I don't own overlord
It was the beginning of his third day in the Royal Capital. Kits had gained a good amount of information on Ains Owl Gown along with other players who had appeared in this world from time to time, since he had first heard about the war at Kattse Plains from Eric.
As NPC's were alive and had their own consciousness it was getting difficult to differentiate between the two.
The only one about whom he was now confident of being a player was the Overlord Sorceror King Ainz Owl Gown.
"Damn, I don't remember his Yggdrasil name". Kits mumbled.
"Well, we never met each other so he might not even remember me too."
In Yggdrasil Kits was a member of a mercenary group, other players called them experts in clearing out Dungeons and Pking other players. Kits had a particular place in the group because of his [area scan] ability and hence he had the opportunity to work with many different groups from time to time. Upgrading his levels and improvising himself from time to time. Obviously, when it comes to his original group, it was always a group effort where all of them depended on each other's ability to overcome any kind of situation.
Moreover, kits group "Blade Dragons" used to have good contact with many guilds helping them sweep countless dungeons and taking part in many Yggdrasil events for collectables.
One such guild was Ainz owl Gown in which Momonga worked as an administrator and kits did sent those messages from time to time for their services.
"I miss my friends here". kits mumbled.
Yes, if Kits had his group here the amount of information gained was enough for them to initiate contact with Ainz Owl Gown in person and have a good deal. He was confident in his group's abilities. Alas, he was alone in this world.
It was early morning outside with a good weather, but kits was not in any mood to go outside today.
Even though, Kits had figured out many things, he was not able to make up his mind.
Kits picked up his diary and kept on reading through pages in his small diary.
He had marked few things as to-do list but they were not related to this city.
So he simply sat there sitting at his place and kept on reading.
It was already around 10 Am in the morning and he decided to venture outside. He did not had anything in mind to do today and even Richard will appear in evening. He felt a little bored and restless having not doing anything. So he decided to walk downstairs.
As he walked downstairs in the inn he saw Rock sitting with someone and discussing something. Feeling a sense of joy having seen someone familiar.
Kits gestured towards Rock by raising his hand who reverted as if calling kits towards his table. So, kits decided to join their small chat.
Rock introduced Kits with the guy sitting with Rock as Theobald Warner Bennett. Him being a third son of a noble and owner of a warehousing company in wholesale market exchanging stocks goods and other tradable items with other neighbouring countries based in E- pepsenol.
After chatting for some time, Kits concluded that Theobald was quite a learned person and a self-made man with good business skills and Rock knew him because he had done few guarding missions for his transport coaches.
Before Kits had joined them, Rock was confirming the information, which they had acquired yesterday.
"Ah so it's true, Sorceror king treats everyone equally". Rock said.
Even though Rock believed Six great gods but unlike Slain Theocracy he was not the person who hated all other races. He had worked as a mercenary and was aware of the fact that humans were not as strong as many other races.
After discussing many things, the topic changed towards the Kingdom.
"Are you sure that Kingdom is in deep troubling state?" Rock asked Theobald.
"Well I also believe what Theobald is inferring is true" Kits mumbled.
"What do you mean? Why will the nobles agree to buy crop from enemies?" Rock asked looking at Kits this time.
"Well as far as I can understand what Theobald san said. The Kingdom is in a crisis. It has already lost many of its men and don't have enough manpower for crop harvest season. Hence, they have no choice but to import from neighbouring kingdoms. Having said that if Sorceror Kingdom agrees to give food at market price then kingdom might be able to survive without an all-out civil war from within," Kits stated.
"Wow, you are quite good. I never expected an outsider to conclude this much just in two days of his stay here." Theobald said with a chuckle.
"Well I have seen the condition in other cities so.." Kits was saying but Rock interrupted.
"But this is not right buying food from enemies."
"In diplomacy there are no permanent enemies nor permanent friends only permanent interests. Hence I agree with that nobles decision" Kits stated and continued
"You are thinking like a commoner lead by his emotions. The noble has lost many of his trusted friends and men in the war and firstly, he dosen't want further suffering of his people. Secondly, there is no way that I believe kingdom wants any further escalation of this tense situation with Sorceror Kingdom. I don't think Kingdom which is itself suffering of imminent danger of total collapse is strong enough to confront that power which Sorceror King wield. That's the reason I think that he took this decision. Try keeping yourself in his position you might be able to understand" Kits concluded.
Rock was confused as looked like he was thinking.
"You impress me, are you related to some noble family?" Theobald asked
"Ah no, I have worked for few nobles before and I had a good teacher." Kits said smiling and continued,
"Do you think that even without this war kingdom was in dire straits?" Kits inquired.
"Well yes, these annual wars with Baharuth Empire took place during harvest seasons, slowing the food-production due to the peasants being drafted. This caused the Kingdom to slowly consume our nation's strength. The Kingdom's economic instability had began to take its toll. According to predictions, the Kingdom would not have survived another war and peasants would start dying from starvation due to failed harvests. Apart from the noble factions, a large criminal group had emerged called Eight Fingers. Princess Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself did try solving few problems, but the nobles, who feared such changes could to be a threat to their power, thwarted most of her attempts. At least slavery was abolished, but there are still a lot of unofficial slaves in the criminal underworld".
"So what are they upto now?" Kits inquired.
"After E-Rantel was ceded over to the Sorcerer Kingdom, the Re-Estize Kingdom received a huge influx of refugees who fled the city, believing the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown to be a monster and a tyrant.
The Kingdom was also left with a massive amount of orphans and widows as a result of the massive casualties of the battle at the Katze Plains and many of the survivors being traumatized. In response to this, Princess Renner invested a large sum of money into making an orphanage in the royal capital to provide a home for the orphans and jobs for the widows, hoping others would follow her example."
Theobald continued, "Additionally, many fathers and firstborn sons of noble families were killed during the massacre, forcing the second or third born sons to take over their family's territory. However, most of these "spares" were never properly educated on how to conduct themselves in high society and thus lack class and etiquette. Also, many of them did not want to be subservient to the leaders of their factions, resulting in some of them splitting off and creating their own factions, once again shifting the balance of power."
"So which faction are you from?"
"ha ha ha ha, I have no interest in being a noble and do my fathers job. My elder brother will be taking charge". Theobald laughed.
"What about eight fingers? They must be more active now?"
"Well I don't know about that, but I heard that they lost many members during Jaldabaoth incident, so lying low".
They went on chatting about many other things and then Theobald left as he had other important tasks to handle.
Kits was now in deep thought trying to comprehend what was told to him by Theobald.
"Who killed Eight fingers? Was Reener after this?" Kits looked towards Rock for his answer.
"Well I heard that Climb Princess personal bodyguard, Brain Ugalus and Blue Rose were the one who took out the last brothel in this city." Rock stated.
"Ah yes tell me more about this Brain Ugalus fellow and his encounter with that vampire"?
"I don't know the details but Momon took care of it" Rock answered.
"Seems like he knows the same thing I know" kits thought.
"Did you hear about the miracle that happened last night?" Rock asked kits. Kits simply said he didn't to which rock continued
"Last night King Ranpossa III miraculously got healed of his illness".
"What do you mean?" Kits asked. He was cursing himself for his own stupidity of letting the King drink the red potion and forgetting about the impact it will have.
"Well I have heard that the king was ill and in depression after loosing Ganzelf Stronoff. But today morning when the priest went to check him he found king to be in a perfect health but still in depression."
"Oh, so how did he get better?"
"No one knows that". Kits mentally sighed at this answer by Rock remembering that Kits had thrown the empty bottle inside his personal dimension after the king had the drink.
"hmm, So what are your plans for today? " Kits asked.
"None, tomorrow I will prepare for my journey guarding Theobald's carriages towards Baharuth Empire. I would like if you would accompany us" Rock invited kits for the mission.
"Well, if the pay is good I don't think accepting a side mission will be a problem" They both laughed.
Both of them waited for Richard and later all three of them went to a nearby bar and had drinks and dinner.
Kitsume was again back to his room packing his stuff. He was leaving for Baharuth Empire next day.
"I still have no clue about that vampire, and everything about Momon is still shady," Kits thought.
"Let's meet Brain Uglas" kits thought with a grin on his face.
Kits changed his form and then after putting some spells on himself he floated towards castle.
After an hour of searching and charming few people kits was finally able to find Brain Uglas sleeping soundly on his bed.
Kits used his spells and after waking him up kits inquired about the vampire.
Kits was shocked to know that the vampire's name was "Shalltear Bloodfallen"
Afterall Peroncino had discussed with Kits about his creation.
Kits was also aware that Ainz Owl Gown never took any attack on its own member lightly.
"Why did Ainz leave him? I would have experimented if players could be revived if I was in his place."
"Or was Momon working with Ainz from the beginning?" this one looked more likely answer.
Kits talked with Brain Uglas about many other things and was surprised to know that a butler named Sebas was as strong as Shalltear according to Brain.
{Even though he was well acquainted with Touchme but they never talked about Touchme's creation. So Kits was not aware about the same}.
After inquiring for an hour or two kits deactivated his spells erased his memory and left for his room in the inn.
Kits now was more confused about Momon and decided not to meet him as he looked more suspicious. Kits was already wary of him as he didn't use any warrior skills during his fight with Jaldabaoth.
He then waited in his room for Rock and his party in the morning.
Journey
Rock and his party of five mercenaries arrived at 9 am at Merchants' Inn. All of them were in their full battle gear and so was kits who was waiting at the inn's gate for them. Only Richard was in his normal attire. He was here only to see them off.
As they arrived, Rock introduced Kits with others in his group. They looked happy that a higher ranked mercenary was travelling with them.
Rock introduced Kits with Stone who was a middle-aged man and specialised as a druid. He looked quite experienced with his age and held a staff in his hand.
Steve, who was apparently a ranger, was carrying a bow and arrows in his back. He was quite young around 19 yrs of age.
Shally, younger sister of steve, was 17 yrs and was good in support magic and capable of 2 tier magic. She also had a belt consisting of potions and scrolls in her waist and staff in her hand.
Hebert was an attack magic caster and complemented rock who was the tank in this group. Both were good friends, had been working together since long, and had good synergy between them.
Kits introduced himself as a swordsman showing them a sword.
The sword was nothing special, something he had acquired in his previous expeditions in this world. Obviously, there was no point in telling them about his original skillset and that he had no skill as a swordsman. Even though he was good in Katars and various types of single-handed and double edged poision blades, daggers, dark soul and cursed blades as an assassin along with various other weapons. He could transmutate those skills in his human form using swords in this world. Over the years he had upgraded his character to kill an enemy with a single hit. In case of a true warrior or a player with defence specialization his one hit will most probably fail but would had reduced his enemy's HP as such his friends in his group could easily overwhelm them. Yes that's one of the reasons why his group was good at Pking. Attacking unsuspecting enemies and killing them in a single blow.
After introductions and wishing Richard, they walked towards Theobald's house. The house was quite big and looked luxurious from the outside and two carriages were waiting outside with 6 spare horses and 3 more guards in knight attire. Theobald had already arranged the horses for this travel; he knew that the group would have to take a roundabout road after E-pepsenol towards Empire avoiding the territory controlled by Sorceror Kingdom.
After thanking Theobald the group departed.
The group didn't encounter any disturbance till they passed E- Pepsenol and it was already night time. Steve advised to hold camp as the horses were getting tired and Rock agreed.
They setup the camp with each one taking turns to keep watch.
They discussed about the next day and the route they would be taking to reach Baharuth Empire.
The night went by without incident and then they continued their journey towards Baharuth Empire.
After several hours of travelling and stopping at few places for horses to rest, Kits felt like they were being followed.
He then activated and concentrated on his [Area Scan] spell. This confirmed his doubt; their group was followed by humans and apparently their levels were quite low.
He decided to keep his mouth shut. It was the ranger's job in this group to detect them. At the moment, Kits group was chatting and moving via uneven road with forest on both sides.
Kits mentally smiled when the group's followers overtook them and made a set up what look like an ambush. After some time, Steve detected them when they were about 500 meters or so away from them. This brought the group to a halt and all of them took their positions. The road ahead blocked by placing a wooden log in the middle of the road.
The Knights took the rear positions with Sally on the top of carriage, Stone and Steve taking sides with Kits and Rock at the front. For some time all of them stood their position and no one moved.
Detecting that the carriage guards were already on high alert three men started to show up from the forest and one of them said.
"Leave your belongings, carriages and horses and your life will be spared"
"Sorry, but we have no intention for doing so," Rock stated.
At this 2 more on the left and four of them appeared on the right side of the carriage. Blocking them with a log on the front and bandits on the sides. Apparently, carriages' didn't had any reverse gear and the road was too narrow to turn around. Kits and his team had no choice but to fight out this situation. Kits was aware that eight more bandits were still hiding inside the forest.
Kits was simply looking at the bandits.
All the bandits were of 16 to 23 years of age. They looked more like villagers with weapons. Kits concluded that they were run aways who left their homes either to not take part in the Kattse plain war or maybe of some other reason. Moreover, the reason was not important for Kits.
"You don't look like adventurers why not kill the guards and divide the loot among ourselves", one of the bandits reverted. Apparently, he was vary that the mercenaries' might be quite skilled.
At this, the guards shuddered.
"Sorry I have to decline that too." Rock reverted.
"Ahh well, we did gave you a chance but you denied so we will have to kill you all and take the loot." The third bandit addressed in a mocking manner.
"ha ha ha ha ha" Kit burst out with a laughter and continued "Since you look like amateurs and even gave us a chance, I too would like to give you guys a chance. Remove the log you have placed in the middle of road and leave alive. Or else none of you will return alive including those who are still hiding." Kits stated with confidence.
The bandits were taken aback but the one who was mocking at Kits group charged towards kits. He was wearing a ragged clothing with a chainmail, and boots. According to kits his level was not more than 7.
In a flash, kits was standing behind the bandit and the bandit's head dropped off from his body.
"Remove the log" Kits commanded in an authoritative tone towards the other bandits who were shitting there pants and trying to comprehend what had happened in front of them.
"haaaaa Ahhhhhhhhh oh, yes sir, sorry" the second bandit mumbled and ran towards the log.
Everyone watched as other bandits helped the bandit pushing the log at the corner of the road.
Being satisfied with their work, Kits said, "you guys are too weak to be even considered as bandits go back to your homes and don't' come back."
After hearing kits, all the bandits ran away back into the woods.
"Wow you are atleast mithril class man." Rock stated.
"Well I told you so I am hoping for a promotion in next 2 months and these guys were nothing more than mere villagers who one day decided to rob people showing their numbers. They were nothing special", kits calmed him down.
"Lets continue" Steve stated.
They continued their journey stopping at several places in between for next few weeks.
Kits liked moving and seeing different places. Even in Yggdrasil Kits used to move around a lot with his group in all the 9 realms fighting other players and participating in various events. Obviously, they failed many times and Kits was pked by others many times too but it was part of the fun in Yggdrasil. Looking at this group of mercenaries and hearing about their adventures, he felt that this group had same bond of trust, which he had with his Yggdrasil friends. If his family was in this world, he would have preferred to be here rather than his old world which was in chaos even without magic. This world is beautiful after all.
They even saw death knights patrolling the borders of Sorcerer's Kingdom from a distance but death knights were did not bother about them watching.
They continued their journey avoiding Sorceror Kingdoms land and then they finally reached the Baharuth Empire.
Baharuth Empire
Baharuth Empire was constantly had patrols and other magic surveillance so it was much safer than the vastness of the unguarded lands.
They stopped at few places and then after few more weeks they reached Arwintar, the capital of Baharuth Empire.
Looking at Baharuth Empire capital Kits could see surrounding the palace were the universities, the magic academy, various administrative offices and other important facilities, which spread out from the center of the capital in a radial fashion.
"Hmm, a well-planned city". Kits thought.
Truly, it was a city worthy to be called the heart of the Empire. It had big markets and people looked hopeful for their future and happy. Kits could clearly see the difference between Kingdom and the Empire. The stark difference between a country, which has won the war and the other, which had lost it.
Within this noisy and lively city, Kits moved on his horse along with his mercenary group.
"Well our mission coming to an end, So what are your plans for later?" steve asked looking towards kits.
"Oh, I will visit the market in the evening and look at the magic items and see if I find something interesting." Kits stated
"Can I tag along? I don't have anything to do here," steve requested
"Of course, let's complete the mission first"
After leading the cargo at the specified location, kits and his group received their payment.
They booked rooms at the inn and rested for a while. Kits didn't need any rest but he had to play along.
Kits was now sitting on his bed. It was a big 4 bedded room. Kits disliked living with others or sharing his room with others, as he was not able to perform his experiments or gather information freely while being with others. On the other hand, he was also now a member of this mercenary group for the time being so he was willing to compromise with his privacy. Obviously, it was the groups' decision to take this room, compared to single room set this was cheaper.
In the evening, Kits visited the market with Steve. Both of them bought few items that were being sold by the merchants. Kits liked looking at the different items in the market not powerful but useful. Kits own items were quite powerful for this world and hence Kits did like to try out new stuff.
"Lets go back" Kits stated.
Both of them started walking back towards the inn.
Time 3 Am:
Venue: Kits 4 bedded room.
Everyone was sleeping in their beds except kits. Kits looked around then activated a silent spell [Greater Species Sleep]. Spell used could make others sleep/ unconscious. Even though it wasn't needed kits liked to make sure that his friends were sleeping.
He changed his form again into a ghost and this time his target was Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix.
Authors note: will add next chapter soon. Meeting with Ainz.
