Chapter 3: Battle at Crane Village.
Unknown Area
The cold rain slaps harshly against the windows of an almost empty warehouse as the figure of a young boy is seen breathing heavily, while holding a blood coated metal pipe. By the boy's feet lies the unmoving bloodied form of a man whose grip on his smoking gun hadn't deteriorated despite his present state. The man's head was caved open into a bloody mess to the point his brain's grey matter were now visible; a result of the continuous bashing of his head by a hard object.
"Ben."
Turning away from the corpse, Ben tosses away the pipe in his hand as he rushes over to the man who had just called his name. Standing a few feet away was Ben's older brother, who used his hand to apply pressure on his bleeding neck. Already feeling dizzy from the blood loss, the older man was about to crash face first on the ground but was quickly stopped by Ben who had closed the distance between them
"...Are you…alright?" the older brother rasped as Ben gently laid him down
"Am I alright?" Ben asked in disbelief as he started at his brothers dying form. "Damnit brother, you're the one with a bullet to the neck. You shouldn't be worrying about me!"
"*Cough*Sorry...I can't help…it." He managed to say. "...it's my duty…as your brother…"
"...to worry about me..." Ben said as he tried to fight the tears in his eyes. "...I know. You've said that so many times it's a miracle you haven't printed in on your Uniform."
The older man couldn't help but smile at his brother's statement. "...Hey…stop crying…you're making me feel bad."
"Sorry, it's just-"
"It's fine…" He said as he took his hand away from his neck to caresse Ben's cheek. After what felt like an hour in Ben's hand, he finally added. "...You should wake up now."
"What?" Ben asked in confusion as he studied his brother with tear filled eyes
"You should wake up." He repeated as the world around Ben began to shift…
…Snapping his eyes open, Ben noticed that he wasn't in a warehouse anymore rather he was lying on what people would call a 'King Size Bed'. Slowly sitting up, he placed his hand over his face before sighing
"Another Dream." He whispered to himself. "I guess even in another world some things just don't change huh?" With an exhausted sigh, Ben stood up from his bed as he began heading for the Bathroom's shower
Ainz Ooal Goal Meeting Room
Momonga sat on a chair and looked at the 'Mirror of Remote Viewing' before him. Momonga reached out to the mirror and swiped his hand right. The mirror's 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." Momonga thought to himself as he 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 just before he heard a familiar voice.
"Still having trouble with the mirror?"
Momonga turned to see Ben enter the room, prompting Sebas to bow to his creator's brother
"Good morning Lord Ben." Sebas greeted. "I hope your night's rest went well?"
"Besides my regular dreams, it was fine." Ben said causing Momonga to raise a non existent brow
"Might I suggest a dream suppression spell to help with your dreams?" Sebas asked, concern eminent from his speech
Ben seemed to pause at the suggestion before replying. "No, I don't think that would be necessary. Thanks for the offer though."
"Your thanks are wasted on me." Sebas said causing Ben to sigh at the butler's humility
"You're suppose to say 'you're welcome' when people thank you." Ben said
"I am aware of that Lord Ben, but to receive thanks from a Supreme Being like yourself is a honor undeserving of me." Sebas said causing the boy to outrightly groan in frustration
"Give it a rest Ben." Momonga chuckled
After grumbling in his heart about Sebas being too formal with him, Ben looked to the mirror Infront of Momonga. 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 wit's end, he made a random gesture and the screen suddenly did as he wanted. The sound of clapping drew Momonga's attention to the Butler in the room
"Congratulations, Lord Momonga. Your servant Sebas stands in awe of your prowess." Sebas said
"More like, 'stands in boredom of your prowess'." Ben joked
"Kill joy." Momonga said
"That is not this case Lord Ben." Sebas said. "The sole reason I was created by Lord Touch Me was to carry out both your orders. No matter how tedious they might seem."
"You know Sebas, one of these days I'm going to have to teach you the ancient art of 'Taking a Joke'." Ben said dryly
"I look forward to learning this ancient art from you my Lord." Sebas said genuinely
"You know, if I didn't know better I would have mistaken what you just said now for sarcasm." Ben said before turning to study the way Momonga controlled the mirror.
Finally discovering 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 on the mirror.
There was a forest nearby, and wheat fields surrounded a settlement. It appeared to be a rustic farming village. By the looks of things, the village itself was not very developed.
As Momonga zoomed in on the village, he felt that something was amiss. "...Are they holding a festival?"
People were running in and out of their houses this early in the morning. They looked panicked.
"No, that is not a festival." Ben said, disgust eminent in his words. Sebas who was watching the display also wore a similar expression
As Momonga enlarged the image, he could now see what had annoyed Ben. Fully armored knights were swinging their longswords at the villagers, who were dressed in rough clothes. It was a massacre.
The villagers fell with every swing of a knights sword. They could not resist them, and could only run away. The knights pursued and killed the fleeing villagers.
"Hm. Those men don't appear to be bandits." Momonga thought to himself. "What's up with me? How can I watch this violence so calmly? I would have passed out at the mere sight of it in the real world." Catching a side glance from his fellow guildmate, Momonga couldn't help but wonder how the human boy could handle the bloodshed. Sure he looked somewhat pissed at the slaughter, but he wasn't throwing up or shaking the way people do when exposed to real life gore. "What the heck has this kid seen?"
Momonga waved his hand again, showing a scene from another part of the village. It seemed like two knights were trying to pull a violently struggling villager off another knight. The man was pulled away, his arms were held, and he was rendered motionless where he stood.
Before Ben's eyes, the man was stabbed with a sword. The blade entered his body and exited from the other side of him. It should have been a fatal blow, but the longsword did not stop. One, two, three strikes…the knight seemed to be taking out his anger on the villager as he hacked at the man's body; this very act had caused Ben to subconsciously balled his fist as his eyes glowed faintly
In the end, the knight kicked away the villager, who collapsed to the ground while spurting his blood into the air.
The villager looked straight at Ben causing the young man's eyes to widen slightly.
Frothy blood leaked from the villager's mouth as he tried to open his mouth. His eyes were unfocused, and Ben could not tell where he was looking. Even so, with what may have been his dying breaths, he gasped his last words…
"...Please save my daughters."
"What are your orders?" Sebas asked causing the two players to face him
"Nothing." Momonga replied coldly. "There is no reason, value or benefit in rescuing th-"
Momonga never finished his statement as the entire room suddenly became cold. Not the winter type of cold but the type that ran down your spine when experiencing fear. Sebas who had felt the change as well took a few hesitant steps backwards. Glancing at Ben, Momonga found himself in the view of the boys cold yet disapproving gaze
"Maybe this senseless slaughter has rendered me deaf, because I could have sworn I heard you say 'nothing'."
Momonga nonchalantly looked at Ben before seeing the phantom image of his past guildmate, 'Touchme'.
"Man, he even gets angry the same way Touchme does."
"There's no need to be angry Ben." Momonga said in a more diplomatic tone. "I am merely looking after the well being of the Guild. If we defend those villagers we would be making enemies of their superiors. Beings we know nothing of their strengths or weaknesses."
On listening to Momonga's explanation, the aura Ben had been emitting disappeared as he closed his eyes thoughtfully
"Maybe you're right." Ben said after a brief silence. "But I wasn't raised to abandon anyone in need of genuine help. So I've decided to help those villagers with or without your help."
Momonga sighed softly, and then he smiled. "Sebas, put Nazarick on maximum alert. I will head out with Ben, 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 of soldiers who are skilled at stealth, or can use the 'Invisibility' spell, ready to move in at a moment's notice."
On hearing this Ben gave Momonga an appreciative smile. "Thank you."
"Think nothing of it." Momonga said before turning to Sebas. "You know your orders correct?"
"Consider it done." Sebas said with a bow. "Though I wish to request the task of defending Lord Ben to be given to me."
"Then who will relay my orders? These knights are currently sacking the village, which means there might be knights near Nazarick who might attack us. Therefore, you must stay."
"You don't need to worry about me Sebas, I can take care of myself." Ben assured the butler
"Now then Ben." Momonga said. "I take it you've pinpointed the exact location of the village?"
"Yes." Ben said before casting [Gate]; causing a gate of blackness to appear before them.
Crane Forest
Enri is seen leading Nemu through the forest as they ran away from the knights. Despite her effort she was still slower than the knight, which caused her to be slashed in the back. Cradling her sister, Enri braced herself as the Knight raised his sword to kill her…yet the attack never came.
Curiosity got the better of her as she looked up to find out what had transpired. The answer was given to her in the form of two figure now standing a few feet away from her
Both Ben and Momonga gazed coldly at the knight standing before the two girls who looked shocked by the Players sudden appearance; this caused him to forget to swing the sword he was holding.
Studying the Knight, Momonga reached out an empty hand and cast his spell. "[Grasp Heart]."
The sound of something soft crushing beneath Momonga's fingers travelled through the air as 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 me." Turning to Ben, he noticed the boy hand cringed slightly, but outside of that he did not seem bothered by the knights death
"I'm not against you killing him but couldn't you have done that after I had taken them away?" Ben asked as he gestured to the frightened children who had just witnessed Momonga's power
"Do you have a far less traumatizing way to kill them?" Momonga asked as three more Knights emerged from the forest.
"[Petrify]." Ben muttered and in an instant the three knights were turned to stone while wearing the shocked expression they had from seeing Momonga
"Pathetic…they all fell to a fifth tier spell…" Momonga said in a disappointed tone
"A weaker spell would have have done the job but I wanted to keep things PG." Ben said as he walked towards the girls
"How weak are they?" Momonga inquired as he remembered Ben had a base passive ability to guage an opponents strength, ignoring even the effect of false stat magic
"Judging from what I can see with my [Eyes, all these knights are Level 5." Ben said before knelling before the sisters. "Hi."
"Please don't hurt my sister…" Enri begged. "...Take me instead."
"I'm not going to hurt you or your sister." Ben tried to assure her. Both sisters were begining to calm down when suddenly a humanoid shape came through the still-open Gate. At the same time, the Gate's duration ended, and it slowly disappeared.
Albedo clad in a suit of full-body black plate armor stood before Ben and Momonga. Ben couldn't help but admire the armor that 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.
"No, it's fine. You came just in time." Momonga said
"Thank you. Then… how shall we dispose of these inferior lifeforms? If you do not wish to stain your hands with their blood, I will gladly eliminate them on your behalf."
"The actual fuck." Ben mentally said in disgust at the thought of Albedo killing children
"...What exactly did Sebas tell you?" Momonga asked but Albedo did not respond. "I see, you didn't pay attention…our 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 to see the two girls shrink under his gaze. What little progress Ben had made to calm the girls was instantly thrown out of the window by Albedo's words, which made them tremble uncontrollably. To make matters worse, Momonga chose that moment to approach them. The effect…the elder sister wet herself, followed by the younger sister.
"..."
Fatigue washed over Ben like a tide as he glared at Albedo and Momonga with an expression that said 'Real smooth guys'.
Sighing, Ben decided to try another approach "...What's your name." Ben asked as he offered Enri his hand.
"Enri." She answered after a while
Nodding, Ben turned to the youngest sister. "And yours?"
"Papa said to never tell our names to strangers." She said
"Is that so…" Ben hummed. "Well in that case, my na-"
Ben was suddenly interrupted by the dulcet voice of Albedo . "...Lord Ben here just saved you out of the kindness of his heart, but to think you would actually dare to refuse him your name… you inferior lifeforms deserve ten thousand deaths for that."
Albedo raised her bardiche in a natural way, preparing to behead them on the spot.
"Albedo, don't you dare touch a hair on their heads!." Ben ordered rather harshly
"...Understood, Lord Ben," Albedo replied gently as she withdrew her bardiche. However, she was still radiating murderous intent, to the point where the two girls were gritting their teeth in fear.
In response, Ben sighed in frustration before turning to the youngest sister. "Sorry about that…my name is Ben by the way."
"Ben." Nemu hesitantly repeated
"That's right, and since you now know my name we're not strangers anymore." Ben smiled softly, causing the tension around the girls to disappear
"My name is Nemu." She said
"Nemu, that's a nice name." Ben said. "Say, 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." Ben said stretched his hand towards the eldest sister. "If you don't mind, I would like to use magic to heal you. Hope that's fine with you?"
Both sisters nodded and in an instant a green glow enveloped her courtesy of Ben.
"No way…" Enri gasped as she touched her back, then wiggled her body in disbelief and patted her back. "The pain is gone?"
"Y-Yes, it is..." Momonga said now standing Infront of them
The elder sister nodded stiffly, to indicate that it did not hurt.
"[Anti-Life Cocoon, [Wall of Protection From Arrows]." Momonga said, causing a dome of light, roughly three meters in radius, to surround the sisters. The second spell was not visible to the naked eye, but there was a subtle change in the air.
Ben gave Momonga an appreciative smile for helping the girls
"I 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. 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.
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."
"Ah… th-thank you for saving us!" Enri said
"Thank you!" Nemu said
Those words made Momonga paused as he saw the two girls brimming with tears as they thanked him.
"...Think nothing of it." Momonga said before noticing his guildmate was giving him a proud smile of approval that reminded him so much of Touchme. "And if your parents are still alive, I 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…"
The Enri's voice trailed off, and then she asked in a mumble "May we know your name...?"
After a long silence backed up with his mental debate, he finally replied. "...Remember my name well. I am Ainz Ooal Gown." Ben raised a brow at the sudden name change but said nothing
"I almost forgot." Ainz said as he walked towards the knight he killed. "[Create Mid Tier Undead, Death Knight]"
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!"
Ainz heard the shrieks from the sisters, and he was quite certain he would be receiving a lecture from Ben on keeping things PG around children, but he had no time to worry about that. After all, he was quite surprised at the sight before his eyes.
After several seconds, the black liquid fell off the body of what was now a Death Knight.
Ainz used the mental bond with his summoned monster and pointed to the knights who had been petrified.
"Exterminate all the knights who are attacking this village."
"OOOOOOOAAAAHHHHHHH!" the Death Knight roared before running off, fast as lightning. The way it charged forward without hesitation was like a hunting hound that had scented its quarry. The undead creature's hatred for the living made it sensitive to the prey that it would soon slaughter.
At a loss for words, Ainz 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."
"I'll be heading off to help more survivors." Ben said as he prepared to fly off
"Please allow me to accompany you Lord Ben." Albedo said but was stopped by Ben raising his hand
"I'm sorry Albedo, but no." Ignoring the downcast expression of Albedo, he continued. "I can't have you accompany me if you're going to kill every human that offends you."
"I understand." Albedo said sadly. "I will endeavor to tolerate them if it pleases you."
"I'd appreciate that." Ben said feeling slightly bad. Her view of humans wasn't entirely her fault but rather it was from her settings. "Later then." He said before flying off, leaving Ainz alone to comfort Albedo
Elsewhere
"OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The mighty roar 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 that evil being right now. Londes was a faithful man-why had the gods abandoned him?
The gods did not exist.
Londes's eyes shifted, pleading for help as a black gale whirled past the field of his vision.
The Death Knight's body was larger than a normal human's, but its nimble grace was far beyond anyone's expectations.
The fleeing man only managed to take three steps.
Just as he was about to take his fourth step, an arc of silver brilliance cleaved his body in two. The bisected left and right halves of his body collapsed in opposite directions. A sour stench filled the air as his pink internal organs spilled out.
"GUWOOOOOOOOOOHHH!" the blood-covered Death Knight roared as it swung its sword.
"Oh god, please save me…"
"Oh god…"
After hearing these cries for salvation, the strength left Londes's legs and he almost fell to his knees. He loudly cursed the gods
"You, you lot, go hold that monster back!" a desperate knight shouted. He knew that his fate was sealed. His words sounded like an off-key psalm.
The man who spoke was standing next to the Death Knight. The way he was stumbling back on his tiptoes to back away from the corpse of his comrade was quite comical.
Londes frowned as he looked on that man in his pathetic state. It was hard to tell who had spoken those words because their closed helmets covered their faces and their voices were distorted by fear. Still, he knew that only one man would speak like that.
...Captain Belius.
Londes's frown deepened.
Overcome by his lewd desires, he had tried to rape a village girl and then sought help from others after he got into a fight with her father. After he was pulled off the other man, he vented his anger by stabbing the father with his sword. That was the kind of man he was. However, his family was quite wealthy in their country, and he had joined this unit because of his family's riches.
Everything had gone wrong because he had been made their leader.
"I'm not someone who should die here! All of you, hurry up and protect me! Be my shields!"
Nobody moved. He might have been appointed their leader, but he was not popular at all. Nobody would throw their lives away for a man like this.
However, the Death Knight responded to his shouting, and it slowly turned to face Belius.
"Aiiiiiieeeeee-!"
The only thing praiseworthy about him was that he could make so much noise while standing in front of the Death Knight.
Just as Londes began to respect this odd quality of Belius's, he heard the man shriek in terror:
"Money, I'll give you money! Two hundred gold pieces!! No, five hundred gold pieces!!!"
Those were considerable amounts he was talking about. However, right now, it was like telling them that he would pay them to jump off a five hundred meter cliff.
Although nobody responded, one person moved as though in reply to him.
"Uboooooarrr…"
The right half of the bisected corpse gripped Belius's ankles firmly. The bloody gargling from its mouth hardly sounded like words.
"-Ogyaaaaaahhhhh!!!!" Belius screamed in an unnaturally high-pitched voice. The onlooking knights and villagers were frozen in fear, their skin covered in goosebumps.
Squire Zombies.
In YGGDRASIL, creatures killed by the Death Knight would become undead of comparable power, haunting the place where they were killed. According to the game's rules, those damned souls who fell to the Death Knight's blade would become its slaves for all eternity.
Belius stopped screaming, and fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut, facing the sky. He must have passed out. The Death Knight drew closer to the defenseless man and stabbed its wavy-blade flamberge down.
Belius's body twitched, and-
"Gu-Guwaaaaaaargh!"
Woken by the incredible pain, Belius screamed, "Leh, leh me guh!!!!! Ah beggehg yeh!!!!!! Ah duh anythuh!!!!!!!"
Using both hands, Belius desperately grabbed the flamberge that had already penetrated his body, but the Death Knight paid his futile struggles no heed and worked the flamberge like a saw. His flesh and armor were cruelly torn open, and fresh blood flew everywhere.
"-Aah-eeeh-ah gib ya munni, leh, leh meh guh-"
Belius's body shuddered, and then he breathed his last. Only then was the Death Knight satisfied, and it stepped away from Belius's corpse.
"No… no… please, no…"
"Oh god!"
Their screams came from seeing the ghastly sight before them. If they ran, they would die swiftly, but if they stayed, they would die horribly. They knew that perfectly well, but still, they could not bring themselves to move.
Crane Village
After the eradication of the Knights, Ben went about healing the injured villagers while also helping them with repairs. Albedo and Ainz (who now wore a mask), are both seen overseeing the repairs of the village. Ainz was about meeting the Village Chief when Albedo called to him
"Lord Ainz Ooal Gown."
"...Ainz will do, Albedo." He said
"Lord Ainz." She corrected herself. "Do I disgust Lord Ben?"
Taken aback my the question, Ainz turned to face Albedo. "Why the question though?"
"Ever since I threatened those humans, he seems to be avoiding me." Albedo said. "Forgive me for asking such a trivial question."
"It's fine Albedo." Ainz assured her. " Ben doesn't find you disgusting, neither does he find you unattractive. If you asked me, it's actually the opposite."
"Really?!" Albedo twisted her body happily
"Indeed." Ainz confirmed. "What actually offends him is your view of humans." He added causing Albedo's mood to become gloomy.
"How so?"
"You seem to dislike humans." Ainz said
"What's to like about them?" Albedo asked. "They are weak and pathetic. Just tiny insects that exist to be crushed under foot."
"Listen to me Albedo." Ainz said. "Thinking like that will never earn you Ben's love regardless of how you appear. Do you know why?"
"Why Lord Ainz?"
"Because Ben is also human." Ainz answered
"But…he is different from them…." Albedo said. "He is a Supreme Being while they are not."
"Ben does not see it that way." Ainz said, as he took notice of his guildmate playing with a group of children. "He views them the same way he views Nazarick. Living Beings worthy of respect and kindness, and sometimes even anger."
"I-"
"I won't ask you to change Albedo." Ainz said cutting her off. "I doubt Ben would ask that of you as well. But I want you to show them respect. Act if you need to. But you should treat the humans with kindness…for Ben's sake at least." as Albedo nods hesitantly, Ainz began thinking to himself
"It feels hypocritical to ask that of her when I don't have feelings for them either. Must be a side effect from being an undead."
With his lecture over, the next order of business was learning about the kingdom around Nazarick. This village, named Carne Village, and Nazarick were part of the Re-Estize Kingdom, and adjacent to the great mountain range that runs north and south is the Baharuth Empire. The countries were on bad terms with each other and often battle on the plains that border the two countries near the capital city of E-Rantel. There's one other, the Slane Theocracy, which lies to the south of both countries.
Based on the crests of their shields, the village chief assumed the Baharuth Empire attacked the village. But perhaps this was staged by someone else.
"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Ainz asked as Ben and Albedo stood beside him
"Y-yes," the elder meekly replied. "The closest city near this village is E-Rantel. Goblins, orcs, and ogres appear around this area, but adventurers hunt them pretty thoroughly, so you should be safe as long as you follow along the roads."
"Adventurers?" Ainz mused aloud.
"They are people who defeat monsters in exchange for a reward," he explained. "There is a guild in E-Rantel where you can request their services."
"An adventurer's guild, hm?" Ainz said. "What is the population of E-Rantel?"
"I'm sorry; I don't know the exact number," the elder said.
It seemed this was the limit of what someone living in the countryside could provide. He would need to go to a bigger city and live there to find out more. The prospect of the adventurer's guild piqued his interest; it seemed a fitting way to justify his presence while also establishing himself and finding more information.
Shortly after they excused themselves from the elder's home, the villagers all gathered to bury and mourn the dead. It was a pretty significant toll on their numbers. They all gathered before the crowd of gravestones and bowed their heads in respect and prayer.
Looking at Enri and her sister kneeling before a gravestone, Ben briefly considered reviving the dead villagers with a resurrection spell. However, Ainz was quick to scold him concerning the issue; it wasn't hard to tell that the ability to raise the dead would surely bring them more trouble than needed
Ben, Ainz and Albedo walked through the village when they saw a small crowd of anxious-looking villagers surrounding the village elder. They heard a few worried whispers as they approached.
"What seems to be the issue?" Ainz asked as he took the last few remaining steps between them.
"Ah, Lord Ainz." the elder said, sounding equally as hesitant and worried as his villagers. "It seems some knight-like people are heading toward the village…"
"I see," he stated. "Please have the surviving villagers gather around your house. The village elder will come with us to the square."
After many a murmured gratitude, the villagers filtered out and Ben, Ainz, Albedo, and the elder made their way to the square to await the arrival of the mysterious knights. It wasn't long before the rumbling of hooves and kicked up dust announced the presence of the potential invaders. From the distance, Ben could see that they all wore uniform armor with the exception of a broad, muscular man at the front, wearing silver and red armor with no helmet. He also noted that their armor was different from the thugs attacking earlier.
The man in the silver and red armor slowed to a stop as he saw the three of them. His fierce, serious expression trailed over them before settling on the Players. "I am the chief royal warrior of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff," he announced. "I have received orders from the king to hunt down the knights of the empire that have been wreaking havoc in this area by visiting all the villages."
"The royal head warrior?" the elder said with wonder. It seemed he recognized the title, at least – if not the man himself.
"You must be the chief of this village," Gazef said, his gaze shifting over to the man in question. "Who are these standing beside you?"
Cutting off the elder's attempted introduction, Ainz stepped forward. "Greetings, royal head warrior. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown and this is my allie Ben Strega. We are magic casters who came to help this town while it was being attacked."
"This is Albedo, she…" Ben paused and noticed Albedo seemed happier than usual from the fact he introduced her. "...She also helped us repel the knights."
Hearing this, the warrior's eyes widened and he immediately dismounted, approaching them. With an extreme sincerity in his voice, he exclaimed, "Thank you for protecting this village. Mere words cannot fully express my gratitude."
Interrupting them, one of his soldiers stepped up behind him. "Head warrior," he called. "Unknown figures have been spotted around the village. It seems they've surrounded us and are approaching as we speak!"