Naofumi looked over in amazement at the dead wraith. Raphtalia's attacks barely did a thing, but he took it down like it was nothing. A slam against his shield made him focus back on the remaining wraiths.

"Hey, if you couldn't notice, I'm dealing with two more of those things. So, if you're feeling generous, get over here and help me!" Naofumi was still holding back the other two wraiths relentlessly attacking him.

"Heh, even in the middle of battle, you're still as rude as ever. Fine, I'm going to attack them from behind you, so when I say duck, you better duck, or I might accidentally chop your head off." Momon gave a small chuckle as he got ready to charge. As much as Naofumi would have liked to take that as a joke, he felt like the guy wasn't kidding.

Momon quickly dashed forward from his position, making his way toward Naofumi and the remaining wraiths.

"Duck." As soon as he said so, Naofumi immediately dropped down. Not a second later, he saw Momon's blade cleave straight through the two wraiths. As the blade sliced through, the wraiths both screamed in agony and dissipated just like the previous one.

Naofumi looked and saw nothing was left but two piles of rags.

'Just how strong is this guy? He was able to take down two wraiths in one swing.' He looked down at the remains in disappointment.

'I wish he were in our party. Those wraiths must have been of a high level to be able to damage me through the shield. Raphtalia and I could have… Raphtalia!' He instantly remembered Raphtalia's condition and ran over to her. When he got to her, she wasn't coughing anymore, but she was still on her knees, grasping at her throat.

"Raphtalia, are you alright?" Raphtalia looked up to him and smiled.

"I'll be fine; it'll pass. Please. Don't worry about me… Mr. Naofumi." Even if she said she was fine, anyone who heard her speak could tell that was a lie. Her voice, which was usually soft, was now rough, crackly, and hushed.

"Stop lying to me. You're clearly hurt. Now let me see." She moved her hand away to reveal a blistering black handprint on her neck, exactly where the wraith grabbed her. Naofumi checked her stats to see what it was, but all it showed was:

[Unknown Affliction].

"The wraith infused her body with negative energy. It prevents the wound from being healed by normal means. You will need an adept healer or potion to cleanse it; only then would the wound be able to heal on its own." The knight stood above them, analyzing Raphtalia's wound.

"And if we don't?" Naofumi glanced up at the knight only to see a stoic helmet devoid of pity or sympathy for the situation.

"Best case: the negative energy dissipates on its own, and she heals from the injury with light scarring. Worst case: the energy doesn't dissipate. Rather, it will seep deeper into her body. From there, the energy will assault the body from the inside."

"If she gets proper treatment, it should heal within a few weeks, a week if she's lucky. Without treatment, the energy may permanently damage and scar her body."

Naofumi glanced back to the wound, hoping to see if it was something else or if he was just wrong, but when he rechecked, her status changed:

[Negative Energy Corruption: Medium]

"DAMMIT!" Naofumi slammed the ground with his free hand. "Why! Why did we have to deal with those fucking things?! This town was supposed to be where we could level up in peace!"

"I'm sorry. If there is anything I can…" The knight tried to say something, but Naofumi just turned towards the knight with a glare.

"Where were you? You could have ended it before she got hurt! What am I supposed to do if she doesn't recover!? She's the only companion I have! I can't fight by myself." The knight was taken aback, but Naofumi didn't seem to care.

"It's your fault we…" Naofumi stopped as he felt Raphtalia grab his arm.

"Mr. Naofumi, It's not his fault. It's my fault for not following your lead and acting recklessly. I'm sorry." Naofumi squeezed her hand.

"No. I should have protected you better and blocked the attack before it landed. If only I was stronger…"

Naofumi just knelt there, wondering what he could do. They were nearly out of money, so the capital's church was out of the question. Riyute didn't have a healer, and going elsewhere risked the corruption advancing.

As Naofumi contemplated his next action, the knight knelt beside Raphtalia. Just as Naofumi was about to tell him to go away, the knight took off his gauntlet.

Naofumi expected pristine skin that barely saw the battlefield, but instead, he saw an old warrior's hand, one covered in faded scars of the past youth and wrinkles of the present age. He reached out his hand to Raphtalia's neck and placed his hand exactly where the corruption was, causing Raphtalia to grimace in pain.

"Hey, what are you…" Raphtalia looked at Naofumi with pleading eyes, asking him not to stop whatever the knight was doing to her. He bit his tongue, hoping this guy knew what he was doing.

The knight took a deep breath before a dark glow appeared around Raphtalia's wound, which began to shimmer. The black corruption started to travel up the knight's hand slowly as he grunted at the pain. Both groaned in pain as the corruption slowly transferred onto the knight's hand. It continued to snake up his arm before stopping right above the wrist.

Naofumi looked back at Raphtalia's wound and didn't see a single speck of negative energy left on it. Regrettably, it still looked like she had a chemical burn on her neck.

"There, she should be fully healed within the next week." Naofumi looked bamboozled at what just happened, then slightly irritated.

"What did you do? I thought you said she required a healer. Or was all that just a lie?" The knight stood up and put his gauntlet back onto his hand.

"Do not be mistaken. I merely absorbed the negative energy from her wound. She still needs rest and treatment to recover fully. I just made it so it would not cause permanent damage during the healing process."

As he started to walk away, Naofumi called out to him. "Hey!" The knight stopped and turned around to see Naofumi staring at him.

"Thank you." Naofumi gave a slight bow as he thanked him. Momon just nodded in response as he returned to the village. He noticed Raphtalia behind him, trying to stand up.

"Raphtalia, are you alright?" She nodded as she stood back up.

"I'm much better now, thank you." She rubbed her throat, wincing slightly. "I don't know what Momon did, but the pain I felt before is almost completely gone." Naofumi also noticed her voice improved immensely, though still a bit raspy.

"I'm just glad to see you're okay." She gave him a slight smirk.

"I told you not all knights and nobility were bad. Some genuinely want to help those in need and are willing to sacrafice themselves to do so." Naofumi grumbled in response as Raphtalia gave a small chuckle.

Painful moans interrupted the moment as they both looked towards the nearby villagers affected by the wraiths' aura.

Now that the wraiths were eliminated, the villagers slowly regained their senses. Most were wandering around confused, delirious, and had self-inflicted wounds made during their fear state, desperately needing treatment. Only a few were mentally and physically stable enough to help the others.

"We should probably check on the villagers to ensure the old guy is doing all right. I would hate for us to get nothing from this ordeal." Both smiled as they went to help the delirious villagers.

Ainz stepped into a bland inn room with all the necessities: bed, desk, chair, and a small chest to store any personal luggage. It wasn't bad, per se, but nothing else in the room made it feel complete. Ainz rarely spent time in this room as the only times he did enter it was to check in on the horrow lich and any reports he might have.

He approached the bed and sat down, removing the gauntlet on his right hand. The hand was black, corrupted by the negative energy absorbed from the slave's wound. The rest of his armor disappeared as Ainz cast an anti-divination spell around the room.

'Why…? Why did I save her?' Manipulating the negative energy onto his pseudo-body wasn't a problem; he could quickly destroy and regrow the arm or even the entire body if he wanted. The problem was helping her offered no tangible benefits.

'She offers no value to my plan. Hell, she compromises it. If she had been incapacitated or I waited until corruption was further along, I could have gained much more trust from them. If she couldn't assist the hero, I could've offered my services as a 'temporary' team member and gained their trust much faster. But instead, I had to ruin it!'

He clenched his left hand until blood started to drop out of his grip. His emotional suppression finally kicked in, making him look down at the mess he made.

"I must calm down. I can't let my emotions get like this; it just makes me sloppy." He lazily waved his hand over the mess. Both the blood and self-inflicted wound disappeared as if nothing had happened.

"Maybe this is for the best. Judging by how he reacted, if she died to that wraith, he might have activated that berserk ability." Ainz gave a long-winded sigh.

"I'll just have to make do. Her being able to fight will cause a few problems at first. I just need to find a new reason to join their party… I hope they stay in Riyute long enough for me to do so."

Ainz went to the wooden table to review some of the documents the horrow lich provided him with during his last visit. He tried to concentrate, but the situation continued to bother him.

As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew why he saved her, and this wasn't the first time. It was illogical and impulsive and took advantage of his greatest weakness: the Shield Hero reminded him of his old life.

In his original world, Ainz had no one. His co-workers didn't care about him, his family was gone, and his skills weren't appreciated by anyone except for one place: Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil was his haven from the corrupt, poisoned world in which he was forced to live. Yggdrasil and the friends he met there made his life bearable. The Shield Hero's situation was the opposite.

He was forced away from his old world and transported to a place that tried to make his life a living hell. But much like Ainz, he found his haven; whatever the circumstance, he found Raphtalia. The only real companion he had, and Ainz was planning to mutilate his haven, desecrate it.

Ainz couldn't bring himself to do it.

Of course, he knew they would stand in his way sooner or later, as 'heroes' always do. And when the time comes, he will give them both swift and painless deaths together. That way, they will not have to suffer any longer than necessary.

Ainz shook his head.

"Ahhh… Why am I even thinking about this? I should have never met with that weapons smith. Learning about someone's past is just a waste of time and makes things more complicated than necessary." Ainz desperately tried to focus back on the documents but something else grabbed his attention. Chirping. Extremely loud and annoying chirping.

It wasn't coming from outside. Most animals in the area had left ever since the wraiths were close enough for their aura to blanket this area. So then, what was making that noise?

Ainz looked at the documents before him and then towards the chirping. Important reports that required his utmost attention or annoying loud chirping that piqued his curiosity.

Ainz paused momentarily before putting on his armor and headed towards the door.

'I'll have plenty of time to read those documents when I return. They're just daily reports made by the horrow lich anyway. It's probably just the usual, "Everything is going according to your plan, Lord Ainz."'

It only took a minute to find the room housing the noisy bird, it was the same one the Shield Hero was using. He went to open the door, and, to his surprise, it wasn't locked.

"Must've forgotten to lock it when those monsters attacked the village. Hmm?" The moment he walked in, the chirping stopped, and he could see a pink chick run underneath one of the beds.

On one of the tables nearby, Ainz could see the shells of a monster egg.

'Ah! So that's why it was so noisy. It probably hatched while they were off fighting and is trying to get their attention.' Ainz remembered some lessons he had learned from Aura about newborn chicks.

Usually, if a monster is born from an egg without its parents around, it will make as much noise as possible to get their attention. That's because newborns desperately need food when they hatch. But this chick could run around perfectly, and it had feathers already.

Ainz knelt to see the chick trying to be perfectly still under the bed.

"Well, aren't you just another mystery surrounding the Shield Hero? Are you unique, or is this just how monsters are born here?" Ainz watched the little chick for a moment before shrugging.

"I guess I'll need to see for myself."

Ainz reached into his inventory and pulled something out, grabbing the chick's attention. It approached him slowly, ensuring he didn't make any movements. He studied the chick in great detail as it got closer.

"I wonder what kind of monster you will grow to be."