Hi all, author here. Happy belated Lunar New Year for those who celebrate.

So far the S2 episodes I've watched seemed faithful, although I do notice some discrepancies from the LN or even the manga. One jarring example for me in the latest episode was Sebas having a second Shadow Demon which is never mentioned in the LN.

Rant aside, here is the next chapter. Sorry in advance that canon Overlord characters don't appear this time.


"Where do you come from?"

"Somewhere far away"

That was the most sensible answer Ryu could come up when asked with that question. There was no way anyone would believe that he was from a space traveling army. Well, Ainz was a special case.

"That's very broad. Be more specific?"

"It doesn't matter, Mat. The place doesn't exist anymore. A great disaster erased it"

In a sense, the answer was not a lie. Ryu knew very well that Ur ship has been destroyed by a Dark Falz. This answer was the same as what he had told Gazef back then at Carne Village. At least he had to be consistent to not create a hole in his fabricated backstory.

"Ah, I'm sorry"

"It's alright"

The group kept on walking towards the location of their objective. Their current job was to respond to a village which had spotted traces of goblins in their vicinity. There was a possibility that a new goblin nest had emerged nearby, and their job was to scout for it and eradicate the nest if found.

"How strong are goblins usually?"

"The most common ones are weak, even an untrained villager still has a chance to win if he has something to use as a weapon"

Mat's answer created a question in Ryu's mind. But before he could ask, Saku gave the answer.

"Their strength is in numbers. Also, they often work together with ogres"

"Aren't you all still having difficulties against ogres?"

"If only one or two, we can still manage. The thing is, that time we got ambushed by three and a squad of goblins"

"I was careless"

"Not your fault, Kusa. We were already pretty exhausted"

Goblins and Ogres. They were among the most common creatures in any fantasy story settings. Ryu has never fought any of them before, but he was pretty sure he could defeat them easily, even if his photon techs had not been mysteriously empowered.

The group's plan for the job was to arrive at the village before dark, spend the night there, and then begin searching in the following morning.

The trip towards the village went on without any significant thing happening. The group stopped to rest and eat once in a while, sometimes passing by a merchant caravan or another adventurer group, all while having idle conversations and not encountering any hostiles.

"We should be arriving soon"

Mat said that while looking at the surroundings. The sun was already close enough to the horizon, but thankfully their trip was towards the East in general, so their view didn't get blinded.

"Wait!"

Kusa made a signal for everyone to stop. Everyone else stopped and took battle stance without questioning the sudden signal. It was clear for Ryu that Kusa was highly trusted by everyone.

"I sense... blood, and death"

"Don't tell me-"

Ryu could grasp what Mat was thinking after Kusa told him what he had sensed. The village they were going to was near, and that could only mean...

"Should we hurry?"

"Yes, but remain vigilant. I'm counting on you, Kusa"

The group advanced again with increased pace while still keeping their eyes open to the surroundings. They were walking near the edge of a forest to their left, so there was a chance of an ambush coming from there. To their right was an open plain, so any incoming hostile would be visible from far away. Nevertheless, Kusa sharpened his senses towards all directions.

The village they were going to was right after turning left where the forest edge curved a bit, and when they made the turn, the village was visible to them.

To be exact, what had been a village was visible to them.

Dead bodies of men and children were all over the place, most of them were mutilated, trashed, and abandoned like garbage. Some were hanged on large trees and they were still dripping fresh blood. Stench of blood covered the entire place.

Mot Village, that was the name of the village that would soon be erased from Kingdom's logs. It was smaller than Carne Village, roughly only half as large. Yet, the massacre here was worse than what Ryu had seen back then in Carne.

"I feel sick"

"We all are, Ryu-san"

Indeed, Su answered while sounding like she was ready to puke anytime. Everybody else was as pale as her, struggling to hold their vomit in.

"Should we look for survivors?"

"Yes, but stick together. Whoever did this might be still here. Be ready to retreat anytime"

The group then combed the village, searching for any survivors that might know what had happened. Unfortunately, any human they found was already dead. After making sure, they closed all doors and windows of the last house they searched and took shelter there. They were lucky that this particular house didn't have any dead body inside.

Inside the house was naturally dark because the sun had set already. None of the group could see each other, except Kusa who had limited dark vision. Therefore, Saku conjured a small wisp of light which provided a limited illumination.

"I can't believe this! If only we could arrive sooner!"

"We would be among those bodies in that case"

Zeb's reply on Mat's frustration was spoken in a flat, yet straight tone. Meanwhile, Ryu had no idea at all about what had happened.

"Can anyone tell me what happened?"

Saku was the first to answer Ryu's question.

"This village has been raided by a goblin horde, and just recently"

Mat then added the answer.

"We can easily tell from these three points: One, the houses had been looted clean of food but money still remains. Two, the gruesome condition of the corpses. And three, there are almost no woman corpse at all"

Lily was surprised by the explanation. Out of the surprise, she spoke.

"Wait, the last one. Are you telling me..."

"Yeah, many women were brought to the nest for... I better not continue this"

Hearing that, Lily suddenly went into rage.

"We have to rescue them now!"

"No, Lily! We should stay here!"

"But, Ryu-san...!"

"Lily, I need you to calm yourself, sit down, and hear me out"

"Uhh... alright..."

"As of right now, we have no idea how many of them are out there. Recklessly going into pursuit will get you in trouble. Moreover, I believe goblins can see in the dark, right Mat?"

"True"

"See, we will be at a major disadvantage going at this time"

"Lily-san. I'm sorry to be a bearer of bad news, but we can't save them"

"Why, Saku-san?"

"The goblins usually kill the women once they have their way with them. Unless we raid their nest tonight, which we can't do, they all will be dead by morning"

"W-why this has to happen...?"

Lily started to break down crying. She wanted to save the people, but she couldn't. Seeing this, Ryu hugged her trying to ease her burden.

"It is what it is, Lily. Sometimes terrible things happen and there's nothing we can do about it"

I don't want to get too attached to her, but at this rate it can't be helped.

"By the way, knowing all those things... this is not your first time, is it?"

"Indeed"

Su was the one answering.

"We haven't told you the full story of our last job"

"The ogre hunt?"

"Mat, please do this for me"

"Alright"

Mat then told Ryu and Lily the full story of the job that brought them knocking on death's door. Just like this time, the village where the request came from had been raided by goblins when the group arrived. The difference was that the group arrived early in the morning and there were survivors to tell the tale. They immediately went on a pursuit to the goblin nest in the woods.

They managed to find the nest, but all of the abducted women were already dead when they were done exterminating the goblins and ogres inside. At this point the party was already exhausted, and they got ambushed by a squad which had been away from the nest. It was a sheer luck that they held the line long enough for another adventurer group to arrive and save them at the last moment.

"We might have exhausted our lifetime supply of luck coming out of there alive"

"So, what's the best course of action at this point?"

"Wait until morning and go search the woods by then. Though the problem is, we were broke and expecting to eat dinner from the village's food, and now we can't eat anything. I hope we won't be too hungry to fight tomorrow"

"!"

Suddenly Kusa seemed to notice something.

"Everyone, be quiet. Saku, dispel the light"

Everybody went silent and the room became dark. Further talks had to be done in low voice.

"I sense... four... no. Five"

Kusa tried hard to discern the source of whatever which was approaching.

"Three goblins and two ogres..."

"We can take them on, right?"

"Indeed, Ryu-san. But they are probably patrols. If we kill them the rest will notice their disappearance and come to attack"

Mat's answer made sense. If they kill the nearby patrol they will pretty much have to fight the entire horde.

"Ssh! They are right in front of the house next door"

Kusa's warning made everyone fell to complete silence. The patrol group were already close enough that Kusa's superior sense as a Ranger was no longer needed to hear the sounds they make.

Everyone silently spread themselves across the room posing a battle-ready stance. The footsteps of the patrol came closer, and they stopped right in front of the house.

Everyone hoped that they would go away. Indeed that the group was strong enough to take the five creatures down with ease, but for the situation it was best to avoid any fight. The silence felt like forever to them.

CRASH!

With a loud sound, the front door of the house was kicked open. It was one of the ogres. The ogre was naturally taller than humans, so from the opened door nobody could see its head. A goblin was standing right in front of the door opening.

Saku immediately casted a light spell to illuminate the room. Kusa followed with a single shot from his crossbow, aimed at the goblin. Unfortunately, the goblin evaded, but the bolt still hit the left thigh of the ogre behind it.

"Get out of the door once I open the way"

Su said that, and she put her shield in front of her.

[Bull Rush]

An aura of reddish color enveloped her, and she charged towards the goblin and ogre at the door. All of them were thrown away by her charge, and now the door was wide open after she got through.

Mat and Zeb were the fastest to get out, followed by Lily, Kusa, Ryu, and finally Saku.

When Ryu got out, what he saw was exactly as Kusa had sensed. There were three goblins and two ogres. The ogre that had been shot by Kusa were still down after being thrown by Su's charge, but it was still awake. It would soon get up and fight.

"Ryu-san, Lily-san. Can we trust you to take out the other ogre?"

"Leave it to us, Mat-san"

Lily's answer was spoken in a determined tone. She definitely has gotten serious. She immediately pulled the other sword that had been sheathed in her right side, changing her stance from sword and shield combination into dual wielding swords.

Lily quickly closed her distance to the other ogre. The ogre wielded a large wooden club that would definitely crack anyone's skull. Without waiting, the ogre attacked by swinging the club downwards. She evaded by moving to the right, and she quickly made a 360 degree spin, slicing the ogre's left leg off at the knee. The ogre fell down to its knees with a scream of pain. Without giving it any chance, she jumped to the back of the ogre and gave it a backstab with both swords, impaling it clean through. The ogre spurted blood from its mouth and fell down faceplanted to the ground. Life had left its body.

Ryu was speechless. He didn't even got any chance to cast any photon tech because Lily defeated the ogre so quickly.

How strong is she really?

Ryu thought that while she was pulling her swords from the ogre's body, but it was not the right time to think about it. He had to make sure the others were doing fine.

[Flash]

Zeb was enveloped in the same reddish aura like Su earlier. Within an instant, one goblin right in front of him was beheaded. Ryu didn't even see his katana drawn.

[Twin Magic: Magic Arrow]

Two bolts of magic energy appeared from Saku's wand, quickly impaling the other two goblins.

[Repeater]

Kusa shot two bolts in quick succession from his crossbow, even though his crossbow was not designed to fit two bolts like that. The bolts were aimed at the remaining ogre's face. One bolt missed but the other hit one eye. The ogre roared in pain, flailing its club around. Su parried all the strikes with her shield. Mat timed his jump to land on the ogre's shoulder, and then he quickly slit its throat with his dagger and jumped upwards.

[Talon Dive]

With the help of gravity, Mat sliced the ogre's back downwards with both daggers. The ogre fell down to its knees, bloody and badly beaten up, but it was still alive. It would bleed out eventually, but Ryu decided to give it a quick death.

Grants!

Multiple spears of light appeared around and above the ogre, and all of them impaled it in quick succession, then disappeared without a trace. There were no holes from the impale points, but now the ogre was completely lifeless. Its body fell down faceplanted to the ground like the other ogre.

"Everyone okay?"

Mat was the one inquiring.

"It seems so"

Su said it while looking around her.

"Wow, Ryu-san! What was that magic? I have never seen it before!"

Saku asked that, looking curious.

"Umm... Magic Arrow, modified to focus a single target"

Ryu himself was not even sure if his fabricated answer made sense. He should change the topic before he got inquired any further.

"Anyway, what should we do now?"

"You know what they say, just jump into the water if you're already wet"

"So we raid the nest I suppose, Mat"

"Yep, and quickly, so they don't get to prepare"

"Let's go then"

The group then went into the woods looking for the goblin nest. Naturally, Kusa had to put a lot of effort because moonlight had to struggle to reach them under all the trees. They couldn't light a torch because it would alert the goblins sooner, so the advancement was pretty slow.

"!"

Kusa noticed something. He gave a signal for everyone else to stop and lay low.

"Saku, give me that"

"Alright"

[Dark Vision]

Saku casted a spell to give Kusa the ability to see in the dark. This indirectly enhanced his range of recon.

"At least 50 of them... They are having a party with all the looted food and drink from the village"

"What about the women?"

"I see none, but I see a cave further behind that group. They probably kept them there for... after party"

The Dark Vision spell only lasted for a minute, but it was enought for Kusa to gather intel about the horde they were going to face. Everyone looked worried, though.

"At least 50 goblins and 12 ogres? Much more than we expect. Our chances are slim"

"Do you think we should retreat and abandon the job?"

"Probably. I feel bad for the abducted women, but as of right now trying to rescue them will only add more casualties"

"Hmm..."

Ryu actually could defeat them all easily, but doing it would expose a good portion of his actual power. Saving people's lives was more important, though, so he decided to do it. He took something from one pocket of his suit. It was a large feather, the color of which was orange and yellow.

"What is that, Ryu-san?"

"A magic artifact. I think this is the right time to use it"

It was a lie, though. It was actually another weapon type that could be used by ARKS operatives of Force and Techer class, namely a Talis. This particular Talis, the name of which was Gal Wind, was a high level weapon said to be made from the feathers of a legendary beast known with the name of Gal Gryphon.

"Kusa, how far are they from here?"

"About two hundred meters"

"That way?"

"Yes"

"Alright. Saku, please give Kusa the dark vision once more"

"Sure"

[Dark Vision]

Ryu channeled his photon energy into the feather and threw it towards the place where the horde was gathered. The feather flew away in an unnaturally straight line leaving small light sparkles on its way.

"Please sense the feather and tell me once it is right in the middle of the crowd"

"Alright"

Ten seconds later, Kusa gave the signal.

"There!"

Ryu then charged photon energy to prepare a tech, and casted it. The feather stopped in mid air at this point.

Zondeel

"What? All the goblins and ogres were pulled into the feather like it is sucking all of them"

Nazonde

"Now a huge ball of lightning appeared right there. All of them were fried"

"We all know, Kusa. We can see it from here too"

Immediately after Mat said that, the feather appeared with a flicker of light in Ryu's hand and he put it back into his pocket.

"W-what was that?"

Saku was too astonished by what she had just witnessed, she couldn't speak without stuttering.

"It's a magic artifact I found a long time ago. It needs about a month to recharge, though"

Of course it was a lie. Ryu could use his talis anytime he wanted. Generally, a talis is weaker than a rod, but its main selling point is the ability to act as a tech caster in place of the actual caster. The two techs Ryu had just used normally only takes effect around the caster, but a talis enables him to cast them at range.

"I have never heard of a magic artifact like that. Usually such item takes the form of a crystal, and once you use it, it is consumed"

"I guess I got lucky then. Nevertheless, let's go and rescue the women"

Ryu tried to change the subject before he got inquired further and had to stack more lies. Thankfully, the current situation helped and the group immediately agreed.

The group advanced towards the cave behind the stack of fried goblin and ogre corpses while still remaining vigilant in case there were any other away squads like the one they had faced back in the ruined village. The closer they got, the more they could smell the toasted bodies.

They ignored the smell anyway and proceeded to the cave. The cave was narrow but still wide enough for three people to walk side by side with some room to spare. Mat gave a short briefing before they entered.

"Kusa, take the front with me. Lily-san and Ryu-san, please watch our back. Zeb, Su, and Saku will be in the middle providing combat assistance when necessary"

The group entered the cave with the planned formation. Saku's wisps of light provided illumination as they advance. However, It turned out the plan was not necessary because the cave was only about two hundred meters deep with a wide round space at the end.

Kusa sensed faint human presence but no goblins or ogres, so Saku casted more of the wisps to enable everyone to see the wide space.

What came into their sight flooded them with one emotion.

Relief

They saw about ten women there. All of them were bound and gagged but none has been violated by the creatures because they all were still wearing their clothes.

Still, the fact that all these women had lost their loved ones still remained. After released, half of them broke down crying and some lashed out at the group for being too late. To make matters worse, evacuating this many women in the darkness of night was impossible, so they had to spend the night in that cave.

After what felt like forever, morning finally came. Saku was already exhausted having to maintain the light wisps throughout the night. Kusa was as beat up as her because as the only ranger he had to maintain surveillance.

It took some time, but the group managed to evacuate the women out of the woods and they had been blessed by luck, coming across a traveling merchant group willing to let them ride their wagons.

The sun was still pretty high, but they already reached E-Rantel. After brief talking with the gate guard, it was decided that the women survivors would be taken in by the officials.

After settling things with the guards, the group went back to Adventurer's Guild to turn in their job.

"Sit down somewhere, Ryu-san and Lily-san. We'll take care of the paperwork"

Ryu sat down on a vacant seat, and Lily sat next to him. He expected the payout to be low since they pretty much failed to protect the village.

I guess I have to sleep in the temple again tonight, or just camp out again.

Truthfully, he already missed the comfortable bed in Nazarick. A feeling of regret was starting to fill his mind, but he knew too well that he could not go back on his words.

"Hey, Ryu-san"

"Oh, Mat. Already done?"

"Yep, here's your share"

Mat presented a small bag to Ryu. Ryu took it and looked at the contents.

"What?"

Ryu was surprised to see that the bag was filled with silver coins. Lily was also surprised, her mouth went agape at the amount of silver inside the bag. There were at least twenty, or maybe even thirty coins inside the bag.

"We're sorry if it is too little for you"

"Are you kidding? This is a lot! Right, Ryu-san?"

"Yes, this is a lot. Why?"

"You killed many goblins and ogres, so that's your worth of work"

"I thought we failed the job because the village is now gone"

"The job was not to protect the village, Ryu-san"

Mat laughed a little. At this point Ryu remembered that the job was to scout for goblin nest and eradicate them if possible, and the group had done exactly that.

"Oh yes, indeed. What about you guys?"

"Not as much payout as you, but enough to last a week even if we don't take any jobs in the meantime"

"I see"

"Therefore, for today and maybe tomorrow as well, we will rest to recuperate. Especially Saku and Kusa. They are at their limits already"

Mat took a glance at Kusa and Saku while saying those. Indeed, both of them might as well be sleepwalking that their current state.

"Thank you, Mat, everyone"

"No, we are the ones who should thank you. Without you, we wouldn't have this amount of payout. Moreover, we would just repeat our history"

The others nod in agreement.

"See you again sometime later, Ryu-san, Lily-san. Good luck!"

The five adventurers then left the building. Ryu was glad that his first job as an adventurer in this world turned out to end well, and he hoped that his future jobs would end the same way.


Note from Author:

The five adventurers are cameos of my clanmates during my time in PSO2 game. As of now there's no plan for them to appear again or play any major role.

Chronologically, by the time this chapter ends, Ainz is still at Carne Village, subduing Hamsuke at some point.