Twin Swords of Slashing Death
Part 1
They had spent a night outside on the way to Carne Village, and another night within the village itself. After that, they left Carne Village for the city of E-Rantel in the morning, and thus their journey of three days and two nights came to an end. It was almost nightfall by the time they returned to the Fortress City.
The main roads were lit by streetlamps made from 「Continual Light」 spells, which cast white-colored illumination, while the nature of the pedestrians had changed as well. There were no young women and children to be seen, but instead working men returning home after they were done for the day. The two rows of shops on either side emitted cheerful and pleasant sounds.
Ainz looked around him.
The city had not changed much in three days. Or rather, he had gone to Carne Village right after arriving in E-Rantel, so he did not have much basis for comparison. Still, he felt that the peaceful streets remained the same.
They turned off the main road, and then Ainz and company came to a halt.
Obviously stopping in the middle of a busy thoroughfare would be a big hindrance, but nobody dared complain. This was because nobody dared go near Ainz.
Ainz shrugged tiredly, and then peeked at the people around him.
Just about everyone walking past on the street seemed to be looking in Ainz's direction — no, they were staring at him — and whispering to each other.
The sounds of their chatter filtered into Ainz's ears, and he felt like they were mocking him. However, that was just a mistake on his part. If he strained to listen, he would realise that everyone was discussing matters in tones of praise, surprise, or outright fear.
Even so, he could not find it in himself to be relieved.
Ainz silently lowered his head and looked at the pearly-white fur beneath him. It was there because he was riding the Wise King of the Forest.
The people around him were surprised by the Wise King of the Forest's majestic — Ainz wanted to dispute this choice of words — form, and they were discussing how that warrior could ride such a fearsome yet dignified beast, and so on.
I should be able to take pride in that… right…?
This reaction was entirely understandable. The people were praising the Wise King of the Forest as a mighty creature, but to Ainz, it was more like a form of public humiliation. For comparison, it was like a middle-aged bachelor with no family or girlfriend proudly riding a merry-go-round by himself.
In addition, he was riding in an unsightly manner. Because the Wise King of the Forest had a completely different body structure from a regular horse, Ainz was forced to stick his butt out and back while spreading his legs wide. If he did not adopt this stance — which resembled someone jumping over a box — while riding, it would be difficult to keep his balance.
Naturally, riding the Wise King of the Forest was not Ainz's idea. It had taken not only the Swords of Darkness and the Wise King of the Forest itself to persuade him, but also Narberal's humble submission that "a ruler should not be walking." That made him think that perhaps riding it back would be a good idea, but it had ended up like this.
If I'd known this would happen I would have refused. Could it be someone was trying to set me up and arranged for this?
Riding a hamster was something one would hear about in children's fairytales. However, those creatures were best suited for boys and girls. At a stretch, it might be all right for a woman to ride one. A rugged warrior in full plate armor was right out.
However, the surrounding folk all seemed to think that Ainz was the one with the strange reaction.
Could it be that my aesthetic sense is at fault, or that they have weird taste, or is it that this world's sense of aesthetics is completely messed up?
Of course, the answer went without saying. As long as the majority of people felt that it looked good, then it was Ainz's aesthetic sense which was at fault. This was why he could not protest riding the Wise King of the Forest too vigorously. In addition, if riding it made Momon the adventurer that much more memorable — which would help in finding his feet here — all the more reason to do so. All the same—
Isn't this basically a form of shame play?
Ainz's psyche automatically suppressed any emotions he experienced which exceeded a certain magnitude, but this was not happening now. In other words, this was not really affecting him. All this told Ainz one thing.
Does this mean I'm immune to shame play… don't tell me I'm a masochist?… But I've always felt I was more on the sadist side…
"Since we're back in town, it seems the assignment is over."
As Ainz compared the images and videos he had collected in the past to his current mental state and agonized over his sexual fetishes, Peter and Nfirea struck up a conversation.
"Indeed, you're right, the request is at an end. Then… while I've already prepared the arranged remuneration, I still have to pay the bonus we negotiated in the forest. Could you come to my family's store with me?"
The wagon behind Nfirea was piled high with herbs. In addition, there was tree bark, strange fruits which looked like branches, a gigantic mushroom that was large enough for a man to put his arms around, extremely tall grasses, and other such harvests. To an amateur, they seemed like nothing more than plants, but to a trained eye, they were a heaping pile of glittering treasure.
After Ainz subdued the Wise King of the Forest, they were free to fully explore the region in its former sphere of influence. They discovered many rare and valuable herbs, as well as other efficacious ingredients which could be used to make other potions. Nfirea picked and picked nonstop, promising the others that he would pay them a generous bonus on top of the prearranged amount.
"Momon-shi, you should go to the Adventurer's Guild first!"
"Mm, indeed. Since I brought a monster into a city, I need to register the Wise King of the Forest with the Guild."
"It's troublesome, but it can't be helped."
"Well, we wiped out those Ogres and other monsters too, so how about it? Want to all go to the Guild together?"
"Hmm — no, I think not. Momon-san basically did all the heavy lifting for this job, so we should go to Nfirea-san's house first to help with the chores and unload the herbs. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to accept getting the same fees as Momon-san."
The Swords of Darkness nodded as Peter spoke, and Nfirea politely added:
"There's no need to trouble everyone…"
"Well, you did agree to pay us a bonus, so consider this a free service on our part."
After hearing Peter's light-hearted statement, Nfirea politely replied:
"Then, when you come to our store for potions, we'll give you a discount."
"Nothing would please us more. Then, Momon-san, please head to the Guild first, and meet us at Nfirea-san's home afterwards. We'll proceed directly to Nfirea-san's home, take care of the chores, and then go to the Guild to take care of paperwork. Unfortunately, we'll have to trouble you to come again tomorrow because we can only claim the bounty on the Ogres then… we'll meet at the same time as the last time we met you."
"Understood."
Ainz nodded in response to this suggestion. Since he could simply register by nonchalantly asking the Guild receptionists, he did not want to go to the Guild with them. He would have to pretend that he knew how to read this and write that, and it might well cause all his hard work over the past few days to go up in smoke.
"Then, we'll let you take care of business."
Ainz nodded slightly, and then he and Narberal parted ways with Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness. At this point, Narberal leaned in and asked:
"Can we trust them?"
"…It's fine. Even if they betray us, the most we'll lose is the bounty for the Ogres. If we fixate on that measly amount of money and end up with a reputation as penny-pinchers, it'll do more harm than good to our cause."
Ainz had come to this city to make a name for himself. Gaining a reputation for pettiness would impede his future plans.
He would simply have to pretend that he really was that big-hearted.
As he thought of that, Ainz idly reached for his laced-up money pouch. His fingertips pressed it flat almost immediately — a sign that there was not much money inside — but he could easily tell that there were still a few coins left. However, he had the night's lodgings to worry about.
It might not be enough if he included the costs for food and drink, but Ainz was undead, while the ring on Narberal's finger was imbued with magic that removed the need for her to eat or drink, which helped a lot in cutting costs. Narberal could wear and use two rings, and one of her ring slots was allocated to this one. Initially, it had been chosen to protect against consuming something poisonous, but it had proved unexpectedly useful in this situation.
However, as he glanced at the Wise King of the Forest beneath him, he mused, "This guy has got to eat at some point."
Then Narberal cut in:
"Indeed… it would be strange for the almighty Ainz-sama to be concerned about such a small sum. My apologies for my rudeness."
"Umu."
Ainz patted his money pouch again, and he felt what seemed like a stream of sweat on his back, which should not have been to produce sweat. He silently cursed himself for handicapping himself for no reason. And also—
Ainz-sama… don't call me that any more, Narberal. At least nobody was around to hear you…
As Ainz sighed internally, Narberal happily continued:
"Those inferior lifeforms (crane flies) should prostrate themselves before your awesome power, Ainz-sama."
"Well, maybe not to that extent…"
"Ainz-sama, you are being too modest. Although Ogres must be less than insects in your eyes, your sword skills are still first-rate. I am truly amazed, Ainz-sama."
Ainz felt a strange trembling through his waist from the Wise King of the Forest, but he paid it no heed, and instead told Narberal:
"…I was merely swinging my swords using sheer brute force."
Though killing Ogres in one stroke sounded quite impressive, this was not actually the case. When he watched Gazef fight earlier, Ainz had seen the man's fluid movements and technique, but when he reflected on his own moves, he was reminded of a child flailing around with a stick. It shamed him to realize it.
What the Swords of Darkness admired was only the destructive power born of his superhuman strength. It was completely different from their praise of a real warrior like Gazef.
"It would seem it's very difficult to move and fight like a real warrior."
"…Then what about using magic to transform into one?"
There were five spells Ainz could use while wearing armor, and one of them allowed him to convert his magic caster levels into an equivalent number of warrior levels. In other words, by using that spell, he could temporarily become a level one hundred warrior.
Although it also carried the benefit of being able to use certain pieces of arms and armor that would normally require specific job classes to access, there were many drawbacks to that spell. The first weakness was that he could not cast other spells while the magic was in effect. In addition, he would not gain any special warrior skills from the spell, and his recalculated ability scores would be lower than an actual warrior. In other words, it was a spell that turned him into a half-baked level one hundred warrior. Of course, it was enough when matching blades with second-rate combatants like priests and the like, but he would have no chance of winning against an opponent who was a dedicated warrior.
Even so, Ainz would be much stronger in that state than he was now.
The problem was —
"There's too many drawbacks to that spell. If I'm ambushed by an opponent of my level, I won't be able to use magic for a while, and defeat is certain. I could use scrolls to cast spells, but it would take too much preparation time. It's still a major flaw in the spell."
Since he did not know if there were any enemy players around, he could not allow himself to lower his guard. There was no need to use that spell and make himself weaker on purpose.
"I'm pretending to be a warrior to hide my true identity, so there's no need to be so shocked."
"!"
A tremor ran through the Wise King of the Forest as it raised its head to look at Ainz, a surprised look on its face.
"Your humble servant was listening to your words; could it be that you are not a warrior, milord?"
The Wise King of the Forest looked up to Ainz with its round, black eyes. Ainz looked back and nodded, as if to say, Indeed, that is so. With a hint of pride in her voice, Narberal explained:
"Ainz-sama is merely pretending to be a warrior. It is like a game to him. If he were to use the spells which are his true power, he could easily sunder the heavens and shatter the earth."
Ainz could not bring himself to deny Narberal with words like, "No way," not when he was confronted with her absolute faith in him, or the fact that she felt it was perfectly logical.
"…Mm, yes, something like that. Wise King of the Forest, aren't you glad you didn't fight the real me? If I had used my true power, you would have been destroyed in an instant."
"I, I see… Milord, your servant Hamsuke shall be doubly faithful to you!"
When the Wise King of the Forest asked for a name, the first thing that came to Ainz's mind was Hamsuke. Once he named it Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest seemed quite pleased with it. However, when he thought about it, the name Hamsuke was actually quite lame.
…Maybe I was too hasty in naming it Hamsuke… Perhaps Daifuku… that name might have been wittier… the people in the guild always said I had poor naming sense…
With a faint sense of regret, Ainz — mounted atop Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest — wobbled toward the Adventurer's Guild.
♦ ♦ ♦
They drove the wagon into the house's backyard, stopping in front of the back door. Nfirea unlocked the door, a magical lantern in hand. He hung it on a wall inside, illuminating the darkened interior.
Because of the lantern's light, they could see several barrels within the house. The smell of dried herbs hung in the air, suggesting that this room was a place for herb storage.
"Then, could I trouble you to help me with the herbs?"
The Swords of Darkness cheerfully replied in the affirmative as they carefully unloaded the bundles of herbs from the wagon, moving them into the room.
As he showed the adventurers where to put the bundles, a question popped up in his mind:
"Isn't Granny home?"
Nfirea's grandmother was quite old, but she still had keen eyes and ears. She should have come the moment she heard them moving things. However, if she was focused on making potions, then she would not pay attention to lesser noises. Since this seemed like par for the course, Nfirea did not make a big deal out of it.
After all the herbs were in their place, Nfirea called out to the slightly-panting Swords of Darkness.
"Thank you for your hard work! There should be some cool fruit juice in the house, so please come in for some."
"That sounds great."
Lukrut, his forehead shiny with sweat, exclaimed in delight. The others nodded happily as well.
"Then, please come this way…"
Just as Nfirea was about to lead the others into the house, someone opened the door on the other side of the room.
"Hiiii~ Welcome home~"
Before him stood a pretty, yet vaguely unsettling young woman. Her blonde hair swayed in the wind.
"Ah~ I've been worried, you know? I thought you went missing. What poor timing — I didn't know when you'd be coming back, so I had to wait here all this while, you know?"
"…May, may I ask who you are?"
"Eh! You don't know each other?"
Peter exclaimed in surprise. He thought they knew each other, from her familiar tone of voice.
"Hm? Ehehehe~ I came to kidnap you~ I need someone to use the spell which summons a biiiiiiig horde of undead, 「Undeath Army」, so could you be my magic item? Onee-chan's begging you~"
The Swords of Darkness sensed the air of malice radiating from the girl, and they immediately drew their weapons. Although everyone else was in a combat stance, the girl airily said:
"That's a seventh tier spell which hardly anyone can use, but it can be cast with the Crown of Wisdom. You can't control all the undead it makes, but you can guide them! What a perfect plan~!"
"Nfirea-san, fall back! Get out of here!"
Peter eyed the woman warily, his sword in hand, and spoke in a steely tone:
"She's going on and on because she's certain she can kill us all. Since you're her target, the only way to turn things around is for you to escape."
As Nfirea withdrew in a panic, the Swords of Darkness closed ranks in front of him, turning themselves into his meatshields.
"Ninya, you go too!"
After Dyne spoke, Lukrut shouted:
"Take the kid and run! Weren't you going to save your kidnapped sister?"
"That's right. You've got something you have to do. Though we might not be able to help you until the very end… at least we can buy you some time."
"Guys…"
"Mmm~ how touching~ I'm about to shed a tear myself, mm. But if he escapes, it'd be troublesome for me. So let's leave one to play with~"
The girl smiled happily and withdrew a pair of stilettos from under her robe as she saw the doubtful gaze on Ninya's face as he bit his lip. Just then, the rear door swung open, revealing a sickly-pale, stick-thin man, who looked like one of the undead.
They were caught in a pincer attack. The Swords of Darkness' faces turned grim.
"…You're getting carried away."
"Ah~ What're you saying, Khazi-chan? Weren't you the one making preparations so their screams wouldn't spill out? It's just one person, so let me enjoy myself~"
The way the girl smiled with her teeth bared sent a chill down Nfirea's spine.
"Then, since there's nowhere for you to run, let's have some fun~"
Part 2
Registering Hamsuke itself was simple enough, but it took about one and a half hours. The most time-consuming part of the process was sketching an identification picture of Hamsuke by hand. While magic could have sped up the process, Ainz did not want to go to the extra expense of paying for a spell, which had led to this situation.
Ainz had to make up an excuse in order to avoid being labelled as petty.
"Although it's a little late to mention this, the whole 'I'm interested in drawing' excuse is getting old… Ah, forget it. Let's go over now," Ainz said to Narberal as he finished the registration, before he headed toward Hamsuke.
He had become used to it.
Since the merry-go-round was not the exclusive domain of the rich — or people with lovers or family — then it made no difference if a lonely older man rode it.
Having given up on himself, there was no hesitation in Ainz's movements.
Using his superior athletic ability, he mounted the Wise King of the Forest with a masterful vault. If he were an athlete, his name would have gone down in the history books. He did not have a saddle or reins, but several hours of experience was enough for Ainz to learn how to skillfully mount up.
The pedestrians were gasping in awe as far as his eyes could see. He could even hear the sounds of women screaming in excitement. In particular, he felt the piercing gazes of his fellow adventurers burning into him. After seeing the copper plate around Ainz's neck, their eyes went wide with disbelief.
I'm the one who should have a hard time believing this. What's wrong with your sense of aesthetics?
Just then, a voice called out to Ainz, interrupting the foolish questions in his heart and the process of ordering Hamsuke to move out.
"Say, would you be the people who went herb-picking with my grandson?"
The voice was an aged one. When he turned to look, he found an old granny.
"…And who might you be?"
He said that, but Ainz could guess at the answer. If this granny's words were genuine, then there could be only one answer to that question.
"My name is Lizzie Bareare. I'm Nfirea's grandmother."
"Ah! So it really was you? That's right, I'm one of the adventurers who escorted your grandson to Carne Village. My name is Momon, and this is Nabe."
Lizzie smiled to the bowing Narberal:
"She's an unbelievably beautiful girl. And what is the name of the creature you're riding?"
"It is the Wise King of Forest, Hamsuke."
"This one is Hamsuke! This one is very pleased to meet you!"
"What!? This mighty beast is the legendary Wise King of the Forest!?"
The adventurers around them who heard Lizzie's cry were even more surprised. With shocked looks on their faces, they whispered, "Is that really the monster of legends?" and so on.
"Indeed. After receiving your grandson's request, we encountered it at our destination and I managed to tame it."
"You actually… tamed the Wise King of the Forest…"
Lizzie was dumbstruck and could do nothing but stare.
"Then… where is my grandson now?"
"Ah, he went home first with the herbs. We're heading over there now to collect our payment."
The old lady breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked at Ainz with a strange look in her eyes:
"Oh, I see… then, shall we go together? I'm quite interested in you adventurer types."
To Ainz, Lizzie's suggestion was like a life preserver to a drowning man.
"Ah, the pleasure's all mine."
The group proceeded through the streets of E-Rantel, led by Lizzie.
♦ ♦ ♦
"Then, please come in."
Once they reached the storefront, Lizzie came to the front door and took out her keys. Then, she looked down, and pushed. The door swung open, without any resistance.
"What's this? This is too careless of him."
Lizzie muttered to herself as she entered the shop. Ainz and Narberal followed her.
"Nfirea, Momon-san's here—"
Lizzie's voice echoed through the shop, but it was silent. It felt as though there was nobody there.
"What happened?"
Lizzie was filled with confusion. Ainz, on the other hand, replied curtly:
"Trouble."
Lizzie heard, but did not understand. Ainz paid her no heed, but instead placed his hands on the hilts of his greatswords. Narberal figured out what he was up to from that action and she drew her sword as well.
"What, what are you doing!?"
"Don't ask, just follow."
With that clipped answer, Ainz drew his weapons and entered the store. He kicked the door open and kept to the right as he went in. Though this was a stranger's house, completely unfamiliar to him, there was no trace of hesitation in Ainz's footsteps.
Ainz came to a door which led down, and then turned to Lizzie, who had just caught up with him:
"What is this place for?"
"This, this is the herb storage room, it leads to the back door."
Although she was not sure what was going on, Lizzie sensed that something was wrong and began to worry. However, Ainz ignored her and pushed the door open.
What he smelled was not the scent of herbs, but a more acrid odour — the stench of blood.
The first people he saw were Peter and Lukrut. Dyne was a bit further beyond. Ninya was all the way inside the room. All of them were slumped against the walls. Their legs stuck forward and their arms drooped down lifelessly. They seemed to have lost all the blood in their bodies, which was now clotted on the ground so thickly that it looked black.
"This, what is this…"
A shocked Lizzie made to enter with shaky footsteps. Ainz put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from moving forward, and quickened his pace to get ahead of her.
Just then, the fallen Peter suddenly jerked like a puppet. However, before he could get up, the greatsword flashed across him.
Peter's head rolled to the ground. With the blade in his other hand, he decapitated Lukrut, who was halfway through standing up.
Just as Lizzie managed to process the shock of the tragedy before her, Dyne, who was somewhat further inside, had already risen to his feet.
The face which raised itself was not a living one. There was no color in it and its eyes were clouded. There was a hole in its forehead, instantly recognizable as a fatal injury.
There was only one reason why a dead man would move again — because he was undead.
"Zombie!"
Just as Lizzie cried out, Dyne groaned menacingly and lurched at them. Ainz immediately thrust his greatsword at Dyne. His throat pierced, Dyne's head shuddered and then he collapsed.
Nobody else moved.
Amidst the silence, Ainz stared at the unmoving Ninya.
"Nfirea!"
Lizzie finally realized what was going on, and began looking for her grandson. Ainz narrowed his eyes at her receding back, and gave Narberal an order.
"Protect her. My passive skill 「Undead Blessing」 isn't giving me any reactions, so there shouldn't be any more undead in the house. But there might be living people inside."
"Understood."
After a quick nod of her head, Narberal broke into a sprint to catch up with Lizzie.
Once he made sure that the two of them were gone, Ainz looked toward Ninya again. He kneeled slowly before him, and then gently touched the body. Once he was sure that there were none of the usual corpse boobytraps found in YGGDRASIL, he raised Ninya's face. Of course, he was not unconscious, but dead.
He must have been beaten by some sort of blunt object, given how his cheeks were bloated up like pomegranates. If Ainz did not know it was Ninya, he might not have recognized the corpse at all.
His left eye was crushed, and the vitreous humor had flowed out. It looked like he was crying.
The bones of his fingers were completely pulverized. The skin was split open, revealing the red muscle underneath. In some places, there was no muscle at all. Ainz pulled open Ninya's clothes, and his eyes went wide in surprise.
He closed up the garment, and muttered:
"…So even the body was…"
Much like the face, the body bore signs of a brutal beating. It was covered in the bruises of internal bleeding, and it would be harder to find a patch of uninjured flesh than the other way around.
Ainz gently closed Ninya's eyes.
"…This is a little… upsetting."
The sound of his murmurs faded into the air.
♦ ♦ ♦
"My grandson! Nfirea's gone!"
Lizzie returned, shouting at the top of her voice Ainz had gathered all the corpses into a corner of the room, and calmly replied:
"I checked their gear. None of them were searched. That being the case, the opposition must have intended to kidnap Nfirea."
"Oh!"
"Come see this."
Ainz pointed to the letters written in blood under Ninya's corpse. They would not be visible unless someone moved them.
"This is… the sewers? Does it mean he was taken to the sewers?"
"…It might be a trap set by the person who did this, and I have no idea how big the sewers are… searching them might take a long time. What do you think?"
"There's numbers there, 2-8, what could that mean?"
"Those are even more suspicious. Although I don't know what those numbers mean… but I can guess that you can divide the city into eight sections, or it might just be a simple 2-8… although, did Ninya really have the time to think of all that? Even if Ninya did write it, how much could he have learned from the enemy? This is far too much of a coincidence."
Lizzie frowned her already wrinkled face, directing something that approached anger at Ainz, who was analyzing the entire situation with unexpected calmness. Then she looked at the four corpses on the ground.
"Who are these people?"
"…They were the adventurers your son hired, who went with us. After we parted ways, they should have come to help him unload the herbs."
"What!? Then they're your comrades, aren't they?"
Ainz shook his head:
"No, they were not. We just happened to be adventuring together."
His cold words chilled Lizzie to the bone, and she had no desire to pursue the matter further.
"Come to think of it, I've been thinking about their corpses, but I'd like your opinion. What do you think about them being turned into Zombies?"
"…「Create Undead」. That means the enemy has someone who can use at least third tier magic. I don't know anything else apart from that."
"I think we need to think of something quickly."
"Isn't that obvious… what do you mean by that?"
"…The enemy could have used mind control or hidden the corpses, but they did not do that at all. They seemed to have done it for fun. Otherwise, they did it because they were absolutely sure they would not be exposed, or that they were completely confident in their ability to escape. Hm… I don't know which of them it was. Since they could make Zombies, they could have brought the corpses back with them, right?"
If they wanted to kidnap Nfirea, all they would have to do was hide the bodies, which would have bought them enough time to escape. However, the enemy did not do that, which meant that they had other things to do, or because they wanted Lizzie to do something.
The latter was easier to deal with. It was the former which was tricky. Nfirea's life and talent were valuable, but they might not be able to use them for long. Would these cruel people who could kill without blinking an eye let him live after using him up?
After Lizzie realised the meaning hidden in Ainz's words, her gray face turned white. With no idea where he had been taken in this gigantic city, they would need to search the whole of E-Rantel, which would take far too long.
Their only clue was the sewers, but Ainz had his doubts about it.
The flame of Nfirea's life was ebbing away with each passing moment.
Ainz calmly turned to the panicked Lizzie and asked:
"How about hiring us?"
The cold voice continued:
"Isn't this something you should hire an adventurer for?"
A light came on in Lizzie's eyes as she understood what Ainz was getting at.
"You are a very lucky woman, Lizzie Bareare. At the moment, I am the strongest adventurer in this city, and the only one who can save your grandson's life. If you hire me, I will accept your request. However… the price will be very high, because I am fully aware of how troublesome this task might be."
"That, that's right… if it was you… the one who possessed that potion… and with the Wise King of the Forest… then there's no doubt about your strength… I'll hire, I'll hire you!"
"Is that so… are you prepared to pay a high price for this?"
"How much will it take to satisfy you?"
"—Everything."
"What?"
"Give me everything you have."
Lizzie's eyes widened in shock, and her body trembled violently.
"Everything you have. When I safely return Nfirea to you, give me everything you have."
"You…"
Backing away in fear, Lizzie muttered:
"When you say everything… you don't mean money or rare potions… I've heard that demons will grant any wish in return for men's souls. Are you a demon?"
"…And what if I was? Do you want to save your grandson?"
Lizzie did not respond, silently biting her lip.
"Then there's only one answer, right?"
"Umu… I'll hire you. I'll give you everything I have, so please save my grandson!"
"Very well, the pact is sealed. Then, let's not waste time. Do you have a map of this city? If you do, lend it to me."
Lizzie had her doubts, but she still handed the map to Ainz immediately.
"Then, we shall find Nfirea's location next."
"Can you do such a thing!?"
"Only this time. Just this one time, I can. I don't know if the enemy was stupid or…"
As Ainz's voice trailed off halfway, he turned to look at the four corpses resting within the room.
"Then, I shall begin the search. Go look in the other rooms and see if the people who kidnapped Nfirea left any clues behind. If kidnapping Nfirea was itself a distraction, that would make things troublesome. You're familiar with this home, so you're better suited to this."
After thinking up a reason to get Lizzie out of the room, Ainz turned to Narberal.
"May I ask what you intend?"
"Simple. Look, their adventurer's plates are all missing, probably taken by the person who attacked this place. The question now is why they didn't take anything more valuable, but these plates… what do you think?"
"My apologies, but I have no idea."
"That's because—"
Halfway through, a voice spoke in Ainz's mind. It was the 「Message」 spell.
『Ainz-sama.』
The voice was somewhat high-pitched, and there was something like rustling in the background.
"Is that you, Entoma?"
『Yes, it is me.』
It was Entoma Vasilisa Zeta. She was a member of the Pleiades, like Narberal.
『I have a report to deliver.』
"—I'm busy now. I'll contact you again when I'm free."
『Understood. Please contact Albedo-sama as soon as possible.』
The spell ended, and Ainz continued replying to Narberal, who was looking at him:
"They were trophies, loot from hunting. Probably a memento for the killer to remember them by. However, that was a fatal mistake. Narberal, use these scrolls."
Ainz pulled a scroll from his Infinite Backpack and handed it to Narberal.
"This is a scroll of 「Locate Object」. I trust I don't have to tell you what to look for?"
"Understood."
With that acknowledgement, Narberal opened the scroll. Just as she was about to activate it, Ainz grabbed her hand and coldly rebuked Narberal:
"…Idiot."
Narberal's shoulder shuddered as Ainz scolded her.
"My, my apologies!"
"When using divination-type magic, you need to prepare yourself thoroughly against the enemy's counter-detection spells before casting it. This is an ironclad rule. When considering that the opposition might use 「Detect Locate」, it's a basic precaution to use 「False Cover」, 「Counter Detect」, and the like to protect yourself. Also—"
Ainz prepared about ten more scrolls, and explained the function of each one to Narberal like a teacher.
When using magic to collect information, one had to protect oneself. This was basic knowledge.
When Ainz Ooal Gown PKed, they gathered as much information on the opposition as possible and then launched an ambush to swiftly decide the matter. Simply put, "the battle is over before it begins," as stated by the guild member Punitto Moe in the text named "PKing for Dummies."
Therefore, Ainz was now teaching these skills to Narberal, so they would have the advantage if they encountered other players in the future.
"—That's basically it. The fact is, you still need to use skills to improve the effectiveness of your spells and defend yourself, but I don't think we need to prepare so much against our enemy this time. After all, if the opposition was a magic caster who knew more spells to deal with the enemy, they wouldn't have simply cast that level of spells on the corpses. Then, begin, Narberal."
A relieved Narberal carefully opened a scroll and recited the name of the spell inscribed upon it.
A heatless flame engulfed the scroll, consuming it within seconds and releasing the magic locked within.
She did the same with all the other scrolls, and only after sheathing herself in countless protective spells did she finally cast 「Locate Object」. After that, she pointed to a location on the map:
"There."
Ainz could not understand the characters, and racked his brains for some clue as to where "there" was.
"…The graveyard, huh. As I thought, it wasn't the sewers after all."
E-Rantel was also a military base, and the graveyard was massive, almost the largest of its size. The spell pointed to the deepest reaches of the graveyard.
"I see. Then, use 「Clairvoyance」 next. Combine it with 「Crystal Monitor」 so I can see as well."
Narberal activated the scrolls once more, and the image floating in mid-air revealed countless human shapes. However, their movements were oddly stiff. In addition, there were many inhuman objects within the image.
There was a boy in their midst. He was dressed strangely, but there was no mistake about him.
"So he's definitely there. And the metal plates should be nearby… hm, a big mass of undead?"
There was a group of undead around Nfirea. They were all low tier undead, but they were present in surprising numbers.
"…What do you plan to do? Teleport in and wipe them all out at once? Or perhaps use flight magic to attack them from above?"
"Don't be silly. Wouldn't either of those methods mean that the problem gets solved without anyone knowing about it?"
Seeing that Narberal had no idea of what he was talking about, Ainz continued his explanation:
"Whoever created all these undead must have done so in preparation for something of earthshaking proportions. Therefore, if we save Nfirea and deal with that matter at the same time, it will greatly boost our reputations. If we do this on the quiet, we will only receive Lizzie's payment, and we won't be able to gain much fame from it."
That said, if they did not take care of the situation quickly, there was a high chance that Nfirea might die. Even Ainz could not summon this many undead and control them, so there must have been some sort of trick at work here. Nfirea's life might well be an important part of that trick.
That said, he wanted to know the secret of that trick, even if it cost Nfirea's life.
The most important thing to Ainz was how to strengthen the Great Tomb of Nazarick. If he could do so by sacrificing Nfirea, then he would gladly pay that price.
"I'd like to collect more information, but our preparations and time won't allow it," Ainz muttered as he approached the door. After opening it, he shouted:
"Lizzie! We're ready. We're heading to the graveyard now!"
"What about the sewers?"
Lizzie's voice came from far away, accompanied by the patapata of her running footsteps.
"The sewer is just a red herring which the author of this tragedy left for us. They're actually in the graveyard, together with an army of undead. There's easily thousands of them there."
"What!?"
Of course it was an estimate. How could he have counted all of them?
"No need to be shocked. We intend to cut a path through them. The problem is that we can't guarantee that undead army won't escape from the graveyard. You need to tell as many people as possible to hold the undead back if they see them spilling out. There's no proof, but I'm sure that a lot of people will be willing to listen to a big name like you. If the undead ran wild and there was nobody stopping them… that would be troublesome, no?"
Ainz's face twisted under his helmet.
If I don't make a grand spectacle of this, it'll be a pain. The more I heat this up, the more fame I'll earn when I solve the problem. That's why I'm doing this, after all.
"That's all I have to say. Time is tight, so I'll be heading over right now."
"Do you have a way to break through that army of the dead?"
Ainz looked quietly at Lizzie, and then pointed to the greatswords on his back.
"Don't you see it right here?"
Part 3
There was a place which occupied roughly a quarter of E-Rantel's outer ring, which was also most of the western quadrant. It was E-Rantel's communal cemetery. While other cities had their own graveyards, none of them were as big as this one.
This was in order to suppress the spawning of the undead.
Although many things were unclear about the spontaneous genesis of the undead, the basic idea was that vile creatures frequently spawned from the places where the living came to an end. Of these, people who died sudden, violent deaths and the dead who were not properly revered had the highest chance of coming back to unlife. Therefore, battlefields and ruins tended to be infested by the undead.
Since E-Rantel was very close to the Empire and consequently its battlefields, it required a huge graveyard — a place where remains could receive the proper veneration.
In this aspect, the neighboring country — the Empire — also adhered to their common agreement to respect the dead. Though they slaughtered each other, they both saw the undead that attacked the living as their common enemy.
In addition, there was another problem with the undead. If left unattended, the undead spawned more powerful undead. This was why the city guards and adventurers patrolled the graveyards day and night to exterminate the weaker undead as soon as possible.
A wall surrounded the graveyard. This wall was the boundary between the living and dead. While it was only four meters tall and could not compare to the city walls, it was wide enough for people to walk on top of it. The large doors set into its side were sturdy and could not be easily breached.
All this was in order to ward against the undead that spawned in the graveyard.
There were staircases to the left and right of the doors, and watchtowers along the length of the wall. The guards took turns observing the graveyard below them as they yawned from the watchtowers, in shifts of five men at a time.
The graveyard was lined with sconces enchanted with 「Continual Light」 spells, so there was ample illumination despite it being nighttime. Still, there were many shadowy places, and visibility was even worse in those places blocked by tombstones.
A spear-wielding guard absentmindedly looked out to the graveyard, and said to his yawning colleague:
"Tonight's quite peaceful too."
"Yup, there were only five Skeletons earlier, right? That seems a lot less compared to the past."
"Hm, could it be the souls of the dead were called back by the Four Gods? That would be pretty lucky for us if it were true."
The other guards were drawn in by the topic, and began speaking up:
"Well, if it's just Skeletons and Zombies we can deal with them. Still, it's a pain to take out Skeletons with a spear."
"I think the most troublesome ones are the Wights."
"For me it's the Skeleton Centipedes. I'd be dead by now if the adventurers standing guard nearby didn't chase them away from me."
"Skeleton Centipedes? I heard that the powerful undead only show up when you let the weak ones get away. So all you need to do is kill them all when they're weak and the strong undead won't appear."
"Yes, that's right. The captain chewed out the squad patrolling the graveyard last week. While it's nice to have them buy a round for us, I'd rather not have to go through that sort of thing again."
"Still… when I think about it, I've got a bad feeling about the lack of undead right now."
"…Why's that?"
"Ah, I just feel like we might have missed something out during our watches."
"You're thinking too much. There aren't that many undead normally. They say that they only pop up frequently when they bury the corpses of the people who died while fighting the Empire. So on the flip side, this is what happens when there aren't any big wars, right?"
The soldiers nodded to each other in agreement. They had buried human corpses in their own villages, but they had never heard of the undead appearing that often.
"…So that means the Katze Plains must be pretty insane."
"Yeah, didn't they say something about an unimaginably strong undead creature showing up?"
It was a place where the Empire and the Kingdom clashed in fierce battles. It was also a place famous for the proliferation of its undead. Adventurers hired by the Kingdom and Imperial knights would often go there to hunt down the undead. This task was important enough that the Empire and Kingdom's support corps had built small towns nearby to support their personnel.
"I heard—"
A guard who was about to speak suddenly shut his mouth.
Another guard, who felt easy about this, spoke up:
"Oi, don't scare me—":
"Quiet!"
The silent guard looked straight at the graveyard, as though he could see through the darkness. Following this, the other guards turned to look at the graveyard one after the other.
"…Didn't you hear it?"
"Were you imagining things?"
"Though I didn't hear the wind blowing or the grass moving… I think I can smell dirt. Didn't they dig a few graves just now? It smells just like it did then…"
"Come on, don't joke about this sort of thing."
"…Eh? Ah, oi! Look over there!"
One of the guards pointed to the graveyard, and everyone else looked toward the spot he was pointing at.
Two guards were sprinting for the doors. Both of them panted heavily, their eyes bloodshot, and their sweat-slick hair stuck to their foreheads.
A growing sense of dread filled the other guards as they saw this.
Guard patrols in the graveyard moved in groups of at least ten. Why were there only two people here? Judging by the way they had no weapons and were running for dear life, they had panicked and fled.
"Open, open up! Hurry up and open the doors!"
Upon seeing the two men shouting in front of the doors, the guards hurriedly ran down the stairs and let them through.
Before the doors could even swing fully open, the two guards forced their way in. They collapsed to the ground but kept scrabbling on.
"What the hell…"
The two pale-faced guards who had just escaped the graveyard interrupted their questioners, panting and shouting:
"Close, close the doors! Quickly!"
This strange behavior sent a chill down the spine of the other guards. Working together, they pushed the doors shut and barred them.
"What happened? What about the others?"
As they heard this question, a haunted look appeared on the guards' frightened faces:
"They, they were eaten by the undead!"
Upon realizing that eight of their fellows had lost their lives, the guards immediately turned to their captain. He immediately ordered:
"…Oi, one of you go upstairs and take a look!"
A guard hurriedly climbed the stairs, but halfway up, he froze in place.
"What, what happened?"
The trembling guard shouted:
"The undead! The undead are everywhere!"
If one listened carefully, they would be able to make out a sound which sounded like ten thousand horses galloping, coming from the other side of the wall. Everyone, not just the guard from just now, were struck dumb by the scene before them.
A massive quantity of undead — so great as to render all who saw it speechless — approached the doors of the graveyard.
"Why, in such numbers…"
"Looks like it's more than one or two hundred… there should be a thousand of them… or more…"
The magical lights illuminated countless undead, like shadows writhing in the dark, and it was difficult to get an exact count.
Wreathed in the scent of rot, the shambling mass of undead pressed in toward the doors like gathering clouds. It was not just Zombies and Skeletons down there; there were also a few rarer and more powerful undead — Ghouls, Ghasts, Wights, Swell Skins, Corrupt Dead, and more.
The guards could not help their shivering.
Because the graveyard was surrounded by a wall, the undead could not attack the common folk as long as the wall held out. However, even if they mobilized all their guards, it was doubtful whether they could fend off such a massive horde of the undead. The guards were essentially normal citizens, and they had no confidence in wiping out these undead.
In addition, some undead could turn their slain victims into others of their own kind. If things went poorly, the guards might end up becoming undead themselves and attacking their fellows. And while they had not seen any flying undead yet, the guards had a bad feeling — that if they did not wipe them all out, a flying undead creature would end up spawning sooner or later.
—The undead tide washed up against the side of the wall.
Doom. Doom.
The swarming, mindless undead had no sense of pain, and banged wildly against the doors. It was as if they knew that they could attack the living if they broke the doors down.
Doom. Doom.
The sounds of repeated pounding and the constant moans of the dead came from the other side of the door.
They did not need siege rams. The undead — who did not care if their bodies were destroyed by their non-stop battering — were siege weapons in their own right.
Cold sweat broke out on the backs of the guards who saw this.
"Ring the bell! Ask for help from the barracks! You two, go inform the other doors about this!"
The captain, who had recovered his senses by now, continued giving orders:
"The ones behind, take your spears and stab the undead getting close to the doors!"
The guards remembered their duty as they heard the orders, and they started thrusting savagely at the undead below them. The undead covered the land like a flood, so any stroke of theirs found a home in undead flesh.
They thrust, withdrew, and thrust again.
Tainted blood spilled over the ground, while the guards' noses were soon inured to the stench of decay. They repeated the same motions over and over again like workers. They killed several undead, which fell to the ground and were trampled to paste by the ones behind them.
Because the undead had little intelligence, they did not strike against the guards stabbing at them with their spears. Repeating the same simple actions eroded the guards' sense of danger.
And then, as though aiming for that moment —
"Uwaaaaaaaah!"
A scream pierced the air. As the other guards turned to look, they saw something long and wriggly curled around another guard's neck.
It was a slimy, pink object — an intestine.
The creature that had shot forth this length of intestine was an egg-shaped undead creature, with a huge cavity on the front of its body. Within that cavity were several people's worth of internal organs, churning and wriggling like parasites.
This undead creature was called an Organ Egg.
The writhing intestine pulled at the guard's body.
"Hyaaaaaaa!"
Before his friends could save him, the guard wailed and fell—
"Save, save me! Someone save me! Agyaaaah!"
—His screams filled the air. Every guard saw the terrible fate of their colleague, eaten alive by the throng of undead.
The armor which protected his body and his attempts to protect his face only prolonged his suffering. His fingers, his calves, his face, all of them were picked clean.
"Fall back! Get down from the wall!"
After seeing the Organ Egg's innards twitching, the guard captain ordered a retreat.
All the guards hurriedly ran down the stairs, and they could hear the sounds of the undead banging at the doors getting louder. The doors themselves began groaning under the strain.
The sense of doom grew stronger. The chances of them holding out until help arrived, or that no other strong undead would show up were very low. Once the doors opened, the tide of death would flood in, and only the gods knew how many lives would be lost.
Just as the guards were fully consumed by despair, there was a clattering of metal.
Everyone reflexively looked to the source of the sound.
Before their eyes was a magical beast whose round black eyes gleamed with intelligence, and a warrior in full plate armor. Beside them was a beautiful woman who seemed completely mismatched to the pair.
"O-Oi! This place is very dangerous! Get out of—"
Halfway through the guard's words, he realized that there was a metal plate dangling from the warrior's neck.
An adventurer!
However, that ember of hope was snuffed out when he saw that it was a copper plate. Adventurers of the lowest class could not possibly deliver them from this dilemma. A look of disappointment appeared in the eyes of all the guards present.
The warrior nimbly dismounted his beast. There was no sense of clumsiness in his movements.
"Didn't you hear me? Get out of here now!"
"Nabe, my sword."
The warrior's voice was softer than the guard's shouting, but it was surprisingly resonant even through the clamor of the swarming undead. The beautiful woman approached the warrior, and drew a greatsword from his back.
"Look behind you. It's dangerous, right?"
The guards turned around in response to the warrior's words, and they looked upon their doom.
They saw a shape which was taller than the four meter high walls.
It was a Necrosome Giant, a gigantic undead creature made of countless corpses.
"Uwaaaaah—"
Just as the guards screamed and prepared to flee, a strange sight appeared before them. The warrior from just now raised his sword in a javelin-thrower's stance.
What was he doing?
In the next moment, that question vanished like mist in sunlight.
The warrior hurled his sword with unbelievable speed. The guards hurriedly looked where the sword had flown, and there they saw an even more incredible sight.
The Necrosome Giant, that vast, seemingly invincible undead creature, staggered back like it had been hit in the head by an even larger foe, before collapsing to the ground. A thunderous crash provided the proof that the gigantic creature had been knocked down.
"—These undead are in the way."
With that, the dark warrior drew his other greatsword and advanced.
"Open up."
The guards did not seem to have understood what the warrior said. They blinked several times before they finally managed to parse the warrior's words.
"Don't, don't be foolish! There's a whole crowd of undead on the other side of the door!"
"So? What does that matter to me, Momon?"
Faced by the absolute confidence of the dark warrior, all of the guards were shaken to the core, and they could not respond.
"…Well, if you won't open up, it can't be helped. I'll go over there myself."
The warrior broke into a sprint and kicked off the stone floor, vanishing over the other side of the wall. He had leapt over a four meter high wall in a single bound, and while wearing full plate too.
It was a scene that barely seemed real at all.
The guards could not bring themselves to believe the events which had just occurred. Each of them continued staring slack-jawed at the place where Momon had been.
The beautiful woman floated into the sky from her original position. She looked like she would cross the wall like that, but then a voice halted her:
"A moment please! Please bring this one with you!"
The voice came from the mighty beast which the warrior from just now had ridden here. Its voice was as awe-inspiring as its appearance.
The beautiful girl's brows furrowed slightly — not that it damaged her looks at all — and responded to the beast:
"…Climb the stairs over there. You should still be able to move after falling from a height like this, right?"
"Of course! This one must rush to his master's side! Wait for this one, milord!"
The massive creature shot past the guards and nimbly bounded up the stairs. It hopped over the wall and landed on the other side.
Now all was silence.
They stared with open mouths and stunned eyes for a while, as though a typhoon had just swept past them. The first guard to recover spoke in a voice that trembled uncontrollably:
"Oi… do you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"The sounds of the undead."
Even though they strained their ears to listen, they could not hear anything. It was as though a veil of silence had been drawn across the land. The constant sound of the undead pounding on the doors from just now was nowhere to be found.
The frightened guards muttered:
"Oi, did that actually happen? That warrior… there were undead like that, and so many of them, and he broke right through them… went straight ahead."
They were filled with equal parts shock and awe.
The reason why the noise had stopped was because the nearby undead had been drawn away by a new target. Given that the sound still had not returned, it implied that they were still fighting and had not returned.
This unbelievable scenario drew the guards to the top of the walls to satisfy their curiosity. They could not believe what they saw from up there, and they muttered:
"What is this… that warrior… what kind of a man is he…"
Countless bodies littered the ground. Mountains of corpses were everywhere, covering the entire graveyard. Although some of the undead hung on to a thread of unlife and struggled weakly to move, all of them had lost the ability to fight.
The smell of decay floated over as they expected, and they heard the sounds of distant battle.
"…No way… he's still fighting? All these undead, strong ones too, and he could actually break through them! Incredible…!"
"Who was that warrior, anyway?"
"…He called himself Momon, I think… but calling someone with skills like that a copper plate is too much of a joke. He should be one of those legendary adventurers with an adamantite plate, right?"
The others quietly voiced their approval. Someone like that could not be a mere copper plate adventurer.
He should be someone who possessed a plate made of the highest ranked of all metals — in other words, a hero.
There was no other possibility.
"We… perhaps we just saw a man of legend… a dark warrior… no, a dark hero…"
Everyone else could not help but nod in response to that.
♦ ♦ ♦
When his right hand moved, the undead were flung away. When his left hand struck, the undead were cut in two.
Ainz — a tornado of death which killed everything it touched — finally ground to a halt.
"What bothersome pests."
Ainz had recreated his greatswords with magic, and now he held them in both hands. He looked on the undead around him with an exasperated expression on his face, and then pointed a greatsword caked in vile fluids at them.
The undead recoiled at this and tried to flee Ainz. The undead should not have known the meaning of fear, yet they had come to fear Ainz.
"…This one apologizes deeply for this one's actions…"
The sound came from high above Ainz. The Wise King of the Forest floated in mid-air, limbs spread. Its whiskers drooped down and its voice sounded equally lifeless.
However, the person who responded was not Ainz.
"You… settle down up there. It's hard to carry you when you squirm."
Narberal's voice came from the belly of the Wise King of the Forest. It was not flying, but rather Narberal, who had cast the flight spell on herself, was carrying it. She was halfway buried into the Wise King of the Forest's fur.
"My deepest apologies…"
The unintelligent undead had not attacked Ainz when he appeared. This was because they could perceive life-force, and they sensed that Ainz was of the same kind as they.
However, the same did not apply to the life-force of the Wise King of the Forest behind him. This resulted in a chaotic battle which drew Ainz in, and the Wise King of the Forest was thus carried up by Narberal lest the undead touch it.
With every step Ainz took forward, the undead took one back. They encircled him in this way while keeping their distance from him.
This circle moved with Ainz's steps. Although the undead seemed to be looking for a chance to attack, any who stepped forward were immediately destroyed by Ainz. Therefore, the undead merely surrounded him, but did not make a move on him.
Countless undead had already been annihilated by Ainz when they carelessly strayed too close to Ainz. Even the mindless undead had learned something from this, which was why they had chosen to surround him.