LIGHTNOVELONLINE The Swords Of Darkness
[E-Rantel Adventurers’ Guild]
“Hey! Isn't that the adventurer that knows the new lord!”
“Yes, I heard about him from one of the guys who were in the inn this morning, they said he and the lord shook hands like old buddies!”
“But he's just a copper plate, how did he even buy all that armor anyway?”
“Idiot! He's obviously a friend of the lord, it's obvious he just bought it for him!”
The countless whispers permeated throughout the adventurer guild's main hall, with every adventurer regardless of their rank giving a piece of their mind.
The source of their fierce debate should be obvious, it was undoubtedly the now infamous copper ranked adventurer known as Momon.
Luxurious black armor that obviously looked quite expensive, enough strength to defeat a high ranking adventurer with one blow, a personal friendship with one of the new big shots in the city. If all that didn't garner him any attention, then nothing ever will.
And garnering attention it sure did, because as soon as Momon and his companion Nabe set foot on the guild's floor, chaos ensued.
But for the man himself strangely didn't seem to mind it, he had more important stuff to care about at the moment.
He stood in front of the quest board and stared at it seriously, and as all adventurers here collectively thought he was choosing a quest to undergo, they let him be.
But there existed one minor problem stopping him from doing so.
'...I can't read any of this'
…He couldn't read, neither did Nabe nor any one from the tomb as well.
And with all quests displayed being a paper with the quest details written on it…this wasn't exactly very ideal for wanting to gain fame by being an adventurer.
‘If I had known that this would happen, I would've learned the language comprehension skill back in YGGDRASIL' He thought momentarily to himself, fully knowing that wasn't exactly possible, nobody expects to suddenly transfer worlds after all.
But he can't just turn away from the board now, not with everyone and their mother staring at his back since he first entered here.
He was caught between a rock and a hard place, either risking tarnishing his reputation by announcing he's illiterate, or embarrassing himself by walking away from the quest board without picking his literal first quest.
So after a small while of intense thinking, a plan made its way to his head.
He noticed that some of the flyers hung on the board didn't gather much attraction, with not many adventurers actively considering the quests written on them.
Which makes them one of only two possible things, either they were too low level for most adventurers to accept, or…
‘They were too high level and were too dangerous to even consider'
Based on the limited amount of time he spent staring at the board, he saw about fifteen to twenty flyers that the adventures didn't even glance at.
And from the appearance of said adventurers, Ainz could confidentiality speculate that there ranks ranged between iron to platinum, which basically means the middle class of adventurers.
Which solved his problem, right? He shrinked the possibilities from eight to only two, he should now be able to pick one with a relative amount of knowledge on it without reading, right?
But there was a problem, he can't just go and grab a random flyer, he doesn't want to grap a super low level quest and publicly humiliate himself in front of all these people.
So how would he know wether a quest is super easy or super hard? Well…he had a plan for that.
Low ranked adventurers far outnumber the elite, so easy or not, copper ranked adventurers are forced to undergo the trash quests from time to time, and considering that there are many of them with a limited number of quests
'The paper flyers should show signs of deterioration…Yes, there they are'
And indeed, he saw a couple of flyers that were noticeably more worn out than others, with some finger prints scattered on some of them even.
Which means that the untouched ones are for high level adventurers.
'Fuck it'
So, he grabbed the oldest yet most intact looking flyer from the board and slammed it down on the reception counter, startling the receptionist in the process.
“I'd like to take this quest”
He spoke with a stoic yet strong voice, one that carried immense power yet hung softly in the air, displaying the image of the well experienced yet polite warrior that he wanted to convey.
The receptionist who was startled at first calmed down and glanced at the quest flyer in front of her, and with a slightly happier business smile, she looked up to him.
“I’m very sorry Momon-san, this quest is for a mythril plate adventurer”
The reason she knew his name was the same as everyone else, his acquaintance with a handsome rich man and his small brawl at the inn were practically wide spread news in such a close knit city.
So she put on the best smile she could in hopes of being in the man's good graces, her mind completely overlooking the fact that he chose a quest with a rank five times higher than his.
But his instant response quite honestly shocked her.
“I know, that's why I brought it here”
His booming voice didn't just startle the receptionist either, it elicited a chain of whispers throughout the adventures in the entire hall.
It wasn't every day that a copper ranked adventurer wanted to accept a mythril ranked quest, ranks existed for a reason after all.
And while that would normally only gain the copper ranked adventurer ridicules and mockery, this time, due to the person in question, it had the opposite effect.
Finally, the receptionist overcame the momentary lapse of shock she underwent, and amidst the countless mutterings the could be heard from everywhere around them, she calmly spoke with a smile.
“But there are rules that need to be followed”
She spoke of the obvious rule that every adventurer knew of, the said rule stated that only adventurers who equaled or exceeded a quest may qualify to undergo said quest.
The rule had existed since the founding of the guild, and for quite obvious reasons, it wasn't questioned even once.
Until now that is.
“It's a stupid rule” Momon said with a shrug, his heavy armor clanking audibly as his helmet stared straight into the woman's green eyes.
It was obvious that he wasn't very content, and being face to face with a man twice your size wasn't exactly very assuring to say the least.
But surprisingly, the receptionist in question was undeterred, she even stared back at him with the smile she had since the beginning without as much as moving an inch.
But in reality, that wasn't very surprising, considering that she makes a living by talking to rough adventurers day after day.
“If you fail this quest, there is a chance that a lot of people will lose their lives”
She spoke with reason, everyone knew that sending someone who was potentially not qualified for the job could do more bad than good.
But that was exactly what Ainz wanted to hear.
“Hmph”
He snorted and backed away from the counter, his imposing frame purposefully making way for his companion to be visible to everyone around.
“My partner is a third tier magic caster”
“Third tier!!”
“At that age”
His calm and collected voice instantly triggered a wave of exclaims throughout the crowd.
The words he spoke weren't something that could be taken lightly after all, third tier mages were few and far between after all, only one tier away from the perceived literal pinnacle of human magic.
They were considered to be masters of their craft, often sought after by elite adventurers or nobles who were rich enough to pay for their services.
But it wasn't just Nabe either.
“And I am a warrior equal to her in level”
He claimed quite casually, making everyone around them recall the small incident that occurred in the morning, the one that resulted in a high ranking adventurer tasting the floor in just one move.
Some of them hadn't believed it at first, even with the insistence of those who had seen it first hand, it was hard to believe that a copper plate could achieve something like that.
But now it made sense.
“All we want is to do a job that is equal to our skill level”
Momon's words brought out the guild members of their shock, his ultimatum had them holding their breath, so much so that they awaited the decision of the receptionist on the edge of their seats.
The woman looked quite unsure, she sheepishly kept glancing between the man and the quest flyer for a few times.
But after a deep breath, she looked down and said in a whisper.
“I'm very sorry Momon-san, but according to the rules, you can't take this quest”
Her words were followed by a collective exhale of nervousness and moments later, the entire hall fell into a state of tense silence.
“I see”
The tension could be felt growing tenfold after he had spoken, his blank helmet didn't help much in conveying the man's inner feelings, only conveying the dead and cold look of the hard steel that covered his face.
Silence stretched for a good while, the tension grew thick enough that it wracked the nerves of the poor adventurers who thought that the armored man would go on a rampage any second now.
But thankfully, their fears were unfounded.
“Then it can't be helped, sorry for sounding selfish, just give us the hardest quest in the copper range”
“O-Oh Yes, I understand!”
The tension immediately melted like butter, and with a genuine smile this time, not a business one, the receptionist stood up and went to bring in the quest acceptance papers.
Momon watched her in silence, not at all minding the countless chatting occurring all around him, he was busy celebrating after all.
‘Yes! I was able to guid her into what I want, I guess all these years of being a salary man sure helped’
His inner feelings didn't at all correspond to the stoic and mighty warrior image he had going on, but he didn't care one bit, nobody would be able to read his mind after all.
'Well, except for one'
His bony face let out a nervous smile that wasn't visible beneath the helmet, as memories of their latest stumble upon the nephalem in question a few hours ago.
But the voice of a man in his mid twenties pulled him out of his inner thoughts.
“In that case, would you like to help us with our quest?”
…….
After getting out of the inn this morning and making her preparations, Brita immediately made a beeline towards the middle of the city, specifically towards a specific pharmacy.
Her mind constantly drifted back to the man of her dreams, her senses were overwhelmed with only the drive to see to his will, with the thought of fullfiling what he had asked her off the only one currently on her head.
She walked with increasing haste, strolling through the empty streets until eventually making her way to the best potion brewery in the city.
She quickly opened the door and entered, her eyes catching the countless shelves scattered across the place in the process.
But that wasn't why she was here, she was here for the best pharmacist in the city, and with just a few glances around, she didn't see anyone!
“Welcome”
Suddenly, the soft sound of a young man could be heard from above her, specifically, from the top of the ladder in front of her.
Her eyes instantly snapped to the voice's source, catching sight of the infamous young man who'll lead her to her goal.
“Nfirea Bareare-san?”
Brita eyed the young man in question, he had short, bowl-cut blonde hair that covered half his face.
He was dressed in quite ragged and stained clothes which weren't very pleasent to look at, but because Brita knows that they're likely a product from the potion making, and also because she just didn't care about his appearance any way, she completely ignored them.
“Yes, I am Niferia. Do you have some business with me?”
The young boy spoke with a soft and timid voice, never making eye contact with Brita but still having enough courage to talk to her.
He seemed quite awkward, coupled with his hair falling on his face and nearly blocking his eyes from view, it gave him quite a unique appearance.
But that didn't matter much, and as soon as the young man confirmed her words, excitement started immediately coursing through her veins.
She dashed up to him, grapping on both of his arms gently and tugging on him with a wide smile on her face.
“Great! Niferia-san, please lead me to the best pharmacist in the city! They say she's your grandmother”
She shook him quite a few times as she excitedly said, her inhibitions were thrown out of the window as she practically jumped the poor boy.
Speaking of the poor boy, Niferia had suddenly found himself being nearly in the embrace of this crazy adventurer.
Safe to say that his already barely held together composure was completely shattered, especially when it was his first time so close to a woman other than his grandmother…and Enri.
“H-!!”
'Enri…I miss her’ He suddenly thought, images of the beautiful country side young maiden that had tugged at the strings of his heart flashed in his mind as he was rattled around like he was made of straw.
“I'm t-!!”
Her gentle and loving voice, her sweet and flowery scent, her golden hair locks that shone beautifully in the sunlight, his heart fluttered at the mere thought of her.
“Niferia-s!”
His thoughts drifted to the day he had met her, completely isolating him from all that happened around him, drifting in a day dream about what became the joy of his life.
“What the hell is happening here?!”
The day dream didn't last very long sadly, because the sound of the workshop's backdoor slamming open and the old and shrill voice of his grandmother's yell brought his senses back to him.
“Who are you? And why are you bothering my grandson so much, huh!”
The angry grandma was quite short, had white hair, blue eyes that she shares with her grandson and a face full of wrinkles that symbolises her old age.
She strutted over to Brita and pointed her finger at her while throwing a glare that was quite honestly terrifying.
Which obviously led Brita to let go of poor Niferia, but she didn't move much beyond that, and instead of being unnerved, she was even smiling.
“I'm very sorry Madame! My name is Brita, madame, I'm a iron ranked adventurer”
She introduced herself while holding the plate that hung from her neck, which not only serves as a way to measure her rank, but also as an identification of some sort, everyone knew the adventuring system after all.
But rather than calming down, the old woman annoyed look stayed as is, and after making sure that her grandchild wasn't harmed in any way, she looked back at Brita with the same glare she had the entire time.
“What do want, woman? Spit it out!”
Her glare intensified as she growled at the much taller Brita, her tone may be quite unfriendly, borderline rude even, but it wasn't really that unfounded.
And while the old woman's tone would have upset most adventurers, even the ones that knew they were at fault, to Brita, it was just further confirmation of what she was after.
“Is your name Lizzie Bareare-san, Madame?”
Upon being asked the question from the annoying adventurer, the grandma looked confused, and without her annoyance diminishing, she just spat out.
“Huh? Yeah that's me, what about it?”
Again, the grandma, or in this case Lizzie's words were quite rude, but that didn't matter, and upon hearing the confirmation, Brita practically had stars in her eyes.
“Great! Then would you please come with me, Lizzie-san? I promise it'll be worth your time!”
“Huh??”
Brita's excitement didn't calm down at all, and after confirming that this old woman was indeed the one she's looking for, she wasted no time in getting straight into business.
Safe to say that Lizzie didn't take those words very well, not many would when suddenly asked to accompany someone they had never met in there life.
But that wasn't what truly confused the older woman, what truly did was the manner of which Brita had behaved until now.
She could see that Brita had no makeup on, her hands were also full of caluses and her arms have well toned muscles.
Brita was by no means a naive and gullible girl, and with just how young the adventurer was, Lizzie could deduce that Brita had a considerable amount of experience as an adventurer despite her young age.
Which made her demeanour even more of a mystery, how could such an experienced adventurer act in such a silly way? And more importantly, what was the reason that drove her to come ask for Lizzie specifically?
Lizzie's life long experience told her that this situation was quite unnerving, but part of her, specifically something at the back of her mind told her that the truth isn't fully in front of her and that she should look more closely.
And indeed, after looking closely for a few seconds, she could indeed notice something quite substantial.
She may be old and well past her prime, but she was after all, a woman, and every woman to ever exist would immediately recognise the look in Brita’s eyes.
‘Ah youth!’ She secretly said inside her mind, but on the outside, she wore the same annoyed look as usual.
And after coming to the conclusion that she should find out more before ultimately deciding what to do, she dropped the confused look and asked plainly.
“And why would I come with you girl? Who was it that asked you to do this anyway?”
The moment the question was asked, Lizzie got to see it in real time.
She saw Brita's look become more and more dreamy, her hand unconsciously went to her heart as the smile on her face stretched wider and wider.
“It’s for lord Cassian Aurelius! The most handsome, intelligent and wealthy lord in the entire city personally asked me to look for the best potion maker in town! and I swear I'm not lying! I know it’s unbelievable that he was willing to even talk to a commoner like me, but I swear it happened! He even said that he’ll compensate me for my broken potion if I finish this job for him, I swear he’s….”
Lizzie just watched in silence as the Brita rambled on and on with starry eyes like a young girl in love.
And at that moment, all that the old woman had in mind was just one thing.
'Who the hell is this Cassian Aurelius?’
………
Back in E-Rantel’s adventurers guild, Ainz, or in this case Momon, along with his companion Nabe, were currently seated in one of the meeting rooms on the guild's second floor.
They were seated on one side of a large wooden table that spanned acorss the entire room, and in front of them, there were four individuals.
“Then let me introduce ourselves”
The one who was the first to speak was a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes.
He wore a chainmail armor with numerous chains of rings forming a mesh, which was worn on top of leather shirt with a long sword strapped to his side.
His bright smile and confident demeanour alluded to his charismatic nature, making him quite the natural leader.
At least that's what Ainz thought to himself, which was confirmed literally a few seconds later.
“I am the leader of the swords of darkness, Peter Mauk”
He pointed at himself, his head held high and with a small smile on his face, it exuded both confidence and pride, both towards the comrades he fights alongside with, and at being their agreed upon leader.
“And that's the team's eyes and ears, the ranger Lukrut Volve”
“Hi~”
Peter then pointed at another blonde, but instead of his own blue eyes, this one had brown ones that gave him a cheerful look.
He wore a leather armor, and had a thin body with his long and skinny limbs, and as if living up to his ranger status, a long bow was neatly strapped to his back.
But something wasn't right with this one here, and the smile he was directing at Momon's companion made him more of an insect than the other insignificant humans…or at least that was Nabe’s own opinion.
“This guy deals with healing magic and the manipulation of nature, the druid Dyne Woodwonder”
“Nice to meet you”
The next introduction was concerning a man with a bulky body and huge groomed beard that covered his entire mouth.
He had the faint smell of grass on him, which seemingly came from the pouches on his waist, but as he was obviously a druid, which his class just alluded to, nobody commented on it.
His eyes were always closed though, which was a little odd.
‘How does he even see anything?’ Ainz silently asked himself, but as it was obviously rude to ask, so he didn't voice it out loud.
“And lastly, our magic caster and the brains of our team, Ninya the spell caster”
“Nice to meet you, both. But Peter, can you stop with the embarrassing nickname?”
Finally, there was a young boy with brown hair and blue eyes with a face that looked childish.
His skin was pale and he wore leather clothes, and due to being a mage, he held a wooden staff by his side.
But there was something strange about this boy, something that only Ainz and Nabe seemingly noticed.
'That's not a boy but a girl, how curious' Ainz thought with curiosity growing inside his mind.
He silently wondered about the reason which forced a little girl to disguise herself as a boy, even from her so-called comrades as well.
But as this wasn't something he was going to figure out on his own, he decided to just listen try to figure out for himself.
‘It’s not like they're all going to die tomorrow, right?’
So for now, he's going to keep observing, may as well gather some intel about the humans here, in this world.
“Huh? Why not? The title honestly suits you, Ninya”
“I agree, this guy is a talent holder as well. How envious!”
Peter and Lukrut both spoke with admiration in their voice, and while the ranger held some small amount of jealousy in his, it didn't diminish the respect he obviously harboured for the boy.
But that wasn't what has drawn in Momon's interest.
“Oh? A talent holder”
Ainz recalled one of the things he had read about this world, a fact that honestly astonished him, which was one of the reasons that he instantly remembered the moment the s words ‘talent holder’ were said in his presence.
‘Talent holders, people who are born into this world with a special ability. Very interesting indeed' He thought to himself.
“He has the talent, Magic Affinity, which I believe makes him learn magic in four years other than eight, right?”
…Wow, that was really unexpected.
'Four years just to learn first level magic! That's so trash!’ Was Ainz's honest reaction, but he obviously didn't show it outwardly.
But thinking that he had a reputation to uphold, he decided to ignore the snort that was slowly creeping up due to his gamer mind.
“That’s amazing”
He glanced at the young mage and said with a soft and polite tone, which illicited a blush from the young ‘boy’.
“Thank you, I feel very lucky to be born with this talent, It allowed me to take the first step towards releasing my dream”
‘He’ spoke with conviction as he looked down at the table below ‘him’, which from the words ‘he’ had just spoken, obviously hinted at the reason for this young girl's peculiar situation.
But that didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things, not even to Ainz, whose interest was now solely grasped by his fame, and how much useful intel he could gain from these people.
“Either way. He's one of the famous talent holders in the city”
“Well, the other one is even more famous than me here”
“You must be taking about Bareare-shi”
Ainz found himself getting increasingly curious by the second, because not only there was one talent holder in the city, but two.
But before that, he suddenly realised that he hadn't introduced himself, neither did he introduce his companion.
So he decided to do that first, then satisfy his curiosity later.
“Oh excuse me for my rudeness, this is Nabe, and I'm Momon. Please take care of us”
He introduced both of them and gave a small bow, which drew out a sudden inhale from the black haired beauty sitting beside him, but he paid it no mind.
“So, what kind of talent does this Bareare have?”
His curiosity shone through his speech, it was obvious that he was interested in this supposed famous talent holder, whose fame trumped even someone who held a talent that halved the time needed to learn magic.
And while Ainz viewed such a talent as insignificant trash, he acknowledged its value among the inhabitants of this world.
So, he obviously wanted to know more, partially due to his own curiosity, but more so because of wanting to gather intel, which he already established earlier.
But Momon's curiosity told Peter something about the man.
“I see. Since you don't know, you must not be from around here”
He smirked as if he had just uncovered some ancient unsolved riddle, but as Ainz found that it wouldn't matter if he revealed his recent arrival or not, so he decided to confirm it.
“Ah yes, I just arrived yesterday”
Peter grin widened slightly at the confirmation, he obviously looked happy with himself after uncovering the great mystery, so he happily replied to Momon's prior question.
“Nfirea Bareare is the grandson of a famous pharmacist here, his talent allows him to use all magic items, with no restrictions”
“Oh?”
Ainz was honestly glad he didn't diminish all talents based on the first one he heard of, magic items were a big deal you know? And being able to equip any of them with no questions asked, that's a problem.
A fact that Nabe wasted no time in further conveying, as they both firously whispered to each other.
“that human, he sounds dangerous”
“I know”
Thankfully, their little back and forth hadn't been noticed by anyone, as Peter continued speaking with the same friendly smile on his face.
“So, about out current job. Our objective is to eliminate the monsters near this city, E-Rantel”
'So, like a quest?’ Was the first thought that surfaced in Momon's head, his mind drifting back to the hunting quests he used to get back in YGGDRASIL.
So he decided to confirm for himself, but inwardly, he had already decided that he would be joining them on their quest.
“Is it a monster hunting expedition?”
“...Um, actually. It's not a job that was particularly requested”
“...What do you mean?”
‘It isn't a monster hunting quest? Then why are you killing them then, for sport?’ He thought idly, but he of course knew that wasn't the reason.
“Depending on the strength of the monster, the guild will receive money from the city to reward us with. That will be our reward this time around”
‘I see, it's like collecting money by selling your item drops' Was the way that the gamer brained Ainz had interpreted the situation, which wasn't necessarily wrong, but it did speak of the way he processed the situation he was suddenly placed into.
“It’s a necessary task in our way of life”
“But it puts bread on our tables, it also lessens the dangers for people around us. It's a win-win situation!”
The ever hibernating druid and the ranger each gave their two cents on the matter, and while both of them spoke of different motives and harboured completely different personalities, they both arrived at a similar conclusion, and thus coexisted in the same team.
“Well, that's how it is. We're going to hunt around the forest south of the city, so how about it, will you join us?”
Finishing his speech with a hopeful look, Peter gazed up to Momon in silence, along with the rest of his party.
They seemed excited to team with him and Nabe, and as Ainz found no problem in doing so, and having arrived at that decision for a while now, he obviously agreed.
“Yes, please take care of us”
His words obviously garnered joy form the party, the addition of two powerful individuals is considered a big positive no matter how you looked at it.
And that's when Ainz suddenly has an idea, one that'll help him in both increase his credibility with his new party, and also serve to make him more relatable…as a fellow human of course.
“I guess since we'll be working together, I should show you my face”
He slowly lifted up the helmet, the clacking of metal echoed for a second or two until the steel was lifted fully from his face, which finally revealed…an average middle-aged asian man's face.
His old world's human face, to be perfectly accurate.
“I’ve heard of a country in the south where your face is common, Momon-san”
“...he's a lot older than expected”
“That's rude, Lukrut!”
Ainz obviously ignored their antics, which coincidentally also included the look that Nabe was giving him, and put his helmet back on.
“It could cause problems of other knew that we were both foreigners, so I have been hiding my face like this”
‘Well, this face was just an illusion. It's not like anyone would notice, not when even the little girl with a magic talent didn't’
It wasn't like Ainz expected the little girl to notice him silent casting a fourth level spell, but having a talent should have atleast amounted for something, she should have at least been able to sense the mana in the surroundings moving when he casted the spell.
'But she didn't’
It was honestly reassuring in a way, facing someone who was supposed to be talented but in reality they weren't even qualified to be called a mage.
‘I wonder how would they react if I told them that I could cast Super-Tier magic’
For better or worse, nobody heard Ainz's inner thoughts but himself, because if they did, there was no telling how would they react.
That is if they even believed him, because in their mind, magic capped at the fourth tier after all, they had no capacity to even comprehend beyond that.
Which obviously included the 11th tier, the literal pinnacle of the entire magic system as a whole.
Because sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss.
“By the way! What kind of relationship do you two have?”
…
…
…Speaking of ignorance.
“She's my ally”
After a few moments of awkward silence, and after Ainz was amazed that he felt no second hand embarrassment after hearing the ranger speak those words, he spoke plainly.
But amazingly enough, Lukrut didn't immediately stop speaking when he felt his comrades glare at him.
On the contrary however, that seemed to have given him more confidence, and after literally getting up from his seat and kneeling in front of Nabe’s, he looked up to her with a wide smile.
“I’m in love! It was love at first sight! Please go out with me!”
It was a heartfelt display of admiration and love, this display of raw emotion that coupled with the ranger's natural charisma and good looks would've made the heart of any other maiden flutter in an instant.
…But not this one.
“Shut up, slug. Talk to me once you know your place, shall I cut off your tongue?”
“h-hey nabe…”
“Thank you for such a harsh rejection!”
…
…
A few moments of silence pass by, with Ainz finding himself genuinely surprised at the prospect of someone who's glad about being insulted by a beautiful woman.
…You could tell that he had been an innocent virgin for all of his past life, fortunately for the overlord, no-one here could have known his thoughts at the moment.
“Then, Let us start as friends. My gorgeous lady”
“You maggot, do you want me to spoon out your eyes?”
“Oh~ that cold gaze of yours is s-!”
“Bam!”
“Sorry for my friend's rudeness.”
Sadly, the little episode had abruptly ended. With Peter hitting the ranger on top of his head and shutting him up mid sentence.
Which Ainz honestly didn't know if he was glad for or not.
“...It's fine. And I'm sorry as well”
“cough. Then, since we're all ready, should we head out immediately?”
“...Sure”
……..
At the same time as Ainz was about to venture with his new companions, the trio of Brita, Niferia and Lizzie had finally arrived in front of an extremely wealthy looking mansion in the middle of the city.
“This should be it”
“Holy gods, this is insane! Having this much money should honestly be illegal!”
“G-Grandma, p-please lower your v-voice!”
It was staggeringly humongous, boasting a size that was more than two times that of the city's main hall, which was home to the literal mayor of the city.
It was so massive it even dwarfed the richest of noble houses in the entire city, which was honestly quite a feat, considering that nobles literally distinguish between one another by constantly comparing their wealth.
The trio stood in front of the big iron gate and gazed upwards at it, their necks ended up hurting though, simply due to the sheer height that the gate boasted.
“H-Hey miss Brita, what should we do now?”
“That's right little girl! How should we call this lord if there isn't even gaurds at the gate?!”
“I...I d-don't know okay! I didn't think that far!”
“This littl-”
Their talk was however suddenly interrupted by the sound of the huge iron gate slowly opening.
The large door frames slowly opened, allowing the group to gaze upon the mansion's inner garden, and also the face of the man that opened the gate for them.
It was a regular butler, he had blonde hair and blue eyes like most of the citizens in the city, he also looked to be in his middle ages, which coupled with his graceful and a refined demeanour made it obvious that had been working as a butler for some time now.
“Ahem. This way please, Madame Lizzie, Miss Brita, Sir Niferia”
He gave a graceful bow in welcome, then after straightening his stature, he started walking in the main mansion's direction, giving the group only a few moments to gain their bearings and hurriedly follow after him.
The group walked in silence, occasionally gazing across the vast garden and gazing upon the various herbs and plants that were literally in any direction the eyes could reach.
“Some of those herbs are hundreds of years old! If I get my hands on them, I could make the greatest potion to ever exist!”
“Grandma…it isn't polite to yell in someone else's house”
“Shut it Niferia! Let an old woman dream would ya!”
“I wonder If lord Cassian would be happy with me, I hope I don't look to crude in this outfit”
The ground continued on in a not so silent atmosphere, they continued walking behind the butler until they arrived in front of the main building's gate, which was already open.
So they immediately entered, and what greeted them was the usual things that was expected from nobility.
Long, polished wooden tables stretch beneath chandeliers, and soft, velvet cushions adorn the carved chairs.
Tall marble pillars that were decorated with the most skilled of craftsmanship, some even contained a touch of gold, which even kings would consider a show of riches.
“click. click. click. click”
The sound of footsteps pulled the group out of their compined reverees, they traced the source of the sound up the magnificent set of stairs in front of the main gate, and they all collectively hung their gaze there unflinchingly, just waiting to see the source of the sound.
And soon he came, his appearance mirrored that of this morning, with jet black hair that looked darker than a starless sky, dark eyes that seemed to drain the light out of their surroundings, a matching black suit that appeared darker than a stormy night and a pure white tie that was a sharp contrast to his entire appearance.
He looked extremely dashing, so handsome in fact that some would say that he was staright out of a fairy tale that wasn't meant to exist in the first place.
…But he did exist…He is real…and with a small smile that hung on the edge of his lips, he went down the stairs with small but heavy steps.
“Welcome to my house” Was the first thing that came out of the ‘lord’s’ mouth.
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