Welcome!
Thank you for reading my fanfic and giving me a chance.
My mother language is not English so please be patient about the grammatical issues.
I don't own the Overlord(オーバーロードŌbārōdo?) novel or anime series created by Kugane Maruyama.
I would like to thank the wonderful job what the Skythewood translator team done with the light novel translation.
Without their hard and persistent work, I surely couldn't write this story.
Please review it I know I will make mistakes what I will intend to correct and try to learn from my mistakes and improve myself.
Let's continue our little story!
Esdeath lied on her bed. She took her usual nap not because she needed. She doesn't need it anymore because after the transition her body become constructed from the pure aether.
She did it because it was good feeling taking a nap once a while. It was kinda relaxing for her overworked mind. After a daily training with Cocytus, patroling/exploring the Tomb, reading whatever books she can get her hands on helping Momonga manage Nazarick etc. She needed this little time. It helped her to organize her thoughts and gave her ideas what to do in their situation.
„If Momonga-san is undead now that means he can't sleep anymore according to the lore of the undead races of YGGRADASIL.
He can't refresh his mind with a good nap. Poor Momonga-san."
She often wondered this and such things.
Suddenly she woke up because something wet started to flow from between her legs. She inspected it and it was blood!
„WTF! " She frightened out internally but suddenly realized what happened
"Great now I have a menstrual cycle it's getting better and better." one of her eyes started to twitching
„Now that I look back it's completely normal for a woman!"
„I should expect on it. Never mind I will take care of it later."
She got up from her bed and shapeshifted into a more comfortable form. What she used to become prefer instead of her base form when she just walked around and did things. It was not suitable for fights and such things and the things what said previously. But it was much more comfortable.
She becomes quite fond of this shape-shifting ability so she practiced it often.
First, she reduced her height. She made her body shape and face to be more childlike. She grew elf ears. Then she required a more fitting clothes for her new body proportions. She always carried multiple sets of equipment if needed. So she can quickly equip it with her magic. Her eyes remained the same. Black sclera with heteromorphic eyes one of them blood red and the other one was pure white. Her hair remained as before. White and long.(imagine her like Medusa Gorgon in the Soul Eater anime series after she lost her original body and forced to occupy a little girl body. Just with the OC proportions.)
„Now it's done. It's time to visit Momonga-san."
Scene Change Momonga's suite:
Momonga sat on a chair and looked at the mirror before him. The roughly one-meter wide mirror did not reflect Momonga's face, but a patch of grass. The mirror was like a television set, showing images of a distant plain.
The grass of the plains swayed in the wind, proving it was not a still image.
As time passed, the sun slowly rose, its light banishing the darkness that covered the plains. This pastoral scene, almost poetic in its beauty, was a stark difference from the former location of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the desolate world of Helheim.
Momonga reached out to the mirror and swiped his hand right. The mirror's image changed.
This was a Mirror of Remote Viewing.
This was a magic item used to display an image of a specific region. It was a very useful item for player-killers or player-killer-killers. However, there were low-level spells which occluded information-gathering spells that could hide people from the mirror's eyes. In addition, it was easy for users to be counterattacked by offensive barriers, so it was an average item at best.
However, for the present circumstances, an item which could show the outside world was a very useful item indeed.
Momonga enjoyed the movie-like quality of the grass within the mirror as the image changed.
"It would seem that I can move the image with a wave of the hand. That way, I won't have to keep looking at the same spot."
The scenery and the angles with which it was viewed changed within the floating mirror. Although he had made several mistakes so far, Momonga kept changing his gestures to alter the landscape within the mirror, hoping that he would find someone. However, up till now, he had not found any intelligent beings — for instance, humans.
He repeated the same simple gestures over and over again, but all the images he got were the same: plains. Momonga was starting to get bored, so he looked at the other person in the room.
"What's wrong, Momonga-sama? I stand ready to heed your every command."
"No, there's nothing, Sebas."
Sebas was the other person in the room. He might have been smiling, but his words seemed to hold some kind of subtext. Although Sebas was absolutely loyal to him, he had objected to Momonga's excursion to the surface without bringing his followers along.
Indeed, just after Momonga returned from the surface, Sebas had accosted and lectured him.
Momonga said what was on his heart.
"What will I do with him…"
Being with Sebas made Momonga think of his guildmate Touch Me. After all, Touch Me-san was the one who had designed Sebas.
„Still, he didn't have to make him so similar to himself. Even the way Sebas gets angry reminds me of him."
„Good Morning Momonga-san. Good Morning Sebas-san."
Momonga suddenly can't find the childish voice source and wondered.
„Besides Aura and Mare, there's an another NPC who designed to look and sound like a child?"
And he suddenly remembered. His companion picked up that bad habit to change shapes.
Momonga was often confused because sometimes he can't recognize his guildmate at first.
The only characteristic what made her recognizable her long white hair and unique heteromorphic eyes.
In his train of thoughts, Sebas bowed deeply and said.
„Good Morning Esdeath-sama. Do you slept well?"
„Thank you Sebas I slept I mean my nap was very relaxing. Now I think of a thing. Can you send a maid to my room to clean it? I think I made a little mess. But only if that's not a problem."
„Of course Esdeath-sama I will take care of it immediately after Momonga-sama finished if it's good for you"
„Thank you Sebas. Yes it's perfect." she showed a bright childish smile to Sebas
Sebas suddenly felt uncomfortable from this smile but his face remained stoic.
Momonga sighed and sweatdropped internally. If he had flesh you could see a desperate look on his face. „I probably never get used for her new hobby. Should I ask her to stop it?"
„Welcome! Esdeath-san. I hope you are well."
„I'm fine Momonga-san. You? Oh! That's the [Mirror of Remote Wieving]? It's ben a while since I see it last."
„Yes, it is. I just spying the outside world and a meanwhile I trying to figure out the item works properly."
„Can I watch it?"
Momonga just nodded silently.
Esdeath pulled a chair effortlessly near Momonga and hopped into it.
After grumbling in his heart, Momonga looked back to the mirror.
Momonga's plan was to teach Demiurge the hard-learned lessons of how to control the magic mirror. This was what Momonga had meant when he spoke to Demiurge about another security net.
Although it would have been simpler to leave this task to his subordinates or Esdeath, Momonga wanted to handle this task personally. The truth was that he wanted to use his can-do working attitude to inspire and gain the respect of his subordinates. Therefore he could not be seen to give up halfway.
„Still, why can't I switch to a higher vantage point? If only there were manual… „
With these thoughts in mind, Momonga went about the painstaking work of figuring the mirror's controls out by boring, repetitive trial and error.
He did not know how long it had been.
Momonga casually waved his hand with a vacant expression, and his field of vision suddenly expanded.
"Oh!"
Surprise, delight, pride, Momonga's exclamation was filled with all of these. At his wits' end, he made a random gesture and the screen suddenly did as he wanted. This was a cry of joy one would expect out of a programmer who had pulled eight hours' worth of overtime.
„It seems it work. If it's what you wanted to happen. Good work Momonga-san."
She gave him a big Thumb up
Cheering and clapping answered on the other side. The source of these two sounds was Sebas.
"Congratulations, Momonga-sama. Your servant Sebas stands in awe of your prowess."
"Granted, this was the fruit of extensive trial and error, so you don't need to go that far." Momonga thought that, but when he saw that Sebas looked quite happy, he decided to humbly accept the butler's praise.
"Thank you, Sebas and Esdeath-san. Although I had t apologize from you Sebas for making you accompany me for so long."
"What are you saying? Staying by the Supreme Beings side and obeying your orders is the reason for a butler's existence, Momonga-sama. There is no need to thank or apologize to me… although, it is true that this process took quite some time. Momonga-sama, would you like to take a break?"
"No, there is no need for that. Undead like myself is not affected by negative statuses like fatigue. If you're tired, you may go and rest."
"Thank you for your kindness, but it would be unthinkable for a butler to rest while his master worked. With the aid of magic items, I am not affected by fatigue either. Please allow me to stay by the side of two of you until the end, Momonga-sama."
Momonga realized one thing from his conversations with the NPCs; namely, they casually used game terms in their speech. For instance, skills, job classes, items, levels, negative statuses, and so on. If he could use game terms with them in an unironic way, it might be easier to give them orders.
After agreeing to Sebas' request, he continued studying the ways to control the mirror. Finally, he discovered a method to adjust the height of his viewpoint.
Momonga smiled in satisfaction and began looking for a populated area.
Finally, an image of something like a village appeared in the mirror.
It was located roughly ten kilometers south of Nazarick. There was a forest nearby, and wheat fields surrounded the city. It appeared to be a rustic farming village.
"...Are they holding a festival?"
People were running in and out of their houses this early in the morning. They looked panicked.
Esdeath leaned forward to inspect better the events what played on the surface of the mirror then said.
„I think not Momonga-san. It looks like the villagers are frightened.
It makes me remember a lot of games and movies what I played and watched before and contained such scenes. It never ended well to the villagers."
„What do you mean? How they ended?"
„Often after scenes like this. Monsters, foreign soldiers or knights came and massacred everyone in the village in the games and the movies."
„Hmm." Momonga thought deeply what his guildmate said.
„If what she said will come in life then…"
In the next scene fully armored knights were swinging their longswords at the villagers, who were dressed in rough clothes.
It was a massacre.
„Then she was right. It happened exactly as she said. Such cliché."
Esdeath only watched the massacre with a stoic face.
„Why I can't fell sadness or any such thing about them? Is it normal? Or maybe it is because I can't feel any connections between me and the villagers?" Thought Esdeath deep inside her.
A villager fell with every swing of a knight's sword. The villagers could not resist them, and could only run away. The knights pursued and killed the fleeing villagers. There were horses eating the grain in the field. Those horses must have belonged to the knights.
Momonga scoffed, intending to change the image. This village had no value to him. If he could extract more information from it, perhaps he might have a reason to save them. But as things stood, there was no reason to save this village.
He should abandon them.
Momonga was taken aback by how he could make such a heartless decision.
It felt like he was watching a TV show about animals and insects, where the strong ate the weak.
Could it be that as one of the undead, he no longer considered himself part of humanity?
He was level 100, but like he had told Mare, this world's commoners might well be level 100 as well. Therefore, he could not tread blindly into this unknown world. Although it looked like the knights were conducting a one-sided slaughter of the villagers, there might be other reasons at work here which he did not know about. Reasons like "illness, "judgment", "setting an example", and others like them kept appearing in his mind. And if he stepped in and defeated the knights, he might earn the ire of the country they belonged to.
"What do you intend to do?"
Sebas seemed to have been waiting for this moment to speak.
There could only be one answer. Momonga replied coldly:
"Nothing. There is no reason, value or benefit in rescuing them."
"—Understood."
Momonga nonchalantly looked at Sebas — at the phantom image of his past guildmate.
"This… Touch Me-san…"
Just then, Momonga remembered something.
—Saving someone in trouble is common sense.
When Momonga had just started out in YGGDRASIL, hunting down characters of heteromorphic races was a common practice, and Momonga, who had chosen such a race, had been PKed countless times. Just when he was about to leave YGGDRASIL, those words, spoken by that man, had saved him.
If not for those words, Momonga would not be here.
„We should help them out Momonga-san. If not else for Touch Me-san memory."
Momonga sighed softly, and then he smiled internally. Now that he had recalled that memory, he had no choice but to go save them.
"I will repay that debt… besides, sooner or later, I'll have to test my fighting strength in this world. Esdeath-san do you want to come?"
After saying that to his absent friend, Momonga enlarged the view of the village until he saw everything. After that, he tried to pick out the surviving villagers.
Esdeath jumped up from her place then said. „Yess! It's about time for us to explore the outside world. And for me to move my old bones."
"Sebas put Nazarick on maximum alert. We will go first, and you will tell Albedo, who is standing by next door, to follow us after fully equipping herself. However, I forbid her to bring Ginnungagap. After that, prepare support units. Something might happen which results in our inability to retreat. Therefore the units sent to the village should be adept at stealth or have the ability to go invisible."
"I understand, but I wish to request the task of defending your body to be given to me."
"Then who will relay my orders? Besides Esdeath-san will come with me. She is one of the best bodyguards in YGGRADASIL. These knights are currently sacking the village, which means there might be knights near Nazarick who might attack us. Therefore, you must stay."
„One moment Momonga-san I change into battle," said Esdeath while she shapeshifted and reequipped her gear back.
Momonga just nodded
The image changed, and now it showed a girl sending a knight flying with a punch. The girl was leading an even younger girl as they ran away. They were probably sisters. Momonga immediately opened his inventory and withdrew the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.
Just as the girl planned to flee, she was slashed in the back. Since time was tight, Momonga
swiftly incanted the spell.
"[Gate]."
It had no limits on distance and a 0% chance of teleport mishaps.
The spell Momonga used was the most accurate and potent of such spells in YGGDRASIL.
The scene before them changed in an instant.
After this, Esdeath followed him instantly.
The fact that the opposition had not used teleport-blocking filled Momonga with relief. If he was denied the chance to rescue them and was ambushed instead, it would have been bad.
Scene Change: Carne village outskirts:
After Momonga and Esdeath crossed the [Gate]. The scene before their eyes changed to the same of what they had seen earlier.
Esdeath stepped outside from the Gate directly behind Momonga.
Two terrified girls and the terrified knights were in front of them.
The one who looked like the elder sister had a braid of straw-blonde hair that reached down to her breasts. Her skin, healthily tanned from working in the sun, was now deathly pale from fear, and her dark eyes were wet with tears.
Esdeath wanted to frighten a little these so called knights made them feel the same fear as the two girls before them.
After this thought, she started her monolog what she previously prepared.
„So you little toy soldiers can kill innocent villagers but frightened before an unknown opponent? Pathetic!"
She spat these words to the knight's face like a snake spitting the venom.
„Oh but don't worry we will play with you. Like as intended with the tin cans as you are," she said with a sadistic unnaturally wide smirk
Momonga felt and unnatural chill from Esdeath but he shrugged it off quickly.
The little sister — the younger girl — buried her face in her sister's waist, trembling in fright.
Momonga gazed coldly at the knight standing before the two girls.
Perhaps they were shocked by their sudden appearance, but the knight simply stared at Momonga, having apparently forgotten to swing the sword he was holding.
This calmness allowed him to make a cold, cruel decision.
Momonga reached out an empty hand and cast his spell.
"[Grasp Heart]."
This spell was one that crushed a foe's heart, and among the ten tiers of spells, it was an instant death spell of the 9th tier. Many of the necromantic spells which Momonga was adept with possessed instant death properties, and this was one of them.
Momonga had chosen to open with this spell because even if it was resisted, the spell would still temporarily stun his opponent.
If the spell had been resisted, his plan was to take the two girls and jump back into the still open [Gate]. He had already planned their route of retreat since he was not sure what his opponents could do.
However, it would seem those preparations would not be necessary.
A feeling of something soft crushing beneath Momonga's fingers traveled up his arm, and the knight collapsed silently to the ground
Momonga looked down upon the fallen knight.
It would seem that even killing someone did not stir any emotions within him.
There was no guilt, fear or confusion in his heart, which was like the surface of a calm lake. Why was it like this?
"I see… so it's not just my body, but my mind that's no longer human."
The knight saw Momonga as well and took a step back in fear.
"...So, you dare to chase girls, but not someone who can fight back?"
„As I said before they are pathetic the most pitiful soldiers in the history of the human kind." Interjected Esdeath „Well if I'm here too then I should too try one of my Esper abilities on of them. Of course, if you don't mind guild leader."
„Do as you like Esdeath-san."
„As you wish" Esdeath smirked while she picked a gold coin from her inventory.
She placed the coin between her thumb and her index finger while her fist stuck.
[Railgun: Lowest level] she said with a calm tone and flicked away the coin.
The [Railgun] was an Esper ability. It used an item made from metal or in-game coins to do serious physical damage to the targets by accelerating magnetically the item or coin made from some kind of metal to damage the target. The higher tiered railgun you used the more time it needed to charge it but it's damage exponentially grew. It's damage yet also depended on the quality and the weight of the metal what you accelerated.
After she released her ability the upper part of the knight whose she aimed simply disappeared with a bright blue flash. Nothing remained after it just his steaming lower part.
„Hmm. They quite weak. I don't even use the six tier variation of this ability." She thought to herself.
The knights already wetted themselves. But the two guild member little experiment was far from it end
As Momonga stared down the quivering knights, he considered what spell to use next.
Momonga's opening spell was one that he particularly favored, [Grasp Heart]. This sort of magic was Momonga's specialty. Momonga had used his innate skills to increase the chances of instant death, and his necromancy-enhancing abilities improved the effectiveness of [Grasp Heart] even further. However, it meant that he could not gauge the strength of that knight.
Therefore, he should use another spell against this knight, something that did not instantly kill him. This way, he could measure the strength of this world and verify his own power.
"—Since I've come all this way, I might as well run a few experiments. You shall be a test subject."
Momonga's necromancy spells were augmented, but the simple attack spells he used were not very destructive. In addition, since metal armor was weak against electrical effects in YGGDRASIL, most people enchanted their plate armor with electricity resistance. Therefore, Momonga deliberately chose to attack his foe with an electrical spell to see how much damage it would do.
Because his aim was not to kill his opposition, there was no need to enhance its effects with skills.
"[Dragon Lightning]."
A dragon-shaped bolt of white electricity crackled around Momonga's arms and shoulders. The bolt flared brightly as it instantly surged out at the knight Momonga was pointing at.
There was no way to avoid it or defend against it.
The knight who had been electrocuted by the dragon-shaped lightning bolt shone brilliantly for an instant. Miserable as his death was, it was still a beautiful sight.
The light in his eyes faded, and the knight collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The body beneath the armor was charred black and gave off a vile stench.
Momonga had been planning to follow up with another spell, but he felt silly as he noted the weakness of the knights.
"Pathetic… he died so easily…"
„Yeah in my estimation they are around level 5 or 10."
To them, the 5th-tier [Dragon Lightning] was a weak spell. When hunting level 100 players, they would usually cast spells of the 8th tier and higher. The magic of the 5th tier and below would almost never see use.
Now that they knew the knights were weak enough to be finished off by 5th-tier magic, Momonga's tension vanished in an instant. Of course, it could be that these two knights were especially weak among their kind, but still, it was a great relief. Still, the plan to retreat with magic had not changed.
Instead of relaxing, Momonga raised his guard. It would be too foolish to die because he was careless. Next, he ought to continue testing his powers.
Momonga activated one of his skills.
"—[Create Mid-Tier Undead, Death Knight]."
This was one of Momonga's skills, which could create various undead. The Death Knight in question was Momonga's favorite undead monster, which he used as a meat shield.
It was roughly level 35, but although its attack power was only comparable to a level 25 monster, its defensive power was very good, equivalent to a level 40 monster. That said, monsters of that level were useless to Momonga for the most part.
However, the Death Knight had two very important skills.
One of them was the ability to draw away enemy attacks. The other was that just once, they could survive any attack with 1 HP. Momonga liked using Death Knights as shields because of these two skills.
This time round, he was also looking forward to using the Death Knight in a similar way.
In YGGDRASIL, when he used his skills to create undead, they would appear out of the sky in their summoner's vicinity. However, things seemed different in this world.
A cloud of black fog appeared. The cloud headed straight for the body of the knight whose heart had been crushed and then enveloped it.
The mist slowly expanded, and melded with the knight's body. After that, the knight wobbled before slowly rising to its feet like a zombie.
"Eeeeek!"
With a wet, dripping sound, several rolls of black ichor oozed out from between the gaps in the knight's helmet. It must have come from the knight's mouth.
The black fluid flowed out without end until it covered the knight's entire body. It looked like a human being that had been swallowed by a slime. Completely surrounded by the black liquid, the knight's body began to twist and change.
After several seconds, the black liquid fell off the body of what was now a Death Knight.
It was now 2.3 meters tall, and its body was correspondingly bulkier. It no longer resembled a human being, but a wild beast.
In its left hand it held a large shield that covered three-quarters of its body — a tower shield, and in its right hand, it held a wavy-bladed flamberge. This 130cm-long weapon was intended to be held with both hands, but the massive Death Knight could easily wield it with one hand.
A dreadful red-black aura covered the flamberge's blade, which pulsed like a heart.
Its massive body was sheathed in a suit of full plate armor made from some black armor, and it was covered in red tracery that resembled blood vessels.
The armor was also covered in spikes as far as anyone could see, and it looked like a man-shaped incarnation of brutality. Demonic horns sprang from its head, and one could see its rotted face underneath them. Twin points of hateful, murderous light shone in the eye sockets of its ghastly visage.
„It should not work like this. Before this, if summoned something you never needed a corpse to summon a minion."
„Hmm, we should try with an another type of minion than undead. Esdeath-san Would you kindly use of your summoning ability."
„Gladly! However, my summoning skills are not as good as yours Momonga-san. Your minions are much stronger than mine and I usually used them very rarely usually as cannon fodders in battle."
„I understand Esdeath-san. I just want to test something. It will be enough if you use a very simple one."
„Oki Doki![Summon Aether Spawn]"
From the nothingness, a shape of pure swirling aether appeared. It has no legs it just hovered into the air. In it, hands there was two golden bracer hovered it's seemingly formless wrist. Its hands ended in vicious long claw-like fingers four of them.
( it looked almost like the warlock Voidwalker pet from the World of Warcraft just more slender and human-like upper body.)
„As I thought. It seems only summonings whose based on raise something affected by this penalty. If we consider that aether is all around us and can be found everywhere in the universe. It becoming quite clear why Esdeath-san could summon an [Aether Spawn] seemingly from nothingness.
However, it's base defense was much lower than the [Death Knigth] defense it had a great advantage. Only specially enchanted weapons could harm it because it's gas like form."
„Thank you Esdeath-san. You helped a lot."
„No problem!" Esdeath only smiled brightly with closed eyes.
"Exterminate all the knights who are attacking this village."
"OOOOOOOAAAAHHHHHHH!" the [Death Knigth] roared.
The Death Knight ran, fast as lightning. The way it charged forward without hesitation was like a hunting hound that had scented its quarry. The undead hatred for the living made it sensitive to the prey that it would soon slaughter.
As the Death Knight's silhouette shrank into the distance, Momonga was keenly aware of a difference between this new world and YGGDRASIL.
That was "independence".
Originally, the Death Knight should have stayed by its summoner's side to await his orders and attack any enemies which approached. Yet, it had disregarded that order and launched an attack of its own accord. This difference might be a fatal vulnerability in an unknown situation like this one.
At a loss for words, Momonga scratched his head and sighed.
"It ran off… to think a shield would abandon the person it was supposed to protect. Then again, I did tell it to do so."
„Well, new world new possibilities."
Momonga and Esdeath sweatdropped internally. „Bodyguard NPC right it should stay near of its summoner and protect it from any harm."
„You there. Help out your little friend. Chop, chop! Oh and don't try to hurt the villagers." said by Esdeath while she pointed to her [Aether Spawn]
The [Aether Spawn] only nodded and swirled after the [Death Knigth].
Just as Esdeath gave the order to the [Aether Spawn] a humanoid shape came through the still-open Gate. At the same time, the Gate's duration ended, and it slowly disappeared.
A person clad in a suit of full-body black plate armor stood before them.
That suit of armor looked like a demon. It was covered in spikes and did not expose the slightest bit of flesh. Its clawed gauntlets grasped a black kite shield in one hand and a bardiche that radiated a sickly green glow in the other. A blood-red cape blew in the wind, while the doublet beneath was also the carmine of fresh blood.
"The preparations took some time. I apologize for my late arrival," Albedo's melodic voice spoke from beneath the horned helmet.
Albedo's levels were in the defense-focused Dark Knight class. As a result, among the three level 100 NPC warriors of Nazarick — Sebas, Cocytus, and Albedo — Albedo possessed the greatest defensive ability.
In other words, she was the strongest shield in Nazarick.
"No, it's fine. You came just in time."
"Thank you. Then… how shall we dispose of these inferior lifeforms? If you do not wish to stain his hands with their blood, I will gladly eliminate them on your behalf, Momonga-sama."
"...What exactly did Sebas tell you?"
Albedo did not respond.
"I see, you didn't pay attention… my intention is to save this village. Our enemies are the knights in armor, like that corpse over there."
Momonga saw that Albedo nodded in understanding, and turned his eyes elsewhere.
"Then…"
The elder sister wet herself, followed by the younger sister.
The stench of ammonia filled the surrounding air. Fatigue washed over Momonga like a tide. He had no idea what to do, and Albedo was no help, so Momonga decided to continue trying to express his good intentions.
"...You seem to be hurt."
Momonga, who pretended not to notice, opened his inventory and withdrew a backpack from it. Although it was called an Infinite Backpack, it could only hold up to 500 kilos of items.
After digging through several of these Backpacks, he found a small vial containing a red potion.
It was a Minor Healing Potion.
Momonga handed the potion to Enri.
"Drink it."
Momonga offered the red potion. The elder sister's face was pale with fright as she replied:
"I, I'll drink it! Just, please, spare my little sister—"
"Nee-chan!"
He watched the little sister weeping as she tried to stop her elder sister, while the elder sister apologized to her little sister while taking the potion. Their reactions confused Momonga.
After all, he had saved them in a tight spot and had even offered them a potion. Why were they acting like this in front of him? What was going on here?
"...Momonga-sama offered you a healing potion out of the kindness of his heart, but to think you would actually dare to refuse it… you inferior lifeforms deserve ten thousand deaths for that."
Albedo raised her bardiche in a natural way, preparing to behead them on the spot.
Considering they had treated him like this despite how they had risked themselves to save them, Momonga could understand Albedo's feelings. However, if he let her go ahead and slay them, then there would be no point to this rescue.
„Albedo-san. Please don't be so hasty. I think they are just frightened. Allow me to ask a few things from them first before you make a hasty decision."
Albedo gritted her teeth internally but in the end, she deeply bowed and answered.
„As you wish Esdeath-sama."
However, she was still radiating murderous intent, to the point where the two girls were gritting their teeth in fear. In response, Momonga's nonexistent stomach began cramping up.
„Thank you Albedo."
Esdeath turned to the two girls and started her series of questions.
"Is that alright if I ask you a few questions? In return, you could ask me too. Is that a good bargain for you?"
They nodded.
„Excellent!" Esdeath clapped her hands together while brightly smiled to the two frightened girls.
„First question: Why are you afraid of us?"
„B..because undead are monsters whose hate every living being and want to destroy all life on earth and you we don't even know what kind of creature are you."
„Hmm. I see if it's better I can tell you I'm a human. I born with an innate ability, My eyes change when I'm in battle mode. But if you want it if you trust me better I gladly turn it off to not frighten you two." Esdeath closed her eyes and changed it's color to almost luminous sea blue.
„Is this better?"
The two girls only nodded still frightened
„Answering your second question. I never saw him destroying and hating people because they are living. That defect only affects lower level undead's and I don't think my companion is an undead. He is too lively for that. Besides his periods when he is a little grumpy"
Nemu chuckled fo this comment.
Enri nodded and whimpered because of her deep wound.
„Hmm. That wound looks serious. You should accept his healing potion. You will see it make you feel better." Esdeath smiled brightly to the two girls Nemu smiled back to her
Momonga handed the healing potion to Enri again.
The elder sister's eyes went wide and she gulped the potion down. After that, a look of surprise filled her face.
"No way…"
She touched her back, then wiggled her body in disbelief and patted her back.
"The pain is gone?"
"Y-yes, it is..."
The elder sister nodded stiffly, to indicate that it did not hurt.
It would seem that the minor wounds on her were easily remedied by a low-tier healing potion.
Now that he had their trust, Momonga continued by asking a question. There was no way around that question, and depending on the answer, it would affect his future movements.
"Do you know of magic?'
"Yes, yes I do. The alchemist who comes by our village… my friend knows how to use magic."
"...Is that so. Well, that makes things easy to explain. I am a magic caster."
Momonga then cast his spells:
"[Anti-Life Cocoon]."
"[Wall of Protection From Arrows]."
A dome of light, roughly three meters in radius, surrounded the sisters. The second spell was not visible to the naked eye, but there was a subtle change in the air. He had originally planned to use an anti-magic spell as well, but he did not know what sort of magic existed in this world, so he did not do so for the time being. If the enemy had magic casters, then that was just their bad luck.
„I should too add a layer to the defenses."[Anti Magic Cocoon] said by Esdeath while she cast the spell
(It was a high tiered anti-magic barrier what can only by usable job classes what specialized to anti-magic like Esdeath Magic Eater job class.)
"We have cast a defensive spell that keeps living creatures from coming near you, as well as a spell that weakens the effectiveness of shooting attacks and nullifying enemy's magic. As long as you stay here, you should be safe. Ah, just in case, I will give you these as well."
After calmly explaining the effects of the magic to the two dumbfounded sisters, Momonga withdrew a pair of unremarkable-looking horns. Apparently, the magic did not obstruct them, since they sailed straight through the forcefield as Momonga tossed them to the sisters' side.
"These are called the Horns of the Goblin General. If you blow them, Goblins — in other words, small monsters — will appear. Order them to protect you."
Momonga had used the horn before, and at that time it managed to summon a Goblin Troop, 12 or so Goblins with some measure of ability. There were two Goblin Archers, one Goblin Mage, a Goblin Cleric, two Goblin Riders and their wolf mounts, as well as one Goblin Leader.
Although it was called a Goblin Troop, their numbers were few and they were very weak.
As they finished, they turned to leave, bringing Albedo with they as they headed to the village. However, after a few steps, a couple of voices called out to him.
"Ah… th-thank you for saving us!"
"Thank you!"
"...Think nothing of it."
"And, and this may be thick-skinned of us, but, but you three are the only one we can count on. Please! Please save our parents!"
"Alright. If they're still alive, we will rescue them."
The sisters' eyes went wide as they heard Momonga's words. Their faces reflected the disbelief in their hearts, but soon they came to their senses and lowered their heads in thanks.
"Th-thank you! Thank you very much! And, and, may we know…"
„Think nothing of it, kid,"responded Esdeath while they headed to the direction of the village.
The girl's voice trailed off, and then she asked in a mumble:
"May we know your names...?"
Esdeath turned back suddenly and showed them a big peace sign with her fingers while she brightly smirked with closed eyes.
„I'm Esdeath Gorgon at your service and beside me…"
Momonga almost responded by reflex, but in the end, he did not state his name.
The name "Momonga" was that of the guild master of the former Ainz Ooal Gown. Then what should he call himself now? What was the name of the last man who remained in the Great Tomb of Nazarick?
—Ah, that's it.
"...Remember my name well. I am Ainz Ooal Gown."
Scene Change: Carne village
"OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
„(swirling, crashing sounds)"
The mighty roar and swirling sounds shattered the air.
It was the signal for a slaughter to become a massacre of a different sort.
In the blink of an eye, the hunters had become the hunted.
Londes Di Gelanpo had probably cursed his gods more times in the past ten seconds than he had in the rest of his life. If the gods really did exist, then they should defeat those evil beings right now. Londes was a faithful man — why had the gods abandoned him?
The gods did not exist.
He took two steps back in response, trying to get away from it.
A shrill creaking noise came from his armor, and the sword he clutched in both hands was trembling uncontrollably. He was not the only one; the other 18 knights surrounding the Death Knight were all acting the same way.
Although they were filled with fear, none of them ran. This was not courage — the grinding of their teeth could attest to that. If they could, they would run as fast and as far as they could.
It was because they knew there was no escape.
Londes' eyes shifted, pleading for help.
This square was at the center of the village, where Londes and his men had gathered 60 or so villagers. They looked fearfully at Londes and his men, while a group of children was hiding behind a wooden watchtower.
Some of the children held sticks, but none of them was in a fighting stance. It was all they could do not to drop their sticks.
During Londes' attack on the village, they had chased the villagers to the central square. They searched the houses, and then to root out anyone who was hiding in the cellars, they poured in alchemical oils and set them on fire.
It should have been impossible. Nobody knew what was going on. How could they understand the reason why a trained, grown man in full plate armor — which still had some weight even if it was lightened by magic — could fly through the air like a ball?
A bone-chilling monster stood where Erion had been. The hair-raising undead being called a "Death Knight" lowered the tower shield that had bashed Erion and stood before them.
Besides the Death Knight, there was a dark colored being of the swirling vortex. Always changing always on moving with unusual long sharp fingers four of them with lifeless empty eyes of the void.
This was when their despair began.
A black gale whirled past the field of Londes' vision.
The Death Knight's body was larger than a normal human's, but its nimble grace was far beyond anyone's expectations.
While the death knight massacred in the front line. The swirling shadow massacred the invading soldiers in the sides,tore them apart bits by bits with its bare hand.
The Death Knight and the Vortex monster worked together like a dynamic duo. They left no open spots in their defenses.
Everyone who saw this just trembled, villagers and knights alike. Their breaths faltered and all of them prayed their own gods for a fast death.
A lot of the knights just surrendered their mind to the madness sat down and started to laugh maniacally.
Those few who remained in their combat stance, however.
No one even dared attack, though they had swords in hand.
At first, they had tried an attack, though they were afraid. But even those blades which had made it past their foe's defense could not strike a telling blow through the Death Knight's armor and their weapons only bypassed in the seemingly intangible swirling vortex body. With the result, the monsters torn them apart with it hands without hesitation,mercy or any kind of resistance.
And in that moment the knights realized something.
„The two monsters enjoying this. They are only toying with us like two good friends playing a team game."
The commander of the knights thought this while he wetted his undergarment.
It was totally obvious for a veteran soldier. Their movements, their attacks. It was all well coordinated. No flaws no weakness no openings.
However, the two monsters only dealt fatal blows in earnest when the knights tried to escape.
"Oh god, please save me…"
"Oh god…"
After hearing these cries for salvation, the strength left Londes' legs and he almost fell to his knees. He loudly cursed the gods — or was it a prayer to them?
But there was no god anymore in the village that day. Only the two monsters, the knights and the villagers.
There was no escape. That swirling shadow even managed to sneak behind the knight who held the signal horn. Gutted the knight under a moment and destroyed the horn.
It seemed like they were aimed for this in the entire time. Cut off them from the reinforcements and all meaning of escape. So they can kill them one by one. Like in a sick game.
There was no battle. There was only the harvest. There was only the death.
Scene Change: Carne village(with our beloved trio)
Momonga — Ainz raised his head as the sound of the horn reached him from the direction of the village.
The area around them was covered with the corpses of the knights who had been standing guard here. The stink of blood hung heavy in the air, but Ainz paid it no heed as he ran his experiments. Just then, he chided himself for getting his priorities wrong.
Ainz cast down the sword in his hand. The sword which had originally belonged to a knight fell to the ground, its gleaming, razor-sharp edge now stained with dirt.
"...Well, I've said it before, but this physical damage reduction is quite something."
"Ainz Ooal Gown-sama."
"...Ainz will do, Albedo."
„Well Ainz –san congratulations to your new name," said Esdeath while she activated her [Message] spell.
„Thank you Esdeath-san"
[Message] „ How I call you now on? Momonga-san or Ainz-san? And why do you picked up the guild name instead of your avatar name?"
[Message] „You can call me either Ainz or Momonga in [Message].
But please call me Ainz if we speak loudly from now on.
The reason why I using the guild name instead of mine now on is to spread our guild name in the new world. Some of our friends maybe made it here and if they hear the mighty name of Ainz Ooal Gown. They will know we are here for them."
[Message]"Ok Momonga-san. Can you do something for me?"
[Message]"Shoot."
[Message] „Please Do not bring shame to the guild name what we all built tirelessly.
Instead, if you feel too tired or are you on the edge of broken down. Do not be ashamed to asking help to carry this burden. Don't forget I'm here too If you need help.
However, I know you.
You will surely die first before bringing shame our guild name.
So I'm not worried at least for now. I have faith in you Ainz-san. Forward unto dawn! Lead us to victory guild master!„
Ainz just nodded for this long monolog and his heart was full of pride because of his guildmate loyalty.
„I will not let her and the others down. Everyone will know the mighty name of Ainz Ooal Gown I swear off it!"
Momonga swore inside his head.
"Ku, kufu! Am, am I really allowed to do that? Would it not be disrespectful to shorten the name of the leader of the 41 Supreme Beings, especially if it is also the name of Nazarick's rulers!" Albedo words disturbed Ainz inner monolog
"It's fine, Albedo. Besides, I asked Esdeath-san permission for it and she allowed it. Until my former comrades arrive, that is my name. I permit you to shorten it."
"I understand… no, but please let me address you with the appropriate respect. Then, then… my master, Ai-Ainz-sama… kukuku… yes, that's right..."
Albedo twisted her body shyly.
"Could, could it be… kukuku… could it be that I'm and Esdeath-sama the only one's who's allowed to address you in such a way?"
"No. Having someone address me by such a long name all the time would be annoying, so I would like to have everyone do the same thing."
"...Is that so… ah, that's right. Yes, that's what I thought—"
"...Albedo, what do you think of the name I chose?"
"I think that name suits you very well. It fits my beloved — cough, cough — it fits you, in your capacity as the one who united the Supreme Beings.
...This name was intended to represent the 41 of us, and this includes your maker, Tabula Smaragdina-san. However, I ignored the feelings of your master and the others and took that name for myself on a whim. How do you think they would feel about that?
„I'm Ok with it" Esdeath interjected from the background.
"...Although I fear to anger you… I pray you will allow me to speak. If my words displease you, then I will gladly take my own life if you command it. I feel that some of the Supreme Beings who abandoned us might object to that name being used by the one who stayed with us until now, Momonga-sama. However, they are not here, so if you wish to use that name, all I feel is happiness, Momonga-sama ."
Albedo lowered her head after she finished speaking, and Ainz remained silent.
The phrase "abandoned us" swirled in his mind like a vortex.
„Albedo they are not abandoned any of you. They are just…
They just have another thing to do in another realm of existence. The existence is a big place everyone can lose in it Albedo. So please don't blame them."
Esdeath tried to calm Albedo.
Albedo bowed deeply." Thank you for your kind words Esdeath-sama."
It did not seem but underneath her helmet, she gritted her teeth and her face twitched because of her anger
"How dare she protect the one's who abandoned us. How dare she remain beside my true love. I will find a way to take out her. Sooner or later. Then Momonga-sama will be mine alone. Yes, Kukuku... He will be mine alone."
"The enemies who attacked the village were too weak. Then, let us go check on the survivors."
„Yes! I feel them too through my summon. They were barely higher than level 5."
Before Momonga set out, he realized that he had some things to do first.
To begin with, he deactivated the special effects of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. The malevolent aura which wreathed it vanished like a candle flame in the wind.
Next, he withdrew a full-face mask from his inventory. It was gaudily decorated, and its expression was hard to describe, being somewhere between crying and anger. It resembled a Balinese barong mask.
The mask looked creepy, but it had no special powers. It was a simple cosmetic item which did not contain a trace of data.
Only those who were logged onto YGGDRASIL for more than two hours, between 1900 to 2200 on Christmas Eve, would have this mask — no, as long as they were in the game during that period of time, they would automatically receive it. It could be called a cursed item.
This mask was known as the Mask of the Jealous, or the Jealous Mask.
Once, when he wore this mask, he was flooded by messages. "Has the company gone mad?" "We've been waiting for this." "Nobody in our guild has it, can I PK him?" "I'm done with being a human being~" and other such things in a certain large message board.
These gloves were called Jarngreipr, and they were an armor item made by one of Ainz Ooal Gown's members for fun. Its only ability was to increase the wearer's strength.
He used these items to hide his skeletal appearance.
Naturally, there was a reason for this emergency camouflage. It was because Ainz realized he had made a fatal mistake.
Ainz was used to YGGDRASIL, and looking like a skeleton did not frighten him. However, to the people of this world, Ainz's appearance was synonymous with terror. Both the sisters who had nearly lost their lives and the fully-armored knights were afraid of him.
However? Esdeath short conversation maybe convinced the girls they were humans and he is just wearing a mask. He cannot risk revealing their true nature. Yet.
For the time being, he would use magic items to change his appearance from a "dreadful monster" to "evil magic caster". That ought to reduce how frightening he appeared. Then he thought about the Staff. In the end, he decided to keep it with him. Besides, it was not a problem for him.
"Rather than beg your god for aid, you should not have massacred these people in the first place."
With that line only an atheist could come up with, Ainz looked away from the corpse, whose fingers were folded into a gesture of prayer, and cast a spell.
Esdeath and Albedo did the same after him.
"[Death Knight, if there are any surviving knights, leave them alive. They are useful to me.]"
„[Aether Spawn let live those surviving knights. Do not hurt them anymore but do not let them leave.]
The Death Knight and the Aether Spawn sent its acknowledgment of Ainz and Esdeath will back through the mental links they shared. It was difficult to put the distant minion's thoughts into words.
They flew into the village.
"Death Knight. That will be all for now."
„Aether Spawn stand down. Guard mode activate."
Both summon steadied themselves instantly after they got their masters command.
They slowly descended to the ground.
The false knights stared at Ainz and his two female companions with mouths agape. They had been hoping for a rescue, but what had come was the man responsible for everything, and his arrival shattered their hopes.
"Greetings, gentlemen. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown."
Nobody answered.
"If you throw down your arms, I can guarantee your lives. Of course, if you would rather fight—"
One sword was cast to the ground. It was shortly followed by the other sword being thrown down until there were four blades on the ground.
Nobody spoke during this time.
"...You seem quite tired. Although, don't you think your heads are held a bit too high before the master of the Death Knight and the master of the Aether Spawn?"
The knights immediately prostrated themselves before them without a single sound.
They did not look like vassals before their lord so much as convicts awaiting execution.
"...I will permit you to leave with your lives. In exchange, tell your master — your owner — this."
"Do not make trouble around here. If you make a disturbance here, We will slay you with the rest of your country."
The trembling knight nodded as hard as he could. His frantic gesture looked quite comical.
"Get lost. And make sure to relay this to your master."
"[—Clear up your zombie slaves]," Ainz ordered the Death Knight.
As Ainz and his companions drew closer to them, he could more clearly see the confusion and unease on the villagers' faces.
"You have been saved. Be at ease."
"You, you are…"
One of the villagers was saying that, but even in the middle of speaking to Ainz, his eyes never left the Death Knight.
"We saw someone attacking this village, so we came here to help."
"Ohh…"
"What a pain. Should I try a different approach?"
Ainz decided to handle this in a way he did not like much.
But before he could tell what he wanted Esdeath interjected.
„However it was not free. We expect reward commensurate with the number of villagers whom we saved.
With, the village in its present state…"
Ainz raised his hand to silence the other man before continuing.
"We'll discuss that later. We rescued a pair of sisters before I came here. I will go bring them over now. Can you wait here for me?"
[Message]"Ainz-san can you alter the girl's memories whose we left behind?"
[Message]I think I can. Soon we will head back for them. Then I will alter their memories."
[Message]"Good. I relived. They could cause trouble later if they tell them our true nature.."
[Message]"Indeed"
„We found two girls on the outskirts of the village and we ensured their protection. Albedo and I heading back for them while Esdeath-san remaining in the village with the two summons to guarantee to no knights will come back and hurt you.
Don't worry soon we will come back with the girls."
After this sentence, Momonga and Albedo activated their [Fly] spell and headed back to the location where they left the two girls.
„You should head in the most secure place in the village. So we have much easier time to protect you all."
A man and a woman headed towards Esdeath. The man skin was dark and covered in wrinkles.
His body was very muscular, and it was obvious that those muscles had been honed through heavy labor. More than half of his hair was white.
The tired look on his face made Esdeath thought he was over 45 years old, but it was hard to tell because he seemed to have grown older in the past half hour or so.
The chief's wife was roughly the same age as her husband.
She had been slim and beautiful once, but after long years of working on the farm, that beauty was nowhere to be seen. All that was left were the wrinkles that covered her face.
Her shoulder-length black hair was mussed up, and she looked gloomy even under the direct sunlight.
The village chief started his monolog.
„We gladly thank you my lady and your lord to saved our village. Without your intervention, we surely died."
„Hmm, middle age like speaking, clothes and it's seems the technology level seems correct. They call me lady. Based on my limited history knowledge. I could say maybe they think I'm some kind of noble."
„No need to thanks. It was no problem. Besides, I'm not noble born so you do not need to call me such fancy titles as a lady."
„I see. Can you tell me our savior names at least?"
„I can tell you mine. Esdeath Gorgon as your service" she saluted to chief and his wife
„However I Do not have the permission to tell my companions names yet. Their name is the honor of them. As the saying goes. And do not worry about the payment we will discuss it after the storm has passed."
The village chief just nodded.
„ The most important task of yours is now to secure the villagers. If you need help you only need to ask." Esdeath smiled to them brightly
After this sentence, Albedo and Ainz arrived back with the two girls.
„We should discuss a few things. There's a suitable place for that?" asked Ainz
„Yes, this way."
With that, the village chief started to lead Ainz inside the village chief house.
The village chief had a house near the village square. Ainz the village chief and his wife entered the building.
Esdeath and Albedo stayed near the house entrance. They guarded it like two hungry guard dogs guard their food.
Esdeath watched how a few villagers tried to save what can be saved from their ruined village.
Esdeath commanded her minion through her link between her and the summoned creature.[Aether Spawn help them out.]
The Aether Spawn realized it's master command and immediately started to move towards to the struggling villagers.
First, they were frightened but then when they saw the creature don't want to hurt them just help them out. They calmed down and continued their work with their new workmate.
Albedo frowned "Esdeath-sama why do you unnecessarily shalt your minion power such insignificant flies?"
„Because Albedo you must understand you can't judge life by its current state. You need to look forward to their future capabilities for their capability of evolution and advancement. Don't forget Albedo every little atom seemingly too small to be a visible part of the whole. Without one atom the whole is not whole anymore." Esdeath showed a serious look while said this.
„You invest now and later it will be profitable. At least you hope. However, no one can capable seeing the future clearly. Because it's always on move. If you want to do that you should know every possible atom every possible position in the universe. And you have been not taken into account the other possible universes and realities and elements outside of reality. So you could say everything that you do and will do is a gamble. You could only hope It comes back positively later for you."
„I see. Thank you for your insights Esdeath-sama." „I don't clearly understand this. I need to discuss this later with Demiurge." Albedo thought in herself
„Don't mention it."
After this little banter, the village chief wife came out from the house with a tray in her hand. On the tray, there was two mug filled with hot water. She offered them to Esdeath and Albedo.
Esdeath accepted it but Albedo declined.
A villager came to the door.
„My ladies if you excuse me." he knocked on the door and entered
"Chief, I'm sorry to interrupt you when you're talking to our guests, but they're ready for the burial…"
"Oh…"
"It's fine. There's no need to worry about me."
"Thank you. Then, tell the others that I will be there soon."
After this Ainz and the village chief finished their negotiations and came out from the house of the village chief.
„Come we pay our respects to the dead."
Esdeath only nodded
Scene Change: Communal Graveyard
The burial ceremony was held in a nearby communal graveyard. It was surrounded by a broken-down fence, and within were several circular stone slabs inscribed with people's names.
The village chief recited the verses to ease the spirits of the dead, and the words from his mouth appealed to a god that they had never heard of in YGGDRASIL. It was a prayer that the spirits of the dead would find peace.
It appeared that there were not enough hands to bury all the bodies at once, so they chose to bury some of them first. To Ainz and Esdeath, burying the dead on the day they died was too hasty, but perhaps this was a normal practice for the faiths in this world.
Ainz spotted the sisters they saved among the other villagers — Enri Emmott and Nemu Emmott. Their parents' bodies were among those that would be buried today.
As he watched the villagers from close by, he idly stroked a 30-centimeter long wand under his robe. The wand was made of ivory and capped with gold. There were runes over the grip and it radiated an aura of holiness.
It was a Wand of Resurrection.
It was a magic item which could return the dead to life. Of course, Ainz did not possess just one of these wands. He had enough to resurrect all the dead in the village, with room to spare.
Although with Esdeath [Angelic Ressurection] race ability she could revive anyone infinitely in exchange a moderate amount of mana the higher the player level the more mana it's cost and it has an hour cooldown.
If you don't have mana or another resource left you could resurrect in exchange of experience. However, they did not know in this world the resurrection techniques work as the same as in YGGRADASIL and Esdeath don't want to waste her experience points in this new world until she doesn't know how to replenish them.
According to the village chief, this world's magic did not have the power to raise the dead. That being the case, if he used the wand of resurrection or Esdeath used her race ability they would create a miracle in this village. However, after the prayer finished, as the burial ceremony neared its end, Ainz returned the wand to his inventory.
They could have brought them back to life, but Ainz chose not to. This was not because he felt that the souls of the dead were the domain of the gods or some other religious reason. It was simply because he felt that there were no benefits in doing so.
It was not hard to tell which would be more threatening, a magic caster that could take lives, or a magic caster which could return them. In addition, the chances of the villagers keeping the secret would be very low, even if he ordered them not to talk about the resurrections.
The power to conquer death was something that everyone craved.
[Message]"Momonga-san how was the negotiation went with the village chief?"
[Message]"It went well. I acquired a lot of information."
[Message]"Do you intend to share with me?"
[Message]"Yes of course. I sum it for you. It seems we are in the kingdom of Re-Estize the village what we are in currently in is called Carne village.
The village is located near the borders of the two neighbor countries the Baharuth Empire and the Slane Theocracy.
And lastly, I made the village chief inspect and measure the value of our gold coins. He said while he is not a merchant he thinks the coin value minimum twice as valuable than the normal gold coins what used in this country."
[Message] „Do we intend to use them? It would be a little suspicious if we use a foreign country gold coins that no one heard of."
[Message]"I thought the same. We need some way to generate some income from the coins of this world."
[Message]"Then we have to find a job. Great when I thought we can concentrate on the adventuring. Shit." she thought vulgar
[Message]"We will manage it Esdeath-san. Do not worry about it."
They turned their summoned creatures
[Message]"They should already disappear. It seems the summons are permanent in this world."
[Message]" At least they seem permanent for now. Later they still can dissapear. We don't have enough information yet. We need more experiment Momonga-san."
[Message]"True. We will discuss the other things later It seems Albedo and the Eighth Edge Assasins just waiting for us."
[Message]" Then do not let them wait."
The villagers seemingly don't pay any attention to the Eight Edged Assassin. Maybe it was because they were passively invisible to the lower level NPC-s and players.
"I brought him over because he wanted to pay his respects to you, Ainz-sama."
"Oh, how refreshed my soul is whenever I see Ainz-sa—"
"—Enough of that. Are you part of the support troops?"
"Yes. There are 400 vassals beside myself who stand ready to assault the village at any time."
"Assault? How had it ended up like this?" As Ainz pondered that problem, he began muttering to himself — Sebas had no talent for passing messages.
"...There's no need for an assault, the problem's already been taken care of. Who's your commander?"
"That would be Aura-sama and Mare-sama. Demiurge-sama and Shalltear-sama remain in Nazarick on alert, while Cocytus-sama is supervising Nazarick's perimeter security."
"I see… well, too many cooks spoil the broth. Everyone but Aura and Mare is to fall back. How many of you Eight Edge Assassins are there?"
"There are 15 of us in total."
"Then you can stay with Aura and Mare."
After watching the Eight Edge Assassin nod in acknowledgment, Ainz turned his eyes back to the burial. They were about to fill in the graves, and the two girls were crying non-stop.
In order not to interrupt the burial, Ainz strolled leisurely toward one of the roads leading to the village. Behind him were Albedo,Esdeath the Aether Spawn and the Death Knight.
Though his information-gathering had been interrupted by the funeral. Ainz had still managed to learn much about the region and the ways of this world. By the time he left the village chief's home, the sun was going down.
It would seem their little hero act — to pay forward the kindness their old friend showed Momonga — had taken more time than expected.
It was dangerous to move around in this world when they did not understand anything about it. Ideally, they should finish gathering information and then begin acting in this world under a false identity. Although, after saving this village, hiding their identity was impossible.
Even if the knights were exterminated, their parent country would unearth the truth. Much like in the previous world where forensic science was well-developed, this new world might have its own ways of finding out the truth, and they might be very efficient in doing so.
Ainz planned to take up residence in either the Kingdom, the Empire or the Theocracy.
If there were other players in these countries, there should be some trace of them. In contrast, if Ainz used Nazarick's personnel to gather this information, it would not only be troublesome, but very risky. For instance, given Albedo's personality, giving her the wrong kind of orders would end up making them unnecessary enemies.
Therefore, from an information-gathering point of view, joining one of the countries was a very good idea.
It would also be good to have one of them as backing in order to ensure the autonomy of Nazarick. After all, he could not take these countries lightly while he was not aware of their power.
In addition, they could not lower their guard as long as they did not know who was the most powerful person in this new world. For all Ainz knew, there might be someone stronger than them among these three nations.
Although Esdeath were the most brokenly powerful player who used to clear impossibly hard dungeons alone and played 1 vs many PVP matches casually in YGGRADASIL, even with her. He could not be sure there was not a stronger enemy in this new world than Esdeath.
They need to be careful they need to think tactically and not make hasty decisions.
While there were a lot of drawbacks to becoming part of one of these kingdoms, there were many advantages as well .The question was the capacity in which they would join one of these countries.
Ainz was not interested in being a slave. Neither was he interested in becoming part of a black-hearted enterprise like the one Herohero-san was in.
Ainz shook his head as he thought about that, as though he were tired. After all, he had been ceaselessly using his mind for the past few hours, and it was overstressed.
"Haa… let's leave it at this. We've finished everything we need to do here. Albedo, let's go back."
"Understood."
„Esdeath-san come."
Esdeath has started to walk after Ainz however.
„I have a bad feeling that this is not over yet."
"...Do you hate humans?" Ainz asked Albedo
"I detest them. Humans are weak and inferior lifeforms. They would look so pretty if I squashed them like bugs… besides that girl."
„Albedo-san we spoke about this don't you remember?" interjected Esdeath
„Yes, Esdeath-sama however…"
Albedo's words were as sweet as honey, yet their meaning was terribly cruel.
Ainz felt that they did not fit Albedo's benign, goddess-like beauty. Therefore, he said:
"I see… I understand how you feel. However, I hope you can control yourself for the time being because we have to put on a show.
Albedo nodded energetically. As Ainz looked at her, he began to feel frustrated.
Her likes or dislikes would not be a problem for now, but the future was a different matter.
After Ainz realized this, he began looking for the village chief. it was basic manners to bid someone farewell before leaving.
He found the chief almost immediately, talking to some of the villagers. He had a stern look on his face, but it did not seem normal. Indeed, he seemed to be quite wound up.
What was happening now?
Ainz resisted the urge to go "Cheh" and approached the chief. After all, he had saved them once; that meant that they were his responsibility.
"...What's wrong, Chief-dono?"
"Oh, Ainz-sama. It would seem there are some mounted people who look to be warriors approaching us…"
"I see…"
The chief and the other nearby citizens looked at Ainz, worried expressions on their faces.
Ainz gently raised his hand as he saw this, which filled everyone with relief as he said:
"Leave it to us. Gather all of the survivors into the village chief's house right now. The chief I and Esdeath-san will remain here."
A bell rang, and the villagers gathered. The Death Knight and the Aether Spawn took up a position near the chief's house, while Albedo remained behind Momonga, awaiting orders.
In order to dispel the chief's unease, Ainz cheerfully said:
"Please be at ease. I will make an exception and handle this for free."
The chief no longer trembled and smiled bitterly instead. Perhaps he had prepared himself to take this risk.
"...They aren't uniformly equipped, and each of them is outfitted differently… are they not regular troops?" Ainz mused as he observed the men and their war gear.
The knights from before had breastplates bearing the sigils of the Baharuth Empire, and they were heavily equipped, each in the same way. While these men were wearing armor as well, their gear varied from man to man. Some wore leather armor and some did not have their plate armor on, exposing the chainmail underneath.
One could say that they looked like hardened veterans of the battlefield. A less polite way would be to say that they were a ragtag bunch of sellswords.
„From their posture maybe mercenaries or elite soldiers whose disguised themselves to look like a bunch of mercenaries or bandits to deceive the enemy. „
Esdeath realized in the last few days. Her brain works so much faster than it's humanly possible.
She tested it thoroughly. She could solve impossibly long equations, tasks and can analyze thoroughly every possible battle or other scenarios counting in every possible variable.
All of this only using her head without any thinking. Passively it just happens. „Maybe it is the side effect of the Processor job class." She thought.
She realized this first when she trained with Cocytus and found Cocytus every move predictable.
The riders finally entered the square. There were around 20 of them, and while they were wary of the Death Knight and the Aether Spawn, they formed up neatly before Ainz, Esdeath, and the village chief. A man stepped forward from the rest of the force.
He seemed to be the leader of the horsemen. He looked like the fiercest and most eye-catching one of his men.
The leader's eyes rested briefly upon the village chief before lingering on the Death Knight the Aether Spawn then Esdeath and then he turned toward Albedo. He took a long time gaze at Esdeath. It seemed he found Esdeath uniform very strange but in his eyes, you could see a strange kind of familiarity when he looked Esdeath uniform.
„I cannot say for sure but that girly uniform seems strangely familiar for me. Never mind it's not important right now."
Esdeath realizing the Warrior Captain staring at her she only smiled winked at him. Gazef reddened deeply but he quickly shook himself back to the reality
However, once he satisfied himself that none of them were going to move, he immediately turned his keen gaze on Ainz.
Once satisfied, the leader spoke in a grave tone:
"—I am the Warrior-Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff. By order of the King, I have been visiting each of the frontier villages to exterminate knights from enemy countries who have been making trouble here."
"The Kingdom's Warrior-Captain…"
Won't anyone tell me what's going on? Ainz thought as he spoke to the chief, his voice carrying a hint of rebuke:
"...What sort of man is he?"
"According to the traders, he was a man who claimed the championship of the martial arts tournament held before the King, and now he leads the elite warriors who are loyal to the King."
"Is the man before us truly so amazing…?"
"...I do not know. All I heard were stories."
Ainz looked closely, and he saw that each of the horsemen had the same emblems on their chests, which resembled what the chief had said about the Kingdom's emblems. That said, he did not have enough reliable information to be sure.
Gazef looked at the chief and said, "You must be the chief of this village. Can you tell me who is the person beside you?"
Ainz interrupted the chief, who was about to answer, before nodding to Gazef and introducing himself.
"There is no need for that. Pleased to meet you, Warrior-Captain-dono of the Kingdom. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, and I am a magic caster. This village was attacked by knights, and so I stepped in to rescue them."
Gazef immediately dismounted, his armor clattering loudly as he did. He bowed deeply once he was on the ground.
"Thank you for saving this village. I have no words that can adequately praise your kindness."
"Oh, a payment. Does this mean that you are an adventurer?"
"That is close enough to the truth."
"Oh… I see. You must be an extraordinary adventure, then. Although, forgive my ignorance, but I have not heard your mighty name before, Gown-dono."
"It's no problem Warrior_Captain-dono. We just arrived in the country. We traveled for a very long time. When we realized the village is under attack. So we decided to help them out."
"...Travelling, you say. Though I regret having to waste the time of such a great adventurer, could you please tell me about the blackguards who attacked this village?"
"It would be my pleasure, Warrior-Captain-dono. Most of the knights who have attacked this village are already dead, so they will not be able to make trouble for the time being. Shall I go on?"
"...Already dead... Gown-dono, did you strike them down?"
"...Well, that is not entirely accurate…"
Gazef picked up on the hint in Ainz's tone and turned his eyes toward the Death Knight and the Aether Spawn. He must have smelled the faded scent of gore and death that came from them.
"I have a couple of questions… may I know who that is?"
"He is a servant that I and my companion created."
„Which one if I may ask?"
„The one with the white uniform."
Gazef turned to Esdeath.
„Forgive me for asking my lady. But may I ask your name?"
„Esdeath Gorgon at your service Warrior Captain-dono." she saluted to him.
It was a strange salute for Gazef standards but it was definitely a salute.
The warrior captain saluted back at this response in his own way.
„I see you If you allow me one more question. Do you not accidentally came from the Slane Theocracy my lady?"
„No. I have been never there. Why do you ask Warrior Captain-dono"
„Because your uniform is hugely similar to their head priests garbs of the Slane Theocracy."
„Priest garbs you say? Maybe. There are not so much different clothing in the world but this is not a priest garb where I came from. This is a battle uniform. Designed by myself if they have similar. That could be only by accidental similarity. she answered
This response came as a surprise to Gazef. For a moment he can't make a normal answer in his mind. „I see. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, my lady. It was not my intentions."
„Don't mention it Warrior Captain-dono. No harm done." she shoot a bright smile to Gazef. Gazef reddened again and quickly turned away his head because of his embarrassment
The warrior captain shook himself again „Back to the topic Ainz-dono."
How about that mask?"
"I wear it for reasons known only to a magic caster."
"May I remove that mask?"
"Sadly, I must refuse," Ainz said as he gestured to the Death Knight. "It would not be good if I lost control of the [Death Knigth]."
A look of shock flashed across the faces of the chief and gasps came from the villagers hiding within the chief's house. Perhaps he had sensed the change in the air and seen the look on the chief's face, but Gazef nodded deeply and said:
"I see. Then, we'd best not take it off."
"Thank you."
"Then—"
"Before that, I have a request you might
not like to hear. This village was recently attacked by knights of the Empire, and if you gentlemen brought your weapons in, it might trigger unpleasant memories in the villagers. May I ask you to place your weapons in a corner of the village square, to put the people at ease?"
"...It is as you say, Gown-dono. However, this sword was given to me by the King. I cannot set it down without his express permission."
"—Ainz-sama, we will be fine."
"Is that so, Chief-sama… then, please forgive my unreasonable request, Warrior-Captain-dono."
"No, I see the logic in your thinking, Gown-dono. If this sword was not personally awarded to me by the King, I would gladly lay it aside. Then, could we sit down and discuss the details. Also, the sky is growing dark, and we would like to rest in this village for the night…"
"I understand. Then, let us return to my home together—"
In the middle of the chief's reply, one of the horsemen ran into the square. He was panting heavily and had an urgent report. In a high-pitched voice, the horseman said:
"Warrior-Captain! We've sighted a lot of people around the village! They've surrounded the village and they're closing in!"
I want to retrospectively thank every reader and reviewer for reading this little piece of my insanity.
Thank you all!
YOU ARE ALL AWESOME!