Текст книги "Overlord - The Man in the Kingdom - Part 2"

Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane

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"Nabe, take my place and meet them. I'll come over after I finish up here."

The nearby listeners' eyes went wide.

"I'm very sorry, but the ones who queued up came first."

Ainz turned from Evileye and continued speaking to the adventurers who had come to see him.

If Ainz were speaking to the boss of a small company and was called over by the boss of an international corporation, he would naturally go over to the latter. It wasn't favoritism or discrimination, but rather, common sense. If he stuck to his guns and ignored the call, he would be seen as a selfish leader who couldn't see the big picture. As a salaryman, sometimes you had to put aside your own thinking and act for the greater benefit of the company.

That was what it meant to be a cog in a machine.

However, this time was different.

I shouldn't speak to Gazef. Even if it's just for a moment, and even if it's been two months ago so he shouldn't remember... if he does, I'll be trapped. But there's no getting around it. Although I feel uneasy, I should probably let Nabe take it on first, and then lower my voice a little before speaking to him.

...I've been speaking for quite a while, so if he hasn't heard it by now he probably never will. Still, I'd better be careful.

"Quick, Nabe. Go over to them."

"Understood."

Taking his eyes off Nabe, who was walking over to the princess, Ainz took his helmet off as well. He felt the eyes of the entire room focusing on him. He cricked his neck, and then put the helmet back on. Originally, he'd planned to spice up the act by wiping his sweat off, but Ainz’ “face” was an illusion, and if he didn't do it right, his hand would end up passing through it instead. So, he decided to end it with the neck-crick instead.

That was the plan, to satisfy Gazef's curiosity by letting him see Momon's face.

Hopefully after Narberal goes over, they'll forget about coming over to talk to me...

Ainz prayed so in his heart while he turned back to the adventurers who were seeking him.

"What a surprise, are you used to this already?"

It was Evileye's voice. She was still hanging around. Why couldn't she have been a good girl and gone over with Narberal? Of course, he didn't reveal his irritation. In fact, to avoid suspicion, he replied to her in a gentle voice.

"Oh, it wasn't anything special."

This was nothing for anyone who had worked in a company before.

"Hardly. I think it's the best attitude to have for leading a party."

How annoying. Stop cutting in when I’m making introductions.

The words burned in Ainz’ heart, but he had to swallow them. If he lashed out at her now, the effort he put into not killing her would have been wasted. He split his attention as though he were performing a simple task, and made the appropriate noises to someone who had come to see him. The other party also knew that Momon was being called away, so they wrapped things up in two or three sentences.

After the line of adventurers had dispersed, a quick look revealed that Gazef was gone. He suppressed the urge to burst into dance, and instead spoke calmly to Evileye.

"The legendary Warrior Captain seems to have left... oh dear. I think I spent too much time with the others. My apologies."

"Mmm? What do you know, he's gone. He's a busy person, it makes sense that he couldn't stay. Although, it does seem quite rude that he didn't even say a word of thanks to our ace, Momon-sama, who's going to protect the capital. How rude. Let me get him for you."

"Wait. Wait!"

He'd accidentally raised his voice. Ainz continued in a more even tone.

"No, it won't be a problem. Really, don't worry about it. I'm only here because Marquis Raeven hired me, anyway. Protecting the capital is simply business. Nothing that the Warrior Captain should praise me for."

"Is that so... I've been feeling that Momon-sama was a generous man."

Ainz thought he was being mocked, and he looked closely at Evileye. But he couldn't read her face, covered by her mask as it was.

I can't trust anyone who wears a mask after all... what a pain. Still, why does she wear the mask? It must be some kind of magic item...

It was at this moment that Ainz realized his mistake, and he scrambled to examine his surroundings. The mood of the room hadn't changed, and nobody had reacted with fear and hostility toward the adamantite adventurer Momon.

Illusions in YGGDRASIL were just a trivial way to change an item's appearance, but in this world, illusion magic was real. In that case, it wouldn't be unusual for items that pierced illusions to exist... In E-Rantel, nobody saw through it, and after I heard from the Magician's Guild leader that one needed experience to see through them, I got careless... there are also quite a few orichalcum ranked adventurers here, what a blunder...

Ainz surveyed the room again.

Nobody's on their guard, I guess my secret's still safe... from now on, I won't remove my helmet in the capital unless I have to. Someone might have a talent for seeing through illusions.

"...Evileye-san,"

"Please, call me Evileye. Momon-sama is my savior, you need not be so formal with me."

Ainz was only being polite. But if that was how she wanted it, he had no reason to refuse.

"Then, Evileye, let's go over there..."

"Of course!"

It was an extremely delighted reply. Not knowing what he had done to please her so, Ainz allowed himself to be dragged by Evileye toward the princess.

The adventurers started talking again as they saw the group heading toward the other room– Renner and her underlings, along with the two adamantite ranked adventurers.

Naturally, the central topic was Momon, the top-ranked adventurer.

"I heard the rumors from E-Rantel, but the real thing was beyond my expectations."

"Not just him, right? I've seen Red Drop too, and I got the same feeling from them. He seems perfect in just about every way. I guess being adamantite-ranked isn't just about strength."

The one addressing the two mithril ranked adventurers was one with a platinum plate on his chain.

"Is that so? Still, he was summoned by the princess and still took his time to say hello to novice adventurers. Someone like that can't possibly exist, right?"

"It certainly surprised me."

Murmurs of approval came from the adventurers around them.

During a mission like this where parties had to work with each other, it was only sensible to make introductions, in order to secure assistance and support for each other. One would certainly prefer to aid someone they knew rather than a stranger. However, the only ones who could even begin to help an adamantite ranked adventurer were all ranked mithril and above. As such, greeting a fresh adventurer could be said to be a waste of time. Which meant that Momon wasn't thinking of benefit for himself, but just wanted to deepen his friendship with others.

"Normally, you'd expect him to go over to the princess while his partner attended to the novices, right?"

"Ah, yes, that's what most people would normally do. It's what I'd do. You guys too, right?"

"Same here... this may sound kind of bad, but maybe he doesn't understand this sort of thing. Does he have his priorities straight?"

Those words could certainly be seen as an insult, but the man speaking them did not have a single iota of malice on his face.

"Maybe he does. Maybe his priorities are just different."

As though waiting for this, the man who had spoken earlier replied quickly.

"Then there's nobody better than him. I mean, look at him, he's adamantite-ranked and yet he treats the freshest copper-plates like they were battle buddies. Look at their faces."

"They totally worship him now."

True enough, the novice adventurers had a look on their faces like a kid who had just met their idol.

"Heh, yeah, if he treated me like that, I'd be his. I'd even give him my ass."

"Get lost, who the hell would want your nasty ass? He's got a beauty on his team."

"Yeah, he does. You think they've done it?"

"Of course they have, if not why would they form a team by themselves?"

"I heard it's not like that..."

The fourth man to interrupt had an orichalcum plate on his neck.

"You seem to be quite well-informed, with your rumors from E-Rantel. The strength of those two is unreal. Maybe it's because nobody else can keep up with them?"

"...have you been spying on us all this time?"

"Hahaha! Don't say that, you didn't care who was listening, did you?"

"Heh, well, I guess," the first adventurer said.

The Adventurer's Guildmaster clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"The operation starts in one hour, so we'll be moving out shortly. Because we don't have much time, please relay the message to any of your party members who aren't here. In any event, once we leave the palace, just stick with me.”

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 5th Day 1:12

They were gathered in the other room to make the final preparations for the operation. They considered when to break through, what to do when the enemy showed up in force, and how to deal with the possible complications which might arise. But in the end, they simply had too little information to make any concrete plans and the final conclusion was that they had to go with the flow.

The youth in white armor who had been listening quietly thus far suddenly broke his silence.

“Forgive me, Princess,”

“What is it?”

“I know another person who could become an arrow for this formation. He is a man with overwhelming fighting power. Would it be all right to ask for his aid? One arrow is good, but two would be better, and if they helped each other, I am sure they could defeat any demon that showed itself, no matter how powerful it was.”

“What’s this, Climb? Are you saying the Momon-sama I recommended isn’t enough?”

Evileye’s words had a razor-sharp edge to them. Climb’s eyes trembled with fear.

“No, no, of course not. That was never my intention—"

“Momon-sama is the strongest warrior in existence. I daresay that rather than helping him, the man you recommended would be nothing more than a handicap.”

The katana-wielding warrior, Brain, stepped in to defend Climb.

“That might not be so. I too have seen the person Climb speaks of. His strength is extraordinary. He felled Zero, strongest of the Six Arms, in one blow.”

“You are Brain Unglaus? The one who serves her Highness on the recommendation of Gazef Stronoff and Climb?”

“I serve Gazef, but before I am officially sworn in, I stay by the Princess’ side.”

“That you are much stronger than Climb is known to me, but even that isn’t a guarantee of the man’s strength. And besides, didn’t you lose to that old hag?”

“...Ara, didn’t you lose to her too? My apologies, Mr. Unglaus.”

“Uuuu…” Evileye whimpered as Lakyus scolded her.

“It, it wasn’t just her, you all were there too,”

“After you lost, you said you lost to Rigrit, not the rest of us.”

“You still remember that, Tina?”

Between the laughing Tina and the crying Evileye, the mood in the room had lightened up considerably.

At this point, Ainz asked a question.

“He sounds very interesting. What kind of person is he?”

Climb proudly stated the man’s name.

“His name is Sebas.”

“...hm? Seibath?” The name sounded familiar to Ainz. Was it merely a coincidence?

“...what is his personality like?”

After Climb’s explanation, Ainz nodded.

Isn’t that Sebas himself?!

How had he come into contact with Climb? What kind of relationship did they have? Was Climb one of Sebas’ contacts? Ainz had only skimmed the reports Sebas submitted, and he hadn’t bothered remembering any of the people he mentioned.

It couldn’t be helped, I was too busy…

Ainz’ anxiety only grew as he made that flimsy excuse to himself.

In any case, this boy was a valuable contact that Sebas had made. If he were disposed of too early, it would be a waste of Sebas’ hard work. And carelessly casting away the work of one’s underlings was something a superior should avoid at all costs.

It would be better to aid this boy here, and indirectly praise Sebas.

“I have not done battle with this Sebas before, so I cannot say which of us would be stronger.”

“Of course Momon-san is stronger than him!” Narberal stated in a voice brimming with confidence. Evileye quietly nodded in agreement.

Ainz couldn’t help but pat Narberal on the head.

"Well, if my companion says so, then there must be some truth to the observations of both sides. I believe he should be able to stand on equal footing with me."

"That was a surprisingly mature response. Unlike my companion... not only does she lack height but she is deficient in adaptability too."

"All right, all right, let's not embarrass ourselves in public. That's an order from the party leader. If there's nothing else to discuss, why don't we go pay Tia and Gagaran a visit?"

"Sounds like a plan."

The two of them had died and been revived. Although he had not seen the resurrection itself, he had heard all about it from others.

"Speaking of which, is it possible to use the energy of darkness to attack demons and the like?"

"...The energy of darkness?"

Evileye’s uncertain question drew a surprised response from Lakyus. She seemed to find the concept unthinkable.

"Ah, I heard from Gagaran, if you released the full power of the Demonic Sword Kilineyram, it could be powerful enough to destroy the entire country."

Lakyus' eyes went wide.

"Th-that can wait till later! There's something else to discuss, right?""

A demonic sword? Hang on, I think I've heard of this weapon before... not in YGGDRASIL, but this world... got it! The Demonic Sword Kilineyram, said to be able to radiate the power of darkness. Although... destroying an entire country? It sounds like an exaggeration, but it might have a power that comes close enough.

Ainz concluded that her red face was caused by anger and panic that her own trump card had been suddenly revealed.

Just as everyone's attention turned to Lakyus, there was a knocking on the door, and two men entered shortly after.

"Onii-sama, and Marquis Raeven,"

At Renner's words, everyone bowed their heads in respect.

This was the second time Ainz had met these two men. The first time was not long ago, when they had entered the capital. They had changed the terms of the quest he had been hired for. Instead of the Eight Fingers, he would be fighting against Jaldabaoth, and he would be working together with the gathered adventurers of the capital.

After the simple greeting, Ainz and the others were about to step outside because the princess wanted to address the two nobles. Most of the details of the battle plan had already been decided. Searching for Sebas had been abandoned due to a lack of time and manpower. All that was left was to wait for on-site orders.

"Then, everyone, I beseech all the gods to allow everyone here to come back alive and victorious... our hopes rest on all of you, or rather, on Momon-san. May fortune favor you."

After listening to Renner pray with her head bowed low, Ainz and the others quietly exited the room. The only ones left were Raeven and the second prince – Zanack Valurean Igana ryle Vaiself – and Renner.

The moment Climb left the room, Renner's expression changed, her green eyes freezing over like a lake in winter. Zanack shivered as he watched the change in her.

"We overheard the details in the secret room..."

That room was designed for eavesdropping, and the two of them had been listening from in there.

"There's one question you didn't answer. Why did you have to form the guards up into a battle line. Are they sacrifices?"

Guards were very weak. Even the lowliest of adventurers was more than a match for them. If they were attacked, the only reasonable response for them was to be massacred.

"Bait."

That word was what they had expected.

"The adventurers said so too; Jaldabaoth's army of low-ranked demons cannot be allowed to run free in the capital. Then, if they gorge themselves on the guards staked out as bait for them, certainly they will eventually kill their fill and be sated on slaughter, no?" Renner smiled.

It was almost impossible to settle things with fancy words and high-sounding ideals in this world. Everything one did had a price. Nobody understood that more clearly than the ones in power, whose responsibility was to limit the necessary sacrifices as much as possible.

From that point of view, Renner was the ideal bureaucrat.

However, humans were creatures of emotion, and the emotion they would feel when hearing of this plan was revulsion.

"Surely there must be a better way? Some way that doesn't involve sacrificing all the guards?"

"If there were, surely Prince Zanack would have mentioned one by now, no?"

Zanack fell silent.

It was true, he did not have a better plan than Renner's. He had ideas, certainly, but they were either impractical or impossible with the resources available. At the moment, all he could do was acknowledge that Renner's plan was the best of a bad lot.

Raeven shifted his gaze from the prince when he quieted himself, and then he voiced his own objections.

"Then, permit me to seek clarification. Why give Climb such a dangerous task?"

"For the same reason why Onii-sama and Marquis Raeven's men are patrolling the city."

Zanack had been making his rounds in the capital, putting on the act of the prince who cared for his people. After that, he had also begun spreading the rumors that the crown prince had been hiding in the safety of the royal castle. This would make himself look good and diminish his brother– who was his rival.

Did that mean Renner was doing the same thing– sending her subordinate on a dangerous mission of mercy in order to make herself look good?

But then, when one thought about how Renner had revealed her obsession over Climb yesterday, something was definitely wrong here.

Sensing his doubt, Renner carried on.

"Of course, Climb has a chance of dying. In that event, Lakyus will use a resurrection spell on him. It won't be cheap, of course, but an expense like these won't be a problem. And after he's been resurrected, Climb will be weakened from a loss of life energy. During that time, I will take care of him. I'm sure nobody will object to me caring for a person who died and was resurrected for following my orders."

"I see. That is certainly reasonable. You plan to deepen his affection for you."

"—is there a chance Lakyus might die as well?"

"That is a valid concern," Renner said to Raeven, whose head was lowered. "But one that has been planned for. During the dangerous period of the sortie, there will be additional people in place to protect her. The guildmaster does not want a person who can resurrect the dead to be killed, so she agreed without hesitation.”

"It seems everything is within your calculations, little sister."

Yes, his radiant, laughing sister. Zanack trembled in his boots.

Beside him, Raeven also fought to suppress the chill that ran down his spine.

Chapter 11. The Final Battle of the Disturbance

Translator: Nigel

Editors/Proofreaders: Ferro, TaintedDream, Namorax, Skythewood, SifaV6,

JcqC, ZackTan

 

 

Part 1

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 5th Day, 02:30

The flickering flames of the barrier had no heat at all, making it seem like an illusion. The adventurers standing at the front exchanged glances with their parties, and then they gathered their courage and plunged boldly through the firewall.

Even though the supporting priests from the temples had already cast spells of fire protection on them, they still held their breath, for fear that their lungs would be burned

...even though they already said the flames wouldn't cause any physical harm.

That thought ran through Lakyus' head as she watched the wall of fire from the rear of the formation.

Still, it was too soon to celebrate the fact that the flames were harmless. If they were not meant to cause injury, then there must have been another reason for Jaldabaoth to conjure them. That was what she had to puzzle out.

If I can't figure it out, there's no point wasting energy on it. Who was it who said that I should be using my head for better things... Evileye, or Uncle?

The barrier of magical flames was like an illusion, offering no resistance and bearing no heat, and just like that, she was through.

Lakyus looked around at the worried faces of the adventurers who were stepping through the barrier.

The plan had called for the formation of a defensive line, but forming a neat line of battle in the middle of a city was very difficult. Therefore, they had used four parties of orichalcum ranked adventurers as the linchpins of the formation, assigning each of the adventurers to one of them. Someone looking down from above would see something like a beast with all four legs spread.

Since they were the cores of the formation, it was only natural that the orichalcum-ranked adventurers would become the leaders. But right now, they were filled with unease and tension. Lakyus hoped that they could hide their fear and inspire courage in the others around them.

Should I take to the front after all?

Certainly, if an adamantite ranked adventurer like herself stood at their head, morale would surely increase. But right now, Lakyus had no reliable allies by her side. Even if she was adamantite ranked, a lone Blue Rose was less effective than an orichalcum-ranked party. As such, she had handed command of the vanguard to them.

Even if they trusted me, running in and making a fuss would only fill them with unease. But... ah, I should just go to the front and see what happens.

With that, Lakyus stepped through the wall of fire.

A freshly silenced world spread ahead of them. The streets were the same as those of any other in the capital, if you overlooked the fact that there was no presence of human life and many of the residences had been destroyed.

"What happened to the residents? Are they hiding? There’s no smell of blood.”

“Impossible. Look, the doors have been broken down. I fear the people might have been taken somewhere."

"We need to be wary of demons lurking within the houses, should we do a room-to-room search? That will take a lot of time."

"It'll be safer to contact Lakyus-san and wait for further instructions, right?"

"Then, let's hurry up and—"

"There'll no need for that."

Straightening up by reflex at the sound of the voice, the speaking adventurers turned to look behind them. They stared in goggle-eyed surprise at Lakyus, who had just arrived.

"The iron and copper-ranked adventurers will stay behind to search the houses. One mithril-ranked team will remain behind to supervise. The people behind will spread out into the formation and advance. Any objections?"

The shaking heads said there were none.

"Then, let us advance."

Lakyus walked in line with the orichalcum-ranked adventurers. An uncomfortable silence settled around them. It was hard to believe that there had been life here until this evening.

"...speaking of which, Momon-san will be alright, won’t he?"

Lakyus understood how uneasy they were with pinning all their hopes on Momon.

"He'll be fine. Evileye herself admitted that he was even stronger than her. The real problem is the one that fought him to a standstill, the enemy leader, Jaldabaoth. How strong is he, anyway..."

The nearby adventurers heard this and their faces drooped in despair.

"Ah, sorry, don't worry about it. We just need to do what we've been assigned to do, that's all."

"Aye, that's true. It makes me jealous as hell to admit it, but I guess each of us has been tasked to do what we're most suited for. In that case, everyone, forward!"

Standing at the head of the group, together with the orichalcum-ranked adventurers, Lakyus stepped forward

Her hand gripped the Demonic Sword Kilineyram. Its surface was like a stretch of night sky, speckled with sparkling stars.

They had not walked for long before the sound of a distant explosion carried over softly from the distance. The ones who trembled were the lower ranked adventurers. The ones who prepared for battle were the middle ranked adventurers. The ones who scanned their surroundings were the upper ranked adventurers. And the ones who looked straight ahead were the highest ranking adventurers. Amidst this sea of reactions, Lakyus stared out into the distance with a piercing gaze.

"The party on that side has entered combat."

Probably not Tina's group.

"If they've been moving in at the same rate as ourselves, we ought to be encountering enemy resistance soon."

"...What about from above?"

"We have scouts in place, and none of them have reported anything so far."

"That's good. Demons have a lot of flying-type creatures among their numbers. If they spread out in the capital, it would be pretty bad. So we need to draw their attention to the ground where we are now."

"Which means that the plan is essentially unchanged."

"That's right... hm, what's that, did you hear something?"

"Aye, I hear it. Dogs barking. Hey, what's that?"

The arcane magic caster answered the question.

"I haven't confirmed it with my eyes yet, but I think it's a hellhound. Its special ability is fiery breath. I think it has a difficulty ranking of fifteen or so."

"Difficulty... yeah, speaking of which, what rank were Jaldabaoth and the insect maid?"

Lakyus was lost as to how she should answer. If she was honest, it would most likely shatter their resolve, but if they went into battle with a false impression of the enemy because she lied to them, it would be just as disastrous. She agonized about it for a while before deciding to tell the truth.

"...150."

"Aye?"

Everyone who heard Lakyus' voice had the same reaction.

"The insect maid's difficulty ranking was at least 150. Jaldabaoth himself is estimated at 200 or more."

"Hah?!"

Everyone aside from Lakyus was speechless. That much was expected. Even the highest-ranking orichalcum adventurers would only rate around 80 on the difficulty rankings. Although one could still triumph over a foe ranked roughly 15 points over oneself, trying to do the same with an enemy ranked almost twice as high as oneself was nothing short of laughable. And then—

"Wait a minute! Are you saying Momon-san is going to fight that difficulty 200 monster by himself?"

"Exactly. That's why I said we'd just be getting in the way."

"But that's not the same... you said 200? Are you kidding me? Are all adamantite ranked adventurers that strong?"

"If only. Even we’re ranked around 90 at best."

"Then... then how the hell are we even supposed to win?!"

The adventurers looked around, holding their breath.

Lakyus had not lied, but neither had she told them the whole truth. Although Lakyus herself was rated at ninety, Evileye was over one hundred and fifty, which was how she had come to the conclusion about the insect maid and Jaldabaoth. And that was also why Evileye was not part of this defensive line.

In order to quickly recover her expended mana, she had chosen to meditate and rest. After that, she had followed Momon to where Jaldabaoth was, in order to provide support so Momon could battle Jaldabaoth one-on-one. Their fear was that they would encounter the insect maid again.

While Lakyus was lost in thought, she felt the depressive mood around her prickling on her skin. Everyone's morale had plummeted, and there were murmurs about abandoning the whole thing and fleeing the capital.

As she had predicted, everyone was feeling demoralized. Lakyus knew because the first time she heard Evileye talk about their battle, she had felt the same way herself.

"You heard Evileye, right? Momon-san is the kind of man who can fight evenly with Jaldabaoth. Because of that, we're trusting everything to Momon-san, and instead we're going to do what we can do."

"B-but if Jaldabaoth is fighting Momon-san, then what if the insect maid appears here?"

"Leave that to us, Blue Rose. Evileye has a special item that allows her to teleport over to us. She's got a way of dealing with the insect maid, so she can overcome that difficulty gap and beat her."

That brought a wave of cheers from the adventurers. It seemed that their fighting spirit was restored.

Just in the nick of time

The roars of beasts came from the way ahead, along with the sound of footsteps.

"They're coming. We'll build our defensive line here. The people on the flying disks above will drop into the side roads. Leave the main road to me!"

The beasts were on the main road. Though they looked like large dogs, their eyes were filled with an infernal intelligence, and in place of drool, flames leaked from their maws.

There were fifteen of these hellhounds here. Standing before them was Lakyus, who gripped the demonic sword Kilineyram with both hands.

"You petty demons, don't you dare look down on me."

With a prayer to the water god on her lips, Lakyus clove the leaping hellhound in half with a single strike. The floating swords surrounding her acted as shields, blocking the attacks of the hellhounds from her flanks. She kicked away another one that was snapping at her ankles.

Lakyus was handling six hellhounds by herself, and the rest went on to attack the other adventurers. The weaker ones took them on one at a time, while the stronger ones handled multiple hellhounds at once. In this way, they whittled down the numbers facing them. By the time Lakyus had slain all six of hers, the others were done as well.

"Tend to the wounded!"

"No problem, Lakyus-san!"

Of course, they hadn't gotten through untouched, but the injuries weren't severe. Considering they had to conserve their mana, it was quite an auspicious start.

"People on the sides, I say again! Advance 50 meters and hold!"

The cry to advance echoed from both sides. Holding her sword, Lakyus went forth as well.

♦ ♦ ♦

Lower Fire Month (9th Month) , 5th Day, 02:41

Three men ran down the dark and narrow alleyways. Nobody else was there with them.

These three men were Climb, Brain, and the former orichalcum ranked thief that had accompanied them during their attack against Zero's base.

The adventurers working for Marquis Raeven were all patrolling the capital’s streets in order to hunt down any demons who broke through the containment line. Climb had only managed to obtain the services of the thief because according to Marquis Raeven, the man himself had asked to help Climb out. That was to repay the kindness Climb had shown by blocking Zero's attack on him and for healing him. In addition, Raeven wanted to repay the favor he owed to Renner.