I have a Poll for the Third Girl in my Profile that will remain Openuntil the third chapter of this story is posted, then I will start to (Hopefully slowly) work the story towards said pairing choices.
Now, in order to make everybody happy and at the same time angry: Here we will have both 'Styles' of knights being used: meaning that Samurai and "Knights" and their respective gear will be around at the same time.
Why?
I like both that's why. I am still the Author of this story XD.
Next Chapter there will be a self-inflicted "Appraisal" of Naruto so you'll see what abilities he has at the moment and their Level, and in order to make story advancement a little bit faster he will soon evolve to Hobgoblin, but do not expect him to hit "Ogre" any time soon instead.
Pairing: Naru/ Mi (From Re: Monster) / Albedo (from Overlord) and third (AND LAST): 'Readers Choice'.
I changed Albedo's back-story to fit my fanfic. Like that, just because I can.
" You bastard" - demon talking / jutsu
"Let's finish this" - dialogue
" Can it get any worse? " - during flashback/thoughts
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or whatever I will use here in this fic.
A certain blond in an RPG World Chap 2: World building is useful and all, but just like it's a pain to read, it is also a pain to write, but an Author has to do this or you others won't understand everything.
Woods – Nameless mountain – (Naruto's note: Find someone to tell me where I was reborn)
It was a warm morning in the woods, birds were singing happily, small critters were coming and going as they pleased and few horned rabbits were happily munching on grass and mushrooms or playing around/ chasing their mates in a perfect picture of peace.
Thunk! Fiiii...TCHAK!
Kiiiii! One of the horned rabbits screamed as an arrow pierced its body from a side to the other.
"AH!" a male voice said as a young goblin jumped down from a near tree to slam his club on the beast's head cracking it open and killing it instantly.
"Got one!" Naruto said happily while giving the thumbs-up to his hidden hunt partner.
Kiiii! of the six or so rabbits standing around only another decided to stay instead of running away and was now glaring in clear hate at the former shinobi.
"Want a piece of me? Then come and get a bite!"
TCHAK! The short charge of the animal died abruptly when a new arrow caught its front paw making it stumble forward once lost its balance.
"Good shot, Mi-chan! Like this, we have enough meat for two." Naruto said with an evil glint in his eyes that made the Horned Rabbit gulp loudly.
THUMP! CRACK!
"See? See? I got them! I got them!" the female goblin accompanying Naruto (Technically called Goblin Mi, but renamed Mi on the girl's consent) said excitedly as she too jumped down from a tree to ran at his side.
"Yep! Bows suits you just fine, you are awesome, Mi-chan!" the former shinobi answered with a wide smile while shouldering the still blood-drenched club.
"You are cool too." she answered shyly.
Naruto had decided to momentarily halt is mission of world exploration to help Mi slowly become able to fend for herself and fight, but after few weeks he had to grow attached and fond of her, and by the HEAVY hints the goblin girl had decided to drop with the same subtly tact of Madara's Meteor jutsu, she too was fond of him.
To Kurama's despair through the full acknowledgment of it being ROMANTIC attachment instead of a sisterly one was still not 100% clear, but the reborn shinobi seemed really close at getting it now, finally.
Mi was weak (at the moment) physically speaking, but once introduced to bows and arrows thanks to the small amount of knowledge the former blond had gained eating she had developed a frightening accuracy that paired with her natural nimble movements, agility, and light frame made her almost the perfect long-range support.
Thus, the two divided their 'job' like this: Naruto was the heavy-hitter, front-line fighter while Mi was the Support hitting from afar with the arrows.
At the moment, after this last hunt of Horned Rabbits, Naruto finally reached Level 99 while Mi reached Level 89...And it had been a pain waiting for her to catch-up, but the answer to his prayers about 'Speeding things up' had been the discovery of two things:
One was the discovery of the creatures named 'Kobolds' and their rich Exp value: as Kurama's Skill described them, they were a lesser kind of Beastkin (or Beast-people) that were closer to the beast side of their blood giving them full animal appearance and fur instead of just animal ears and tails (and rarely noses) added to an human body found in more common Beastkin that lived in towns; being shunned by Humans and their own kind for their appearances and the fact that they were just violent, feral beasts walking upright and using weapons and armours forced most of them to live like bandits.
The other was that the Kobolds, contrary to their more Human-looking cousins, were also very susceptible to poison-based attacks, making their being killed from afar with poisoned arrows the perfect way for Mi to level-up.
It had been a curious discovery for Naruto to see two of them for the first time: one of them was a canine-looking humanoid creature dressed in tattered and rusty samurai gear, the other a panther-like one wearing a style of armor he had never seen, both scouting around his and Mi's temporary home when the shinobi found them.
Between being blindsided by a surprise attack that by luck blinded the dog one and the weakness to poison and the pitiful state their weapons and armors were in, the two beastly warriors had given the two Goblins an hard battle but still fell to both club and arrows after a long struggle; making sure both were still alive he dragged the two towards Mi and had let her kill the two making her Level advance of two points instead of one. Discovered that, it was open season on them.
And now, after two LONG months of what in another world would have been called 'Level Grinding', the girl was close as well at Evolving, and by her excited state, she too was happy about it.
"I think it's finally time for us to move on! We have lots of places to visit if we want to travel the world!" Naruto said once both finished eating.
"We are ready? I am a little afraid..." Mi answered sighing.
"If we are together, we can do it." he answered smirking.
Her answer was a determined nod and a new hug before both gathered their equipment in the shinobi's bag to start their new journey to...Ehm!...The new journey towards...
"Naruto? Where are we going?" Mi asked confused.
"Eh! I hoped you had some idea where to go. I don't know a thing about this place." the other answered equally unsure.
"Me neither."
"Where are we?" Naruto thought in worry.
"I don't know. Try making me describe something, like a tree or a rock."
"Okay." the reborn shinobi answered while touching a near tree
[A common Mana tree of Shansara Forest, the leaves are the main ingredient of the [common] Mana-restoration Potion.]...Sorry, I can't tell you more apparently." The Biju-turned-Ability answered sheepishly.
"And what is Shansara Forest?" he asked tentatively.
"[Shansara Forest: the biggest forest in the country of Trevaria]...Help? I don't know where all this shit is!" Kurama replied grimacing.
"And what's Trevaria?"
"[Trevaria: Country of the East and farthest territory from the Capital of Devan Kingdom. The smallest country of the Devan Kingdom whose giant forests and mountains act as a border with the rival Kingdom of Nesteria and its own smallest country Afuria. Trevaria is usually considered 'Neutral Area' by the two Kingdoms just like Afuria, both used as meeting-point by the respective delegations.]...We need a native to explain to us what is what and where everything is." the former Biju said in defeat.
"Yeah..."
"Naruto? Are you okay?" Mi asked worried at watching her friend spacing-out.
"Uh? Yeah, I was just trying to understand where to go. Let's try to go West!"
"To the West?"
"Eeehm!..."
"To your right." Kurama supplied chuckling.
"Yes. That way." the young Goblin said walking towards the appointed direction, hopefully towards the Capital of the place, and where maybe they will find someone open-minded enough to help them understand what world they were in.
Meanwhile – Serena City (Capital of the Devan Kingdom) – Royal Castle -
In a cozy studio filled by bookcases, an old man with a well-kept long silver beard and wearing rich clothes along an ancient-looking silver crown was looking in contempt at a huge map opened in front of him on the massive table he was sitting on.
A loud echoing of steps signaled the arrival of a messenger that once opened the door reverently knelt down towards the lone old man, speaking while holding his head as low as possible the young messenger talked with a tone of pure deference.
"Your Highness, I am deeply sorry to disturb you, but Sir Hugos and Sir Kuroi asked to speak with you, can I give them permission?" the young man asked without raising his head.
"Let those two in, but other than them I don't want to be disturbed." the old man replied while still looking at the map.
"As you wish, your Highness." the servant said rapidly leaving the room to let two other men step inside.
"King Leodas." both said smirking while jokingly giving an overly-exaggerated bow.
"Just shut up, get inside and close the door, you idiots!" the old man replied huffing annoyed.
The two men were just as old as the King himself, Kuroi though contrary to the two still had the same black-colored hair of his by-now far-away youth while Hugos was, sadly, completely bald and sporting the same long beard as the King.
Kuroi was a man from "The moon islands" and was wearing a rich kimono with the dragon insignia of the Devan royal family while Hugos was still in his on-duty medieval-style knight armor with the heavy, hexagonal helmet held securely under one arm and his shield strapped to his back.
"What's the situation, Hugos?" the King asked tiredly.
"Still the same, me and the other guards just finished 'cleaning' the surrounding area of monsters, they are still low in Level luckily, but the numbers are increasing." Hugos, Captain of the Royal Guards, answered sighing.
"And you, Kuroi?"
"Politics, always and only politics...My wonderful colleagues wouldn't be able to talk their way out of a bag made of wet paper, but they are still in power. It speaks volumes of their own Kings' intelligence if THOSE are their kingdoms' representatives. Talking with them through the Consulting Mirror is a challenge in itself, every day more I wish to wrap my hands around their neck to strangle them until they grow some damn insight." Kuroi answered in defeat as he collapsed on a near chair to rub his temples.
"Completely different from when WE where the Heroes, eh? My dear Pyromancer?" King Leodas said snorting.
"I had way few troubles, yes...And Hugos had WAY more hair on his head back in the days." the Devan diplomat answered smirking.
"I have lost mine dealing with your being an annoying stuck-up brat! That's what happened!" Hugos answered growling.
"My friends, we are no longer young hot-heads, please act like adults." the King answered with a barely suppressed smirk.
"HE STARTED IT!" both men yelled while pointing at each other.
"This reminds me. Guess what?" Kuroi said chuckling.
"What?" Leodas asked back confused.
"Whatever it is causing the monsters to grow in number...Might also be the reason why we have a new Hero rising." the diplomat answered.
"A new Hero?"
"Aaah! Yes, I too heard the rumors. A boy from the farms in Serovia has been born with that [Title] instead of gaining it, just like what happened to you...You know what it means." Hugos answered smirking.
"A Quest to save the reign or even the world as a whole...Again. Just like when we were young." the King replied sighing.
"Good times."
"This one seems different though," Kuroi added thoughtfully.
"Not a traumatic past...Please tell me he has not a painful, traumatic past! Dealing with both Dalek and Suzuhara in our own Quest as Heroes has been enough Angst for me to last this whole Lifetime!" the old man pleaded whining.
"Ugh! Don't remind me of those two! Never thought that a Sun Cleric (Dalek) and a Moon Warlord (Suzuhara) could go on and on and on like that when talking about their desire of Justice and Revenge...Just because we needed them to defeat Demon King Asgard it didn't make them less annoying." Hugos answered with a scrunched-up face as he recalled those particular bad memories.
"Good thing I have sent them to the Frozen Islands in the far north to keep track of the demon penguins mating habits as soon as I inherited the throne and title of [King] from my father." the old King replied.
Meanwhile – Frozen Islands (A Cheap North Pole rip-off) -
"What are they doing?" a heavily dressed monk asked with furred brows as he challenged the perpetual snow-storm rattling the island to join his partner.
"Fucking again." a knight answered while lowering his binoculars, his perpetual angsty frown still unwavering no matter the snot-made icicles hanging from his nose.
"This mission is not helping my mind forget the pain of my father's death, my loneliness and sorrow are still clouding my soul even after avenging his death. Everything is just a pale shadow of its former self trapped in shades of grey and unhappiness." the monk said while both moved back towards their home.
"Me too, no-one can understand the darkness inside my heart that had obscured my life ever since my mother died for that mysterious and incurable illness. It's a regretful pain that never ends." the other replied in angst.
Angst! Angst! Angst! (A/N: Anime-style purplish aura and 'floating' kanji around it).
At that, a new dark aura of Emoish Brooding covered the small igloo the two lived-in and the surrounding area making the two mating demon penguins sweat-drop.
"Way to kill the mood!" the two creatures thought sighing.
Back to the Royal Castle -
"Thousands of kilometers away and I think they are still too close...But no, this one doesn't seem to be an angst-filled Avenger, fortunately." Kuroi said with a sigh and a placating gesture.
"But he is already moving to build his Party to save the Kingdom."
"Not to sound picky...But to my knowledge, we have not an Evil Demon King threatening us at the moment...Why is he building a Party then?" Hugos asked confused.
"Yes, I wasn't aware we needed a Hero Party." King Leodas added nodding.
"My best guess is that his Village, a VERY small one mind you, hopes that by sending here the 'Destined Hero' they will gain your favor should the need arise for him to help us." the diplomat answered shrugging.
"Kuroi...You are a smart man, a very, very smart man and I trust your judgment implicitly...Do we REALLY need this boy? I am not wedding my daughter to him just because he is THE HERO, you know? In fact, I am NOT Wedding my daughter to him. Period." the old man asked annoyed.
"You did marry the Princess back there though, King Hypocrite...I mean, Leodas." the Guard Captain said smirking.
"THAT WAS DIFFERENT!" the King shrieked childishly.
"We risked our lives together to kill the Demon King and turning his Demon Army to dust along peeing on the smoking ruins of his Cursed Castle afterward! I did not just march to her father's Palace and got married straight away!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"IT'S DIFFERENT, HUGOS!"
"BY THE WAY!" Kuroi said raising his voice making the other two men blush and fall silent.
"The fact remains that the number of monsters is drastically increasing along tougher variants making their appearances, so having a Hero at hand may not be a bad thing. But I fear that this time is not a Demon King the cause of this; I think King Joseph might be behind this increase of monsters."
"King Joseph?" Leodas asked.
"He never abandoned his quest to have his kingdom usurp Devan, Nesteria or Rao-al-Talhim of being one of the 'Three Great Crowns' that rule our continent. My spies informed me that even before the monster attacks started increasing Joseph has been very busy contacting the people of the Moon Islands, the contents of their letters are still unknown to me, but they seem to be joining forces and equipment as for some reason Clerics, Hunters, Monster Tamers and Dragon-Knights coming from the Moon Islands are scouting everywhere following the orders of men from the Barad-Se Kingdom."
"The King of a sub-par, underground shit-hole with barely a castle worth this name wants to take our place, Pfeh! Wild dreams of a spoiled brat!" Hugos answered in disgust.
"That may be true, to an extent, but you need to remember that he has deep links with the Elvish Tribes, the biggest colony of Elves is in fact not too far away from Joseph's own Capital city; those people still have their ancient knowledge and potent artifacts to help that man in his mysterious plans." Kuroi answered.
"And a grudge against every other race that is not Elvish." the knight added muttering.
"I am surprised you are taking the news of your homeland moving against us this well, Kuroi...Are you okay?" Leodas said sadly.
"I was exiled because I preferred studying our forgotten Magic to taking the path of the Samurai, they deemed my studies of our ancient Esoteric Arts too dangerous and kicked me out of my country. There is no Love lost for a country when even your family cast you away as a Heretic." the other replied helplessly.
Sigh! "What about the Dwarves? If Joseph really managed to wake-up a wasps-nest and double the number of monsters, as a result, it means that he is really up to something not good, and the Dwarven underground Mining Cities would be the first to suffer from it."
"That is the Core of the problem. I have been contacted by their Leader Torin Grand-hammer to seek collaboration between our races, and if their own intelligence is true, Joseph, the Elves and the Moon Islands are working together to target the fabled Colossuses." Kuroi answered grimacing.
"The Colossuses? You mean...the ones guarding..." a very pale Hugos asked faintly.
"Exactly them: The 'Old Holy Guardians of Elrune' and the ones holding our world together through their dreams and endless sleep. And apparently those men might have found some way to find where they are having their eternal slumber to disturb, or worst-case scenario, kill them."
"Then we have to move immediately! Kuroi!"
"Yes!"
"Go speak with the Dwarves, we will accept their help and finally sign our alliance with them. Then contact your spies and have them follow every trace left behind by those people, nothing must escape your eyes!"
"I'll go immediately!" Kuroi answered bolting out of the room.
"Hugos!"
"I am here!"
"Have the soldiers double their rounds and speed-up the Recruits' training, have squads protect the entrances and inform the other contingents around Devan to be on high alert! We must be informed instantly about every insurgence or problem arising so to act accordingly!" the old King ordered.
"I'll take care of it, and at their first misstep, we'll march there to stop them!" Hugos answered nodding, wearing his helmet back and rapidly leaving the room slamming the door closed.
"Just in case I will also point this 'Hero' towards Joseph so to keep him occupied...But this may still need extra help though...A third Party no-one would suspects about." Leodas muttered sighing as he waited for the noise of the two men's step to die down, once done that he closed the doors with the key and neared a window to open it and raise his hand outside until the sun reflected on the dark ruby ring he was wearing generating a faint light.
Barely a few seconds later and a crow twice bigger than normal appeared on the horizon to rapidly fly inside the room to land on one of the chairs.
"Sorry, the abrupt call, my friend. But I need a favor, so please help me." King Leodas said apologetically as he rapidly closed the window and threw the curtains closed on that as well on the others.
"I need help as well, Leodas." the crow replied as it exploded into a thick cloud of black miasma soon condensing into a towering skeletal being covered in an elaborate, jet-black academic gown adorned with gold and violet edges, He had a dark red glow inside the empty eye sockets and a dark halo-like object glimmered behind his head.
"What happened, Ainz?" The old King asked.
In answer, the Living Skeleton did what was literally impossible and had his eyes grow huge and start shooting out streams of tears at an almost comical quantity while shaking Leodas wildly.
"ALBEDO RAN AWAY! AGAIN!" Ainz Ooal Gown, the TRUE Demon King, yelled while crying his eyes out.
"Albedo? Your daughter?" the King asked confused.
"No, my goldfish...OF COURSE, I MEAN MY DAUGHTER, YOU OLD FART!" the skeletal man roared in answer.
"I told you that you were pampering her too much! But you didn't listen!" Leodas answered shoving away the Demon King's hands.
"It's all her mother's fault! I always told her 'Momonga, maybe we should reign little Albedo a bit more!' and she always answered that as a Part-Succubus she would always have been a free spirit no matter what!" Ainz answered before collapsing on a chair in defeat.
Aaah, yes! Momonga the Succubus Queen...Leodas remembered her OH SO WELL! He was a righteous man that loved his wife dearly down to his very soul...but even he (past Hero and Chosen One) had once or twice had "Certain Dreams" about the woman whose smoldering beauty and generous curves had occupied the dirty dreams of pretty much whoever had met her even just once and that even without switching-on her Kind's [Succubus Lust Aura].
Back in the days – when King Leodas was just 'Hero Leodas' -
When the King was still a young Hero on the road to defeat the Demon King, he and his Party had stopped in the last city before entering the Demon Lord's domain to have a deep rest and restock supplies for the Final Battle, that very same night he had heard a young girl cry under the window of his room at the local Inn and had decided to investigate.
Unable to stop worrying he went out alone only to find a petite girl, that he believed to be a ten-year-old human, cry in fear and calling for her daddy to save her; so being a good boy he was, Leodas had neared the girl to try and console her only to see two very small black-feathered wings sprouting from her waist, two stumps of barely-formed horns on her forehead and her eyes holding golden irises with vertical slit pupils.
At that followed a deep growl of fury that had the Hero turn around so to be face-to-face with the Demon King in person; grabbing his sword with both hands Leodas had immediately charged Ainz only for him to side-step the Hero without a second thought and hurry to hug the girl that immediately hugged him back to cry even harder.
Of all things Leodas thought would have happened, seeing the fearsome Dark Lord in person start baby-talk and tickle the girl making her giggle was by far the strangest one, along making him pout at being ignored before an angelic voice called the trio attention towards herself.
"There you are!" the woman had said jokingly.
"MOMMY!" Little Albedo had cried-out happily in an answer.
"Momm-GUH!" the Young Hero barely said before his bulged-out eyes locked on the Succubus Queen bust.
Her heavenly-soft-looking bust gleaming under the moonlight thanks to the thin layer sweat probably coming from her rushing there.
Her huge, perky, bountiful and creamy bust that was barely covered by a skin-tight dress with a criminally-big cleavage strained to its limits in the chest area leaving nothing to the imagination. (To this day King Leodas was ashamed to admit that he still didn't know what her face was like. He was a youngster, cut him some slack!).
"I wanna bury my face between them..." the old King remembered being all he could think about in that situation.
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, PERVERT!" Ainz had screeched in fury.
"Boobies!...I-I-I mean, Who are you!?" the Hero said as while with one hand he was pointing his sword at the Demon King, with the other he was desperately trying to cover the front of his pants that without armor were clearly tenting from the previous show.
What followed had been, if anything, surreal to say the least: apparently Ainz' right-hand man Asgard had been pressing towards the annihilation of the other races to 'Make Room' for the Demons inhabiting the Forbidden Mountains and expand their territory; and since the Demon Lord didn't want to bring on himself and his people the anger of races that ALREADY saw them as monsters and were just waiting for a good enough excuse to attack and exterminate them, he vehemently refused.
The result had been Ainz being forced to pack his stuff and take his wife, daughter and a dozen monsters still loyal to him and leave for the 'Holiday Resort' he had built for his family (That was a 'Suicide/Impossible-Level' Dungeon he had named Nazar-something or other) as he refused to destroy his former followers even after their betrayal; making of Asgard the effective Leader behind the monsters attack towards the humans.
So a secret deal was made between Hero and Demon King: in exchange of Ainz' help in infiltrating the Cursed Castle, Leodas would have destroyed Asgard making everyone believe the Demon Lord was dead so that Ainz, his family and his loyal servants could live in peace in the mountains without people bothering them.
It was a pity that Asgard, in his Quest to become a TRUE Demon King had bond his life to the Castle and the monsters following his orders so to increase his powers; at his death everything, Castle and Army alike, just crumbled to dust making the lie covering Ainz even more believable so to let him retire in peace and anonymity.
"It's okay, I had been forced to become a Demon King after Evolving, so I am happy to retire. The Castle? I never liked that place anyway! It was too humid, you have no idea how much my bones used to hurt every morning." was the only comment the skeleton made while shrugging.
So now, years later, Leodas had become King once married the Princess and had stuck a curious bond of friendship with the former Demon King only he knew was the REAL ONE, so much that in secret their respective daughters were best friends and each of them had played babysitter for the other whenever one of the two could not keep his daughter around.
Although...How a skeleton completely devoid of flesh and muscles could conceive a daughter with a Succubus still escaped the King, last time he tried to work out the details a resulting headache had lasted for a full week.
Back in the present -
"You are still thinking about my wife's boobs." Ainz accused with a narrowing of his luminous eyes.
"It's not my fault! I am only human!" the old King admitted ashamed as he too collapsed on his chair.
"Tche! I came here to ask for help and you repair me like this! By lusting about my woman!"
"That is not true. But listen, King Joseph is gaining help from Elves and the Moon Islands to hunt-down the Colossus Guardians. I need your help."
"Even I steer clear from them, this is very bad news...Okay, I'll help you! I'll have my demon spies keep their eyes open and inform you secretly. But in exchange you need to help me find Albedo, that girl can't just go around without an escort, it's too dangerous!" Ainz answered.
"She will be fine, you and Momonga trained her personally, I don't think there is anyone able to defeat her once she starts fighting."
"I would love to see YOU in my place! Would you be so calm should your daughter escape?! I may still hold the [Demon King] Title, but it never meant EVERY monster or Demon of this planet is under my command! Otherwise, I wouldn't be so worried!" Ainz asked with a glare.
"But I have not this problem! My sweet, innocent daughter would NEVER do such a thing and break her poor Daddy's heart!" King Leodas answered smugly.
"Damn lucky bastard."
"YOUR HIGHNESS! YOUR HIGHNESS!" a servant screamed while battering on the door with her fist.
Waiting for Ainz to return into being a crow the old man opened the door to see a distraught maid.
"What happened?" he asked annoyed.
"The princess escaped!"
"GUH?!" in the back of the room the King could clearly hear the crow Kaw-ing in a very laughing-like way as Ainz laughed in revenge at his friend's misfortune.
"HOW IT HAPPENED!?" he asked shrieking.
"We don't know! We just found this letter on her bed and most of her belongings gone!" the maid answered handing to the old man the letter she was clutching to her chest.
"YOU MUST FIND HER! FIND HEEEEEEEER!" he bellowed making the poor woman run away scared and the whole castle tremble.
Kaw-Kaw-Kaw! Kaaaw-Kaw-Kaw-Kaw! The crow in the meantime had collapsed because of its laughter.
"...This is not funny, Ainz." the King said slamming the door closed.
"It is for me! Share the anguish, brother! It will burn less!" the living Skeleton answered smirking once transformed back.
"I would not laugh if I were you, apparently both our daughters planned this."
"Eh?"
"They decided to go incognito and live an adventure together." the King said waving the short letter the maid gave him.
"It's okay then, each one will keep the other in line, and like this, they will be easier to find either by my spies or your men." Ainz answered calmly.
"And what if they...they..."
"Do NOT say it!" Ainz warned with a growl.
"What if they meet...Boys." Leodas said in disgust.
"ARGH! My Albedo is too young for that!" the Demon King growled in answer.
"Don't worry, as you said, they will protect each other. My girl or yours will scare every boy that will try court them." King Leodas answered waving the other off.
"...Unless they have feelings for the same guy, that could easily end up with the two joining forces to snatch him. But we can't know exactly how that would develop either." Ainz muttered darkly.
"It's still highly unlikely, though."
"True, true. But SHOULD it happen...I call dibs on skinning him alive!" the Demon King hissed.
"Then I'll personally choke the bastard with his own spine!"
"Decapitation!"
"Neutering!"
"Immolation!"
"WE'LL SHOVE AN HAND UP HIS ASS TO PULL HIM INSIDE-OUT!" both fathers yelled at the same time with blazing eyes.
Meanwhile – with Naruto and Mi – Entrance of Shansara Forest -
"AAACHOOOO!"
"Bless you, Naruto!" Mi said laughing as the transformed shinobi kept trying to sneeze-out his own lungs again and again.
"Thank you. Now...This road should connect to various Villages...And hopefully, to the Capital...I think." he said uncertainly.
"GOBLINS!" a human voice yelled in surprise.
"Eh?" the Goblin girl said confused.
"Oh! Hello!" Naruto replied waving at the small convoy joining them from a parallel path, it was a duo of merchant carriages closely followed by ten armed soldiers either on foot or riding horses.
"You...You speak the human language?" The red-haired female soldier guiding the second carriage asked unsurely.
"Yes, some of us can. Why? I shouldn't be able to?" Naruto asked back faking annoyance while acting as interpreter for Mi at the same time.
"You have just eaten Humans to re-learn the Language, but telling them that would be bad." Kurama added.
"Well, I thought...We believed that..."
"Aren't you Goblins supposed to be idiots? Retards?" another man asked sneering.
"That is very insulting and rude, you know? I didn't comment on your wearing dirty smelly clothes and you call me an idiot instead? Hn! You are a bastard without manners." the former shinobi said huffing haughtily.
"HEY!"
"Let's go, Mi-chan! Those are bullies, just ignore them."
"Bleeeeh!" Mi answered by sticking out her tongue at the human group before following her friend.
"BULLIES?!"
"W-W-W-WAIT! Aren't you...Supposed to attack us? And kidnap me and the other girls for breeding?" the red-haired soldier asked unsure making the other girls flinch at the idea.
"WHAT?! PERVERT!" Naruto yelled in horror while laughing deep inside his heart at their flabbergasted expression.
"P-PERVERT?! YOU MEAN US?!" another female soldier said in disbelief.
"Yeah! You all see a Goblin and immediately start having porn fantasies! Don't come closer, you sexual deviant!" he answered making a show of covering his groin just like Mi was covering her breasts and hiding behind him.
"We are not...We didn't mean to...I HAVE NOT DIRTY FANTASIES ABOUT GOBLINS!" the redhead said blushing like mad.
"But you have to admit it, that was the first thing you thought about after seeing them." an old man from the carriage said chuckling.
"That is not true!" she answered whining.
"Sure as the sky is blue...You two are the strangest pair of Goblins I have ever seen." the oldest soldier of the group said lowering his weapon.
"Can we trust them?" another man, dressed in a samurai armor and holding a bow, asked while still pointing his arrow at Naruto.
"You harassed ME and I am the threat? Who says that you others won't try anything with me? Or for the men of your group won't try to force themselves on Mi-chan?" Naruto answered crossing his arms.
"I AM MARRIED! I HAVE CHILDREN WAITING FOR ME BACK HOME!" the bow-user yelled in rage.
"This never stopped others from trying to have an affair." the shinobi answered bitterly.
"ARGH! Can I kill him? Please?"
"Stuff it, Shin! What do you want, Goblin?" the Leader of the convoy, an old-looking Dwarf, asked carefully.
"Naruto, my name is Naruto and this is Mi." the other answered with narrowed eyes.
"Nice to meet you then, I am Olaf Strong-arm."
"The pleasure is mine, Olaf-san."
"I ask again, what do you want from us?" the dwarf asked with a more polite tone of voice.
"Help, that's all."
"Help?" another adventurer asked in confusion.
"You may think we are all the same, but I happen to have a wish. And I need help to fulfill it." Naruto answered.
"And what would that dream be?" Olaf asked honestly curious.
"Don't laugh...But I want to be the strongest Mercenary ever...I can't be a Hero since I am a Goblin, so I am happy to reach the closest thing possible to it. So I decided to travel the world and become the strongest and most famous." the transformed shinobi answered blushing.
"What!? BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Oooh! That's a first! I traveled these lands for dozens of years, and yet I still find things able to surprise me! You do know that it would mean not attacking your client, right?" Olaf answered after a long laugh.
"Of course! What do you think I am? An Idiot?"
"Compared to normal Goblins? No, you certainly aren't one." the same bow-user from before (Shin) admitted finally putting down the bow.
"So, what do you need?" the red-haired girl asked.
"Pretty much? Everything. I only know what my forest looks like and how to hunt...I don't think that would be enough to be a Mercenary." Naruto admitted smiling.
"Nope! That is really lacking in knowledge, my boy!" Olaf said shaking his head and moving closer to the duo.
"But I can see it in your eyes, you are being honest." he then said.
"You sure we can trust him?" another girl adventurer asked.
"We still have not been ambushed, he and his friend have not attacked us and he has been polite. I am fairly open to trust my judgment and believe him; just like there are bad humans, bad elves and bad Dwarves...I think that out there-there can be good Goblins." Olaf answered.
"Thank you, Olaf-san." Naruto said bowing a little, Mi behind him clumsily doing the same.
"Huhuhu! You convinced that girl to join you in this little dream of yours, eh? Another good Goblin, this must be our lucky day! Come, in exchange for you two helping us protecting the men and women AND the stuff in the carriages, we will teach you what you need to know...And some extra lessons for Miss Mi in human Language so you won't always have to play translator."
"T-Hanbk dou." Mi said once Naruto tried suggesting her.
"Almost there, little girl, but it's a good start." the dwarf answered laughing making her smile.
"You know? Those two look cute together." a civilian girl said sneaking a peek at the Goblin couple.
"Girls...They find everything cute." a young kid muttered rolling his eyes.
"So! We are close to a perfect place to mount our camp for the night, if you have to earn your 'Lessons' you better start helping soon, eh?" Olaf said rubbing his hands together.
"I think so, Mi?"
"If you think we can trust them." the girl replied shrugging.
"I'll protect you, don't worry."
"Thank you."
What followed was a fast, fervent coming and going of people preparing stacks of wood for the fire, mounds of hay for the warriors to sleep outside for the turns in guarding and youngsters and women preparing food for everybody using the reserves they had with them.
"HOY! Can humans eat Horned Rabbits, Ruby Vipers, and fishes?" Naruto asked as he and Mi joined with said prey once returning from the near woods.
"Technically yes...Thea?" Olaf asked.
"[Analize]...It's okay, we can eat those." a girl with pale skin and ruby eyes intoned waving a long, decorated staff to form a circle of light in front of herself and making the food the two Goblins brought light-up for an instant.
"[Analize: minor appraisal ability that can be learned by High-Level Cleric and Sage classes, it shows limited information about the target, elemental weaknesses comprised. Can be used to detect poison and curses on objects and food.] Still nothing compared to what I can do, though." Kurama said smugly.
"You checked if I poisoned the food, by chance?" Naruto asked offended.
"Just to reassure everyone else, sorry." Olaf answered rising both hands in a peaceful manner.
"Tch! Meanie." the shinobi muttered huffing while both Goblin sat around the campfire.
"Well-done?" the 'Chef' of the group asked smirking.
"Rare, thank you." he answered laughing.
"Okay, since we are all here, Let's start with the basics. I am Dhoran 'The Explorer', I travel with Olaf to perfect my studies of this world and its different kinds of Magic. You ready for the lessons?" a scholar-looking old man said sitting in front of Naruto.
"Whenever you want!"
Said this a worn-out book was opened in front of the two Goblin showing a complex map of a planet and its two moons.
"Good. The world we live in is called Elrune and is divided into two main continents and an archipelago: Dolfis, where we are now, is the biggest; followed by Melfis, the smallest one on the left while that on the right is the Halfis Archipelago: a huge cluster of hundreds of small islands also called Moon Islands. The strange armor our friend Shin wears comes from there as he is a native of those islands, even if that gear in origin could be found only there, nowadays Lunar Gear has spread far and wide even in the other two continents."
"It's a samurai armor, why do they say it's strange?" Kurama asked.
"Different culture, maybe." Naruto answered.
"All clear?" the scholar asked.
"Up until now, yes, Dhoran-san."
"You keep using Lunar honorifics, most curious. By the way, we are moving towards the Capital of the Devan Kingdom named Serena City; it's the place where the King of Devan resides." Dhoran said moving a finger on the map to point at the said city.
"And what is Devan?" Mi asked, question translated by Naruto.
"Devan, along Nesteria and Rao-al-Talhim, are the biggest kingdoms of our continent and are also called the 'Three Great Crowns': those three super-powers keep this land in balance by keeping track of the minor kingdoms in their respective area of influence and stopping them and each other when needed: Devan to the West, Nesteria to the East and Rao-al-Talhim to the South."
"Like the Big Five back home: Konoha, Suna, Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri were the ones keeping the smaller Villages and each others in check by being the strongest ones." Kurama commented.
"And what about the North?" Naruto asked.
"In our case, the North is a cold land covered in mountains where once stood the Demon King Kingdom, now monsters are without a Lord and still roam the streets to their leisure and very small human settlements can be found albeit few in number. Nesteria itself is not better as internal strifes for power make people there restless and travels harder than what they should, several small territories keep arguing about Nesteria being considered the third Crown instead of them."
"So we'll need to go to Devan to become mercenaries?"
"That would be your best option, but in your specific case I suggest you to join a Guild instead." the red-haired girl suggested.
"A Guild?" Mi asked.
"A Guild is basically a group of warriors working together to take missions issued by the Guild Association, those being also regulated by the Royal Family itself so you won't have to fear clients skipping the payment once you have done." Olaf explained.
"And it would also make things easier for you two if you are officially registered in a Guild since Goblins are still not exactly trusted being registered will show people you won't be a threat but that you can be approached for completing their Missions." the scholar added.
"...But they will still be wary of us." Naruto added sighing.
"That can't be helped. Now go to sleep, tomorrow we will continue our Lesson and start teaching Miss Mi human Language basics." Olaf suggested.
"Okay, old man!" Naruto replied smiling.
That night the transformed shinobi was just lying down unable to sleep, partly because Mi decided to use his whole body as a hugging pillow, and just stood there looking upward towards the twin moons and their pale light.
"[The twin Moons of Elrune: Palom and Polom. The legend says that they contain the souls of the two children of the Goddess Elrune that created the world, since the two kids were not immortal like her at their death she created the two moons to contain their spirits so that her children could still play Tag like they did in their youth and endlessly chase each other in the sky.]" Kurama explained.
"At least they are having fun even now." Naruto muttered smiling as he finally felt his eyelids drop and sleep overcome him.
Dream Realm -
As soon as he had fallen asleep Naruto found himself floating in a bottomless void of pure darkness, unable to tell where left and right or up and down even where, not feeling cold or warm but just floating aimlessly in that pitch-black pit.
"Where am I?" the young man asked aloud.
"Aaah! Yes! We finally meet at last!" a deep, thunderous voice said elated with a tone rumbling like hundreds of storms.
"Who are you?"
"Huhuhu! It is still soon for proper introductions, but still, I am here to ask you to help me all the same." the voice said as a giant black silhouette with shining red eyes moved in the darkness to come closer while still remaining impossible to discern from the background.
"Help you? How?" Naruto asked confused.
"We have been forced to call you here because in deep need of your abilities...Your world is safe as while unable to act directly here without waking-up, we could still dispel the Illusion trapping your people in your world. But we still need your help as we can't do a thing HERE in Elrune personally, so we had to get you here through rebirth."
"Ookay. Help in doing what, exactly?" the shinobi asked with narrowed eyes.
"Huhuhu! Nothing too grievous, I just need you to eat this gem, there is an evil man hunting this and others similar down and we just don't want our treasure to be stolen by the first passing by. That's all." the Figure said moving what seemed to be a giant hand to its chest to retrieve an apple-sized ruby cut in thousands of facets.
"...That's it?" he asked unconvinced.
"I expected you to be a tiny bit more open to trust people."
"..."
"Please? You won't absorb anything, it will just get stored and stay hidden inside your heart away from prying eyes. It's all about hiding it, no strange missions! I swear! It's just that my body stands-out too much to keep it safe!" the voice stammered lamely.
"Hu-uh? And?"
"...You are a stubborn bastard. What do you want in exchange?" the Voice grumbled annoyed.
"What are you offering?"
"Grrr! One of my fangs to be turned into a weapon and a unique Legendary-Grade [Great Blessing] from a friend of mine: very forbidden Magic and Abilities no-one else has...Everything also very Badass-looking, Evolutions comprised." the Entity answered angrily.
"Deal!" Naruto said smirking, taking the offered gem and swallowing it whole making his body let-out a faint red aura soon dissipating.
"Hn! Good. Now...The painful part...ARGH!...Here it is, just look for a blacksmith called Andre, he will know what weapon to create with it." the Voice said in agony as a HUGE fang (twice bigger than Naruto's whole body) landed near the shinobi.
"No swords though, I think I prefer clubs...Maybe it's because I am a Goblin now..."
"Whatever?"
PING!
[You Obtained: Mysterious Divine Fang! -What is this? Where does it come from? No-one knows, but it's harder than dragons' scales and heavier and denser than the core of a dead star. Only a Master Blacksmith can use this to create a weapon! Grade: Legendary.]
"Whatever. Pleased to make affairs with you, Voice-san!" Naruto said chuckling as the [Bag of Holding] he had with him managed to swallow the fang whole and store it without problems.
"The pleasure is mine..."
"Who was the other guy you people called here to protect the gems?"
"It was a man that has reincarnated into a Slime, he too had accepted a similar request from one of us to keep something safe from the hands of Evil, so please help us, we only want you both to protect the objects you have been given." the Entity said clearly sneering as the dream started fading away.
"Okay! Don't worry, no-one will get the stone you gave me! I got it! I got it!" the shinobi answered annoyed as his body finally disappeared.
"Those two are unknowingly holding the keys to keep our world safe, openly telling them would just give them a too big burden while they earned the chance at a new life...Varudora preferred being completely absorbed by his Champion, but just my Core being stored inside mine will be more than enough...If those two humans manage to not be captured and killed before the Hero completes his Sacred Mission...At least two of us will still be able to keep the Seal working and resurrect the others once Peace returns." the Entity thought weakly as its being slowly crumbled to dust.
Real world – Morning -
[Evolution Achieved! You are a Hobgoblin now!] a voice and a small victory jingle rang in Naruto's head waking him up.
"What the?!"
PING!
[New Job Gained: Leaf Shinobi.]
"Oh! Well, I already knew I was one, thank you!" he said smirking.
PING!
[Gained Legendary Great Blessing: Divine Blessing of the Supreme God of Chaos]
[Achievement unlocked: "He who transcended Life, Death, and Chaos."]
"So I Evolved into a Hobgoblin? Oooh! COOL!" the shinobi said looking at his hands, now more human looking albeit still with sharp claw-looking nails and at his skin that had turned a very dark shade of dull-silver.
"BWAHAHAHAHA! Did you evolve then? Good for you!" Olaf said laughing and using the flat side of his battle-ax like a mirror to let Naruto see his face.
"That's! That's my face...More or less." the young man said faintly, his face was pretty much his old human one but with jet-black hair still showing his spiky hairstyle as a human, deep-blue eyes and dull-silver skin, even his whiskers-like marks were still there.
Although the sharp fangs in his mouth and the two thumb-sized horns on the high front of his forehead were an extra he could have easily been able to live without, that and the fact that the jewel he had on his forehead now had grown in size and shape to look like a third eye.
"That voice is hiding some details, you know?" Kurama said sighing.
"Yep! I thought so too, those stones must be really important if they went through all the trouble of summoning two people from another world just to keep them safe, so let's just wait and see what happens...But they could have taken me here as a human at least!"
"Beggars ain't choosers, we didn't want to die and they made us be reborn, it's too late now to cry."
"Should we look for that Slime dude?"
"Probably, even just in the hope he has been told more about this whole gems mess, and if he comes from another world like us, he may like to meet someone that he can relate with." Kurama answered enticing a long sigh from the reincarnated shinobi.
"Yeah, I think so as well."
"Happy?" Olaf asked.
"Uh?...If I am happy? Yeah." Naruto answered nodding.
"I bet you are! You even got taller! Although..." the dwarf said smirking.
"Yes? What's wro-"
"KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAH!" the girls of the camp screamed as one before blushing and turning around to not look at him.
"You should cover yourself, you out-grew your loincloth so it broke in pieces." Olaf answered still laughing.
It was then that Naruto looked down to discover his being naked AND sporting a morning wood.
"Oh, God!" he moaned pitifully face-palming.
"What's happening?" Mi asked as she awoke from the ruckus.
"MI! DON'T LOO-"
"KYAAAH!"
THUD!
"...Damn it." the shinobi barely said before the girl, thanks to her still sitting position, went face-to-face with his 'club' at an inch of her nose for a few seconds before fainting immediately after with a very red face.
"Wear this, a dick is not the first thing I want to see in the morning, Goblin or Human!" one of the men said smirking as he threw a spare change of clothes to Naruto making the others laugh.
"I won't laugh if I were you, Shin! His is way bigger than yours after all! Of a good margin at the very least!" Olaf added making the bow-user grow red-faced in anger and embarrassment.
"SHUT-UP, YOU SHITTY MIDGET!" Shin bellowed in anger making a new round of laughs start.
Meanwhile – on the other side of the planet -
In all that friendly ribbing, nor Naruto or anyone else could know that far and far-away, in the remote Lunar Islands, in a deep underground and well-hidden Temple, a giant statue of a four-armed Monster had just crumbled to dust making the small group of men that had barely entered the Temple grow wide-eyed in shock, unable to understand what had happened under their very eyes.
"This is not good, Varudora and Malvas were the only two we managed to locate and both are lost! Lord Joseph won't be happy to hear about this! We still have not enough knowledge about the location of the other Colossus..." the head of the group said grimacing in horror.
"What happened?" a near soldier asked confused.
"The gems, YOU IDIOT! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE COLOSSUS' CORES! We need those gem-like hearts for our King's plan to succeed! And while that whole Dragon seemingly evaporated from its prison, here just the Core is gone leaving behind a hollow statue for us to find...Someone else must be hunting down the Cores. We must return to Barad-se and alert our King, we may have an information leak, a spy in our ranks! A TRAITOR!" the leader of the soldiers spat in blind fury as he turned around to leave.
"Yes, Sir!" the soldiers answered as one as they too marched outside.
"Whoever has those gems will pay! No-one can stop our King! NO-ONE!"
Unaware of all this happening, both Naruto and Mi kept traveling with the small convoy of merchants while learning both to fight and the Languages of Elrune along everything they might need to know to make their way in this huge world of Magic and Monsters.
OOOKAY! Second Chapter done...No Omake this time as the Chapter was already too long and surpassed the "5/6k Words Limit" I had envisioned for my OP Corner series, sorry.
I did say Naruto would have become a Hobgoblin soon...At the ending of the second Chapter IS soon after all, right? -chuckles-
Yes, here Albedo is Ainz' daughter instead of Lover/Stalker/almost-rapist (in a chapter of the Light Novel she literally assaulted him XD) while I used Ainz' original name (Momonga) for Albedo's mother.
I didn't want Ainz to die for Naruto to swoop in, I like his character ^ ^.
Thank you so much for reading, please vote in the Poll so I'll be able to decide who the third girl is, as you saw, the name of the King's daughter has never been used, that's who the third girl will be.
BYEEEEE!
Tr230.