Members of Ainz Ooal Gown looked around at their surroundings in E-Rantel.
[Touch Me: The city hasn't changed much in three days.]
[Momonga: I don't have much basis to make a comparison but I can tell it's very peaceful.]
They turned off the main road, and then Momonga and company came to a halt at the large crowd.
[Yamaiko: This city is quite busy. These people might block us. ]
[Nishikienrai: I highly doubt anyone would get close to us.]
The players shrugged tiredly, and then peeked at the people around them.
Just about everyone walking past on the street seemed to be looking in Momonga's direction and seem to be whispering to each other.
They expected that these people were mocking them, but in fact, it's opposite.
[Tabula Smaragdina: No… Am I hearing praises!?]
[Momonga: Please don't get mad Tabula.]
[Touch Me: What the hell is wrong with these people!?]
[Yamaiko: Why are these people being impressed by a giant hamster?! It's not even that scary!]
[Nishikienrai: I don't want this to be in our pesonas' legend!]
Momonga silently lowered his head and looked at the pearly-white fur of Hamsuke since he was riding her.
[Momonga: I should be able to take pride in that… right…?]
[Touch Me: Trust me Momonga, we are also suffering alongside you...]
[Tabula Smaragdina: These reactions are entirely understandable, the people were praising Hamsuke as a mighty creature. But...]
[Momonga: It is more like a form of public humiliation to us. It's like a middle-aged bachelor with no family or girlfriend proudly riding a merry-go-round by himself.]
[Nishikienrai: Yeah, it doesn't help that because Hamsuke had a completely different body structure from a regular horse, Momongas had to stick his butt out and back while spreading his legs wide in order have a easier time to ride.]
[Yamaiko: I know! He looks so stupid!]
[Momonga: This is NOT my idea! The Swords of Darkness and Hamsuke herself had to persuade me into this! Even Narberal wanted me to ride!]
[Nishikienrai: All because a ruler should not be walking. ]
[Momonga: If I'd known this would happen I would have refused. Could it be someone was trying to set me up and arranged for this?]
[Tabula Smaragdina: Okay Ihighlydoubt that. Don't try to make excuses.]
However despite the ridiculous concept, the surrounding folk all seemed to think that Momonga and his friends were the ones with the strange reaction.
[Momonga: Could it be that our aesthetic sense is at fault, or that they have weird taste, or is it that this world's sense of aesthetics is completely messed up?]
[Touch Me: Well it is possible I mean these people have probably never met a creature such as the wise king. And not only that, this can improve our reputation, so this sacrifice is necessary, no matter how embarrassing.]
[Momonga: Isn't this basically a form of shame play?]
[Tabula Smaragdina: For us yes. For you no, thanks to your emotion suppression. Now I really need it.]
[Yamaiko: The one thing I didn't need and now I really need it now. I can't stand this...]
[Momonga: Does this mean I'm immune to shame play… don't tell me I'm a masochist?… But I've always felt I was more on the sadist side…]
[Nishikienrai: Ew no. I don't want you to be a masochist.]
"Since we're back in town, it seems the assignment is over." Peter mentions.
[Touch Me: Ah! Just like any regular quest in Yggdrasil, pretty nostalgic isn't?]
[Momonga: I just recorded everything with [Recording Mirror] in these past days, hopefully these would help our home to prepare. Especially the other guys.]
[Tabula Smaragdina:Recording Mirror?]
[Momonga: Yes. A cash item I just bought with gold prior to this adventure.]
[Tabula Smaragdina: Oh. That cash item menu that somehow works. Does the other type of stores work too?]
[Momonga: Yes they do. Even the… Gachapon.]
[Nishikienrai: You're not going to use that right!?]
[Momonga: No! I'm still traumatized by that thing!]
[Nishikienrai: Good. You could waste all of our gold in one day.]
[Yamaiko: Leave me to do the Gachapon! Not you!]
While the players argued in [Message]. Nfirea talks to Peter and his friends.
"Indeed, you're right, the request is at an end. Then… while I've already prepared the arranged remuneration, I still have to pay the bonus we negotiated in the forest. Could you come to my family's store with me?" Nfirea explained to the sword of darkness over the bonus.
[Tabula Smaragdina: I hope he has enough money. The ingredients are quite... numerous.]
Tabula sweatdrop at the carriage filled with herbs and mushrooms. Since Momonga subdued the wise king of the forest, they had been free to explore the forest without harassment. Now they got all these herbs, that might as well be, a heaping pile of glittering treasure if used right.
Tabula for once, wants to make potion out of these to sate his obsession to experiment.
"Momon, you should go to the Adventurer's Guild first!" Peter suggested to Momonga.
"Mm, indeed. Since I brought a monster into a city, I need to register Hamsuke with the Guild." Momonga said as he remembered the rules of that topic.
[Touch Me: Damn paperwork.]
[Tabula Smaragdina: Oh please, I had enough of those already.]
"It's troublesome, but it can't be helped."
Peter said while the disguised players mentally nodded.
"Well, we wiped out those Ogres and other monsters too, so how about it? Want us all to go to the Guild together?" Momonga added on their original mission before Nfirea's request.
"Hmn no, I think not. Momon and Rikon basically did all the heavy lifting for this job, so we should go to Nfirea's house first to help with the chores and unload the herbs. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to accept getting the same fees as you guys."
The Swords of Darkness nodded as Peter spoke, and Nfirea politely added:
"There's no need to trouble everyone…"
"Well, you did agree to pay us a bonus, so consider this a free service on our part."
After hearing Peter's light-hearted statement, Nfirea politely replied:
"Then, when you come to our store for potions, we'll give you a discount."
"Nothing would please us more. Then, Momon, please head to the Guild first, and meet us at Nfirea's home afterwards. We'll proceed directly to Nfirea's home, take care of the chores, and then go to the Guild to take care of paperwork. Unfortunately, we'll have to trouble you to come again tomorrow because we can only claim the bounty on the Ogres then… we'll meet at the same time as the last time we met you." Peter explain to Momonga and his friends.
"Understood." Momonga agreed to Peter's suggestion.
"Hold on can I go with you guys? I want to know more of your potion making Nfirea, I heard it is different than the ones I'm used to." Tabula said which stunned Nfirea.
"W-well yes. Alchemists should help each other out Hermes…" Nfirea said in fear of disappointing Tabula.
"Good then!" Tabula exclaimed happily as he leaves with swords of darkness along with Nfirea.
"Can we trust them?" Naberal asked her lords.
"…It's fine. Even if they betray us, the most we'll lose is the bounty for the Ogres. If we fixate on that measly amount of money and end up with a reputation as penny-pinchers, it'll do more harm than good to our cause even then, Tabula would have told us about that."
"We are supposed to be heroes, not greedy warriors." Touch Me added rather sharply.
[Momonga: Warrior Takemikazuchi can always make perfect copies of coins, very fast, so we won't need to be worried about that for awhile.]
[Yamaiko: We would have trouble with that if it wasn't for Warrior Takemikazuchi.]
"Those inferior lifeforms should prostrate themselves before your awesome power, My Lords." Naberal continues happily.
"Well, maybe not to that extent…" Momonga sweatdrop at Naberal praise including his friends'.
"Lord Momonga, you are being too modest. Although Ogres must be less than insects in your eyes, your sword skills are still first-rate. Lord Touch Me and Lord Warrior Takemikazuchi are the only ones superior to you." Naberal added.
[Nishikienrai: Seriously..?]
[Touch Me: Momonga doesn't even have combat skills.]
[Yamaiko: It not even good.]
[Tabula Smaragdina: What happened?]
[Momonga: Just Naberal praising me for everything, even melee skills.]
[Tabula Smaragdina: But you suck as a warrior.]
"…I was merely swinging my swords and using sheer, brute force." Momonga said modestly.
[Touch Me: Slicing ogres in one swing is impressive to a lot of people, but it is not as impressive as Gasef's combat style.]
[Nishikienrai: You can slice a hundred ogres in one swing. With a simple skill, that's a major difference compared to Momonga's]
"It would seem it's very difficult to move and fight like a real warrior… Then what about using magic to transform into one?" Naberal asked.
[Momonga: In this state I can use five spells, one of them can make me a level one hundred warrior.]
[Yamaiko: But that doesn't make you instantly strong like a real combat oriented player ,but you can surprise your enemies with variety and the right items.]
[Momonga: That's why I have it actually.]
"There's too many drawbacks to that spell. If I'm ambushed by an opponent of my level, I won't be able to use magic for a while, and defeat is certain. I could use scrolls to cast spells, but it would take too much preparation time. It's still a major flaw in the spell." Momonga explained.
"I'm pretending to be a warrior to hide my true identity, so there's no need to be so shocked."
"!" A tremor ran through the Wise King of the Forest as she raised her head to look at Ainz, a surprised look on her face.
"Your humble servant was listening to your words; could it be that you are not a warrior, milord?"
Hamsuke asked.
"Lord Momonga is merely pretending to be a warrior. It is like a game to him. If he were to use the spells which are his true power, he could easily sunder the heavens and shatter the earth."
[Yamaiko: She's not really wrong actually.]
[Momonga: You don't say...]
"Mm, yes, something like that. Wise King of the Forest, aren't you glad you didn't fight the real me? If I had used my true power, you would have been destroyed in an instant." Momonga tells Hamsuke about his true powers.
"I, I see… Milord, your servant Hamsuke shall be doubly faithful to you!" The Wise king of the forest said while nervous.
[Nishikienrai: Yeah Hamsuke doesn't stick somehow.]
[Momonga: I should have named her Daifuku that would have been wittier...]
[Touch Me: You and your naming…]
[Yamaiko: Said the guy that names his character Touch Me. How's that working out?]
[Touch Me: Just shut up. I thought it would be funny...]
Tabula and the Swords of Darkness drove the wagon into the house's backyard, stopping in front of the back door. Nfirea unlocked the door, a magical lantern in hand. He hung it on a wall inside, illuminating the darkened interior.
The disguised Brain-eater looked inside of the house and could see barrels, presumably emptied, for the herbs and mushrooms they had collected. As the swords of darkness put the herbs into the storage, Tabula sensed the presence of two people thanks to his brain-eater's [Brain Sense] which could only detect beings that had a brain.
After all the herbs were in their place, Nfirea called out to the slightly-panting Swords of Darkness.
"Thank you for your hard work! There should be some cool fruit juice in the house, so please come in for some."
"That sounds great." Lukrut exclaimed in delight. The others nodded happily as well.
"Then, please come this way…" Nfirea said as he leads the others to a room until…
Hiiii~ Welcome home~"
Before him stood a pretty, yet vaguely unsettling young woman. Her blonde hair swayed in the wind.
"Ah~ I've been worried, you know? I thought you went missing. What poor timing, I didn't know when you'd be coming back, so I had to wait here all this while, you know?" The blonde woman said.
"…May, may I ask who you are?" Nfirea said fearfully.
'This is not a family visit at all. I need to be careful of surprises.' Tabula thought as he activates [Message].
"Hm? Ehehehe~ I came to kidnap you~ I need someone to use the spell which summons a biiiiiiig horde of undead, 「Undeath Army」, so could you be my magic item? I'm begging you~"
[Tabula Smaragdina: Momonga! Someone is trying to kidnap Nfirea!]
[Momonga: What!?]
[Touch Me: Who is trying to kidnap him?]
[Tabula Smaragdina: A blonde woman. There is also another one just behind her, I don't know if they're dangerous but I'm gonna have to protect Nfirea and swords of darkness.]
[Yamaiko: We're still doing the registrations so it might take awhile.]
[Nishikienrai: Be careful Tabula!]
The swords of darkness tell Nfirea to run, while Ninya would go along with him.
Tabula notices a robed old man who is holding a orb.
'That's definitely the other one with her.' Tabula thought as he pulled out his halberd.
"Swords of Darkness! I suggest you go along with Nfirea. I will handle these two." Tabula said as he walks toward the two offenders.
"Hermes!? Wait! We can help too!" Peter said in shock.
"No. You will more than likely die against her, get out while I defeat these two by myself." Tabula said while secretly holding his potions.
Peter and his friends hesitate before leaving with heavy hearts.
"Win this one okay!?" Peter said as he leaves.
"Oh~ You think you can beat me? Oh please how could you po-" The woman said until she was cut off when Tabula threw some potions on the ground, creating smoke which filled the area.
"What? You think this will help~" The woman taunts before slicing a figure on her right.
"See~? It's hopel-" The woman was cut off again as a punch came towards from her left, hitting her in the process.
"What's wrong? You thought it is hopeless for me to fight you?" Tabula mentions as he disappeared in the smoke.
"Hmp. Lucky hit." The woman said before multiple Tabula's appear around her and punch her multiple times before disappearing yet again.
"Damm it! Stop this!" The woman said as she used her stiletto to make a gust of wind that blasted away the smoke.
"Interesting. You got enchanted items that are well made." Tabula commented as he dodged a [Acid Javelin] from the old man.
"Impatient one, now aren't you?" Tabula said as he put his guard up.
"Your right, by now we would have got the boy and set up the ritual..." The old man said.
"It's a seventh tier spell which hardly anyone can use, but it can be cast with the Crown of Wisdom. You can't control all the undead it makes, but the boy can guide them! What a perfect plan~!" The woman said.
"Oh really? Then I would have take you out then." Tabula said hold his halberd.
The woman frowned, remembering the first part of the battle. "If your curious, my name is Clementine. And no one can beat me except maybe the royal captain in his treasure equipment. Even you!" The woman gets into position.
After casting some martial arts buffs, the woman leaped towards Tabula, who simply thought."Only Gazef in his treasure equipment can beat her? Oh good she can't hurt me at all then…" as the woman stabbed him in the chest while laughing madly. Only for Tabula to disappear, once more.
"Oh I completely forgot that my potion I threw, still lingers, even after you made the smoke disappear." Tabula said honestly. He never checked his potions, despite the importance, only caring on how well made they are.
"Are you kidding me?!" Clementine exclaimed in frustration.
And suddenly the swords of darkness showed up.
"What are you doing!?" Tabula screamed in surprise at their return despite his warnings.
"Sorry Hermes! We can't just let you deal with the enemies by yourself! We already didn't do much in combat but at least let us fight!" Peter said seriously.
The old man looked at the adventurers and Tabula with disdain and said:
"That's it! Clementine! You get the boy now! We don't have much time!"
Clementine looks at the old man angrily before releasing a breath.
"Alright Khajiit, you damn old man!" Clementine said as Khajiit use [Acid Spray] at the swords of darkness, forcing Tabula to use himself as a cover for them.
Clementine quickly sprints to where Nfirea is, thanks to her knowledge of the house.
'Fuck me! Just because of them, I have to save them from the acid!' Tabula thought as Khajiit spammed [Acid Spray] on him trying to get a effect.
"Why aren't you burning from my Acid spell!?" Khajiit said in frustration as he noticed Clementine holding Nfirea.
"Finally!" Khajiit exclaimed as he cast the last [Acid Spray] and quickly joins Clementine.
'And they're escaping… Might as well use a tracking spell. [Silent Cast: Life Mark]' Tabula thought as Khajiit and Clementine glowed red in his eyes.
After they're gone, Tabula looked at the swords of darkness and said:
"Are you okay?"
The swords of darkness look down in shame.
"But we lost Nfirea! We completely botched it Hermes…" Ninya mentions sadly with tears in his eyes.
"Is it because you feel worthless compared to me and my friends?" Tabula asked while losing his anger to the adventurer.
"No it jus-" Peter said before Tabula glared at them menacingly, despite being covered by a mask.
"You're right… Compared to you guys, we're a joke..." Peter said in shame.
"I mean look at Momon and Rikun! They have full plate armor while I only had chainmail armor!" Peter confessed while holding his head down.
"And you, Aubuna and Nabe are way more powerful than I could ever hope to be…" Ninya said sadly.
"Nagato was able to detect better than me and he's a assassin! I'm a ranger and yet he's better than me in that field." Lukrut admitted as he lowered his head.
"And we're silver no less… And yet you are currently copper, it doesn't really suit you, nor your friends." Dyne added.
"I see… Then I should apologize." Tabula said.
"Uh? For what?" Peter asked.
"For breaking you guys like that. While we're undoubtedly strong, we were never this strong from the beginning." Tabula explained which shocks the swords of darkness.
"You see. Momon for example was attacked with no hope of winning, he was weak and completely hopeless from everything that had assailed him…"
The swords of darkness look at Tabula with shocked expressions at the idea that Momon was weak like them.
"Rikun was the one that saved him from death which started a friendship that will never end…" Tabula said as he looked at them.
"Many of us have our moments where we feel hopeless, including Rikun. While I will not give much details of what happened, I will say that Momon was able to put us back together, hehe. The hopeless became a beacon of hope for us" Tabula said while being carried away at the memories of the beginning of Ainz Ooal Gown.
"Everyone has moments of weakness, but we got this far by conquering them. So don't be full of despair, but be determined to see it through."
As soon as Tabula said that. A door opened, revealing Momonga and the rest of the disguised players in their glory.
Author's Note: Oh dear... I'm actually excited to give you guys something that I was thinking ever since I started this story. There were some modifications along the way but we're getting close to the one of my favorite parts of Overlord and let's just say... The others will come...On a sidenote, you guys can ask question to me if you like. I always did like to response on the reviews.