Overlord (Light Novel) Chapter 81

Chapter 2: In Pursuit of the Land of the Dwarves

Shalltear and Aura gathered at the lakeside near the Lizardman village, accompanied by their hand-picked followers.

They could be considered the weakest beings in the group, given that they were only level 40 or so. Still, their cargo-carrying capabilities were quite impressive, and their cold and fire resistance meant that they could move easily through frozen tundra or near calderas filled with churning lava. The most important thing was that their appearances belied their incredible mobility and ability to operate for long periods without eating or drinking.

“What do you wish of me, Your Majesty?”

Perhaps Crusch sensed Ainz's collector spirit, but she instinctively moved to protect her child.

Feeling a little depressed, Ainz handed Zenberu three items.

“Many thanks, Your Majesty.”

“Sorry about interrupting your preparations. I have done everything I needed to do. You may return.”

“Cocytus. It would seem the children are quite curious.”

Mm. Would the kids be able to adapt if I brought them to a human city? No, what if I did the opposite and brought human children here? Maybe I could build a campsite nearby, and then bring the Lizardman children there.

He had put Shalltear in because he saw her making preparations alongside Aura, the undead and the magical beasts. There was no special significance to it.

“If. They. Displease. You. Shall. I. Order. Them. To. Leave. Immediately?”

“I. Am. Unsure. But. If. It. Is. Your. Will. Then. I. Am. Sure. That. They. Will. Join. Their. Hands. Ainz-sama.”

Ainz's ideas would all be interpreted as absolute orders. Thus, to some extent, it was quite frightening.

The two of them replied almost instantly

“The same. If you give the command, we can move out at any point, Ainz-sama.”

“No problems here!”

“Ainz-sama. Be. Careful! If. Anything. Happens. I. Can. Mobilize. My. Forces. At. Any. Time.”

“—That might happen eventually. However, this is more of a reconnaissance in force. If we encounter anyone strong, we will fall back after gathering sufficient intelligence. If that happens, we will look forward to your accomplishments on the battlefield.”

***

The mounted undead acting as their vanguard proudly displayed the flag of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Shalltear seemed to be looking around for such foolish beings, but she could not find a single monster. In the end, they reached the northernmost end of the lake.

Just then, Zenberu closed the distance to Ainz, and made a suggestion.

Naturally, there were no objections.

“My deepest thanks.”

There was a big difference between their speed in the mountains and their speed while travelling along the lakeside.

At first, they simply followed the stream north, but they slowed down after detouring to avoid a waterfall.

Even if the shape of the land had not changed, the trees still grew as time passed.

Most of the group's members did not require rest, but Zenberu — the most important person of all — was among the few exceptions to that. Thus, they had to stop several times to take a break before they continued on in silence.

Their current objective was to reach the Dwarven Kingdom.

With a faint twinge of regret, Ainz chose to hurry on their way.

The blue sky was dyed a madder red, and then it passed into night. The silhouette of the mountains against an endless sea of stars could only be described as majestic. The knowledge that even this magnificent view was but a fraction of this world made Ainz feel like nature itself was bearing down on him.

Why could he do that — or rather, if he could do this, why could he not tell how food smelled? Ainz pushed those thoughts out of his mind, and instead chose to savor this air, which could not be found in Nazarick or the outskirts of E-Rantel.

He felt a sense of fulfilment, just like when he had gained new experience while adventuring as Momon, and Ainz's heart filled with satisfaction. In all honesty, they could go back now without ever finding the Dwarven Kingdom and he would not mind at all.

Ainz chuckled, and then spoke to the people behind him.

After they all replied in the affirmative, Shalltear asked Ainz, “Shall we return to the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick?”

“There's no need for that. We shall set up camp here.”

A quick look around would reveal only bare rock, and the frigid mountain winds — granted, they had no effect on Ainz, who was immune to cold — stole body heat. Anyone without cold resistance or thick woollen clothing would feel as though they were being pricked by needles. This was probably because the wind had blown across heaped piles of snow and brought the cold air down the mountain slopes.

In YGGDRASIL, there were guilds that explored and adventured to turn the unknown into the known. They travelled on an endless journey with those feelings in their hearts.

While he had been Momon, he too had entertained the thought of letting go of everything and travelling the world—

The thoughts that had begun floating up in his head were suddenly scattered.

“F-forgive me for interrupting your contemplation, Ainz-sama.”

“Really? All right, then…”

“Yes. Please accept my sincerest apologies for not preparing a suitable tent despite knowing that you might wish to stay here, Ainz-sama. I wish to retrieve one from Nazarick. Might I be allowed to use [Gate]?”

Shalltear nodded.

Ainz looked for a suitable location. It could be slanted, but the important thing was that it had to be open and free of rocks.

“[Create Fortress]!”

Its massive double doors looked strong enough to shrug off battering rams. The walls were studded with countless spikes to keep anyone from climbing them. Four demonic statues adorned the corners of the uppermost level of the tower. They felt weighty and oppressive even at a glance.

“Then, let's go.”

Ainz left two of the undead outside, and then ordered them to open the door after it shut. The doors remained closed.

“…Could it be that only I can open them? Aura, go touch the doors.”

It would seem only Ainz could open those doors. He mentally furrowed his brows. Friendly fire was a pain in the ass… If other players existed in this world, small changes like this might end up affecting others, and in the worst-case scenario he might end up killing someone by accident.

Subtly reminding people was unexpectedly difficult. It was completely different from just going up and scolding them. Ainz had become thoroughly acquainted with that fact during his time in the working world.

A pair of double doors faced the entrance, and a passage stretched on beyond them. At the end of the passage was yet another set of double doors. The way was lit by magical lights, so there were no problems travelling along it.

Before them was a round hall. The floor was as white as snow and the ceiling was high above. A spiral staircase coiled up from the center of the room and connected to the upper levels.

Ainz indicated ten doors with his pointing hand. Incidentally, space here was expanded, so this place was larger on the inside than the outside.

“Ainz-sama, what shall we do with the Vampire Brides?”

Ainz could not answer Aura's question right away. After all, bringing them along had been Decrement's idea, and he could have done perfectly fine without them. Ainz paused briefly to think before saying, “I'll give them orders later. For now, have them wait in their rooms.”

Then, Ainz headed to the sofa and sat down. Shortly afterwards, the three people he mentioned earlier sat down as well, he began speaking.

“Yes, Ainz-sama.”

“I'm not too confident on some of the smaller details, but it should roughly be like this.”

It was a fairly crude map, but they could verify distances and the like from the air.

“…What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

“In other words, I wish to look through your memories.”

“…I think I came off like a villain when I said that. I can control others' memories with magic, but that same magic can browse through the memories of others. Frankly speaking, it drains a lot of mana and I'd rather not use it if I could avoid it, but relying on your clouded memories alone is somewhat worrisome.”

“It'll be fine. Thanks to the assistance of a certain cleric, I can safely say that I'm quite the veteran at this. There won't be any problems as long as I don't do any weird things in there. In fact, I've performed the same procedure on one of my maids and there were no problems either.”

“Exactly, Aura. That said, the spell isn't all-powerful. If the person himself has almost forgotten an event, I can only get rough details. There are also other things which complicate the spell's use. For instance, the memories might not reside within the brain, but accessed from a more primordial source—” Ainz shrugged as he realized he had gone off topic. “Well, something like that. In any case, I'd like to investigate your memories.”

“I understand your concerns. Do not worry, Zenberu. I will not alter your memories. I swear that on my name.”

“Umu. Sit there, and relax. This won't hurt a bit. However, I need to verify some details with you before I cast the spell. Things like, how many months and years ago and where these memories took place, and so on.”

Having cast this spell many times before, Ainz had an expert's confidence in his handling of the magic, but still, using it was extremely difficult.

More importantly, the spell expended a vast amount of mana while it was in effect. That was what made it hard to use.

Ainz's original plan was to find the targeted memories and then browse around at his leisure. However, he estimated that his MP would run dry before that. In addition, the problem with this spell was that even if he wanted to wait until the next day for his mana to recover before casting the spell again, he would still have to start from the beginning.

After grumbling in his heart, he saw what looked like a mountain. Just as he found the place he was looking for, his mana ran out.

As he had expected, the memories he found were blurred, as though shrouded in mist. He saw the faces of Dwarves, but they all looked the same to him. He did not know if that was Zenberu's fault, but he could not tell them apart. All of them were simply beards who bellowed in crude tones and swilled beer.

Maybe I should select a few people sentenced to death from E-Rantel and use them for experiments…

“How are you, Zenberu? Do you feel unwell?”

Ainz smiled.

Zenberu shook his head forcefully. Ainz paid him no heed, but turned his attention to the map.

There were no distinguishing features there, and how could he confirm his position in the confusing scenery of the mountains? In addition, the memories of hiding from monsters had been far more vivid in comparison.

“Then, we shall stick to the plan and have Zenberu lead us north. I didn't see anything helpful in his memories anyway.”

Dispatching outriders would only serve the purpose of massacring the monsters ahead of them.

***

“There are rooms to the left and the right of Ainz-sama's own room. Which do you want?”

“Hm~ well, I'd think either side would be fine, don't you think?”

Aura looked over to Shalltear after hearing her distracted response. This was when she realized Shalltear was writing something in a memo pad.

“Hmmm~ that's pretty hardworking of you. Lemme see.”

After a quick glance, she discovered that Shalltear had essentially recorded her master's words down in exacting detail, as well as the actions he took.

Shalltear should have recorded the key points of her master's wisdom, and then learned from them. However, this situation was beginning to make her feel uneasy.

Shalltear looked at her with a baffled expression on her face.

“It seems okay…”

“Oh, really?”

After saying that, Aura suddenly wondered why she was saying that sort of thing to Shalltear. And then, for some reason, she felt that guiding her in that way was very natural to her.

***

After that, they continued their search, but their efforts from dawn to dusk yielded no fruit.

They had travelled more than 100 kilometers on the backs of their magical beasts — in other words, they had exceeded the distance to the Dwarf city which Ainz had estimated. Yet, they found nothing. In other words, they would have to begin the time-consuming task of combing the countryside.

Suddenly, Zenberu exclaimed in a strange voice.

There were no more trees in sight, only a field of rocks. Zenberu's voice echoed exceptionally loudly in this place.

“Is that so! Then, everyone, proceed with caution!”

“Then, I'll leave this to you, Zenberu.”

The group advanced, led by Zenberu.

Ainz had seen something similar in Zenberu's memories, but he felt that it should have been bigger. Still, this was probably the right place, given Zenberu's overjoyed reaction.

Ainz smoothed out his mussed-up robe, and gestured to Aura.

“Kingdom of the Dwarves! His Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown, King of the newly-founded Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown to the south, has come to pay you a visit! Will you not send someone to receive him?!”

Yet, there was no response.

Ainz indicated that she should announce them again.

However, there was still no response. There was no sign of anyone appearing even after waiting a while.

Were they avoiding the Dark Elf?

“It's your turn now. Go shout a bit and see how it goes.”

Zenberu drew near the cave and shouted. Still, there was no response.

“Presenting ourselves to the Master.”

“Infiltrate the interior and verify the situation. Do not be spotted.”

“Perform a cursory inspection. Focus on the central region and the administrative areas of the city. You may investigate the tunnel interiors later.”

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The Hanzos took off in a sprint, following their Leader. The way in which they ran, leaving afterimages behind them, was a motion unique to high-level ninjtype monsters.

“—Shalltear, don't slack off on security.”

After using a skill, Shalltear was fully armed and armored in an instant. She surveyed her surroundings carefully, not letting a single detail escape her.

In other words, the experienced Ainz might still need to act as a role model for her.

The Hanzos lined up before Ainz and fell to one knee. Naturally, their leader spoke for them.

“—What happened?”

“It would seem the Dwarves abandoned this city of their own will, for some reason.”

“—All right, then. Lead us to the residential district.”

Ainz followed behind the Hanzos. This was unknown territory and he could not be careless here. Shalltear, Aura and Zenberu were also escorted by high-level undead and magical beasts.

This was done to set a trap. Any unknown beings who saw them as enemies would surely start whittling down their fighting strength from the part of their forces which they were confident in beating. In addition, it was basic tactics to begin attacking their supply lines in the hope of learning something from the objects which they dropped.

That Hanzo was not there to rescue them.

The reason why they had not returned to Nazarick at any point during their journey was also to prevent the opposition from knowing that they could replenish their forces infinitely using the [Gate] spell. This would make them think that Ainz and company could be worn down over time.

Ainz did not want the Vampire Brides to die. However, he did not mind sacrificing respawning POP monsters to gain information on the enemy.

There was no light from the outside in the cave, and soon they were immersed in complete darkness. However, it posed no problems to Ainz, who had darkvision. Shalltear, Aura, the other undead and the magical beasts also possessed that ability. At their level, mere darkness was not a disadvantage to anyone present.

Given the fact that all the stalactites and stalagmites in the area had been cleared away, and the fact that the area was flattened and easy to walk through, there was no doubt that this place was a Dwarven city.

There were spells which Ainz could use under these circumstances, but the Hanzos lacked such abilities. It only made sense that they had taken a long time considering they had to investigate all these possible paths.

“Ainz-sama, we are about to reach the residential district.”

“Yes, there are none. This light is being emitted by a crystalline mineral.”

As he looked for the source of the illumination, he saw multiple sturdy pillars supporting the ceiling. Crystal-like objects grew from the ceiling, and they radiated the light which the Hanzos had spoken of.

This place seemed like a residential district, as the Hanzos had described it. It certainly looked like a city, with long rows of dull buildings, roughly two stories tall.

“Hmm…”

It was too run-down.

Ainz stepped forward, and pushed open the door to one of the buildings.

He could not see any furniture from where he stood at the entrance. The only things that remained were shelves which had been installed into the walls and other things which could not be moved. White dust covered the ground. It would seem nobody had been in here for quite some time.

After hearing Ainz's order, Zenberu shouted the name of the Dwarf who had taken care of him in the past.

Zenberu shouted several more times, but as before, there were no signs of anybody emerging in response.

“Understood!”

All of them were the same as the first.

Checking all the houses like this would take a lot of time.

“Nope. Can't feel anyone around.”

The two Guardians replied in the affirmative, and then he saw Zenberu bowing in gratitude.

He slowly floated up.

“Ainz-sama!”

“It's dangerous! Please descend!”

It was only natural that Shalltear would be angry. After all, he had flown up — where anyone could draw a clear line of fire to him — purely because he was acting on a baseless instinct.

“Please do not use yourself to lure the enemy into a trap.”

“Forgive me,” Ainz said to Shalltear before looking downwards.

“—There's an impressive-looking building over there, and there and there.”

“Shall we go and look?”

Everything Shalltear had said since just now had a point.

Just then, Aura's voice came from below. Looking down, he saw Aura and Zenberu waving to Ainz, and given the way they were doing so, it would appear something out of the ordinary had taken place.

“It seems that way.”

“Come see this, Ainz-sama!”

Ainz gave the place a once-over, but he could not detect any differences from the other buildings, and he found nothing special within it.

“No, this isn't it. On our way to the home of the Dwarf who took care of Zenberu, we found several buildings that had been opened up. After checking them, I found footprints on the ground, and those might not be Dwarven footprints. Here, have a look. Zenberu, Dwarves don't go barefoot, right?”

“That means these footprints are clearly not Dwarven.”

“Hmm, let's see…”

“They seem to have been made by a biped, and the drag marks between the left and right footprints suggest a tail of some sort.”

Shalltear turned to look at Zenberu.

Aura shifted her gaze from the house to the road outside.

“How far can you follow this trail? This is our only clue, after all, so I'd like to follow up on it as much as possible.”

There was no possible reason to refuse.

The owner of the footprints moved as Aura had predicted — it had the same objective as Ainz, wandering around and looking into the Dwarven buildings.

“There's many identical footprints here. It looks like a squad of them came from over there. What should we do? Should we investigate this squad?”

“Understood!”

It looked like a bungalow, but it was huge.

Using divination-type magic carried the risk of being targeted by counterattacks. While the only one among them who might actually be killed in one hit by such a backlash was Zenberu, there was no reason to unnecessarily deplete his subordinates' health.

“Eh? Then I'll come too.”

After being rebuked by Shalltear, Aura looked pleadingly at Ainz, but in this case, Ainz shared Shalltear's opinion.

After hearing that from her master, Aura had nothing left to say. All she could do was reluctantly express her acknowledgement.

As expected, there was no sign of anyone hiding within, and so he sent it deeper inside.

As Ainz observed the interiors of several rooms, he found a place that looked like the tunnels through which he and the others had passed through just now.

A quick search of the building's interior revealed no trace of the enemy. He quickly summarized the state of the inside of the building, and then let Aura head inside, in order to verify if the footprints ended inside that tunnel.

As they followed behind Aura, Ainz whispered to Zenberu: “What do you know about this building?”

Just then, Aura stopped at the tunnel's entrance.

Ainz was briefly stymied by Aura's question, but it soon passed.

One could also say that the tunnels were very extensive, considering that the Hanzos still had not returned.

“What's the matter, Hanzos? Haven't you found anything yet?”

“What? Really? Did you discover any evidence about the disappearance of the Dwarves?”

“Not a natural sound, I take it?”

“No, forget it. Before you do that, take us there. Our present location is—”

“That's it, we'll use a torch as a signal.”

After ending the [Message], Ainz took out a torch. It was self-igniting, and he handed it to one of the undead waiting nearby. The undead creature waved it from side to side, signalling the Hanzos, whose location was unknown.

This was somewhat wasteful, but Ainz did not have any ordinary torches with him.

“Forgive our tardiness, Master.”

“Understood!”

Eventually, they came before a building like the one they found while following the footsteps. The Hanzos stopped here, so this was probably their destination.

“There is a hidden tunnel within this building. The entity in question is inside that tunnel.”

Ainz nodded to Aura, who was staring at the ground in front of the building.

Ainz touched his face.

In any case, his subordinates still stood at the head of an undead army. That being the case, he might make a better impression by exposing his face and not hiding his identity.

The Hanzos led them through the building and into the tunnel.

If they had dug this tunnel, it would probably be around this height.

Ainz strained to listen, but he could not pick up the sound Aura had heard.

“It's hard to tell. I can't judge the distance accurately because of the echoes.”

Someone without Aura's keen hearing — derived from racial or job classes — would not be able to hear anything due to the distance between them. However, if they drew closer, the other party might pick up on the presence of a long procession on the move.

The wisest decision would be to send Aura and the Hanzos, or for Ainz himself to go, since he could go invisible.

“If that is your order.”

Ainz looked to the ceiling. It looked like sturdy bedrock, but there were no such things as absolutes.

“Yes, they're heading there. The person who made them is probably the source of the sound.”

Aura nodded.

“Understood! But will the two of you really be alright by yourselves?”

One could consider flaws all day long and end up nowhere. All he could do was accept that he was compromising his safety to some extent as he took action. This was something Ainz had learned recently.

Ainz set out with Aura. He did not use magic yet since they were still some distance away.

“…It seems whoever's doing this is doing their best to minimize the amount of noise generated.”

“Does that mean we can assume the other side is on high alert as well?”

“Only if they seek to flee. After all, if our first contact is violent, it might be very difficult to have friendly relations with them in the future.”

“Proceed. Then, I shall make myself invisible — no, for safety's sake, I'll follow behind you while invisible, Aura. If the other party makes a run for it, then we'll have no choice but to capture them.”

After a brief discussion, the two of them prepared themselves and headed for the maker of the sound.

They were some distance away so they could not be sure, but he seemed to be around 140cm tall. His body was shaped like a beer barrel and his legs were not long. In fact, it was instantly clear that his legs were short.

What's a miner doing all by himself in an uninhabited city? This is strange. Let's ask him and solve this mystery.

In contrast, Ainz did not seem to care.

Once she was close enough to the miner, Aura called out to him.

“Hiiieeee!”

His beard was long — there was no doubt that he belonged to the Dwarven race.

However, that was all. The man was still there. However, it would seem Ainz was the only one who thought that way.

Aura's voice made Ainz — who could see through invisibility — look carefully in the Dwarf's direction. Just as Aura had said, the Dwarf's image seemed somewhat fainter.

“Hey, hey, you know I don't intend to hurt you, right, Dwarf-san? I know you're there. Let me take a look at you.”

He parted his cape slightly, and peeked at Aura through the slit.

“Hm? When I came to the Dwarven city, I found that it was an empty shell, so I decided to find out why there was nobody around. I looked around and here I am.”

“Dwarves were still living here until five years ago. Where are they now? Did something happen? And speaking of which, why not let me take a look at you?”

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“Sure enough. It seems you really can see me.”

“Then, let's start afresh. How do you do? I am Aura Bella Fiora, from the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown.”

Aura extended a hand. Gondo seemed to pick up on the meaning of the gesture and wiped off his own dirt-stained hand before shaking.

“Well, I guess we don't need to be so formal. How about speaking normally?”

Aura saw Gondo's smile, and she smiled in turn.

“Mm, they all moved to another city three years ago. Is something the matter?”

“A Lizardman? Five years ago?”

“Ohhh! I didn't see him myself, but I know that it did happen. It was the first time a Lizardman visited us, so it became quite a hot topic. I believe he was a fellow with an exceptionally thick arm, am I correct?”

Gondo muttered “I see, I see” to himself over and over again. A look in his eyes suggested that he had lowered his guard.

“Well, telling you should be fine… But I've heard that Dark Elves don't dwell beneath the earth, am I right? Even if you knew the underground way there, could you reach it safely?”

Gondo scrunched up his bearded face.

“That's fine too. Actually, I wanted to ask you to lead the way… What if I hired you? You'll be paid, of course…”

“Quite a few. Still, if we all came in, it would cause problems, so I had them wait at the tunnel entrance.”

Gondo fell into thought, as though he had just remembered something. Still, that was only for an instant. He cast it aside and continued speaking.

He glanced repeatedly at Aura's outfit to see if she had any magic items.

Gondo turned his back towards Aura and tossed a chunk of rock into a bag which had been laid out beside him.

A surprising blue glow — a magical glow — illuminated the tunnel. Until now, the two of them had been conversing in complete darkness.

Ainz nodded. The Dwarf did not know Aura's power, so it was quite admirable for him to take this mature attitude with her. However, Ainz felt that Gondo's caution was not enough. He should have taken various possibilities into consideration before advising her.

Aura looked towards Ainz. However, her line of sight seemed to be slightly off.

With a grunt, Gondo shouldered his bag and rose to his feet.

Gondo headed forward. Aura and the still-unknowable Ainz followed closely behind.

“Well, it wasn't this city, but our current capital, Feoh Gēr. It lies to the northeast. We spotted Quagoa (Tunnelling Beastmen) nearby. It would be a tragedy if our cities were destroyed piecemeal, so we decided to temporarily abandon this city — Feoh Raiđō.”

“Umu. They're underground dwellers like we are… but they're troublesome fellows. Things are bad enough between us that it's kill-on-sight when we encounter each other.”

At a glance, they were bipedal demihumans who resembled moles. They were about 140cm tall, weighed about 70kg on average, and they had short but powerful builds.

They lived in places where light could not penetrate, but their vision was stronger than those of human beings.

The fur that covered their entire bodies was about as tough as metal armor, and it could dissipate blows from metal weapons. The fur grew tougher if they fed on rare metals in their youth. One could tell their resistance to damage by the color of their fur.

Then there were their claws — like those of armadillos and anteaters — which could even pierce steel.

Gondo suddenly stopped and turned to face Aura.

“That place… Well, it doesn't feel like they've taken up residence here. I think they probably just came as scouts. Still, if you were going to abandon this place, why not destroy it?”

“Hm~”

“Then, it's about time I introduced myself.”

Feeling a little embarrassed, Ainz dispelled the magic.

“—Geehhhhhh!”

“Amon, a mon—! Ruh, run away! Quickly, run away!!”

“Come on, hurry up and run!!!”

“It, it's so heavy! What's wrong! Did something happen to me?!”

As Ainz spoke, Gondo's frightened face twitched.

I should have worn the mask after all, Ainz thought. Then, he spoke calmly, so as not to agitate Gondo any further.

Gondo's face underwent another series of changes, and this time Gondo's eyes flickered between Aura and Ainz.

“No. It is a country of various species which acknowledge me as their King.”

There was only wariness and suspicion within the eyes of Gondo, while his tone was taut with apprehension.

“Hey, it's just as Ainz-sama said. He wasn't lying at all. I'm a Dark Elf and the story about the Lizardman coming here was true too. Ainz-sama's been with me ever since I met you, you know? Like I said, I didn't come alone.”

Gondo mumbled to himself, and then took several deep breaths before putting a determined expression on his face and asking:

That was an unexpected question. The correct answer was probably that he was an undead being of human origin. Ainz paused briefly to consider his answer, and then replied according to his predictions:

“But, but friendly undead, that's about as unthinkable as compassionate demons…”

“Really? I know of an angel who fell into the darkness and a demon who aspired to the light…”

“To think such things actually existed…”

“I understand your caution. However, I only ask that you remember this. I have no intention of harming you. Let him go, Aura.”

Halfway through, the person holding onto the other's hand had changed from Gondo to Aura, and naturally, their intentions for doing so was exactly the opposite to each other.

A very rational move, Ainz mused. A misstep could have led Gondo to make the emotional choice of fleeing. That would not have ended well for him. However, Gondo as he was now qualified as someone who could be negotiated with.

Gondo did not respond. As expected, he was still peeking at Ainz with doubt written all over his face.

“And what do you mean by a treaty of friendship?”

“…Pardon me. It's best not to mention national-level issues to an individual who cannot represent a nation, don't you think?”

“—Don't worry. Both phrasings are fine. Dealing with someone who stumbles over their words is tiresome.”

“Thank you very much — Your Majesty. And if the words of this girl — this young lady are true, I take it you came to this city for that purpose?”

“Hmm…”

Aura smiled, as though to say, “who, me?”

Gondo walked before them, while Aura and Ainz followed him through the tunnel.

“What is it?” Gondo replied as he turned back to look at Ainz.

Gondo's brow bunched up, his eyebrows squishing up into steep slopes.

The unhappiness was plainly audible in Gondo's voice.

Ainz hesitated. Should I continue asking?

Of course, that assumed Gondo's anger did not spring from a personal reason.

The truth was that he did not know much. He knew how many different characters there were and that they were a form of writing, but that was it.

In contrast, a dramatic change occurred in Gondo.

His face was twisted in a grip of a completely different emotion. He was overflowing with excitement.

He could hear Gondo muttering to himself. There was no meaning in his words. It appeared to be an unconscious response.

After Gondo got himself together, he studied Ainz intently. His attitude still spoke of wariness towards Ainz, but it seemed to have been supplanted by some other emotion.

“Really now… there might be some differences, but the runes I know of look like this. Do you recognize them?”

“Ho! This is one of the middle runes, Lagu.”

(TL Note: this is an Anglo-Saxon rune meaning “lake”.)

“I understand. Then, please continue telling me about the runes.”

“About 100 years ago, the Dwarves exported rune-carved magical weapons to a human nation to the east of these mountains — the Empire. However, the flow of such weapons stopped after that. What is the reason for that?”

Gondo's face darkened. He paused briefly, and then continued walking.

“Umu…”

He's probably silent because he's smoothing over the gloominess in his heart.

Does that mean he gave himself that title?

“Dwarven magic items have always been made with runes. But 200 years ago, we were attacked by the Demon Gods, and the last remaining royals left our Kingdom to join the fight against them. Technology from the outside flowed in and as a result, runes were regarded as outdated.”

“This is Cuern, a lesser rune which means 'sharpness'. When carefully engraved, it creates a magic sword. Its effect is to increase the weapon's sharpness and makes it easier to inflict deep wounds upon the enemy.”

“That is exactly why runecraft fell behind the times. The same item takes three times longer to make with runecraft as compared to other methods. From a mass-production point of view, it isn't even in the same league as the enchantments of mankind.”

“Thanks to superior technology from the outside, the number of runesmiths who could inscribe runes gradually dwindled. That was because everyone felt that it was better to become a magic caster, who could perform enchantments.”

Gondo narrowed his eyes.

Gondo's voice echoed through the tunnel. After realising how dangerous it was to get worked up in a place like this, he took a deep breath. That, in turn, allowed him to speak more calmly.

That was correct. Ainz had once heard that half the market price of magic items came from the ingredients.

Therefore, when one sold them through a retailer of magic items, the price would go up.

“That's amazing!”

He had agonized over this expense many times, both as the adventurer Momon and as the ruler of Nazarick. Therefore, the wonderful idea of something being “almost free” was very dear to Ainz's heart.

“…Are there any other flaws?”

“Hm. I have a question. While you said that runes fell out of fashion 200 years ago, why does the title of rune developer still exist? Isn't it too late for that sort of thing? Or is that normal for the Dwarven lifespan?”

“What sort of runecraft are you developing now?”

Gondo's face was fixed forward, with none of his passion from before. He simply answered Ainz's question with another question.

Answering a question with a question implied that he did not want to give a proper reply. If he could give the answer Gondo sought, he should be able to uncover what he was hiding. After all, he had gone from addressing him as “Your Majesty” to “you”. This must surely be an important question.

Why is he leaking this knowledge? Is it a trap? Or does he not know the importance of the information he holds? …If it really is a secret art, he should understand what that means, right?

“It's because these runes differ slightly from the ones which I know of. You understand how someone can be interested in the historical background and spread of runecraft, no? If so, I hope you can answer my question.”

Just as Ainz was starting to get restless, Gondo finally answered him.

In other words, he wanted to add value to runes. The boss of any company would understand that motivation. When developing a product, it was quite common for that point to be repeatedly emphasized, to the point of revulsion.

He did not think he would actually get an answer, but Ainz had asked that question anyway because he was confused on one point. Namely, that anyone who was developing a new technology like this should be a VIP in the Dwarven Kingdom.

Ainz's question was immediately answered.

Eh? Ainz mouthed in surprise. Did that not mean that someone who could not even apply proper runes was trying to advance the field of runecraft? This was an utterly ridiculous situation.

No, this could not possibly be normal. If it was normal, Gondo would not have been so depressed. In other words, he too must have felt that he was merely fumbling around.

“I'm not talented. I can carve runes, but it takes too long for me to do so… although, they say all runesmiths have to pass through this phase before they can grow. But other runesmiths progressed forward instead of being stuck at a plateau like me.”

“I'm no good as a runesmith. I'm just a useless descendant that my great father left behind.”

After considering the knowledge from this world and that of YGGDRASIL, he was quite sure that this was the case.

There was nothing Ainz could do to help Gondo, so he said nothing else.

If Ainz were in Gondo's situation, he would not want someone he had met for the first time to comfort him either.

“No, I'm the only one who does that,” Gondo replied, with a terribly lonely laugh. “All the runesmiths have given up on their craft. There's nobody left who wants to break free of the current state of runecraft and develop new technology for it. They all feel that it's alright to abandon it.”

“What will I do? I just want to use runecraft to enchant things and increase the number of runesmiths. Runes are an amazing technology. It would be a terrible waste to let them die out.”

“No. Like I said, almost all the runesmiths have given up their craft and spend their days drinking and cursing bitterly about how it's going to die out with their generation. I've tried to talk them around in the past, but they all rejected me.”

Gondo suddenly glared at Ainz, but his gaze lost its strength within moments.

Frankly speaking, he had no interest in them beyond their historical involvement with players.

Also, if other players appeared, one could use their interest in runes as an excellent lure.

“That's not true! Well, it's true that I don't have the talent to be a proper runesmith. But my father, and my father's father — my grandfather — were both the top runesmiths of this country, and they served the last royal — the Runesmith King — as his right and left hands. I've seen it with my own eyes. I've read the literature and theses my father and grandfather left behind. I'm sure it's possible! My father confirmed my theories on his sickbed. He told me it was difficult but not impossible!”

_{Visit ʟɪɢʜᴛɴᴏᴠᴇʟᴡᴏʀʟᴅ.ᴄᴏᴍ for a better_user experience}

The feelings and thoughts he had long kept inside of him had finally burst forth.

“It's true that I'm useless as a son! Still, I don't want to let the art which my ancestors passed down die out! I won't let the glorious name of my father vanish from the history books, no matter what I have to do!”

He too wished to preserve all the things left by his comrades in Ainz Ooal Gown. He wanted them to endure for all time.

His affection gauge maxed out in a flash.

To him, runecraft was dead, or perhaps, close to death. Thus, he had no reason to hide it. For all he knew, he might have wanted to let it spread as far and wide as possible, so it could survive in one way or another. Of course, he did not know if he had thought that far ahead.

An inexplicable blend of emotions appeared on Gondo's face. It was hard to tell if he was angry, hurt or touched. But it eventually faded into dejection.

“Then, allow me — no, the Sorcerous Kingdom to provide the financial assistance for your endeavours. Allow me to become your patron and aid you in the advancement of runecraft.”

“You, are you serious? This, this is incredibly good fortune… this is unbelievable!”

“Well, all I can say is that I hope you can believe me. However, someone like you who isn't a runesmith probably won't be able to develop those techniques you were talking about, am I right?”

“Therefore, I wish to recruit all the runesmiths in the Dwarven Kingdom to my country, to work on developing runecraft techniques under your direction.”

“It means exactly what it implies. I will gather all the runesmiths and compare their knowledge to serve as the prototypes for new techniques. For that reason… I hope you can help me recruit them. Is that impossible?”

“No, it should be doable. Almost all the runesmiths have given up on their craft, but there should be a lot of them hoping for a chance to shine.”

“What?”

“What, was that it? The answer is simple. If you want my soul, then take it all, the whole thing. It is a small price to pay in order to make runecraft live forever.”

Ainz took it.

Gondo laughed at Ainz's words.

“Then, first things first, can you lead us to the Dwarven Kingdom? I plan to sign a treaty of friendship with the Dwarven King in order to recruit runesmiths for my country. After all, it would be difficult to recruit people if our countries have no ties between them. In addition, I believe the Dwarven Kingdom has strict controls on the export of technology, am I correct?”

“Umu. I'd like to hear about that. Can you talk as we walk? I'd like to hear a rough outline of it.”

After the three of them emerged, they were welcomed by Shalltear, among others. Naturally, Zenberu was there as well.

Shalltear quietly stepped forward and bowed.

“…Where are the rest of the Hanzos? What happened?”

“There's no need to apologize, Shalltear. You chose wisely. We'll wait for the Hanzos to return, analyze their reports, and then decide what to do. Then—”

“—Gondo. Pardon me for a moment, but it seems someone has infiltrated this city. There is a possibility that the use of force will be warranted here. When the time comes, I hope you will serve as a witness to your nation that such a course of action could not be avoided.”

Ainz nodded. It was only natural to avoid obstacles that would affect future negotiations.

“I've already dispersed Aura's beasts into the vicinity… How's that, Aura?”

“I see. Then let's wait for the Hanzos to return.”

According to them, the opposition seemed to be Quagoas. There were over 100 of them. Gondo was listening from the side and seemed quite shocked. This was far in excess of a mere scouting force; in all likelihood, this was a combat group, or a migrating tribe.

“…Shalltear. Capture them all. Can you do that?”

“Then I command you to do so. Do you understand why I want you to capture them?”

Ainz nodded grandly.

There was one more thing Ainz did not mention because Gondo was there — that simply believing one side of the story might turn out poorly for them. Who knew, it might be better to strike a deal with the Quagoa than the Dwarves.

3

She glanced back at Aura, who was following from behind.

That was only natural.

Although her compassionate Master had said “Shalltear, you did nothing wrong”, that could not possibly be true. Thus, she had been waiting for a chance to scrub away the stink of failure from herself, but sadly that chance had not come.

Shalltear looked ahead, her gaze full of strength. She would not allow herself to make any mistakes on this journey.

There were many silhouettes visible, of the kind that the Hanzos had described.

Shalltear pondered the matter.

Shalltear had also been told that Aura would merely observe from behind, and she was not to be used in any combat operations. In other words, the entire operation, from planning to execution, was solely Shalltear's responsibility.

She unclenched her fists.

“Yes!”

“I want to make sure that none of them escape. Can you verify that there's nobody else in the tunnel?”

As expected of her Master's minions. Their enemy would have no means of retreat now. The next thing she had to worry about was if the enemy was scattered throughout the city. Of course, she could take some time to hunt down and root them all out, but she wanted to avoid wasting time. While her Master had not given her a time limit, wasting too much time was proof of incompetence.

Shalltear relayed the details of the plan she had thought up on the way here.

In other words, she would use the Hanzos to cut off their retreat, then compact them into a mass before taking them all out in one blow.

Well, provided that Dwarf Gondo was not especially weak.

Fortunately, the Quagoa seemed to have circled their wagons around the building, with no intentions of dispersing.

After giving orders to the undead she had brought along, Shalltear ran along the rooftops, and then leapt in front of the Quagoa. At the same time, her undead landed around them.

Shalltear sensed their confusion, and she cast a spell long before they could recover.

As she had expected, they were not high-level opponents. Many of the Quagoa had stopped moving, frozen in place.

Shalltear smiled thinly.

“[Mass Hold Species].”

“Close in!”

The Quagoa within the building heard Shalltear shout and sensed the abnormality in their comrades, but it was far too late for them.

After recovering her composure, Shalltear stormed the building. While breaking through a window would have given her the element of surprise, she considered the effort of breaking through and decided on going straight through the door instead, using herself as bait.

Three in front of me, four deeper within, nobody who looks like a commander. I should take their attacks and verify their strength.

As expected, she was unhurt.

While she might have expected this, the Quagoa were taken aback. As though unable to believe what they were seeing, the surrounding Quagoa clawed at her, but to no avail.

As the spell was cast, all the Quagoa present stopped moving.

Shalltear looked around and saw the Quagoa in the next room through the remains of a broken door. Their wide eyes held the emotion she most loved — fear.

However, they were too slow. To Shalltear, they were as slow as slugs. She resisted the impulse to give voice to mocking laughter, and instead cast her spell at their backs.

Shalltear would not tolerate any slipups.

“Now then, are these the Quagoa who tried to flee?”

Since Shalltear had not let anyone get away, one could consider her mission to have been perfectly accomplished.

After receiving Shalltear's orders, the Hanzos picked up the Quagoas on the ground and returned to the building. They returned to Shalltear after two minutes had passed.

“Well done, Shalltear. It seems you accomplished your mission and didn't let anyone escape.”

“Now then, Shalltear, I shall give you your next order. Interrogate these people, but do your best not to hurt them.”

To begin with, she ordered the undead to drag out one of the Quagoa who had been captured with magic — in other words, one of the first captives.

“Hehe, well, if you're honest, I won't kill you. If you're honest. First things first, who's the greatest of you people here?”

“You son of a bitch! You sold me out!”

“Okay, okay, don't fight. Then, can you bring him to me? Send this one back.”

“Hmph! You must be a friend of the Dwarves! I'll never talk! I'll stake the pride of my race on it!”

“Ahh, of course! What do you want to know?”

Charm magic caused the target to regard the caster as a trusted friend or colleague. However, since friends would not tell friends to kill or hurt themselves, the targets would not obey orders which would result in such. Also, the term “friend” was also a bottleneck of sorts; there were secrets which people would keep even from their friends, so this magic would be ineffective at winkling out such information. If that were the case, more powerful mind control spells would be needed. However, such measures did not appear to be necessary this time round, a fact for which Shalltear thanked her luck.

“Ahhh, I was appointed the leader of this group. Oi, quiet down there, she's a friend so it's fine to tell her. Ah, could you keep that a secret?”

“Ahhh, yes, we are, I'll trust you, then. Still, those guys… Especially that guy, is he undead?”

“It's all right. We're friends so you'll believe me, right?”

“Is he your minion?”

“That's right. She is my mistress.”

“Th-thank you.”

The Quagoa commander fell into deep thought, and the Quagoa behind him went, “What happened?” “What's going on?” “Are we the only ones who don't know that she's a friend” and so on. However, the Quagoa commander ignored them, and a twisted look dawned on his face, which was probably a smile.

Shalltear snorted.

Normally speaking, they should have been suspicious that a friend did not know this. However, this was the greatness of magic. The Quagoa commander replied without raising any doubts.

“Say what?!” the Dwarf exclaimed in shock. “What, what does that mean?”

“Alright, alright, that's about enough. You were saying something about an invasion force?”

Shalltear narrowed her eyes at the Dwarf. His expression looked ghastly. Apparently this was very bad news.

“We're a detached force, we split off from the main body so we don't know the exact time. But I think it should be today, or maybe tomorrow.”

“That said, will the city actually fall if the suspension bridge is taken?”

The Quagoa commander chuckled deviously as he listened to their conversation.

“We're the only ones who were sent here. We don't know how strong the Dwarven city is or how many men we'll need, so most of our troops are there.”

I can't say Ainz-sama, Shalltear fretted as she tried to piece her next words together.

After Shalltear repeated her Master's question, the charmed commander babbled like a brook.

Shalltear looked back to her Master, who nodded to her.

“…Gondo, I'm sorry about this, but can you prepare to travel?”

“…Then, let's go. Shalltear, send them all back to Nazarick. They are to be observed. Whether they are to be killed or spared depends on the kind of relationship we forge with the Quagoa. Do not kill them until they are fully hostile to us. However, order some light experiments to be conducted. The hardness of their claws, the physical and magical resistance of their bodies, that sort of thing. Although, some of them might die as a result… Order them to minimize the number of deaths.”

Shalltear immediately cast her [Gate], opening a portal to the surface of Nazarick.

Led by the Quagoa commander, the others followed him in one after the other. Some of the Quagoa stood in place, frozen by fear, but Shalltear simply picked them up and chucked them through the [Gate].

Beyond it was Shalltear's Master. His arms were crossed and he seemed to be waiting for her.

The first thing he said was to praise her! Shalltear's flat chest surged with heat.

Shalltear reflexively got to her knees. That was the only appropriate position to take in response to her Master's praise.

“I understand, Ainz-sama!!”

“How fortunate. Ainz-sama, your actions seem to be blessed.”

Granted, her Master's face did not move, but Shalltear was absolutely certain that he was smiling.

“Yes!”

Shalltear left the building as she savored the taste of happiness.

“Would anything we do even make a difference… It takes about six days to travel underground to the city. It's too far for us to bring that information back to the city.”

Shalltear's slightly slack face tensed up, and as she exchanged glances with Aura, her Master and the Dwarf began their discussion. She strove to memorize it so she could record it into her memo pad.

“Is that so? Well, since you can't make it there in time, what's there to be done? If that's the case, why not come to my country? You can't do anything by yourself either, right?”

“Although, I'd like to save the runesmiths… but even if we rushed there to help them, could we maintain an advantageous position during negotiations? Are the Dwarves a species that appreciates kindness shown to them?”

“If that's the case, then we'll need to pick the right time to step in.”

“I have already taken my lord's… Your Majesty's suggestion to heart.”

Shalltear was both awed and frightened by the fact that her Master had managed to utterly dominate the soul of this Dwarf during the brief period in which he had entered the tunnel.

“…No, I guess we ought to make haste. After all, we want to avoid the deaths of the runesmiths, and there's no telling what will happen if we go underground, so we shall proceed from the outside. Can I trust you to guide us?”

“Alright, then prepare to move out!”

Chapter end