Invaders: Chapter 2

Part 1

The capital of the Baharuth Empire, Arwintar, was located slightly to the west from

the center of the empire. The Imperial Palace, home to the reigning monarch with the

nickname Blood Emperor—Jircniv Rune Farlord el Nix—stood in the heart of the city.

Surrounding the palace were the universities, the magic academy, various

administrative offices and other important facilities which spread out from the center

of the capital in a radial fashion. Truly, it was a city worthy to be called the heart of

the Empire.

Although it had less inhabitants than Re-Estize, the capital of the Kingdom, the

Empire's capital was much grander in comparison. Not only this, due to many years

of reform, the Empire was currently experiencing the largest surge of development

ever recorded in history. New things were constantly being introduced to society,

which increased the opportunities for merchants to explore new markets. A constant

influx of goods and talents had since been seen in the Empire's capital. For the citizens

living in the capital, it was truly a time of hope and opportunity.

Within this noisy and lively city, Ainz walked with Narberal by his side.

Under different circumstances, Ainz would probably have wanted to spend some time

to explore the city, like a country bumpkin coming to a metropolis for the first time.

After all, there were many differences between the Empire and the Kingdom.

However, Ainz didn't have the leisure to look around right now.

His movements were gradually starting to reflect his thoughts, slowly becoming more

and more erratic over time.

The feelings enveloping him from within could be described with a single word—

Unpleasant.

The more Ainz thought about the purpose behind this visit to the Empire, which had

been planned by Demiurge, the more he frowned, despite the face being an illusion.

For Ainz Ooal Gown, the absolute ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the word

"endure" should not be in his vocabulary. There should be no need to suppress his

emotions. Ainz's words should be absolute, where white would become black if he

declared so. There was no reason for things to be otherwise.

Yet the current situation still ended up this way because Ainz couldn't find a valid

excuse to dismiss Demiurge's proposal.

The overall objective was—showcasing the strength of Nazarick. It was very easy to

understand Demiurge's plan, and the results would also be immediate. On the other

hand, what Ainz didn't like was that it felt as if he was about to throw mud on the

things carefully built by his past comrades.

However, to reject such an amazingly thought out plan just because of his personal

emotions would be a shame. Also, Ainz didn't want others to think that he lacked the

magnanimity to accept proposals made by another individual.

To dismiss the current plan without suggesting any alternatives was something that

Ainz, not as the supreme ruler but as a member of society, felt was unacceptable.

Ainz repeated the things he thought previously once more in order to calm down.

There was a need to cool his head. Between logic and emotions, choosing to go with

logic should be the correct choice. Even though those who were driven by their

emotions would sometimes achieve extraordinary results, most of the time they were

simply irrational. Not only that...

"...It's simply too late to back out now! Kaaa!"

Ainz inhaled and exhaled deeply using his non-existent lungs. And showed no

concerns to the city guards and townspeople that cast odd glances in his direction as

they walked by.

Due to Ainz's naturally tall and awe-inspiring figure, he was already the center of

attention. This became even more so after he was exalted as a hero. Not attracting any

attention would be strange. Because of this, Ainz had gotten used to ignoring people's

gaze, even more so after he started riding Hamusuke.

After taking multiple deep breaths, Ainz was finally able to reduce the feeling of

unpleasantness to a minimum. Only then did he notice the amount of effort that his

subordinate, Narberal, had to make in order to keep up with him.

"My bad, I might have walked a bit too fast."

The walking pace required in order to cover the same amount of distance between the

footsteps of a man wearing full body armor such as Ainz and the robe wearing

Narberal was completely different. It wasn't hard for Narberal to keep up due to her

physical capabilities, but as a man, there was still a need to apologize for not being

considerate of his walking pace.

"No, I do not have any complaints."

"Is that so..."

Ainz couldn't figure out whether the reply was a typical response that servants gave

their masters or if Narberal really didn't mind. While slowing down his pace, Ainz

searched for a topic to discuss.

Ainz felt somewhat embarrassed for the unapproachable atmosphere he had been

radiating moments ago. As such, in an attempt to improve the current awkward mood,

Ainz desperately tried to think of a topic to discuss. However, nothing good came to

mind.

He thought about meaningless conversation starters that salespeople often used, such

as talking about the weather. Talking about sports was also a good choice, but one had

to find out which teams the other person rooted for first.

Considering whether or not to start that kind of conversation, Ainz started mumbling

deep in his heart.

Why do I need to be this considerate to someone like Narberal, who is just a

subordinate? Well, since it turned out this way, I might as well use this opportunity

to practice master-servant dialogue. That being said, it must befit the status of a

ruler. What do people with absolute power talk about with their

subordinates/servants?

Thinking back on the everyday conversations that took place in Ainz's old company,

something like that should be fine, right?

Ainz was the supreme overlord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, not some senior

executive of a company. If a comparison had to be made, he would be more like a

company president or a CEO.

No, it's still a bit different from a president... Speaking of which, what's the

conversation like between the King and Gazef Stronoff? It would be useful as a

reference.

Even if that was the case, they had already gotten to this point. If they went on like

this, the mood between them would end up too heavy to bear. Ainz ended up forcefully

opening his mouth.

"...Narberal ...What do you think of this voice?"

Ainz pointed to his voice box, or more accurately, pointed to the place where his vocal

cords should be. He pressed down on the area where his throat should have been with

his gauntlets. He expected only the metallic sensation of his gauntlets, however, there

was an elastic feeling, giving out an uncanny impression that his throat really existed.

"Truthfully, I don't think this voice is good. Although it doesn't sound strange, I still

think the usual voice of Momon-sa...san sounds better. While I understand there is a

reason behind doing this, I admit preferring to hear your old voice."

"Is that so? I quite like this voice... Neuronist selected it from amongst fifty people.

There's an indescribable charm to it."

Suddenly, thinking back to the time when Ainz listened to a recording of his voice, he

quietly muttered something and calmed the sudden turmoil in his head.

"Is that so? However, I still think Momon-san's original voice sounded better."

"I am grateful to hear that, Narberal. Speaking of which, I had no idea that I could

also equip this..."

Unsure whether Narberal's response was merely courtesy or her real thoughts, Ainz

once more reached towards his neck, feeling the creature that was attached to his

throat—the Lip Bug—wriggling.

Normal people would definitely find it itchy.

Is it that I simply didn't know, or did the rules somehow change? Lacking

information on these kind of things could also pose certain dangers in the future.

Not only about this world, but the knowledge from YGGDRASIL also needs to be

relearned.

The game YGGDRASIL was designed with the intention of letting players enjoy

exploring the unknown. Because of this, there was a need to test a variety of different

things, which resulted in the development company investing huge amounts of

resources to in order to create the system.

As such, the players were able to encounter a completely unknown world.

Not even mentioning the lack of information on the maps given at the start, dungeon

related knowledge as well as information on mining, cooking, monster breeding e.t.c...

everything was unknown to the players. It was the kind of world where players were

forced to discover things for themselves. To make it clearer, even things such as what

could be equipped and what couldn't required the trial and error of the players

themselves.

Although there were raid and information websites, the data posted on these sites was

already well known, or information that simply wasn't credible. YGGDRASIL was a

game designed for its players to explore. Gaining knowledge was like finding treasure.

There was no benefit in informing other players for free.

Hence, the only information that could be trusted came from within one's own guild,

or from trades made with other reliable guilds. Everything else was simply useless

third-rate information.

There was also a period where the forums were flooded with suspicious threads that

began with "I'm planning on leaving my guild, so I will release all their information".

Well, there was most likely some real information released amongst those…

There once existed a guild called "Three Burning Eyes".

It was formed by the owners of a site which charged its members a fee each time for

accessing information, and specialized in sending spies to join other, higher-ranking

guilds in order to steal information and other such dubious acts. The Gaming

Administration did not punish such deeds and it was quietly accepted as a means of

acquiring intelligence. However, the guilds who had been stolen from were much less

forgiving.

What happened was that those guilds formed an alliance and attacked "Three Burning

Eyes". After capturing the respawn point inside the guild's base and the respawn

points of the temple in the surrounding streets, the alliance began to PK the guild

members from "Three Burning Eyes", and when they resurrected, PKed them again,

not letting even a single one go. They kept this up until "Three Burning Eyes"

disbanded and all its members scattered.

And in the end, the most memorable part was when they made their information site

free to access. How nostalgic, Ainz thought.

Well, there were definitely no spies in Ainz Ooal Gown... However, if it wasn't for

that incident, maybe we would have had more members…

Because of that incident, the recruitment process for Ainz Ooal Gown had been halted,

and the guild was formed with 41 members, which was the minimum number

required for a guild to be considered as high tier.

During the final years of YGGDRASIL, the chances of reliable information being made

public on the web was rather high. However, the only time that Ainz really focused his

attention on information sites was during the golden period where "Ainz Ooal Gown"

was at its peak. The amount of useful information was really limited at that time.

My knowledge of the game most likely peaked at that time. Although I still paid

attention to the announcements made by the Game Administration... this world

likely contains YGGDRASIL players apart from myself, thus I need to also consider

the risk posed from having less knowledge than them.

Through the captured members of Eight Fingers, Nazarick was able to acquire lots of

useful intelligence. However, that information largely pertained to the Kingdom and

the Empire. There was very little regarding the Theocracy, the Holy Kingdom and the

Republic. There was a need to further improve intelligence gathering.

"What a pain, I thought so much about it, but in the end I still feel troubled. It's time

to switch to a more light hearted topic."

In order to change the conversation, Ainz mildly looked around his surroundings.

"Speaking of which, the Empire seems quite lively."

"Is that so? I felt the same way in E-Rantel."

In response to Narberal's words, Ainz glanced around once more.

"The streets are full of life and the people's eyes are bright. It's a sign that people

believe they're living well."

Although Narberal responded from behind with "As expected of Momon-san", Ainz

was a bit embarrassed by his own words and didn't reply. It was only a slight feeling

that Ainz had about the people on the streets, and whether it was true or not, Ainz still

did not have confidence in what his eyes saw.

It's not as though I was following Pandora's Actor's lead... "it's a sign of something".

To think I could say these words out loud without shame... It's like I've turned into a

poet or something.

Because he had been expected to act like a hero back in the royal capital, Ainz had

gotten into a hero's mindset, and it was apparently starting to become a habit.

The face beneath Ainz's helmet showed an expression of slight embarrassment—of

course it was impossible for a skull to turn red—and then Ainz saw the hotel Fluder

had described to him.

Even from a distance, one could tell that the imperial capital's best hotel was far more

luxurious than its counterpart in E-Rantel. That was one way of describing it, but that

impression was only based on the level of facilities and the difference in style. One

could say the high-class hotels of the Kingdom were steeped in history while those of

the Empire were recently-opened, and if you asked which was better, everyone would

have different opinions.

"I'm not sure about going in, but the atmosphere does seem pretty nice."

Ainz gently touched the adamantite plate that hung in front of his chest and headed

towards the entrance.

Similar to E-Rantel, athletic soldiers in leather armor were standing guard at the

entrances and exits. As Ainz and Narberal approached, the guards turned questioning

glances to them. However, after focusing on a single point, they hurriedly looked away

with wide eyes.

"A-Are they the real deal? I think they are the real deal, judging from the equipment

they have... "

Hearing the whispers that came from his comrade, the other security guard tried his

best to stand still and hide his nervousness. However, as they closed the distance, his

tension was obvious, but he was nonetheless capable of speaking politely.

"My apologies, adamantite-rank adventurer-sama. I'm very sorry for the

inconvenience, but may I please see your identification?"

As Ainz handed over his plate and asked, "Does this hotel only accept members?"

"Yes, in order to maintain the reputation of this hotel, we only accept regular members

or those with referrals. However, adamantite-rank adventurers are an exception to

that rule."

Wiping both hands with his sleeves, the other security guard carefully took the

identification plate that Ainz handed over as if he was afraid of breaking it. Turning it

over, he read out the words carved on the back.

"Darkness'… Momon-sama?"

"That's right."

"Verification complete! Thank you for giving me the chance to hold an Adamantite

plate!"

His attitude when returning the plate was still as careful as before. The plate that

served as proof of an adventurer's status was made using the same type of metal that

corresponded to the rank of the adventurer. Even though the plate was fairly small,

the cost of making an adamantite plate was astronomical. While the plate might be

extremely hard to break, the possibility of accidentally losing it was still there. For

someone like the security guard of a hotel, the thought of having to compensate for

the loss of an adamantite plate was simply unbearable. The security guards had heard

of many stories where adamantite plates had being lost before. Such as when trying

to return the plate, a Crane-Parrot—a type of bird—would fly by and snatch it up.

Stories like these weren't told to make people pay more attention, but were actual

events which had happened before.

A look of relief bloomed across the faces of the two security guards once Ainz took

back his identification plate.

"Now then, may we enter?"

"Yes, Momon-sama. Please allow me to lead the way."

"Is that so? We'll be under your care then."

Tipping wasn't a thing in the Kingdom. Hopefully it was the same in the Empire. Ainz

couldn't help but think about these kinds of things while being shown in.

After walking through a spacious lobby with marble-like floor tiles, they reached the

reception counter.

"Announcing the arrival of the adamantite-ranked adventurer Momon-sama and

company."

Sitting behind the reception counter was a man with the appearance of having

received a proper upbringing. After being acknowledged, the guard turned towards

Ainz and bowed respectfully before heading back to his post.

"Welcome, Momon-sama. For choosing to grace us with your presence during your

visit to the Empire, I wish to express our very deep gratitude."

The receptionist bowed deeply towards Ainz.

"No, please don't worry about it, for now I wish to stay for one night."

"Understood. To begin, please sign here at the guest register."

Ainz smiled underneath his helmet. Having practiced writing down his name using

the language of the Kingdom countless times, he flawlessly signed the paper after

picking up a pen.

"Thank you very much. Now what kind of room would you prefer?"

For Ainz, all rooms were the same whether they were cheap or luxurious. However, as

usual, he had an appearance to maintain.

It's not like I have a need to eat food, even if the accommodation didn't include

complimentary meal I'd be fine with it.

Ainz suddenly thought about the foods that existed in this world.

A green-colored juice which smelled irresistibly sweet and delicious, a pink-colored

food that looked like scrambled egg, carefully sliced cooked meat covered in a bluish

liquid which made the meat look more tender and juicy. Every one of those mentioned

dishes stimulated Ainz's curiosity, but unfortunately he wasn't able to eat them.

...Libido, appetite, and the desire for sleep. Despite the numerous benefits of having

an undead body, many other important things were lost. How unfortunate. But on

the other hand, the possibility of becoming immersed in bodily desires would be too

high if I regained my human body.

Having imagined being in bed with Albedo, Ainz ended up tilting his head.

A boss that sexually harasses female employees—that was the image that appeared

last in Ainz's head after his earlier imagination.

Even though Albedo proclaimed her love to me... how complicated. If only I didn't

mess with the... oh!

"Sorry for the delay. Any room that is fitting of our status would do. ...By the way, is

it fine for us to pay using the Kingdom's currency?"

"That is not a problem. The exchange rate is one to one to begin with."

"Is that so? I will leave it in your hands then."

"Certainly. I shall begin preparing a room suitable for Momon-sama. In the

meantime, please take a rest in our lounge."

Ainz saw that the arrangement of the chairs in the lounge were separated into small

groups where the distance between each group was quite far apart. More than fifty

seats luxurious enough for high ranking officials were available. Just the appearance

alone made the chairs seem extremely comfortable. There were even minstrels softly

playing music in the background.

"Everything in the lounge, including food and drinks, are complimentary services,

please put yourself at ease and enjoy them."

In any world, as long as a certain amount of money was put in, corresponding amount

of service would be returned. Even so, the services being returned here did not please

Ainz at all.

"Understood. Come, Nabe."

Ainz entered the lounge with Narberal and chose the nearest chairs to sit down on.

There were a few other guests also resting in the lounge. The majority of them were

adventurers. If high ranking adventurers could complete quests that paid generous

rewards, their living standard would naturally increase as well and they could afford

to live in hotels like this.

Regardless of where they were, be it the Kingdom capital or E-Rantel, all adventurers

led the same lifestyle.

Ainz made sure that the adamantite plate hanging around his neck was visible for the

others to see, so that they would become the topic of conversation amongst the guests

at the hotel. It wasn't a bad thing to raise one's profile through this method.

While being conscious of the attention he was getting, Ainz opened the menu that was

next to him.

Can't read it…

Ainz slowly flicked through the menu, even though he couldn't read, to prevent others

from finding out.

Even though Ainz brought along the item that had previously been lent to Sebas which

allowed one to read any language, in the current situation, it would be weird to

suddenly take it out and use it.

"Sebas… and Tsuare..."

The image of Sebas along with Tsuare popped up in Ainz's mind when thinking about

whether or not to use the item.

"Is something wrong with that woman?"

"Ah, no, it's not a big deal. I was wondering about how she is adjusting."

Although Ainz had handed everything to Sebas, he still had the obligation to ensure

Tsuare's wellbeing since he made the promise to protect her.

"I don't think there's any problem. At the moment... because the head maid is

currently under house arrest, Sebas-sama is personally teaching her the skills needed

as a maid. After she has learned an adequate amount of proper etiquette, she will then

study cooking and a few other types of work. We plan on teaching her a bit of

everything until we discover what work she is most suitable for."

"Is that so? Well then, it should be fine leaving it to Sebas. Also, it's about time to

release those two from house arrest… Albedo's temper should have cooled off by now."

Narberal lowered her head without saying a word.

Noticing that their conversation had ended, a waiter quietly walked towards them.

"Have the two of you decided on what to order?"

"I'll have iced Makyatia. What do you want, Nabe?"

"I want the same."

"It's okay to order something that you like."

"No, I want to have the same drink. Oh, and also, I want milk to be added to mine."

"Certainly."

Having received the orders, the waiter bowed deeply, and left quietly.

Makyatia was a drink that looked similar to latte, and Ainz often saw it in E-Rantel. It

smelled like latte as well. However, since latte and coffee also existed in this world

there must be some difference. Nevertheless, Ainz would never find out because he

could not consume any food or drinks. He had previously experimented by attempting

to eat and drink, but the only results were that everything spilled out from below his

chin without tasting anything. Not a single benefit was found.

The reason why Ainz chose this drink was because it was only served in high-class

establishments. It was probably the most suitable choice for the current setting.

While wiping away non-existent sweat, Ainz thought of the most pointless question

to ask.

"Nabe... what does Makyatia taste like?"

Knowing that Narberal had tried the drink before, Ainz curiously asked her.

Narberal made an expression that showed that she was thinking. It was the kind of

expression one would make such as when being asked what does coffee tastes like by

someone who has never tried it once in their life.

"Hmmm... If I had to describe it, I would say it tastes similar to Shakerato. Except it

leaves behind an aftertaste of condensed milk."

"...Is that so? Sounds delicious."

Never heard of a drink called Shakerato before. Is this perhaps a type of drink that

only exists in this world? The possibility of that seems high.

"It's not bad. Only so-so." Narberal replied.

Just as Ainz responded to Narberal with a "Hmmm", the drinks that were ordered

arrived.

"Don't mind me and drink up. Otherwise it'll be weird if neither of us touched our

drinks."

Having becoming accustomed to wearing his helmet all day long, Ainz did not notice

the unnaturalness of not removing his helmet despite drinks being served in front of

him.

"Thank you."

"It's fine if you drink mine as well. Anyway, listen up. For the time being, the plan is

to first tour the capital in the next two days. I've heard that the amount of goods they

sell at the central market is unbelievable. It's definitely worth taking a look. Also, they

sell magic items in the center area of the northern market and adventurers frequent

that place."

This information was acquired from the captured members of "Eight Fingers".

Although most of the reports received were related to the black markets, Ainz didn't

have any plans on visiting them. He only knew of it from glancing at the reports

provided.

"The third day is to visit the Adventurer's Guild. If possible, I would like to make

connections with some of the adamantite adventurers of the Empire, if not, then let's

simply complete our current tasks and head home. Overall it should take around

seven days. Do you have any other suggestions?"

Narberal, who stopped drinking halfway, listened in silence and shook her head.