"What's wrong Chief?"
"Oh Ainz-sama, it appears there are mounted warriors approaching us."
"I see, leave it to me. I shall meet them with the chief. The rest of you take shelter."
Momonga, no he was Ainz from now on, watched as about two dozen warriors rode towards Carne Village. He noticed their equipment was mismatched, they seemed more ill-equipped than the knights that had attacked the village. The leader came to the front, a muscular looking man.
"I am Warrior-Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff. I have come to eliminate the knights who have been harassing the outlying villages. Who is this man with you, village elder?" Ahh, he certainly must look strange wearing the [Mask of Jealousy]. It was a very suspicious looking item.
"My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, I am a magic caster. I came across this village while it was under attack and stepped in to save them."
"Then I graciously thank you for your service... However..." The Warrior-Captain looked thankful at first but then seemed to have remembered something distasteful "if you were able to subdue an entire group of enemy knights, you must be quite powerful. Do you have any relation to the events that occurred at E-Rantel two nights ago?" Though he kept the wording vague, it was clear that whatever had transpired had been negative. Perhaps he was under suspicion, but considering he had no knowledge of what had occurred, Ainz needed to tread carefully to preserve his image. Luckily the story he told the village elder applied nicely to this situation as well.
"I fear I have spent a great many year isolated from the world researching magic. I do not recall this city of E-Rantel, nor have I heard of any events that have transpired involving it."
"I see. If that truly is the case, I am sorry for questioning the savior of this village."
"It is understandable. I wish you the best in your investigation." Ainz didn't want to push too far. Appearing nosy might be a bad idea, learning more later was always an option. He would have to be cautious during his visit to the city.
"Warrior-Captain! There's a group of people surrounding the village!"
Too easy. Defeating what they called the most powerful angel had simply been too easy. Ainz would not grow complacent, there was always the possibility those casters from the Slane Theocracy were ignorant of the true powers in this world. From the brief questioning they went through revealed they did not lead the attack on the city of E-Rantel. When hearing of the news, they continued their hunt of Gazef, in hopes to weaken the kingdom even further. The information was suspect at the moment, but Neuronist would be able to extract the truth from them.
The details he gathered from the members of the Sunlight Scripture was unnerving. Apparently E-Rantel was some sort of fortress and whatever had happened cut a line through the city. Ainz would need to investigate with all haste if whatever caused this could be a threat to Nazarick as well. Therefore, immediately after giving his regards to Gazef, he teleported back to Nazarick once he left the village's sight.
He needed to act swiftly, but it could be dangerous, he needed to act with prudence. Calling for Demiurge to discuss his plans, he wondered if the demon could think of an appropriate aide to travel with him.
"You have called for me, Ainz-sama." Demiurge bowed deeply. In a fine suit and able to present such dignified deference, Ainz's past self as a salaryman felt a bit jealous.
"Rise Demiurge. On my excursion I have learned that an unknown force caused destruction in a nearby town. I planned to venture out in time, but action must be taken now in case it poses a threat to Nazarick or its inhabitants. You have been called to suggest who I should take with me on my journey."
"Is this not a task that your faithful servants can undertake? There is no need for you to put yourself into danger Ainz-sama."
"I understand your concern, but I must do this myself. To blindly lead from inside these halls could put us all in danger."
"In that case, please take Albedo with you. She is one of our strongest, and we would be most at ease if you were to take her with you."
"No Demiurge, as she is leader of the Floor Guardians she will need to help oversee Nazarick in my absence. Whoever accompanies me we also need to be seen as human, we can not risk an illusion being dispelled."
"Forgive me for my misunderstanding! In that case, perhaps the Pleiades should suffice. Please take at least two with you, we are able to function without them, but we must not let you come to any harm. Gamma and The Lastborn are the ones I would recommend most highly."
"Aureole, huh." The Lastborn of the Pleiades, and the only human in Nazarick. It may be beneficial to take along an actual human to help smooth things along. Wait, he was a human. He shook his head.
"Very well then Demiurge, I shall take Narberal Gamma and Aureole Omega with me. Inform them that we shall depart tomorrow at dawn, and I wish them to be inconspicuous in human company."
"As you desire, Ainz-sama."
Narberal and Aureole were both quite powerful. He'd considered bringing Pandora's actor but the shame would have been to great. No, his own creation needed to continue guarding the treasury where the Staff of Aainz Ooal Gown would be kept. While it did pain him to deprive Nazarick of two capable warriors he agreed with Demiurge's assessment. Destruction of this level seemed like it could be on par with a high level player.
As such, even though he needed to rush things, he would not be going in blind. Without the need to sleep, Ainz began preparing, first starting with the [Mirror of Remote Viewing]. It took him a while to correctly find the city of E-Rantel, but upon observing it, he found his worries justified. While not at the level of a high-tiered destructive magic, it was a great deal of damage for mere physical attacks. Using a combination of long range viewing items and magic detection, he confirmed that the damage to the city had not been caused by magic at all. These items could not detect the use of skills on the other hand, so he would be unable to confirm that a Yggdrasil player was the one who had done this. While he couldn't discern a motive a player would have to scar a town, that didn't mean that there wasn't one.
It could be a monster or attack from this world, but that was not nearly as worrisome as if it were to be a player. Players would be aware of his limits and potential weaknesses, and knowledge was power. Ainz still wanted to get into contact with players from the Old World, but what if they were hostile? How would he deal with them if they were like Laughing Coffin? Before today he never thought of killing anyone, but even if he told himself he didn't want it to come to that, he felt he would if they posed a danger to Nazarick.
Ainz would not let that happen. The Great Tomb of Nazarick and all its occupants were the memories he shared with his dear friends. He would allow nothing to ruin them, not even another player.
AN: Had real people stuff to do today. Have this tiny chapter of Ainz.
EDIT:Page Breaks and giving The Lastborn her proper name. I got the Omega part right tho :/