CHAPTER FIVE: A JOURNEY
keiken and CZ, as well as the Swords of Darkness, made their way down the stairs of the adventurer's guild. They were intercepted by the lady at the mission counter. "Miss Kei?" She asked, causing the dragonoid to tilt her head. "You have been specifically requested for a mission." keiken blinked under her hood, "By who?"
"By me." A new voice appeared as a boy walked in front of the stairs. "Allow me, to introduce myself, I am Nphirea Balear." keiken held up a hand, "Sorry, but I'm working on another job right now. Maybe afterward." Peter leaned over her shoulder, ushering her to accept the quest since she was specifically requested. The cloaked girl shook her head, "I'm not that type of person." However, Peter refused to let up, "At least listen to his proposition first!"
keiken begrudgingly agreed, and everyone went back upstairs to discuss. "I need to harvest herbs in the forest near Carne village. All I ask is that you protect me, and provide a little assistance in collecting the herbs." keiken brought a hand to her chin. A bodyguard assignment? And as a personal request would be sure to bring more than an independent monster expedition. The only thing is, she wasn't very well suited for detecting threats or collecting herbs.
She crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair. "Alright, here's my proposition. Peter, may I hire the Swords of Darkness to come along with us for this quest?" Peter blinked at her, causing her to elaborate. "My skills are more suited for battle, I wouldn't do well. But Lukrut is a ranger and would be good at detecting threats. And if we're heading into a forest, it would benefit to have Dyne's assistance as well." The group nodded, "You possess a keen insight, Miss Kei." Dyne complimented her. She waved him off, "Please, just call me Kei. I'm not big on formality." Everyone at the table smiled, and Nfirea agreed to have the Swords of Darkness come along. But as they headed out, keiken kept her eyes on Nfirea's back, something was off.
She and CZ strayed a little behind the group. "CZ2128," The automation lifted her head, "Don't bring out your weapon unless instructed. And help me keep an eye on Nphirea Balear."
The entire group was now on the move in a wagon toward Carne Village. After a few hours of peaceful travel, they all took a break in a nice spot near an area of water.
"Enjoy this. Things will start to get dangerous from here on out." Peter said seriously, keiken nodded silently. This was her first time properly leaving Nazarick since they arrived. She knew Ainz was probably watching over them, and CZ would take care of her blind spots, but she still fears having to get serious. keiken sighed, a problem for later.
"I just realized that this is the Wise King of the Forest King's territory," Ninya spoke up, drawing CZ's attention with keiken still in thought. "Wise King?" The automation spoke softly, for the first time since they'd met this group. After the moment of surprise wore off, Nfirea went into explanation. "A very old and wise magical creature. Not only can it cast magic, but it is very physically strong. If its razor claws don't finish you off, its snake tail will." keiken finally tuned into the conversation, humming in interest.
When they started packing things up again, Ninya started introducing things like creation magic to keiken, the dragonoid lighting up with the new information. "Yeah! And there's also [Alarm] to alert you when danger is near." keiken clapped her hands together, engaging the mage with new questions to continue the conversation. CZ and the others laughed lightly at the two.
The friendly chatter continued as they all traveled. "Y'know Kei, you're much more–" Lukrut suddenly stopped speaking, drawing everyone's attention as his expression became serious. "They're on the move. Coming from just past the tree line right there." He pointed his thumb to an area of the forest, to see a large group of ogres and goblins coming from behind the trees. Peter advised Nfirea to hide in the cart, "Kei." He said, causing the girl to perk her head up. "How should we split up the group?" The girl grinned from under her hood, "The Swords of Darkness should stay close to Nfirea. I'll go up front with CZ and prove that we're worth some real money!" Peter nodded in agreement, "Alright, we'll give any support we can from behind!"
Keiken stood and dashed towards the enemies, CZ a bit back in the distance with her gun ready. She kept running, excited shouts as she tore apart every ogre with bare hands. A handful of goblins got through her, and she watched the Swords of Darkness work together to take them out. She turned away with a solemn expression. They're good, but couldn't hold a candle to her old friends. The mobs noticed they were losing, and a couple of them tried to escape before CZ drilled them into bullet holes.
Everyone came together once the battle was over, to get their injuries healed and to collect pieces of the enemies to exchange for money. Keiken found it a little weird you had to cut off the pieces yourself, but she supposed this wasn't a game anymore. Everyone showered keiken in compliments, "I've never seen any fight so well without a weapon. I think you could even beat the head warrior!" CZ enthusiastically agreed from beside her, causing her to laugh a bit. "With some work, you guys can be much stronger y'know." She smiled at them, they stared back with agape expressions.
It wasn't long before it became nightfall. keiken and the others set up camp and prepared some dinner. CZ didn't need to eat, but was able to excuse it by saying she wasn't hungry.
"By the way," keiken said, still chewing. "Why do you call yourselves the Swords of Darkness?" Lukrut smiled before grinning at Ninya. "Well, Ninya–" The mage hastily interrupted him. "No, don't! It was an old mistake." Dyne put a hand on his shoulder. "There is nothing to be ashamed of." Ninya blushed, and Peter continued. "We're named after the swords of one of the Thirteen Heroes."
He didn't say anything else and keiken tilted her head. "Who are they?" CZ asked, keiken mentally thanking her. "Oh, you don't know, Zea? Among the Thirteen Heroes, there was one with four swords called the "Black Knight". Ninya explained before looking down with a bashful smile. "Our ultimate goal is to find those swords. But until we get our hands on them, these will be our symbol." Lukrut elaborated, and the group consecutively pulled out dark, rugged daggers. Each had one of their own.
Peter looked down at his with a reminiscent grin. "Real or fake has nothing to do with it. These represent the creation of our time." The entire team smiled, thinking of happy memories. "Lukrut said something surprisingly good." Dyne teased. The group chuckled at Lukrut's expense, watching as he spewed empty complaints. keiken observed them, feeling slightly out of place in this warm atmosphere. She silently went back to the bowl of food in her hands. She couldn't help but remember how it was with her old guild mates. When they explored together, joked and laughed.
"Do all adventurer teams get along well like this?" Nphirea asked. Peter nodded. "Yes. We trust each other with our lives." He said with a pleasant smile. "And our group is full of boys," Lukrut added. "I hear girls in a group can cause a lot of problems." The group laughed. keiken blinked, and playfully frowned. "Oh? I see how it is." She gestured towards herself and CZ. Apparently the only females in the group. Lukrut laughed, raising his hands defensively. "But we all share a goal, so our team is pretty solidified!" Ninya added.
keiken looked up to the stars in memory. "It's a beautiful thing when teammates are a common goal. I remember when I was introduced to my friends." She smiled fondly. "My best friends and strongest allies. They're unforgettable." Her hands tightly gripped the spoon and empty bowl in her hands. Ninya smiled, admiring the faraway gleam in keiken's eyes. "One day, I'm sure you'll find comrades just like them again." keiken's eyes sharply turned to Ninya. Her expression is twisted into a glare. "No. I won't." She said darkly.
She got up, and turned her back to the group before walking away. "Zea." She called, and the automation silently got up to join her. The silence weighed heavy, the adventurers didn't know what to say. keiken sat in silence, looking down at her lap with a small glare. She let out a breath, trying to ease her tension. She couldn't allow herself to be so moody.
The next day, the adventurers carried on. But the atmosphere was slightly heavier. Before they started moving, earlier this morning, Ninya apologized to keiken for what had been said last night. She waved them off, but she could still them weighing with guilt. Lukrut awkwardly interjected seeing Ninya's frown. "Uhm.. This area has such a great view! There's probably no need to walk in formation like this." He said cheerily, trying to uplift the mood. Peter disagreed. "No, we must stay on guard." He stated firmly. Dyne nodded from beside him, "Agreed, The greatest enemy is carelessness."
"A dragon could suddenly launch an attack on us." Ninya said, warily looking into the forests. Lukrut looked at them with disbelief, "Do you really think that could happen Ninya?" Ninya shrugged. "Around E-Rantel, there are rumors of a nearby dragon that could freely control nature. There's also a few frost dragons that live to the north of the Azerlisia mountains." They pointed to tall mountains beyond the forest. keiken looked to where they were pointing. "Ah, do you know the name of the dragon which freely controls nature?" She asked politely, speaking for the first time in a while. Ninya looked towards keiken shyly and shook their head. "Er—no, not its name. But I can check for you when we return to town." They offered. keiken smiled, "Thanks, Ninya. I'd appreciate that." Ninya grew a bright smile and nodded dutifully. The rest of the group seemed happy to see Ninya in a good mood. keiken stole another glance at the mountains. The dragons back in YGGDRASIL were considered the strongest. If the same thing applies here, then she and Ainz would need to prove wary.
"Huh?" She heard Nphirea say aloud. She looked forward to see that they were approaching Carne village, which now had a stable wooden fence. "They didn't have such a strong-looking fence before?" He noted. When they reached the gate, goblins emerged from the other side. "Goblins?" Lukrut asked, raising his bow and arrow, only to be shocked when the goblins mirrored him with their weapons.
"Who the hell are you guys?" They yelled, glaring at the humans. Suddenly, even more goblins arose from the bushes to either side of their cart. The adventurers gasped, overwhelmed. "Put down your weapons!" They commanded. keiken blinked, were goblins guarding this village when Ainz was here? She scratched her head. One of the goblins walked to the front, with a polite smile. "Look, guys. We don't want to fight if we don't have to." He said. "Especially that cloaked girl in the back. You give off a real dangerous feeling." The dragonoid tilted her head, trying to keep her lips from twitching into a grin.
"Mr. Goblin, what's going on?" A young girl walked up, most likely a villager in Carne village. The goblins referred to her as boss. Nphirea perked up at the sight of her. "Enri!" At the name, keiken felt a switch flip in her brain. That's the girl who Ainz gifted the goblin horns! That makes sense.
She put a hand to her chin, He definitely should be informed about the relationship between her and Nphirea, an ability holder.
...hey? im sorry aout disappearing, idk why but I really lost inspiration to write this fic, and then completely forgot about it ? but I wanted to read something, so I came here and saw this laying on my profile and decided to update it! I'm gonna try and be as consistent as I did in the beginning. also overlord 4 is amazing! I'm having so much fun ad hopefully this book last long enough so I get to write about it 333