There was a meeting Shirou had arranged for later in the evening, but until now, he hadn't quite stopped frowning yet. Recent developments had left him both reeling and contemplative about the ramifications, not the least of which had to do with sorting out a new plan of action.

In his time outside his initial starting point at Roble, Shirou had come to understand that the people and residents of this New World were far outstripped by even regular Players in YYGDRASIL's standard.

Cu going rogue was not something Shirou could picture anyone else handling but him or the other NPCs in the Mausoleum. Other Players that may or may not have also been transported to the New World may be able to contend, but if they knew Cu, then they'd likely steer clear in the first place.

Moreover, if other Players really did come to the New World, why has it been so quiet? The tendency of Players was more in line with the actions of the Evil Deities of the past.

Should he try searching for them? Up until now, he'd never been thinking in that direction due to his own circumstances and his doubts about his own NPCs and what they could potentially be.

Admittedly, this was part of the reason he couldn't stay still in Roble. It was awkward for him to interact with Arturia…

"Hey, there he is!"

Shirou craned his chin up.

Gagaran raised a hand, waving him over to where she and the rest of Blue Rose were waiting by the entrance of a local pub and diner.

Lakyus stood with her arms crossed with Evil Eye still lost in thought. Meanwhile, the twins, Tia and Tina were leaning their backs against a wall beside the entrance of the pub.

They all perked up at Shirou's approach, though Lakyus looked more apologetic than anything.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting," Shirou said.

"No. Not at all," Tina answered, pushing off the wall and snorting. Tia followed suit with a curt nod. "We were just talking among ourselves anyway…for half-an-hour now."

"Can you two stop? We're the ones intruding so there's nothing to be sorry for." Lakyus butted in, shooting glares at her teammates who raised their hands up in defeat. Pinching the bridge of her nose Lakyus vented by muttering to herself in a low voice. "If Gagaran and the twins didn't insist on coming to show their gratitude, I wouldn't have to feel so shameless about all this. No luck with Sir Momon and Ms. Nabe, I see?"

It was a loaded question.

Shirou could tell by the way Lakyus's expression knit into a grim scowl she directed at the air.

Just like Shirou, Lakyus had noticed when Momon and Nabe were pulled towards that phantom gate summoned by a Witch. That considered, Lakyus was certain that they too had a run in with a less than pleasant ordeal.

"I haven't seen them yet," Shirou admitted, Evil Eye flinching at the answer.

"They may come in the morning. Perhaps their just off celebrating victory?" Shirou deflected.

Lakyus's scowl grew pronounced. If Momon and Nabe were also presented with the same choice Evil Eye had been in Lakyus's company, then there were only two outcomes considering that woman's prowess.

The fact that neither Momon or Nabe were here after all this time hinted at the choice they may have made.

Lakyus's throat suddenly felt dry, but she felt obligated to speak.

"…I don't know how to tell you this but- Rose petals?"

Lakyus, Evil Eye, and the Blue Rose blinked as pink flower petals filled the area around them. A small point opened in the air before gradually expanding to a person's height.

From the opening, a head popped out, gaze alert, head cautiously bobbing left and right.

To Shirou, it was a familiar person.

"Merlin…what are you doing, and why do you only show up now?"

Apprehension flickered across Merlin's features, but he schooled them and coughed. Ignoring Shirou's question and posing one of his own.

"She's not here, is she?"

In some ways, that question answered everything for Shirou.

"Who do you mean by she?"

Shirou had a certain idea about who. The flat stare he shared with Merlin all but cemented the notion.

It was no wonder Merlin didn't stay to help. His precognition must have kicked in and triggered his survival instinct in a big brain maneuver.

"Must we play this game? A life is at stake!" Merlin hissed.

"I don't know who you're talking about, so I can't help you." Shirou was unmoved, rather, the interaction served to garner the interest of Blue Rose instead.

Ignoring the topic of what magic Merlin was using to pop his head through a portal from a void in the air, Lakyus tentatively stepped forward.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked.

Merlin's attention quickly shifted away from Shirou who wasn't being helpful to his cause.

"Now that I think about it, you might have seen her. Calls herself a witch? A woman who can't take a joke? And a woman who is impossibly stubborn when she sets her mind on something? Ring any bells?"

Yes. Yes they clearly did.

"Oh, her." Lakyus blanked, her expression turning icy.

"The very same. She's a cold beauty who intends to imprison me behind a gate after realizing she couldn't kill me conventionally." Merlin admitted.

"T-Then you're like me?" Evil Eye spoke up.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "If you mean not completely human, then yes. Unlike you however, she's hunting me."

"W-Why? Couldn't you have just agreed with her demands?" Evil Eye stammered, still reeling from the pressure of that witch's presence.

Merlin scoffed, puffing his chest and growing more confident. In a swirl of petals, he spread his senses out and confirmed for himself that his man hunter was not around before finally stepping through the portal.

"I'm a connoisseur of womanly seduction, but my latest conquest target had the feistiest temper as we were getting to know each other." Merlin said boldly with righteous indignation. "It was one slap, one jiggle, what was the harm?"

Realization set in for Blue Rose.

Evil Eye went mute, but Lakyus's couldn't hold herself back.

"W-Wait, you managed to cop-a-feel on her?!"

"Should have seen the look on her face." Merlin nodded.

"Priceless?" Lakyus spat in contempt; for Merlin or the Witch was anyone's guess.

"Can't say."

"Why? Trying to monopolize the memory?" Gagaran joked, staring at Lakyus and Evil Eye and still waiting for an explanation.

"I ran too fast." Merlin said, slinging an arm around Shirou's shoulders and trying to smooth the matter to the wayside.

"I don't know him." Shirou said flatly, trying to push Merlin off, but failing.

"Come now, that's no way to treat a friend, let alone a countryman." Merlin grinned before formally introducing himself to the Blue Rose. "I'm Merlin, Wizard of Flowers and current advisor of the Holy Paladin of Camelot."

"Camelot? Where's that?" Tia muttered in doubt.

"Roble." Merlin answered with a shrug.

"Hold on, what do you mean by countryman?" Tina pointed out. No one was saying it, but many in Re-Estize were already eyeing Shirou. Perhaps it could even escalate into a wider conflict. Therefore, it was better to make sure.

"Does that mean you're also from Roble, Sir Shirou?" Tia got straight to the point.

"Something of a hometown, but I've left out on travels," Shirou answered before shaking his head and pointing towards the pub and diner. "We should get going. We have people waiting for us."

Many questions arose from Shirou's confirmation, but Blue Rose was astute enough to understand that they had no grounds to pry for answers.

Information was also a type of market, and coaxing it out of a friend left a bad aftertaste.

With that said, Shirou and the others entered the pub and diner.

Merlin however stayed outside, too anxious to set up proper wards and boundaries to warn him and relax his nerves in case Scathatch noticed his presence. He was laid back most of the time, but he wasn't suicidal.

Inside the pub and diner, Shirou recognized Sasaki sitting on the far end of the establishment immediately, but as for the other two, he was not yet acquainted with them.

In any case, Sasaki was the first to nod at them and welcome them to sit.

Shirou obliged, followed by the rest of the Blue Rose who were brimming with curiosity.

"You two knew each other?" Gagaran opened, grinning at Sasaki, Musashi, and Brain who was rendered stunned at Blue Rose's appearance.

"Something like that," Sasaki answered, offering Shirou a drink before waving over a bar maid to take orders for the others. "We go a long way."

Gagaran and the others glanced back at Shirou. First there was Momon, Nabe, and even Merlin, and now there was even Sasaki. Shirou seemed to know a lot of strong people.

"What brings you here?" Shirou asked, genuinely curious.

"I was merely wandering before I stumbled in with these two," Sasaki gestured to Musashi and Brain.

"Oi, pretty boy. Why do you make it sound like this beautiful lady's a burden?" Musashi huffed after introducing herself. The image was paired with Musashi chugging a mug of lager.

Sasaki sighed, the edges of his lips tugging upward in wry amusement.

"Nevertheless, you're wandering was most helpful!" Gagaran laughed. "Saved our asses on the main street. Right Tia, Tina?"

"Grudgingly, yes." Tia admitted before bowing her head with Tina. "Please accept our thanks, or should I say…it's as expected."

Tina glanced at Brain, the famed swordsman who only ever lost to Gazef.

Brain grew uncomfortable at the attention and tried to deny any real involvement. "I was only there to help."

"Yeah, helped keep count and killed one of his own too," Musashi chipped in before smacking Brain on the shoulder.

"A swordsman should have more confidence," Musashi chided, Brain groaning.

It was hard to have confidence when you were constantly comparing yourself to geniuses.

The food soon arrived, and the group ate and drank, but Shirou was staring thoughtfully at Musashi.

A Servant.

That much was clear to Shirou, but what he underestimated was Musashi's intuition and perception.

Musashi noticed Shirou staring and remembered what Sasaki said prior to this get together.

They were supposed to meet someone whom Sasaki thought well of both in skill and character. Well, to be honest, Musashi focused more on the 'skill' part, and the fact that the calluses on Shirou's hands denoted the use of a sword.

"Care for a spar?" Musashi ended up blurting, halting all conversation as everyone focused on Shirou and Musashi.

Musashi was unperturbed.

"Pretty boy, here's too much of a chicken to handle this gorgeous lady."

"Brain," Sasaki quirked a brow at the barb, then leisurely taking a sip from his tea, he placed it back down with an audible clack. "Remind me again who's sword slew more between her and I?"

Musashi gave Brain a subtle stare.

Brain choked. "I-I lost count."

Good. Wise choice.

Musashi beamed in jovial spirit.

"Well," Musashi said, turning back towards Shirou. "How about it?"

She was being cocky, but honestly?

Shirou could use the distraction.

/-/

The clanging of steel echoed across a quiet field where an intense spar was underway.

"Will you both be staying in the kingdom?" Lakyus asked.

"Can't say for sure," Merlin answered with a shrug.

Merlin had joined the group after they'd left the pub.

"In my case, I've got places to be, and my current superior has it out for my willfulness. That's why I'll stick with Shirou." Merlin explained. "Call it intuition, but I sense that interesting things will occur soon."

Lakyus nodded absently, not really thinking too much on it and instead just making small talk.

"The border skirmishes between the Baharuth Empire and Re-Estize are set for the coming weeks," she offered. "I don't know how you Magic Casters think, but a Magic Caster's intuition shouldn't be lightly ignored. Now you're making me apprehensive."

It would be fine if the coming conflict was the same as in the prior years, but recent events have made Lakyus pessimistic.

"Troubled times make for the greatest legends," Merlin mused.

"You're a strange one for a Magic Caster." Lakyus grunted before changing the subject. "What sort of Tier Spell did you use to open that portal? Evil Eye was bugging me about it."

"I'd explain my dear rose, but I'm not sure you'd understand."

"Hn."

Although Merlin and Lakyus had been speaking idly, all of their attention was actually focused on Shirou and Musashi just like everyone else.

"Those two are really going at it." Gagaran whistled with Tina and Tia writing notes on a parchment. "I didn't take Shirou to be so skilled with a sword."

"You probably thought he just shoots them out like arrows, didn't you?" Sasaki smiled softly.

At that, Lakyus grew embarrassed considering that that was exactly what Shirou did during the demon invasion.

Merlin shook his head at Blue Rose and even Brain who was left speechless.

"It's not that Shirou is skilled with a sword, rather what you're seeing now is a result of Shirou's own unique skill," Merlin offered his insight.

"You mean like a martial art?" Brain attributed it to his own terms.

It took a moment for Merlin to dig up information regarding Martial Arts from his intel gathering, but his answer was still the same.

"In some manner yes, but it has more to do with young Shirou's ability to recreate any weapon he's ever seen."

"That's such a bullshit skill," Brain grumbled while Sasaki softened his expression in wry amusement.

Blue Rose was no better, but they'd already seen it first hand unlike Brain.

"What if I told you, it's not only the blade that's recreated?" Merlin hinted at another possibility none had thought of. "What Shirou recreates isn't simply the weapon itself, but its history. This enables him to understand the skills of all that weapon's users."

"Y-You mean…?" Brain and everyone abruptly turned back to stare at Shirou and Musashi, only now realizing why Musashi's expression looked so stunned. "He's copying her techniques?"

Merlin began the first steps to building a reputation for his Master in the New World.

"Not just hers, but any weapon he's ever seen."

From Shirou's hand, a two-meter longsword appeared while his previous pair of swords faded into motes of blue light.

Musashi's eyes immediately twinkled.

In an instant, the entire tempo changed.

"Narberal Gamma."

Narberal flinched, her gaze shooting towards her feet as she resisted the urge to cower. Her hands balled so tightly into fists that the whites of her knuckles nearly seemed to tear. Near her, the other Pleiades watched silently.

After Ainz had forced Narberal through a Gate back to Nazarick, the situation within the tomb had begun to rapidly deteriorate from the top up.

Albedo, as the Overseer in Ainz's absence, should have been the one to pull in the reins, but she herself was one of the main contributors to the internal chaos.

"Why have you returned on your own?"

Narberal pursed her lips.

It was the second time Albedo was asking, and she was still formulating her answer. In the end, Narberal could only come up to a single conclusion.

"I-I was useless to Lord Ainz, and he sent me back before I could do anything…"

Her head hung lower, frustration and grief vivid in her tone.

"Y-You, you- ghr!" Albedo felt like she was going crazy.

Not even the message scroll they had on their end allowed them to get in contact with Ainz.

Albedo bit her nails and continued pacing, shooting venomous glares at Narberal who felt just as awful. Perhaps only Shalltear would truly know the feeling, but even now she was drinking her sorrows away.

It spoke volumes that no one came to Narberal's defence.

"I will go personally," Albedo decided, eyes bloodshot.

Before Narberal had been transported back, Albedo had been overseeing progress with creating a casus-belli for Nazarick to begin spreading its influence in the New World. Now, that was the furthest thing in her mind.

"You will do no such thing Albedo!"

A voice stopped Albedo in her tracks, a blast of flames scorching the ground in front of her and causing her to halt in her steps. She didn't so much as flinch. Rather, she seethed, craning her head up at the person who was keeping the most level head.

"Demiurge," Albedo muttered, anger blinding her rationality. "You dare to stop me?"

"No, it's you that dares to doubt the strength of a Supreme One!"

Albedo faltered at the accusation while Narberal snapped her head sharply in Demiurge's direction.

"Narberal, let me ask you a question." Demiurge reeled in his emotions. It was unbecoming of him. "Did or did Lord Ainz not instruct you with a task before sending you back?"

"He said release Pandora's Actor, allow Albedo to command, and…for Team Darkness to remain."

"Hehehahaha- a genius! I get it. I get it. I see!" Demiurge mused in delight. He stared at Albedo and the others with confidence abounding him. "Albedo, Lord Ainz is trusting you. He must have known what you were currently dabbling with and is giving you permission to see it through. He would not have given such instructions otherwise."

"That's- is that right?" Albedo still couldn't hide her unease, but Demiurge's prior words had already spilled cold water over her head. "But what of Lord Ainz?"

"I dare not apply my limited knowledge on the vast expanse of our Lord's wisdom, but he's surely working in tandem with our movements."

"We proceed as planned."

A Mass for the Dead.

A quick question to light novel readers, but does anyone know how Overlord ends? I get the main goal for Ainz is to spread Nazarick's influence on the off chance his guild members are also in the new world, but beyond that, does he have any other goal?

Thanks for reading!

Next update: Beyond the Gate

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