Chapter 6 - Swords of Darkness, Golden Princess
The prospect of sleeping in beds the inn provided didn't look too enticing. Straw-filled mattresses, covered in dirt-stained linen, gave the impression of punishment, not paid service. The idea of returning to Nazarick for the night crossed Ainz's mind, but he ultimately decided against it. To be a proper ruler, he needed to know how people lived in this world, not just sit on the throne in Nazarick.
Since both had rings of sustenance, they could just stay up all night. Ainz, of course, could just revert to his overlord form and not even need a ring. With sleeping out of the question and a few hours to waste, both started to play a simple card game. Ainz, among his immense collection of items in his inventory, had various decks of cards to choose from.
After about an hour, Ainz received a report from the shadow demon ordered to follow the red-haired woman. It turned out she had no idea what kind of potion Ainz gave her, so she went straight to the best pharmacist she knew, namely Lizzie Bareare. What shocked Ainz was the fact that a minor healing potion from Yggdrasil, basically a trash item, was valued at 8 to 20 gold. What's more, Lizzie planned to send her grandson Nfirea, a talented alchemist in his own right, to hire Ainz's team on a seemingly unrelated task, to figure out where he got the potion.
Ainz was disappointed in himself. It was a clear oversight to give out an Yggdrasil potion and may have compromised them. It was a rushed decision, as he didn't want to risk a chance of things going out of control and Rubedo killing someone publicly. At the same time, Tabula wanted outside help in his experiments, and this boy Nfirea could be just the thing he needed. All he needed to do now was to find a way to control the boy.
The rest of the night was peaceful and till the morning sun, Ainz had lost about 80 Yggdrasil coins to Peros in cards. With Ainz cursing his luck and Peros smiling like the winner he was, they teamed up with the girls again and went to the inn's tavern area. The barkeep was serving horrible-looking porridge to guests who paid for it. Seeing how it looked and smelled, no one in Ainz's team wanted the experience of knowing how it tasted. The barkeep paid little attention to them as they walked out of the inn; he had already assumed that such fancy-looking guests would snob the food of the common folk.
After a brisk walk, they were in front of the guild's building. Ainz warned the others about the alchemist, who will try to hire them, but they still needed to feign ignorance. Ainz covertly took out the translation glasses from his storage and put them on his face. They went in and started to look at potential tasks to take. The realization came rather quickly that no one took copper plates seriously, as even the most basic combat tasks started with iron plate requirements. As per the guild rules, copper plates were not even allowed to take such tasks. Seeing that there wasn't even a single decent task to take, he decided to ask a receptionist for help.
Ainz or Satoru finally approached the same clerk who helped them with registration yesterday, and with a polite greeting asked if she could find the most difficult copper plate task for them.
"You are Mr. Satoru, right?"
"Yes," Ainz replied, wondering why she asked.
"Your team was requested about fifteen minutes ago," Ainz started to wonder how the boy managed to do it without even knowing his name. The conclusion was rather simple - money. The boy had most likely just paid one of the clerks and found out everything he needed about Ainz and his team.
Seeing his silent stare, the clerk just asked,
"Would you like to hear the person out?"
"I see no harm in it," Ainz quickly replied.
The clerk got up and led Ainz and the others to a nearby conference room. She opened the door and six people came into view. At the end of the long table sat a slim teenage boy with average length blonde hair partly covering his face. Ainz recognized him from the shadow demon's description right away, Nfirea Bareare. At one side of the table already sat five people: three blonde men, a brown-haired boy, and a red-haired woman. The same one Ainz had to give a healing potion to. The clerk addressed Nfirea once Ainz's team was inside the conference room.
"Mr. Bareare, the second team you requested is here."
Nfirea got up, flashed a smile, and responded, "Thank you," and then addressed Ainz and his team, "Please take a seat."
Everyone sat down, and the clerk left the conference room. Nfirea remained standing and started to talk, sounding a bit nervous.
"I will start with introductions, then. M-My name is Nfirea Bareare and I'm a pharmacist. The reason I want to hire you all is I need an escort to the forest of Tob for herb gathering." Before Ainz could speculate how this boy would reason of just hiring two full teams, Nfirea went on.
"The team I usually hire moved away from E-Rantel. S-So I chose both your teams as possible substitutes. I would pay the usual escort fee according to each team's ranking and a bonus, depending on the number of herbs gathered. I would prefer to set out tomorrow at sunrise."
Ainz needed to see how the boy would respond so he asked, "Mr, Bareare, how did you know about our team? We registered with the guild yesterday."
Nfirea responded without skipping a beat, "A friend of mine works for the guild and knew I was looking for a new team to hire."
"Fair enough, we will take the task then."
One man from the other team stood up. He was covered in chain armor with pieces of plate added on top of it. He looked to be only about twenty years old, and he started to speak in a friendly and professional manner.
"We will look forward to working with your team, Mr. Satoru. My name is Peter and our team is called the Swords of Darkness."
He then proceeded to introduce his team.
"I'm our team's defensive fighter," then pointed out at slim blonde man, about the same age as Peter, who was eyeing out the women in Ainz's team with a bit of a predatory gaze,
"This is Lakrut, he is our scout." The next one was a blonde burly man with a beard, not much older than the previous two,
"Dyne, he is a druid and knows healing magic."
Then Peter moved to the red-haired woman, who looked nervous.
"Brita, a rogue type fighter," and then introduced the last member of his team, a boy who looked about sixteen.
"And this is our spell caster, Ninya, a rather famous talent holder. He can cast 2nd tier spells already."
"Peter, stop, you are embarrassing me. I'm not that famous," Ninya spoke in a soft voice.
The boy's voice sounded a bit strained, as if intentionally altered, combined with an androgynous look, made Ainz suspicious if that even was a boy.
Ainz stood up as well and replied, "Likewise, my friends and I are looking forward to working with you all. I'm Satoru, a spell caster. I specialize in elemental spells and basic healing magic. "
He then extended his hand towards Peros.
"This is our team's scout, Itsuki." Peros just gave a nod and looked at Ninya. He had seen enough reverse traps in games to recognize one right away.
Ainz just moved to Bukuma,
"Itsuki's sister Akari. She is our team's main defense," who just gave a friendly smile. Ainz waved his hand to Rubedo.
"Rubi, she studies under Itsuki and is proficient with daggers," and Narberal was introduced the last.
"And finally, my own apprentice Nabe, who uses both elemental spells and sword."
Narberal wasn't hiding her dislike for the humans that much and was particularly glaring at Brita. What made matters worse was Lakrut's theatrical confession of love towards Narberal, to which she responded with,
"Go crawl in a hole and die, insect!"
As a result, both Peter and Ainz apologized on their team member's behalf and Peros chuckled at the scene, feeling strange camaraderie with Lakrut, who, despite the rude dismissal from Nabe, didn't lose any of his high spirits.
Nfirea made an awkward cough to get the attention back to him and explained that they would set out on foot as his cart would be loaded with containers for the herbs. He repeated that they would start tomorrow at sunrise and with that, concluded the meeting.
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Princess Renner was in her private quarters. It has been just two days since the visit of the one called Ulbert Ooal Gown. What an amusing spectacle it was. Her older half-brother Barbo made a fool out of himself, as usual. And this visitor outplayed him and then just left.
The so-called Golden Princess wore a mask: a mask of kindness, a mask of a good-natured, naive young princess. Under it, her true, more hideous nature was hidden. Being smarter than everyone around her from a young age had made her unable to connect with other people. Shunned and ignored, she grew up a monster, learned to craft her persona for others to see, and manipulate everyone around her for her own gain.
The event had forced her to alter her plans. Until now she had hoarded money for a comfortable life through various confidants. With careful maneuvering on her part, the country was on the brink of civil war or a full empire invasion. All she needed to do was to pull the trigger and disappear with her Climb.
Her precious Climb. Those pure puppy eyes he uses to gaze at her drove her wild, but as a princess, she would never be allowed to marry him. Climb was a nobody, a street orphan she took in, and made into her personal guard. Despite being about the same age, she practically raised him, shaping his personality in just the way she wanted.
For the last six years, her primary goal was to destroy her country and family, both of which she loathed.
Now it all had changed. New figures in this play for power have shown up out of nowhere and powerful ones at that. Unlike the others, she fully believed Gazef's tale, and Lord Ulbert's dark aura confirmed it fully to her. What was much worse was that it took her four full hours to notice that some strange shadows were following every important person in the royal castle, including her. No one else, of course, had noticed them, but her situation was disastrous.
She assumed the worst. The ones spying on her were just as smart as her, and that meant they had enough information on her to crush her and her plans. Right after she noticed it, she put her Golden Princess act full time but harbored no illusions that it wasn't already too late.
There was no doubt that something was hiding in the shadows and watching most of the people in the castle, and there was almost no doubt who was behind it. She was thinking carefully about making her move. No doubt this Ulbert had noticed her mask slip for the small moment she let it slip. He himself was wearing one, and Renner was curious about what he hid behind it. What kind of monsters were these Lords of Ooal Gown?
With no other options remaining, she decided to parley with them in hopes of getting a desirable outcome. After some consideration, she decided it was time to act. Renner turned her head to the spot where she knew the shadow was hiding. She made a knowing nod and waited. There was nothing after a minute or so and then a single word flashed in her mind - Climb.
Of course, they already knew her weakness. She turned to the shadow, cocked her head a bit and said,
"Would you like to join me for tea and chat?"
Nothing. She waited for a minute, then five. She started to think no one would respond when a black void appeared near her and a man, no demon, came through dressed in an orange suit with white stripes. He made a polite bow with the same motion as Ulbert had done to the king and said,
"Greetings, my name is Demiurge. Thank you, princess, for the invitation. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
She smiled, curtsied, and said,
"I, Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself, third princes of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, welcome you to my home."
"Oh, you are too kind," replied Demiurge and took a seat.
Renner poured him a cup of tea with a smile and sat on a chair opposite to him.
"I must commend you, princess, your act is almost impeccable, even my lord was impressed."
"Why thank you. It is so rare to hear an honest compliment. So, for what do I owe the pleasure?"
"My master thinks there is a merit of offering you an opportunity."
"An opportunity?"
"Serve us, and you will get him at the very least."
The demon smirked at her, clearly looking down on her. At this moment, all cards were in their favor as she had almost nothing to work with. But it was easy to deduce that sitting opposite to her was someone smart. He also radiated power and confidence. This wasn't some peon, but just a step below the Lords of Ooal Gown. That meant they saw value in her, giving her wiggle room to negotiate.
"Mmm, servitude for my sweet Climb, and if I decline?" She had to ask, not that she wanted to decline, but information was power, and she would squeeze every bit out of this demon whether he wanted it or not.
"I leave, and my masters consider you part of this kingdom and your fate tied to it."
Renner took a sip of tea and asked.
"So, you offer me my Climb. Can you keep him and me safe in these more turbulent times?"
"My masters have power even beyond my imagination, nothing is beyond their ability."
There it was, the shine in the demon's eyes. When he spoke those words, it was the same look Climb had when he looked at her. This wasn't just a servant; he worshiped his masters. Demiurge had made the expression intentionally. He needed to know just how smart this little princess was. Her mask wasn't impeccable. Minute details slipped through and showed Demiurge her thought process. All of that was intentional, of course. The game of wits was played with carefully chosen words and intentional expressions.
"If he is safe and mine, I will serve..." she made a brief pause. Renner wanted to see his reaction.
"You seemed to desire something more?"
"If I serve well, will I meet them?"
"That can be arranged. Do you mind me asking why you want to meet them in person?"
"I witnessed your master's power and wit once and I wish to repeat the experience."
Demiurge intentionally switched to a more natural and truer smile. Would this arrogant little princess even understand what she is asking for?
Seeing the demon smiling with a genuine smile for the first time in this conversation assured Renner that she had played her cards in just the right way. She herself wasn't sure if it was a lie or not. Some part of her genuinely wanted to meet them, to learn from them, but more importantly, she got all the confirmation she needed.
This demon who radiated power she had felt only once before in his master wasn't just a servant. He worshiped them and that gave her the realization that if someone with such intelligence was a worshiper, then the rest of those who serve the Lords of Ooal Gown would most likely be even more devoted and thus impossible to turn against their masters, no matter what tactics she would try. There was a slight chance that she was mistaken, but the next words from the demon all but confirmed she was right.
"You understand."
He saw through her just like she saw through him. At that moment, Renner knew she wasn't on top of this conversation. She was talking to her equal in intellect and at that moment her mask dropped, and her true twisted smile and soulless eyes gazed at Demiurge.
Demiurge was truly intrigued. At first, he thought he would come and talk to a smart but arrogant princess but now he knew she was her equal in mental capacity, and what's more, she was a monster. A monster with the mask of a beautiful young woman. So, all the pretense was dropped. There was no need to play games anymore. Someone as smart as she would never stand against his masters. She would know better than to even consider it.
"I will leave all the shadow demons in this castle under your command, and they will report to you as well. Twelve extra demons will be left in your care. Use them to benefit our common masters to the best your abilities and request more if the need arises."
"It shall be done, Lord Demiurge," Renner responded, kneeling. At this point, she stopped being the third princess of Re-Estize and became the servant of the Lords of Ooal Gown. All she had to do was prove her worth, and she had plans upon plans on how to do it. Re-Estize will be theirs and she will have her Climb for herself and only for herself.
With that, Demiurge got up as a gate appeared behind them and said, "Until we meet again princess, it was a pleasure talking with you."
After the portal closed Renner stood up. She had to slap her cheeks a few times to get back into her Golden Princess expression. She never had an exchange so exciting and what more now, she once again had the true opportunity to have the life she wanted. All she had to do was prove her worth.
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Travel to Carne would take more than a day, so both the Swords of Darkness and Ainz's team met up with Nfirea at sunrise to set out. All of them, besides Nfirea, who rode a one-horse-drawn cart, were on foot. For the first few hours, they walked in almost silence, only interrupted by Lakrut trying to hit on Nabe and being turned down and insulted. Peros watched it with amusement, while Bukuma was a bit envious of the attention Nabe was getting. Her original human form was cute, and she was getting plenty of attention from men while on Earth, but it could not hold a candle to Nabe's beauty. Bukuma was fuming a bit that she couldn't use her elven form, as it was at least equal in beauty, if not more to Nabe.
Eventually, seeing how distraught Nabe was starting to get by Lakrut's insistence, Peros chatted him up, and soon they were both walking behind and energetically talking and laughing.
Bukuma remarked to Ainz, "Looks like my brother found his match, as if one of them wasn't enough."
"Oh, let them have their fun. At least Nabe can walk in peace for now."
"True, and I can't be too mad at that guy. He is just goofy, not an asshole. Poor Nabe just has no idea how to react to honest advances."
Peter, who overheard the conversation, came closer and added in,
"Yeah, I'm sorry about Lakrut's instance. He is a bit of a blockhead when it comes to women and we haven't managed to beat any sense in him yet."
"No worries and looks like he found his match in our team," Ainz responded, overhearing both boosting about their adventures. What Ainz found amusing was the fact that most of the things Peros was bragging about came from porn games.
He didn't listen in for long as bright sunlight and green countryside took his attention away from his comrades. The warm summer breeze on his human skin felt so good. Grass gently swayed on the wind's whims as he observed it while walking. If not for Nazarick, his friends, and the grand plans they had, Ainz wouldn't mind the life of a simple adventurer. There was a very small part of him who might just want to disappear into the wide world and live a simple life. But he had responsibilities now. He was the Leader of Nazarick, Leader of the Lords of Ooal Gown. And then there was Albedo. Before leaving for their adventure, they were together for a week. At first, she drained him far too much, and he was getting scared she would kill him. But seeing what she was doing, Albedo started to work on controlling her aura and energy-draining to not exhaust Ainz. She was truly loving and caring towards him. It was such a short time, and he already missed waking up next to her.
Ainz wondered if he cared about her so much because he wrote it in his avatar's backstory. If it now was a large part of him, or if he just fell in love with her for who she was. Ainz couldn't deny to himself that both were monsters. While walking, he felt more like he was wearing human skin and pretending to be one, despite the doppelganger ring giving him a full range of human emotions. Would he even care if his new allies died? After thinking for a bit, he concluded that he would care if he befriended them, as they were now tied in the same task as them. He felt responsible for them too, but humans in general just didn't seem that important anymore.
After a while, he snapped out of his daydreaming and decided to strike a conversation with Ninya as a fellow spell caster. At this point, he knew that she was just posing as a boy for whatever reason as both Bukuma and Peros confirmed it as well. Since he had the impression that the rest of her team didn't know, he decided to keep her secret. Ainz had noticed how uncomfortable she was speaking with him and simply deduced that something bad had happened in her past. With what this world was and how lower classes and women particularly were treated, it wasn't that hard of a guess.
At first, he asked general questions about spells she knew and what kind of magic was generally used in Re-Estize. Ainz learned that, unlike Yggdrasil, where almost all spells were either somewhat combat or power-oriented with a minority being flavor ones for a specific class, the new world used a wide array of practical magic, starting from, as simple as clean, create salt and remove fatigue, to some that, combined with items, could be almost considered a magitech. Some nobles, for example, possessed magic-fueled clocks.
Ninya was also curious about what kind of spells Ainz could use, but for the most part, didn't dwell too deep and just explained that he can cast elemental spells and some basic healing spells. For one, he clearly couldn't disclose his true power and secondly, he didn't want to set himself for a clear limit if he just, for example, announced he can use 3rd or 4th tier magic. Besides, being vague about his power level made him seem a bit more mysterious, at least in his own mind.
After a while, he returned to walking and listening to Peros and Lakrut's babbling. They both had got a bit quieter and took glances at the woods that were now much closer to the road. Something was stirring in the woods. The others started to get uneasy as well and Lakrut, seemingly giving another try at wooing Nabe, said to her.
"Don't worry Nabe, my lady, I will protect you."
Nabe just retorted,
"I don't worry because Mr. Satoru is here not because of you."
"Oh, so you two are a thing, huh?"
Narberal's face twisted in fear of the implication and screamed back at him.
"Don't put words in my mouth. Lady Albedo is the only one for..."
Ainz was closing in to handle the situation, but Narberal already had blurted out Albedo's name and was now clasping her mouth with her hands in panic. She realized she had compromised them, but her adverse reaction was due to her having a little 'friendly' chat with Albedo just before they left Nazarick.
"Mr. Lakrut, I would appreciate it if you didn't dwell in our personal lives." Ainz told him with a stern tone. Peter had run up as well, smacked Lakrut on the head and was profusely apologizing. Lakrut, seeing the scene he caused, also gave a genuine apology and promised to not act so foolishly.
{ Narberal, you need to be more careful. Think before you speak! }
{ Lord Ainz, I'm so sorry, please let me atone for my mistake with my life. }
{ What!? No, calm down Narberal! Learn from your mistake, and try to not repeat it. }
The awkward scene was interrupted when both Lakrut and Peros pointed at a line of woods at the same time. Something was coming out of the forest.
{ About sixteen of what looks like orcs and at least 100 goblins, maybe more. Looks like they're running from something.} reported Peros.
A horde of goblins and ogres ran out of the forest, seemingly in disorganized panic.
{ Noted. It's most likely because of Ulbert taking over the forest with Aura and Mare. Everyone, remember we are trying to keep it about level 30 range, don't overdo it. } Ainz sent an order to his team and then addressed Peter.
"Akari will remain guarding Nfirea. The rest of us are going on the offensive."
"What!? There are too many of them! We need to retreat as fast as possible!" Peter shouted back at him.
"Keep Nfirea safe, we will handle this." Ainz responded in a calm tone and added, "Just in case, remain near Akari, she will handle the defense."
Peter just gathered his team around Nfirea's cart. If the other team wanted to kill themselves, it was on them. He was prepared to grab Nfirea and run if things went wrong. Lakrut as a ranger drew an arrow to assist in killing the hordes of goblins and ogres.
Peros just took out three arrows and shot them, taking out three goblins at the same time, leaving Lakrut staring at him. Peros didn't pay any mind to him, just continued to casually snipe goblins with unnatural precision. Ainz and Narberal positioned themselves to cast magic. Nabe was the first to cast Chain Lightning, killing two ogres in a straight line.
Ainz, playing as her teacher, had to overshadow her, so he cast "Twin Maximize Magic: Chain Lightning," shooting lighting from each hand killing five additional ogres. He didn't even bother to say Fireball loudly and just tossed it in a group of retreating goblins with a silent cast, leaving behind burned corpses. Ainz was a bit disappointed. Even with them toning it down to level 30, it was a one-sided massacre.
While Ainz and Narberal laid waste from a distance, Rubedo ran into battle head-on and with fluid motions started to slice the throats of goblins and ogres left and right. From aside it looked like a choreographed dance of death, with each fluid motion leaving a dying victim bleeding out.
Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness just stared, stunned, at the carnage in front of them as Peter mumbled.
"What in the world are they? Orichalcum? No, this is adamantine level." He expected them to be capable, but not to massacre armies of monsters with ease.
They almost didn't notice an ogre and a few goblins getting close to the cart but Akari just got in the way, blocked the ogre's swing with ease, and hit him in the chest with her shield, making him fly a few meters backward while stabbing one of the goblins at her side. The Swords of Darkness finally snapped out of it and began assisting her in dispatching the remaining goblins. Still, they couldn't believe how strong she was. The seemingly small-framed woman had hit an ogre with such force that it had flown backward.
Soon the only thing that remained was a bloodied battlefield with corpses of goblins and ogres laying everywhere. Ninya was going to each of them and cutting off ears with a practiced motion. Satoru was curious and asked her.
"Why are you cutting their ears, are they valuable?"
"No, not by themselves. The guild will accept them as proof when paying out a reward for monster hunting."
"Is there anything else? Don't they drop crystals?"
"Never seen one of them carry any crystals," Ninya replied, resuming her work.
Nfirea finally snapped out of his shock and said more to himself, "I've never seen anything like that before!"
"Yeah, I can agree to that," Peter, who was standing nearby, chipped in. After Ninya finished gathering the ears and Dyne had healed minor wounds and scratches on Peter and Lakrut, they moved on. It was slowly getting dark, and they wanted to get a bit further away from the forest to set up camp.
Once they found a suitable place, camp was set up. Ainz was sitting quietly and just listened to the others' banter. The food they ate was salty and horrible but at this moment it was fine. Lakrut was pestering Peros about his bow techniques. It seemed they had become good friends already. Bukuma was getting a kick out of teasing Nfirea, who confessed he liked a girl from Carne. She wasn't doing it maliciously, but still; the boy was beet red. Ainz was starting to space out when Ulbert contacted him.
{ Hey Ainz, got a minute? }
{ Sure, something happened? }
{ No just a few things to report. First, we found a suitable place for the dummy Nazarick. There is a huge lake deep in the forest with some lizardmen living on its shores. I plan to build it just outside their territory. }
{ I assume a large part of the forest is in Nazarick's control already? }
{ Yes, I guess some stragglers may have run out of the forest near your route. Roughly one-third of the forest is under our control. it was previously controlled by a beast, who called herself 'Wise King of the forest' and turned out to be a giant hamster. }
{ Ulbert, are you pulling my leg? }
{ No I'm serious. Aura tamed it and now is riding the hamster around the forest. }
{ Anything else? }
{ Not much, Albedo is getting a bit restless without you, so don't drag your adventure out too long, or we will not see you for a week or two when you get back. Tabula is in his laboratory doing who knows what. Oh, and we started a spy network in Re-Estize. I was right about a very promising informant and she seems willing serve us well. }
{ I'm starting to think we need to elect you to be in charge. }
{ No, thank you. Someone needs to keep me in check, and that's where you, our glorious leader, come in. Something interesting on your end? }
{ Nothing too much. I think we may get a local alchemist for Tabula, but that's about it for the moment. }
{ Got it. I'll keep you updated on Nazarick's activities. Take care. }
{ You too, Ulbert. }
Night had fallen and the teams had decided on who would take each watch. Rubedo asked to be on the same watch as Ainz, so both were sitting by the fire alone. Ainz had no idea what to even say to her. Rubedo, as he recalled, was having trouble expressing herself, and he was a bit worried that she might hold in some resentment. Nabe didn't like humans, and he had a fair guess that Rubedo might not want to be around them, either. Still, he wanted to have at least some conversation to probe a bit about how she felt.
"What are you thinking of our mission so far?" Ainz finally asked.
"No problems so far, no threats to you Lord Ainz," Rubedo responded with a quiet voice.
"How do you view humans?"
"Not a threat."
She was thinking only in terms of his security. Ainz understood that she, like all denizens of Nazarick, took their tasks way too seriously, so he decided to ask more about herself.
"Rubedo if I may ask, what do you think of the changes Tabula made to you?"
Rubedo was silent, but her face started to show a small warm smile.
"Thankful. Lord Tabula gave me purpose and Lord Ainz accepted."
After some silence, she added,
"Thank you."
"For what are you thanking me for?" Ainz asked.
"For activating me, for letting me live."
Ainz put a hand on her shoulder in a fatherly way saying, "You are just as important as everybody else, and have the same right to live. If you ever want to be something else, besides my bodyguard, please tell me."
Rubedo shook her head, "Protecting Lord Ainz is the highest honor. I do not wish to do something else."
Meanwhile, Khajiit was slowly walking through the unlit streets of E-Rantel to the house. Clementine was waiting for him. She had located the place where the boy lived, but the report he received mentioned some 'difficulties'. He reached the right place, saw a plate with the notice that Lizzie had closed shop for a week, and went in. Clementine sat at the table with her usual creepy smile.
"Khajiit, you made it. I need a bit of your dead body preservation magic."
"Couldn't wait and killed someone?"
"Boys, granny didn't reveal where the boy was no matter what I did to her. Tough old cookie she was. Had to use Puppet Strings on her corpse to find out where the boy is."
"And?"
"He is on a little herb gathering quest. We will have to wait a few days until he returns. Be a dear and use your corpse preservation magic on granny so she doesn't stink up the place."
Khajiit cursed under his breath as he performed the spell. Clementine had the tendency to do even the right things in the most tedious way possible. What was worse, he now needed to be in the same house as her until the boy returned, to ensure she didn't mess it up. And knowing the little psycho, he knew. Sleeping was out of the question to even stay alive.
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A beautiful blonde woman throwing a fit over the quality of the food. It wasn't that uncommon a sight in the Golden Rooster Inn. After all, it was the fanciest and most expensive inn in E-Rantel, where the usual patrons were either nobles or rich merchants, so some overly spoiled beauty throwing a fit didn't surprise anyone.
More surprising were her looks. She was extraordinarily beautiful, and her large breasts were barely held in by her fancy dress. She was accompanied by a much older man in a fancy suit with a few jeweled rings.
The patrons were curious about their relationship, as it wasn't that uncommon for rich merchants to marry much younger women and shower them with luxury, spoiling them rotten.
Soon it was cleared out when the older man addressed the young woman.
"Salsa, it is unbecoming of a young lady to act in such a way. What would your mother think if she saw you act like this?"
"Sorry father, but the food in this place is not up to par with what our cooks make."
"We can't take cooks with us all the time so dear, please behave."
"Of course, father," she then got up from her seat, curtsied to address the other patrons with the words, "I apologize for my behavior," and left to her room, presumably.
The older man also apologized and ordered a bottle of wine for each table as an apology.
All of that was an act, of course, as they needed to attract attention to present themselves as a traveling merchant and his daughter.
The moment they were alone, the woman bowed with the words,
"I'm sorry Lord Sebas for addressing you in such a rude manner."
"It is part of the plan Solution, there is nothing to apologize for. Is our coachman doing what we thought and selling us out?"
"Yes, Lord Sebas. He is giving directions to a rather shifty group of men... oh my, and they all want to get inside me. Lord Sebas, can I get at least our coachman for my dessert? He desires to be inside me so much."
"I will put this up with Lady Shalltear, it is her decision on what to do with the captures."
"Thank you Lord Sebas, " Solution bowed again and resumed the observation of the coachman with her Remote Viewing ability.
Everything was going according to plan. They had sold a few of the most worthless items that, by new world standards, were rare and expensive gear, giving them an ample amount of money. The ambush on them was set out some distance outside of E-Rantel and would serve as a starting point for Shalltear's hunt, while Sebas and Solution would continue their travels to the capital with the coachman replaced by a doppelganger.
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The captain of the Black Scripture, or the first seat, a man with long black hair and red eyes, looking younger than twenty, was standing in the briefing room and waiting for the rest of the Black Scripture to take their designated seats. There was a seat just for him, but he preferred to stand when addressing his subordinates.
The second seat was filled by a young man with boyish looks called Time Turbulence. He had medium brown hair with green eyes. He was wielding what seemed to be a rapier with a spiral pattern, a cape with clock patterns on the inner side, and a miniature top hat.
In the third seat sat a slim middle-aged man in a mage's robe, called Dark Flame. He looked at the captain with an unmoving face.
In the fourth seat was a young woman with long blonde hair and very light skin named Divine Chant. She wore a dress-like robe in green and pink, with feathers decorating the hood.
The fifth seat was filled with a blonde man looking very similar to Clementine, the so-called One-Man Army. He got his name from all the tamed beasts stored in his equipment.
In the sixth seat sat a blonde man with blue plate armor and with an enormous lance positioned behind his seat: a paladin called Lightbringer.
The seventh seat was filled by Relzanu or Thousand Leagues Astrologer. She was dressed in a costume resembling a schoolgirl with a handbag and glasses.
The eighth seat was called Myriad Barriers, a huge man, partly covered in black plate armor with a shield leaning against his seat.
In the ninth seat sat Divine Chain. A man with a powerful build, he possessed black spiked swept hair, a tattoo on his left temple, and nose bridge piercings. His outfit was a mixture of various articles, complete with a yellow scarf decorated with stars, leather straps, and a bandoleer. His arms were wrapped with chains. A newcomer, he was the one who replaced the defector, Clementine.
The tenth seat was filled by Strongest Human, an old man with gray hair and a muscular body. He was a barbarian sitting with a huge axe in front of him.
The eleventh seat, Sapphire Witch was slumping in her seat. She was a woman with long blue braids, dressed in a transparent nightgown showing her black underwear. A huge witch's hat on her head partly covered her face.
Lastly, the twelfth seat, Heaven and Earth. He was a middle-aged man wearing tights that were reinforced with metal plating all over his body. Both his hands and feet were equipped with a floating cloth.
The most elite team had gathered for a mission. It was a rare occurrence and most looked excited about getting some action.
Once everyone was present, the captain of the Black Scripture started the briefing. They were to be deployed. Since no one, besides the cardinals, knew his real name, he was addressed as either the captain or Nr.1. As the Black Scripture was organized in seats, they often used their seat numbers to address one another.
"Good morning. I will start with the news right away. We are to be deployed in Re-Estize, with the reason being that the entire Sunlight Scripture is currently considered missing in action, or most likely eliminated. Nr.7 observed events partly in her daily reconnaissance, and I will not ask her to retell the event, as you all should have read it in the report."
4th seat - Divine Chant spoke up.
"Report!? Are we really to believe that Dominion Authority was destroyed with a single hit?"
Relzanu almost spat back, "You think I exaggerated what I saw? Despite all the interference, I know it was summoned and I also know it disappeared in an instant, sucked in a single point."
The captain interfered right away, "Stop this! The point is, the cardinals think this is another coming of so-called Players, and in a worst-case scenario, we have another Greed Kings' case!"
10th Seat - Strongest Human asked next,
"So how seriously we are taking this? If they are on the Greed Kings' level, even we will have little chance of defeating them."
The captain decided to just lay out the plan right away.
"Our primary task is to start with diplomacy, with a possibility to get them on our side, although two of them are reported to be dark elves, one human and more is unknown, as only three of them were seemingly present in the conflict with the Sunlight Scripture. Lady Kaire will accompany us and in case of open hostility, she is to use Downfall of Castle and Country on their leader to cause inner conflict among them. We are under the assumption that every single one of them is strong enough to stand against our entire unit."
The captain's explanations gave the result he expected. Everyone got serious at the mention of Kaire and the presumed danger level.
"Will the extra seat be coming with us?"
"No, her volatile nature will cause conflict right away and our primary goal is to establish diplomatic relations, not try to fight if it can be avoided."
4th seat spoke the moment the captain finished his sentence,
"So, we are going to kiss the backsides of elves that wiped out one of our scriptures."
The captain was losing his patience with her.
"Nr. 4 that's enough. You read the report and you know what the Sunlight Scripture was doing there. From what we know, they, in their own eyes, saved civilians from invading forces, not knowing who they were fighting against. We know their leader is a human, and for now, the cardinals consider it to be reason enough for diplomacy. "
He then barked an order to the entire scripture,
"Get ready everyone, we will cross the border to Re-Estize during the night."
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The next morning came without any trouble, and both groups packed up to reach Carne before noon. During breakfast, Ainz decided to ask about the forest of Tob.
"Nfirea, what can we expect in the forest? You said there was a team guarding you before."
"Seeing your performance from yesterday, I would say nothing you couldn't handle, Mr. Satoru. We will be close to the wise king's territory, but I don't think we will be in any danger from it."
"Wise king?" Ainz asked, already knowing it was a giant hamster tamed by Aura.
Nfirea just went on. "It's supposedly a legendary beast claiming a large part of the forest as its territory. Very few people have survived an encounter with it and descriptions are vague at best."
"So, no one knows how powerful this wise king is." Ainz mused.
Peter joined in the conversation "Satoru, I know your team is strong and all but that might be a legendary beast and it's better to just avoid it."
"Good point, not that we plan to go search for it, but I prefer to be prepared in case we need to face it," Ainz responded, already knowing that there would not be any attack in the forest unless he ordered it.
Carne was a few hours away and right after breakfast, they were on their way again. It was just before noon when they finally reached the Carne Village. A small wooden wall was made around the village. It looked like an attempt to increase protection, but Ainz was under no illusion that this wall would not protect the village from anything besides maybe goblins.
{ Ainz, goblins are hiding in the wheat surrounding the gate! } Peros messaged.
{ Interesting. It looks like that girl has used the Horn of the Goblin General I gave her. Just in case, be on guard, but don't massacre them right away. } Ainz messaged his entire team.
Once they were close to the gate, goblins jumped out, scaring Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness. Ainz and his team gave no reaction, and that spooked the goblins badly. The one who seemed to be the leader addressed them,
"Don't make sudden moves, we don't want an unnecessary fight." He then sent one of the goblins inside the village, and minutes later Enri showed up. Seeing Nfirea, she smiled a wide smile and shouted.
"Enfi!" making the tension from both sides disappear.
They got inside the village and settled down for a moment as Nfirea and Enri disappeared into one of the houses.
"What are the odds? That boy has a crush on the same girl you saved," Bukuma remarked.
"Well, that gives us at last one way to get the boy to work for us. Ulbert should have sent Lupusregina to guard the village by now."
"Oh, she is invisible and hiding about four houses that way." Peros pointed, seeing Lupus watching them intently.
{ Lupusregina, don't show yourself while we are here, just in case. }
{ Got it, Lord Ainz. }
Nfirea and Enri got inside her house and sat down. Enri shortly retold what had happened. Her parents and most of the villagers were now dead, how they were saved by the Lords of Ooal Gown, and the horn she used to summon the goblins, who now were guarding the village and helping out the villagers.
Enri was close to tears, and Nfirea wanted to confess his feelings for her. He tried to form words in his head, but nothing came up. Finally, he just blurted out.
"Enri, if you need help, please ask. I will help however I can."
Enri looked up at him and got confused. Why were Nfirea's cheeks red? There was no way he would like a simple village girl like her who couldn't even read or write. She would have asked, but she didn't want to put her friend in a difficult position. If he would not like her back it would make it weird, so she just replied,
"Thank you Enfi, you are such a good friend."
"Yeah, friend..." Nfirea wanted to change the topic right away. "These Lords of Ooal Gown, who were they?"
"Um.. they didn't tell us much about themselves. The leader was a brown-haired man and the remaining two were dark elf twins. Oh, and with them was a woman in a dark plate called Albedo."
"Albedo..." Nfirea murmured and ran out of Enri's house, leaving a confused Enri behind.
Ainz and his team observed the village and how the villagers were starting to train in archery, to at least have some means to defend themselves. Nfirea came running out of the house in their direction. Ainz as Satoru raised an eyebrow and waited for him to get close.
Nfirea ran right to him, and with a short breath asked,
"Mr. Satoru, does your team serve the Lords of Ooal Gown?" His entire team went on high alert right away, but Ainz just gave an order.
{ Calm down everyone. Let's see where this goes first before any rash action is taken, } and then asked Nfirea.
"How did you know and why are you asking that?"
"I wanted to thank them for saving the girl I love. She mentioned that a woman named Albedo accompanied them."
"You are a clever boy Nfirea. I hope you understand that, for now, we want to keep a low profile. "
Nfirea bowed and said,
"Of course. I will not tell anyone, but I have a confession to make. The real reason I hired you all was to find out where the red healing potion came from. "
"Why did you want to know that?" Ainz asked in a curious tone, without a hint of anger in his voice.
"Um...Are you not angry at me for this?"
"As long as you don't go around telling everyone, no, but this puts us in an interesting situation."
"How so?"
Ainz had put up a plan already, so he just replied.
"One of our masters wants a pharmacist or an alchemist as his apprentice, and this village is already under their protection, so, I think he may want to take you under his wing."
"Really! I would love to! I just need to talk about it with my grandma."
"You understand that you can't tell her who you would be working for."
A moment of silence, and then Nfirea replied.
"If I convinced her to come to live here with me without telling who we would work for, would it suffice?"
"If you can pull it off, yes I think so. We will communicate this to our masters, and you will be contacted once a decision is made."
Nfirea bowed again and said.
"Thank you for the opportunity Mr. Satoru." and ran off.
"You think we can trust him?" Bukuma asked once Nfirea was outside hearing distance.
"Yes, that boy is smart and wants to be near that girl I saved. Besides, doesn't he strike you as a teenage version of Tabula?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah, I think they will work great together," Bukuma replied.
Ainz was still a bit paranoid. This plan could easily go south if either the boy or his grandmother would start blabbing around about this. But he was getting into the habit of not showing doubt, even in front of his friends. He wasn't sure if it was from his now overlord nature or that he just wanted to appear like it to give his friends confidence in his leadership.
Side Story 1 - Albedo's day.
Albedo woke up early in the morning. It was the third day since her beloved Ainz had gone on a mission and left her to oversee Nazarick under the command of Lord Ulbert. Over the last week, she got so used to sleeping beside Ainz that she was unable to sleep the first day he was gone. As a result, she made four different Ainz's body pillows for her comfort. It did little to help, but she at least was able to sleep.
She also hated the fact that she was sleeping in her own quarters, not Ainz's. Since Ulbert was in control of Nazarick, she officially didn't ask permission to use Ainz's quarters in his absence, so she didn't go there. Not that Ulbert would forbid it, but Albedo still didn't want to look overly clingy.
Albedo got out of bed and stashed the body pillow in the small chamber she had forbidden maids to clean. It was her little sanctuary. Body pillows and plushies made in the shape of Ainz, and an ever-growing pile of children's clothing she was making every free moment she had were everywhere. Those were things she hid from everyone.
After a short morning routine, she was dressed and ready to perform her duties. The first thing, of course, was daily maintenance and financial report. Albedo was halfway through them when she heard a knock on the door and Lord Ulbert came in. She stood up from her chair, but Ulbert just told her right away,
"Albedo, skip the formalities. You are Ainz's girlfriend now, no need to kneel every time I come to speak with you."
She could barely contain the smile when she was called Ainz's girlfriend. Ulbert, of course, had noticed how happy she became each time she was addressed in such a way and following Ainz example, was learning how to make Nazarick's denizens happier with just a few words.
"Of course, Lord Ulbert. How may I serve today?"
"I came to ask if the financial plan for the dummy Nazarick is ready?"
Albedo took out a small folder right away and handed it to Ulbert.
"Yes, of course. There it is, Lord Ulbert."
"Thank you, Albedo. You are doing a wonderful job," Ulbert responded with a smile, took the folder, and left.
'Ainz's girlfriend!' she repeated in her mind again and again. That phrase made her so happy she was barely able to work.
For the next few hours, she, for the most part, worked alone. One of the maids brought her dinner. As per Ainz's orders, sustenance rings were used only in emergencies and Nazarick's personnel are to have regular meals. Albedo argued against it at first, as it increased expenses, but her beloved was so kind that he wanted everyone to share the enjoyment of food, not just the supreme ones.
There was another knock on the door and after an invitation, Mariposa came in. She acted as Lord Tabula's assistant. In fact, Albedo hadn't seen him for the last few days. He had spent all his time in his laboratory.
Mariposa bowed and handed the report, saying, "Lady Albedo, the daily report from Lord Tabula."
Albedo noticed it was written in Mariposa's handwriting. Tabula, as usual, didn't bother with any reports.
"Thank you, Mariposa. How is my father doing?"
"Busy as usual, he asked if he could be informed when new live test subjects are available again."
"I'll see what I can do when Shalltear returns from her hunt."
"Thank you, Lady Albedo," Mariposa replied with a bow and left.
Although her father had asked her to consider Mariposa not only his wife but also Albedo's mother, she didn't see her as her mother or even related to her. Albedo had one creator, Tabula, and her beloved Ainz. That was all she would ever need.
Next came Demiurge, with his and Lord Ulbert's reports. It was a delight for her to work with them both. Unlike her father, Lord Ulbert and his son Demiurge were very diligent and punctual with their reports. Albedo wasn't naive enough to believe that either of them reported her everything. The God of Trickery, no doubt, would keep many things to himself.
As for Cocytus, he just sent short messages about his daily observations. The same was with everyone working outside of Nazarick.
In the afternoon, all her duties were finished so sewing time began. Albedo wanted to make enough clothes for her future child. As a succubus, she had full control of when she wanted to get pregnant, but unfortunately, Ainz had talked her out of having a child right away. As he put it, he didn't want children until their dominance of the world was assured.
She drew great joy from making clothes and toys for her future children. She wanted to make full sets of clothing for both genders up to the age of five. When talking to Demiurge, he had speculated that due to the nature of the supreme ones, her child might not fall into the norms of regular children, and making clothes were rather pointless but she did it anyway.
Finally, at night, she took a bath that was in her quarters, took out another body pillow resembling Ainz from her stash, and retired to bed.
Side Story 2 - Walk with a pet.
A giant hamster was taking a slow stride through the forest. On her back, a dark elf child was laying. Aura was enjoying the ride on her new pet Lord Ulbert allowed her to keep.
"Hey, Wisey. How far until the next goblin village?" Aura addressed her new pet. She was never good with naming, so she just started to call the giant hamster as Wisey, shortened from the Wise King of the Forest.
"Not far the goblin village is, Mistress Aura."
Lord Ulbert had given her the task of scouting the forest and either get all its inhabitants under the control of Nazarick or eliminate any opposition. Overall, it was a boring and tedious task. Everything she found was so weak. Even the fight with Wisey was a disappointment. She only decided to spare her new pet because of how cute and fluffy it was.
Most of the goblins fell in line right away or just ran away from their homes once they saw her approaching. Thick-headed ogres needed to be beaten into submission. Barghests, sensing her power, submitted without any question and all the mindless beasts just avoided Wisey.
Finally, they reached the next village. This one surprisingly looked more like a fortress. Aura sat up as they approached the gate. Ogres guarding the gate tried to attack Aura and Wisey right away. Aura jumped off her mount and punched one of the ogres in its midsection, shattering the wooden gates with him as his lifeless remains landed somewhere inside the fortress city. Wisey, meanwhile, strangled the other one with her snakelike tail.
Soon a small army arrived, and a hobgoblin stepped forward, covered in plate armor.
"So, you are the one going around claiming territory?"
"Yup, and you all serve Nazarick now!" Aura responded in a cheerful voice.
"I, the goblin king Gervok will not bend the knee to one weaker than me. Fight me, child, and show your power to me."
He was a proud king and would rather die in an honorable duel than serve. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he spoke those words Aura was in front of him and with a small jump slapped him. Everything went dark for a while.
He blinked his eyes open, for a while feeling like a troll just hit him in the face with a club. He could feel his jaw was broken, at least in a few places. Now it made sense how the entire forest just submitted to this elven child wherever he showed up.
He sat up, and his army was prostrating before the elf. His honorable death was denied. Instead of a duel, the child had slapped him. The elf turned to him with a bit of a surprised face and then said.
"Oh, you survived that. Need another slap or do you know your place now?"
The choice was between humiliating death or servitude. Humiliated. Either way, he chose life and prostrated before the elf, just like everyone else.
{ Lord Ulbert, another village was subjugated. }
{ Good job Aura. There are a few more areas for you to check. After that, return to Nazarick. } Ulbert responded and a moment later one of Ulbert's demons arrived through a gate, bowed to Aura, and told her that he would take care of things in this fortress.
Aura jumped back on her pet, and both were on their way to the next village.
Chapter 6 Edited by Comtessev.