Overlord Volume 2 Chapter 2 Part 3 + Interlude

Part 3

The group set out at daybreak, along a hidden path on the plains.

"We'll be at Carne Village soon."

The other travellers nodded in response to Nfirea, the only person who had been to Carne Village before (barring Ainz). Apart from that, they walked on in silence. Nfirea seemed somewhat put off by that.

An air of awkwardness hung between them. Ainz, who was the cause of this situation, hid his guilt underneath his helmet.

Ninya kept peeking at him, and it was annoying. However, this was all his fault, so he could not say anything about it.

This was the result of what he had said last night.

Ninya apologized at breakfast, and Ainz should have accepted the apology on the spot, but for some reason, he could not say a simple thing like "I forgive you."

Though he felt he was being petty, Ainz could not simply let bygones be bygones.

Because of this undead body, my mind has changed as well, huh...

After becoming undead, his strong emotions were suppressed, but the less intense ones did not vanish. The best proof for this was how long his mild anger lasted. Ainz's friends had a very important place in his heart. Though he cared deeply for them, he began to feel that it might not be good to let things go on like this.

However, he could not bring himself to take the first step in changing the mood.

It was because he could calmly deduce that the slight changes in his feelings — like those of a petulant child — that he felt anger at his own immaturity.

The only one who stood out among the awkwardness was Narberal. She was so happy to not be bothered by Lukrut that she was practically humming in delight.

The group advanced in silence, and they soon made it to the outskirts of Carne Village.

"Ah, yes! It seems pretty wide here, so maybe we don't have to stay in a line as we move," Lukrut announced, seemingly with some other motive in mind.

A glance to the sides revealed stretches of emerald forest around them, so the deliberate mention of being wide and open seemed somewhat suspicious. In addition, the point of being guards was that they could not lower their guard in an open area, so moving in a column like they were doing now was the wisest choice.

It was just that they all knew their silent advance in a line was not due to their adventurer's sense of caution.

"...It's important to stay alert. So let's… mm. Let's get to the village first."

"Indeed! We need to stay on guard at all times lest we get attacked!"

Lukrut put on an as if expression in response to Peter and Dyne's statements.

"Maybe a dragon might attack us from far away," Ninya mumbled.

Lukrut immediately shot back:

"What kind of shitty plot development would that be? Logically speaking, how could such a thing happen, Ninya!?"

"You're right, it's impossible. The stories of dragons near E-Rantel are nothing more than that, stories. Although they say that in the ancient past, there was a dragon which could shake the heavens and the earth… nobody's seen any dragons recently. Or no, I think there's a colony of Frost Dragons living along the Azellisia mountain range, towards the north…"

They existed in the past? According to the Sunlight Scripture, dragons are the mightiest beings in this world…

In YGGDRASIL, dragons were the strongest enemies one could encounter. They boasted great physical attack and defense power, boundless stamina and wielded numerous skills and spells.

They were in a class of their own.

There were countless monsters in YGGDRASIL. Among their number were all sorts of named monsters, and area monsters, as well as those super monsters called World Class Enemies. Even a legion, composed of six parties of six men each, would not have much of a chance against these unimaginably powerful creatures.

Apart from the "Devourer of the Nine Worlds," there were the "Eight Dragons," the "Demon Lords of the Seven Sins," the "Ten Archangels of the Sephira," as well as the six bosses known as the "Celestial Lord of the Sixth Heaven," and the "Five-Colored Buddhas," from the expansion pack "Valkyrie's Downfall." There were thirty two of these extraordinary monsters in total, and one could infer the dev team's love of dragons from the number of draconic entities among them.

I need to be careful if dragons exist. Dragons could live forever in YGGDRASIL's backstory, so it wouldn't be a surprise to encounter dragons with mind-boggling powers.

"Ah — could someone tell me the name of that dragon which could shatter the sky and shake the earth?"

Ainz was not nearly thick skinned enough to nonchalantly ask a question of someone feuding with him, so he merely spoke in a low voice. However, that was loud enough for everyone to hear, and Ninya jerked his head back to look.

This was like a pair of quarrelling lovers looking for a chance to make up.

Ainz recalled a time when he had heard a pair of sweethearts talking in a coffeeshop, and could not help but compare their words to his present situation.

That said, Ninya's expression seemed a little brighter since it was Ainz who made the first move. The Swords of Darkness and Nfirea were all smiles as well. Only Narberal remained unmoved. Come to think of it, the awkwardness in the air since this morning had hardly affected her.

"I'm very sorry! I'll look it up for you when we get back to the city!"

Ah, no need to get so excited about it… it's fine if you don't know… I was just looking for something to say…

However, he could not bring himself to utter those words.

"Mm, Ninya-san. Could you help me find out, if time permits?"

"Understood, Momon-san!"

The way everyone nodded with exaggerated satisfaction made Ainz feel a little ashamed of himself. It might have been different if the situation was the other way around, but he was filled with regret as the oldest one here.

"All right, we're almost at Carne Village now…"

This was the first cheerful thing which anyone had said since this morning, but Nfirea clammed up almost immediately.

Everyone looked at the village before their eyes. It was a rustic hamlet at the edge of the forest. There was nothing strange or unusual about it, so Nfirea's silence was a mystery.

"What's wrong, Nfirea-san? Is something the matter?"

"Ah, no, it's fine. Just… I don't recall seeing a sturdy fence like the one in front of us..."

"Really? But it looks like an ordinary fence. Actually, it's kind of shabby for a frontier village fence, right? It wouldn't be a surprise that a village at the edge of the forest would have a sturdy fence to protect against monsters, right?"

"Hm — you might be right… but Carne has the Wise King of the Forest, so they've never put up a fence before…"

Everyone looked to the village. The village was surrounded by a fence as far as they could see, and the fence was made of logs which were resilient to cutting.

"How strange… did something happen...?"

Ainz remained silent, even after hearing the lad's uneasy question. In the past, he had come here as the magic caster Ainz Ooal Gown, but now he was the adventurer Momon.

Ninya cut in, a serious expression on his face:

"Maybe I'm worrying too much… but I grew up in a village, and I still remember life there, so there's two things I find suspicious. The first is that the fields haven't been tilled yet even at this time, and the other is that they've already harvested some of the wheat."

They looked in the direction Ninya was pointing and indeed, part of the wheat had already been taken in.

"I see. Looks like… perhaps something happened?"

Ainz turned to the group, all of whom had uneasy faces, and said:

"...Gentlemen, let us handle this. Nabe, go invisible and scout the village with flying magic."

After acknowledging Ainz's instructions, Narberal turned herself invisible with magic and vanished. Shortly after, they heard the sound of flight magic being incanted, and Narberal no longer left any tracks behind her. The travellers waited on the road, and after a while, Narberal reappeared where she had left.

"...The villagers seem to be moving normally around the village, and I did not sense that they were being controlled or ordered. The villagers are working on the fields on the other side of the village."

"...Huh, looks like I was just being paranoid."

"It should be fine. Then, let's move on… shall we?"

Peter looked expectantly to Ainz and Nfirea, and they both replied in the affirmative.

The road narrowed as they went on, so they had to form up into a column as they approached the village's entrance.

The wheat fields on either side of the road were a brilliant emerald, waving gently in the wind. The travellers looked as though they were submerged in a pool of green water.

"Hm?"

The wagon advanced with a clattering noise. Behind it, Lukrut made a noise of suspicion and studied the wheat fields closely. It was not yet time for the harvest, but the stalks were over seventy centimeters high, and they were as impenetrable as the ocean's depths.

"What's wrong?" Nfirea asked from his place at the back.

"Hm? Oh, nothing, maybe I was thinking too much…"

Lukrut tilted his head in bafflement, then quickened his pace, drawing closer to Peter.

Ninya looked in the same direction, and then opened up his steps once he made sure there were no other movements.

The wheat fields spilled over onto the road that led to the village, like the sea swallowing up the land. They wanted to cut down the stalks to ensure stable footing, but if they did that, problems would result in the future.

"I hope the villagers can tend their fields properly. This seems terribly wasteful."

Peter walked at the head of the group and because his armor touched the wheat stalks, it was soon covered in wheat grains. Peter muttered as he saw this, feeling that something was wrong.

This was a warning born from his instincts, which had been honed through countless brushes with death. Would the green grains fall off so easily?

Driven by instinct, he looked back into the wheat fields, and saw a pair of eyes staring at them. It was a small creature, its body even smaller as it hunkered down in the wheat. Although its face was obscured by the wheat stalks, it was clearly not human in nature.

"What!?"

The shocked Peter wanted to shout a warning to his colleagues, but the creature — a demihuman — spoke first, "Could you put down your weapons, please?"

The diminutive demihuman already had its blade drawn, and no matter how fast Peter moved, his opponent could still stab him first.

"Yo, please put down your weapons. Could you tell the people behind you to do so too? We don't want to have to shoot them with arrows."

There were faint sounds from another direction. When he looked to the source of those sounds, he found that there was a marvellously camouflaged hole in the wheatfields, with half a demihuman sticking out of it. The demihuman was covered in wheat stalks as further camouflage.

Peter was filled with doubt. It would seem there was room to negotiate with these creatures.

"...Could you spare our lives?"

"Sure we could. If you surrender, that is."

Peter was at a loss for what to do next.

He had to stay in front and make sure the arrows did not hit Nfirea on the wagon. He also needed to figure out the enemy's number and organization.

Verifying the opposition's objectives was also important. At the moment, he could not surrender, but neither could he entirely deny the enemy's proposition.

As though sensing Peter's confusion, the two demihumans rose from the plains with a rustle.

"—Goblins," Ninya breathed.

The demihumans who stood before them now were of the same species as the Goblins from yesterday. They had their bows raised, and their eyes were keen as they took aim.

Should they fight?

Ninya, Lukrut, and Dyne looked at each other, pondering that question.

Goblins were inferior to human beings in height, weight, muscle power, and other physical parameters. They were hard to deal with in the dark because they possessed darkvision, but under the light of day, they were hardly fearsome opponents for the veteran Swords of Darkness.

In addition, they had Ainz, who could take care of them easily like he had yesterday.

Peter was confident that they could make it through even a pincer attack, as long as their opponents were Goblins.

However, there was a reason why Peter could not immediately make that decision.

His adventurer's instincts told him that these Goblins were different from the ones he had fought yesterday.

Simply put, the Goblins in front of him seemed trained and experienced. In addition, they were in good physical shape. In contrast to the scrawny, weak Goblins from yesterday, these Goblins had bodies of rippling muscle.

In addition, the Goblin archers had an excellent shooting stance. If the Goblins yesterday were children playing with sticks, these Goblins were warriors adept at using their bows.

Finally, their weapons were well-made and well-maintained, easily rivalling the weapons of the Swords of Darkness.

Just as humans could become strong through training, monsters could as well. Demihumans like Goblins could certainly do so too.

Therefore, it was quite possible that the Goblins before the Swords of Darkness were stronger than any demihuman foe they had ever fought.

Just then, a voice cut through the wind blowing over the wheatfields, and Lukrut hurriedly looked behind.

"...Hehe, you caught me, huh?"

A Goblin popped his head out from the fields and stuck his tongue out at them. He must have been trying to sneak up on them behind, but his stealth skills were not good enough to evade the senses of Lukrut the ranger. However, their situation was hardly improved even after discovering the Goblin infiltrator.

A calm look at their surroundings revealed movements throughout the wheat fields, as though something was hiding inside them. These movements were centered on the wagon, and slowly drew closer.

They were in a very bad situation.

The Swords of Darkness could not think of any way to overcome their current situation.

♦ ♦ ♦

Ainz raised his hand to stop Narberal from killing them all. After examining the Goblins, he was certain that his guess was correct.

"They should be the Goblins summoned from the Horn of the Goblin General."

If the girl who had received that horn was controlling these Goblins, then he had to avoid antagonizing them, as much as possible. If that was not the case they would have to think of something else. However, they were not enemies of Ainz and Narberal, so it should be fine.

The Goblin from before looked over to Ainz, who stood tall and steady, and said:

"We hope you don't make any sudden moves, chap in the full plate. We don't want to start a fight."

The voice was stiff and full of caution as Ainz stopped Narberal from lashing out.

"Relax. If you don't attack, neither will we."

"Thanks for that. These nii-sans are strong, but they aren't scary. You, however, are a different matter, and so is that nee-san beside you. When I think about the two of you as enemies, my hairs stand on end."

Ainz did not reply, but shrugged.

"Then, please wait here for a bit before Ane-san arrives."

"Who's that Ane-san you're talking about!? Did she take over Carne Village!?"

Nfirea's agitation was reflected in the obvious surprise on the Goblins' faces.

"Nfirea, calm down a little. It should be pretty obvious who has the advantage here. In addition, there's a few more oddities about the village based on Nabe-san's words. I'm hoping we can avoid pointless fighting before the truth comes out."

Nfirea was hard-pressed to hide his anxiety despite Ninya's words.

The look of immediate confrontation on his face became one of barely-restrained frustration. He clenched his fists tightly, and then slowly released them.

Ainz was surprised and confused by Nfirea's intense reaction as well.

Granted, they had not travelled together for long, and he did not know the lad all that well. However, he did not think that Nfirea would be so excited about something like this. It was possible that this village was not just a simple place to gather herbs, but it had some other significance to him.

Ainz turned a doubting eye on Nfirea. On the other side, the Goblins seemed to have sensed Nfirea's anger, and they looked at each other in confusion.

"Hm — this seems different from before…"

"Ane-san's village was recently attacked by people dressed up as Imperial knights, we're just staying on guard."

"The village was attacked…! Is she all right!?"

As though in response to Nfirea's shouts, a girl appeared at the entrance to the village, escorted by more goblins. As he saw the girl, Nfirea's eyes went wide, and he shouted her name with all his strength:

"Enri!"

The girl heard the shout, and responded in turn. Her voice was gentle and filled with kindness, as though addressing a close friend.

"Nfirea!"

At this moment, Ainz recalled what he had heard earlier.

"Ah… it would seem that her herbalist friend was not a woman, but a man."