Gazef Stronoff and Ainz Oal Gown

Ainz, Albedo, and Dōji took a walk around the village, although the villagers would make a detour around them because of Dōji, neither Ainz nor Albedo minded it.

Albedo was probably even delighted, by bugs who knew their place and didn't get in her beloved Lord's way.

"Although I would like to say we have wrapped things up here, that isn't the case..."

Momonga had already explained the things he had discovered in his talk with the village Head.

This combined with the information provided through Dōji's Interrogation, gave Ainz a good understanding that the attack before was only a small bait to get someone to come here.

The person this trap was aimed at would probably arrive soon enough.

"So do you plan to help that person?" Dōji asked curiously.

"Let's wait and see for now, it shouldn't take too long for him to arrive here and then I will make my choice after seeing the man in person."

Ainz was non-commital, preferring to wait and see for now, which was understandable.

Albedo remained quiet, she didn't care one bit about what could happen to either the village or the person this trap was laid out for.

The sun was already hanging low in the sky when suddenly the village head with another man came running towards them.

He seemed pretty flustered and anxious about something.

"Here comes the Prey..." Ainz mumbled.

After learning about the circumstances of the three countries, which were close to Nazarick, the Re-Estize Kingdom of which this village was part of, the Baharuth Empire to the east, and the Slane Theocracy to the south-west, he knew that this was a political struggle among nations he got himself involved in.

The people of the Slane Theocracy disguising themselves as Imperial Knights of the Baharuth Empire, slaughtered village after village, to get the King of the Re-Estize Kingdom to send out his most trusted Warrior.

This was mainly because the Land here was under the direct governance of the crown, so he needed to send out his own people.

And the Slane Theocracy even conspired with some of the nobles of the Kingdom, to get their target to come here.

'This person should have arrived now... Gazef Stronoff was the name of the man whom the Theocracy wants to rid itself of according to the Knight interrogated by Dōji...'

'Let's see who this person is...'

The Village head soon reached them and under his panting, he spoke, "Hu.. Lord Ainz... Hu... there is a band of Knights... coming straight towards the village..."

"Don't worry Village Head, I am still here and nothing will happen to this village as long as that is the case." Ainz expressed his intention to still protect the Village as long as he was still here.

The village head at first had at first a relieved look on his face after hearing Ainz's words, but then a troubled expression replaced it.

"Lord Ainz..." The village head wanted to express his trouble.

"Don't worry, I won't take more compensation, this is still part of the former agreement." seeing through the Trouble of the Village head at a glance, Ainz relieved his worries.

"Thank you so much, Lord Ainz... truly I can't express how much our village owes you... We live close to the forest, but Monsters never attacked us. We thought we were safe..."

Ainz didn't know how to relieve them of their worries, this was something that needed time.

"We should head to the Village center for now and take care of the current trouble before thinking about the future... but this will be a good lesson for all of you."

Instead of answering the Village head's concerns, Ainz rather expressed his intentions to first take care of the more pressing issues at hand.

The village head also realized that this wasn't the right time for him to think about something like this and hurriedly brought Ainz and company to the village center.

In the not-too-far distance, one could already see a band of Warriors on horseback coming straight towards them.

Ainz stood with Dōji on his left side and Albedo on his right side, while the Village head stood a bit ahead of them, all having their gazes focused on the approaching band of warriors.

The closer they got the more one could see that they were different from the Knight who had attacked the village before.

Still, Ainz wasn't sure if they were from the Slane Theocracy or if it was the Slane Theocracy's target, Gazef Stronoff, and the Knights of the Kingdom.

However, he rather believed the latter to be the case, as the Knight's annihilated by Dōji were simply the bait and not the main force in this operation.

This meant that the main force should be somewhere close to the village, waiting for their target to enter here so that the trap could snap shut.

Ainz observed the Band of warriors, truth be told they were rather different from what he expected.

They soon rode into the Village, but these "Knights" were rather peculiar. Ainz didn't know if he should say they were a group of elite Knight's or a rag-tag bunch of mercenaries.

Each of them had the same main weapon a sword, but their secondary weapons were all different, some had spears, and some had bows, maces, or axes.

Their armor was even wilder, each had his own set of individual armor, some had plates mixed with leather, others had leather armor over chainmail, or even only leather armor and nothing else.

The only one who truly stood out to Ainz was the man riding at the head of them.

The man had a muscular appearance and seemed to be around thirty years old, with a sunbathed dark face with noticeable wrinkles, short, trimmed, black hair, and black eyes that were as sharp as a sword.

He rode on his horse until he came in front of the Village head, the man's gaze swept across the people close here and landed first on Dōji.

His sharp gaze grew more solemn, the longer it stayed on him.

Dōji was too tall to be a simple human and he had his Kanabo back out, holding it on the eyelet while the top was pressed on the ground.

Realizing that Dōji didn't do or say anything, his gaze swept over Ainz to Albedo and he got a similar feeling when looking at Dōji.

Both of these people were standing beside the person in the middle, on whom his gaze now landed and lingered on for even longer than on Dōji.

The man then looked at the Villagers and announced himself, "My Name is Gazef Stronoff, I am the head Warrior of the King and I was sent here by the King to subdue the Imperial Knight's terrorizing the people in this region."

Ainz nodded to himself, having guessed the identity of the other party already because he didn't attack the villagers.

"You should be the Village head, right?" Looking at the Village head, Gazef asked with a serious tone in his deep voice.

The village head nodded, relief was clearly visible on his face since he heard Gazef's announcement.

"Can you explain to me what happened here?" Gazef asked and then pointed with his chin at Ainz and company, "And who these people over there are?"

Just as the village head was flustered as to how to introduce Ainz and company, Ainz himself stepped forward.

His deep voice sounded, "No need, I will do it myself." He first told the village head not to bother and then turned his gaze to Gazef.

"My Name is Ainz Ooal Gown." Ainz introduced himself first and then first indicated in the direction of Dōji, "These are Dōji and..." indicating toward Albedo he introduced the last of the three of them, "...Albedo."

"I am but a humble Caster who came across this village when disaster had struck them. I couldn't stand by and watch how their innocent lives were taken, so I decided to lend them a helping hand."

Ainz explained simply that it was a stroke of luck for the villagers that he was passing by and saved them because he felt pity for them.

What Gazef did next surprised the people as well as Ainz, the man dismounted his horse and came in front of Ainz, where he bowed his head and earnestly thanked him.

"Then please accept my sincerest gratitude for saving the people of this Village, Master Gown."

The villagers nearly gawked at how someone of status like the Warrior Captain bowed his head to Ainz, whose status was unclear at the moment.

But Ainz realized something else, he had earlier told the Village head to call him Ainz, to which the Village head's reaction was a bit strange, but now he understood.

'So in this world's names are in Western style, not Japanese style... name, surname not surname, name...'

"Don't mention it, I was actually doing it for the reward, so don't bother." Ainz waved it off.

"Oh, a reward? So you are an adventurer?"

"Something like that." Ainz didn't want to be specific.

"Hmmm... I see. You seem quite strong in my eyes," Looking at the two people beside Ainz he continued, "as do these two. But I am sorry, I have never heard of your name before."

"I'm on a journey, so it is no wonder that my name hasn't spread that much."

"On a journey...I feel bad for taking up the time of an able adventurer, but I would like to hear all the information I can get about the nasty bunch, who attacked this village."

"Of course, I'd be happy to tell you, especially since you were their target, Warrior Captain." Ainz paused deliberately to observe the reaction of Gazef.

There weren't many fluctuations in his eyes, indicating that Gazef had already guessed that this was a trap for himself.

"We robed most of them of their lives, besides one who still remains in this village."

Gazef was a bit surprised by this, "Robbed them of their lives... you killed them yourself Master Gown? Also, there is still one alive among them?"

Ainz shook his head and then nodded, he indicated to Dōji, "My comrade here took care of them." He paused and then continued, "There is one survivor among them, the village head should have him imprisoned somewhere."

Gazef nodded, indicating that he understood. "First though I would like to ask you one thing." He looked Ainz up and down, then indicated with his chin and asked, "What's that mask about?"

Having anticipated such a question to come sooner or later, Ainz already had an answer prepared.

"This has something to do with a religious ritual from where I come from. When we Casters finish our studies, we are gifted with masks, which we are not allowed to take off after taking them on."

Gazef was stunned, he had planned to ask Ainz to remove the mask because he was actually quite curious about what lay behind it. But in this way, there was no way he could ask for it, without offending Ainz.

Dōji on the side thought at this moment, 'Rather genius cover...' he didn't expect Ainz to come up with such a method to dissuade Gazef from even trying to ask him to remove the mask, and in his mind, he gave Ainz a big thumbs up.

Gazef also came back to reality and nodded to indicate that he understood.

"Then let's talk somewhere else..."

But Ainz stopped him and made a suggestion, which was appropriate, "Before that, may I make a suggestion? You see, these villagers have just been attacked by people dressed at Knight's and I fear seeing you with your weapons, might cause them to flashback to that terror."

"So, it would probably help everyone relax if you were to leave your weapons here at the village entrance. What do you think?"

Ending with his sensible suggestion with a question, Ainz turned to gaze at Gazef.

Gazef nodded, but then shook his head, "You are right, but these swords were bestowed on us by our King and we can only disarm ourselves on his command."

"Lord Ainz, don't worry about us, we're fine" At this time, the Village head interrupted.

Ainz turned his head to regard the Village head, "Are you sure?" to which the Village head gave a simple nod of his head.

Ainz turned back to Gazef after getting confirmation, "Warrior Captain, I hope you will be able to forgive my rudeness."

"Master Gown, there is no offense taken. Actually, I think your idea was quite right and if this sword wasn't bestowed on me by his majesty, I would have disarmed myself without hesitation."

Gazef paused for a moment and then continued.

"Now let us sit down somewhere and have a more in-depth discussion about what has happened here. Also if you don't mind, we would like to rest here for the night."

Just as the village head wanted to accept, Ainz chimed in, "I'm not sure if you will be able to Warrior Captain."

Gazef narrowed his eyes and asked, "What do you mean master Gown?"

"Like I said before, these knights were here to destroy this village as bait for you. Now you are here..."

"Which means that the people who want to trap me will also come out..." Gazef understood immediately what Ainz meant.

Just when Gazef understood what Ainz meant it happened. A lone cavalryman rode alone into the village center. His heavy and labored breathing indicated the urgency and seriousness of the news he brought. Then he loudly announced the emergency.

"Captain! Several figures were spotted around the area of the village, they are surrounding us and approaching!"

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.

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Nigun Grid Luin stood together with the priests of the sunlight scripture.

'Gazef Stronoff is finally in our hands.'

"Begin the final stage of our plan and start to encircle the Village."

"Soon we will be able to fulfill our mission and again show our determination to serve our God!"

At the end of his speech, when his people started to begin to surround the area, he started to touch the Crystal hidden in his robe.

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.

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In the distance, still far from the Village, priests of the Sunlight scripture with summoned monsters beside them slowly started to close in towards the Village.

They all had held a similar distance from each other, to not give their Prey any hope of getting away.

The Monsters alongside the priests appear as shining white knights in armor, with flaming wings attached to their backs, a halo glowing behind their heads, and a sword of flames held in their hands.

Gazef Stronoff, together with Ainz, was watching their approach from the shadow of a house.

"There really are people of the Slane Theocracy... so many people who can summon angels can only come from there..." Gatlze commented with a casual expression.

Ainz on the other side had another thought, 'Aren't those Archangel Flames? How come these people can Summon monsters from Yggdrasil?'

Ainz was matched by the fact that these people could actually Summon the beings of Yggdrasil, though he wasn't 100% sure that they were really Archangel flames, it was almost 99%.

Gazef on the other hand only faked the casual expression, he was filled with anxiety seeing so many magic casters and summoned Angels.

Summoned Angels we Monsters summoned from another world, according to the Slane Theocracy, they come from a world dedicated to their Gods.

There were many religious disputes about this, which was one of the reasons why the countries were set against each other.

The main reason for the disputes is that the priests of the kingdom categorized Angels as merely summoned beasts.

To Gazef Angels and Demons, their similarly ranked Counterparts among Summoned Monsters, were simply stronger summoned beasts, but for his men, this wasn't the case.

It was a huge problem to not have his gear with him at the moment, then his gaze fell on Ainz and he asked.

"Master Gown, could I hire you to accompany us in fighting them? Your price is my price..."

"I Apologize Warrior Captain, but I will have to decline this offer."

"Then maybe one of your comrades..." Looking at the gazes of the two people beside Ainz, Gazef didn't finish his sentence but looked at Ainz again.

"What if I would evoke Royal law and drafted you forcefully?"

"Then I would put up a bit of a resistance, Warrior Captain."

The two gazed at each other's eyes and Gazef was the one to look away first.

"Ha, we would be annihilated without even facing the Slane Theocracy..." A self-mocking smile appeared on Gazef's face.

"Annihilated. Huh, that's a good joke Warrior Captain. However, I am glad you understand what I mean."

Gazef knew from his instincts that Makin and the enemy out of the three people in front of him was simply a wish for annihilation.

They were screaming at him to run away since he first met them.

This told him one thing for sure, these people were much stronger than him.

He didn't fear his own death, but he wanted to protect the people here.

"Then Master Gown I think it is time to say Goodbye." He took off the Gauntlet on his right hand and held his hand out to Ainz.

Ainz didn't take off his gauntlet, which could be seen as an offense, but Gazef didn't mind.

Instead, he took his other hand and grabbed Ainz's hand tightly with both.

"I know this might be a selfish request, but Master Gown, please protect this village..." Gazef was just about to bow when a hand landed on his shoulder.

Ainz held him back from bowing, as he said to Gazef, "You don't need to humiliate yourself. I am not a man who would deny such a request, coming from a man like yourself. I swear on my name Ainz Ooal Gown, that I will defend this village."

"Thank you, Master Gown."

"There is no need to thank me."

Gazef then took his hands away and put his Gauntlet back on before turning around and leaving.