Ainz casually waited as he watched Raphtalia resting on the ground trying to catch her breath.
This was their third day of training, and both were wearing leather gear and wielding cheap iron weapons that Ainz procured in the capital. They had been training since the brink of dawn and were currently capping off a session before they took a small break, but Ainz had one last exercise for her, a duel.
"You ready?"
She took a few more long breaths before standing up and getting into a fighting stance. She closed her eyes for a second before focusing on him intently and nodded.
"All right then… Begin!"
Ainz immediately dashed forward and swung his blade trying to catch Raphtalia off guard. She quickly dodged backward out of its range, kicking up as much dust as possible with her sword in the process. Ignoring the dust Ainz continued to charge through swinging downwards to where she was just a moment ago, to find nothing.
"Ah, you finally learned that magic you told me about. I'm impressed." He looked around for a moment before noticing parts of Raphtalia's body uncovered by the spell on his right.
"Though, I don't think you've properly recited the incantation." Ainz rammed his shoulder into her, knocking her off balance.
"Attacking the side the wraith corruption weakened? How cruel. And predictable." Ignoring his comment, she dashed ahead with deadly intent.
She was able to make three slashes before Ainz's blade came down making her retreat out of its range. Ainz noticed she aimed for his joints, left shoulder, right wrist, and left elbow. Out of the three only one went deep enough to cut the armor and expose his skin. The other two merely graced him.
"Remember, don't waste your effort on attacking if the attacks are too shallow to do any damage. You will merely waste your energy." She nodded and thrust forward again, trying to attack his right side.
"Aiming for my weak side again? I guess you like learning the hard way."
Ainz elegantly side-stepped milliseconds before her sword made contact and swiftly gave a sharp kick to her ribs. An audible crack reverberated through the air as she was sent tumbling against the ground. But while she was skidding across the ground, Ainz watched as a thrown dagger narrowly missed his exposed shoulder.
Raphtalia looked up with a strained smile, which immediately turned to a pained sorrow, realizing she missed the mark. She collapsed from exhaustion and hit the ground in irritation.
"Dammit! *COUGH**COUGH*" Ainz watched her for a moment, as she continued to cough and inhale violently, before sheathing his blade.
"The match is over. It seems one of your lungs are punctured. You will be unable to continue without risking your life." Ainz approached her, pulling out a blue potion. He slowly poured it on her ribs, making sure only to use it on the affected area.
'I must say she has shown incredible progress in such little time. Over the past three days, her fighting style has improved drastically. Well, more like she developed a fighting style. She was almost as bad as I was when I started, swinging her blade carelessly and reacting to enemy attacks, rather than trying to predict them.' He watched as she started to relax as the potion began to take effect.
'But I can't deny, she has a burning passion for getting stronger and an unbreakable loyalty to Naofumi. She reminds me of Nazarick in that way… Cocytus would be able to give her much better tips on how to wield a shortsword. And he would love her fighting spirit. Haha…'
After hearing Raphtalia's ribs snap back into place and her breathing normalize, he stood back up and put away the half-empty potion. Raphtalia groaned as she kneeled back up, rubbing the spot where he kicked her.
"You have improved, but you should not be so quick to put everything on one attack like that. If you continue to fight like this, it is only a matter of time before you find someone that exploits that aggressive style." She bowed her head, frustrated at the mistakes she kept making.
"I understand, Momon. I'll work harder." He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't fret over it. You have only had three days of real combat training. Be proud of the progress you've made in such little time." Ainz turned to see a dust cloud coming from the direction of the village.
"Hmm? Strange. It seems Naofumi has come to pick you up early. That or Filo got hungry." Ainz gave a small laugh, while Raphtalia just sighed disheartened.
"Knowing Mr. Naofumi, Filo probably kept bothering him while he was mixing potions and came here to make her stop. That's the only reason he came to pick me up the last two sessions…"
Ainz patted her on the shoulder sympathetically and walked over to his bag to get some food out of his inventory. However, when he pulled out a bag of finely diced dragon meat, he just sighed.
The Ancient Frost Dragon Bird Feed was a Yggdrasil food item that allowed rangers to give tamed monsters a permanent frost resistance buff. It would be a solid item if it didn't only work with bird-type monsters that were in their newborn stage, needed to be fed to them multiple times, and only had a minor chance of taking effect even when the player did these things, all for a minor buff.
Filo just hatched and was the perfect subject to test to see if the item worked on this world's monsters. Ainz had dozens in his inventory, so he planned to give Filo as much as possible to increase the odds of the effect occurring. But, of course, nothing was that easy.
"Gahhh." Filo came to a screeching halt and happily announced their arrival with an irritated Naofumi on her back. Her feathers' previous pink hue had changed to white, and her neck had grown out to look like an ostrich. But the thing Ainz was upset about was her height.
'How is that thing as taller than I am!? It was born three days ago!' Ainz carefully looked at the full-grown monster and sighed.
According to the local village, Filo was already nearing full maturity. In Yggdrasil, without the use of certain items or high-level consumables, even the weakest monsters took at least a week to reach full maturity and in the Old World it took months, if not years. Ainz shook off these thoughts as Naofumi started walking towards him.
"Momon! Did you forget to give Filo her meal this morning? She has been bothering me all day, and I can't leave her outside alone or else she starts harassing the villagers. And I'm not dealing with it anymore!" Ainz looked over to Naofumi trying his hardest to seem confused, but internally he was just annoyed.
'Why is this guy still so irritated at me all the time? I'm not expecting him to trust me completely, but I thought by now he would be a little more friendly by now. Hah, I guess he'll just take more time.'
"Oh, I apologize. I should have told you before we left. I only gave her half a portion as this is the last of what I have with me." As he pulled out the bag, Filo rushed towards him, stopping a few feet away.
"Gah, Gah, GAH!" She excitedly moved her head around trying to confirm what was in the bag without getting too close. Ainz chuckled at her behavior before tossing the open bag to the ground, in which she quickly started eating.
"You mean I have to deal with her being like this all the time now?!" Naofumi rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Is there any way you can get more? Or at the very least something else, so she doesn't bother me?"
"Regrettably not. This country doesn't seem to have the livestock this meat is derived from."
"Of course, it doesn't. Why am I not surprised." As Naofumi tried to figure out what he was going to do, Filo finished eating and went up to him begging for more.
"GAH! GAH!"
"Why do you always go to me!? He's the one who gives you the food!" Naofumi pointed toward Ainz, and Filo looked over. She looked at him for a moment before she shook her head and went back to begging Naofumi for food.
"Gah! Gaaaaaah!"
"We don't have any left! You understand me!? You will not get any more meals from Momon. No matter how much you beg."
Ainz could only watch as Naofumi started arguing with Filo. Before he could think about the ridiculousness of the situation, he walked over to where Raphtalia was.
"I don't wish to come off as disrespectful, but… Is he always like this? You know. Angry, untrusting, and overall, troubled person. I understand I've only known you two for a few days, but I don't believe I've seen him genuinely smile once."
Raphtalia seemed surprised by the sudden question and thought about it. Both stood quiet for a moment as they watched Naofumi pull out a piece of jerky just to eat it in front of Filo as she stomped her feet like a child who didn't get their way. Raphtalia eventually nodded to his question.
"He is. Mr. Naofumi can be rude, doubtful, and sometimes even hostile to people he just met. He refuses to do anything for free, even for those who are desperate. On the outside, he looks and behaves just like what people expect him to be like from the rumors…" As she spoke, Ainz watched as Naofumi reluctantly gave Filo some of the food he had on him.
"…But if you look at his actions, they show what kind of person Mr. Naofumi really is. Someone kind, honest, and, even when it puts his life in danger, is willing to help those in need. He might say it's all just to get a reward, but he has treated me, a slave, with nothing but kindness and cared for my health for no direct benefit to himself. I trust him with my life and am more than willing to fight for him, even if it means I die in the process." Her face beamed as she recounted what Naofumi had done for her and her trust in him. Ainz thought about what she had said.
"I could argue that he is not as kind as you think he is as you are clearly indebted to him for saving you from the slave trade…" Just as she was about to say something he held up his hand.
"But that would be an extremely foolish and unproductive conversation." He turned to Raphtalia and looked right into her eyes.
"But what I can say is you are a remarkable young woman. Not only do you have talent with a sword, but you have a strong will and loyalty towards those you trust, willing to do anything for them." Ainz looked up to the beautifully clear and clean sky.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Or maybe in your case, a lover?" Raphtalia's face went beet red and started shaking her head rapidly.
"N-no! I-I mean. Mr. Naofumi and I…" She just covered her face in embarrassment as she continued to mumble incoherently. Ainz chuckled at her reaction.
'How long has it been since I've had a chance to talk with my citizens, hell anyone, without the royal pretense… I miss it. I should make sure to do this more regularly when I get back home. Disguise myself as a normal adventurer again? Maybe talk with the people of Carne? It would be good to get a break from being the Sorcerer King now and again.'
"Are you two talking behind my back?" Naofumi finally finished arguing with Filo and walked over. Ainz noticed Filo behind him gnawing on the bag that had the meat inside it.
"Of course not. We were merely making small talk while you were dealing with Filo, I assure you." He looked over to Raphtalia, who was trying her best to calm down.
"Yeah, whatever." Naofumi seemed skeptical but let it go. "Anyways, besides coming here to make Filo stop bothering me, it was also to confirm what you said about that undead." Ainz nodded gravely.
"Yes, the undead will appear either sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. Assuming the swamp environment slows it down, it could be later, but it will be here by tomorrow for sure. And no, I still can't confirm what kind of undead it is. I have a guess, but I don't want you to have preconceived notions about it before battle."
"Something would be better than nothing." Ainz sighed at his irritated response but chose to ignore it and continue.
"How is the work on the barricade?"
"Bad. The villagers were able to set up some defenses out of scrap wood, but I doubt it could withstand a strong breeze, not to mention an undead." Raphtalia finally calmed down and seemed concerned about what they were discussing.
"I don't understand why we have to endanger the villagers. They've been through so much already and they won't be able to help in the defense. So why get them involved?" Ainz nodded to her concern.
"I understand your reluctance, but if you two fought this thing in the swamp you would be at a huge disadvantage. And undead generally target areas with a large living presence, so I can almost guarantee if we didn't find it in time, it would target the village." Raphtalia seemed conflicted but accepted his explanation.
"Alright then." Ainz picked up his pack and put away the practice gear he was using.
"We should probably head back. You two need to get ready for the battle and I need to make sure the villagers understand what they must do when the undead attacks." Both Raphtalia and Naofumi agreed.
After Ainz and Raphtalia collected all their training gear and Naofumi bribed Filo to walk with them instead of running, they started the walk back to the village. The walk should have only taken about an hour, but with Filo occasionally running after small monsters and Naofumi gathering herbs, it was midday by the time they got to the village. When they entered the village, all the villagers were crowded in the village square.
"What the hell is going on?" Naofumi looked over confused, before he noticed something in the crowd that made his confusion immediately turn to irritation.
Ainz looked towards the villagers crowding around a group of knights. Two people were standing in front, one wearing a silver breastplate and chainmail while the other was wearing some kind of light armor and holding an unfurled scroll.
"In recognition of his victory over the latest wave of destruction that plagued this village, the king of these lands has granted the Spear Hero, Motoyasu Kitamura, the governorship over these territories." The two continued to speak with the crowd, but Ainz wasn't listening. All the color drained from his human face as soon as he realized who they were.
'What are they doing here? The last report I got from the lich said the heroes were off doing quests in regions nowhere near this area. And what's this about governorship being given to the Spear Hero? Why didn't the lich report about-' Ainz suddenly remembered the night of the wraith attack when he fed Filo for the first time.
'I forgot to read his report!' Before Ainz could go into a full-blown panic, his emotional suppression kicked in.
'Alright, calm down. If they're just here to announce the new governor, it will be fine. But if they find out about the undead before they leave, they'll probably want to protect their new lands and hunt it down. Dammit, this last battle was supposed to solidify my position in Naofumi's party, but of course this had to happen.' He exhaled as he tried to figure out how he was going to deal with this, but was interrupted when the Spear Hero recognized Naofumi.
"Ha! Is that who I think it is? What are you still doing here Naofumi?" Naofumi clenched his fists as the Spear called out to him.
"I'm here to finish a quest."
"Huh! You mean you haven't moved on to a different area yet? I guess that's the shield for you, still getting paid copper quests in an area like this and falling farther behind the other REAL heroes." Ainz glanced over to Naofumi, expecting him to be upset by the princess' comment, but he just had a cocky smile on his face. The princess noticed it and spitefully ignored him, continuing her speech.
"The first decree of your new governor will be a toll on those who enter and exit the village. If we don't, this village will never receive the restoration funds in time. The fee will be 50 silvers for entering and exiting the village." Ainz had only learned the basics of this world's economy but even he knew that was absurd. A gold coin here could feed a family of five food for a month.
"With taxes like those we won't be able to survive!" The old governor spoke up from the crowd, reiterating what Ainz was thinking.
"Oh, come on. It's not that much." The Spear Hero spoke up confused at the governor's reaction.
"…" Ainz could only watch as the ignorance of Spear Hero was on full display for the entire village. The villagers were horrified by the fact he was supposed to be their new governor.
'If all nobles and heroes act like this, this country will have revolts spreading like wildfire within the next few years, a decade if the military stays loyal. Hah, this is what happens when positions are earned by wealth or military strength rather than ability.' Ainz watched as the villagers were starting to get riled up.
"What's this? Do the citizens of this village have an issue with the decree?"
"Of course, we have a problem with it!" The old governor stepped forward with Naofumi next to him.
"The old man is right Motoyasu. You were just appointed governor and your first action is to levy an enormous tax on them. Think about it…" The Spear Hero seemed conflicted about what was happening.
"Myne… he has a point. I'm sure they spent a bunch of their money on resources already. Could we lower the tax to something they can afford?" The princess' totalitarian attitude did a 180 as soon as he spoke to her, acting innocent while battering her eyes at him.
"Mr. Motoyasu, if they do not learn perseverance along with their pain the village will never recover from the wave. These people are clearly too greedy to give up their personal funds for the greater good of the village." This seemed to be the breaking point for the old governor as his face went red with rage.
"How dare you! You don't understand the pain we've been through! We were not only the battlefield of the waves, but the target for swamp monsters and undead as well. And where were you, huh!? We are still under threat, yet you still do nothing!" The princess just looked at him with disgust as she made a signal to the nearby knights.
"You come here with your royal decree to take my title, tax my people, and expect us to just accept it! And you!" The governor pointed at the Spear Hero with rage.
"You're supposedly the new governor. Why are you asking for her permission? You're no hero! You're that royal's PET!" The crowd cheered with their governor yelling their protests and insults at the royal group.
"Do you understand what it means to revolt against the Crown? I guess we'll have to teach you." The dragon knights held up their spears as the villagers stood firm. Ainz sighed, realizing things escalated past the point of comfort.
'Alright, I can't have the princess slaughtering all the villagers, over such a ridiculous tax. I better make sure those Shadows intervene.'
Ainz could see a group of Shadows from a nearby rooftop just watching the situation from afar. He made a subtle motion going for the iron blade resting on his belt and the shadows immediately jumped down to the princess. While everyone was distracted by their sudden appearance and the scroll they handed to the princess, Ainz had to deal with the one who was holding a knife to his throat.
"Is this supposed to be a threat? Because you better be ready for the consequences of such an action." He made sure to keep his voice low enough that no one paying attention would notice.
"Of course not, Sir Momon. Just a reminder that any actions against the royal family will result in all future negotiations with your master being forfeited." The Shadow's blade dug into his neck, drawing blood. "And judging by how my blade can pierce your skin, so will your life." Ainz chuckled softly at the threat.
"I was not going to harm the princess. I only wished to defend the villagers I have put so much time into helping. A knight protecting a poor village from their corrupt royalty. A tale as old as time, wouldn't you say?" The shadow simply withdrew her blade and disappeared just as the princess finished reading the scroll the other shadows handed to her.
The princess pointed to the old governor, "You, what were you blabbering on about how a threat is still plaguing this village."
"Uh, it's an undead. At least, that's what we've been told anyway." Surprised by the strange turn of events the old governor answered honestly.
"Right then! It will be a race between the Spear Hero and the Shield. Whoever defeats the undead threatening this village wins."
'Why must you be so stubborn? That parchment was probably an order to leave this village alone and yet you still ignored it. Just accept your loss and leave!' Ainz felt his irritation grow, as Naofumi started yelling at the princess.
"Why am I being dragged into this?!"
"Shut it, Shield!" She cleared her throat regaining her composure and faced the crowd.
"If he wins, we'll relinquish control over the village and the great Spear Hero will no longer be your governor. If not, both the Shield and the previous governor will be banished from the village. We will not leave until the undead is vanquished!"