Hello Scrolls and Nazarins, Mr.Bones with another chapter of my Overlord fanfic: The One Who Came Back.
Yuri is forced to relax even without her knowing it.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 34: Yuri Alpha's Day Off
"How do you mean he's looking at you?!"
"He's standing right in front of me, smiling. He requested a pass to enter the city and is waiting."
"Smiling? People don't smile at Liches; he might be using some sort of mind control magic. Do you feel anything towards him?"
"I feel like tearing his face off with my claws."
"That seems to be the natural sentiment of the undead towards the living."
"Yes, Ms. Alpha, but with him, this feeling seems to be particularly stronger."
"Stronger, you say... that would only be possible if he were more alive than other people or if he were a Paladin. Can you detect any aura or magic?"
"Nothing that my passive ability can sense, but I fear using any appraisal magic might alert the target."
"Alright, then keep him entertained for as long as you can, delay the lecture until I arrive. Wait! Disregard the last order, follow the protocols to the letter."
"Yes, Ms. Alpha, should we do anything specific?"
"No, we should proceed with the standard procedure. He may have already visited the city before the searches, any changes might scare him off. We don't know what kind of magic he might use."
"Yes, Ms. Alpha."
"Oh! What name did he give?"
"Ichabod, last name Crane."
"Ichabod Crane, a strange name. I'll be there soon."
"Understood, Ms. Alpha."
At this moment, Yuri Alpha had already leaped off the carriage and rushed towards the city entrance, leaping over buildings, completely unnoticed.
"Should I inform Ainz-Sama?" Yuri burned a message scroll.
"Ainz-Sama, this is Yuri Alpha reporting."
"Good morning, Yuri Alpha. How are you this morning? It seems there must be some news."
"Yes, Ainz-Sama, only my master would anticipate my report. As you predicted, the Traveler has apparently arrived in the city."
'It's not hard to imagine, after all, only something of great importance would make Yuri Alpha contact me at this hour in the morning,' thought the Overlord. "Continue, Yuri Alpha. Where is he?"
"He is at the main gate, going through the standard check-in and acclimation procedures. I will probably arrive towards the end of the workshop. Do you want him to be detained immediately?"
"Negative, Yuri. Let's see what his intentions are in my city. I want you to keep surveillance on him."
"As you command, Ainz-Sama."
"Do you have the name he is using?"
"Yes, Ainz-Sama, he gave the name Ichabod Crane, which sounds foreign to me."
"Exactly as I expected."
"As expected from a Supreme Being, accurately predicting the steps of your opponent."
"Ahan! Alright, continue with the surveillance. I will contact you as soon as you reach the gate." 'This way, I save on message scrolls. Those Sheep of Abelion don't grow on trees.' thought the Supreme Being about Demiurge's requests for more scroll materials.
"I need to control its use, I don't want to destroy an ecosystem or extinct a species. Blue Planet would kill me if something like that happened," Ainz spoke to himself, but the Homunculus maid standing in the corner of the office was able to hear. Since she wasn't ordered to keep it a secret, soon everyone in the tomb would be aware of their master's intentions, each with their own interpretations.
Quickly, Yuri crossed the city, but she arrived just as the visitors were being allowed to enter.
"Yuri Alpha, I see that you have just arrived."
"Y-Yes, Ainz-Sama, can you see me?"
"Yes, Yuri, I am with the Guardians observing the gate at this very moment with the Remote Vision Mirror" – 'With the message spell, it's almost like watching television,' Ainz imagined.
"Alright, my lord. The on-duty Lich has just pointed out the Traveler to me. For now, he is in the middle of the crowd, and I will follow him."
'What is she doing?' Ainz thought as he saw Yuri following the Traveler.
"Yuri, are you following the Traveler?"
"Yes, Ainz-Sama, as you ordered."
'I didn't mean for her to do it personally,' Ainz thought, metaphorically slapping his forehead.
"I-I thought you had concerns about the Traveler detecting any invisibility magic, so I didn't cast anything on myself."
"YES! Ahan, excellent initiative, Yuri. Proceed with reporting what the Traveler is doing. We still can't distinguish him from the crowd."
"Yes, Ainz-Sama. He is wearing light-colored clothing, a long-sleeved shirt, and loose pants, walking along the main avenue, fifteen meters away."
"Long sleeves, loose pants, light-colored clothing..." 'Strange, there's no one with this description,' Ainz thought. "Albedo, can you see the person Yuri described?"
"No, Ainz-Sama, no one is wearing similar clothing."
"Demiurge, Shalltear, any of you Guardians see the described person?"
"No, Ainz-Sama," was the almost unanimous response, except for Aura.
"Hmmm! Aura, it seems like you have something to say."
"N-No, it must be nothing, Ainz-sama."
"Come on, Aura, speak freely. I want everyone's opinion."
"Yes, Ainz-Sama, it seems there is a... gap in the crowd, small and barely noticeable with the movement of the humans. There!"
"Well noticed, Aura. It seems that people are avoiding something we cannot see, some kind of anti-divination magic. He is invisible to the Remote Vision Mirror." Aura opened a huge smile upon hearing her master's praise.
"Ah, how wise our master is, testing us to discover something he already knew. Congratulations, Aura, as a Ranger, your vision is truly phenomenal," Demiurge said, causing the girl to swell with pride, while Albedo and Shalltear cast envious glances at the little elf.
"Yuri, the traveler is invisible to us. Maintain surveillance and do not lose sight of him."
"Yes, Ainz-sama."
Yuri Alpha is an excellent fighter. As a Monk, her technique is based on close combat. She is also incredibly skilled in organizational abilities, surpassed only by Albedo in management matters. However, what she seemingly cannot do is tail someone.
This became quite obvious to Ainz as he observed how she tried to conceal her movements, hiding behind objects smaller than her or quickly looking in another direction when the Traveler turned around. At one point, the Overlord nearly dropped his jaw when he saw Yuri attempt to hide behind a lamppost.
But it was too late to send a Hanzo, as it would only undermine Yuri Alpha's confidence. By sheer luck, it seemed that she hadn't been discovered by the Traveler, or had she?
Yuri Alpha followed the Traveler through the streets. Whenever he stopped, she stopped. Sometimes, when she was surrounded by children wanting to greet her, she was fortunate that the Traveler lingered longer, observing something else.
When he looked at a shop window, she would discreetly look at another, realizing that she might learn something about her target by evaluating what caught his attention. Soon enough, she was looking at the same shop windows he had seen.
Within most of the things that seemed to be of interest to the Traveler were craft stores, armor shops, clothing boutiques, and among them, many seemed to cater to the female audience. Yuri speculated that he might be interested in getting something for someone else or perhaps for himself. After all, one should not judge people's tastes, and the Traveler's taste seemed to be refined.
He stared for a while at what appeared to be a feminine suit set, a novelty, finely tailored in a southern style, reminiscent of Demiurge's suit if it weren't for the skirt. It didn't seem like it would suit the Traveler, but she herself had found herself wearing such an outfit in the Institute's office.
'Nonsense,' Yuri thought. 'My clothes are excellent, and besides, I already have something similar in my wardrobe made by Lady Yamaiko... but not in this color.'
The Traveler continued through the bustling streets until he stopped at a perfume stall. Yuri made a point to memorize which ones were tested, and as soon as the Traveler moved away, she decided to see what had caught his attention.
"Good," she said. In Nazarick, there were no perfumes. After all, in the game, one couldn't smell scents, so there were only items that were supposed to have perfume scents. Additionally, each of the NPCs had their own distinct scents, which is why Albedo smelled so good and tried to mark her territory on Ainz's bed with it.
"Would you like to take something, ma'am? This Spring Breeze is a new perfume created by the finest apothecaries in Arwintar." Yuri glanced sideways and saw the Traveler standing very close. She needed to disguise her true intentions.
"Yes, I'll take this one and this one for my sister," she said, recalling that Solution had spent a lot of time disguised as a lady in Re-Estize and had a good stock of perfumes since then. "For the disguises," she had said, so getting something new would be a good gift.
For the months that Yuri had been living in E-Rantel, she had never walked the streets like this before. Being there had always been work, an obligation. Window shopping was a frivolity she had never allowed herself to indulge in, and now she found herself obligated to get something for each of her sisters. Since one would receive a gift, she couldn't leave the others empty-handed.
The Traveler continued to other stalls and shops. In some of them, Yuri could buy things for her other sisters: a colorful brooch that resembled a scarab beetle for Entoma, a bracelet with sharp spikes for Lupusregina, a camouflage-patterned scarf for CZ, something called a sleeping mask for Narberal, so she could relax when she was off duty, and a finely sculpted figurine of the heroes Momon and Nabe for Aureole.
By late morning, the Traveler entered a bookstore. Yuri strategically positioned herself near one of the shelves.
There were books on various subjects of study for the nobles, but what caught the Traveler's attention were smaller books, new things that stood out from those massive tomes. One of them had caught his eye, but it seemed that he counted his coins and tried to negotiate with the owner, realizing he couldn't afford it. Visibly disappointed, he left the book on the shelf.
As soon as he left, Yuri took it and purchased it. She needed to know what was in that book for him to want it so badly.
The Traveler then went to a plaza where he sat down and enjoyed a group of bards performing.
Yuri sat on a bench further away, where she could see her target with her peripheral vision. To disguise her intentions, she began reading the book, which turned out to be... interesting. After dozens of pages, her cheeks turned red. As she read, the music of the bards seemed to complement her reading.
After nearly an hour, the Traveler headed towards a tea shop.
Yuri sat two tables behind and ordered biscuits with black tea to accompany her, all as a disguise, of course. Nothing there compared to the food in Nazarick, but it was of sufficient quality to satisfy her while she read, I mean, followed the Traveler.
The afternoon progressed as the Traveler headed towards the place where he could catch a shared carriage.
" Ainz-Sama, the Traveler has just boarded a carriage to the City of Carne."
"Good job, Yuri. You may return to Nazarick."
"Do you not want me to follow him?"
"There's no need. A Hanzo can do that from a safe distance without using Invisibility. I'm interested in hearing your opinion about this Traveler."
"As you command, Ainz-Sama."
"Lupusregina!"
"Yes, Ainz-Sama?"
"Stay alert for the next carriage from E-Rantel arriving in Carne. You will receive visitors."
"Yes, Ainz-Sama!" the maid replied with a sadistic smile.