Overlord, Vol. 9: The Caster of Destruction

Chapter

3
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Another Battle

1

Headed north, away from the commotion of the army preparing to head to the Katze Plain, Prince Barbro Andréan Yeld Ryle Vaiself was in a foul mood.

“Shit. Damn you, Marquis Raeven…”

He couldn’t hold back the curse.

Since his younger brother had borrowed some of Marquis Raeven’s men and patrolled the capital to keep the peace during the demon disturbance, he had given the nobles the impression he was the type who could stand and fight on the front lines in an emergency. That made the opinion of the nobles who had been supporting Barbro as the next king begin to waver. There was also the fact that Marquis Raeven was supporting the second prince—some of the nobles had already switched sides.

Not putting himself out there during the demon disturbance was a fatal mistake.

The reason he was unable to leave the palace and join the front lines was that he didn’t have any men under him.

That in itself was the correct judgment. Even if he had gone to the front, there wasn’t anything he could have done as an individual. He would have only gotten in the way. The demons could have also assaulted the palace.

His brother wouldn’t have been able to go on patrol without the use of Marquis Raeven’s troops.

Barbro was confident that he had made the right decision to stay put. But the fools didn’t understand that and were tricked by appearances. In the end, everything went according to Marquis Raeven’s plan.

“Doesn’t anyone understand his aims? Plus, all they did was patrol—it’s not as if they actually participated in the fight against the demons!”

If his brother had been on the actual battlefield, it would have been revealed how pathetic he was. In that sense, Marquis Raeven had a brilliant mind.

And there was one other thing that offended Barbro.

How miserable it was to be headed to Carne, that desolate village.

He was falling behind in the struggle for the throne.

In this fight against the empire, he needed to score some achievements and look like the eldest prince he was supposed to be. He had to show the world that he was fit to be the next king; the reputation his brother had stolen from him would be his once more.

That made this battle with the empire critical, but instead of participating, he had been ordered to conduct this trivial job like an errand boy. Where was the honor in riding to a frontier village and investigating its link to Ainz Ooal Gown?

Just then, a chill went up his spine.

Could it be that the orders were meant to prevent his achieving anything?

Father already decided on my brother, and he doesn’t want me to do anything that might result in my comeback. That’s why he sent me to this nowhere village…

His breath grew labored. His heart was burning with hatred for his father for passing him up and yielding the throne to his little brother just because he happened to show a little bravery.

It was only by chance that he noticed the person riding next to him despite his agitated tunnel vision.

“Prince, are you feeling ill? Shall I call a priest?”

The shrill voice from so near grated on his brain as if it were echoing and made him want to vomit. But he held back. It was thanks in part to the chilly winter air but also his daily-life training in glossing over things as a member of the royal family.

Showing one’s true emotions was foolish.

“No, no, don’t worry. I was just thinking about this job my father gave me and how best to get it done. More importantly, Baron Nosmartz, you went to visit the adamantite-plate adventurer Momon, right? How did it go?”

“I’ll tell you, Prince! It’s most dreadful! Momon was out, so I didn’t get to meet him at all!”

“Well, these things happen. He’s an adamantite-rank adventurer after all. Why are you so upset about it? You didn’t have an appointment. What could you expect?”

“No! Not like that. What I found offensive was his partner, Nabe!”

“Nabe? Ohh, ‘Beautiful Princess’?”

Barbro remembered the peerless beauty he had seen in the capital. She was as lovely as his youngest sister. He wanted her, but she was one of the team of adventurers his father had been rewarding. He couldn’t just do as he pleased like a commoner.

“So what did that gorgeous woman do to you?”

“She was violent! Take a look at this!”

Nosmartz removed his gauntlet to reveal a big blue bruise.

“What? Adamantite plate or not, she’s not allowed to perpetrate violence against a noble!”

“And yet she suddenly grabbed my hand and threw me out.”

This wasn’t enough information to go on. Barbro quit taking him seriously. There had to be some reason for it that the baron was hiding.

“Prince! I beg you, bring your iron hammer down on that foolish wench!”

Can I use this to my advantage and get her to do whatever I want?

Barbro wondered.

Was there a way to give the baron a hand while also making that woman his? He couldn’t think of one. It was this idiot baron he was dealing with; the man would probably consider the prince indebted to him.

This guy really is useless. Well, for now I’ll stay close to him, and once I’m king, he’ll be the first I cut off. Until then, I’ll use him as best I can.

But even as he was making those calculations, the reality sank to the pit of his stomach that even this man had his own territory and military strength, yet he didn’t—he had to borrow forces if he wanted to fight.

In response to the baron’s expectant eyes, Barbro made the same empty promise. “I’ll take that into account when I am king!”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Barbro didn’t want to talk to that bowing moron anymore, so he turned to one of Marquis Beauleurope’s knights who was riding nearby. He was one of the commanders of the marquis’s elite forces.

“Hey, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it, Your Highness?”

Actually, there wasn’t anything. But he couldn’t very well say it was a convenient way to cut off the conversation with the baron. When he paused briefly to come up with an appropriate question, the unpleasant thoughts from earlier came back.

The whole reason Barbro was headed for the frontier village was that Marquis Beauleurope had suggested it. Which meant…

Did the marquis betray me? Has he defected to my brother’s side?

He wanted to believe it couldn’t be true.

He had taken the man’s daughter as his wife and gotten along well with him as his son-in-law. If Barbro succeeded to the throne, Marquis Beauleurope would be the most important of the six great nobles. If he switched to Barbro’s brother’s side, he would only end up in conflict with Marquis Raeven. But what other reason could there have been for him to suggest this?

So then I…I was sent to this desolate village so they could spread the idea that I’m not doing anything useful in the war?

“Did you need something, Your Highness? Shall we take a break?”

“—Shut up.”

The loathing he couldn’t smother leaked out.

He could see that the knight was surprised, but he still couldn’t hold himself back.

Spitting murder from the gap between his teeth, Barbro said, “I have orders for you. We’re going to get this Carne business over quickly and head for the Katze Plain. Make those preparations in parallel to our current activities. If we arrive in Carne, accomplish our mission immediately, and head right back, we should reach E-Rantel by nightfall. We’ll get what little sleep we can and head for the Katze Plain before sunrise.”

The knight furrowed his brow.

“With all due respect, I think that would be extremely difficult. Please look at this: Our formation includes the marquis’s three thousand five hundred soldiers and one thousand five hundred from the nobles backing Your Highness for a total of five thousand. In order to get our job done in a short amount of time, we are bringing fifty wagons filled with supplies instead of hordes of logistics men.”

“I know that, so what’s the problem?”

“The breakdown is four thousand five hundred foot soldiers and five hundred on horseback. Even if we resolve the Carne matter in under an hour, it would be quite a rush to get back to E-Rantel by nightfall.”

“But I asked you a question. I’ll ask again: What’s the problem? We’ll just rush if we need to rush.”

“Prince… Some of the foot soldiers will be exhausted.”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. Honestly, there is no good reason for us to be going to this tiny, remote village. What we need to do is defeat the empire on the Katze Plain. You’re one of the marquis’s men, aren’t you? Then I ask you: Is this a war in which we can afford to have five thousand men do nothing? Is that what you think?”

The knight pursed his lips.

“Don’t prioritize the wrong things. Some of the foot soldiers will be exhausted? Whip them so they keep running. You’ve been gathered here to fight on the Katze Plain.”

And to enhance my reputation.

“…You’re right, Your Highness. Understood.”

The knight bowed his head.

“That’s how you should be responding in the first place! Plot out what time we’ll reach E-Rantel and what time we’ll leave again. The details are your responsibility.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll meet with the others right away and return with the answer you desire.”

The knight racing his horse over to his fellow commanders was already gone from Barbro’s mind.

Does my father hate me? Or is he so senile he can no longer arrive at the correct decision? Is that why he’s trying to give my brother the throne? It should go to the eldest. If it doesn’t, he’ll antagonize the nobles.

He was determined to turn his utterly disadvantaged situation around. He would make them regret giving him five thousand men.

Those were the thoughts that spurred Barbro on.

“Baron!”

“Y-yes, Your Highness!”

“I’m expecting a lot out of you!”

He had the feeling the thrilled voice was saying something, but it went in the right ear and out the left.

Damn you, Zanac. You can just stay in the capital regretting the mess you made.

The man was his brother, and they shared blood, but in the race for the throne, he was an enemy to kick out of his way. And it wasn’t as if he loved him or anything. He wasn’t about to kill him, but if he got in his way, he wouldn’t hesitate to.

When I’m king…what can I do with him? Should I kill him so he doesn’t become some idiot noble’s rallying cause? Would that be a waste? If he were a woman, there would be all sorts of uses for him, but… He’s not very smart, but our little sister is. I should sell her to the highest bidder… I wouldn’t want the royal bloodline to continue through her, so the best would be to marry her into a far-off country’s royal family, but… Well, if she’ll be useful in building my power base, I can think it over a little more.

Barbro’s eyes became distant, entranced in his ideal vision of the Re-Estize Kingdom.

Him seated on the throne, the nobles before him bowing their heads…

His retainers, who carried out every order he gave…

“That would be great.”

He caught himself smirking a bit and quickly covered it with a hand.

Right now, they would finish their business in Carne, and then the question would be how fast they could get to E-Rantel. Whether his dreams came true or not would depend on that branch in the path.

…Assuming I force the soldiers to hurry—the important thing is to make it back before the war starts. Or what if we waited for it to start and then went in as an ambush?

He thought it was a very good idea, but he wasn’t sure he could maneuver his troops into position to strike from their flank or behind.

He would have liked to leave it up to the knights, but putting other people in charge didn’t seem like a good plan given that the goal was to achieve something that would win him the throne.

As he was trying to think about what he could do to shine the brightest and be selected as the next king, he had a flash of inspiration.

Could I use the people of Carne to negotiate with Ainz Ooal Gown?

It was as if a ray of light was gleaming down from above.

This was the optimal plot.

Regardless of why Ainz Ooal Gown saved the people of Carne, Barbro felt he should be able to use them as bargaining chips.

If this caster Ainz Ooal Gown, whom he’d never heard of, backed out of the war, the empire would lose its casus belli and be forced to withdraw unless they wanted to be labeled as invaders.

And if what caused the empire’s withdrawal was Barbro’s actions…

That would be wonderful! Father wouldn’t be able to ignore my opinion anymore. I would practically be guaranteed to be king.

“Good! Most excellent.”

If Ainz Ooal Gown just happened to save Carne as he was passing by, he might not pull out of the war. In that case, he could hand the villagers weapons and force them to fight. This was a general mobilization of the nation. The villagers of Carne would have no way to refuse.

It seemed the king had pardoned them for not responding to the draft, but that was before the situation changed. When playing things by ear on the ground, it was up to the commander—Barbro, in this case.

If Ainz Ooal Gown killed the farmers of Carne, then that just showed what kind of person he was, and they could use it as propaganda. That would tie in to anti-empire propaganda because it was backing him.

Barbro trembled at the perfection of his plan.

If he was honest, he had thought his brother was the smarter one, but apparently that wasn’t the case. He was moved to find so much ability latent within himself.

2

For a small village, winter was hell. It was days of waiting inside thinking of warmer seasons. If spring was late or autumn’s harvest wasn’t big enough, they would resort to eating their rice seed and sometimes still starve to death.

There wasn’t much fieldwork, but life in a farming village meant work was never hard to find. There was a huge amount of labor to do at home. Tending to livestock; repairing farming tools; and the house, shed, and stables needed maintaining, too—there was no time to rest.

And in Carne, they had started raising pigs so they wouldn’t have to rely solely on the rangers’ hunting to feed the meat-eating ogres. They had been able to buy the pigs with the earnings the valuable herbs brought in.

The goblins would take the pigs into the Tove Woodlands and have them eat tree roots and the like. They had only a few because the project was still in its experimental stages, but if things went well and they made it through the winter with the pigs, they would probably increase their number in the future.

Normally if farmers put animals out to graze, they would have to pay a tax to the owner of the land, but luckily Carne didn’t have to. The Tove Woodlands were home to monsters; they weren’t considered part of the human realm.

Carne’s future was bright.

And it was all thanks to Ainz Ooal Gown, who had saved the village and supported it in all sorts of ways, as well as the warrior of Raven Black, Momon, who tamed the Wise King of the Forest. Many of the villagers were grateful to them. Some even named them alongside the gods in their prayers over breakfast.

Because they were overflowing with hope, the new village headwoman, Enri Emmott, had a lot of work to do.

At it again that day, Enri, accompanied by Nfirea, was headed for a shed.

In a small frontier village like Carne, all the residents operated together like a family. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to survive. They shared farming implements, helped one another out with food, and even took turns using the oxen to plow their fields.

So the villagers all took care of the livestock, and they jointly managed their feed. This was the shed where they stockpiled the hay that served as the oxen’s food during the winter months.

Enri opened the door and went inside. Nfirea followed a moment after. Enri continued straight in to the mountain of hay and sat down. Her butt sank in.

Nfirea closed the door and sat next to her. He used a spell to cast white light throughout the area.

“Headwoman, save the playtime for later. I need you to check if there is enough hay and make a bunch of decisions.”

“You called me ‘headwoman’ again…”

Nfirea chuckled slightly at her dejected voice.

“Eh, it’s fine if you want to call me ‘headwoman’! After all, it’s a small thing compared to Arg and his buddies thinking that if I tried, I could crush goblins with my bare hands!”

After she won every arm-wrestling match against Arg and the others, even the villagers seemed to be wondering if maybe the rumors were true, which was like a stake through her heart. Incidentally, the ogres didn’t participate. If she had lost against them, she wouldn’t have made the right impression, and if she had somehow won or even put up a good fight, she would have never recovered.

If I miss my chance with Nfi, I may never be able to get married!

Her hands got sweaty, which she hated.

“Oh, should I go open the window? It’s dry outside now anyway, so it won’t matter if we open it.”

“Huh? It’s fine, isn’t it? Plus, I already made us a magic light.”

“Are you sure? If you’re okay with it, then I’m fine.”

The magic light was brighter than sunlight. All Enri meant was that, since it was still light out, maybe it was a waste to use magic. Well, she also wanted to change the mood. There was no special reason, so she didn’t care that he said no. But Nfirea reacted in a weird way. And his ears were bright red.

Did he use up that much mana? From what I’ve heard, just a magic light doesn’t make you that tired… Maybe he cast some spells before we came here? Actually, he smells kind of good, different from the usual herb smell…

“Wh-what, Enri?”

She had brought her nose closer to him and taken a whiff. His voice became panic-stricken.

“Hmm? Mmm…nothing. Something smelled good, that’s all.”

“O-oh? Well that makes me happy. It’s cologne I made.”

“Wow, are you going to sell it in town? You could probably fetch a pretty good price.”

“N-no, that wasn’t really the idea…”

“Hmm. Well, whatever. Anyhow, the hay here is fine. Ready to go to the next one?”

“Y-y-yeah. But first, let’s check some things here. It’s cold outside.”

“…It’s not very warm in here, either, but… Well, it’s fine.”

“S-so there are several things I’d like to discuss with you.”

Nfirea seemed nervous next to her.

I wonder what’s wrong.

His profile bathed in Enri’s questioning gaze, Nfirea took out a sheaf of papers.

They were covered in tiny letters. Enri had learned to read somewhat, but as far as she could see from a peek, there were a lot of words she didn’t know.

“The first thing is the procurement of food for Arg and the survivors of his goblin tribe and the ogres.”

“What? Aren’t we fine for now? They helped us out with the fall wheat harvest, and we bought food for the ogres from town.”

“Yeah, and thanks to the expensive herbs we sold, we were able to buy enough food. We definitely have enough to weather one winter. We’ll be all right even if the population increases a little. But I realized we might run into trouble if the numbers go up much more, so maybe we should think about another way to obtain food.”

There were already fourteen goblins from Arg’s tribe living in the village now. It wasn’t as if they were reproducing. That was just how many had fled from the Magical Serpent of the West and the Giant of the East.

“Hrm. I think we’re all right, but should we go back to E-Rantel to buy more food just in case? Really, I wanted to save some money and buy iron farming equipment.”

“If we had iron implements for the ogres, clearing the land in the spring would go so much more quickly… I guess the only problem is that people would think something was weird if we ordered ogre-size tools that humans wouldn’t be able to use.”

“Would it cause trouble if people found out we had ogres working in the village?”

When the tax collector had visited in the fall, she’d made Jugemu and all the subhumans hide. They hid their portions of the wheat harvest, too, which was quite a lot.

Since the government understood that Carne had been attacked by imperial knights, they were allowed to get away with fewer taxes, which was a lucky break. They had also been exempted from labor requests for several years.

It wasn’t just an apology for not being able to protect them; the officials really did seem to feel guilty. Enri thought they would be suspicious of the splendid wall surrounding the village, but all she had to say was, “The great caster…,” and they accepted it without probing further. That made Enri think maybe they could get away with the ogres, too, but then Nfirea dispelled that hope.

“Definitely trouble. In a worst-case scenario, a team would be sent to exterminate them.”

“That’s awful!”

“You can be mad, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Usually ogres are dangerous monsters that eat humans. Don’t forget that the only reason we’re coexisting with them is because Jugemu and the others are more powerful.”

“I haven’t forgotten…”

“The other issue I wanted to talk about is how we’ll recruit more people to come live here, since we don’t have enough hands. It would be great if they came around the time of the spring land clearing.”

“That could be tricky. And what you were just saying makes me think it might be a pain because people will see the goblins and ogres and run for— What?” Enri asked. Nfirea had been acting weird the whole time, like he wasn’t really present in the moment.

“Huh?! Oh, uh, nothing.”

She had trouble believing it was nothing. Maybe he was tired again? Her boyfriend had the bad habit of losing himself in potion creation.

When Enri furrowed her brow, Nfirea took a deep breath and leaned on her.

Hmm? So maybe he is tired? It does seem like he’s doing a lot of experiments every day… But I think it’s a bit cold to sleep here. Inside the hay, it’s probably warm, but…

As she was thinking those things, Nfirea’s body grew gradually heavier as he leaned on her.

I wonder what’s wrong. He should really get a little stronger… He needs to eat a lot of meat. I can’t encourage his lifestyle of forgoing food and sleep to work.

Enri suddenly felt like teasing him, so she decided to apply pressure in return. She meant it to be a light prod, but she ended up really pushing.

“Uwhe!”

Nfirea looked at Enri in shock and confusion. His face was bright red.

Yeah, it’s embarrassing for a guy to lose to a girl, isn’t it? Then you better eat your meat.

When she relaxed, Nfirea, with his eyes closed, flopped over onto the hay.

For a few seconds, it was quiet between them.

“…What’s wrong, Nfi? Did you get tired?”

He sat up, looking bizarrely red. “N-n-nah. It’s nothing; I’m fine.”

“Lady Enri!”

The door was opened without so much as a knock and so forcefully that it made a loud
bang
.

“Heegh!” A strange cry escaped Nfirea. “Wh-wh-why?”

“Very sorry to bother ya! But it’s an emergency!”

“What’s going on?”

Enri hadn’t seen Jugemu so worked up since the troll attack. An awful feeling slunk up her spine.

“There’s an army! An army is headed this way!”

“What? What in the world? Which country’s army is it?”

“Since we don’t know the crests, we’re not sure yet. But there was more than one, so…we went ahead and closed the gate! What should we do?”

“Umm! Umm, what coat of arms did you see the most of? I might recognize it.”

As Nfirea listened to Jugemu’s explanation, a clearly puzzled look appeared on his face.

“That’s strange. That’s the kingdom’s flag. If I knew the nobles’ crests, I would be able to tell who it was, but…”

Carne was a frontier village; beyond it was nothing but woodlands. That meant their destination had to be Carne, but there wasn’t any reason for them to come.

“Why in the world are they coming here? Do you have any idea, Nfi?”

“You mean why the kingdom’s army is heading to our village? If they were aiming for the Tove Woodlands, it would be weird to bring the military. They would just send adventurers instead. Other than that…maybe a civil war?”

“Could that really be it?”

“I heard that our king isn’t actually very strong. Apparently, the nobles and he are locked in a power struggle. So maybe they’re coming to Carne because we’re a part of the king’s domain and they want to attack it?”

Enri could practically hear the blood draining from her face—because their village might once again be subjected to the horrors of invasion.

But we’re not the same as we used to be.

Enri faced the issue head-on.

“Let’s have at least some of the people escape into the forest before the troops arrive!”

“…Sorry, Lady Enri, we noticed them too late, so if we ran now, we’d have to leave everything behind. It’s also winter, and when there’s a good chance monsters will come out of the forest, we would have our hands full just guarding against that.”

Enri shuddered at Jugemu’s pained expression.

If the army burned down their village during this cold season, they would have no chance of survival.

“Then… Then yes! If we can’t take the food and things with us, let’s prepare to fight while we hide as much as we can!”

“Yeah, that’s a brilliant plan, Enri! The cellar we used to hide the ogres, Jugemu, and everyone when the tax collector came shouldn’t be full yet. Let’s put everything in there!”

Ready to leap into action, Enri realized she hadn’t asked a critical question.

How many. How many villagers they would need depended on how many soldiers there were.

“How many are there? A hundred or so?”

“No…”

The way Jugemu trailed off, Enri was seized with the urge to plug her ears.

“More than that… A few thousand.”

Enri blinked. Nfirea next to her did the same.

“It seemed like at least four thousand.”

“What the…? Why so many…?”

“I can’t imagine what they’re thinking. What reason could there possibly be to send that many soldiers to this village…? Enri, is there any possibility that word about the goblins got out?”

“No, definitely not,” Enri answered immediately.

She could think all she wanted, but there was no reason that information would have leaked out. There were the new transplants, but they were mainly the sort of people who trusted the goblins more than humans. And ever since the troll attack, the transplants and the locals had really come together as a community.

The only other people were the adventurers who visited from the city—they were gone by now, but Nfirea was confident that Momon and Nabe wouldn’t have leaked the info.

“Then… We should prepare to escape and ask them why they’ve come. Fighting should be…our last resort.”

Trying to fight four thousand soldiers was utter suicide.

“As ya say, Master Nfi, that’s our only option… Going up against that many would be impossible.”

“Yeah. So we’ll buy time with the idea of escaping in mind. Okay, let’s go!”

They had the villagers who had been preparing to defend near the gate go and hide food with the ogres. Enri, Jugemu, and the goblin troop, plus Brita and a few members of the self-defense squad were the only ones who remained. Brita had arrived ahead of the others, and Enri had questions for her. The first one, naturally, was who was coming—which nobles’ flags they were—but unfortunately, Brita didn’t have the answer.

She said she had left staying on top of that sort of information to someone else. It was a moment that made the value of knowledge sink in for Enri, so she waited for Nfirea to come back with his report from the watchtower.

From over the wall came the sound of multiple horses’ hooves, then a raised voice.

“I have come as a messenger for the eldest prince, His Highness Barbro Andréan Yeld Ryle Vaiself of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Open this gate and let us in!”

Enri could hardly believe her ears.

She had heard a lot of surprising things in the past ten minutes, but this one may have taken the cake.

“Th-the eldest prince?!”

Why is such a lofty person here?

It was so puzzling she wondered if she was dreaming.

But Nfirea nearly tripped over himself racing back from the watchtower and confirmed that what the messenger said was true.

“The king’s flag is in there with the others. Only someone directly related to the royal family can use it!”

“Huh? So what does that mean?”

“It means a member of the royal family came here leading an army!”

With no idea what was going on, Enri suddenly shouted, “Wh-why would he bring an army to a tiny frontier village like this?!”

“How would the villagers know? We’re in the king’s domain, so doing what the prince says is the right way to handle this. Or would you rather disobey and revolt?!”

Enri shivered.

Opening the gate was the right thing to do as a subject of the kingdom.
But…

She exchanged glances with Jugemu, who was standing next to her.

She couldn’t open the gate. She had to let the goblins and ogres hide first.

“Ah, m’lady. We’ll hole up in the hideout as fast as we can. Please buy time for us till then.”

Enri nodded. She regretted giving the instructions to hide the food there, but it was too late now.

“I repeat. Open the gate!”

“M-my apologies! Right now, we’re preparing to receive the prince! Please wait a little longer!”

“We’ll just go back and forth again, woman! Are you the one in charge of this village? Open the gate this instant!”

“…Why are you in such a hurry?!” Enri shouted in anxiety. She understood quite well that it was impolite, but she thought it might be another country’s army only pretending to be the kingdom’s.

Carne had beefed up its defenses to the point that the tax collector was taken aback.

Would it be so strange if another country wanted to use the village as a fortress? After all, the trolls tried to make it their lair.

For the first time, the response was silence. There was hesitation in the air.

“Why aren’t you answering?! You must not actually be kingdom soldiers!” she shouted, her voice hoarse from panic and irritation. That finally got a reply.

“…A caster called Ainz Ooal Gown once came to this town, correct?”

The image of the village’s savior came to Enri’s mind.

“That caster has antagonized the kingdom. So since you’ve had contact with him, we want to make some inquiries.”

Enri was so shocked she couldn’t say anything.

But one of the self-defense squad members spoke in a low voice only their side could hear. “If that great man antagonized the kingdom, then the kingdom must be in the wrong.”

All the villagers’ eyes said they agreed.

Especially marked was the reaction of the transplants, the ones whose villages had been burned. Their hatred of the kingdom for not protecting them had been channeled into the trust they had for the passerby caster who saved the village.

That he gave them items that summoned goblins, offered golems to help them build thick walls, and sent a maid to rescue them when a troll attacked only made them trust him more.

“Is opening the gate the right thing to do?”

“…It’s quite an army. If we don’t open it…”

“We couldn’t possibly betray him, after all he’s done for us…”

“Wait! They only said they want to make inquiries. Responding to them won’t necessarily be a betrayal, you know.”

“Oh? But if it ended up that way, we would be utter ingrates…”

All eyes gathered on Enri.

She understood everyone’s feelings extremely well. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. As she was fretting, another shout came over the wall.

“Do you understand? If so, open this gate at once! If you resist any longer, we’ll assume you’re rebelling against the kingdom!”

Cornered, Enri hoped to buy a little more time by shouting, “Th-there are cow droppings all over in front of the gate! We couldn’t possibly have the prince enter through such a mess!”

After a brief silence, the messenger seemed to have gotten himself together. “Ah, hmm. I see. Then let’s do this: We won’t have the prince enter. Let me in! The rest we can decide afterward.”

She didn’t have any more excuses.

Enri shouted the words that popped into her blank head as they came. “S-sorry! I got some cow poop on my hand! It’s everywhere! I need to go wash it off!”

“H-hey!”

Enri watched Jugemu and the others running away as fast as their legs would carry them. She wondered anxiously how long she would be able to stall.

Barbro was already aggravated to the breaking point. He glared at the knight who returned not as his ally but as a hated enemy.

“Say that again! What?!” Fury hissed between Barbro’s clenched teeth, and he practically spat the words one by one.

The knight repeated himself coolly. “Sir. There is still no sign of Carne’s gate opening.”

Barbro wanted to take a fist to the man’s calm profile.

But that would be foolish. He desperately tried to will the anger pooling in his hand to disperse.

None of these people, including the knight, were loyal to Barbro personally. He didn’t have his own soldiers. These soldiers were with him because their masters ordered them to be or because their masters were also accompanying him. As such, he couldn’t very well hit a knight while several others were watching.

“…Why not? Why don’t those peasants open their gate? This land is in the royal family’s domain, so they should be obligated to obey me. And I am ordering them to open the gate!” As his irritation mounted, his speech grew sloppy. “I don’t understand! Are they making fun of me?! What are they thinking?”

To the eldest prince, Barbro, the people of this village were beings far below him.

Even they’re slighting me.

The moment he thought that, months of pent-up anger flooded out as if it had found a place to go. The root of the complex sentiments was the demon disturbance—so unpleasant for Barbro.

The dam broke quickly.

“This is treason! I say this village is treasonous!”

A ripple of commotion went through everyone within earshot.

“Wait! That’s a bit—!”

Barbro glared at the bewildered knight in displeasure.

If an entire village was declared treasonous, eliminating all the residents was standard practice. After that, the village would be burned down to completely erase it.

But was that really all right in this case?

Barbro didn’t understand why his subordinates weren’t obeying his order. Did the marquis’s soldiers also make light of him? Was that why they weren’t complying?

“What do you mean by that?! Leaving these people alive when they don’t follow the royal family’s orders is surely worse!”

If Barbro forgave people who rebelled against the royal family, he would be seen as weak. Letting them live would lead to a loss in his authority.

If peasants openly rebelled in the territory ruled by a noble, that noble would undoubtedly destroy them. The knights who served the marquis knew that.

“Wait! The war with the empire is about to begin! If you kill people on the king’s land now, it will affect the entire army’s morale! And look how well defended this place is! It can’t be a mere village. There can’t be that many residents, but I’m sure we would be in for a struggle if we attempted to open the gate by force. The best course of action would be to calmly ask why they aren’t opening it.”

“…We’ll go in friendly and then hang a bunch of them later.”

“…Well, I’m sure that can’t be helped. Your Highness ordered them to open the gate, and they refused.”

“Yes, I’ll hang them from the gate. As an example.”

“Very good, Your Highness.”

Barbro scowled at Carne.

As the knight said, it even had a fine wall in addition to the gate. Perhaps those defenses were a matter of course, so close to the Tove Woodlands, but with the watchtower, it looked more like a fortress than a frontier village.

Certainly, bringing it down would take time.

He had over a thousand soldiers in position before the gate and was shouting to open up.

If he listened, he could hear a similar voice from a distance. It was coming from the rear gate.

As if struck with a flint, Barbro’s emotions burst into muddy flames again. Reason went out the window.

“Hey! Flaming arrows—now!”

“F-flaming arrows, Your Highness?!”

“Yes. Who knows how long this will take if we keep waiting? Look, we don’t have time to bother with this village. If you can open the gate in a few minutes, that’s fine, but that’s impossible, right?!”

The knights bit their lips and nodded.

“Threaten them with flaming arrows. No more shouting back and forth over the wall like children. Let’s show them how adults do things!”

The knights were lost for words, and a man slipped past them to come to the front.

“If you won’t follow His Highness’s orders…can you even say you’re loyal to the marquis? Your Highness, if it pleases you, my men are at your service.”

It was Baron Nosmartz with his crew of brownnosers.

Barbro was genuinely impressed that even this idiot could come in handy. Well, they were nobles, too, and would surely do something like this if there was a village in their domain that went against them; maybe they understood how Barbro felt very well.

“…Oh? Then I order you, Baron. Fire flaming arrows on the village—no, hmm. On the watchtower. No one will die if we do that, right?”

“Ohh, how considerate, Your Highness! I would expect nothing less. Please observe as we carry out your will.”

“M’lady! We’re all ready! Everyone’s hidden. All that’s left is for me to— What’s wrong?” Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Jugemu wasn’t sure how to continue.

The members of the self-defense squad who had remained were in complete opposition. Some were passively accepting of opening the gate and receiving the army, while others were aggressively against it. The root of the disagreement was whether or not it would constitute a betrayal of the village’s hero, Ainz Ooal Gown. That’s why it was such a difficult call.

“Actually…”

Just as Enri was about to explain to Jugemu, a voice sounded from the other side of the wall.

“People of Carne. It is very suspicious of you as subjects of the kingdom to refuse to open the gate. We will take representatives to the battlefield, where they must petition Ainz Ooal Gown to surrender. Prove that your loyalty lies with the kingdom and that you are the king’s subjects.”

The mood changed: Hatred seemed to rock the atmosphere.

Enri was no exception.

They were subjects of the kingdom, and they were loyal. But the weight of those facts, compared to their gratitude to the person who had saved their village expecting nothing in return, was so light. The one who had rescued them when their families, friends, and loved ones were being murdered was that great caster.

“I have no interest in being taken to the battlefield only to get in his way!”

“Why don’t we just escape into the forest and worry about the rest later?”

The villagers were in an uproar.

But they agreed that they would choose a plan that didn’t hamper their hero.

Just then came the sound of several things being smashed. Next was the whistling of arrows slicing through the air. Trailing red, they rained down on the watchtower. Enri could hear the dry thunking as they stuck into the wood.

“No…”

Enri gasped at the realization that the kingdom had introduced into this argument weapons that could kill people.

Luckily, there wasn’t anyone in the watchtower at the moment.
Is that why they attacked it? Or…

…would they have done it even if there were people inside?

“L-lady Enri! They don’t seem to be aiming over here, but it’s probably better for ya to stay out of range. Come this way! Hurry!”

Enri had been standing stock-still taking in the scene, but Jugemu pulled her arm. With no will to resist, she followed him, but she didn’t turn away from the watchtower.

As the self-defense squad members withdrew, the watchtower burst into flames.

The roof was made mostly of straw, so it burned up immediately. As she watched, the ceiling collapsed into giant flames.

The destruction could be seen from anywhere in the village. Heartrending cries went up here and there, but one was louder than all the rest. Breathing in short, rapid breaths due to the shock, Enri looked at the one who had emitted the most sorrowful scream.

It was a man who had moved to the village.

His face was equal parts hatred and despair. Looking at those around him who shared his expression, she realized they were all transplants.

Enri remembered—that their villages had been burned down.

“It’s an enemy!” the man yelled. “They’re our enemy! If they weren’t, they wouldn’t do something like that! I’m going to fight!”

“The kingdom? Ha. Those good-for-nothings never helped us! Are you going to burn this village down, too?” shouted a plump woman.

“Are we going to let them get away with this? If they’re gonna kill us, let them! We’ll take as many of them with us as we can! This will be our revenge!” a young man spat.

With the loosing of the flaming arrows, a nearly insane hatred took over the crowd.

“…Lady Enri, ya should call for a vote.” Jugemu made the levelheaded suggestion with the steely face of a warrior.

“Huh…? Those people aren’t in their right minds. We should vote once everyone calms down a bit…”

“There’s no time. And there’s nothing that says our opponents won’t go on a rampage. The village should decide what to do.”

He was right. They had already shot flaming arrows at the watchtower. Their next attack would surely be worse. They didn’t have a second to lose.

Having made up her mind, Enri took a deep breath. When she glanced at Nfirea, who had brought Nemu over, he gave her a little nod as if to say,
You can do this
.

Enri felt a slight warmth in her chest.

That gave her the last bit of courage she needed.

“Everyone! We’re going to make the decision for the village with everyone here! Once we reach a decision, please follow it!”

Energetic voices replied in approval.

“Does anyone think the village should go along with the kingdom’s suggestion?”

No one raised their hand.

As her heart pounded, Enri shouted, “Then we’ll risk our lives to oppose it! Raise your hand if you want to fight against the kingdom!”

With a roar, so many hands flew into the air that there were too many to count. And none of them had simply raised their hands. All were tightly balled fists. The villagers’ faces were determined.

Certainly, there was fear. Of course there was. They had chosen the path that ensured their deaths. But there was something else affecting them more deeply.

They didn’t want to be the type of people who repaid all the kindness they had received with ingratitude.

“Then we fight! This is our fight! We’ll repay that kindness! Jugemu, please come up with our battle plan.”

Jugemu moved quickly to the front and stood next to Enri. “We’ve seen your determination. Y’all are gonna die here, ya know. Is that all right?”

The only response to the seasoned veteran’s words was yes.

“You lot have a lotta bark for how pale yer faces are. You’re all magnificent… Now, I don’t mean to dampen the enthusiasm, but don’t ya think we should have the young ones escape? Shouldn’t the only ones to die be us and the older men?”

One of the older villagers spoke. “That’s a good point, but…it’s futile, isn’t it? The enemy is waiting outside both gates. Even if the children climbed over the wall, they’d definitely be discovered.”

“Yeah, if they ran the normal way, things would go right as ya said.” Jugemu grinned. “They wouldn’t be able to run and stay hidden. That’s why first we’ll open the front gate and draw in the enemy. Once they’ve lowered their guard, that’s when we strike. If we can do enough damage, they should concentrate their forces.” He looked around at everyone. “Of course, they might also realize it’s a distraction. Even so, if our attack is strong enough, they’ll have no choice but to gather together. Any questions or concerns?”

“Doesn’t seem like it, but Jugemu, where should they run to?”

“That’s obvious, m’lady. Into the Tove Woodlands. We’ll have Arg and Lady Brita, with their knowledge of the forest, go along with the evacuees, so I’m sure they’ll be able to manage until these guys leave.”

The villagers were prepared to give their lives, but it was only natural that they didn’t want their children to be killed. When Jugemu realized their fighting spirit had slackened with the relief of a lower possibility of losing the young ones, he said with a grim expression, “Listen. We need to land the first strike, then focus on attacking and defending after they concentrate their forces. We can’t let them get a breather in between. The more powerful our attacks are, the more likely the ones who run get to survive.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! Phew, what a relief!”

Several people were laughing. It wasn’t due to despair or a lapse in sanity. It was refreshing laughter.

“If my wife and children are saved, then I have no regrets. I’m happy to pay back our debt to Ainz Ooal Gown!”

“You said it! I won’t be a pathetic dad!”

“So…how will we split up?”

In response to Nfirea’s question, Jugemu scanned the faces of all the villagers present. “I’d like ya and Lady Enri to protect the wives and children as they withdraw from the village. And then like I said before, with woodland life in mind, Lady Brita and Arg and his tribe will be there.”

“—What?” Enri was so surprised she yelped audibly.

It was her duty as head of the village to operate with everyone until the end. Having decided to send the villagers into a deadly battle, it was her duty to go with them. She tried to say those things, but the villagers piped up faster.

They all agreed with Jugemu. As she was thinking about how to convince them otherwise, they decided the plan without her.

“Enri, we’re counting on you.”

“Please look after my kids. My wife was killed…but I still have my kids…”

The villagers’ firm handshakes contained all sorts of emotions. Enri was moved nearly to tears by the time Nfirea stepped beside her.

“Enri, let’s go. Our battle will take place after we survive. It’s a battle we can’t lose. And maybe Ainz Ooal Gown will come to save us again. Since we’ve been to his castle before, it would be best for us to be around if he does.”

“That’s right!”

“Oh, Jugemu…”

“That horn ya used to summon us…there was— Ah, well, even if ya used it, it would only be a drop in the bucket. Instead, put the new goblins to work after this battle.”

Almost crying, Enri pressed her hands against her eyes.

“Understood! We’ll take good care of your wives and children, everyone! Let’s go, Nfi!”

The gate slowly swung open.

“Aha, we should have shot the flaming arrows first thing. Readying the follow-up volley was a waste, but…”

Barbro frowned in displeasure. They had used up too much precious time they didn’t have. It would be quite the forced march to make it up later, but there was nothing to be done about that now.

This was the mistake of the marquis’s men. If he hadn’t given the order to loose the flaming arrows, he couldn’t even imagine how much more time they would have wasted.

He looked to the heavens, cursing his poor luck to have to manage such foolish subordinates.

They would also need some time for…executing some villagers.

He would hang them from the walls as examples of how foolish it was to disobey the royal family.

Then they would need time to find someone who knew Ainz Ooal Gown well. That seemed like it would take longer than the executions, because it would have to begin with an interrogation.

“Shit. How was I supposed to know I would need a torturer? I guess I could tell them I promise to spare them… The problem is the children…”

There was no point in letting the young live. In the first place, a child would never be able to survive on its own, so hanging it with its parents would be the compassionate thing to do.

“Do we even have that much rope? It would be nice if the numbers worked out…”

The soldiers approached the gate. He was incredibly satisfied with the sight of the royal family’s flag advancing at the head of the line. He wanted the flag bearer in his honor guard once he was king.

The soldier holding the banner passed through the gate first…and went flying backward as if repelled by something.

The royal family’s flag fluttered through the air before landing on the ground.

From within the gate, a huge figure showed itself.

“Th-that’s an ogre, right? An ogre?!” Barbro cried stupidly, forgetting the royal family’s dignity in the confusion of a situation he never anticipated.

Yes, it was an ogre, a people-eating subhuman. Multiple soldiers just as bewildered as Barbro at the sudden appearance of the monster were batted away with its gigantic club. When they fell to the ground, after flying quite a distance in a scattering of flesh scraps, it was like a sign, and the other soldiers scrambled to be the first to escape the area in front of the gate. More ogres exited and ran after them.

The soldiers who had taken off in the humiliating rout were clobbered away with clubs. They were like dolls being sent flying by children.

Their retreat was too sloppy to be called a withdrawal, probably because it was the baron’s troops. They never thought their reward of being the first to enter the village after firing the flaming arrows would end up like this.

Just as Barbro raised his eyebrows at the sight of the baron abandoning his territory’s soldiers and skedaddling out of harm’s way himself, a high-pitched whistle sounded.

The marquis’s cavalry had all raised their lances. Their magnificent discipline was enough to make Barbro think,
Now that’s more like it.
But they couldn’t jump into the melee of the ogres chasing the fleeing soldiers.

A lance was most destructive during the charge. Its advantages were essentially neutralized in a melee.

“Why aren’t you firing?” Barbro screamed.

Damages would mount if they continued to let their opponents close in. The best move would be to forsake the soldiers fleeing toward them and shoot them along with the villagers.

As Barbro was getting irritated, the ogres began to retreat. The cavalry couldn’t follow them to attack, ostensibly because the retreating soldiers were in the way, so they allowed the ogres to reenter the gate.

Barbro clenched the reins of his horse as he watched the men take in the soldiers who had returned and were working to build an actual battle formation.

He wanted to finish this stupid mission as quickly as possible and go make a name for himself on the battlefield against the empire.

From that dream resulted this mess.

He was sure that if he went helplessly back to E-Rantel, despite the unforeseen ogres, his reputation would suffer further. Then the gap in the race for the throne between him and his younger brother, Zanac, who should have been an extra, would be decisive.

Or…is this all going according to plan?

The loud tongue click he couldn’t hold back practically echoed, and he knew the nobles nearby were watching him.

But he didn’t have time to try to gloss it over. Barbro’s sharp gaze was directed at the knight who commanded the marquis’s elite forces, who was running his way.

“…What is that? Has the village been taken over by ogres?! Do you know anything about this?”

“N-not a thing, Your Highness. If monsters were here… The tax collector was just here, and I’m sure he would have reported it if the village had been conquered by ogres. And if he hadn’t returned, that would have been an issue, too… What in the world is going on in this village…?”

Barbro sensed the knight was genuinely at a loss, so even if this was a trap to reduce his power further, he realized this man had not been informed about it.

So in one way, he was an ally.

“So we don’t have enough information. Well, that can’t be helped. There were five ogres. If there were any more, surely they would have attacked, so there can’t be double that amount. Five ogres. You can take them out, right?”

“Of course, Your Highness. Each of us boasts strength equal to the elites in the Royal Select, who are said to be the strongest in the kingdom. Five ogres are no match for us!”

“I don’t doubt you, but I do wonder something. As far as I know, ogres are not very intelligent monsters; their actions earlier seemed too clever. They lured us in by opening the gate and then attacked with perfect timing. There has to be a commander. If one of the villagers is controlling them…?”

“With all due respect, that’s not possible. How would a mere farmer tame ogres? But there is the prospect of someone else. If possible, I’d like to gather intelligence about who we’re up against an—”

Barbro couldn’t contain his aggravation. “How can you just chitchat like that? Look!” He pointed to the royal family’s flag lying on the ground in front of the gate like a tattered rag. “Look what they’ve done to the royal family’s flag! I don’t care what it takes; we must destroy this village! Gather the soldiers. Loose your flaming arrows and burn it to the ground. This is a chance to get some siege experience! We’re past the point of getting through this without any casualties. Attack like you mean to raze the place.”

“Wait! Perhaps it’s not a villager but a subhuman with a brain, like an ogre sorcerer!”

“Maybe, but what about it?” Barbro spoke slowly to the puzzled knight, as if he was explaining to a child. “Listen. It doesn’t matter if it’s the villagers controlling the ogres or a smarter monster controlling the villagers and the ogres. The people in this village have rebelled against the royal family, the rulers of this land. We need to show the world how foolish that was.”

“It’s possible the villagers have been taken hostage and are innocent!”

“Were you not listening? What did I say? It doesn’t matter!”

The knight seemed to be having difficulties accepting his point, so Barbro shrugged.

“Okay, okay. I understand how you feel. Then here is the best compromise. Capture unresisting villagers. We can judge them later. Will that work for you?”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The knight bowed. Barbro nodded in satisfaction at the spirited reply.

“But I have one condition: Overwhelmingly crush them. If I lose men here, I’ll never hear the end of it. That goes for you as well. People will say you warriors are supposed to be the marquis’s trump card, but you couldn’t even run an errand to a village in a satisfactory way.”

“But the ogres—”

“An excuse like that isn’t going to fly. That’s just how the world is.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“If you understand, then get it done. Gather up the soldiers around the rear gate, too. And go cut down a tree from the forest. Make a simple battering ram. I’ll leave the details of the operation up to you. Win the fight while keeping losses to a minimum. Kill anyone who runs.”

Pots of oil were thrown against the wall, and more flaming arrows were loosed.

There was a violent explosion as if someone had cast Fireball, and as the black smoke rose, bright-red flames raged.

The self-defense squad members were shaken, so Jugemu gripped his magic sword tightly and roared. “Don’t get scared! This fire isn’t enough to bring down these walls! It’s more important to guard the ga—”

A huge bang rang out, and the gate creaked.

Just as the frame of the watchtower was still standing, the thick logs of the walls wouldn’t burn up even with the volleys of flaming arrows. Apparently, his idea that the fire had been only a distraction while they broke through the gate was right on. It shook with another bang.

This echo was heavier than the punches an ogre could deliver, so it had to be a siege weapon—probably a battering ram.

“Loose your arrows!”

Following Jugemu’s shout, the villagers shot their arrows with practiced hands. Screams of pain went up from the other side of the wall, but the battering ram attacks didn’t stop. Maybe it was a wave attack of multiple battering rams.

“Loose!”

Timed with Jugemu’s voice, another volley of arrows flew. But this time, the other side shot back. Several times the number of their arrows returned as a rain.

But not one of them hit anybody.

Their opponents weren’t inferring the firing locations; their arrows were sticking out of places that totally missed the mark. Still, if that many archers continued firing, their hit ratio would gradually improve. That meant there would be trouble if they didn’t immediately reduce their ratio to zero again.

“Take shelter! Take shelter! We’re switching positions!”

Following the order that was the product of Jugemu skillfully both raising and lowering his voice at the same time, the villagers began to shift in a panic.

The only thing the villagers had been taught was how to drop arrows on the other side of the wall by aiming from a specific location. For that reason, their hit ratio from that position was high—but conversely, just switching positions meant that they would have trouble aiming where they wanted.

A shooting battle wouldn’t work anymore.

“Take up your spears! We’ll do the rest at close quarters!”

The
thock
of metal striking something behind the wall was different than the sound of the battering ram they’d been hearing up until now. They must have brought out axes. The sounds could be heard from more than one location.

Numbers truly were violence. There was a good chance the attacks on the walls and gate were distractions, and soldiers were climbing up ladders somewhere else entirely. That was the tactic Jugemu would have chosen if he was commanding.

As I thought…their tactic of splitting their forces is working quite well.

Since Carne was overwhelmingly outnumbered, they couldn’t possibly cope with all the different attacks. By making them think that, they spread them out even further.

After they had thinned out enough, the village would strike. In wedge formation, they would charge on the army’s main position. If they did that, the soldiers would probably panic and concentrate their forces.

That’s why he had had the ogres come back in. Even if they had charged at that point, they probably couldn’t have caused enough chaos to get them to bring back the soldiers who had gone around to the rear gate.

If the detached enemies come back, that’ll mean we’ll be surrounded with nowhere to run. I guess it’ll be what ya call jumping into the dragon’s mouth.

They were tactics that were sure to leave them dead.

That said…

“Well, our plan is already half-successful,” Jugemu murmured in a relaxed tone as he turned his gaze toward the rear gate, though he couldn’t see it.

He’d prepared the escape route with the highest-possible chances of survival for his master, so he had no regrets. To make a cold assessment, if all the villagers fighting here died, the enemy wouldn’t know how many got away, nor what became of Enri.

Protecting Enri was Jugemu’s highest priority; for that, he was willing to sacrifice everything, which was why—

“Everyone! When the gate breaks, we’re going to charge! Our objective is their main position! Taking out their boss is the only way we’ll survive!”

“Rrrragh!” A determined roar went up. Some voices trembled, but he didn’t sense anyone chickening out.

They were men with the will to protect their children and loved ones as much as they could.

Enri and Nfirea dashed down from the rear watchtower and ran to where the women and children were gathered by the gate. Nfirea’s grandmother, Lizzy, wasn’t among them. She was busy hiding the many alchemical items Ainz Ooal Gown had given her.

She probably wouldn’t have time to escape, but she undertook the task with that understanding.

“It’s okay! We didn’t see anyone in the area. Let’s open the gate and head for the forest!”

The group of children were so frightened their faces were pale, but they nodded seriously.

As Nfirea and Brita turned the crank, one side of the gate began to open.

First, Enri poked her head out the slim opening to survey the area. There was no mistake. Just as they had seen from the watchtower, there was no sign of any soldiers. Jugemu’s strategy must have worked.

“Okay, go!”

The first ones to leave were Arg and the goblins from his tribe. Their role was to cut an escape route for them if there were soldiers waiting for them in the woods. Next went Brita. She was on the lookout for any soldiers Arg and the others might miss.

Out of consideration for the feet of the children behind them, the vanguard adjusted their speed as they ran toward the trees. After that, the children took off running with a buddy. Some mothers ran with their children in their arms. Children without mothers grabbed the hand of any older child.

Bringing up the rear, Enri and Nfirea glanced at each other and then ran.

After exiting the gate, it was a long way to the forest. And it seemed several times farther away than usual.

They frantically pumped their legs.

Still so far.

Still.

Just then, they heard a horse neigh behind them.

Enri’s cardiopulmonary function during this period was shockingly good—to the point where it kind of grossed her out. Even so, her heart jolted and her breath grew rough. Terrified, she turned around and saw something she didn’t want to believe. She saw despair.

“No way…”

Over a hundred mounted knights had appeared behind them. They must have been lurking in the watchtower’s blind spot, pressed up against the wall. If they were showing themselves at this point, it was probably because they had determined that, since no one else was running out, those two were the last of the escapees.

It wasn’t that far from the village to the forest, but humans and horses moved at different speeds.

Even if Arg and Brita could get away, it would be impossible for the children. The horses would definitely catch up to them.

The knights were raising things that gleamed, so she had no doubt they meant to cut them down from behind. She cringed with the fear of the time before. Nemu was running toward the front.
Will she make it?

“Enri, keep running!”

Nfirea stopped.

“Nfi!”

“I’ll buy you time!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I don’t think Lupusregina is going to come out of nowhere to save you at the last minute like last time!”

“I said to run!” Enri had stopped, and he screamed at her.

“If you want to buy time, I have a better way than you.”

Enri took out a shabby-looking horn.

It would summon nineteen goblins. Still, each one was strong, so they would be sure to buy them time.

“You dummy, look how many of them there are! What’re twenty-odd goblins going to do?”

Nfirea was right. They would just go around them and continue their attack. But it would be dumber to not blow it.

“That goes for you, too!”

Enri didn’t have any more time to talk. She put the horn to her lips, ready to blow.

Save us, goblin friends!

It was a bass sound that thundered out, shaking the ground.

Enri blinked, hardly believing she had produced it. When she summoned Jugemu and the others, it had made a sort of pathetic
poooot
like a kid’s toy.

“E-Enri…”

She noticed that Nfirea’s alarm stemmed from something he was looking at past her, farther back. She turned to follow his gaze.

She shouldn’t have had time to while the cavalry was charging at them, but for some reason, the knights had jerked their reins and come to a stop. Perhaps because it was so sudden, the horses were rearing up.

Enri looked behind her.

“…What…? Huh?!”

In
Yggdrasil
, players were able to name their own items save for a few exceptions. One of them was artifacts, which were dropped as completed items.

The artifact Goblin General’s Horn…

It was a small, shabby-looking item, so there was one question.

This item summoned nineteen goblins in all. But the goblins it summoned were, to
Yggdrasil
players, mobs so weak that they were practically useless. So why did an item like that get such a grand name with “General” in it? Why not just call it “Goblin Troops’ Horn”?

Many
Yggdrasil
players wondered the same thing. But no one ever came up with a satisfactory explanation; everyone had just kind of accepted that it was a strange name.

But actually, there was a reason for it.

And the reason was…

Jugemu swung the magic great sword he’d taken from the Giant of the East. He put all his might behind the blow, but an enemy soldier blocked it. It seemed he couldn’t halt its momentum entirely, though, because his stance broke momentarily. Normally that would be when Jugemu would launch a follow-up attack, but the soldiers surrounding him didn’t allow that.

They came at him from either side, well synchronized to cover the first soldier’s weak spot.

With a click of his tongue, Jugemu swung his great sword like it was part of his body to repel both attacks.

“…This goblin is magnificent. I can’t believe he’s holding the three of us off this well.”

“He’s quite a fighter. I never thought I’d meet a goblin this strong.”

Jugemu noted the composure in their impressed voices, which irritated him.

If it was Jugemu against one of the soldiers, he would win. Against two, it would depend on the enemy. Against three, he was very likely to lose. And—

Sensing another soldier trying to come around behind him, he inched backward.

—against four, he had no chance.

At first, it had been easy to break through—all the soldiers were weak.

The wedge formation of Carne’s heroes sliced through the kingdom’s formation and dug deep into it. But like the layers of rocks in the ground, stronger men had appeared. Their gear was much better, and they seemed to be the enemy’s elite forces.

It wasn’t that far to where the enemy’s commander stood, and it didn’t seem that densely defended.

But—their opponents were tough.

Without taking his eyes completely off the four soldiers he was fighting, he looked around and saw that his subordinate goblins were outnumbered.

The ogres were in the same boat; they had powerful arms and great stamina but not much else. Soldiers specialized in hit-and-run tactics ran circles around them.

Carne had already lost several residents. Though the goblins were the front line of the wedge formation’s frame, their enemies were so numerous they couldn’t hold them all back, and each time they managed to make inroads, someone hit the ground.

It was an impossible battle from the beginning, so these results were only natural.

But it was true that Jugemu wondered if maybe…

That’s when it happened.

He couldn’t completely block the sword that swung down and took a scratch.

“Tch!” He brandished his great sword and created some distance. “Who are ya? Definitely not just militia, that’s for sure.”

Jugemu was level 12. With that in mind, his opponent’s level must have been 10 or 11. The other three were 8 or maybe 9.

A typical villager was level 1. The people who had trained in Carne might have made it to level 2. Even the soldiers who accompanied the tax collector from E-Rantel seemed like level 3 or below, so these soldiers were quite strong.

Incidentally, Nfirea and Enri weren’t warriors, so he couldn’t say for sure, but they seemed strong, so he counted them as exceptions.

“This goblin…or is he a hobgoblin? Well, I guess it makes sense since there are so many?”

“He doesn’t look like a hobgoblin… Maybe he’s goblin royalty? Maybe he took the village by force…? But that doesn’t explain why the people are putting up such a desperate fight.”

“Ha! Humans aren’t very smart! It’s because we’ve taken them hostage. Can’t ya figure even that much out?”

“That’s definitely a lie. Villagers like that can’t fight to this level. They’d be more likely to stab you in the back. I sense battlefield bonds that transcend race from you guys. But why? Why are goblins and humans fighting side by side?”

“How should I know, dimwit?!”

“Looks like I was right that you’re on the same side. If you weren’t—”

“Shaddup! That satisfied smirk on yer face is pissin’ me off!”

Jugemu brought his sword down.

But the outcome was the same as before.

The soldier could block the blow, but he couldn’t halt its momentum completely. His stance broke, but when Jugemu tried to perform a follow-up, the others all aimed at his weak points to intercept.

In that case…
Having made up his mind, Jugemu didn’t dodge the swords.

The blades aimed at unarmored parts of his body sliced into him.

The sensation in those two places was less like pain and more like heat.

Jugemu gritted his teeth, used a skill, and shifted his great sword’s attention to the soldier coming to slash at him from the side.

“Goblin Blow!”

He unleashed a powerful attack aimed at the soldier’s mail—a weak point. It cut through the armor and left a large wound in the man’s flesh. The moment he was hit, the soldier spasmed.

The great sword had poison magic, though the man seemed to be resisting it, albeit not perfectly. His ability to fight hadn’t been completely eviscerated.

But then: It wasn’t as if Jugemu was distracted, but he failed to dodge a strike from behind.

The breastplate he was wearing protected him, so he wasn’t seriously injured, but the impact of the sword made his whole body shriek.

“Shit!”

“That’s my line. How dare you do that to Vike?”

“Vike, fall back. Go around behind him!”

This was a melee, so Jugemu dispatched other soldiers who entered his range, as well. Their shabby gear meant they were probably peasant conscripts.

The sheer numbers they had were really unfair.

“Fall back! These guys—these goblins—are seriously tough! Fall back! We’ll handle this guy. Go to the villagers in the rear!”

“I don’t think so!”

Jugemu whipped his sword around, and the peasant soldiers backed up, frightened.

The heat turned into a throbbing pain.

Aside from swinging a sword, one of the most important things a warrior trained in was the ability to get used to pain. And another was to gain an understanding of one’s pain threshold—so that it was possible to run when things felt bad.

Jugemu’s senses told him he could still fight. But only that he could still fight. How many more minutes would he be able to stall them?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another villager collapse. The earth soaked up his blood.

They hadn’t had much of a chance to begin with, but now they were doomed.

That said, he figured they had bought Enri and the others enough time to escape, so all that was left for him to do was lurch forward toward death.

Our objective is the enemy boss.

I’ll go even if I have to go alone.

Did they see his determination? The expressions of the soldiers in front of him hardened.

Just as Jugemu clenched his sword and resolved to charge, a commotion went through the entire battlefield. When he glanced in the direction his opponents were looking, he couldn’t look away again.

It had appeared next to the village…

…quite simple. Its true power wasn’t to summon nineteen goblins.

In
Yggdrasil
, no one had managed to put its actual value on display, so it had been discarded as a junk item.

In this other world, however, it unleashed its true power for the first time.

Its name, once more, was…

Goblin General’s Horn.

Its real power, if used when three conditions were met, was…

3

The heavy, rhythmic sound of a drum echoed across the battlefield from next to Carne. The eyes that gathered in the direction of the noise popped wide open immediately—because an army of about five thousand strong was advancing to the beat of the drum with orderly motions.

Both Prince Barbro’s side and Carne’s side first assumed it was reinforcements for the kingdom’s forces. The only difference was whether they could think of someone who would send Prince Barbro reinforcements out here or not. But the way the newcomers looked made it immediately clear they weren’t kingdom reinforcements.

The army was made up of goblins.

The race of subhumans called goblins was smaller than humans, only about the size of children, but their determination made them seem double or triple their actual size.

They were wrapped in the sparkle of steel. Their weapons, made for maiming and killing, were polished to perfection. They were the weapons of warriors.

This wasn’t a militia but an army of true warriors.

“Now! Anyone still alive, run for it! It’s reinforcements! We have reinforcements! Run that way!” Jugemu barked loudly.

He didn’t know who they were. They could have been friend, foe, or someone totally uninvolved. Running over to them just because they were of the same race was the wrong choice. Really, they probably should have fled back to the village.

But Jugemu sensed something like sympathy. He had a hunch they honored the same master. He had the feeling they would shelter them and protect them.

The Carne survivors didn’t hesitate to run for the great goblin army.

The encirclement crumbled as they ran. The kingdom’s soldiers knew they should be pursuing the runners, but their movements were sluggish. But that was only to be expected. The huge army that appeared was so well disciplined. Approaching carelessly had to be dangerous.

There were two reasons the kingdom’s army let Jugemu and his men go.

The first was that if they passed on the chance for a follow-up attack, it would let them reorganize their formation. The drums were already telling them to fall back.

The other was that they worried if they killed any goblins, the great army would unleash fierce and immediate retribution to avenge their kin.

The new goblins readily accepted Jugemu and his men, loosening their formation to allow them to slip inside. The moment the last ally had been welcomed, they closed their ranks and returned to their original positions—like a steel door.

Jugemu looked over his friends as they lay on the ground, dead tired. No one had made it unharmed. Many of them were so relieved to reach safety that they fell unconscious.

As he scanned the area, his vision seemed like it might begin to blur. The number of goblins, ogres, and villagers had decreased.

“But I guess we’re lucky that over half survived. Konaa!”

He called the name of the only goblin in their group who could use healing magic, the cleric. But Konaa shook his head. He had already used up all his mana in the fight.

“Then what about first aid? Can anyone—?”

Midway through Jugemu’s shout, he saw a bearded goblin wearing a Chinese headdress and carrying a fan made of feathers approaching.

From his demeanor, he was clearly the core figure of this army.

“Ho-ho-ho-ho. You are General Enri’s escort, I take it? I have been entrusted with command of this army. I am a goblin strategist. Now that we have come, no one will do you harm. Never fear. We’ll take them to the healing corps right away.”

The goblin raised his fan and a robust group of goblins arrived bearing stretchers.

“Quickly now, load them up and carry them over. Since we’re here now, the loss of even one life would be a disgrace.” The injured were carried away. “You are also wounded. I think it would be best for you to get treatment from our—”

“Uh, sorry. That’s very kind of ya, but can we talk first? I’ll last that long.”

The strategist must have believed that Jugemu’s attitude wasn’t just bravado, because he nodded once and replied, “I would expect nothing less from the leader of General Enri’s escort. What would you like to ask? Well, ho-ho-ho, I imagine there is only one question on your mind. If you’re looking for General Enri, she’s in the screened position behind me. I’m sure she will be pleased to see you.”

“Oh? That’s good.” He heaved a genuinely relieved sigh. So much tension went out of his body that he felt like he might fall over, but he didn’t want to look so pathetic in front of their successors. “All right. Then I suppose I’ll go see her. It doesn’t seem like we’ll have much of a role to play in the battle to come anyhow.”

“Ho-ho-ho-ho. I appreciate you yielding the action to us newcomers.”

“What? Ah, it’s fine. The seniors’ duty is to give their juniors a chance to earn some achievements, after all… Thank you.”

“Ho-ho-ho-ho. We’ll be sure to show you what we can do. Now, then! Our only option is victory. Instruct the heavy infantry to advance!”

“What’s that?! We nearly had them! Shit!”

Barbro’s eyes practically popped out of his head as he glared at the intruders who had obliterated his efforts.

Nothing was going his way.
Why do I have to face a goblin army in this tiny village?
It was so aggravating he wanted to rip his hair out.

If it was an imperial army, he would have happily ordered his men to continue fighting. But these were goblins. Even if they won, who would care?

“Prince, requesting permission to withdraw.”

He turned scornful eyes on the knight and his suggestion.

The reasonable thing to do was withdraw. He didn’t know why such a large goblin army had appeared in this place, but if he reported back with that information, it would probably be counted as a job decently done.

But it wasn’t hard to imagine that if he turned tail and ran without clashing swords at least once, he would be branded as the prince who fled from goblins.

And if he was defeated, he would be the prince who lost to goblins. The nobles were so hungry for gossip that the rumors would spread until everyone had heard them. Anyone who didn’t see the battle wouldn’t care how strong the goblins were. All that mattered to them was if the story was interesting or not.

Barbro mentally cursed the aristocrats ridiculing him from their positions of safety.

“…Permission denied. Fight them.”

“Your Highness! Look at their equipment and their impeccable formation. They’re as skilled or even more so than the goblins we’ve fought so far. Our chances of winning with an army made up of mainly civilians are low. Please order a withdrawal!”

Barbro knew that without being told. But he had no other way to protect his reputation besides fighting. Now they could only pray the goblins weren’t as tough as they looked.

“You fool! Do I really have to spell out how dangerous it would be to leave this army here? The kingdom’s army is headed for the Katze Plain as we speak. What would you do if E-Rantel was attacked while it’s practically empty?!”

“U-understood.”

All they could do was hit them once and withdraw immediately after that if the army was as powerful as it seemed. Their aim was to fight the empire, not suffer a major loss here. He maintained enough composure to keep that in mind.

The soldiers ahead of Barbro tidied their ranks, and almost as if on cue, the goblin army began advancing.

The enemy was in three long columns.

And against them, Barbro’s men were in an inverted wedge. The reason they weren’t in a wedge was that they wanted to make the best use of the cavalry, with their superior combat strength, and because their enemy’s formation was weak against flank attacks.

At the front of the goblin army, facing them, were heavy infantry carrying giant shields that practically hid them. The pressure of their perfectly synchronized march felt more to Barbro like a wall pressing in on him.

Inside his gauntlets, his hands gripping the reins of his horse started to get grossly clammy.

The militiamen with their spears crashed into the heavy infantry and their shields. First, these forces would put a halt to their advance and pin them down, then the idea was to have the cavalry charge their flank.

The militia and the heavy infantry clashed.

And a goblin shout reached Barbro.

“We are the Goblin Heavy Infantry Corps under General Enri! Don’t think this will be enough to stop us!”

Before he could wonder about who General Enri was, Barbro was distracted by groaning movements coming from his formation.

The enemy shields were shoving the conscripts back. Naturally, those who were pushed bumped into the men behind them, and the formation began to crumble.

Alarmed, the cavalry units on either flank leaped into motion. The right moved a little faster and tried to swing around to attack from the side, but seventeen riders sparkling in silver armor atop not horses but shining silver wolves rode out to meet them.

“We are the Goblin Holy Knight Unit under General Enri. Our loyalty lies with her!”

From the left flank sprang magical beasts similar to wolves. On their backs were goblins. The wolf leading the pack had wings. The goblin astride it shouted, and its voice sliced through the conscripts’ screams to make it to Barbro’s ears.

“We are the Mounted Goblin Corps under General Enri. Here we come!”

As the riders entered the fray, Barbro heard the twangs of a great many bowstrings.

When he looked, he saw dozens of arrows raining down on the melee. He focused on the enemy side to find where they were coming from.

In the second formation. Goblins in eye-poppingly red clothes held large bows. Their physiques were strikingly unbalanced, and their bodies swayed with each step. An eye-catching goblin holding a bow even larger than the others opened its mouth wide.

“We are the Goblin Longbow Corps! Know that you cannot escape us.”

And that wasn’t the end of the ranged attacks. From the third formation came a few magic spells that burst inside Barbro’s army, though still quite a ways in front of his position. In a flash of light, crimson flowers bloomed and scattered in a flurry of burning petals. The series of explosions sent soldiers flying.

The casters wore deep hoods that concealed their faces. In one hand, they each held a long staff that radiated a mysterious glow.

The one at the head of the group lifted its hood to reveal its wizened face.

“We are the Goblin Magic Support Corps under General Enri. We use not only buffing spells but debuffs and attack spells as well. Shall we familiarize you with our powers?”

That wasn’t the only unit casting spells. Next to the Goblin Magic Support Corps, there was a similar-looking unit. There were only five of them, but each of their faces looked supremely confident. The goblin out front with the most impudent smile raised its voice.

“We are the Goblin Magic Bombardment Squad under General Enri. Specialized in offensive area-of-effect spells, we are the unit with the most attack power.”

“Your Highness!”

A knight returned to Barbro. It was easy to tell what he was going to say just from the frantic look on his face. The presence of casters meant a significant boost in the enemy army’s strength.

“This is the limit of what we can do! We can’t suppress them! It’s only a matter of time before enemy soldiers reach your position! Please order the withdrawal!”

Barbro had to. Even if he told them to stay and fight, the nobles who followed him here would probably scramble to escape. Even if he forced them, they would only resent him and become his future enemies.

“Do it. And order the baron to go first.”

He would have liked to be the first to escape himself, but it wasn’t hard to imagine getting a bad reputation as the coward who was the first to flee before the goblins or the like. He would have the baron take that inglorious role.

“Understood!”

The moment after the knight relayed the orders to his waiting subordinate—

“You won’t get away!”

—a familiar voice sounded from right next to Barbro, and he felt for the first time that his life was in danger.

As his escorts drew their swords and scanned the area, figures dressed all in black slipped out of the shadows. Their faces were masked, but their sharp eyes glittered.

“We are the Goblin Assassin Squad under General Enri! This will surely be the last time we who lurk in shadows come into the light.”

And there was one more.

He appeared, as if he couldn’t help himself, in a red hat, iron shoes, and a scythe, like a god of death.

“I am one of the Goblin Guards—the Thirteen Redcaps serving under General Enri. Well, I guess there’s not really a reason for me to be here, but…”

“Guard His Highness! Sound the gong for withdrawal!”

“Not so fast!”

A shadow moved. At least, that was all Barbro could make out.

One of the knights vanished from the neck up, and his blood spurted out like a fountain.

When his brain comprehended what he was looking at, Barbro spurred his horse into a gallop. He was no longer at leisure to fret about who would flee first. He was standing on the razor’s edge between life and death.

The drums of the Goblin Military Band under General Enri pounded obnoxiously behind him.

“…Is it okay that we let them get away?”

“That was the strategist’s orders. If we took the prince’s head, there would be no hope of finding a middle ground with the kingdom.”

“Hmm. That’s true. If General Enri was killed, I wouldn’t stop until every last enemy was dead, either. The strategist is brilliant. He has his eye on the future. Is that the same reason we didn’t wipe out the soldiers?”

“Indeed it is. We need them to escort the prince back to the city. Mind you, I found it offensive as well. I would have liked to get revenge on them for attacking General Enri’s village… All right, Redcaps. Let’s take care of the corpses.”

“Yeah. We need to recover the bodies of the brave heroes who fought with the leader of the earlier group.”

4

The meadow was bathed in moonlight, and in the middle of it was a camp. Then again, with no tents, wooden fences, or anything, could it really be called a camp? Perhaps the most accurate thing to say was that there was an army in the middle of the meadow.

Most of them were lying on the ground with utter exhaustion written on their faces.

The reason they could sleep with no bedding during a winter so cold their breath came out white must have been because they were dead tired. One man walked among the soldiers lying like discarded rag dolls.

It was the general of the defeated army, Barbro.

Should he have felt lucky that he survived or unlucky that they encountered such a formidable enemy?

The great goblin army that suddenly appeared in Carne was a powerful adversary—no, overpowering. As a result of their clash, Barbro’s forces had been broken in an instant, and they had no choice but to flee in a rout. He had been losing soldiers so fast it was like his forces were melting away.

Where did those goblins come from?

He wanted to know.

One possibility he thought of was that an army of goblins was building a huge kingdom in the Tove Woodlands. A group like that coming south was the most convincing explanation.

The nobles who had fled with him appeared to have arrived at the same conclusion and had consoled him as they fled.

We got unlucky.

Those have to be the most elite goblins.

Just bringing home word of those goblins is a fine deed.

“So stupid…”

Barbro clenched his fists.

Defeat was defeat. Certainly, the goblins had been tough. Anyone who had fought them would know that there wasn’t anything Barbro could have done.

But to someone who wasn’t in the know, Barbro was the prince who had been defeated by goblins. He would surely be ridiculed.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

The bile rose in his throat. This was the reason that although he was as exhausted as the soldiers, Barbro alone couldn’t sleep.

When he closed his eyes, he heard the taunts and jeers that would surely be waiting for him in the palace when he returned.

Barbro’s fight was over. His army was in no shape to travel to the Katze Plain and join the battle against the empire.

At that very moment, he sensed a presence. Not those of his men on the ground but from the direction they had run from.

Was it a straggler returning or a unit of goblins coming to attack?

With his heart pounding, Barbro shifted his gaze, but in the next moment, he screwed his face up in confusion.

She must have realized he noticed her because she raised a hand and casually greeted him.

“Hiya.”

Where had she come from in the middle of this meadow? There, a mere twenty yards away, stood a peerless beauty with a smile that seemed best described as
innocent
. If he had been in a city, she would have turned his head. But this was the middle of a meadow—there wasn’t even a village nearby.

The strangest thing of all was the clothes she wore—something like a maid uniform.

If the woman had been armed, he could have guessed she was an adventurer. But that was impossible.

A monster?

The thought popped into his head. Some monsters had exceedingly beautiful appearances—sprites, for a major example. But he couldn’t grasp why she had a maid uniform.

“Hey there. I came over to play! Do ya have a minute?”

Clearly, she was making fun of him.

“Who are you?” he challenged her, putting a hand on the sword at his hip.

It was an awfully lame question. But he really had no idea who she was. Her existence was so unfathomable, he didn’t know where to begin.

“I’m Lupusregina, one of Lord Ainz’s maids.”

She stuck a hand up again and waved—
what a strange woman
. Then the meaning of the words she said sank into his brain.

“Wh-what?” Barbro was so surprised he forgot about waking up the nearby soldiers.

“Well, eh, settin’ that aside—what a tough time you guys had, ’ey? But that was pretty low, huh? Having to face that great goblin army was no fair. Seriously, though, I was standin’ behind that human, En, watchin’ and I screeched ’cause I was so surprised! Who knew that many goblins would come out? Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Lupusregina’s laugh was artificial.

It was an obvious provocation, but Barbro couldn’t bear it in his current state.

“What have you come for, then?!”

There was some movement behind him in response to his shout.

If she came intending to attack, she’s acting quite strange. There’s no point in revealing herself to us. Or is this all a plot to draw our attention? Maybe after gathering our eyes and ears on her, someone else will sneak attack from behind?

No, I’m the eldest prince—I’m quite valuable.

If I’m lucky, there will be a negotiation. If I’m not, I’ll be made a hostage.

Well, maybe negotiation would be a little too convenient. Surely, I’ll be taken prisoner.

Barbro felt the throne recede again.

That said, the high-ranking royal aides who sent him out there without any intelligence on the massive number of goblins in that village could be put first in line for the blame.

If I’m captured, I should get the chance to meet Ainz Ooal Gown. Maybe it’s not a bad idea to give him a quarter of the kingdom and then have him cooperate to make me king.

Perhaps there’s a blessing to be found in this curse.

That was the sort of thing on Barbro’s mind.

“Ohh, there’s only one reason I’m here.” She paused for a breath and then declared, “I came to kill you all.”

Barbro blinked several times and then screamed. “Huh?! What are you talking about?! Do you know who I am?! I’m the eldest prince of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Barbro Andréan Yeld Ryle Vaiself!”

Lupusregina sighed. “But you’re just a human, yeah? Am I wrong? To us, that makes ya worthless. Oh, but I do know you’re a prince.”

“Then… Oh, I see. You mean you’ll kill everyone besides me? I can’t really say that’s a good idea, though. Even if you take me hostage, you’ll have to let someone go to tell my father, the king, and it’ll just make your negotiations harder.”

Lupusregina cocked her head, looking puzzled. “No, no. What are you going on about? I’ll say it again. I’m gonna kill you all. ‘I’m gonna kill you all’ means I’m gonna kill all of you. Guess ya don’t have much for brains in there, huh? Ohh, in that sense, you might be kinda rare, but I’m not interested.”

“What are
you
going on about? Do you still not understand what I’m worth?! I’m the eldest prince, for crying out loud! Where are you getting the idea to kill me?! Most people would take me prisoner and demand a huge ransom! Or land or something! It’s much more beneficial to use me as a tool for negotiation than to kill me!”

“…Hoo boy, you just don’t get it.” Lupusregina put on a creepy grin. Then she continued in a gentle voice one might use to explain something to a child. “The ever-lofty one, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, simply doesn’t need you for his plan. So I’m killing you. Got it?”

Barbro couldn’t find any words—because it was clear that Lupusregina wasn’t joking around or threatening him in order to manipulate him.

He gulped in spite of himself.

“…Are you serious? Are you really going to kill me…?”

“Ooh, nice. Love that face you’re makin’. You just went up quite a few notches on my list of faves.”

“Then…” Barbro tried to smile with his twitching face, but Lupusregina replied with no expression.

“Lord Ainz ordered me to kill all of you; that’s why I’m not letting any of you leave this place alive.”

Then she suddenly made a goofy face.

“I put a lotta thought into what sort of guys you would have fun with, and I came up with an opponent who’s perfect for you guys, since you had such a rough time with those goblins!”

She spread her arms with a “ta-da!” Behind her, multiple figures appeared, almost as if they had seeped out of thin air.

“I asked for these to be summoned—Redcaps!”

There were thirty in all.

They bore a close resemblance to the ones from before, appearing to be ugly, twisted goblins.

They all wore bright-red pointed hats and iron shoes. They were armed with adzes. In the moonlight, they seemed to glow blue.

“Attack! What do you think you’re doing? Wake up! Hurry! Get your weapons! The enemy is attacking!”

Barbro’s screams roused the soldiers completely, and they jumped up promptly. In the bright moonlight, they squinted at the enemy.

“They’re level forty-three. Honestly, it’s totally overkill, but we didn’t have any goblins weaker than this in the library.”

Someone screamed.

The soldiers who had just come from a hellish battle with goblins couldn’t find the spirit to face more goblins.

Without even taking up their swords, they fled in confusion.

“Don’t run! Fight! Fight! Fight! Aren’t you going to protect me?!”

Not a single soldier followed Barbro’s instructions. The nobles ran for their horses.

“Ah-ha-ha-ha! Fantastic! You think you can get away in the middle of this open field? Ahhh, this is so fun! Just the best! I love this!”

Lupusregina’s taunt was actually exactly what was on Barbro’s mind.

The only way out of this was to defeat the enemies.

“Looks like some of these guys are thinkin’,
If I can just make it to my horse, I’ll escape…
Can ya go cut those dummies’ legs off for me?”

Emitting a shrill cheer for the slaughter, the Redcaps began to move.

They were like wild animals.

They ran, weaving their way through the crowd of men trying to escape.

Then…there was a shriek.

It was one of the nobles who had tried to get away on his horse.

A few more screams.

“Now that there are less of them, the fun time won’t last as long, but…oh well. That just means we’ll need to have as many different kinds of fun as we can. I don’t have abilities like Sol does, but I’ll show you what I got!”

Lupusregina walked toward Barbro, who had drawn his sword. Her gait was so leisurely, it was like she was taking a stroll through the meadow.

The smile running like a fissure across her beautiful face made his blood run cold.

It was thirty minutes later that Barbro was finally allowed to die.