that Mythril is far too low for me. Is it possible to be promoted to Adamantine instead?"

The Guildmaster frowned, clearly puzzled.

"Usually the rank of an Adventurer would increase after passing a test from the Adventurers' guild. Basically the rank increases step by step, but if an Adventurer receives a major feat, like you did, it is possible to skip several ranks. But with Adamantine rank things are different. Adamantine adventurers in short, are heroes. They are someone who had saved a country from harm, someone with a high enough achievement that it is considered normal for them to receive that plate. But you are new Lady Hannah, despite your stellar achievements, it couldn't be compared to those of Adamantine rank."

As she thought, it would be hard to receive an instant promotion at this point, but that's fine. She had one final plan that would make sure she won the game against Ainz.

"That is regrettable, but I could see your point. Mythril plate is fine." She agreed.

"But I am indeed curious, and I hate bothersome chit chat so I am going to ask directly. You could go to the Royal Capital of the Kingdom or even the Empire and register as an Adventurer, but you choose E-Rantel. Why is that? Who are you really?"

Tiamat kept silent, wondering how she could explain this. Suddenly, the Guildmaster opened his clenched plan in front of her. His palm was disgustingly shined with greasy sweat.

"Look at this hand of mine. Ever since I met you in that field, I kept on sweating endlessly. My years of experience have honed my instinct and it keeps on telling me that you are a dangerous person."

Well, she had turned Phobos Ambience, one of her passive skills off, as well as many other passive skills that had to do with aura off. She still believes she currently comes off as just a harmless Priestess, turns out the Guildmaster thinks differently.

"In my youthful days, I was a reckless adventurer. I even fought and captured an undead monster. I have escaped so many life and death situations many times and won against these opponents, there were even those who quickly surrendered to me. However, you are clearly exceptional."

"Master, you're the kind of person who is into young girls huh?" The receptionist looked at the Guildmaster in disdain.

"―N-NO, WA-WAIT! I don't have that kind of hobby!"

Taking control from Guildmaster who was desperately trying to explain himself, the receptionist is beckoning to me "Now-now, please sit back down.", so for the time being, she sat on the sofa. Of course, she sat as far away as possible from the Guildmaster.

He cleared his throat, "I don't have nearly enough field experience to make me understand your level by instinct like the current Adamantine ranked Adventurers… but even so, I know that you are an extraordinary being. You are aware of it right? The barrier and detection magic which I spread around the room."

"Are you talking about that spider web on the corner of the room?"

In the beginning, she just wanted to shake it off and not break it, but it kept getting in her way and it bothered her since it persistently entwined around her frame, so she just shook it with a bit and it happened to break.

"Are you saying that the barrier was simply a spider thread?"

Hearing the shocked Guildmaster speech, she became shocked too.

That was a barrier? That means monsters that are slightly weaker than the Wise King of the Forest Right? She had heard of the tales of the Wise King of the Forest and how powerful it was by keeping the Forest of Tob safe from intruders and from the power struggles within the forest itself.

There's no way. It's so weak! Even weaker than YGGDRASIL first-tier detection magic.

It seems that she had severely overestimated their skills. At this point if that is the best they can offer to protect the Guildmaster's office, then it is obviously going to be useless against her.

Her stats are stacked with lots of passive abilities including High Resistance X which could be used to counter detection magic or even strong debuffs.

"As I told you, I am the disciple of the Goddess of Dragons. What you felt is probably the Goddess divine aura protecting me from harm." She answered him to make him stray away from the topic.

Thankfully, he was easily baited. "But why E-Rantel?"

She sighed, her brain thinking hard how to approach the situation. She couldn't outright tell him that she has to assert herself within the guild before Ainz could, making her move before Ainz comes to E-Rantel three days from now.

"I was actually hunting a certain vampire for a long time. I have a bit of history with her."

"Oh." The Guildmaster exclaimed, obviously intrigued. "What kind of history do you have with this vampire?"

Fuckkkkk.

"She…" Tiamat grabbed her dress in frustration, she had to quickly come up with a lie that was believable but private enough that it wouldn't be investigated. "She murdered my family." She sighed, looking down at her knees, hoping that this lie would be convincing enough. "I had heard from my sources that she is close to E-Rantel, that's why I registered here as an Adventurer hoping that I would be the one to defeat her."

A small silence passes through the room.

Tiamat continues to clench her dress, hoping that they would buy her bluff.

"I am sorry for your loss." The Guildmaster was the first person to break the silence.

She opened her eyes wide. 'He bought it!'

His eyes become sullen, and the receptionist expression had dropped to pity.'

"That's alright, there's no way you could've known." She replied, giving him a small smile, totally relieved.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, I'm assuming this had been a long day for you. Where are you staying in E-Rantel?"

"I haven't thought about that. Is there any place you would recommend?"

"There is an inn nearby," the receptionist suddenly answered.

But the Guildmaster interjected her "W-wait that inn is…"

"The inn is called Wooden Horse; you can form a party there. If there are also private quests designated for you, I will also notify you at the inn, so you can rest assured." The receptionist continued.

"I see. Then, I will go based on your recommendation." Tiamat agreed with the receptionist. She had worked for a long time, judging by how she handled things. So Tiamat trust her decisions that she must know where cheap inns were.

"Alright then, I guess we are all settled here." The Guildmaster slid the Mythril plate at the table towards Tiamat's direction. "Here is your Mythril plate, and welcome to the Adventurers' guild."

"Thank you." She stood up and left the room.

After she closed the door, the Guildmaster told the receptionist in hushed whispers. "I want someone to tail her 24/7. Tell me of all the requests she takes as well. Make no mistakes."

The receptionist didn't reply, but Tiamat had heard that. She smiled wickedly at the corridor, silently excited of what's about to come.

(ʃƪ¬‿¬)

From the second floor window of the Wooden Horse inn, she pondered about the words that the Guildmaster had said after she left the room while she's gazing down at the city that is currently submerged in the darkness of the night.

After she left the Guildmaster's office and went back to the lobby, the place had turned chaotic. Different groups would ask her to join in as their member as soon as they saw her gleaming new Mythril plate resting at her hips.

Her patience had clearly run out and she had in turn intentionally ignored them, which made most of them break down in front of her. To calm everybody down, she quickly asked one of the receptionists to give her an A-rank quest, and then she bolted out of the guild hall.

Afterwards she tried to look for the inn called Wooden Horse. Thankfully she had learnt a small portion of the country's language, so she's able to read shop signs.

After she found the inn her step quickened and to her dismay, she stepped on a puddle of mud with her white shoes. Scraping some of it off, she finally entered the saloon through wooden doors.

It was awful.

There were dirty and disgusting places in YGGDRASIL, of course. Even the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick which Ainz ruled over contained such places, such as Kyouhukou's room, the Venomous Cave, and so on.

However, the filth here was different from those places.

The floor was covered in scraps of mysterious food and unknown liquids, while the walls were stained and there were chunks of some mouldy substance in the corners of the room…

She sighed, and looked at the man behind the bar.

A man in a dirty apron stood there, his stout arms protruding from his rolled-up sleeves. They were covered in several scars, and she could not tell if they were caused by the claws of wild beasts or by blades of some sort.

He looked somewhere between imposing and bestial, and there were scars on his face as well. His head was shaved completely bald, without a single hair left standing on his scalp.

This man, who looked more like a bouncer than an innkeeper, sized her up as he held a mop in one hand.

He had tried to force her to enter a mixed dormitory under the pretense of making a group of adventurers, basically recruiting. After she had persistently mentioned that she had no plan of recruiting anyone in this inn, he finally relented and asked her to pay five copper coins per night.

When she finally went into the room, she hurriedly locked it down, and began casting spells throughout the room ranging from silencing spells to resist infiltration spells.

After she was done, she took a break at the simple wooden chair by the window.

『Gate』

She opened the gate and Yuri Alpha passed through it, just like she had previously planned.

"My Lady." She greeted Tiamat. "Good job for today."

She immediately leaped from her chair and gave Yuri a big hug. Having to travel from Carne Village to E-Rantel, was terribly lonely. Moreover, she didn't realize how tense she was until Yuri was here with her. "Yuri! I missed you so much!"

Yuri just stood there, stupefied by her Supreme Being. Clearly she was happy that her Supreme Being is showering her with affection, but she was unsure as to how she could return her open affection. To be honest, Yuri misses Lady Tiamat as well. Not just her, but a lot of the Floor Guardians missed her presence within Nazarick. It's relieving that apparently Lady Tiamat felt the same way.

Tiamat leaned into her, completely relaxed now that someone she knew was here with her. She let her go and gave her a big smile and Yuri smiled back at her.

"How were things at Nazarick?" she asked.

Yuri fixed her glasses upwards. "Currently Lord Ainz and Narberal Gamma are preparing to set off three days for now. Lord Ainz is also catching up on his work for when he leaves. What about you, My Lady."

She sat back down into the chair, "Ah… nothing is clear, looks like it's not true that this world is completely unaffected by YGGDRASIL."

"What would you like to do, My Lady?" Yuri inquired, "To be perfectly honest, you could take over the city by using your dragons in mere seconds, or even throwing in a charm magic to take over the guild. I don't understand why you have to spend your time here at this crude, miserable shack. Should we return to Nazarick at once?"

Yuri gave her a really good advice.

Should she return to Nazarick?

Well, although the whole Nazarick knew about the bet that she and Ainz had made back then, the point here is not to take over, but to see who raised rank quicker.

Perhaps she should say that throwing a simple charm spell would be against her aim, but what Yuri said had caused a lot of misinterpretations. She said that this inn is a miserable shack, even though this is the inn where Gold to Mythril Adventurers seemed to stay.

"It's fine Yuri, I have achieved my first goal. However, I do feel quite uneasy about what the Guildmaster said before."

"Indeed, I have been notified by one of the Eight-Edged Assassins who escorted you into the city, it is highly likely that the Guildmaster will become an obstacle."

"Moreover Yuri, I also want to find out more about the history of this country. From what I've heard, it seems that there had been people from YGGDRASIL who came into this world hundreds of years ago. Has Neuronist finished interrogating the Sunlight Scripture members?"

"Neuronist has finished her interrogations a couple hours ago, My Lady. Shall I get in touch with Neuronist after this?"

Tiamat nodded in confirmation. Before taking her first A-ranked quest for tomorrow, she needed to know all the information extracted from the Sunlight Scripture since it could be useful. She could never be too careful.

"Understood. By the way My Lady, it seems that you haven't finished your meal given by the inn. Should I go and provide your dinner for tonight?"

Ah… that's true, the inn had indeed provided her with oatmeal and vegetables. However the sauces and spices on the vegetables was overpowering everything, therefore she couldn't eat even a quarter of the provided meal that was served here. Usually in Nazarick, she had always finished her plates because she knows that she doesn't want to waste Nazarick's supply of food.

"I don't need anything for tonight. Instead, I'll rely on you for the breakfast by tomorrow morning. But make sure that you're not going overboard."

Honestly, she was hesitant on asking Yuri to prepare for her meals, because Yuri tends to over-prepare. On her first breakfast at Nazarick, she had prepared twenty different plates of breakfast menus (at Nazarick; this part is redundant). Which was completely unnecessary. She ended up sharing her portions with the homunculi maids as well as the dark elf twins.

"―Of course, I will be careful. Then, I'll see you tomorrow, My Lady."

With those words spoken, Tiamat opened 『Gate』so that Yuri may return to Nazarick, and let her prepare for tomorrow.

"Come to think of it, is everyone in good spirits?"

During the night when she was about to sleep, all she could think of was her family that is far away from her. She could only hope that she quickly finished this small game before Ainz even gets there. She misses them terribly.