The carriage ground to a halt once it had reached a certain distance from the main gate.

Though Thrawn attempted to do a quick inspection of his grooming that would be adequate to greet another nations emissary, fashion was not the most pressing matter at present, so he could only hope to look as presentable as possible before them with what he had at present.

Granted to some the level and quality of armor could signify status in its own right. For example the four imperial knights of them empire never removed their armor for certain events, as once would need to remain on guard at all times surrounding the king of a nation. Because of this, their armor was made to look as regal as possible so that they may be presentable even then.

However, he was not nearly prestigious enough to process a hand made set, however that was not to say his armor was cheap either. His suit of full plate mythril still would cost quite a hefty amount, and no common adventurer below gold would be able to afford it.

Well, no point in thinking about such pointless things when their already here... Besides, this was a un-announced visit, so I doubt they will complain at a lack of formal attire.

Though he had received emissaries in the past, he began to feel sick at the pressure of having to bear such a responsibility. This was by far and away, the defining moment of the Draconic Kingdoms future. If they were displeased, how would they gain there help? This burden of which almost made him fell nauseous, yet he could not simply leave. He had to bear with it.

As the carriages door began to open, he steeled himself and began to rehearse what he would say, yet as he saw what stepped out of the object, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

I-it can't be. Though I had thought of the possibility, I hadn't expected it to be real!

Before him stood the sovereign of the nation of undead. The Sorcerer king Ainz Ooal Gown. Though he had heard second-hand accounts of his appearance, mere descriptions could not properly convey his presence. now that the real thing stood before his eyes, he was left speechless.

Certainly his appearance was that of an undead. The best proof of this was the fact that not a scrap of flesh could be seen on his body. He was a skeleton, plain and simple. Blood red motes of flame danced in his empty eye sockets, staring at the gates contingent with a burning gaze.

However, in contrast to that, the cloths he wore were all of exemplary quality. He could not ever recall seeing garments that exuded such majesty. The Pitch black robe with gold accents seemed to only exacerbate the his dark form that much more by adding on to it. A ring was on each of his fingers, save for one, and all of them were also the product of the highest caliber of smith, as they were so intricate, it would take a inhuman amount of skill to make.

Yet the last thing that stood out was a halo of ebony that surrounded his form.

While his status as a undead drew fear from all who gazed upon his form, his clothing and aura gave of a feeling of nobility. With both of these factors combined, it would seem that his very presence omitted a oppressive aura that made him seem larger than life.

Truly this was the true form of the sorcerer king. Nobody who saw him would dare question that.

Though why had the monarch come in person? One would normally send a emissary such as a noble or representative. No nation would have its ruler come in person to a new nation it was just establishing contact with, right?

Though he was stunned upon the initial impact, what followed him was also quite shocking. The first being was what appeared to be some type of demi-human. It had mostly Avian features and emitted a golden radiance at all times. Though the aura it gave of seemed to practically scream "divine", he felt uneasy due to their current predicament.

The second was a simple slime. Though he had come to expect creatures wearing artifacts of immeasurable quality by now, this one didn't seem to have anything noticeable flashy, and was just a simple pile of sludge, in every definition of the word. Though he though he could see something within its depths, he couldn't make it out, and thus gave up.

These beings caused his survival instincts to go into overdrive just from being in there vicinity. Each and everyone emitted a wave of over-pressure that was unique to the strong which sent chills down his spine. Though they may be coming on peaceful terms – In theory anyway – he could not relax. The shock was such that he forgot why he had come here in the first place.

"Greetings, I assume you are the leader of this garrison that has come to welcome us? It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am the Sorcerer king, Ainz Ooal Gown." the statement practically flowed with regal bearing, something only an exceptional ruler had about them.

Snapping back in to reality, the captain gave his practiced introduction as smoothly as reading off a script.

"I am honored by your presence, your majesty. A day does not go by where I haven't heard of your grand deeds and name. Might I ask what has caused you to Visit our esteemed nation?"

"Ah yes, you see there is a certain matter that I wished to discuss with your queen. Unfortunately I cannot go into to much detail about the specifics, as this is a matter of national secrecy, however I feel that she is in possession of knowledge that could be of great benefit to me, and I wish to negotiate a trade for it."

"Eh?"

"Is this a problem?"

This was thoroughly unexpected. He had assumed this was simply going to be a diplomatic meeting between nations, and would result in trade deals, and the hope was to convince them to help with the Beastmen scourge. But if he had come to negotiate a trade, perhaps convincing him would not be needed.

"N-not at all your majesty! It was just surprising is all. As one of the undead, you must have lived a extremely long life have you not? I feel that any and all knowledge in the world would already be known by you." His reasoning for asking this had been twofold. The first was to see if he could peer through any lies. Letting someone as powerful as the Sorcerer king enter the presence of the queen for a undisclosed reason was a very risk move.

The second was a rather selfish one. He merely wanted to know why the undead king would not possess this knowledge already. Well its not completely selfish... its still useful to know this for the future.

"Indeed, compared to you humans, my life has spanned many a generation" While he was answering this question, he noticed the birdman whisper something to the slime, though he couldn't make it out due to the distance between them.

"However I have spent most of that time studying magic, thus I regret to say my knowledge on external affairs of the world was somewhat limited until recently. There is something I wish to confirm with your queen if that is okay. I have also prepared a gift to bestow upon her as a sign of good faith."

Though the idea still unnerved him somewhat, this was non-negotiable, as they had to acquire his help at all cost. And disregarding his undead status, he had done nothing to warrant suspicion so far. Therefore, only one option remained.

"Is that so? I understand your majesty, I shall send someone to inform the queen of your arrival, as we currently have a lot we are dealing with at the moment, so she cannot see you right away. I apologize for this inconvenience"

"Think nothing of it. Its only natural in these instances. I'm more than willing to wait a little until she is prepared."

"Very well. Until then, would you care to be given a tour of the capital? Unfortunately we don't have anything prepared due to your majesties sudden arrival, though if it pleases you, we can prepare whatever you wish."

Though this was obviously not the time for such things, they had to get on his good graces. It might well be possible that whatever he is asking of her is not nearly valuable enough to assist them. Therefore it was his job to make him happy and give him some measure of goodwill towards them if needed.

The responsibility was quite hefty, and the pressure he felt was quite palpable, to the point where he simply wanted to yell and scream Why me to the sky, cursing the gods for forcing this onto him. Though he knew this thinking was pointless now. The stage was already set.

"It is fine. I have nothing that interest me at present, though if I notice something on this tour, I will be sure to ask."

"Very well your majesty. Then please allow me the privilege of escorting you and your followers around our proud city."

As he was about to turn into the city, he heard the monarch grumble something into his hand. Though he couldn't make it out due to how quiet it was, the tone of the voice implied that he was upset.

Had he already screwed up somehow?

The instinct to yell grew within him once more, but he quashed it with some effort. For all he knew, this was their last chance. With I rallying cry in his heart, he shouted to himself, I must keep him satisfied at all cost!

With Vigor renewed, he headed into the city, determined not to fail.

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As Ainz and his friends were taken on their tour through the streets of the capital, they could not help but feel quite shocked at how clean the city looked. Though the housings and other such buildings were no different from any other city, the streets were all paved with pure white bricks, and the amount that was used in the surrounding buildings became denser the closer one was to the castle.

It was easily the most advanced city in terms of architecture, with only the empires Arwintar coming close in beauty. Though it could not compare to Nazarick, it was pretty in its own unique way. The buildings seemed to be a mixture of modern and ancient techniques with houses ranging from simple saloons, to apartment buildings. If almost seemed to be directly taken from earth.

The city was built in a circular fashion, similar to E-rantel, with the castle situated in its center. The cylindrical tower seemed to shoot out from the ground, surrounded by other pearl white structures which gave it the feeling of being otherworldly.

Where did such techniques derive from I wonder? Could a player have something to do with this?

Though Ainz had yet to find a player within this world, the possibility was not zero. There was much proof of their existence in this world through the many influences scattered throughout the world. They hadn't investigated this kingdom as of yet, so it was very possible that one was here or at least existed in the past to have spread these techniques.

It would seem Peroroncino and BukuBukuChagama had the same idea, as they were also looking suspiciously at some of the more modern day buildings. Though they most likely had not reached the same conclusion Ainz had, they were certainly suspicious.

"Excuse me Thrawn-dono, might I ask some questions about this city? The architecture is unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"Ah yes, many people who visit this city say the same thing. This city was founded hundreds of years ago by the brightness dragon lord, and through the use of magic, had created this city in the image he desired. Though only the center areas of the kingdom were built by him. The rest was expanded upon overtime, and used the techniques within that section to shape the others."

"Hoh? And were is this dragon lord now?" His suspicious in the dragon lords grew ever higher as he now had even more connections with them and players. Coming to this city was definitely the right move.

"Well, nobody has seen him in decades. Most assume he is hibernating away underground, or in his own lair somewhere, but its all really conjecture. Even when he was around, people rarely interacted with him, so its anyone's guess on his current location."

"Does this dragon have anything to do with the council state?"

"Oh no, that place has five other dragons. While I don't know what they are called, the brightness dragon lord was never one of them. He never showed himself often, yet still spread his bloodline to humans. Quite the enigma that one."

Though it would seem that this was at a dead end, Ainz was not deterred in the slightest. It was unlikely that a mere commander of foot soldiers would know of such things. All he had to do was slowly squeeze this information out of the queen through trust after saving the nation until he had learned what he needed to know.

As Ainz made a mental data point to remember this info, BububukuChagama suddenly spoke up.

"I have a question actually. Despite the state the city is in, the citizens that I have seen all seem to have worried expressions on there faces. Though I know we aren't the most welcoming group, even ones in the distance have quite a gloomy look on their faces. Why is that?"

Ainz adjusted his view to look at some of the nearby commoners, and sure enough, they all wore downtrodden expressions, as if they all had something troubling them at the same time.

"mmm... as I'm sure you have no doubt heard by now, the beastmen constantly attack our nations cities in order to feast upon their inhabitants. This has been the case for several years now. But recently, they have gone into an all out war with us, and have been gaining a lot of ground due to them borrowing ultra powerful golems from the commonwealth. As a result, fortifications have been increased around the capital, and the citizens have been left feeling worried at what is to come."

"Hoh? Golems you say?" Ainz had originally come here to fend off the beastmen and use their gratitude to chain them, which he would then use to obtain all kinds of information. Though this changed the matter.

Golems were seen as extremely rare creatures in this world, taking a year to even make a wood golem. But if these beastmen were in possession of golems that were either powerful or unique to this world, then that may change his plans entirely.

How many of these golems do they possess?"

"From what we know, they only possess four. however they each have supreme strength, that was even able to defeat our countries adamantite adventurer, Cerberate with relative ease."

Ainz could feel his collectors spirit rising as he heard this news. While I doubt they have anything like gargantua, there strength could greatly increase Nazaricks power. If they are stronger than I anticipate, then it may be worth taking the answers in this kingdom by force and blaming it on the beastmen.

As he began to mull over his options, a man in pure white armor began to sprint over to Ainz and his party. Through a quick analysis, he seemed to be a guard of some type. More than likely higher than Thrawn in status.

"Your majesty! I have been sent to inform you that the queen has finished her preparations and will see you now!"

"That was much quicker than I anticipated. Well no matter. This simply makes things easier. It seems we will be splitting up here Thrawn-dono, Thank you for the tour of this city, it was most pleasant."

"The honor was all mine. I hope your majesty can reach a beneficially mutual agreement."

"Umu, as do I. Now then guardsmen, may you please guide us to the royal palace?"

"Of course your Majesty."

Just like before, he was lead by the guard to the deeper reaches of the city, and it seemed as if they still had a ways to go, but Ainz did not mind this. It simply gave him more time to think of a answer to his question.

Would saving this city really benefit him?

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Earliar...

"What is the current status on the beastmen Invasion Carron? Have there been any noticeable movements from them as of yet?"

The Throne room of Queen Draudillon was once again ablaze with panic as the nobles and royalty of the country scrambled to find a solution to there problem. Each day that past merely felt like the countdown of a clock, that would surely be the end of them when it reached its end.

"Yes, the reports from the last remaining city, Ireth, came in just came in."

"You don't need to make it sound so grim... no matter. Hurry up and brief me.

"Yes! According to them, they are already moving out from Narod in hopes of claiming that city for themselves now. If this keeps up, they be at the capital by the end of the week! How should we proceed your majesty?"

"Hahhh."

Faced with these seemingly insurmountable odds, all she could do was sigh. Problem after problem kept piling on without a end in sight, and the weight of all of these was beginning to get to her.

For one, the city of Ireth was practically dead in the water. Though she had fought against the desison, they had taken nearly all of the city's troops to boost their own fighting force for one last stand at the capital. The guilt of which had gnawed at her heart. Though she had still given the order to evacuate. A large portion of the city still remained. Some due to not having the funds to leave, and others because they still needed to fight for the sake of the kingdom. If they weren't there, then they would already reach the capital sooner than expected, which would shred even the faintest iota of hope they had.

The second was the matter of the dragons kingdoms defenses. Quite frankly, they were awful. They had relied to much on other nations for help, and lacked the funds to bolster their own armies. Even now they were praying for the miracle that was the sorcerer kingdom to approach them and offer assistance, though that was beginning to look like a pipe dream.

Truly, she was at a loss.

The word Flee Ran through her mind, but vanished as quickly as it came. That was a last resort for if they were truly overwhelmed as they had no where to go at present. Though it was seeming like that was likely going to be the end-case scenario.

Besides, she didn't deserve to flee after all that's happened under her rule.

She soon realized she had not answered their question yet, and gave the only answer she could give.

"We do the only thing we can do. Fight until the bitter end. After everything that has transpired, we need to make a final stand and show those bastards we aren't to be underestimated.. We still outnumber the beastmen, so we can still win with strategy. We just need to make preparations in the mean time."

"Of course your majesty. It just seems like our chances have been getting worse and worse with each bit of news we receive. We will assuredly win in the end, though its only natural to be worried in times like these no?"

You think I'm not?

She simply shook her head at his remark. "Of course. I don't intend to blame you. But your right. We have to win this war for the sake of the people!"

"Don't forget, we still have the possibility of the sorcerer kingdom coming to assist us!"

Everyone simply gave a bitter smile in response to the noblemen's exclamation. Though it was true the possibility existed of them lending aid, it was seeming more like a dream at this point, with all out war being merely days away.

Everyone in the room understood this, with them all steeling themselves for death. They would most likely perish in this coming fight, but as long as the queen survived and they won in the end, they would accept there fates. Still there were some who feared their demise, and clung to the smallest possibilities that they could in order to retain there sanity.

"Of course, though we should not think to rely on that at this point. Right now we should simply focus on winning with what we have available."

"O-of course your majesty."

As they were about to begin discussing this, the doors to the room flew open prompting the guards to reach for their weapons at the unannounced intruder. A panting soldier Took the place of the double doors who was bent at his knees, hungrily gasping for breath.

"Your-your majesty!"

After the initial shock of the intrusion, everyone had there attention focus on the newcomer to see what could warrant such a response.

"Your Majesty! Emissaries from the sorcerer kingdom have arrived!"

The already silent rooms decibel count seemed to drop even further with the news that was just given. And after everyone had heard and processed what was said, the same sound was heard from everybody in the room.

–Haaaaaaaaah?

A/N Since the earlier chapters were a bit quick in order to get into the story, I'm going to be giving more in depth chapters from now on so it can focus on one subject for longer. At least when its in moments like this. Thank god that Lofi radio exist right?