Overlord Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 3

Part 3

"Come, come, come, Momon-san, pull up a chair."

There were six men in the room. Three of them were stout-looking men girt for war, while one of them looked similarly imposing despite his lack of arms or armor. He was the one who had risen to beckon Ainz over. In addition, there was a skinny, neurotic-looking man in a robe, and finally a fat man seated in the innermost part of the room.

Ainz took a seat, under the eyes of everyone else, and then the standing man spoke once more.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the head of this city's Adventurer's Guild, Pluton Ainzach."

He was a powerful-looking middle-aged man.

He had an aura of a mighty veteran about him. There was no doubt that he was an excellent warrior.

"This is the Mayor of E-Rantel, Panasolei Gruuze De Rittenmeier-san."

Ainz nodded, and Panasolei waved slightly in response.

He was fat — no, frankly speaking, he was almost entirely made up of fat. His belly was rounded and flabby, and his chins were overflowing with adipose tissue. The excess of fat made him look like a bulldog.

The hair on his head was sparse enough that his scalp reflected the light, and what little hair which was left had already turned white.

"Momon-san, pleased to meet you."

Perhaps it was because his nose was stuffed up, but he made buhiiii noises when he spoke.

"And this is the leader of the E-Rantel Magician's Guild, Theo Rakesheer."

The skinny man — who looked as frail as a bamboo pole and seemed at least somewhat anorexic — nodded to Ainz.

"And these three are much like yourself, members of the adventurer teams which are the pride of E-Rantel. From the right to the left are Igvarge-san of Kralgra, Perote-san of Tenrou, and Moknak-san of Rainbow."

Those three men each had metal plates around the necks — made of mithril — and each gave the impression of being commanding and even powerful. Their equipment was nothing more than junk to Ainz, but they were still far above the gear sported by most adventurers in this city.

Each of them had different looks in their eyes, but they all shared the same common thread of curiosity.

One of them — the representative of Kralgra, Igvarge — glared icily at Ainz and asked:

"Before that, there's something I'd like to ask you, Guildmaster Ainzach. I've never heard of the name Momon before. Since he's a mithril plate, he should have done something noteworthy, right?"

There seemed to be a little hostility in his voice. However, Ainzach seemed to pay it no heed and cheerfully replied:

"His feats include taming the Wise King of the Forest, as well as settling the graveyard incident last night."

"Graveyard incident?"

Unlike the confused Igvarge, Moknak of "Rainbow" exclaimed in surprise.

"You don't mean the incident concerning appearance of vast quantities of undead?"

"Buhiii~ you're quite well informed. I instructed that the matter not be made public due to receiving some troubling news. Where did you hear that from?"

His words were frequently accompanied by a buhiii, probably due to a blocked nose or some other reason. Nor was there much intonation, probably because he was using his mouth to breathe. It made his words sound strange, as though he were reading off a script.

"Forgive me, Mayor. I merely overheard this, so it's difficult for me to tell you where exactly the news came from. In addition, I do not know much of the details."

The two of them looked at each other and they smiled as their eyes met. Moknak's smile was forced, while the Mayor's was uneasy.

"Hm~ it rings false to me, but forget it. There should be a lot of people who know about the undead running wild. Buhiii~ forgive me, I interrupted by accident."

"It's fine, Mayor. In any case, the Guild concluded that due to his contributions in that incident, Momon-san is a mithril ranked adventurer."

"Just one incident? Just by handling one matter? No adventurer who's gone through rank placement examinations would be happy with that, am I wrong?"

He was not even pretending to be polite any more. Igvarge displayed his naked aggression on his face, and then someone spoke coldly from the side.

"Hmph. Frankly speaking, I have to say that I'm not happy about Momon-dono's mithril rank either, Guildmaster."

The man who cut in was the head of the Magician's Guild, Rakesheer. There was a derisive expression on his face, though Ainz understood that it was not directed at himself, but at Igvarge. However, Igvarge did not realise this, and smiled at Rakesheer in a friendly way.

"I'm glad you see it my way, Guildmaster-san."

"Ku, kuku."

Rakesheer's lips grew even thinner, as though he had heard something amusing. It was not a friendly gesture, because he had a scornful look in his eyes.

"Is that so? I feel that our views are diametrically opposed."

"What do you mean by—"

"Really, that's enough out of you, Igvarge-kun. There's people in the Guild who feel Momon-kun was worthy of an orichalcum plate."

"What!?"

Igvarge's face seemed to be asking how that was possible.

As he saw it, Rakesheer's mocking smile grew so wide that it twisted his entire face.

"Momon-san broke through a horde of thousands of undead with just his partner — no, he had the Wise King of the Forest as well, for a total of three people — and defeated the people conducting an unholy ritual."

"—Anyone with some stealth training could do that!"

Rakesheer sighed, in a somewhat exaggerated way.

"Indeed, you are correct. Initially, I felt that this was not enough to qualify Momon-san for orichalcum rank. However, the discovery of a set of bones bore testament to Momon-san's might."

At that point, Rakesheer turned to Ainz in his suit of black full plate armor, a stern look in his eyes.

"...That is to say, the bones of a Skeletal Dragon. Momon-san slew a frightening undead creature that possessed absolute resistance to magic."

"Well, uh, yes! Skel-Skeletal Dragons are strong! But mithril ranked adventurers can still def—"

"—Can still defeat two of them at the same time?"

"Say what!?"

Igvarge's gasp of surprise was joined by the other two adventurers. Then, there was a subtle shift in their attitude as they looked toward him. They were like observers trying to plumb the depths of a lake.

"We found the remains of two Skeletal Dragons at the scene. Could your teams break through a horde of thousands of undead, slay two Skeletal Dragons, and kill the hitherto unknown masterminds of this conspiracy in such a short time? Other adventurers were present at the graveyard, and they reported the presence of twisted spirits like Wraiths. Could you have traversed such deadly ground?"

Igvarge bit his lip, unable to respond.

"Then, let me ask you another question. I hear that the only other member of Momon-san's party is a woman. She is a magic caster, which means that she would have been completely useless against Skeletal Dragons and their complete magic immunity. Under these circumstances, with only one other… no, even with the Wise King of the Forest by your side as well, could you have made such a great accomplishment?"

Rakesheer bowed to Ainz and said:

"Please allow me to thank you on behalf of the city, Momon-san. If not for your swift response, many more lives might have been lost. And while I can only speak for myself in this matter, you have but to come to me with any request you have and I will do my best to fulfill it."

"You praise me too highly, Guildmaster. I was simply fulfilling Bareare-san's request, and I solved a problem along the way."

"Fufufufu…"

Rakesheer laughed, and there was an undercurrent of respect amidst his laughter.

"It seems you are truly worthy of an orichalcum… no, an adamantite rank. To think someone could take such a mighty accomplishment and pass it off which such humility, as though it were nothing of note. I heard that your companion can use magic of the third tier as well… is that correct?"

"Your praise honors me… but I do not wish to casually show my hand."

"Is that so? What a shame."

Igvarge's face and ears turned red as he watched the way Ainz and Rakesheer spoke lightly to each other. Then, he bellowed:

"We could do the same thing if we got everyone together! Besides, it's his fault that he's got so few teammates, right? He can't get anyone because he's no good!"

The air in the room grew tense even as it grew frigid, and then the sound of a buhiii~ rang forth.

"Let's leave the matter at that. We didn't gather everyone here to fight now, did we?"

After that last buhiii~, Igvarge sat down, seemingly deflated. However, he still glared hatefully at Ainz. The two guild leaders watched this sight and shook their heads helplessly.

"I understand that you all value strength, but that is not the topic we are here to address, so why don't we settle the matter quickly?"

"Thank you, Mayor."

"Muu? I have no idea why you would thank me, but you should probably continue speaking. The fact is, I'm not quite sure what is going on."

"Understood. If only I could have reported it right away…"

"Don't worry, I was handling a matter in connection with Stronoff-kun myself."

There was another buhiii~

"Now then, let's get to the point—"

"Before that, shouldn't we show some basic courtesy and remove our helmets?"

Igvarge cut in once more with a mocking words. He was not incorrect in saying so, but he was also being quite annoying. The other adventurers frowned as well.

"It's fine. This time, he has a point. I have been somewhat rude."

However, the false face Ainz revealed when he removed his helmet was a plain one, which was not particularly attractive.

"Since I come from another country, I wore my helmet to avoid drawing trouble. Please forgive my lack of manners."

"Cheh, so you're a foreigner."

"Shut up, Igvarge. Adventurers protect all humanity from monsters and as such, borders do not exist for them. As a fellow adventurer, I am ashamed at your griping about the unspoken rules which govern our guild."

As the voice castigating Igvarge's second interruption rang forth, he realised that everyone else in the room felt that way, so he reluctantly fell silent.

"...Well, it's because of this sort of thing that people have loaded opinions of foreigners."

Several of the people smiled bitterly at Ainz's words. Igvarge's own face had turned from pale to almost white, but by the time Ainz put his helmet on again, there was no complaint.

"Then, I hope we won't get sidetracked any further. Let's get right to it."

"Well, it's because someone was late that we haven't heard about anything until now."

"That was a mistake on my part. Please forgive me."

Ainz lowered his head in apology. He had experienced this sort of thing before as a salaryman, where his bosses announced that they would only begin once everyone had arrived. Thus, all he could do was suppress the urge to go home, because he truly understood how they felt.

When contrasted with Igvarge's hostility and constant jibes, Ainz's sincere apology made him seem that much more noble. Igvarge scoffed angrily as his scowl deepened, because he was well aware that the general opinion of him had fallen even further.

However, there was someone who was even angrier than Igvarge.

"...Are you quite done yet? One more interruption and you can get your ass out of here."

As expected, it was Ainzach who had spoken up. His eyes were filled with rage, and there was no trace of his previous calm in his voice. Naturally, he was glaring at Igvarge.

Igvarge inclined his head slightly to apologize.

Ainz was confused as he observed Igvarge's reaction. Given the hostility the man had shown him just now, it would not have been strange for him to break into a grade-schooler's tantrum, as though complaining to his parents. Why had he chosen to back down?

After a brief period of thought, he came up with something.

What would people think of Igvarge if he were chased away from a gathering of mithril-ranked adventurers? Even if the truth got out, there would be some people who would believe that he had been ejected from the group because he was useless. If that happened, his standing within the adventuring community would plummet. That was probably why he had shut up.

"To summarize, about two nights ago, some adventurers patrolling the outskirts of E-Rantel encountered a Vampire. Five of them were killed by the Vampire. I have gathered all of you here because of that incident."

As he listened to the description of the Vampire, Ainz's hopes shattered like spun glass.

The sole surviving adventurer had been too afraid to give a proper description, and had only noted details like clothing, hair color, and the like. However, the thing that had stood out most clearly was "silver hair and a large mouth."

Despite it being just a muddled description, anyone who knew Shalltear would immediately think of her once they heard it. Ainz was certain of the Vampire's identity in his heart.

I have no idea how things ended up like this, but things might go badly if I don't alter the memories of the survivor. I'll have to do that some other time.

As Ainz furrowed his illusionary eyebrows, the discussion continued apace.

"I see. I'm not too clear about this incident myself, but I would be wasting everyone's time if I asked for a full explanation. I'll ask if anything I don't understand comes up."

"Understood. Then, gentlemen, do you have any questions?"

"When you say 'the outskirts,' where exactly do you mean by that?"

"It's a place about three hour's walk from the north gate. There's a large patch of forest there, and the incident took place within the forest."

"What rank were those adventurers?"

"They were iron plates."

"...I'd like to ask, but why have you brought so many adventurers on board for just one Vampire? Is there going to be a competition of some sort?"

"He's got a point. Platinum ranked adventurers can deal with a Vampire. I have no idea why you've gathered so many mithril ranked adventurers."

"The answer for that is simple: because that Vampire is very powerful."

Everyone looked to Rakesheer in surprise as he interrupted.

"A very powerful Vampire…"

"Could it be you're trying to say that the opposition is a high-end Vampire… the Vampire Lord 'Landfall' who was mentioned in the Saga of the Thirteen Heroes?"

"We do not know if the enemy is indeed a Vampire Lord, but according to the adventurer who encountered the Vampire, the Vampire used the third tier spell 「Create Undead」. I trust I don't need to tell you adventurers the implications of that?"

They had nothing to say. The stiff looks on their faces spoke for them.

"Hm~ I have no idea what that means, so could you tell me?"

"Forgive me, Mayor-san."

"Anything which could use magic of that tier is of platinum rank at the very least."

Panasolei frowned as he began getting a better picture of the situation.

"In other words… I won't speak like this any more."

Panasolei's eyes sharpened, and just that was enough to change the image he projected to everyone else. He had turned from a fat, lazy pig to a savage wild boar. Or rather, this was Panasolei's true face.

"In other words, it's exactly as what you're saying, Guildmaster-san. A monster on par with a platinum ranked adventurer party, with platinum ranked powers on top of that."

"It is as you say."

"So it's basically strengthening something which is already strong?"

"That is a valid way of looking at the matter."

"How would you describe it, in terms of the size of a comparable military force?"

"A military force… that's a somewhat tricky question."

Rakesheer racked his brains, and then spoke again.

"Let me get this out of the way first, this is just my personal opinion and it's by no means a final, unassailable assessment. If you want to think of it in terms of a group of fighting men, given the fact that the undead do not tire, nor do they eat or drink… I guess you could compare it to an army of ten thousand."

"Say what!?"

A look of shock came over Panasolei as he heard this, and he looked to the other adventurers, as though seeking their opinion of those words. Apart from Ainz, everyone nodded in agreement with the words of the Magician's Guild's leader.

As though picking up the baton from Rakesheer, Ainzach continued speaking:

"To continue where Theo left off, only about twenty percent of the adventurers in the Kingdom can be considered to be at or above platinum rank. There are around three thousand adventurers in the Kingdom, so among the eight million people of the Kingdom, there are only about six hundred platinum ranked or higher adventurers. Do you understand now? Platinum ranked adventurers are that rare."

"Is that so? I wish I did not understand, but I do. Then, with this situation in mind, I would like to ask you adventurers: are you confident in eliminating this creature? If not… well, then how about asking the Warrior-Captain Gazef-kun for help?"

Gazef Stronoff. He was the mightiest warrior of the Kingdom, superior even to adamantite ranked adventurers. A man that was arguably the Kingdom's ace in the hole.

However, Ainzach immediately shot that proposal down.

"It may be true that no warrior is capable of beating Stronoff-dono. However, if Stronoff-dono faced a party of adventurers that was weaker than himself, the victors would undoubtedly be the adventurers. This is because adventuring parties have many methods of attack and defense — to continue the example of using Stronoff-dono, the party can use four times the amount of spells and martial arts as Stronoff-dono can. The impact of this difference is particularly marked when facing monsters who possess unique special abilities."

"Umu…"

"The ideal solution would be to recruit orichalcum and adamantite ranked adventurers for this. But before it comes to that, I would like the strongest adventurers in our city to set up a defensive line to keep the Vampire from invading us."

"That would be giving up the initiative, don't you think?"

"That is the best possible outcome of the worst-case scenario. Need I remind you that our foe is a one-man army?"

"I… I don't want to imagine the terror facing such a fearsome foe would entail…"

One could follow an army of ten thousand by their tracks and evade them easily. In addition, prodigious quantities of supplies would be needed to keep such an army on the march, so it would be difficult for them to do battle for long.

However, what if that army was compressed into a single person? And what if that person was able to use 「Invisibility」 or was adept at covert operations?

"Still, as an adventurer, I have to say that forming a defensive line will be very difficult, Guildmaster-dono. After all, coordinating our teams will need a fair bit of training time…"

"Well, in lieu of that, what do you think of everyone just deploying together?"

The adventurers promptly shot down the Mayor's proposal.

"I doubt that would be possible. In order to work as closely as that, we'll need to craft intricate battle plans, but the more complex the plan, the more likely it will go awry when something unexpected occurs. Rather than risk that, it would be better to not work together and just operate independently. Speaking of which, why did that Vampire appear there? What news does the Guild have about it?"

"About that… since the enemy is a powerful Vampire, the Guild does not have the full details on it at the moment. Just as we were about to put a scouting party together, the incident from last night occurred, which dispersed our forces."

"...I see. So you're worried that these two incidents are linked?"

"Indeed, that is so."

"Didn't Momon-shi take care of the graveyard incident? Was there anything on the bodies of the masterminds that would tie the two events together?"

That question plunged the room into a brief silence.

Ainz was puzzled. The Adventurer's Guildmaster — who had fielded answers without any hesitation — now turned to the Mayor, a questioning look in his eyes. Still, when one thought about it, this was information pertaining to the criminals that had conducted a terror attack on the city. There were things which could and could not be said to adventurers.

"From their belongings, we learned the enemy was from Zuranon."

The faces of the three adventurers turned grim.

However, this was the first time Ainz had heard that name. He fervently prayed to the gods he did not believe in that the others would not question him on this topic about which he knew nothing.

Ignorance is frightening, I need to learn more.

"That undead-controlling secret society? I guess they really are linked with that Vampire."

"So their aim was to trigger incidents within and outside the city to split our forces? Or are both of them decoys, and is the real plan about to begin… this is terrible."

"The most important thing is to make a reconnaissance. From what the rangers told us, there's a cave near the location where the Vampire was sighted. Apparently, that cave is a bandit's hideout…"

"It's quite likely that the Vampire has already departed that location… still, there's a non-zero chance of it remaining there, so we should send someone over—"

The adventurer who spoke immediately shut his mouth.

That was a natural reaction. After all, anyone heading to a likely location of that Vampire was essentially saying that they wanted to walk right into danger. If they really encountered the Vampire, and if the Vampire was as powerful as rumored, then certain death awaited them.

Those words were an indirect way of telling someone to kill themselves.

"...Let's leave that aside for now. It's more important to strengthen the city's defenses. After all, the Vampire might have infiltrated the city during this time, for all we know."

"...Well, it would be easy enough to infiltrate the city, as long as it could use magic. After all, this is not like the Imperial Capital, with air cavalry and magic casters on patrol."

One could use 「Fly」 to enter from the air, or walk right in with 「Invisibility」 for concealment. Magic was very troublesome to deal with, which was why consolidating their fighting strength and mounting a defense was the most logical course of action.

"Still, it's really hard to do anything without any concrete information. We really should investigate that cave!"

The opinions of everyone present gradually began shifting in favor of that extremely sensible proposal.

It would be very bad for Ainz if that came to pass.

Allowing Shalltear's appearance to become public knowledge would be a very bad thing. Although he did not know exactly how it would play out, allowing Shalltear's current appearance to disseminate through the city — perhaps even through the nation — would make covert actions very difficult in future.

Ainz desperately tried to think of a way to guide the situation in another direction.

In the end, there was only one way to avoid exposing Shalltear's identity.

Ainz gulped — though there was nothing for him to swallow — and said:

"To begin with, you are mistaken. That Vampire has nothing to do with Zuranon."

"Why is that, Momon-kun? Do you know something about this?"

"I know the name of that Vampire, because I have been hunting that creature for a long time."

"What!?"

The air shuddered.

Ainz's brain spun into overdrive — the main event was about to begin.

"It is an extremely powerful Vampire. In truth, the reason I became an adventurer was to collect information about them."

This was a red herring; but Ainzach took the bait.

"Them? Momon-kun, did you just say 'them?'"

"Yes, I did. There are two of these Vampires, and one of them, the silver-haired female, is known as…"

He suddenly stopped here. Originally, he was going to say "Carmilla," but a name like that was far too normal for a female Vampire. If there were any other players around, that name would swiftly clue them in about his presence. Just as he was waffling over what name to give them, a flash of inspiration struck, and he blurted a name:

"Honyopenyoto."

"Eh?"

That idiotic-sounding reply had not come from one mouth; just about everyone had exclaimed in the same way.

"...Her name is Honyopenyoko."

He had come up with the name himself, but he felt that it was slightly different from the one he had mentioned just before that. Still, if anyone pressed him with their doubts, he intended to maintain that he had misspoke.

"Honyo-penyo…?"

"It's Honyopenyoko."

While he had given a female Vampire a name ending with "ko," no YGGDRASIL player should have been able to guess that he had made it up. Filled with pride at this perfect choice of names, Ainz smiled smugly under his helmet.

"Is, is that so? That Honyo… ah, forget it! Since we know that female Vampire's name… It's about time you told us your true identity, no? Which country are you—"

"I apologize, but I cannot say that right now. Currently, I am on a highly secret mission. If you find out, I will have no choice but to leave this land, and then you will have to deal with the Vampire yourself. I do not wish to have this become an international incident. You understand, don't you, Mayor?"

The Mayor nodded slowly, and as Ainzach saw this he bit his lip and looked intently at Ainz.

The Guildmaster's stare meant nothing to Ainz. However, he did not know if they had bought his story or if it contained any contradictions. Those two points of uncertainty filled Ainz's heart with unease, but Ainz brushed it aside with an brusqueness that would brook no interference and continued:

"Our team will handle the reconnaissance. If we find the Vampire there, we will slay it on the spot."

Thus spoke the late-coming Warrior of Darkness.

Though they could not see his face, they could feel the confidence and determination brimming in his voice.

The air filled with a pressure which might have been mistaken for rumbling, and the sigh which followed made everyone think they had made the sound.

"Then, ah, the other teams will—"

"—Will not be needed. I do not need them to slow me down."

He waved off all opposition to that plan.

That tactless declaration was made with the utmost audacity.

That gesture was not a wise one, not among fellow adventurers of equivalent rank. However — all the adventurers here were grizzled veterans of countless life-and-death struggles. They could sense that his attitude was not born of recklessness, narcissism, or pride, but had been coldly, carefully calculated. At the same time, it spoke volumes of Momon's own strength that he could make such a statement.

This was an extraordinary man.

It seemed as though his black armor was growing before their eyes, and the pressure they felt made them imagine that the room itself was shrinking. They could sense that this man was one they could not hope to surpass; as though he were an adamantite ranked adventurer.

This man was a hero.

Ainzach choked his words back, and then took several deep breaths. In fact, everyone present was doing the same, and the Mayor even opened up his collar, his sweat flowing freely.

In a quiet voice, as though whispering into Momon's ear, Ainzach asked:

"—What about your payment?"

"I don't mind discussing that afterwards. However, after this incident is resolved… after the discovery and destruction of the Vampire, I would like an orichalcum rank at the very least. That would make it more convenient for me when I track that other Vampire, because it is tiresome to have to keep proving my strength."

Everyone present gasped in realization.

Adventurers did not work for cities or countries, but this city did not have any orichalcum ranked adventurers at the moment. If he became one of the highest ranked adventurers of this city, everybody would know his name. In addition, the rarity of orichalcum ranked adventurers meant that their fame would spread even further. In this way, people would come to him with dangerous missions, and it would allow him to learn about powerful Vampires.

However, there was a man whose heart refused to accept this, even if he had already been persuaded on an intellectual level.

A chair screeched, and as all eyes went to the source of the sound — needless to say, it was Igvarge, who had been hectoring Ainz all this while.

"I can't bring myself to believe in your strength. Be-Besides, it's still not clear if that Vampire is as strong as you say. Even animating that corpse could have been done through a magic item. We're going with you!"

The reason why Igvarge could still muster up his opposition to Ainz despite being shaken to the core was purely because of his hostility towards Ainz and his refusal to acknowledge him.

However, his fellow adventurers did not approve of his attitude. Perote spoke in a barbed tone:

"Igvarge, that tone of yours—"

"—It's fine."

Ainz readily agreed to the request. However, there was no kindness in that reply; the following words were cold and ruthless.

"That said, I must warn you that if you come along… it'll be certain death for you. Your entire party might be killed as well, for all I know."

That matter-of-fact tone did not sound like a threat, nor did it sound like a joke. It was a flat prediction of the future, which sent a shudder through Igvarge's body. In fact, everyone present was chilled to the bone by that statement.

Ainz shrugged.

"That's my warning to you. If you don't mind, then by all means, do come along."

"Of, of course!"

He was bluffing, but he could not back down here. He could not run away from this. How could he, an adventurer of equal rank, disgrace himself before someone in power like the Mayor?

Just as the tension built again between the two of them, Ainzach — who had calmed down a little — asked Ainz:

"It's all well and good to be confident, but is there any basis for that confidence? Of course, we know that you are strong, but surely you must know that the foe is no pushover either. Frankly speaking, we're not sure if we can leave everything to you either. If… if for some reason you're defeated, we need to think about what to do after that..."

Without skipping a beat, Ainz replied:

"I have a trump card."

"What is that?"

Ainz produced a crystal and showed it to the intrigued Ainzach.

"...It can't be! It's impossible, unbelievable…" Rakesheer shouted, before panting:

"I once read an old tome… they say that the Theocracy possesses powerful magic items which they consider their national treasures. This is one of them… a spell-sealing crystal. How did you come to possess such a thing!?"

"How surprising… but you have it right. In addition, this crystal now contains a spell of the eighth tier."

"What!? What did you just say!?"

The exclamations that Ainz had evoked from Rakesheer were like the cries of a strangled chicken. Even the man's face had distorted to quite a frightening extent.

Nor was it just Rakesheer who was shocked. Everyone — no, everybody except the Mayor had an expression of fear or surprise on their stunned faces. Any adventurer with even a meager bit of experience could understand the value of the item which Ainz had shown to them.

"...The eighth tier… you're lying, right?"

"...It might be a fairytale, but if it's really magic of that level… it would be nothing short of mythical."

"Are you kidding me!? What kind of nonsense is that!?"

The three adventurers — even Igvarge — stared intently at the crystal within the black gauntlet, frightened looks on their faces.

"Forgive me! Could, could I borrow that item for a bit?"

"Why?"

"That… it's just a magic caster's curiosity. I vow I will not do anything strange to it! If you wish anything as collateral, I can pledge everything on my person, for instance, this belt—"

Rakesheer was already unbuckling his belt before he finished. Ainz replied in an annoyed tone:

"I understand, there's no need for that sort of thing. Here, have a look."

"Ah, sorry about this, but may I touch it too?"

"Me too!"

The spell-sealing crystal passed through several hands before reaching Rakesheer, who stared dumbly at it, like a woman who had finally obtained a jewel she had long thirsted for. No, one could say that he was like a boy who had found a treasure he had always sought.

"Amazing… ah, yes, Momon-dono, may I cast a spell on it?"

After seeing Ainz agree with a wave of his hand, Rakesheer eagerly worked his magic.

"「Appraisal Magic Item」, 「Detect Enchant」."

The look on the man's face grew even more exaggerated after he cast those spells, and then—

"Awesome!"

—There was no trace of the man from earlier. Instead, his innocent eyes radiated a look of pure delight, and even his tone was different, like he was a teenager again.

"It's true! It's really eighth tier magic! That's all my spells can tell me… but it's awesome, really awesome!"

He shouted like this over and over again, which left everyone else staring in stunned silence. Then, Rakesheer picked up the crystal and licked it all over, even mashing it into his face — like he had gone mad.

"Get, get a grip! What the hell are you doing!?"

Ainzach rose to his feet and drew close to Rakesheer, disturbed by his friend's sudden bout of insanity. Indeed, everyone was looking at him with an expression of shock or disgust. Such behavior was unsightly, coming from a man so highly-placed in the city.

"You idiot! How could anyone get a grip? This is seriously awesome! It's got an eighth tier spell inside it, though I don't know what spell it is!"

Rakesheer continued staring at the crystal in excitement, his eyes sparkling. Before long, he had slowly recovered his sanity, and he asked Ainz:

"Momon-dono! Where, where did you find this crystal!? Tell me!!"

"It was dug up in a certain ruin, along with many magic items. Of course, the crystal already had the spell sealed inside it by the time it was discovered. I had a powerful magic caster identify it."

"I see! Then, then where is the site of this ruin!?"

"All I can tell you is that it is very far away…"

Rakesheer bit his lip as he heard Ainz's matter-of-fact reply.

"Then, could I have it back?"

"Uuu… okie."

Rakesheer looked around, then reluctantly returned the crystal to Ainz. As he watched Ainz wipe the crystal clean with a piece of parchment, he suddenly exclaimed:

"Back to the point, I — I oppose Ainz-san going forth to slay the Vampire!"

A shocked silence settled over the room once more and Ainzach palmed his face. He grimaced, and then asked in a severe tone:

"...Why the sudden opposition? Well, I already know why, but still — I have to ask."

"Oh, that… it's because it would be too much of a waste."

He's gone completely insane, Ainzach decided as he looked on his friend and decided to discard his opinion.

"Well then, leaving Rakesheer's words aside…"

"Please wait! Magic of the eighth tier is practically of a divine level! How can you use such a valuable item on a mere Vampire?"

Anger boiled in Ainzach's eyes. He could no longer tolerate these outbursts, especially not from someone as highly placed as Rakesheer.

Then, Ainzach choked back his wrath, and calmly told the other man:

"...Forgive me, Rakesheer, but please don't continue making a scene."

The powerful subtext in those words returned Rakesheer to his senses and left him speechless. The slight blush in his cheeks was probably due to embarrassment at his earlier actions.

After glancing at his friend to make sure he was back to normal, Ainzach decided to formalize the request.

"...Then, Momon-kun, we'll be leaving everything to you."

Ainz nodded confidently in response to Ainzach's humble submission.

"I understand."

Then, he looked at Igvarge through the slit of his helmet.

"We'll be moving out as soon as possible. Vampires suffer a penalty of slowed movement under daylight."

"Penalty? Eh, a weakness, then? They do move slowly in the day. Our side will be ready soon."

"...Not going to discuss it with your comrades?"

"It's fine, they'll understand."

"...Is that so? Then, we'll meet at E-Rantel's main gate in an hour."

"One hour? Isn't that a bit too soon? There's still a long time before sunset."

"I am in a big hurry. If your courage is lacking and you need some time to psyche yourselves up, then I'll leave you here and go on my own. Any questions?"

"I get it. We'll prepare ourselves right away."

There was clear anger in Igvarge's voice as he rose after speaking. Ainz coldly glared at Igvarge's retreating back, and then turned to look at the other people who were in the room.

"Then, we shall set out immediately. I hope everyone else will defend E-Rantel. I do not wish to return after not having encountered the Vampire to find that a troublesome situation has developed."

"Well, I can't say there won't be any problems, but you can leave it to us. If you meet any danger, I pray you will fall back immediately."

Ainz nodded and then left.

♦ ♦ ♦

In the end, there were only three people left in the room; Panasolei, Ainzach, and Rakesheer, who still had a lovestruck expression on his face.

"I apologize for showing you that embarrassing side of myself."

"It's fine, don't worry."

Panasolei smiled sheepishly at Rakesheer's apology. However, their opinion of him had changed greatly.

Rakesheer also felt that it had been quite an unsightly display on his part, but even so, he found it difficult to conceal his excitement.

He had met Lizzie the herbalist some time ago, and she had eagerly shared the matter of the potion with him. As he listened to her excited exposition back then, he had regarded her with cool eyes and wondered if it was truly worth shouting about. Now, however, he wanted to laugh at his past self.

He now understood the uncontrollable surprise and emotional upheaval one felt when an unattainable object appeared before one's eyes.

"Was that truly such a valuable item?"

Rakesheer fell silent. This was because he was struggling to suppress the boyish glee which was welling up within him.

"Yes. That item could change everything we know about magic. The fact is, magic above the sixth tier only resides in the legends. That was the first time I personally saw something like that."

The spells known as tiered magic had appeared in this world about five hundred to six hundred years ago. After that, there had been several heroic magic-users, but the rumors of people other than the Thirteen Heroes using spells of the seventh tier and up were exactly that — rumors.

In the heroic sagas, there was a hero who once used a spell which made people conclude that "it's impossible even with magic of the seventh tier or higher," but most people thought that it was just a story. In addition, the question of whether the Thirteen Heroes actually used magic of the seventh tier and up was also in doubt.

However—

Rakesheer thought, these stories might not be entirely fictional. He made a mental note of this and told himself to investigate them when he had time.

For instance, the Goblin King who slew many dragons with an ash branch, the winged hero who soared through the sky for long periods, the mystic knight who rode a Trihead Dragon, the princess who ruled her crystal city with her twelve loyal knights, and so on.

"Then, can we trust him?"

Naturally, Panasolei was referring to Ainz.

"I received a potion from an adventurer in stylish black full plate and threw it at the Vampire, causing it to fall back" — that was the testimony of the sole surviving adventurer.

Thus, they had consulted the city's most renowned herbalist, Lizzie Bareare about the matter. What they had learned was that the potion was a magic item just as valuable as the spell-sealing crystal from just now.

While one might only be suspicious if he possessed just one exotic item, it was only natural to wonder who he was if he possessed two of them. Still, why had the Vampire halted its attack?

There were two possibilities. One was that they were in opposition. The other was that there was some link between them. This was why they wanted to see if such a relationship existed. Was Momon really a foe of this Vampire?

"Do you think he's in cahoots with the Vampire?"

This was what they were truly worried about, and the three of them thought back to their conversation with Momon.

"I think the possibility of that is very low. What do you think, Rakesheer?"

"I agree. There are better ways to pretend to kill the Vampire and then conceal her."

Even if Momon really was linked to the Vampire, the response outlined earlier would do him no good at all.

"Could it be he just wants to become an orichalcum ranked adventurer?"

"I doubt it, Mayor. Adventurers enjoy fame and prestige, but command little power. What are the benefits of becoming an orichalcum ranked adventurer, Ainzach?"

"...Well, you can accept better-paying requests, and you'll be more famous. If you're lucky, you might even be offered a government post with good terms… although, that's about it. Power can be much more easily gained through other means."

The most telling impression of adventurers was that they were specialized anti-monster mercenaries. Certainly, it was possible that one might become the leader of the local chapter of the Adventurer's Guild, but they would still be unable to reach a position where they could dictate national policy.

"If wealth was his aim, he could sell that crystal and never have to worry about money for the rest of his life. Someone as strong as him could rise in fame quickly enough. The fact is, quite a few of the city guard are already calling him a legendary hero."

Panasolei nodded in agreement.

He had taken out a towering undead creature in one hit, and then mowed through countless undead like a storm, leaving shattered bodies in his wake. These awe-inspiring sights were truly those which would be associated with a great hero.

The guards eagerly spread their accounts of Momon's prowess, patting their chests and declaring that there would be no need to fear monsters with him around.

"That said, I regret to say that we have no evidence to prove his reliability. Still, there are no contradictions in what Momon-dono has said so far, and if he really was an enemy, why would he show us that spell-sealing crystal? I think we can trust him."

Rakesheer's words put a grimace on the face of the other two men. That expression clearly said that it was hard to believe such words coming from a maniac like him.

"Mayor, Ainzach, the reason why neither of you can bring yourselves to trust Momon-san is because he showed up just as the Vampire did, am I correct? However, I feel that Momon-san's words can adequately explain that."

The two men nodded in agreement.

"In addition, if that female Vampire really was being hunted by Momon-san, there's also a rational explanation for why she ceased her attack on the lady adventurer when it saw Momon-san's rare potion. In addition, it's possible that the female adventurer was spared because the Vampire wanted to let Momon-san know she was here."

"I see… so she wanted to let Momon-san think she was nearby and make him stay here. The female Vampire must have seen the female adventurer's potion and suspected that she was related to Momon-san. Thus, she let her go, to spread the news of her presence. It does make sense…"

"...Given the fact that Momon-kun chased that Vampire all the way here… I can't imagine she would be happy about learning that he was around."

"Indeed, Mayor. However, while we do not yet know which country he hails from, we should still treat him well and be on our guard. Although I don't think he's that suspicious… kuku, I'd like to discuss the matter of Momon-san's magic items with him. His suit of armor looks quite valuable as well."

"...Speaking of Momon-kun, there's something I wanted to ask you, Mayor — where are the corpses of Zuranon?"

"I have no idea."

The Mayor scowled as he said this.

The mangled corpses left behind by Ainz had been placed in storage under the eyes of layers upon layers of guards, but they had vanished after daybreak. Although they suspected that someone had broken in and stolen them, the guards had not been attacked and there were no signs of anyone suspicious.

The storage area had been built in a way that inhibited the use of teleportation magic; one could say that it was something of a secret room. Thus, there was no sign of how the intruders had even managed to enter. It was as though the corpses had vanished in a puff of smoke.

They were still secretly searching for clues within the city, but nothing had turned up. The possibility of finding anything relevant were close to zero. In other words, there was nothing they could learn from the two corpses.

"Could it be that the unholy ritual they were conducting turned them into undead, which then escaped?"

"...We cannot rule that possibility out entirely."

"How troubling, we couldn't even get any evidence from it… the only possibility is that secret shrine under that chapel, no? It would be good if we could learn something useful from it."

"From what you said, it would seem that Momon-kun did not enter that place. If we found an ownerless magic item of great value in there, could we hand to to him?"

"Mmm, if those items have nothing to do with the ritual, then by adventurers' rules, they would belong to him."