Chapter 02: The Wanderer
'My name is Rumble Redson. I am one of the young blacksmiths working at the new Runecraft factory in the capital Feo Berkana. Today I met the Sorcerer King and I think I'm going to die'.
Rumble opened his eyes slowly. He saw the lights in the room, the stone walls and the lord of death standing next to him. One can imagine how quickly a dwarf gets to his feet, but nothing compares to the leap Rumble made as he threw himself at the entity's feet.
The dwarf prostrated himself with his head touching the ground so deep that he could dig a hole, which he really meant to do, dig a hole, get inside and cover everything to disappear, such was his shame.
"Get up" – ordered the lord of death.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I can't demonstrate the extent of my regret for my actions."
"Stand up, I said. I can't talk to you in this position, and I still don't know what your fault was to judge you." 'It's so boring to be solemn during these times, everything has to be so ceremonious… PUF!' – Ainz sighed.
"Stand up boy, you're embarrassing yourself and embarrassing me in front of His Majesty! Explain yourself at once, Rumble." – grunted a rather grumpy Gondo.
"I'm sorry, it was not my intention to tarnish the Blacksmith King's honor in front of His Majesty."
"Don't worry young man, your king has not been diminished by your humility, but even that has its limits, so start by explaining why you think you betrayed me!"
" Okay, ahem… well, it's a bit of a long story."
" Be precise and stick to the details so I can judge whether you are in debt with me or not."
"Right, well, that happened about six months ago… With the liberation of Feo Jera the year before, the rebuilding of the city was well under way. Everyone was excited and soon more loads of the new Runecraft would be shipped, along with the other smiths who would move to the Sorcerer Kingdom. I was in charge of taking one of the wagons and we were leaving the next day, so some friends and I decided to celebrate, as this would be my first trip beyond the Dwarf Kingdom."
Of course, almost anything is a reason to drink when it comes to dwarves.
" We were drinking at the Soapy Pig, the inn closest to the wagon exit. There was me, Fineas Rocker, Vulkus Stellman and Brock Shoter. Actually, I'm not very good friends with Brock, I only put up with him because he's my cousin's nephew, an unpleasant person, always complaining, doing as little as possible on his part, always with some scheme on the outside to take advantage of, and if that wasn't possible, at least the other person would suffer."
"I don't see why you mention the shortcomings of this… "acquaintance" so much" – said Gondo.
"Well, it's because he died! I mean, it's not that I want to badmouth the dead, it's just that there's no point in saying good things about them either." – Rumble continued.
"What happened is we were at the inn, drinking and gambling a little, nobody had won much in the last few months, but the future was optimistic, so we were playing a friendly little game, playing for coppers you know. Brock was stealing as usual, nothing that it was necessary to fight over it, but that soured the mood a little."
"It was then that the strangest thing that had ever set foot there entered the inn, a human."
" A human!" – exclaimed the two kings simultaneously.
" Yes, a human, a man. This was really new, we knew that we would start doing more trades with other peoples, but we never imagined that someone would come so soon, especially a human! Generally, it was us who went out on business, and it had been decades since the last one came along. If he had come for trade or other financial matters he would have used the main entrance and gone to the entrance areas of the city, but there?! There was the exit through the back door."
"We continued to play, but of course we had half an ear for that person."
"He was wet but not dirty, he didn't even look like he'd come from a long trip or carried a big backpack. He went straight to the counter to speak with Forge, the innkeeper, a brute figure of few words, a good person who had a hard time when the only money came from the food and drink sold in a city that had been at war for nearly a decade. The stranger asked how much it was to spend the night, nine coppers by the way, I know because I would sleep there and leave early with Fineas and Vulku."
"Nine coppers", said Forge, "in advance".
"Then the human said: "See, my name is… Telcontar" – just like that he said – "I'm kind of broke right now, but I would like to know if you would have any work so I could pay for the room and a meal".
""No work!" – Forge said, and then continued – "Sorry friend, but things are just starting to move again, I still can't give up some coppers" – I've never seen Forge use so many words in the same sentence .
"However… I can trade if you have something tradeable" – Forge continued as he looked at the stranger's battered bag.
"Sorry, but what I have here has sentimental value to me and I can't trade it".
"Then he turned around and saw us playing, came towards us and smiled."
"Hello! I'm Telcontar, can I play with you?"
"Oh, look, buddy, we're just playing for fun and to pass the time, playing for coppers", I said.
"Besides, we know you don't have any money" – subtle as always, Brock.
"Why, I thought I might try some service with you".
"Nah! We don't hire workers, but if you want to play, maybe what's in that bag will serve as a bet" – Brock said laughing.
"Okay".
"Excuse me? We kind of heard you say that what was in that bag was only valuable to you and that you couldn't trade it away, now you didn't even hesitate to bet whatever it was!" – I replied.
"He smiled and said he had no problem betting, he just had to win, at that we laughed out loud."
"He just asked not to show what he had in his bag, it would be part of the suspense of the bet, it could have stones or a portrait with silver edges, so it was really a bet. We just shrugged it off, but Brock, he had that weird smile he always does when he's got some plot on his mind."
"Things of sentimental value are usually worth more than you think, pendants or broxes with pictures are at least worth a few bucks, and Brock knew that."
"Right, I'm Rumble, this is Fineas, that's Vulku, and the guy with the cards is Brock".
"I am Telcontar, at your service. Right! What are we playing?"
"Dwarf cards, do you know them? I shuffle".
"I played years ago, Master Brock."
"Have you played with dwarves before? Card".
"Oh yes, Master Rumble, a few decades ago I visited here, things weren't so bad.'
"Please stop with the honorifics, we're still too young to be master blacksmiths, but it's been quite a while since your last visit huh!? Card, I raise two coppers."
"Right, I just like to be polite mast- Mister Vulku, but it's been a long time, I like to travel, see other places."
"I like being called master, you can keep calling me that, há há!
"I don't doubt that, Master Brock, I really don't".
"You know, it can be very dangerous to walk around alone, not everyone is so hospitable".
"I know how to take care of myself, Master Brock, and it's enough to be a little kind with people and you won't get in trouble. Card."
"A simple but honest thought, I'm out".
"You will win for sure next time, Fineas."
"Not with the way you deal, Brock".
"And it's my fault if luck smiles more on me than on you!? I raise three coppers."
"I'm out".
"Me too".
"Right! What do you have, Master Brock?"
"Three Lords, mister Telcontar. Há! Há! Há!".
"That's the problem with Lady Luck, master Brock, sometimes she decides to look the other way. Two pairs of Majesties."
"Your Majesties should have seen Brock's face when he realized he'd lost at his own game.
"Impossible! You must have cheated, you human!" – Brock cursed.
"And how would I do that? You were the one dealing the cards!" – replied Telcontar.
"By this time, Brock had already gotten up and was grabbing the human by the collar. We were about to intervene when we saw what Mr. Telcontar was holding in his hand".
"He had a steel dagger placed around Brock's neck, but the really amazing thing was that the dagger had two runes… on each side!"
"Four runes! On a dagger, we barely put three, where did he get that!?" – exclaimed Gondo.
Ainz's gaze turned sinister and the flames within his eyes ignited – 'A four rune dagger must be rare in the New World, probably an item coming from a player, he himself could be a player or descendant' – the alarms went off inside the supreme being's head.
"And what happened next, Mr Rumble?"
"Ah yes, Your Majesty, we kind of told Brock to let it go, who was already scared of the blade. Then Mr. Telcontar said:"
"I don't think you would start a fight over eleven coppers, would you?"
"No, of course not!" – said Brock almost pissing himself.
"Then I think we are settled, is it not, gentlemen?" – the human said picking up the coppers. Telcontar then left saying good night to us while he smiled.
Right, but that doesn't explain how you think you betrayed His Majesty!
"Oh yeah, that was the next day."
'How dwarves love to tell stories' – thought Ainz – "Eleven coppers, so he only earned enough for the lodging."
"And a meal, Your Majesty, which costs two coppers."
"Just the exact amount for one night, must have left hungry in the morning."
"Oh no Your Majesty, breakfast is included."
"Hmm, interesting" – Ainz muttered
