Hi! Author here again.
Here's the last chapter before proceeding to Lizardman Heroes arc.
[X][X][X]
Three days had passed from the day Lily had her day off by herself.
These three days had been spent on simply doing leisure walks around town together without any definite direction. Both Ryu and Lily also tried to learn about the layout of E-Rantel, so if someday they need to go to a specific place they would not either take too long or get lost.
Ryu remembered that this was the day he was supposed to check back at Adventurer's Guild about the results of his last job. Therefore, after having breakfast the two of them went to the guild building.
When they arrived, they walked towards the receptionist lady, however...
"Hey, girl! Finally I found you!"
Ryu looked at the source of the voice, and he saw the same man who fought Lily at the street arena back then. The man seemed excited as he approached. Behind him there were two more men and one woman. From their attires Ryu could guess that the two men were ranger and druid, and the woman was a magic caster. If the approaching man was a warrior, this team pretty much had the same setup as Swords of Darkness, but older in appearance, better equipped, and already in Platinum Rank.
"Let me introduce myself! I'm Shaun. The ones behind me are Percy, Jack, and Lisa! We are Armed And Dangerous Team!"
"Yeah, nice to meet you. I'm Ryu and this is Lily. How can I help you?"
Ryu felt weird about the man's cheerful attitude and his naming sense.
"You see, three days ago I opened a hand to hand combat street challenge, and I got utterly defeated by your partner! I would like to know how she got that strong without Martial Arts!"
Of course Ryu couldn't answer that because he didn't know anything. But now he was confused on how he should answer that. Ryu somehow felt that telling Shaun that Lily's armor was enchanted was not a good idea. However...
"I can sense magical energy from her armor. All of them are enchanted"
Lisa found that out and spoke. Ryu had no choice but to play along.
"Your friend got the answer for you"
"I see! I already could guess back then when my best punch didn't even put a dent, but now my guess is confirmed!"
Both Ryu and Lily couldn't help feeling uneasy.
"So, what do you need from us?"
"How does merging our team sound for you? In exchange I can teach your partner Martial Arts to make her even stronger!"
Ryu didn't take long to give an answer.
"Sorry, but we can't work with anyone else"
"What? Why is that?"
"It's more like, circumstances won't allow us"
It was not a lie. With Ryu's current situation with Ainz, it was best to avoid working with any other people for the time being. However, even if that was not the case Ryu would not want to work with these people because they already had given him a rather bad first impression.
"What circumstances?"
"We're not allowed to tell anyone anything further. I'm sorry about that"
While not fully certain about it, Ryu imagined that Ainz would kill anyone who found out about their relations. The slightly better case would be a memory wipe, but if possible Ryu would prefer to avoid giving Ainz more trouble.
"Really? Oh well. Anyway, we will be leaving for a job. I hope someday we will meet again! We're always open if you change your mind!"
I won't.
The team left the guild building, and Ryu felt a great relief. Lily probably felt the same.
"I can't help feeling uncomfortable with them"
"Sorry, Ryu-san. It was because of me that they got to know us"
"It's not your fault, Lily. Let's just go check our last job"
The two of them approached the receptionist lady.
"Welcome, Ryu-san and Lily-san. I believe you are here to check about your last job, right? Please follow my colleague here"
Ryu and Lily followed the colleague upstairs. They soon arrived at the front of a door which seemed to be a little more fancy than the others. The colleague knocked on it, and a voice from inside replied.
"Come in"
The colleague opened the door and entered. Ryu and Lily followed, and they immediately found out that the room was Pluton Ainzach's office. The man himself was sitting on his chair behind the desk, and he seemed happy to see the arriving guests. There was another man standing next to him, and Ryu could not recognize him.
"You may return to your post"
Ainzach said that to the colleague, and she left the room after bowing down once.
"Welcome, Ryu-san and Lily-san! It's a great pleasure to see you back safe and sound!"
"Thank you, Ainzach-dono"
"You can just call me with name. Also, let me introduce you to Theo Rakheshir. The guildmaster of Magician's Guild"
"Pleased to meet you, Rakheshir-dono"
"The pleasure is all mine"
Both Ryu and Lily shook hands with Rakheshir.
"Please take a seat"
Ryu and Lily complied Ainzach's offer and sat down on the available seats facing his desk. Rakheshir also sat down on a chair next to Ainzach's.
"Now let me tell you about the result of your cave investigation quest"
Ainzach took a sheet of paper from a stack near him.
"According to this report, the evidence found by the investigation team supports your report about a sinister magic caster causing the disappearance and ultimately death of the people"
"I still have no idea why the bodies already lost all flesh within such a short time"
"It is highly likely that the magic caster is affiliated to Zuranon, the same cult that caused the recent graveyard incident"
Rakheshir then added info to Ainzach's words.
"There exists a magic spell that absorbs the flesh and blood of dead bodies to provide nourishment for the caster. He likely used that on the dead people"
Hearing that, Lily expressed her disgust.
"I feel sick imagining that..."
"With the death of the magic caster, Zuranon is down one dangerous member. His remains has been burned and the bodies of the missing people has been counted and properly buried. Thanks to you they all now have a closure"
"So we did the quest well?"
"You did more than just well!"
Rakheshir suddenly stood up and spoke with excitement. He then realized it and went back to his calm self after clearing his throat.
"Sorry about that. Let me speak about the book you found"
"That empty book?"
"It is not an empty book! The book itself is coated with powerful illusion magic, so strong that it can't be dispelled even with the best efforts of the guild. The interesting thing is that the illusion seems to partially disappear differently from person to person, so we could conclude from the contents visible so far that it is an illusion-themed spellbook. We still need time for appraising this book, but it is highly likely to be an ancient artifact containing powerful spells!"
Ryu and Lily listened to Rakheshir's excited speech. Ainzach then spoke once Rakheshir was finished with his speech.
"As for the reward, you will be rewarded 150 gold coins and a direct promotion to Mithril. Also, you now can make your team name officially documented by the guild"
Both Ryu and Lily had their mouth agape hearing what Ainzach had just said.
"I guess you need a moment to let that sink in?"
"Yes... definitely... I mean, it's much more than stated"
"It is mostly for the spellbook you gave to Magician's Guild. We will add more if it turns out to be much more powerful than we estimated"
"Okay..."
Ryu's mind once again could not compute. He feared that this reward would make him lose his sense of money value.
"By the way, what was the last part about? I mean, about team name"
"With an official team name, your name will spread throughout all Adventurer's Guild in the Kingdom. The best example are the Adamantite Rank team Blue Rose and Red Drop. Oh, by the way, a new Adamantite Rank team has just been born. The team's name is Darkness"
"Am I correct to guess that they are Momon and Nabe?"
"You are correct. We also have investigated the battlefield where they fought the vampire Honyopenyoko. I did not see it myself, but reports said that all that was left was a field of sand several hundred meters wide"
Honyopenyoko? What kind of name is that?
Rakheshir suddenly spoke out.
"It must be the result of the eighth-tier spell contained within that sealing crystal! Oooh, I would pay anything to see it with my own eyes! Can you imagine!? A mythical tier eight spell!"
Rakheshir's excitement pretty much shattered the image of an elegant, knowledgeable man Rakheshir had in Ryu's mind.
"Theo, I highly recommend you to not show unsightly scene in front of more adventurers"
"Ah, yes. I apologize. I just couldn't help myself"
"In any case, all the related paperwork is done and the new plate for each of you is already prepared right here. Congratulations"
Ainzach immediately presented two Mithril Rank plates to Ryu and Lily. He also presented a quite large bag containing the gold coins he had mentioned.
"Thank you for the recognition. We will try our best to live up to this rank"
Ryu said that after both he and Lily took the plates.
"You already did far more than enough for Mithril. I seriously wanted to promote you both to Orichalcum, but I believe you know why I couldn't. At least not yet"
Ryu just simply nodded. He already knew very well about that matter.
"In fact, I could promote you to Mithril right now because this city has recently lost one Mithril team so we need a capable replacement as soon as possible to fill the hole they left"
"I see"
"If you want to register your team's name you can talk to the lady below. Anything else you'd like to ask?"
"As of now, I think no"
"Oh, one more thing. This is just a personal request, but could you temporarily avoid taking any jobs that require going away for multiple days?"
"There's no problem, but I'd like to know why"
"I might need you for a job soon, so I would like to make sure you will be available once I do"
"Sure, we're planning to rest and relax for a while anyway"
"Thank you. I will contact you when I have new news about it. Are you going to stay at the same inn? Silver Star, isn't it?"
"Yes. There's no plan to move anytime soon"
"See you later then"
Ryu and Lily once again shook hands with Ainzach and Rakheshir, and then they left the room. In the corridor, after making sure that there were nobody else other than Lily, Ryu transferred the coin bag into his photon inventory, making it disappear with a flicker of light.
Ryu still had not come up with a name for his team, so he decided to put it on hold for a while. The two of them left the guild building with a strange feeling in their mind.
"Ryu-san. Did we just get rich in an instant?"
"I don't know, Lily. My sense of money is confused"
"What are we gonna do then?"
"Let's just continue with our day off"
With that decision settled, the two of them continued their day off. The amount of money they had was already much more than enough to live decently for years without lifting a finger, and there's no telling when Ainz or Ainzach would call them back, so Ryu made sure that they would be available immediately when that happens.
And thus a number of days passed.
Both Ryu and Lily were pretty bored doing nothing other than walking around the city everyday to pass time. Doing the same thing everyday had made Ryu lost count on how many days had passed from the day he and Lily had been promoted to Mithril.
However, on this day something different happened.
While Ryu and Lily were having breakfast, a letter was delivered to them. Ryu opened the letter and read the message.
Ryu and Lily, I will be expecting you to come to my office before noon today. Pluton Ainzach.
"Finally something different to do"
"What is it, Ryu-san?"
"Guildmaster Ainzach called us"
After finishing with their breakfast, the two of them immediately went to the guild building, and when they arrived they immediately went to Ainzach's office. Ryu knocked on the door, and a voice replied from inside.
"Come in"
Ryu opened the door, and inside the room Ainzach was sitting on his chair like before. He looked delighted seeing Ryu and Lily.
"Ah, Ryu-san and Lily-san! Glad to see you again!"
"How are you, Ainzach-dono? It's good to see you again"
"I'm as fine as ever!"
Ryu and Lily shook hands with Ainzach.
"So, what is the matter at hand?"
"I will be quick to the point. Three days ago I made a personal request to Momon to retrieve a rare herb. This job is dangerous. In the past it took three teams; one Adamantite and two Mithril to complete the job. Therefore I would like you to accompany Darkness team on this job"
"I don't mind, but why calling us after three days have passed already?"
"The situation is a bit awry. If I assemble reinforcements Momon might get offended, taking it as me doubting his strength. It also means I have to spend more money to reward the aiding party. I also had other works, so it took me this long to decide that risking offending Momon and spending more money is better than the risk of Momon getting killed"
"I guess that makes sense"
"I told him the potential danger of the job, so I'm pretty sure he is still around taking some time for preparation"
KNOCK KNOCK!
Just as Ainzach finished his words, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
The door opened, and the one who appeared behind it was Momon himself.
"Ah, Momon-kun! Have you finally made up your mind about taking other teams for backup?"
"Ah, no. That is-"
"To tell you the truth, I have handpicked several teams for you. This is not because we think this is too hard for you, but so that they can provide support immediately when needed"
"I'm guessing these two are among them"
"Indeed, Momon-kun! They are Mithril Rank, but I assure you that their capabilities are comparable to Orichalcum! You don't have to worry about your reward. Their reward will be paid by the guild!"
"Ah, please hold on a second, Guildmaster"
"What is it, Momon-kun?"
"I already got the herb you requested"
Momon nonchalantly dropped a small pouch on Ainzach's desk. Ainzach stood still with his mouth agape. Lily also looked surprised, but Ryu was not surprised at all.
"Please confirm the item"
"Nonononononono, it's only been three days! Take one day for harvesting, and you're telling me the round trip only took two days!? Even a one way trip in a straight line would normally take three days!"
"Well, I was in a hurry"
"Uhh... Okay... Let's just leave it at that..."
"Ryu-san, Lily-san. I apologize for making your time obsolete"
Momon bowed a bit to Ryu and Lily.
"It's all right, Momon-san"
"I will return to Nabe. There's no problem if you pay the reward later, Guildmaster"
"T-Thank you for your hard work..."
"Then, excuse me"
Momon then left the room, leaving Ainzach speechless. A few seconds later, he screamed.
"This is really weeeeeird~~!"
"Uhh, Ainzach-dono? Are you all right?"
Ainzach was startled a bit, then he cleared his throat looking a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, I just had to let that out"
"If there's nothing more, we will take our leave"
"Yes. Thank you for your time, and I deeply apologize that it ended up being obsolete"
"Don't worry about it, Ainzach-dono"
"Ah, by the way. Momon knew your names already. Do you know each other?"
"We first met back then when both his team and mine were still Copper. We ran into each other a few times afterwards"
"I see"
"Then, please excuse us"
Ryu and Lily went to the door, and they were about to open it when someone else entered without knocking. It was a man, seemed to be one of the guards. His face looked worried and full of sweat, and he rushed to approach Ainzach.
Ryu and Lily stayed put, having a hunch that the man was bringing bad news. Ainzach and the man talked in a pretty low voice so Ryu didn't know the topic, but soon Ainzach looked at Ryu.
"Ryu-san, Lily-san. I have an urgent job for you"
The two of them went back to Ainzach to listen what the job would be about.
"This man is one of the city scouts watching over Katze Plains"
Ryu had heard about Katze Plains. It was a large barren field located at the southeast of E-Rantel. A thick fog continuously enveloped the plain, and the land constantly spawned undead beings. Detection magic was rendered useless there because the fog was not a regular fog. It registered as a lifeform, disturbing the effect of such magic.
"A horde of undead has been spotted gathering near the fog edge and are showing signs of going to head to the city. This is something that actually happens, although rarely, from time to time, and whenever it happens we send adventurers to combat them"
"So you're going to assign us, Ainzach-dono?"
"Yes, since currently you are available right in front of me, and you are one of the most capable adventurers here"
"Alright, we will be going immediately"
"We will recruit more adventurers to back you up. Just hold the line in the meantime and be careful"
Ryu and Lily left the guild building immediately, and with the help of the scout they got a horse ride to E-Rantel's gate. From then on, they rode a carriage driven by one of the guards assigned to transport adventurers to Katze Plains whenever this kind of event happened.
Soon, they arrived at a spot where the edge of the fog was visible but still far enough to be safe from threats. Just as the scout had said, Ryu could spot a large number of undead beings at a distance. They still haven't advanced yet, but the guards stationed here looked afraid and worried.
"I will go back to transport reinforcements. Be careful and good luck"
After saying that, the driver left the place with the carriage. Ryu stepped forward towards the distant undead horde and then stopped to observe. The amount seemed to be comparable to the graveyard incident back then, but this time there was an advantage of being in the middle of the day, so visibility was much better.
Julius Nifta will take care of them instantly, but displaying such thing in front of these guards would be a bad idea.
Just as Ryu was thinking about that, the undead horde started to advance towards his location. Ryu could hear the guard screaming in fear, which was natural because they were vastly outnumbered.
"Quit feeling afraid! Form a line and ready your spears! Archers, start aiming!"
Ryu approached the officer who had just shouted the order to his men.
"We will hold the front line"
The officer could only said one word.
"What?"
There was no time to explain further, so Ryu just turned around towards the distant horde.
"Lily, get on my back"
Lily immediately understood and clinged on Ryu's back. Ryu then charged photon on his hand and casted the forward-propelling tech.
Ilzonde!
The two of them zoomed towards the undead horde with incredible speed and stopped within a stone's throw distance from the horde.
"Watch my back"
"Yes, Ryu-san"
Ryu took his Gal Wind talis and threw it towards the horde in front. Once the feather-shaped talis went into the horde, Ryu charged photon and casted the same tech combo he had used fairly recently.
Zondeel!
Nazonde!
Zondeel created a wide field where everything would be forcefully drawn to the center, and Nazonde created a big ball of lightning, damaging everything within range and converted Zondeel field from a sucking field into an electrifying field. All undead caught within the tech combo were instantly fried, and the Gal Wind feather reappeared in Ryu's grasp with a flicker of light.
The combo wiped out about one hundred undead, but the horde still had a lot more. As if they realized the threat in front of them, they advanced faster, intending to quickly crush the source of the threat.
Ryu put Gal Wind back into his coat and drew out his Weddle Park
Nafoie!
Nafoie!
He casted a tech twice in quick succession, aiming towards the horde at a slightly different angle. Each cast produced a sphere of fire energy which moved forward in motion similar to a ball being thrown. When they touched the ground, a wide cone-shaped fire field appeared, burning all undead caught within them. Casting two Nafoie at a slightly different angle made the resulting cones form a very wide cone together.
After the fire field disappeared, the remaining undead beings halted their advance. They slowly turned around and retreated back into the fog, disappearing from sight.
"Strange. I thought they would just mindlessly continue advancing. Is there something commanding them?"
"Do we pursue, Ryu-san?"
"Let's go back to the guards first. Get on my back again"
Using the same method as before, the two of them went back to where the guards were stationed. When they arrived all the guards were silent, not believing what they had seen. The captain nervously approached Ryu and gave a salute.
"T-Thank you for your hard work!"
"Stay vigilant. There's a chance that they will resume"
Before they could converse further, the captain's face turned pale as if he just saw something horrible. Ryu turned around to see what was happening, and he quickly understood.
An undead skeletal dragon came out from the fog flying fast towards his location and landed within a stone's throw from him. It roared loudly after landing, causing some guards to shriek.
"Retreat and live to fight another day. We will handle this"
"Please retreat with us, sir! Skeletal dragons are immune to magic!"
"If that's the case, let me fight it, Ryu-san!"
"Alright, but be careful. Fall back if it gets dangerous"
Shifta!
Deband!
Ryu quickly casted his buffing techs, and Lily charged towards the skeletal dragon with her shield readied. The dragon, being a massive creature of at least five meters tall from ground to shoulder and more than fifteen meters long from tail to head, tried to stomp Lily with its right fore leg. Lily evaded with a dodge roll, and then she immediately launched herself at that leg and gave it a hard kick.
The kicked leg shattered, and the dragon fell to its side. Lily was surprised on the effectiveness of her kick because she expected it to only make a crack at most.
"Is it actually fragile?"
Taking advantage of its rather long neck, the skeletal dragon tried to bite Lily who was near enough from the head, but once again Lily evaded with a dodge roll and counter attacked with a kick. Unfortunately this time the dragon evaded by launching itself upwards with its remaining legs and then flying out of Lily's range.
"Archers! Fire!"
The captain saw what was happening and ordered the archers to fire. The archers immediately shot the dragon with their arrows. Lily retreated back to Ryu in order to avoid being hit by stray arrows.
Sadly, there weren't enough archers to deal substantial damage. The dragon was distracted but generally undamaged. Still, a number of arrows pierced the leather-like sheets of its wings, effectively cutting its capability to fly. Soon, the dragon landed while trying to balance itself without one fore leg.
"Archers! Hold your fire!"
As soon as the archers stopped firing, Lily went back into the fight, quickly running to the dragon. It responded with a tail sweep, but she evaded by jumping. After landing on her feet, she launched herself at the dragon's tail, which was the closest thanks to its recent attack, and gave it a vertical slash with both swords. The impact shattered the struck part of tail, separating the tail from the body. As the result, the dragon lost balance and fell down again.
Lily quickly jumped to the body and ran on it towards the neck. When she got there she quickly jumped and did the same vertical slash move to the neck. It was a hit and the struck part shattered, effectively beheading the skeletal dragon. The head was still moving for a few seconds, trying to gnaw at thin air, and then it fell silent. Not going to take chances, Lily jumped at the head and shattered it.
It was over. Lily defeated the skeletal dragon.
"I did it, Ryu-san!"
The guards cheered and applauded seeing what Lily had just done. In their knowledge it would take a team of Mithril Rank adventurers to defeat a single skeletal dragon, but she had done that alone.
When Lily returned to him, Ryu gave her a pat on the back.
"Good job, Lily. I knew I could always count on you"
"Tee-hee!"
Lily grinned happily with Ryu's praise.
"Still, let's stay vigilant and monitor the situation"
The two of them sat down on a rock, resting while still keeping an eye on the distant fog. Nothing happened even after waiting for fifteen minutes.
Instead, reinforcements came.
Several carriages transporting groups of adventurers arrived. Among them Ryu could recognize a few. He saw Darkness team, and Armed And Dangerous team.
Momon was the first to approach the guard captain. Their distance to Ryu was close enough for him to hear the conversation.
"What is the current situation?"
"Sir! Currently the situation is clear! The Mithril Rank team who came first has wiped out the undead horde!"
The captain spoke loud enough that the other adventurers heard him and gasped. At this point Ryu could feel that a bunch of people were looking at him. He ignored them and kept looking towards the fog. Darkness was the only group who was not surprised hearing that.
"What?! So there's no more left already?"
Ryu could easily recognize that it was Shaun who asked.
"Yes, the magic caster wiped the swarm and the warrior defeated a skeletal dragon by herself, sir. Currently they are keeping watch over the fog in case more of the undead appears"
Momon stood with his arms folded hearing it, while Shaun and the rest of his team stood still speechless. Momon then walked to Ryu.
"Ryu-san"
"Momon-dono"
"Good work. You can leave the rest to us and go home if you are tired"
"I think yes, I will do just that. I already spent most of my mana back then"
It was not a lie, but Ryu didn't tell that his photon energy had already fully recharged long before the reinforcements arrived. He assumed that Ainz might want to increase the fame of his Momon persona, so Ryu decided to fall back from the site.
"Thank you for your hard work"
Ryu stood up and shook hands with Momon.
"Be careful out there, Momon-san"
"Thank you for your concern"
Ryu was about to walk away, but he saw something in the vicinity of the fog. The fog obscured it, so Ryu could only see a silhouette. Within a few seconds, the thing moved away and disappeared from sight.
"Momon-dono"
"What is it?"
"From your knowledge, are there undead creatures in the form of floating fish?"
"I do know several undead creatures similar to that. Is something the matter?"
"Nothing, I thought that I saw something like that within the fog. But I might be mistaken. It is quite far away after all"
"I see"
I really thought I saw a Dahgash back there. I sure hope I was mistaken.
Dahgash.
A Darker in the form of floating bloated fish with large gaping mouth and sharp teeth. They often attack in swarms along with Dagacha, a smaller version of them, and many inexperienced ARKS operatives had received a free trip to the clinic after getting either overwhelmed or backstabbed by these darkers. Dahgash was one type of the aquatic-themed minions of Dark Falz Elder/Hunar.
Really, even if that means I can go home, I don't want this planet to be targeted by Darkers too.
Nevertheless, Ryu and Lily went to one of the carriages and headed back to E-Rantel with it.
Two days later, Ryu once again got a letter from Ainzach, calling him to come to his office. Ryu complied and came there immediately. When he arrived, he saw that Ainzach was accompanied by not only Theo Rakheshir, but also Momon.
"Welcome, Ryu-san and Lily-san!"
"It's nice to see you again, Ainzach-dono, Rakheshir-dono, and Momon-dono"
Ryu shook hands with all three of them. Lily also did the same, and then everyone in the room sat down on their seats. The way they sat down made Ryu feel as if he was being interviewed for job application.
"First off, I'd like to thank you for the work well done in holding the undead off"
"I was simply doing the best I could"
"You don't need to be so humble, Ryu-san. Wiping out at least three hundred undeads is not a simple feat. Lily-san single-handedly slaying a skeletal dragon is also an incredible feat"
"The guard archers helped by forcing the dragon to land! Ryu-san also casted enhancement spells on me! I didn't slay it alone!"
"The fact remained that you slayed it, no? In any case, it's your turn, Theo"
Rakheshir cleared his throat and began speaking.
"The Magician's Guild has finally finished appraising the spellbook. The illusion spell coating it prevented us from confirming, but we have determined it to be an ancient relic which has been lost for more than a hundred years, the False Vision Grimoire. It contains all illusion spells available to mankind, but it hides its content partially to anyone depending on their magic knowledge, to the point that someone without any magic knowledge would see it as a plain empty book"
"Oh..."
"What intrigues me is that you told me you saw it as an empty book, yet you are a magic caster"
Well of course, my 'magic' is just photon technology after all. But now what should I say?
"Pardon me for interjecting the talk"
Momon suddenly spoke up.
"Isn't it possible that the book only reveals its content to someone with illusion magic knowledge?"
"Ah, you brought up a good point, Momon-kun. Don't you agree with that, Theo?"
"It's plausible. In any case, our guild would like to have this book in our possession. However, the value of it is so high that we will go bankrupt trying to buy it from you"
I don't want to be overwhelmed with money right now...
"Don't mind about it, Rakheshir-dono. I hereby state that I donate the book to Magician's Guild of E-Rantel"
There was a silence for a few seconds, and then suddenly Rakheshir jumped from his seat.
"WHAAAAAT!? YOU GAVE US THE GRIMOIRE JUST LIKE THAT!?"
Rakheshir was sweating and panting heavily.
"Yes, it has no value for me"
"Ryu-san. Allow me to speak for a minute"
"Yes, Momon-dono"
"While I know you have a good intention at heart, you have to always be considerate about the value of the item. Imagine it this way; an item which would be very valuable for you and you have spent a great amount of time and resources looking for it, and suddenly someone gives it to you as if the item is worthless for them. It doesn't feel good for you, no? In addition, if you keep doing something like this you will eventually make a habit of it and people will start taking advantage of you"
Ryu thought about it for a moment. He actually had a point, but Ryu had already made the statement so there was no way to take it back. Not that he wanted to take it back anyway.
"Thank you for the advice, Momon-dono. I will stay with my previous statement that the book is donated, but I will clarify my reasons. Rather than having it collecting dust in my inventory, I will be definitely happier if the item I randomly found during a job becomes useful for someone else who knows its true value"
"HURRAH! LET ME KISS YOU!"
Rakheshir jumped from his place towards Ryu. Ryu felt that this would be rather unpleasant, so he did something.
Nazonde
An uncharged casting without weapon created a lightning sphere aura around Ryu's body. Rakheshir got electrified and fell down to the floor, but he was otherwise unharmed.
"Theo, you really need to keep yourself civil"
Rakheshir slowly stood up and returned to his seat.
"Sorry, I couldn't control myself from the excitement"
"Alright, moving on. The combined fact that you have retrieved a valuable ancient relic and you did incredible feats in Katze Plains. The Guild has decided to directly promote your team to Orichalcum"
At this point, Ryu could no longer be surprised. This planet definitely had low standards for combat power.
"As an Adamantite Rank adventurer, do you have any objections, Momon-kun?"
"I have no objections, Guildmaster. They have done feats befitting beyond their rank"
"Then it is settled. Please take your new plate here"
Ainzach presented their new plates, and the two of them took one for each.
"Also, here"
Rakheshir presented a money pouch.
"What is that for?"
"I actually have prepared a down payment of 50 platinum coins for that grimoire, intending to pay you in smaller installments over time. Please take this anyway despite your intention to donate the grimoire. Consider this a form of gratitude from Magician's Guild"
"Alright then"
Deep inside his mind, Ryu made a wry smile. He just kept getting money very easily his sense of value probably had started deteriorating already.
Ryu took the money pouch and put it into his coat, at least that was what it looked like. In truth, when the pouch was obscured from others behind his coat, he put it into his photon inventory.
"Ryu-san, Lily-san. Now that you are Orichalcum, I highly recommend you to stay in a place more fitting to your rank"
"Is that really needed, Ainzach-dono?"
Before Ainzach could answer, Momon spoke up.
"I support that recommendation, and I highly recommend Shining Golden Pavilion"
"I agree with Momon-kun!"
Seeing both Momon and Ainzach, Ryu let out a little sigh.
"I will consider it"
"By the way, have you thought about your team name?"
"I think yes"
"You can tell me, and I will take care of it for you today"
"Ignite Maximus"
That name came from putting together the two ARKS teams Ryu had been a part of. He had been a member of Maximus during his greenhorn days, and later Maximus branched off, creating a new team named IGNITE, which Ryu joined. He hoped his teammates had made it out safely from that disaster.
"Alright then. Thank you for your work, and congratulations for your promotion"
"Please excuse us then"
The two of them left the room and went downstairs. When they arrived in the usual main room, Ryu saw the Armed And Dangerous team. They seemed to have prepared for a long trip, with all the luggage they all brought with them. Shaun noticed Ryu and Lily, so he waved his hand.
"Ah, Ryu and Lily! How are you?"
Ryu approached Shaun and shook hands with him.
"We're doing good"
"Now you're Orichalcum, huh? From that moment I knew that your rank was lower than your actual strength and my merge proposal was nothing more than a pipe dream"
"Can't be helped. Everyone have to start from Copper anyway no matter their strength"
Everyone in AAD team nodded in agreement.
"So, what's with the luggage? Another long job?"
"Ah, actually we're going to move to another city"
"Oh"
"This city got two top-class adventurer teams within a short time, we won't have any chance to shine at this rate. Especially that Momon guy. Ever since he became Adamantite, he went through all Platinum and higher jobs and finished them all quickly!"
"Do you hate him for that?"
"Yeah, a little. But it can't be helped. So we decide to move to another city. So yeah, so long. Until we meet again"
"Good luck and be careful"
"By the way, what is the name of your team? You should already have an official one by now, right?"
"Ignite Maximus"
"Alright! I will make sure to remember when I hear that name someday! Farewell and good luck!"
With high spirits the AAD team left the guild building. Somehow Ryu felt that their conversation had been more comfortable than the previous.
"Ryu-san, he seemed to be better than before"
"Either he respected us more thanks to rank difference, or everything simply has been a misunderstanding"
Ryu moved to Golden Pavilion at the next day, and soon enough he realized why Momon had supported Ainzach's recommendation. Momon also stayed in the same inn, and through some random chance his room and Ryu's room was right next to each other. This way it would be much easier for Momon to contact him as Ainz, and perhaps to keep watch over him as well.
Another two days had passed from the day Ryu moved to Golden Pavilion. Ryu and Lily had just finished eating their breakfast when suddenly a dark portal appeared in the middle of the room. Nobody came out from it after half a minute, but it stayed there. Both of them knew very well what that meant.
"Ainz is calling us, isn't he?"
"Definitely"
"How did he know that we're here?"
"He has eyes and ears everywhere. Let's just go with that"
Ryu had already paid the inn for one month rent in advance, so there should be no problems even if the mission from Ainz would take a while.
"Ready, Lily?"
"Ready when you are, Ryu-san"
With everything settled, the two of them went into the portal, ready for whatever mission Ainz was going to assign them.
[X][X][X]
Afterword:
Sorry if this chapter felt boring. It seemed like a good chapter when I wrote it but after I finished I realized that it's just a pattern of [Inn-Ainzach's office-someplace] three times over. Nevertheless, now I will proceed to Vol. 4 of the novel, and I'm telling you that there will be a big change at the climax which might affect future stories.
Trivia: The scene where Momon gave a herb to Ainzach came from The Sealed Evil Tree drama CD ending scene.
By the way, do you think I've just made Ryu too rich? I'm not too well-versed in Overlord lore regarding the money value. Help on this matter would be appreciated.
