a little trouble

"{understood}"

-

Akabaru was listening in on the supposed leader of the group.

"The prey has entered the cage." The man who spoke was dressed in pretty basic mage robe, his only notable feature being the scar lyning his face.

"Offer up your faith to the gods." The group seemed extremely religious, as everyone one of the mages silently prayed to the ones that they called god.

The actions of the groups suggested that they were perhaps from somewhere else as their manirisme didnt align with the groups of men he had seen before... Akabaru didn't know if the gods they talked about did exist. 'if there was magic would that also mean that there were gods?'

"Begin." With that one single word, they spread out, neatly encircled the village in a way that it appeared to Akabaru as the product of long, and hard training.

Although they looked well trained. Their appearance didn't strike him as menacing, in fact, Akabaru could feel no threat from them meaning that they weren't strong even if there were around a hundred of them in total.

Akabaru watched as they scattered to completely encircle the village, while he stayed near the leader.

"Next time… I'd like to ask the other teams for help, and leave some of the work to them." The leader spoke his mind, confident that they were the only ones there, confirming that they weren't worried about being watched remotely.

"That's right, we've always been specialized in extermination, after all." The members of the team near the leader reacted to his words, complaining that they weren't specialized in the area of assassination

Keith lurked around making mental notes of their conversation while observing them, he couldn't stay to long as some of the residence of the tomb would worry if he stayed hidden in their backline for even a second

"Then… begin the operation." The leader began casting a summoning spell.

Akabatu moved back a bit, if they were to summon wolves or any other summon with high senses they would most likely detect him, and he would get a lot of information that would be useful.

As he move back Akabaru decide to write most of what he learned down for Ainz. Taking notes on the enemy would surly be useful for the future.

-

(A while back with Ainz )

"Who are these people? What do they want? I don't think there should be anything that valuable in this village..." Ainz pondered aloud, he had only resived the bare minimum from Akabaru, as he was observing them now without reporting his findings directly.

"Gown-dono, you do not know either? ...Well, if it is not wealth they seek, then there can only be one other answer." Ainz and Gazef locked eyes. or at least would if Ainz had any.

"They must really hate you, Warrior-Captain-done." Ainz simpathised with the man, clearly seeing the dedication to their nation even when they treated them with disregard.

He had come to such a conclusion after seeing their equipment, all had the same basic armour but some had rusted some were barely functioning, and they were supposed to be the royal warriors.

"It comes with the job of Warrior-Captain. However… this is troubling. Judging by the way the other side has so many people who can summon angels, they must be from the Slaine Theocracy… and it's clear that the people carrying out this operation must be a special operations unit… the legendary Six Scriptures. It would seem that both in numbers or ability, the opposition is superior to us." Gazef said "Well, they've certainly gone to a lot of trouble, using the Noble faction to strip me of my gear. However, it's troublesome for that snake of a man to remain in the courts, so I guess it should be my good fortune to be able to recognize his villainy here. Still, I didn't expect the Slaine Theocracy to have their eyes on me…" The first angels were already summoned, likely to bolster their number before Gazef could do anything.

"...Is that an Archangel Flame? It looks similar enough, but… what is a monster like that doing here… could it have been summoned by magic too? That means…" Ainz murmured, the angels could be seen in the distance, one standing out in particular.

"Gown-dono, if it is all right with you, would you be willing to let me hire you?.. You may name your price and I will meet it." Some of Gazef's men seemed desperate, but still resolute at the prospect of a fight.

"...Please permit me to refuse." Ainz's refusal didn't help with the situation, lowering morale even further.

"...Even the loan of that knight you summoned would be fine." Gazef pointed at the death knight, who stood behind the caster who had summoned it to the mortal realm.

"...I must refuse that as well." This time morale seemed to keep up, as fighting with such a terrifying undead seemed more unappealing than fighting without.

"I see… then, what if I conscripted you, in accordance with the Kingdom's laws?" A final jest, not even a proper question, as GAzef knew that he couldn't force the mage before him.

"That would be the worst decision you could make… I did not plan to say such harsh words, but if you insist on using the authority of the Kingdom to conscript me, then I would be compelled to put up a bit of resistance." Mages weren't treated well within the Kingdom, no honor or glory came from serving them. They didn't even have a court mage after all.

The two of them gazed wordlessly at each other. The first to avert his eyes was Gazef.

"...That would be frightening indeed. We would be wiped out before even crossing blades with the gentlemen of the Slaine Theocracy." Fighting the Death Knight would already be extremely difficult not to mention the mage who had brought it forth.

"Wiped out… well, that's a good joke. However, I am glad you understand me. However, I do know of someone who might be willing to help you." Gazef narrowed his eyes as he looked towards Ainz. 

"And who would that be, your lady knight in black?" He didn't underestimate the power of the woman at his side but did find it to be dishonorable in some weird sense.

"No, but a formidable warrior I know of who is in the area." Ainz's description was vague, only alluding to his power and current whereabouts.

"In the area, can he make it on time?" Gazef didn't mind, everything could help in the current situation.

"Of course, he can make it on time, but the question is not if he can, it is if he wants to or not." Gazef felt hopeful, if in his eyes a powerful mage could testify to the strength of a fighter then he surely must be good.