Hello there.

As I said before, now is time to wrap up Vol 6 of the novel. See you again in the afterword.


[X][X][X]


Tomb of Nazarick, Two Days After Battle of Re-Estize

The throne room of Nazarick was packed with creatures. All guardians and their vassals with a few exceptions were present. All of them were lined up neatly like they were in a grand ceremony. They all stood still, patiently waiting for their lord to arrive. The amount of residents present in the room was pretty much the same as the time when Ainz had made the announcement of leaving his old name and taking on the name which has been his name ever since then.

Their wait was not long. Soon, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard, and they saw the magnificent Supreme Being coming from the side of the room, with the Guardian Overseer Albedo by his side. All of the residents changed their stance from standing straight to kneeling with one knee as their sign of respect.

The Supreme Being, Ainz Ooal Gown, sat down on the throne. He made a small gesture to Albedo, who was standing right next to the throne, and then she began speaking.

"Our Lord Ainz Ooal Gown is about to make an important announcement. Stand up, look at him in the eyes, and focus your mind to listen to every single word he is about to say"

All residents stood up and focused their mind as instructed. There was a silence for a few seconds until Ainz began speaking.

"Guardians, vassals, and everyone else present. I thank you for coming. The announcement I am about to make is very important, and will influence Nazarick as a whole. Therefore, I need all of you to listen up and not make any response until I allow you so. That also applies to you, Albedo"

All the residents, Albedo included, didn't say a word. They immediately put themselves into listening mode. There was another silence for about ten seconds before Ainz spoke again.

"All of you have known already about the recent event. It was an operation to put the capital of the kingdom into the grasp of Nazarick, and also for some other benefits. The operation went smoothly at first, but then something unexpected put a spanner in the clockwork, and things only went downhill from there"

Ainz stopped for a bit and sighed.

"A Pleiades lost her life, and then a Floor Guardian was greatly harmed. They have been resurrected and healed, but the fact still remains that harm has befallen them. Harm, that could have been prevented if I have been more competent"

Nobody said anything, but anyone could feel that the tension within the room sharply rose. They all wanted to deny the last part of the speech just said, but they all had been instructed to stay silent and they had to obey.

"Demiurge"

"Y-Yes, Ainz-sama!"

"Entoma"

"Yes, Ainz-sama!"

"Come closer"

Both Demiurge and Entoma walked to Ainz slowly, with worry of what Ainz would say to them next. Despite what Ainz had just said, they still believed that what had happened to them was their own failure.

Ainz stood up from his Throne as Demiurge and Entoma kneeled in front of him.

And then he bowed.

"I'm sorry that my negligence has forced you to suffer through those. I am truly ashamed"

Both Demiurge and Entoma, and also the rest of the residents present there, were surprised beyond their wits. It was unthinkable for them to see their supreme being putting himself lower than them.

"N-No, Ainz-sama. It was clearly my own fault for underestimating the enemy"

"Please rise up, Ainz-sama. It is unthinkable to see your divine self bowing to us, who have been the ones to make a fatal mistake to begin with"

Without changing his stance, Ainz continued speaking.

"I will get this straight. I am not an almighty, all-knowing Supreme Being all of you have been envisioning me as. The truth is, my mind is not supreme at all! I am just as foolish as any human you can find out there!"

The tension rose even further. None of the residents could imagine their supreme leader putting himself that low. Some of them gritted their teeth, trying to hold their urge to respond and deny that statement.

"Therefore, this is my decision!"

All residents stood still, their fear revved up to the max. Their greatest worry was that Ainz would decide to leave Nazarick, and that would be their ultimate downfall. They would have no idea what to do if Ainz decided so.

"Now that all of you know the truth, I will let you all decide. You may have noticed those two banners on the side of this room"

Indeed, there were two banners hanging on small pedestals placed on each side of the room. One banner with the image of Ainz Ooal Gown symbol was placed on the left side, while the other banner, which was a plain white banner, was placed on the right side.

"Those who wish to retire from Nazarick, line up behind the white banner. Those who wish to stay, line up behind the guild banner"

Without giving Ainz any chance to speak further, every single residents present in the room lined up behind the guild banner. Ainz didn't look happy seeing that. He just sighed as he sat down at the throne again.

"You need to think thoroughly for this decision. Ask yourself; are you willing to stay under the rule of a foolish, incompetent being like me? Even if you decide to leave, I will not reprimand you. You will be sent off in a good note"

"Ainz-sama. Pardon me, but may I speak for all the guardians and everyone else?"

"Alright, Albedo. Speak up"

"From the beginning, our purpose has been to devote our life in servitude for the Supreme Beings. That purpose has never changed. It never matters whether the Supreme Beings are weak, strong, wise, foolish, or anything else. Even if the Supreme Beings treat us like garbage, we will never leave nor revolt, because this is what all of us have been created for"

There was a moment of silence briefly.

"Ainz-sama. Of all the 41 Supreme Beings, you are the only one who never abandoned us. We are truly grateful for that. We have been dedicating ourselves to serve you, no matter how you treat us and how strong or weak you are. So Ainz-sama, from the bottom of our hearts, please let us remain with you, now and forever"

Ainz was speechless hearing that. He then leaned to the side of his throne with one hand covering his face. His body seemed to shake a little bit. All residents had a question in their mind, a question which none of them wanted to openly ask.

Could it be, that Ainz was crying?

"Hahaha... Look, now I display such unsightly, shameful scene. Are you still certain with your decision?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama!"

All residents shouted that answer in unison. They were all fully determined.

"Then so be it!"

Ainz then stood up, his hand holding the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. Immediately, he raised the staff high in front of the residents.

"Long live Nazarick!"

Ainz's shout was then immediately responded by a shout from all residents.

"Long live Nazarick! All hail Ainz Ooal Gown!"


[X][X][X]


Shining Golden Pavilion, Night, The Day After Battle of Re-Estize

The three adventurers of Ignite Maximus had just arrived at their room in the inn. All of them felt mentally tired after everything that had happened.

Elder keeping his words had put them into a disadvantage during the questionings which had come after the battle. Because there had been nothing left of the Darkers, all evidence of their existence had been lost, resulting in a hard time to explain things to the officials. Despite being Adamantite Rank and Orichalcum Rank respectively, Darkness and Ignite Maximus were still practically outsiders to the officials, and none of the Blue Rose had seen any Darkers since it had turned out that none had left the area within the walls of fire. Therefore, every officials were still skeptical.

There were a number of living witnesses from the civilians who had managed to escape from the area, but all of them were traumatized pretty badly so their testimonies couldn't be relied on. All in all, while both Darkness and Ignite Maximus had ended up being regarded as heroes for repelling Jaldabaoth and his minions, skepticism was still quite prominent around them.

All three of the group immediately sat down on the nearest seat, whether it was a chair or the bed. They all sighed, feeling quite relieved that they finally got their time to be alone.

"Whew, I'm beat"

"Yeah, me too, Ryu-san"

"Let's take our well-deserved rest and see what we will do tomorrow"

"Count me in!"

However, Ryu noticed that Alice had not spoken at all ever since they had departed from the capital. In fact, he could notice that she seemed quite unhappy.

"Liz, is there something wrong?"

Alice remained silent. Her expression didn't change.

"Liz-san?"

Lily, being genuinely concerned, approached Alice. However...

"Don't come close to me"

"W-What?"

Without replying to Lily's confusion, Alice began leaking tears and sobbing.

"Liz, why are you crying all of a sudden?"

It took another minute until Alice finally could speak.

"Am I useless to you?"

"What? Of course not"

"That monster, Elder, he mentioned a worthless bug. That worthless bug was me, wasn't it?"

Ryu couldn't deny what Alice had just said. At that time, she was the only local of this planet within the group. The rest of the group were a lot stronger than her, including Ryu himself, and Lily who had just gained a new power.

"Unfortunately, I can't deny that"

"Even with the new powers you gave me, I'm still just a deadweight in the end!"

"No, you're not"

"Then tell me, what did I do back there that was even remotely useful?"

"Well, you killed Darkers"

"Small fries that any of you could kill as easily anyway"

"Uhh, you stabilized Demiurge when I got my hands full curing his infection"

"Did it ever occur to you that you could have casted your healing spell first before starting to cure him?"

"Eh? Oh yeah, didn't think that way"

"And then..."

Alice looked at Lily, still with her cheeks soaked in her tears.

"When it mattered the most, I couldn't do anything to save you. I just watched, frozen still, just like that time... when... when I couldn't save my friends!"

Both Ryu and Lily couldn't say anything.

"Look at you. You have changed. You have become stronger in an instant, strong enough for that monster to acknowledge you not as a weak, worthless bug like me"

"Liz-san, I'm still the same person"

"But with power! Now at your strength, if you get into real danger, what will I be able to do to help? Nothing! Now I'm just a deadweight! it's better for me to leave and be done with it!"

BAM!

Both Alice and Lily got shocked by what had just happened. Ryu had slammed his fist at the table near him. With just a glance, it was clear that he was upset.

But then, his expression changed to be as surprised as the other two.

"Ah, what did I do? Sorry about that..."

"Ryu-san. You just looked really upset it scared me. What's the matter?"

"Sorry about that, Lily. It's just..."

Ryu looked at Alice for a second and then he took a deep breath.

"What you said was very similar to what my sister has said... when she wanted to end her own life"

"What!?"

The word came simultaneously from both Lily and Alice.

"Ryu-san, you have a sister?"

"Wait, what happened to her?"

"It's been a while since the last time I saw her, but she should be still fine"

There was a brief silence. Alice took a deep breath like Ryu and regained her calm self.

"Ryu, now that you have mentioned your sister, would you tell me more about yourself? I don't know about Lily, but so far you haven't told me anything much besides the fact that your origin has been erased by a great disaster, which I guess is a Dark Falz attack"

"Yes, you are right. Let's sit down together then"

Soon, the three people sat together on chairs around a medium-sized table. Lily and Alice sat side by side while Ryu sat across them.

"First of all, yes, I have a sister, her name is Hikaru Seika, and I also have a brother, Yukasa Seika. I'm the eldest of three"

Ryu took a deep breath before continuing.

"All three of us are members of ARKS, a military organization founded to exterminate Darkers and Dark Falzes. Our duty is to protect pla... places that are targeted by those. We are part of a team named IGNITE. Before you ask, indeed I took the ARKS team's name for our Ignite Maximus team name"

"I see. So, did the Dark Falz annihilate ARKS?"

"Actually, no. My origin is actually only one base, and there are many more. Elder was most likely weaker than normal because he has been recently defeated by ARKS"

"That's a little reassuring, though on the other side, from your words I can take a guess that Dark Falz is a persistent entity"

"Yes, unfortunately"

"Are people from ARKS going to come here to help against the Dark Falz?"

"They should, but I don't know when. I have little to no memory about how I got here after evacuating myself from that attack"

"Putting that aside, why did Hikaru want to commit suicide? I'm sorry if this is... difficult for you"

Ryu took another deep breath, his mood seemed to get worse a little.

"Both Yukasa and Hikaru had a time when they felt insecure. In any field work they could do well, there was at least one other member of IGNITE better at it. No exception"

There was a brief silence before Ryu continued.

"Yukasa fortunately got better. You see, each registered team in ARKS is given a sapling of a special tree which is hard to nurture. The team leader put his trust on Yukasa to manage the team's activities related to nurturing the tree, like gathering missions for fertilizer materials and such. He put a lot of effort on that management role, and in the end, the sapling became a lush, healthy, and tall tree. He once told me that the tree was one work he could be proud of"

Lily and Alice still kept themselves silent. It was the first time for them to see Ryu talking this much about his background, so they didn't want to interrupt.

"Hikaru on the other hand, was not so lucky. Her body is frail to begin with, her Photon Arts are not optimally aligned, and her weapons are not the best. She never found anything which she could be proud of, and she eventually got driven into the corner. Not by the team, but by her own insecurity"

"And then... she said it the way I did?"

"Yeah... almost the same. You have no idea how hard it was for me and Yukasa to calm her down"

"Did she ever get out of it after that?"

"Yeah, but not really. Pretty much the entire team tried their best to assure her that she was not useless and she will never be a burden. She seemed to accept it, but the two of us knew that she still felt that she was a deadweight"

There was another brief silence before Alice spoke.

"Ryu-san. I'm sorry that I have mistakenly opened an old wound of yours. But, your point is...?"

"You are not a deadweight, Liz. It may seem like that now, but you never know what kind of help you can provide for us in the future"

"Hmm... Alright. Although your case is not the same as mine, I see your point"

"I know, but it is the closest case I have experienced firsthand"

"If I may ask, did Hikaru find her use for the team in the end?"

"Actually, the answer is... both yes and no"

"What?"

"Well... she is useful for the team in a way, but we knew that she would just pout if we tell her, so we never point it out"

Ryu didn't say anything for a minute. Alice began to get a little annoyed by Ryu's hesitation.

"Get to the point. What is it? Though I won't force you if you can't say it"

"Well..."

Ryu's body gesture clearly showed his hesitation.

"...She's cute and adorable, so she kinda becomes the team's mascot"

Ryu felt awkward saying that, while both Alice and Lily seemed dumbfounded by the words they had just heard.

"Pfft!"

Alice then laughed.

"Yeah, I can see why you won't tell her. I don't think I can become your mascot, though. Lily is more suited for that"

"Wha-?"

Lily got surprised by Alice's words, and she seemed to blush at the same time. She looked at Ryu, who observed her closely and nodded.

"Hmm, true"

"Wha-? Ryu-san!"

Lily's face became completely red from blushing at this point. Both Ryu and Alice just laughed. In his heart, Ryu was glad that he had managed to avert a prolonged conflict within the team, although with the cost of revealing his personal background a little. Still, now that they had been mentioned, he began to miss his siblings a little and hoped they were all right.


[X][X][X]


Singing Apple Pavilion, Arwintar, Noon, Unspecified Date

Hekkeran entered the tavern of the inn with a rather serious mood. He had just obtained a potential job offer which was particularly a high risk – high reward mission. Even if successful, there was still a risk of having to relocate to another city. He had assigned Arche and Roberdyck to scout for more information related to the job, and now he had to decide whether he should bring his trump card along, in the case the team would accept the job.

"From your face, I'm guessing that there is a big job"

Imina, who had been staying at the tavern as the team's contact person, pretty much had guessed correctly.

"Yep, and we might need to bring Sheep and Rose along"

"Ooh, sounds like a big mission. Shall I call them over, then?"

"Let's wait until Arche and Rober returns, then we can hold a meeting like usual, with both of them along"

Imina nodded. Indeed, despite working for the team, Sheep had only been brought along in jobs involving monster exterminations outside town, which was uncommon for workers to begin with. This was because there was still a risk of the illusion spells used to conceal Sheep's horns and eye getting found out by some suspecting people within the city, especially those from Magician's Guild who were sensitive to lingering magic.

Hekkeran never regretted his decision, though. In the few jobs Sheep had come along, she had shown outstanding power, being able to kill every monsters she encountered in one hit from her sinister-looking bow which she could materialize and de-materialize at will. In addition, Rose had recently got better from her trauma, and it turned out she was very capable of casting arcane magic. Having a powerful trump card and an extra magic caster in reserve would eventually pay off handsomely.

And that was the case with this potential job, which he would never even consider if not for the presence of them.

A little over an hour later, both Arche and Roberdyck arrived at the tavern. Hekkeran immediately stood up and looked at them with hopeful face.

"Did you get the info we might need?"

"We got all we could feasibly get within this short time"

Arche nodded, agreeing with what Roberdyck had just said.

"Let's begin the Foresight Team meeting then. Imina, call them over"

Imina nodded and went upstairs immediately. Soon enough, she returned with both Sheep and Rose, and the whole group went to the corner of the tavern which had been prepared with a large enough table for everyone to sit around, and also the necessary folding wall covers just for their privacy.

"Alright, now we're all here, let's get started"

Hekkeran cleared his throat before he continued his speech.

"This job we are about to take is vastly different than any of the jobs we have taken so far. The reward is high, but the risk is too. Before getting into details, I will begin with a background"

Everyone's eyes were on Hekkeran.

"There is a businessman with the name Rossaur Ratenoir. He is one of the many former nobles who have lost their titles and positions from the purge years ago. Curiously, unlike other former nobles, he still remains rich to this day thanks to his so-called trade business. There have been rumors flying around on this matter, but none so far could be proven, so people pretty much just take it as it is"

Hekkeran stopped to drink a sip of his drink, and then he continued.

"Just recently, Rossaur posted a job at Adventurer's Guild. He is looking for adventurers of high rank to act as temporary security guards for his mansion because he is about to welcome an important guest. Now here is the twist"

Hekkeran cleared his throat again.

"Some of us may already know that Rossaur is suspicious, having retained his wealth despite the purge of nobles executed by the emperor. Does it ring a bell if I say that our client for this time is the guildmaster of Adventurer's Guild?"

"We are going to fake being adventurers..."

Sheep said that reply with a rather sour face. Hekkeran understood that, since from day one she had told the team about her hatred on adventurers.

"Correct. The guildmaster wants to crack down on Rossaur, and he saw this as a chance. Right now, the guild is still doing the usual procedure of appraising the job, so the job is still not posted yet. The guildmaster is intending to hire workers to pose as adventurers for this specific job and also secretly look for incriminating evidence. In short, an undercover job"

"Sounds dangerous"

Imina said that with serious face.

"Yes, the terms and conditions info I got so far is like this. We will be provided Mithril Rank plates for this job and a down payment of 150 gold coins. If the client is satisfied but we fail to retrieve any evidence, we will keep all the rewards from the client, plus some bonus from the guildmaster as hush money, making a total of 350 gold coins. If we succeed in retrieving evidence, we will get additional 300 gold coins on top. Sounds like a nice reward, right? Here's the catch. If we get found out, the guildmaster will feign ignorance and pose us as imposters with forged plates. At best, we will just have to relocate our base of operation to another city. At worst, we will be branded criminals nationwide and if we fail to escape, down to the dungeon we go"

"Wow..."

Imina didn't say much other than that.

"We have until tonight to decide whether we will take the job or not. I was also told that we are the only team told about this job, to make it easier to keep the secret and all, so we don't have to worry about being overtaken by other worker teams. That's all the info I got. Arche, Rober, if you will"

"Alright"

Arche nodded as she said the reply. She then leaned forward and began speaking.

"Before the purge, Rossaur Ratenoir was among the opposing nobles against the emperor. He survived the purge because he surrendered after seeing the bloodbath happening to other opposing nobles. His life was spared, but all his riches were taken away along with his nobility status. Even though people commonly know that he remained rich, the less known fact is that he went through the hard life of a poor man for about a year. Thanks to the fact being mostly unknown, nobody knows how he managed to rise up to his current state. Nowadays, people only know him as a rich merchant dealing in various nationwide trades"

Arche finished her speech, and then she looked at Roberdyck. Everyone else also looked at him, telling that it was his turn to tell about the information he had.

"Since we still follow news around Adventurer's Guild, I believe that, excepting you two, we all know the guildmaster as a diligent man who put a lot of effort to run the guild through its financial troubles. He had gone many lengths to make sure the guild survives, and thanks to that he had a lot of connections to pretty much all big merchants in the city, probably other cities as well. From the rumors and some insider info I could get, it seems that Rossaur Ratenoir is one big donator who has contributed a great amount of funds to the guild. Doesn't this raise a question?"

Hekkeran then replied to the last sentence of Roberdyck's speech.

"Yes, why would the guildmaster go against one of his critical sources of funds? It can't be some stupid reason like 'I don't want my guild to run on dirty money', can it?"

"Right. Unfortunately, this is all the information I got. We only can speculate from this point on"

"Alright, let's recap on all the info we have"

Hekkeran then wrote down the points of information they had so far.


1. Rossaur Ratenoir is hiring adventurers to become his temporary security guards because he is expecting an important guest.

2. The guildmaster wants to hire workers to pose as adventurers for the job and work undercover.

3. The objective of the undercover workers is to find incriminating evidence which can put Rossaur behind bars.

4. Rossaur Ratenoir is a former noble who had gone from riches to rags and back to riches. How he has done that is unknown.

5. The guildmaster has connections to many big merchants, Rossaur included.

6. Rossaur is one of the biggest donators for the guild.

7. Failure to find evidence is still rewarded. The cover getting blown is what should be avoided.


"The job doesn't seem to make sense from just this info, does it? By the way..."

Hekkeran looked at the two girls who had been mostly silent so far.

"Sheep, Rose, you two haven't said much yet. Do you have any opinion?"

"Well... Even though you said that it is a stupid reason, it is still a possible reason, isn't it?"

Sheep's reply got Hekkeran thinking. Indeed, such reason actually would still fit with the personality of the guildmaster. His sense of justice was pretty high, so if he suspected a donator running shady business, he would likely investigate. But before he could respond, Roberdyck replied first.

"You have a point. The guildmaster's sense of justice is pretty prominent. However, he is also realistic. He won't compromise the guild's biggest fund source without a strong reason"

"Umm..."

Hekkeran noticed Rose, and asked directly.

"You have an opinion, Rose?"

"Maybe, it is the guest?"

"The guest Rossaur is expecting? It's possible. There's no info at all about this guest. They can be anyone. In any case, we need to decide. Should we take the job?"

Imina was the first to respond to Hekkeran.

"Like I said, it sounds dangerous, and a lot of things are still in the dark to boot. But the payment is nice, so I say we take the risk"

The next was Roberdyck.

"I agree. I can make great use of that much payment. Though I suggest we plan an escape route and meeting point just in case"

Hekkeran then looked at Arche.

"Alright, let's do this"

With that, the vote was concluded. Naturally, Sheep and Rose didn't get any say on the decision since from the beginning the deal was for Sheep to work for Foresight in exchange of food and shelter for both Sheep and Rose.

"Then it is settled. Oh, I forgot to tell why I bring you two along. The thing here is, Rossaur is looking for a group of exactly six adventurers. Without you two, I wouldn't even consider this mission"

"I see..."

Sheep then looked at Rose, who immediately nodded with determined face.

"I will do my best"

"Thank you for cooperating with us, both of you"

Sheep smiled a little, though her face expression still felt quite cold.

"We have a deal, and so I should honor it"

"E-Excuse me... before that, can I ask for a favor?"

Hekkeran and the rest of the team were a little surprised. This was the first time Rose, the traumatized traveler girl who just recently got better, asked for a favor directly. All these times, she had been clinging to Sheep and not saying anything to them. Somehow, this little occasion made them a little happy.

"If it is within our capabilities, sure! What is it?"

"I-I lost my weapon back then... Could you buy me a replacement?"

"Sure, we can buy you a simple one. Is it a magic staff or such?"

"No. I need... two short swords"

"What...?"

The others, including Sheep, couldn't help feeling confused. Rose had clearly displayed her rather excellent capability in casting arcane magic, but she had just asked for physical weapons. What kind of trick could she have in store?


[X][X][X]


Afterword:

Alright, with that, vol 6 is fully concluded. I'm aware that I didn't cover quite a number of supporting characters, but otherwise this chapter would be too long for comfort. I can say that in most cases they end up more or less similar to canon, though some differences do exist. For example, Brain never got to give Shalltear a manicure since they didn't meet in this verse. He still becomes Climb's comrade, but their closeness may be different, for better or worse. Eight Fingers still got into the grasp of Nazarick, though the betrayer here is Cocco Doll instead of Hilma. Speaking of Hilma, a later chapter will have her return into the spotlight. Maybe... Eh, don't count on it.

In any case, you have seen that this chapter also includes a prologue of the first filler arc. Good news or bad news, depending on which character you like more, the limelight is going to be shifted away from Ryu's group and Nazarick for a while.

See you again later.