Overlord, Vol. 11: The Dwarven Crafter

Chapter 2 | In Search of the Land of the Dwarves

1

The group of monsters Aura and Shalltear selected was gathered on the coast near the lizardman village.

Shalltear’s level-80-or-so undead numbered twenty-five. Aura’s chosen magical beasts came in a group of thirty. Six vampire brides would attend to Ainz, Shalltear, and Aura. Additionally, Ainz had brought his five Hanzos.

There were also five mammoth-like creatures to transport their supplies. They were fitted with baskets on either side of their bodies; Ainz had used them often in
Yggdrasil
.

These mammoths were only around level 40, so in this party, they were rather weak. Still, there was a good reason they were relied upon for transport. Since they had resistance to chill and fire, they could operate without issue whether their duties took them to a region of ice and snow or a crater filled with bubbling lava. Their appearance belied their impressive speed, and another advantage they had was an ability to go for a long time without eating.

With Cocytus at his back, Ainz called Zenbel over.

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

Zenbel left the group of lizardmen Ainz knew the names of—Zaryusu and Crusch among them—and walked over. Ainz’s gaze shifted to the white infant in Crusch’s arms.

As if she had sensed his collector’s instinct, she moved to shield the baby.

It’s not like I’m going to steal your kid…

Feeling somewhat sad, Ainz handed Zenbel three items.

“Take these. This is a ring that will make it so you won’t need to eat or drink. This one protects against chill. And I’m also lending you this Fly necklace. I’ll teach you how to use it, so it’ll be handy if you slip and fall.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

That was the basic item set Ainz had used for mountain climbing in his
Yggdrasil
days. They could deal with any special environmental effects as they came up when the party entered the mountains.

“Sorry to interrupt your preparations. The handover is all I needed you for. You can go back.”

Zenbel bobbed his head and returned to the others.

“Cocytus. Those kids sure are curious, huh?”

The children were maintaining a moderate distance, but they stared at Ainz’s group with what were probably gleaming eyes.

Hmm. I’m sure if I took some of these children to a human city, they would fit in soon enough. Or maybe I should bring human children here? I could build a camp nearby and move human children there. And then lizardman children can be carried over, too.

Ainz pictured human and lizardman children—goblin, too—playing together. Plus Aura and Mare, dark elf children. He added Shalltear in, too.

He only put Shalltear in there because he happened to see her readying the magical beasts alongside Aura. There was no other reason.

What a nice scene. I should propose it to Albedo and Demiurge.

“IF THEY OFFEND YOU, I CAN ORDER THEM TO DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY.”

“That’s not what I’m thinking… Do you think children from different races could become friends right away? Do you think human children and lizardman children would hold hands?”

“I’M AFRAID I DON’T KNOW. BUT IF IT IS YOUR WILL, LORD AINZ, I’M SURE THEY WOULD.”

…It’s not about my will or orders. I’m asking whether people of two different races would be able to hold hands. Maybe it’s not a good idea to have as a king?

Ainz’s idle thoughts and musings were liable to become commands. That’s why so many things worried him.

“…I see. Well, it’s about time to leave. Aura! Shalltear! Are you all ready to go?”

When he called out to them, their answers came back without delay.

“Yep, I’m good!”

“Me as well. I’m ready to go whenever you are, Lord Ainz.”

“Zenbel!”

“No problems here!”

“Okay then, we’re off!”

“TAKE CARE, LORD AINZ! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, I’LL MOBILIZE THE ARMY RIGHT AWAY.”

Cocytus had the right idea. In the event a hostile player turned up, Nazarick could very well be forced into deploying its army in preparation for an all-out war, but…

“It’s true that’s how things might turn out in the end. But what we’re doing is more like reconnaissance in force. If we encounter someone powerful, we’ll prioritize intelligence gathering and withdrawing. After that, I’ll be counting on you.”

“YES, MY LORD!”

•

They were to head north along the lake and then trace the path of Zenbel’s memories into the mountains.

At the head of the party was a group of mounted undead holding the Nation of Darkness’s flag aloft.

All sentient life-forms of the lake were under Cocytus’s rule. As long as the flag was displayed, they wouldn’t attack. Of course, this held true only for those who could grasp the meaning of
rule
—intelligent life-forms. Common beasts and lesser intelligences either gleaned no meaning from the flag at all or were possibly even provoked by it. Regardless, this forest held no monsters that Ainz’s party couldn’t deal with.

Shalltear kept a sharp watch in every direction as if she was eager to encounter anything thoughtless enough to approach, but in the end, their party arrived at the edge of the lake without her so much as spotting a monster off in the distance.

Following the path of the wide, shallow river that ran into the lake brought everyone’s eyes to the steep peaks of the Azerlisia Mountains. There was something about the magnificence of the season’s refreshing breezes and clear blue sky that touched Ainz.

Right about then, Zenbel drew up beside Ainz with a proposal. “Do you mind if I take the lead now? I want to see the scenery as we go—to stimulate my memory, you know?”

There was no way Ainz could object.

“That’s fine. Feel free to take the lead. But don’t go off on your own. I’ll assign some of my underlings to you. If you get attacked, use them as a shield and come back immediately. You’re an extremely important part of this group.”

“Thank you.”

Zenbel gave an order to the magical beast he was riding—more accurately, he made a request—and the beast began to move in response. He didn’t have experience riding, so he was borrowing one of Aura’s mounts and controlling it via speech, not skills.

Once the party entered the mountains, its pace changed considerably.

They walked much, much slower.

At first, they were merely following the river north, but after they climbed up past a waterfall, their speed dropped even more.

Zenbel was desperately trying to remember the way, but as might have been expected, it seemed he was having an extremely hard time retracing a path he traveled only once several years ago—not to mention in reverse. It didn’t help that their group was still at a low altitude where tall trees blocked their line of sight.

Even if the shape of the mountain hadn’t changed, the trees had grown.

Working frantically to adjust for the differences between current day and his memories, Zenbel pressed on.

Most of the party members didn’t require rest, but the critical Zenbel was included among those who did, so their silent hike was punctuated by occasional breaks.

Sometimes they saw what seemed like monsters in the distance, but whether it was due to the party’s numbers or because the monsters weren’t hungry, the wild creatures never showed any sign of approaching. Ainz was interested in capturing monsters he wasn’t familiar with, but he had decided not to fuss about that on this trip.

His goal was to reach the dwarf kingdom.

Ainz knew very well that when people tried to accomplish multiple things at once, the most likely outcome was achieving neither.

He did find the missed opportunity slightly unfortunate, but he hurried on ahead.

The scenery traded taller trees for shorter ones as they approached the tree line in the setting sun.

The azure sky was dyed a deep, flaring crimson, and darkness fell soon after. There was no way to describe the mountains blocking out the sea of stars other than
majestic
, and when Ainz considered how even this view that stretched far into the distance was only a tiny part of the world, he felt like the enormity of nature might overwhelm him.

His nostrils quivered as he appreciated the scent of fresh air that flowed in.

Driving away the questions of how he could do such a thing—of particular interest was how he could smell but not taste food—Ainz savored air that couldn’t be found on the outskirts of E-Rantel.

He never could have experienced this vastness of nature in
Yggdrasil
.

The sense of fulfillment, like when the adventurer Momon added another page to his experience, left Ainz quite satisfied. Honestly, he felt that it would be fine even if, failing to find the dwarf country, they packed up and went home.

This—this is the scenery a true adventurer should gaze upon.

Ainz smiled and then, turning around, called out.

“Okay, let’s stop here for the night.”

Shalltear agreed and immediately asked a question. “Lord Ainz, does that mean you will go back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick temporarily?”

Certainly, setting up some sort of landmark and then teleporting to somewhere safe to spend the night was a perfectly fine option, but he didn’t feel like it. It wasn’t about the pros or cons but emotion.

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll stay here.”

“But, Lord Ainz, I hardly think a place like this is suitable for…”

The place they had stopped at was a rocky area, and the wind whipping down from the mountain rapidly sapped body heat—though Ainz had total resistance to chill, so it didn’t affect him. Anyone who lacked similar resistances or at least thick fur would probably feel as if they were being stabbed with needles. Maybe it was because the wind was carrying the cold down from the patches of snow scattered among the peaks.

The grandeur of nature made Ainz smile even more.

In
Yggdrasil
, there had been a guild whose goal was to make the unknown known; those explorers must have gone on any number of journeys with this feeling in their hearts.

Since they focused entirely on venturing into the unknown, their headquarters had been shabby, and they never were very successful in the guild battles. At the time, Ainz hadn’t really gotten it, but with this splendid world laid out before him, it seemed he finally understood.

He had experienced this as Momon as well. Traveling the world, liberated from everything, was—

“Lord Ainz?”

All his thoughts scattered.

“What is it, Shalltear?”

“E-err, I didn’t mean to interrupt you while you were thinking.”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it. It wasn’t anything important.”

“Oh? If so, then I’m glad…”

“What did you need again? Oh, it was about staying here, right?”

“Yes. I must apologize. Even though you intend to stay here for the night, I have neglected to prepare a tent. I’ll fetch one right away from Nazarick, so may I cast Gate?”

“No need. It’s not like I forgot a tent. I didn’t put one on the list because it was unnecessary… You know how Mare can create accommodations using magic?”

Judging from Shalltear’s gestures, she was familiar with the concept.

“Very good. Then, know that I can do the same. We could use an item like a Secret Green House, but that might be a bit cramped for this many people. Watch this.”

Ainz searched for an appropriate location. It didn’t matter if the ground was sloped, but it had to be an open plot with no large boulders in the way.

He found what he was looking for right away and began casting. He chose a tier-ten spell. Create Fortress.

Once the spell was completed, in the space where there had been nothing, an imposing tower nearly a hundred feet tall appeared, seeming to bite into the stars above with its dark silhouette.

It had thick double doors that seemed like they could repel even a battering ram. In order to keep any who would try to climb in at bay, the walls were covered with sharp spikes. Demon statues glared in the four cardinal directions from the top floor. To those looking up from below, their presence loomed.

This tall fortress, with its massive or even overawing presence, was surely worthy of the word
towering
.

“Let’s go.”

Ainz led the party to the iron doors, which opened automatically. Then he stood to the side and allowed everyone else to enter. In
Yggdrasil
, anyone from the same team would be able to open these doors simply by touching them. Anyone else who tried would be attacked. What would the doors do in this world?

Ainz had two undead remain outside. Then he ordered them to try to open the door once it was shut and shut it.

He waited, but the door didn’t open.

“…Am I the only one who can open these doors? Aura, try touching them.”

“Okay,” she said and reached out to touch them, but they didn’t show any signs of opening.

Apparently, it really was the case that only Ainz could open them. He frowned inwardly. This, along with friendly fire, was terribly annoying. If there were other players in this world, there might be some who accidentally attacked or even killed their friends due to that one little change.

I’ve been here for almost a year, but…I still have to be careful when I exercise my powers. I don’t want to see us getting caught up in one another’s area-of-effect attacks. Should I tell the higher-level people to be mindful of this as well? Some are already paying proper attention, like Mare, so it might be obnoxious for them to hear… Maybe I can bring it up casually.

Giving warnings was harder than it seemed. Ainz knew well from his time in society that simply scolding people wasn’t enough.

Somewhat uneasy after his experiment, he opened the door to let in the two undead still outside. Once he confirmed that everyone was in the spacious foyer, he shut the door and led everyone farther in.

Across from the front entrance was a set of double doors that opened into a corridor. At the end of the corridor was another set of double doors. Magic lights illuminated the area well enough for everyone to walk with no trouble.

When the far doors opened, a dazzling light could be seen.

The room beyond was a circular hall. It had high ceilings and white floors. In the center was a spiral staircase leading up to the next floor.

“Now, then… We’ll stay here for the night. Those who need rest, rest, and everyone else… Well, we won’t feel very settled if we all hang around here, so stand by in your rooms.”

Ainz pointed at a door. There were ten in all. Incidentally, this space was expanded, so the tower was larger than it looked from the outside.

“The second and third floors also have rooms, so use them. Aura, Shalltear, and Zenbel, stay here. I want to discuss our plans, taking into account the route we took today. Let’s have our meeting on those sofas over there. All right, get going, everyone.”

“Lord Ainz, what should the vampire brides do?”

“Hmm…” Ainz didn’t have an immediate answer for Shalltear’s question. Frankly, the only reason he brought them along was to satisfy Decrement. He didn’t need them at all. He thought for a moment and then gave instructions. “I’ll have orders for them later, so have them stand by in their room.” He left it entirely up to his future self.

Then Ainz moved over to one of the sofas and sat down. He permitted the other three to sit as well, and once they had done so, he began the meeting.

“Okay, first let’s record the route we took today. Aura, I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, my lord.” Aura spread out a sheet of paper and started to draw while referencing a notepad she carried in her other hand. “I’m not sure about the exact distances, but I think this is what we did.”

“Hmm. Thanks, Aura.”

It was a rough map, but he could figure out the distances later from the sky.

“Now, I’m sorry, since I know you’re tired, but, Zenbel, I’m going to do something you won’t like.”

“…What does that mean, Your Majesty?”

Zenbel braced himself a bit, but Ainz gently smiled at him. “I’m going to take a peek at your memories.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“…That must’ve sounded like something a villain would say. Anyway, I know a spell that allows me to manipulate other people’s memories. And I developed a way to use it to peer into them. Frankly, this technique expends quite a bit of mana, so I don’t really want to use it if I don’t have to, but I’m a little worried about going based on your hazy recollections alone.”

“D-does it have any aftereffects?”

“You’ll be fine. I got help from a priest, so I have the skills of a veteran now. As long as I don’t attempt anything weird, there won’t be any issues. I even tried it on one of my maids and nothing bad happened.”

“You mean Shizu, right?”

“That’s right, Aura. That said, this isn’t an all-powerful ability. If the target doesn’t remember the memory, I’ll only be able to see a foggy version of it. There are some other factors that make it hard to use, but that might be because instead of memories from the brain, it could actually be accessing more fundamental records…” Ainz realized he had gone on a tangent and shrugged.

“I see… Just to be sure, I’ll ask one more time… Will I really be okay?”

“I understand your concern. You’ll be fine, Zenbel. I swear on my honor as Ainz Ooal Gown that I won’t rewrite your memories.”

“Then, what do I need to do?”

“Right. You can just sit there and relax. This won’t make you feel sick or anything. But before I cast the spell, I’d like to know some details. How many years ago was this? What day, what time? What other memories do you have from that time?”

After Zenbel answered the questions, Ainz cast a spell.

He could boast that he was an expert in this magic, with all the experience he had accumulated, but it was still difficult to use.

Memories that were tampered with could end up overwritten, so one false move could mean an irreversible error. It was like fiddling with a computer system that had no backup. It was probably a great spell for manufacturing disabled people.

More than anything, the large amount of required mana made it hard to use.

Ainz could feel his MP draining away from simply going back a little through Zenbel’s memories.

His plan was to find all the memories he wanted and then take his time sifting through them, but it seemed like he would run out of MP before he managed to do that. The other tricky thing about this spell was that even if he wanted to investigate again the next day after his MP recovered, he would have to start over again at the most recent memories.

Given all this, he was certain there had to be a more effective way to collect info than this spell.

As Ainz grumbled internally, the image of mountains suddenly appeared in his mind. Apparently, he had reached the memories he was searching for, but as expected, his mana was almost gone.

Peeking into old memories is the hardest. I can manage if they’re more recent, but…

As expected, everything was indistinct, as if enshrouded in fog. Ainz could make out some dwarves, but perhaps because Zenbel didn’t distinguish among them, all their faces looked the same. His only impression was that they all had beards and were all drinking and shouting in raucous voices.

This is no good. I was able to apply what I learned from the experiments I conducted on the priest when I tried this with Shizu, but I still don’t feel like I’m very good at it… I can’t afford to slip up when I’m handling something as delicate as memories; maybe I should mess with that priest a bit more? He’s already pretty screwed up, though, so I shouldn’t expect a decent answer out of him, but… Maybe I should have only poked around every few years so I could’ve tried to restore him to his original state. Wiping his memory completely to see what would happen was a mistake.

As he canceled the spell, Ainz thought that if a criminal was sentenced to death in E-Rantel, he would use them for experiments.

“How do you feel, Zenbel? Nothing out of the ordinary, right?”

“Eh? Well, it’s like nothing happened but also like something weird…”

Ainz chuckled. “All I did was look at your memories. I didn’t overwrite anything, so it’s weirder that you feel off. It must be something like the placebo effect. I’m sure it’ll wear off soon.”

Rather than pay attention to Zenbel shaking his head, Ainz examined the map.

Ainz had seen the memories, but sure enough, he didn’t understand them very well.

In the first place, the mountains lacked distinct landmarks, making it difficult to tell one place from another. On top of that, the most vivid memories were of hiding from monsters.

Honestly, even though he would regain his mana by tomorrow, Ainz didn’t think it was worth it to try again.

“Okay, tomorrow we’ll head north once more with Zenbel leading, as per our original plan. I might be able to help a little, since I checked over his memories.”

No one had any better ideas.

Even if they sent a scout ahead, the only point would be to preemptively deal with monsters that might attack the party.

“You’re dismissed. Everyone have a good… Well, I suppose Zenbel is the only one who needs to rest, but take your time getting ready for tomorrow.”

•

After seeing that their master was headed to his room, Aura turned to Shalltear and asked, “Do you want to be in the room on his left or right?”

Aura had a magic item, and Shalltear was undead, so neither of them required sleep, which meant they didn’t need rooms. But not using the spaces given to them by their master would be rude. And since they were protecting him, they wanted to avoid rooms that were too far away.

“Mm, either is fine. They’re both the same.”

“Well, that’s true… Hey, what are you doing?” When Aura wondered why Shalltear’s response was so absentminded, she looked over and saw the vampire was writing in a notepad.

“‘…said Lord Ainz, period.’ I’m taking notes so I don’t forget anything Lord Ainz says.”

“Wow, I’m impressed. Let me see!” Aura leaned over for a peek and then froze. The pages were bizarrely crammed full of writing, to the point that there wasn’t any blank space left.

Wondering what she could possibly be writing, Aura skimmed the contents only to discover that it was word for word every single thing that Ainz had said, and it even described his actions.

Is this…okay? Of course, creating a record of the wise words of the Supreme Ones is a good thing to do, but that isn’t what Shalltear’s doing…

Shalltear should have been taking notes in order to grasp the main points of their master’s wisdom as a path to making them her own. If this was what she was doing, Aura was a bit worried.

“Err, uh, so… Taking notes is great and all, but I’m not sure your objective is the right one…”

Shalltear stared at her in confusion.

“Listen, you might feel like you’re doing a good job because you’re taking notes. But really, you should be jotting down the important points so that when the situation calls for it, you can act on your own. Can you do that with the notes you’re taking now?”

“I think so…”

“Well, that’s fine, then. Just in case, when you get back to your room, it might be a good idea to read them over while considering what Lord Ainz was thinking when he said those things and what you would do if you were in his situation.”

“You think?”

“I do,” Aura declared. Then she wondered why she was saying all this. But for some reason, she felt like giving Shalltear advice was the natural thing to do.

I don’t get why, but she feels like a helpless little sister sometimes… It’s irreverent to say so, but maybe this is how BubblingTeapot felt, too…

•

In the overly bright morning sun, Ainz made his preparations to leave. Not that he actually had anything in particular to do. He simply left the tower he created and had everyone form up. Compared to the journeys he had taken as Momon, this journey felt dull to him.

Then they resumed the search, but though they were on the march until evening, they didn’t find anything.

Ainz squinted at the sun sinking behind the mountain slope.

The party was mounted on magical beasts, so they should have already covered the sixty or so miles he had estimated it would take to reach their destination. But they still hadn’t found the dwarves. In other words, from here on out, they would have to leave no stone unturned. Which meant the next steps would be time-consuming.

That day, they used Ainz’s magic to rest again and then came the third day since they had started on their journey.

Zenbel cried out. “This place! I know this place!”

There were no trees in the area, just the craggy mountain face. Zenbel’s voice echoed. “Your Majesty, it should be near here!”

“Oh! In that case, keep an eye out, everyone.”

Following his instructions, everyone formed neat ranks.

“All right, Zenbel. I’m counting on you.”

“You can leave it to me, Your Majesty!”

The party followed his lead.

Eventually, they found an opening in the rock side that was less a cave and more a gaping tear in the mountain.

It did seem like something Ainz had seen in Zenbel’s memories. He felt it had been bigger, but judging from how happy Zenbel seemed, this had to be the place.

Ainz had only a glimpse of the memories. They belonged to Zenbel, so surely he knew them best.

Smoothing out his robe, Ainz signaled Aura.

As they had decided ahead of time, Aura took off on her magical beast toward the crack.

“Kingdom of the Dwarves! Ainz Ooal Gown, King of Darkness, sovereign of the newly established Nation of Darkness to the south, has arrived! Send someone out to greet him!” Aura’s loud voice seemed to fill the crevice.

But there was no reply.

She asked with her eyes what she should do next, and Ainz instructed her to shout one more time.

So she repeated herself.

But there was still no reply. They waited a little while, but there didn’t seem to be anyone coming out.

Zenbel said that in the past, there had been guards standing by to prevent trespassing. If they were truly there, they would have definitely heard Aura’s voice.

Were they avoiding the dark elf?

Ainz instructed Aura to come back and called Zenbel over. “Your turn. Go and call them out.” He cast several buffs on the lizardman. They wouldn’t keep him absolutely safe, but the difference between having them and not was huge.

Zenbel approached the cave and raised his voice. No reply.

“…Hanzos.”

“We have come, Supreme One.”

A shadow slipped out from behind Shalltear and a ninja appeared. The other four Hanzos stood behind their leader.

“Sneak inside and see what’s going on. Don’t attract attention.”

“Understood. How far should we explore? From what I’ve heard, dwarf cities are made up of numerous tunnels. It will take time to run through the entire network.”

“Just the minimum is fine. All you need to find is the city center, where all the functional parts of the city are located. The tunnels can be investigated later.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

The Hanzo leader flew off like a shot, and the others swiftly followed. Running while seeming to leave their presence behind was something high-level ninja-type monsters could do.

Ainz called Zenbel back and had him stand by in the center of everyone else where it was safe. He would be very useful in the negotiation with the dwarves.

“Shalltear, keep your guard up!”

“Yes, my lord!”

Shalltear used a skill to instantly equip full gear and scanned the area.

With Nazarick’s strongest guardian at the ready, even the most powerful enemy wouldn’t be able to nail him with an instadeath combo. That said, in battles against players, experience was a critical element. Shalltear didn’t have much, so in that sense, it was dangerous to leave the watch entirely up to her.

All that meant that Ainz, the most experienced by far, had to set a good example.

That was why he also kept a vigilant watch until the Hanzos returned. It had taken longer than he expected, but he supposed that was simply how far away the city center was.

The Hanzos lined up before him and took a knee. Naturally, it was the leader who spoke. “Lord Ainz, we discovered what seemed to be a dwarven residential area and searched it, but we didn’t find anything that moved.”

“What happened?”

“We didn’t investigate closely enough to know that, but we found no corpses. There was no furniture in any of the houses or any evidence that they had been looted.”

“Did the dwarves voluntarily abandon this city for some reason?”

When he turned to Zenbel, the lizardman looked surprised. They had been traveling together for only a short time, but Ainz felt like he had a handle on Zenbel’s personality. He wasn’t acting.

“Very well. Lead us to the residential area.”

“My lord!”

Ainz followed after the Hanzos. Of course, this was unknown territory. He didn’t lower his guard. It went without saying that Shalltear, Aura, and Zenbel accompanied him, but he also had the high-level undead and their mounts come along as well.

The only ones they left outside were the low-level vampire brides and the mammoth-like magical beasts.

The main reason was because they made good bait. If an unknown hostile force was observing them and wanted to chip away at their fighting power, it would start by picking off the ones they were sure they could defeat. Plus, once they saw the monsters were carrying supplies, planning an attack to gain information was the most basic of basic strategies.

For that reason, in addition to the vampire brides and the beasts, he left one Hanzo behind.

Not to save the others.

It was to gain as much info as possible about the enemy by observing the attack. And if he could also find out where they withdrew to—where their base of operations was—that would be even better.

Another reason he hadn’t returned to Nazarick at all during this trip was because he didn’t want to let the enemy know he could refresh his party at any time using Gate; he wanted any observers to believe that they could chip away at his combat strength.

Of course, I hope they’ll be all right even if an enemy shows up.

It wasn’t as if he wanted them to all die. But they spawned automatically up to a certain number, so he didn’t feel bad about losing some of them in order to gain intelligence.

Is that cruel?
he wondered as he made his way into the cave.

No sunlight penetrated far into the cave, so it immediately became pitch-black. Ainz had Night Vision, so that was no problem. The same went for Aura, Shalltear, the other undead, and the magical beasts. No one’s vision would be inhibited by mere darkness at their levels.

One of the undead carried Zenbel.

The fact that all the stalactites and stalagmites had been cleared away and the path was easy to traverse seemed to imply that this was definitely the location of a dwarf city.

Ainz followed the Hanzos. Along the way, the path branched a few times, but when he inquired, they told him the other tunnels were dead ends. The dwarves must have created them to confuse intruders so they could buy time and drive enemies out.

Ainz had a spell he could use in situations like that, but the Hanzos didn’t, so it was no wonder their investigation had taken so long.

He was thinking about that when one of the Hanzos turned around. “Lord Ainz, we’re almost to the residential district.”

“Oh. I see a hazy light up ahead, but…you said there weren’t any dwarves?”

“That’s right. There were no dwarves. The light you see is emitted by a crystal-like ore.”

At the end of the tunnel, a huge space opened up.

When Ainz searched for the light source with his eyes, he saw that crystalline things were protruding from the ceiling and natural rock pillars supported the growths. Like the Hanzo had said, they were the source of the light.

As far as Ainz could see, there was no other—artificial—light anywhere.

The Hanzo had called it a residential area, and yes, it was built like a city. The buildings all in a row were like little boxes, incredibly plain and probably two stories high.

Perhaps because the people who lived here were so short, the buildings were a fair bit smaller than those found in human cities. That said, the structures were still taller than Ainz was, so he couldn’t grasp how big the city was with them blocking his field of vision. Still, there seemed to be enough buildings that it didn’t make sense to try and count.

“Hmm…”

As he gazed at that settlement, he felt the flame of desire inside him sputter out.

It was just so shabby-looking.

He couldn’t find a scrap of the dignity and exquisite beauty he had imagined when he conjured up a dwarf city in his mind. And it didn’t feel like
Yggdrasil
, either—there weren’t any players around.

Ainz walked over to one of the buildings and pushed open the door.

Like the Hanzos had reported, it was completely empty.

As far as he could tell, there wasn’t a stick of furniture. All that was left were things like built-in shelves that couldn’t be transported. A layer of white dust carpeted the floor. It seemed like no one had been here in quite some time.

“Zenbel! Try calling out to see if anyone is here.”

Zenbel obeyed and called the name of a dwarf he knew.

Though they were inside a cave, his voice seemed to go on forever and never echoed back. It must have been a massive space.

Zenbel called a few more times, but as expected, no one emerged.

“Hanzos, search the other tunnels to see if there is anything that could give us a clue. We need to find out why this city was abandoned. But there’s no telling how far or deep these tunnels go. If it starts to go too deep, withdraw.”

“Yes, my lord!”

The search would go faster if everyone helped, but Ainz wasn’t reckless enough to do that under these strange circumstances. He told everyone to gather around so they could conduct some investigating. With them standing by behind him, he began to open all the doors.

Every building was identical to the first.

Occasionally, he found a house with furniture, but it was always a bookshelf at this place, a desk at another—never a fully furnished space.

This is going to take too long.

“Aura. You’re the one with the keenest senses. Are there any people around here?”

“No, I don’t sense anyone.”

“All right… Then, let’s split into two teams and have a look around. Shalltear, take command of your undead and guard me. Aura, after you go to the house of the dwarf Zenbel stayed with, take care not to stray too far, but go through the city and figure out why the dwarves left.”

The two guardians acknowledged their orders, and Ainz noticed Zenbel bowing his head in thanks.

He nodded benevolently and used Fly.

Slowly, he floated into the air.

It was an extremely dangerous thing to do if it was possible someone was lying in wait for them, but he somehow felt confident no one was here.

“Lord Ainz!”

Shalltear flew into a panic after him.

“This is too dangerous! Please come down!”

“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I was too lax.”

He had acted on a baseless feeling and flown into the air where it would have been easy to take a shot at him. It was only natural that Shalltear was upset.

“But since I didn’t get attacked, it seems more and more likely that there isn’t anyone here. Or it’s possible that if someone spotted me, they’ll move closer to gain more info. Keep an eye out.”

“…Please don’t use yourself as bait.”

Squishy Moe said that sometimes it was the right decision for the leader to act as bait… But I guess Shalltear can’t accept that, since she’s my escort, not my guildmate…

“Forgive me.” Ainz peered below.

It was indeed a city. It was laid out like a Go board with tons of nearly identical buildings.

“There’s a fancy building. And over there, too.”

Most of them seemed to have been pressed from the same cookie-cutter mold. But scattered among them were a few larger buildings.

“Should we check it out?”

“…Why don’t we call Aura back first? If someone is lurking over there, there could be trouble.”

Shalltear had been right on the money every time for a while now.

“Lord Ainz!” Aura’s voice called out from underneath with perfect timing. When he looked down, she was there with Zenbel. The way she was waving had to be meaningful.

“Seems like they found something.”

“It does indeed.”

Exchanging a glance, the pair landed next to Aura. The undead showed up a moment later.

“Look, Lord Ainz!”

Aura led them to a house and pointed through the open door.

He looked around, but it seemed no different from the buildings he had already investigated. He couldn’t find anything special about it.

“This is the house of the dwarf Zenbel knows?”

“No, this is a different one. While he was taking me to that house, we passed this one and noticed the door was slightly open. And when we looked inside, see? There are footprints. And they don’t seem like dwarf tracks. Zenbel, dwarves don’t go barefoot, right?”

“Nope—I mean, no, they don’t. They wear things on their feet. They almost never take them off, even indoors. I remember seeing lots of guys with sturdy-looking shoes reinforced with metal.”

“So these definitely aren’t dwarf footprints.”

“How much can you tell from those tracks?”

“Hmm.” Aura cocked her head slightly. “First, it’s a creature that walks on two legs. And between the left and right feet is a line—that’s a tail.”

“Perhaps it could be something like a lizardman?”

“Nope, it’s something else. Slender instead of thick like Zenbel. And there’s dust in the footprints, meaning it’s been some time since these prints were made. Whoever they are, they don’t come often…and it seems like they left right after coming in… Maybe it was someone who found the dwarf city and felt curious?” Aura checked around the house and then turned toward the street. “It wasn’t just one, either. There seem to have been…quite a few actually. Fourteen at least.”

“How far can you follow the trail? This is our only clue. I want to trace their route back as much as we can.”

“Understood. Then will you please come with me?”

He had no reason to refuse.

The party set off with Aura in the lead. Her attention was on the ground, so Ainz had Shalltear go right behind her for protection.

Most of the footprints went exactly where Aura guessed they would. In other words, like Ainz’s group before, there was no apparent destination to the movements—they simply seemed to be investigating the houses.

After tracking for a little while, Aura suddenly stopped and stared ahead at something down the path. When Ainz followed her gaze, he noticed one of the large buildings he had spotted from above.

“Here the prints meet up with another bunch—the same number actually. The other group seems to have come from that direction. What should we do? Do you want to follow the other group’s tracks?”

“…No, we should find out where the first group’s tracks went. We can check out the other group later.”

“Understood!”

Aura started walking again, and they crossed town before eventually reaching a building up against a wall.

It seemed to be only a single story but filled a considerable area.

“…I doubt anyone is here, but I’ll use a spell just in case. There’s a chance that enemy defensive magic could burst around me, so everyone please stand by at a bit of a distance.”

Using intelligence-gathering magic sometimes resulted in getting countered. The only one in the party who could possibly die after only one hit was Zenbel, but Ainz saw no point in needlessly sapping his subordinates’ strength.

“Lord Ainz, at the very least, please allow me to stay near you.”

“Huh? Then I want to stay, too.”

“No. You keep an eye on our surroundings from a location where you won’t get caught up in any counter-spell.”

When Shalltear argued her down, Aura looked to Ainz for support, but he agreed with Shalltear.

“She’s right, Aura. You’re the most perceptive member of our party. The chances of anything happening may be low, but if someone is lurking nearby, I’m counting on you to take care of them.”

Since her master made a point of saying that much, Aura reluctantly nodded.

Ainz created a magic sensory organ and slipped it into the building.

It really didn’t seem like anyone was in there. He sent the organ deeper inside.

What in the world is this building? There’s a counter and…are these lockers? There’s no sex separation that one might expect for a bathhouse… Is it some kind of facility unique to dwarves?

As Ainz watched, his magical eye passed through a number of rooms and reached an area that resembled the tunnel they had just passed through earlier.

Maybe it’s a checkpoint or some sort of stronghold? Like a place to stop any enemies who enter this tunnel? Does that mean we’ll find another entrance at the back of this place?

After wrapping up a cursory search and finding no enemies, Ainz described the interior to the others and had Aura check inside to see if the footprints disappeared down the tunnel.

Ainz, Shalltear, and Zenbel followed. Since the Hanzos would eventually come back, they left the undead and magical beasts outside.

Ainz whispered a question to Zenbel as they followed Aura. “Are you familiar with this building?”

“Sorry, Your Majesty. I don’t know that much. All I remember is people saying that big building you were checking out earlier—the one down the road from that spot where we saw all those footprints bunched up together—was used by some kind of official or something. And I think the other big buildings you see sometimes used to be pubs, blacksmiths, shops, and whatnot. Not even the bosses—sorry, I meant to say not even influential dwarves lived in big houses often.” Zenbel also added that he didn’t know the reason behind that custom.

That was the moment Aura stopped in front of the tunnel.

“The footprints come and go through here. Should I go ahead?”

Ainz wasn’t sure how to answer. But that lasted only a moment. “No, don’t. There are still places in this city we should investigate. This will be the last place we cover. And we should make sure we have the Hanzos when we do.”

The fact that those ninjas weren’t back yet had to mean the tunnels were incredibly extensive.

When Ainz got back outside, he cast Message and contacted the Hanzo leader. “What’s going on, Hanzo? Still not done?”

“My apologies for taking so long! But rejoice. We have finally found something noteworthy.”

“What? Really? Did you find out why the dwarves left?”

“Nothing as concrete as that, but there seems to be a person deeper inside this tunnel—they’re making noise.”

“And it’s not a naturally occurring sound?”

“No, it appears to be digging! What would you like to do? Shall I collect as much information as I can?”

“No, don’t. First, lead us there. I’m currently by…” He tried to explain his location but didn’t really think he was getting through. “Oh right, I’ll use a torch as a marker.”

“Understood!”

Ainz ended the Message and took out a torch, which lit automatically. He handed it to a nearby undead.

The creature swung it back and forth as a signal for the Hanzos.

Of course, since Ainz was carrying it, this was no ordinary torch. It was an artifact he’d bought at a shop. When shoved into monsters such as slimes or whatnot, the attack dealt twice the usual amount of fire damage.

Using such a nice item for this was a waste, but Ainz didn’t have any regular ones.

By the time the sun was reduced to nothing but a strip of red afterglow in the sky, the Hanzos returned.

“Do excuse us.”

“No need for formalities. Time is money. Just take us there on the double.”

“Understood!”

Once the Hanzos took off running, Ainz and the others followed atop their mounts.

Eventually a building very similar to the one they had followed the footprints to before came into view, and the Hanzos stopped. This was definitely their destination.

Ainz dismounted his beast, and the Hanzo leader explained the situation. “There is a tunnel hidden in this building, and there is someone inside it.”

“Lord Ainz, there are new prints here. No sign of anyone coming out—only going in. This time there are shoe marks. Judging from the size of the feet, it’s someone about Shalltear’s height. Just one person,” Aura reported as she examined the ground in front of the structure.

“…We’re going to try to hold a friendly conversation. Even if they attack, I permit nothing beyond defense. Under no circumstances will we attack first. Get that through your heads. And in order to not intimidate the person, Aura will attempt a conversation first. And then…”

Ainz stroked his face.

Was it only human society that tried to avoid undead, or was that simply common sense?

Either way, since Ainz was accompanied by his army of undead underlings, perhaps it would make a better impression if he went in with his face uncovered, demonstrating that he had nothing to hide.

“Okay. Hanzos, take us to where you heard the noise.”

With the Hanzos in the lead, they weaved through the building and into the tunnel.

The low ceiling was proof that the dwarves must have tunneled here. The dwarves in
Yggdrasil
were of similarly short stature.

If the dwarves from the game had dug a tunnel, it probably would have been right about this size.

Partway through, Aura’s ears began to twitch, making it clear that the Hanzos’ report was no mistake.

Ainz strained his ears, but he couldn’t hear what Aura had picked up. “Oh… Is it close?”

“I’m not sure. It’s hard to gauge the distance because of the echoes.”

“Hmm. If it’s a straight shot, I could send forth a magic eye to figure out what we’re dealing with, but…”

For anyone without racial or class bonuses that granted sharpened senses like Aura’s, the sound was still too far away to hear.

But if their group got any closer, the target was liable to detect them.

Anyone with common sense would prioritize their safety and flee if they realized a bunch of who-knows-what was coming near. With Aura on the chase, they probably wouldn’t get away. Then again, if their quarry could use Teleport or had a digging skill, escape was a distinct possibility.

Sending Aura and the Hanzos in alone was probably the smartest move. Maybe Ainz could include himself, if he was invisible.

“Only those who can operate in a clandestine manner will go forward. Aura and the Hanzos. Plus me. Shalltear, you’ll stand by here.”

“As you command.”

“…Well, maybe having you stand by here is a bad idea.”

Ainz looked up at the ceiling. He thought the rock seemed solid, but he couldn’t be completely sure.

“Yeah, on second thought, go back to the building we were in before and wait for us to come back. But then the Hanzos… Aura, do you think the footprints are leading toward where the noise is coming from?”

“Yes, they are. I’m not sure, but it seems like the owner of the footprints is probably the source of the noise.”

“I see. You can lead me there, right?”

Aura nodded.

“Then, just the two of us will go ahead. Everyone else, pull back to the building at the entrance of the tunnel. In the event something unexpected happens, especially if you encounter someone at your level, withdraw immediately. We’ll do the same on our own, so don’t worry about us. Set the exit of the Gate as the structure Aura erected in the forest.”

“Yes, my lord! But will you really be all right with just the two of you?”

“I don’t know, but I’d like to think so.”

If he imagined all the things that could go wrong, there would be no end to it. At some point he had to just resign himself to whatever would happen and make his move. That was one of the things Ainz had learned recently.

Perhaps Shalltear couldn’t think of anything that might change his mind. Either that or she simply accepted his order. Whichever it was, she didn’t raise any further objections.

Ainz proceeded with Aura. There still seemed to be a ways to go, so he didn’t use magic.

After they walked in silence for a time, the sound began reaching Ainz’s ears as well.

“…They’re trying their best not to make too much noise.” Ainz had no idea why Aura thought that, but if she said so, it must be true.

“Then we can probably assume our target is on guard, too.”

“Should we catch them first?”

“If they try to run. If our first contact is violent, it will be extremely difficult to build friendly relations.”

“Understood. Then, I’ll start by talking to them like normal.”

“Yes, do that. I’ll go invisible—no, I’ll go with Perfect Unknowable—and stand next to you. If they make a break for it, then we have no choice. We’ll capture them.”

2

The pair discussed a number of things, and once their preparations were complete, they advanced toward the source of the noise.

At the end of the tunnel was a small humanoid. In this world of total darkness, he was completely absorbed by his work of digging into the tunnel wall with his mattock.

Ainz couldn’t be sure, since they weren’t that close yet, but the digger appeared to be a little over four and a half feet tall with a body like a beer barrel and legs that weren’t very long—it was probably safe to just call them stubby.

The digger was wearing a brown cloak, and on the ground nearby were what seemed to be a bunch of tools. There was also a lamp, which wasn’t lit, and a canteen.

A single miner here in an abandoned city? This seems awfully strange, but I’m sure things will clear up after I ask a few questions.

Aura approached without making a sound.

On the other hand, Ainz walked without a single concern.

Perfect Unknowable erased all sounds along with any other trace of Ainz that could be detected. Only an awfully high-level thief would be able to sense his presence now. Even Aura had a hard time finding him—she had only the faintest feeling he was actually there.

Once she had gotten close enough to the miner, Aura spoke up. “Hello. What are you doing?”

“Eeheegh!” The shriek sounded like a soul leaving its body.

The miner had a long beard—there was no doubt this was a dwarf.

Wide-eyed with fear, the miner wrapped himself up in the brown cloak.

But that was all he accomplished. The dwarf was still there. But apparently the only one who thought that was Ainz.

“Hmph! Concealment, huh?”

When Aura said that, Ainz, who could see through invisibility, examined the dwarf more closely. Sure enough, Aura was right. The miner was a bit faded.

So the cloak is enchanted, and that’s how he activates the Concealment? That’s sort of like Shizu.

“Hey, hey, it’s not like I want to hurt you, Mr. Dwarf. I know you’re there, so let me see you.”

It was obvious how Aura’s cute, friendly demeanor made the dwarf waver.

He opened his cloak ever so slightly and peeked at her through the gap. “A-are you a dark elf? What are you doing here?”

“Hmm? I came to visit the dwarves, but all I found was an empty husk of a city, so I’ve been looking for someone to find out what happened here. Then I ran into you.”

“I—I see…”

“Until about five years ago, there were dwarves who lived here, right? So what’s with all this? Did something happen? And come on, I think it’s about time to show yourself already.”

The dwarf inched away, but Aura’s eyes followed his movements.

“Hmm. It seems like you can see me.”

The dwarf returned his cloak to the way it was before. That must have canceled the effects of the magic. Ainz found it amusing because from his perspective, absolutely nothing had changed.

“Okay, so I’ll start at the beginning. Nice to meet you. I’m Aura Bella Fiora from the Nation of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“Nation of Darkness? Sorry. I’m afraid I haven’t heard of it. Is that the dark elf country? Whereabouts is it? Oh, oops. I’m Gondo Firebeard of the Dwarf Kingdom. Pleased to meet you.”

Aura held out a hand. Gondo recognized the gesture for what it was, so he wiped the dirt off his own, and they shook.

That seemed good. Ainz nodded emphatically as he watched, unknowable.

“Do you mind if I just speak casually instead of being all formal?”

“Sure! I was about to ask the same thing. I’m just an ordinary person, you know? If you were someone very important, I would only be able to hold my tongue.”

Gondo smiled and Aura grinned in turn.

“Then, back to my questions. Where did all the dwarves who used to live here go?”

“Right. Three years ago, we moved to a new city. Was there something you needed?”

“Yeah—well, sort of. I have a lizardman with me who lived here for a short time, so I want to tell him.”

“A lizardman? From five years ago?” Gondo thought for a moment and then pounded his palm. “Oh yeah! I didn’t meet him, but I heard about him. He was the first lizardman to ever visit us, so everyone talked about him. One of his arms was extra big or something.”

“Yes! Him!”

Gondo kept saying, “I see, I see.” It was clear that his guard was dropping.

“So it seems like the dwarves who knew the lizardman moved. Could you tell me where they went?”

“Well, I don’t mind telling you, but… As far as I know, dark elves don’t live beneath the surface. Are you sure you can get there on your own if I just tell you the underground route?”

“I think so, but if possible, I’d prefer a route on the surface.”

Gondo’s hairy face frowned. “Mmmph. Sorry, but I rarely go to the surface. I’m not sure I could tell you how to get to Fehu Jura—the new city—that way. It would be more of a vague explanation, like however many miles to the north.”

“That would be fine, too. Really, I wish you could guide us there… Is that too much to ask? We can pay you.”

“That’s a tempting offer. But you said it’s you and a lizardman—you came here on your own? You’re not an adult yet, right? How many people are with you?”

“It’s a fair number. We didn’t want to bother you with so many, so they’re waiting at the entrance to the tunnel.”

“At the entrance…? Hmm?” Gondo sank into thought, as if something was bothering him. But it was only for a moment. Then he nodded and continued. “I see. That’s a relief. But it wasn’t a very smart idea to traverse this tunnel alone. You’re not a race of the earth, so you might not know, but there are monsters who can swim through the dirt. This isn’t the kind of place you can pass through safely on your own. Well, if you have certain items like I do, it’s a different story, but…” He flicked his eyes over Aura, probably to check if she had a magic item on her. “Now then, I need to tell your companions that they should be ashamed of sending a child into the tunnel alone.” Gondo turned his back to her and tossed his ore into a sack along with his tools.

The leather sack didn’t seem to fill up despite the new contents. It had to be a magic item. Then the dwarf picked up the lantern and raised its shutter.

A strange blue—and magic—light illuminated the tunnel. The two had been chatting right up until this very moment in pitch-black darkness.

“Okay, shall we? You seem to be able to see in the dark, but it’s probably better to have light, right? …Although this makes it easier for monsters to spot us, so I can’t really recommend it. Do you have a way to escape if a monster shows up? We don’t get them often in these parts, but that doesn’t mean it never happens.”

Ainz nodded in satisfaction. This dwarf didn’t know Aura’s strength and was acting with an attitude just right for someone a bit older than her. Personally, though, Ainz didn’t think he was worried enough. He should have been asking questions about a lot of other things, too.

“I’m okay. If I was alone, I could run away no problem. But I’m not actually alone.”

Aura glanced in Ainz’s direction but a little bit off to the side of where he actually stood.

“Hmm? Oh, I see. Well, I have my cloak, so you can run off without me, if need be. But some monsters who live inside the soil can track using vibrations. If we encounter one of them, I’ll tell you, so don’t move.” He hoisted his bag up onto his shoulder with a
heave-ho
. “Ready to go, then?”

Gondo took point, leading Aura and unknowable Ainz along.

“I heard you said this place isn’t safe, but didn’t it used to be a dwarf city? Did you run away because of something dangerous?”

“Not this city, but up in the northeast—that’s where capital Fehu Jura is—we’ve been seeing kuagoa around. It would have been horrible if all our cities got taken out one by one, so we abandoned this one, Fehu Raido, temporarily.”

“Kuagoa? Is that a race?”

“Yes, like us, they’re creatures of the earth, but…they’re a bother. We get along so poorly with them that whenever we meet, it turns into a fight to the death.”

As they walked through the tunnel, Gondo explained at length about what kind of race the kuagoa were—probably in part as a warning to Aura.

First, in terms of appearance, they were a subhuman race that resembled moles walking upright on two feet. Their average height was four and a half feet, and their average weight was a bit over a hundred and fifty pounds, giving them a short and stout physique.

Many of them had dark-brown fur, with the next most common being black and then plain brown. Any with blue or red, some special color, were apparently extra strong.

Though they dwelled underground and almost never ventured anywhere there was light, they had better vision than humans.

Their civilization was not particularly developed, either the same or lower than that of the lizardmen. They didn’t make weapons or armor. The reason for that was apparently that their natural bodies—equipped with claws and fur—were more effective than shabbily made gear.

For starters, their body hair boasted the toughness of metal armor, and it could withstand attacks from metal weapons. Apparently, the resistance was determined by the amount of precious metals eaten during their youth. It could also be ascertained from the color of the fur.

In
Yggdrasil
terms, these kuagoa probably had a racial skill that protected them from metal weapons. Perhaps it was called something like Metal Weapon Resistance. The question was
how
resistant. Ainz hardly guessed they could have balance-breaking levels of resistance, but it would be foolish not to confirm.

They had long claws like armadillos or anteaters, and it was said they could pierce steel.

“I think I might’ve found footprints earlier that they could’ve made.”

Gondo stopped in his tracks and turned around. “What?! Are they trying to make this place their lair, too? Like the other spot?”

“The other spot…? In any case, they don’t seem to be calling this place home yet. It was more like they were passing through or simply investigating. But if you were going to abandon this city, wouldn’t it have been better to demolish it?”

“That’s true, but we didn’t intend to leave forever. Once our military was a bit more established, the plan was to come back. I mean, there’s still ore left, like where I was digging earlier.”

“Hmm.”

The two walked on in silence. It was probably a natural lull in the conversation, but they had run out of things that needed to be discussed immediately. Since he had already heard what he wanted to know, Ainz decided to show himself. He felt it might be important to share some information about their party before they exited the tunnel and Gondo suddenly found himself surrounded by undead.

“Okay, I guess it’s about time to introduce myself,” Ainz said, but of course, he still had Perfect Unknowable activated. His voice didn’t reach the other two. He felt mildly embarrassed and then canceled the spell.

Perhaps sensing Ainz’s newly unveiled presence behind Aura, Gondo turned around and his eyes grew huge. His expression changed a surprising number of times in the span of a single moment: bewilderment, shock, fear, confusion, and then—

“Gehhhhhhhgh!”

Letting out such a wild scream that Ainz flinched, Gondo clamped onto Aura’s hand.

“A m-monster! R-run away! Go!”

But there was no way Aura would run. She knew who was there.

“Y-you’re not going to run?!”

Gondo’s feet couldn’t move. It was like he was chained to a boulder.

“Y-you’re so heavy! What’s wrong? Did it do something to you?”

“Don’t panic… Gondo.”

When Ainz spoke to him, Gondo stared at him in astonishment, trembling. “H-how do you know my name?! Did you read my mind?! Or is it magic?!”

Maybe I should have worn the mask
, thought Ainz. He spoke quietly so as not to agitate the dwarf any further. “Calm down. I was listening to your conversation. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, and I am the King of Darkness—sovereign of the Nation of Darkness.”

Gondo’s expression changed several times again, and he looked back and forth between Aura and Ainz. “The N-Nation of Darkness? I thought that was the country of the dark elves.”

“No. It’s a country I rule that’s home to a variety of different races.”

“…Eh? That can’t be true.” Gondo braced himself as he said it, but his eyes were guarded and doubtful. “You’re an undead, right…? And that’s not a mask, yeah? That makes you an undead…the ones who hate the living and hunt them down, no?”

“Ummm, actually it’s just as Lord Ainz said. We haven’t lied at all. I’m a dark elf, and it’s true that the lizardman we talked about is with us. And Lord Ainz has been with me ever since you and I met. I even told you I wasn’t alone.”

“What? So I didn’t mishear you? But…” Gondo gulped and took a few deep breaths before continuing with a determined look on his face. “Could it be, Your Majesty—it’s ‘Your Majesty,’ right? Uh, were you once a dark elf, King of Darkness?”

It was a question Ainz had never considered. Was he an undead human? Ainz thought for a moment and then explained his best guess. “No, I was born…although I’m not sure this is the right way to put it…as an undead. Well, don’t be frightened. There are good and bad humans, dwarves, and elves, right? In the same way, some undead hate the living and some are friendly with them. It goes without saying that I’m the latter type.”

“B-but a friendly undead makes about as much sense as a good-natured demon.”

Hey, this guy is pretty sharp
, thought Ainz as he shrugged. “Hmm. I know both an angel who fell into darkness and a demon who yearns for the light.”

The demon who yearned for the light was an NPC in
Yggdrasil
. His name was Mephistopheles. He was famous for his constantly self-contradictory comments about good-natured beings and for being friendly and intelligent despite his horrifying appearance. Offering every sort of quest, from the low-hanging to the high-level, Mephistopheles was a game fixture who was second in popularity only to the dark young.

“Demons like that exist?”

Gondo was shocked, but Ainz merely shrugged. “I understand why you’re wary. But I hope you’ll understand this if nothing else: I mean you no harm. All right, Aura, let him go.”

“Yes, Lord Ainz.”

At some point it wasn’t Gondo holding Aura’s hand but Aura holding his—of course, their purposes for doing so were different.

When she released him, he backed up only a little; he no longer seemed liable to bolt at full speed.

How reasonable of him
, Ainz marveled. He had figured there was a chance the dwarf would allow his instincts to get the better of him and run away. If that came to pass, the outcome wouldn’t have been very good for Gondo, but given how things were at the moment, it was possible to negotiate.

“Now then, I’m going to say it again. I understand why you’re wary, but I—we have no intention of doing you any harm. On the contrary, we’d like to get along.”

Gondo didn’t reply. He was still peering at them with suspicion.

“What I mean is, I’d like my country and the dwarf country to sign a treaty of friendship. That’s another reason I don’t want to harm anyone who lives in the dwarf country.”

“What’s a treaty of friendship?”

“…Sorry, but I probably shouldn’t have a national politics discussion with someone who doesn’t represent the government… What do you think?”

“Hrmm. That makes— Err, it’s as Your Majesty—”

“Don’t worry. I don’t mind how you talk. Just don’t clam up,” said Ainz gently, and Gondo smiled for the first time since the king had revealed himself.

“Thank you—Your Majesty. Then, if what this gi—young lady…says is true, then is the reason you want to go to the city the same as hers?”

“That’s right. But, Gondo, why don’t we leave this tunnel first? You should probably hear from the lizardman we have with us. The one you heard rumors of. And we also have the kuagoa to worry about.”

“Hrm…” Gondo glanced at Aura.

Aura smiled at him as if to say,
What’s up?

“All right. The young lady seems to trust you. I know for sure now that you’re different from normal undead.”

Gondo led the way, and Ainz and Aura followed.

“Oh. There’s something I wanted to ask, if you don’t mind?”

“What’s that?” Gondo peered over his shoulder as Ainz asked his question.

“I’d like to learn about runes.”

Gondo’s forehead crinkled, and his eyebrows slanted abruptly. “What do you want to know about them?”

He was clearly upset.

Earlier Ainz had detected confusion and fear while they were talking, but not anger. That had completely changed with this one question. Did he have some bad memories tied to runes? Or was it because Ainz brought up dwarven technology?

Can I ask him about this or not?
Ainz wasn’t sure.

This was the first dwarf he had ever met. He didn’t want to be offensive right off the bat. And if he could figure out why Gondo was angry, it could work to his advantage in later negotiations with the country—as long as this wasn’t merely an expression of one dwarf’s personal feelings on the subject.

Calmly considering that he could dispose of Gondo, Ainz spoke of all the runes he knew. Most of it he had learned from Tabula Smaragdina.

That said, he didn’t know much. His knowledge consisted mostly of how many there were, what kinds existed, and other very general concepts.

Since he hadn’t memorized the meaning of each character, he could describe them only in vague terms.

But the reaction was dramatic.

Gondo stopped in his tracks and turned around.

His face was crinkled in a different way from before. Perhaps it was excitement?

“Who…are you…? I mean…the King of Darkness… A long-lived undead… Our lost knowledge…”

Ainz could hear him muttering to himself. It didn’t seem to be on purpose but something the dwarf did unconsciously.

Aura was impatient and wanted to keep moving, but Ainz stopped her. He figured it would be worth letting Gondo think.

Eventually he seemed to have arrived at some sort of answer and fixed his eyes on Ainz. He was still on guard, but some other emotion had apparently taken over.

“I know more than a few runes: fifty from the lower tier, twenty-five from the middle tier, ten from the upper tier, and five from the high tier—ninety in all. But some were lost, so it’s not that many. There’s also rumors about hidden letters and god-tier letters, but those are the stuff of legends.”

“I see… Maybe we’re not talking about the same thing? I thought runes were like this. Does that look right to you?” Ainz drew one from memory on the ground.

“Ooh! Yes, that’s the middle-tier letter laguz.”

Ainz wasn’t sure why they had so many, but at least he found out that some of them overlapped.

“I see. Then, allow me to ask you some more about this technology.”

What Ainz really wanted to know was how dwarves learned about runes—stuff related to players—but he figured it would be better to talk to a historian about that, so he decided to confirm some peripheral matters first. “Up until a hundred years ago, magic weapons inscribed with runes flowed into a human country to the east of the mountains, the empire. Since then, however, that flow has stopped. Why?”

Ainz’s true intention was to figure out whether a player died a hundred years ago or not, but if he asked about it too directly, he would be giving away information. At the same time, this was a question he had been thinking about for a while, and it didn’t reveal anything about him.

Gondo’s expression darkened. Then he started to lead the way again.

“That’s a long story. I’ll tell you while we walk.”

“Mm-hmm…”

For a time, three pairs of footsteps were the only sounds in the tunnel.

Gondo was likely resolving some inner conflict in the silence.

“First, I know someone who calls themselves a rune tech developer.”

That must have simply meant that it was their claim.

Gondo didn’t wait for Ainz to reply before continuing. “At one time, dwarven magic items were made with runes. But two hundred years ago, an evil spirit attacked the royal capital. And when the royal family left the country to fight back, a ton of outside technology flooded in and we learned that runes were old-fashioned.”

Gondo took a sword out of his bag and handed it to Ainz. There was a rune inscribed on its blade.

“This is kun, the lower-tier rune that means ‘sharp.’ With this carved in properly, the sword becomes enchanted. It makes the blade sharper, so it’s easier to cut deeper into your opponents.”

“Yes, that’s a basic weapon enchantment. I heard that it takes longer to craft depending on how much of a damage bonus will be provided, but also that it can be done fairly quickly if only the minimum is needed.”

“That right there is exactly why everyone thought runes were behind the times. To make the same item with runes takes double or triple the time. In terms of productivity, our technology is inferior to human methods of enchantment.” Gondo sighed abruptly. “Since better technology was being imported, the number of rune crafters kept falling. Instead, these days people think it’s better to become a magic caster who can enchant things.”

Ainz now understood the reason rune weapons had stopped appearing in the empire. It was a traditional art that was dying out.

Then Gondo frowned. “But abandoning our technology is the most foolish thing we could do! For instance, one good thing about runes is that they don’t cost money!”

Gondo’s wails echoed off the tunnel walls. Realizing that perhaps he shouldn’t get so agitated in such a dangerous place, he let out a long sigh. When he continued, he was calmer.

“Do you know how much it costs to enchant things? The material cost is quite expensive.”

That was true. Ainz had heard that half the market price was usually the enchantment’s material cost.

The percentage was unusually high, but apparently, prices were set on the assumption that wholesalers or retailers didn’t exist. This meant the Wizards Guild wasn’t taking a cut—although the annual membership fees could be thought of as a tax. The market was unregulated, leaving customers and casters to deal with each other directly.

If there was a retailer involved, the price went up a bit.

“But dwarven runes cost almost nothing!”

“That’s fantastic!” Ainz leaned in.

As the adventurer Momon and as the ruler of Nazarick, Ainz often fretted about expenditures. The appeal of not needing to spend any money was something he could feel in his bones.

That’s why he was confused. Runes didn’t seem like the sort of technology that would be abandoned.

“…There must be other downsides to runes, right?”

“Well, there are, but the productivity issue was the main one. Not only do runes take a long time to craft, but there aren’t enough people with the aptitude for it. I heard from someone in the empire that they’re even rarer than people who can become casters.”

“Hmm, that makes me curious. If people started to think of runes as outdated two hundred years ago, then why would someone call themselves a rune tech developer? Isn’t it a bit late for that? Or do dwarves simply live that long?”

Gondo didn’t answer. Ainz pressed him.

“What kind of rune technology are they developing?”

Ainz came up beside Gondo.

There was none of the passion in Gondo’s face as he looked intently forward. But then he shot back a question.

“What made you want to learn about runes?”

Ainz didn’t feel like quibbling about how Gondo had replied to a question with a question. If he could deliver the right answer here, he stood a good chance of learning some of what Gondo was hiding. Considering the dwarf had dropped “Your Majesty,” this must have been an important question.

But they didn’t yet have the sort of relationship where he could speak frankly. Besides, to begin with—

Why does he seem so willing to leak info? Is this a trap? Or could it be that he doesn’t understand its value…? There must be jealously guarded techniques, so surely he understands the importance. Right?

Despite his confusion, Ainz decided to say the lines he had prepared as his official motive. “They seem a bit different from the runes I know. Isn’t it only natural that I would be curious about the history and derivations? Will you answer my question?”

Gondo averted his gaze again and was mulling things over. For a little while, everyone was silent as they walked.

An irritating amount of time passed before he finally spoke again. “Currently, I’m experimenting with ways to shorten the rune-crafting enchantment time. Moreover, I’m looking into mass-production techniques. But that’s a means, not the goal. My aim is to develop technology that can only be achieved with runes. I want to make rune technology unique enough that it won’t be left behind.”

In other words, a value-added process. Company execs liked that phrase. They’re especially naggy about it during product development.

“Oh-ho. That’s some great research you’re doing. And how is it going?” he asked without expecting a response because there was something he didn’t understand. If this dwarf was developing revolutionary new technology, then he should have been a VIP in the dwarf world.

I don’t get why he’s digging alone in this dangerous area. You’d think someone this important would have guards with him.

But Ainz’s question was resolved in the next moment.

“It’s not. Not at all. I haven’t gotten anywhere with my work,” Gondo murmured gloomily. “We call someone who creates magic items with rune technology a rune crafter, but I’m not one of them. I’m not even worthy of being an apprentice.”

Huh?
Ainz quipped mentally. That meant someone who couldn’t properly use rune tech was trying to develop it—which made no sense.

Was it even possible to develop new technology like that? Or was this how research always worked?

No, this can’t be normal. Gondo wouldn’t look so down otherwise. He must know he’s attempting the impossible.

Ainz wasn’t sure what to do. He had no idea if this Gondo guy would be of any use or not.

“I just don’t have the aptitude. I can manage carving a rune. But it takes so long… They say that all rune crafters go through that stage. But everyone else kept improving while I got stuck.” Gondo shook his head sadly. “I’m an incompetent rune crafter. I only got the dregs of my amazing father’s ability.”

I see
, thought Ainz.
His issues stem from lack of skill.

Combining his knowledge from this world with what he remembered from
Yggdrasil
, Ainz figured the situation went something like this: Most likely, a person needed ten levels or so in another class to become a rune crafter. Gondo had managed to clear that hurdle and was now a level-1 rune crafter.

But the limit of his total levels was eleven, meaning he probably couldn’t progress any further as a rune crafter. At the same time, he wouldn’t be able to acquire any of the truly useful skills as a humble level-1 rune crafter.

There was nothing Ainz could do for Gondo. Consequently, he didn’t say anything.

Sometimes consolation could save people, but other times it was simply offensive.

If Ainz were in Gondo’s position, he wouldn’t want to be comforted by someone he had only just met.

“…I see. Are all dwarves working toward the advancement of rune technology?”

“No, just me.” Gondo cracked a sad smile. “All the rune crafters have given up. No one tries to pull away from existing techniques to develop something new. They seem to think it’s fine if rune tech eventually fades away.”

“I see… I have one question. What do you want to do once you develop new techniques?”

“What? I’ll enchant things with runes, obviously. I want there to be more rune crafters. Runes are a wonderful technology. It would be a waste for them to disappear.”

“Do you have any supporters?”

“No. As I said before, most rune crafters have given up—they’re a bunch of drunks. They think the art will vanish within their generation. In the past, I tried to win them over, but they all refused.”

“…Hmm. The weak shall perish. It’s natural that a technology that can’t be used will fade away.”

Gondo shot Ainz a stern look but immediately wilted.

Watching Gondo hang his head, Ainz mused about value.

Honestly, he didn’t have any interest in runes aside from whether players were involved in their history or not.

But abandoned technology was probably cheap, meaning it could make for a good investment. The fact that it didn’t cost money or require expensive materials to use was fantastic. And the fact that it was a rare technology made him want to collect it.

The other bonus was that if other players were around and they had a similar interest in runes, then Ainz could use that to attract them.

“…There’s one other thing I’m wondering about. What basis do you have for thinking such development is even possible? From your comments before, it seems to me that you’re just saying what you want out of ignorance.”

“No! It’s true that I have no aptitude and couldn’t become a rune crafter even if my life depended on it. But my father and his father were the leading rune crafters in the country. My family has worked alongside the last of the royal family, the Rune Crafter King. I watched them do it. And I read their books, so I know it’s not impossible! My father even affirmed my ideas from his sickbed! He said it would be extremely difficult but that it wasn’t impossible!” Tears had formed in the corners of Gondo’s eyes as he laid bare his pain.

These must have all been emotions he had been bottling up finally bursting out.

Though Ainz was being hit with raw emotion, he wasn’t terribly moved. He did want Gondo’s research to succeed but only because he wanted to acquire a rare technology before it was lost. If that couldn’t be done, he could simply accept the fact and give up.

“It’s true that I, his son, have no skill! But I don’t want the art of my ancestors to disappear! I can’t allow the glorious name of my father to fade from history!”

Those were the words that moved Ainz.

He himself wanted to keep alive everything the guild Ainz Ooal Gown had created.

At that moment, he understood Gondo’s feelings so much it hurt.

Suddenly, he felt a much greater affinity for the dwarf.

And at the same time, he realized why he was talking so much.

To Gondo, runes were already dead or dying. There was no reason to hide anything. He probably felt that on the contrary, spreading information about them far and wide would result in a greater chance of continued existence. Although Ainz wasn’t sure if Gondo had consciously thought that far or not.

“…You’ll have to excuse me. This might anger you, but let me say it anyway: You’re you—not your father or your grandfather. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Gondo’s expression had shifted to what couldn’t quite be described as furious, disconsolate, or sentimental. In the end, he seemed forlorn. “Your Majesty, King of Darkness, I thank you. But I have decided my path in life.”

“Then I—or rather, my country—will support you financially. I’ll be your patron and assist your research.”

Gondo’s eyes gaped and he flailed about. “D-do you really mean that? It’s too good to be true… I can’t believe it.”

There was always a catch. Ainz was excruciatingly familiar with the way Gondo felt.

“All I can say is I want you to believe. But with you alone, someone unable to do any rune crafting, won’t it be impossible to develop the techniques you were talking about?”

Gondo zipped his lips and said nothing.

“With that in mind, I’d like to move all the rune crafters of the dwarf country to my nation and have them aid you in your research.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. I want to mobilize all the rune crafters, allow them to compare notes and develop new technology. To that end, I need your help poaching them. Or is it impossible?”

Gondo thought on it before answering. “No, I don’t think it’s impossible. The rune crafters are at their wits’ end, but I think most would be open to a chance, if there is one.”

“We need to appeal to their emotions… So, Gondo. Will you join me? How much of your soul will you sell?”

“What?”

“If we don’t focus all the rune crafters on a single goal, it’d be hard to rehabilitate a disappearing technology, right? We can’t do this half-heartedly. We need to poach every last rune crafter. That means there’s a good chance we’ll have to resort to some underhanded methods. And someone cooperating with me may be forced to betray their country.”

“Oh, that’s what you’re talking about? Then the answer is simple. If it’s just my soul, that’s a small price to pay to make rune technology immortal.” Gondo held out a hand.

Ainz took it. “I’m an undead. That’s all right with you?”

Gondo smiled at Ainz’s question. “If you’ll give me the chance to make my dream come true, I don’t care if you’re undead or the terrible frost dragonlord.”

“Then first, will you lead me to the dwarf country? I want to meet with the king and sign a friendship treaty so we can invite the rune crafters to my country. It would be problematic to extend an invite to the artisans if our countries didn’t have any diplomatic relations, right? They aren’t trying to guard the technology at all?”

“We shouldn’t have any problems with that. I don’t think they even want runes these days. Oh, and we don’t have a king anymore. Now the country is run by multiple leaders in a regency council.”

“Hmm. I’d like to hear more about that. I’m fine with hearing it while we walk, so will you teach me?”

Gondo agreed, and by the time they reached the entrance of the tunnel, Ainz had learned all sorts of things.

When the three of them exited the tunnel, Shalltear and the others were waiting. Naturally, Zenbel was there, too.

Gondo may have been expecting undead, but seeing the magical beasts put him on guard. Or rather, Ainz heard him murmur, “There aren’t any dark elves.”

Shalltear came forward and bowed. “Lord Ainz, I’m sorry to trouble you immediately upon your return, but a slight problem has arisen.”

“…There are some Hanzos missing. What happened?”

“My lord! It appears some sort of creatures have invaded this cave. They came from the tunnel in the building Aura led us to earlier. My apologies for telling you after the fact, but I took the liberty of sending some Hanzos out to scout.”

“No need to apologize. You did everything right, Shalltear. We’ll wait for the Hanzos to return and analyze the information they bring back before deciding what to do next. And then…” He glanced over at the former resident of the city, but he was busy talking to Zenbel and not paying attention to the others. From what he could hear, it seemed like they were talking about the dwarf Zenbel was indebted to. “Gondo, sorry to interrupt, but it seems this city has been invaded. I may have to use my powers within your city, so if that happens, I want you to testify that I had no choice, even though I was in your country.”

“Of course. You can leave that to me. But please don’t cause too much damage.”

Ainz nodded. Of course he wanted to avoid doing anything that might hamper his future negotiations.

“Shalltear, what’s our security like?”

“I sent out Aura’s magical beasts, but… Aura, what do you think?”

“I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine. Even if the enemy is invisible, my beasts can sniff them out.”

“Got it. Then we just wait for the Hanzos.”

After a little while, the Hanzos returned.

According to their report, the intruders seemed to be kuagoa; a lot of them—at least a hundred. When Gondo overheard that, he was shocked. A hundred was quite a large number, far more than necessary for scouting. Perhaps it made sense to consider them a combat unit. Or was this a tribe that was moving in?

There was only one thing Ainz could do in this case.

“…Shalltear, capture them all. Can you do it?”

“If that is your order, I shall carry it out without fail.”

“Consider it an order. Do you understand why I’m having you catch them?”

“To extract information from them and to avoid letting any leave with information about us.”

Ainz nodded firmly. “That’s right. If we only take one alive, then we can only get information from that one, increasing the chances of leaks or misinformation. We can also kill prisoners to make a point.”

And though he didn’t want to say it in front of Gondo, listening to only one side of the story could be a bad decision. It was possible that dealing with the kuagoa would be more beneficial.

“Get going, Shalltear. And bring back some good news.”

3

Shalltear, accompanied by her aides, hurried toward the location where the kuagoa had appeared. She leaped from rooftop to rooftop, running so fast, she was practically flying. She was already wearing her armor, so she didn’t have to worry about her extensive padding.

She looked over her shoulder to confirm that Aura was keeping up.

Normally, a guardian would have stayed behind to protect their master. Since Aura was with her, it probably meant Shalltear wasn’t trusted.

Well, why would she be?

She didn’t have any memories of the offense she had committed, but she had heard about it from the others.

Their kind master had said it wasn’t her mistake, but she couldn’t imagine that was true. That’s why she had been waiting for a chance to clear her name, but unfortunately, she hadn’t been blessed with one—until now.

Aura had consoled her, but that wasn’t what she wanted.

Shalltear stared straight ahead, her gaze determined.
I won’t fail even once on this journey.

Before long, they arrived at a building not far from their destination, and Shalltear peered down at the kuagoa.

A few members of the race the Hanzos had described milled outside the building.

“Now then, what to do.” Shalltear considered her options.

Her voice was probably audible, but Aura simply stood behind her with arms crossed, saying nothing. That was as it should be. The orders their master had given Aura before coming were,
Watch over Shalltear, and if she tries to massacre them, stop her even if you have to hit her. Other than that, you’re not permitted to influence Shalltear’s operation at all.

Shalltear had been told that Aura would only follow her and that she wasn’t to make use of the other guardian. In other words, this operation had to be planned and carried out by Shalltear on her own.

She had to follow her orders perfectly and achieve a brilliant success.

She loosened up her balled fists.

“Hanzo.”

“Yes, ma’am!” The minion dressed like a ninja came into view.

“I want to make sure none of them gets away. Can you check the tunnels to make sure there aren’t any inside?”

“Not a problem. Just say the word.”

She expected nothing less from a minion summoned by her master. With this, she could cut off the enemy’s escape. The next thing she had to prevent was her targets scattering and hiding all over the city. Of course, if she spent time hunting them down, she would be able to find them all eventually, but she wanted to avoid something that would take so long. Her master hadn’t specified a time limit, but letting things drag on would be proof she couldn’t manage her time well.

“Well then, let’s begin.”

Shalltear issued orders for the plan she had thought up on her way over.

Her forces would encircle the kuagoa and then close in to neutralize them.

In other words, it would be a brute-force maneuver that used the Hanzos as a wall to prevent any retreat and then overwhelm their opponents by completely surrounding them.

Considering she didn’t know her opponents’ powers, there was some slight danger involved, but if the kuagoa were strong enough to kill Shalltear and the Hanzos, there was no way the dwarf state would still exist—unless that dwarf Gondo was particularly weak.

After dispatching the Hanzos, Shalltear counted out three minutes. She had no way to contact the Hanzos, so they had to sync up action based on time.

Luckily, the kuagoa apparently decided to make their camp in the vicinity of the building and showed no signs of splitting up.

“Go. Move according to your orders. First priority is preventing runaways around the perimeter.”

After giving orders to the undead she’d brought with her, she ran along the roof and launched into a flying leap at the edge that brought her right in front of the kuagoa. At the same time, the undead jumped down to complete the encirclement.

With the main points on the roads around the building occupied, the kuagoa had virtually nowhere to run. The chaos among their ranks was tangible, and before they could regain their composure, Shalltear cast a spell.

“Mass Hold Species.”

As she had anticipated, her opponents weren’t very high level. Multiple kuagoa were frozen stiff.

The kuagoa who weren’t in range of the spell had recovered from their confusion, but none of them moved to attack Shalltear. She had appeared out of nowhere and frozen their friends with magic. It must have been difficult to even decide whether to fight or flee.

Shalltear grinned faintly.

Observing from above and aiming for what looked like the most important kuagoa had paid off. She tentatively identified her victim as the commander.

“Mass Hold Species.”

She cast again. Now all the kuagoa outside the building were incapacitated.

“Tighten the circle!”

On Shalltear’s shouted order, the undead encirclement contracted.

Hearing Shalltear’s raised voice and noticing how strangely their friends outside were acting, the kuagoa inside began to panic, but they were already in check.

When Shalltear felt a sadistic smile was ready to creep onto her face, she gave her cheeks a good slap. She couldn’t let her guard down now. That was probably what had caused her to fail in the past.

After mustering a new expression appropriate for the reborn Shalltear, she dove into the building. Coming in through a window would’ve made for a better surprise attack, but considering the time it would take to break the glass, she decided charging in through the entrance made more sense—plus, she figured she could draw more attention this way.

The kuagoa waiting inside brandished their claws and attacked.

Three right here, four in the back. No commander present as far as I can tell. With an eye on the future, I should probably let them attack me and learn what they’re capable of.

Shalltear accepted their attacks without dodging at all.

As she expected, she sustained no damage.

Only enchanted weapons with a silver attribute could hurt Shalltear. High-level monsters sometimes had unarmed attacks imbued with magic and a silver attribute, but it was rare among lower-level creatures.

For Shalltear, this was quite reasonable, but for the kuagoa, it was world shattering. The kuagoa surrounding her apparently couldn’t believe what they were seeing and swung their arms over and over. But nothing changed.

“All right, all right, this experiment’s over. Would you kindly leave it at that? Mass Hold Species.”

The spell stopped all the kuagoa in the area.

“Now then, what else?”

She turned her head around and, through the wreckage of the door, her eyes met those of the kuagoa in the next room. Dwelling inside those gazes was Shalltear’s favorite food: fear.

The moment Shalltear started to move toward them, the kuagoa turned tail and ran off as if competing to see who could escape first.

But they were too slow. To Shalltear, they moved about as fast as slugs. Repressing a sneer, Shalltear shot off a spell at their backs.

I’m not letting a single one get away.

Shalltear couldn’t afford any mistakes.

After restraining all the kuagoa in the building, she entered the tunnel and found six more on the ground at the Hanzos’ feet. Noticing from the way they were moving slightly that they were still alive, she queried the Hanzos. “Are these all the kuagoa that ran this way?”

“Yes. No others came over here.”

Shalltear hadn’t let any escape, either, so she was confident she could call this a perfect performance.

“Just in case, please check if there are any hiding in the building. Then call the undead holding the kuagoa outside and have them restrain and carry out the ones in the building, too, will you? I’ll stand by here while you search the interior, just to make sure none escape this way.”

The Hanzos acknowledged Shalltear’s orders, lifted up the fallen kuagoa, and went back to the building. They reappeared before her two minutes later.

Having completed her job without a hitch, Shalltear ventured back into the building and then outside once more. Tons of kuagoa were tied up. Ainz was there, too. Aura, the Hanzos, the dwarf, and the lizardman were also present.

“Well done, Shalltear. It seems you completed your mission without letting a single one escape.”

“Thank you, Lord Ainz!”

“And now, Shalltear, I have your next orders. Obtain information from these creatures, preferably without injuring them.”

“Understood.”

To start, she had an undead drag over one of the first kuagoa, whose spell had worn off.

“Eek! Save me!”

“Hee-hee. If you answer honestly, I won’t kill you. You
have
to be honest, though. First, who is the most important one here?”

“That one. The one with some blue fur.”

“You wretched blabbermouth!”

When she looked to see who had screamed, it was indeed a kuagoa with some blue fur.

“Now, now, don’t fight. In that case, can you bring that one over? You can put this one back.” She had the undead drag over the most important kuagoa.

“Hmph! You seem to be from a race similar to dwarves. Don’t think I’ll be talking! I’m staking my pride and my tribe’s pride on that!”

“Hmm, then how about we do this? Charm Species. Now will you talk to me?”

“Yes, of course. What would you like to know?”

The other kuagoa gasped in astonishment at the docile reply.

The charm spell made the target feel like the caster was their trusted friend and equal. For that reason, the target couldn’t be made to kill or severely injure themselves, since that wasn’t something a friend would order them to do. And just as sometimes people kept secrets they wouldn’t tell even their best friend, the charm spell didn’t always allow the caster to draw out the information they wanted. In those cases, the only solution was to use even stronger mind-control magic, but that didn’t seem necessary this time. Shalltear was grateful for her luck.

“First, are you really the most important of everyone here?”

“Yeah, I’m the commander of this unit. Hey, you guys are being obnoxious. What’s so bad about me talking to my friend here? Oh, you can keep a secret, right?”

“Of course. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I trust you. But those guys… And wait—that’s an undead, isn’t it?”

The kuagoa eyed Shalltear’s great master. His attitude offended her, but she had to control herself until she acquired the necessary intelligence.

“It’s all right. I am, too, but I’m your friend, so you can trust us.”

“Could it be that you’re controlling that thing?”

I’m going to kill you.
The words nearly got out, but she swallowed them—because her master spoke first.

“That’s right. She’s my master.”

“Ohhh. That’s my pal for you. Amazing!”

“Th-thanks.”

Assailed by a complex, burning emotion, Shalltear wanted to roll around on the floor, but she couldn’t waste her master’s precious support.

The commander kuagoa was giving her comments serious thought. The ones behind him all called out, “What’s wrong? What happened? Have you really been best friends with her all along and we just never knew?” but the commander completely ignored them. Eventually, his face twisted up. It was a smile. Probably.

“All right. If you say so, I’ll trust them. Our friendship runs deep, after all.”

Shalltear snorted. “Then, can you make sure to speak loud enough so the people behind me can hear? Who are you and why have you come to this city?”

We’re friends and you don’t even know that much?
is what one might expect the reply to be, but magic is amazing. The commander kuagoa answered obediently without suspecting anything. “We’re a detachment from the attacking army. We’re here to kill any dwarves who try to flee to this city.”

“What?” the dwarf yelped in surprise. “Wh-what does that mean?”

“Shaddup, dwarf. You’re too loud. Your dirty race can go extinct already.”

“Now, now. That’s enough of that. So what is this attacking army?”

“Oh, sorry. I got a little worked up. There’s a dwarf city north of here, and the attacking army is planning to destroy it. Up until now, the fort guarding the bridge over the Great Chasm would repel us every time we launched an assault, but we discovered a way around the crack that exits to the side of the fort. Our plan is to use that and charge in all at once.”

Shalltear looked at the dwarf, and he was awfully pale. It seemed like very bad news.

“And when are you planning to attack?”

“Our group split off from the main group and came here, so I don’t know for sure, but probably today or tomorrow.”

Shalltear could hear her master and the dwarf talking.

“That’s what he claims, but is it true that the city will fall if that bridge is taken?”

“I can’t say. But I’ve heard that since the bridge is the only way to attack, the fort repels all intruders with magic items. If that fort falls, it’s a straight shot to the city, and it would be difficult to stop the advance of a huge army. In that kind of situation, it’s possible everyone might abandon that city and come back here. If they were then ambushed by these guys, that would be the end of the dwarves.”

The commander kuagoa could probably hear their conversation, too. He laughed with a sinister “heh-heh-heh.”

“Is your group the only detachment?”

“We’re the only ones that came here. We don’t know how strong the dwarf city is or how many soldiers they have, so most of our forces stuck with the main group.”

“Lord A— Err, uh, is there anything else you want to know?” Shalltear asked, struggling not to say
Ainz
.

“Not really. If anything, maybe see whether they have a way to contact the main forces or not.”

When she repeated her master’s question, the commander answered right away. “No. Our mission isn’t very high priority. We’re only here to hunt down the runaways.”

When she looked to her master, he nodded.

“How shall I dispose of this thing?”

“…Gondo. Sorry, but do you think you could start prepping for our departure?”

Realizing what that meant, the dwarf and the lizardman left.

After watching them go, Ainz gave Shalltear her orders. “…Okay, they’re gone. Shalltear, send them all to Nazarick. Have the kuagoa imprisoned. Whether we kill them or not will depend on what sort of relationship we build with the other kuagoa. We won’t kill our prisoners until we’re total enemies. But we will have them undergo some experiments—test their physical abilities, like the strength of their claws, as well as their physical and magic resistances. Some may die from that, but…tell them to keep casualties to a minimum.”

“Understood.”

Shalltear immediately cast Gate and connected it to the surface level of Nazarick before addressing the group of kuagoa.

“All right, you lot, in you go.”

When their commander took the lead and went through, the others followed. Several of them were too scared to stand, so Shalltear picked them up and threw them into the portal.

After getting them all across, Shalltear herself returned to Nazarick temporarily. She repeated the orders she had received to the Old Guarders there and then came back through the still-open Gate.

Her master stood there with his arms crossed as if he had been waiting for her.

“Your interrogation was perfect, Shalltear.”

Something warm welled up in Shalltear’s flat chest when the first thing she heard coming out of his mouth was a compliment.

“Thank you, my lord!” Before she knew it, she had thrown herself at his feet. She couldn’t think of any other acceptable response.

“Uh, right. Continue to serve me faithfully.”

“Understood, Lord Ainz!”

“Well, don’t stay down there—stand up. We need to hurry and meet with Gondo… This is a great chance to earn some favors.”

“We were quite fortunate. It’s almost as if fortune has blessed all you do.”

They looked at each other and smiled.

Not that her master’s face moved, but she was absolutely sure he was smiling.

“Shall we?”

“Yes, my lord!”

Ooh! Incredible! I can’t believe we get to walk side by side like this… Ahhh, such happiness.

Shalltear reveled in her joy as they exited the building.

“Gondo, sorry we kept you waiting. What are your plans?”

“What
can
I do…? It would take six days to reach the city underground. That’s far too long a trip to deliver the news we just heard in time.”

Shalltear’s often relaxed face was tense, and even as she returned Aura’s suspicious look, Ainz and the dwarf started talking. She tried frantically to memorize everything so she could put it in her notebook later.

This was none other than their great master, so she was sure he would either completely break the dwarf’s heart or put a huge chain around his neck so he would never be able to betray them.

“I see. That’s definitely not enough time. How about this? Do you want to come to my country straight from here? You wouldn’t be able to do anything on your own right now even if you could get back, right?”

“N-no, I wouldn’t.”

“I wish we could at least evacuate the rune crafters… Assuming we raced over there offering to save the day, do you think talks would proceed smoothly? Are dwarves a race that feels properly indebted to people who help them?”

“Yes. I hope you’ll believe that. If you protect us from the threat of the kuagoa, I’m quite certain negotiations will go in your favor.”

“Then we’ll need to figure out the proper timing,” said their great master, as if testing the dwarf, but Gondo just shrugged.

“I’ll go along with what you—whatever Your Majesty decides.”

Shalltear wasn’t sure what it meant, but she could gather that this dwarf had chosen her master over his own race.

He had only just met the dwarf a short time ago in the tunnel, yet he already ruled his heart. Shalltear was awestruck.

It made sense that Lord Ainz was the leader of the Supreme Beings when he was this charming.

“…Well, I guess we’d better hurry. I want to avoid losing rune crafters. There’s no telling what will happen if we travel underground, so let’s go outside. You can lead us, right?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Then, everyone, get ready to go!”