Текст книги "Overlord Volume - The Two Leaders"

Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

“What are you saying? Don’t you know Ainz-sama is the living avatar of wisdom? Even that wouldn’t be enough to describe him. All this must be part of his plan.”

“Ara, I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that, surely Ainz-sama’s power must be the best part of him…”

The four beauties stared at each other.

“Ainz-sama is a beautiful, compassionate person.”

“Ainz-sama is the incarnation of death.”

“Ainz-sama is an extraordinary hero.”

“Oh, looks like everyone has a different impression of Ainz-sama. Then, let’s have a competition to see who picks out the most suitable title for Ainz-sama.”

In an instant, everyone went silent. Lupusregina was wearing her usual smile, but she was determined not to let the other maids pull ahead of her in terms of appreciating her liege’s qualities. However, Sixth and her two friends felt the same way. Although the regular maids were weak beings, their love and passion for their master was no less than that of anyone else’s.

“Then, the three of you may begin.”

The first to speak was Lumiere.

“Then, as I said earlier, I wish to praise Ainz-sama’s beauty. So how about ‘A figure of beautiful porcelain, shining and flawless, the gentle lord of mercy.’”

Next was Foire.

“Well, if we’re going to praise Ainz-sama, then we should praise his awesome power right? What is more fitting than ‘Memento Mori’!”

The third was Sixth.

“Ainz-sama was the one who commanded the Supreme Beings, so his management skills would be excellent. So he is a ‘wise king’.”

Although everyone’s names fitted their master well, in the end they all thought that their own choices was the best.

Lupusregina coughed gently as Sixth, Foire and Lumiere looked at her. With a proud look on her face, she said,

“In the end, he is the absolutely strongest and most—”

“…There you are.”

The source of the calm voice was CZ. The penguin butler she had been holding under her arm had vanished to parts unknown.

“…Don’t use invisibility. So much.”

“Soz~ it’s a habit~”

“…And then. You had breakfast.”

A furious anger burned under CZ’s emotionless face. Sixth had a feeling that she shouldn’t be here any longer.

“…Ah, I-I have to go to Ainz-sama!”

“Then, I’ll go too.”

“I’ll send you along~”

Sixth and the others quietly vacated their seats, though they did feel a little bad ignoring Lupusregina’s pleading looks toward them. They only managed to go for one round of the buffet. Pangs of regret stung their hearts as they slipped away, but now was the time for work. Sixth paid no heed to the tension that was rapidly filling the air behind them. Instead, she lightly slapped her cheeks to focus herself.

Her face had the stern, brave expression of a soldier heading off to a war, but her footsteps were light and fast.

♦ ♦ ♦

Nazarick Time 9:20

6th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The undead that roamed all over the tomb were nowhere to be seen here. Instead, Aura’s beasts and other monsters that did not automatically respawn defended the floor. This floor was the widest in the Great Tomb of Nazarick and most of the floor was densely forested. It was an area befitting the word ‘sea of trees’.

However, the former members of Ainz Ooal Gown hadn’t been satisfied, and didn’t stop after simply covering the floor with greenery.

A Colosseum, giant trees, overgrown ruins, a lake, poisonous pits, twisted trees, mangrove forest, bottomless swamps, and various types of woodland were added to the floor. They had even accepted new residents recently, so there was a small village as well.

Amidst all the sights in this verdant expanse, there was a huge lake at the middle of the floor —though it was still smaller than the underground lake on the 4th floor– and it was surrounded by a plain rather than a forest. Compared to the entire 6th floor, the plain was as small as a cat’s brow, but for them, it was large enough.

The first one in the group was the guardian of the floor, Aura. The way she rode on top of her wolf with pitch black fur was gallant and could be described as nothing less than extremely skilful.

That was to be expected. To patrol a floor this large —though she possessed extraordinary physical abilities and just running around the entire floor was possible– she preferred riding on the back of the beasts that she had tamed.

There were two others with her.

One was the overseer of the guardians, Albedo. She didn’t wear her normal beautiful white dress, but was instead garbed in her black full plate armour used for combat. However, she did not carry any weapon or shield.

The other was Shalltear. There was nothing different about her from her normal attire. There was a slight glint in her eyes as if she was enjoying the situation.

“Then, I’ll start. Come, my steed.”

The skill Albedo activated was ‘Summon Mount’.

A monster with a coat coloured like silver armour appeared from nowhere.

With its silver mane and tail, it was a magical beast that resembled a horse. It wore a set of full plate barding, as well as a saddle and bridle. It was smaller than an average horse, but had an energetic aura about it. The final difference was the head, where two horns sprouted, pointing forward.

The first one to react was the one who was the most knowledgeable about magical beasts; Aura.

“Oh~ It’s different from a normal bicorn! The horns are amazing and its body is lean and muscled!”

Albedo smiled in satisfaction.

“Of course. This one is specially tailored to match my abilities. It’s something worthy of the name ‘War-Bicorn Lord’…. But it’s actually just a level 100 Bicorn.”

“Can it fly?”

“No, that’s too much. Its basic status is no different from a regular bicorn. It doesn’t have special abilities, only enhanced HP, strength and agility.”

“Ah, I guess if you don’t have ‘Rider’ class skills, it’s hard to evolve a mount. If it fights alongside us in battles between level hundreds, it could become a hindrance because of its lack of special abilities.”

“Yea, but I can protect this child with my skill, so it’ll be able to fight alongside me for long enough.”

“But do you not think it would be a waste to divert your resources like that? You will have plenty of openings in a battle like that. How about strengthening it by changing the equipment? I heard that mount-class monsters could be equipped with armour and horseshoes.”

“That’s right. You can change its equipment even if the mount was summoned with a skill. It’s somewhat related with Aura’s question earlier. For example, if you equip it with horseshoes imbued with the power of flight, it could go around flying, but since I already equipped it with speed enhancing equipment… That might be difficult.”

Albedo lightly petted her mount that was standing beside her. But the bicorn staggered a little as if Albedo had put some strength behind her tap. There was no way that the mount she summoned would be unable to bear such a light tap. When Albedo started frowning, wondering if the beast was being rebellious, Aura asked another question.

“Hehe~ So what’s the name?”

“It’s a bicorn, like you said earlier.”

“No, not that. I don’t mean the species name, but its name.”

“Does it need one?”

The vampire shrugged at Albedo, who looked like she wanted a second opinion.

“Probably? It is your pet after all.”

“It’s not really a pet… Does the same one come out every time I summon?”

On hearing Albedo’s question, Shalltear raised her voice after having a good idea.

“How about asking Kyouhukou? He is very skilled in summoning others of his species, so he would be very knowledgeable on the subject.”

“…I refuse. I feel bad because as a comrade in Nazarick, I shouldn’t dislike him, but I just can’t help it…”

“Ah… It can’t be helped. I’m sure he means well, but sometimes he tries to crawl up through your clothes. Though it seems like others like Entoma often visit him.”

“Do not speak of something so unpleasant. It makes my body itch just thinking about it… It truly is a room of terror. It is a floor under this one’s control, but I do not wish to ever go there.”

“…Shalltear, did you know? Entoma calls that room the ‘snack room’.”

“Eeeeeh? Really? Really?! Uwaaah~ I don’t want to go near Entoma ever again.”

Albedo agreed. She didn’t want to be near anyone who would go around calling those things snacks. Amidst the ominous atmosphere, Aura spoke in a loud voice to change the subject.

“Going back to the original topic, are you going to name it?”

“Well, if I do, what should I call it?”

Albedo murmured while sinking into deep thought. Since she would be riding it, she didn’t want to name it anything embarrassing. Amidst all the words and characters, an idea rang out like a song in her head.

“What could you possibly be mumbling about?”

“Ah, sorry.”

Albedo answered as if she had just woken up from a dream.

“If Ainz-sama permits me, I will give it a name that carries all my feelings with it: ‘Top of the World’.”

“Hmm. It is a good name. Is it supposed to refer to the one who stands at the peak of the world, Ainz-sama?”

Albedo simply smiled but did not answer.

Shalltear’s brow rose to a dangerous angle.

Aura interrupted the tense atmosphere that was going to erupt at any moment between those two people.

“Well, what about it! Since you summoned the bicorn, let’s move on to the next experiment!”

“Alright.”

While Shalltear was staring her down, Albedo turned around, stepped on a stirrup and mounted the beast with such a light movement for someone who was fully armoured. The moment she sat on the saddle, she could feel the bicorn’s body shuddering when they came in contact.

“What’s wrong?!”

Albedo let out a loud exclamation in surprise. Her bicorn, which was level 100, should not be staggering around so easily. Then she remembered when she petted it. Perhaps the problems started back then, but what was the cause?

“Aura! Shalltear! My bicorn’s acting weird. Can you check it out?”

The two realized that the bicorn was already staggering and could barely stand.

“Eeeh, come down first, Albedo.”

“A-alright.”

Albedo finally thought about it after listening to Aura.

The bicorn staggered and finally collapsed. It was breathing hard and the skin was full of sweat.

“…Perhaps you put on a bit of weight, Albedo?”

It was not intended to start a fight. To a bystander, it looked like the most likely reason.

“That’s rude! Considering all the muscle, I’m in the ideal weight range!”

“Maybe its muscles atrophied because you didn't ride it for such a long time?”

“What? How’s that… Since it’s a summoned mount, shouldn’t it be the same as summoned monsters? There’s no way that would happen.”

“How about I try to ride it?”

“Regrettably, no. This is my mount. Others can’t ride it. If you try to do it by force, it unsummons.”

“How about just asking the bicorn directly? Eh, bicorn, what’s the matter?”

Aura asked. It was not because Aura could communicate with horses, but because bicorns were relatively intelligent enough for her to try. However, bicorns could not speak and made only horse-like sound.

“If talking is too much… Can’t it write?”

The bicorn neighed like it agreed.

The three looked at each other.

“Aura, can’t you do something incredible with your power?”

“What do you mean by ‘something incredible’? We already talked with each other long time ago to fully figure out the extent of our abilities. Did our Overseer forget that, too?”

“Ara… Then how do you normally communicate with Fenrir?”

“Normally, I just tell him to do this and that.”

“But do you not talk with it? If you put in enough effort, can you not do the same with this child?”

“Just because I can communicate with the ones I’ve tamed, don’t assume I’d be able to do the same with everyone. Plus I’ve already tried it. You know Rororo, the hydra that the lizardmen are raising? I can’t seem to connect with him.”

The three looked at each other.

“…When in trouble, is Demiurge not the solution?”

“Unfortunately, Demiurge’s outside Nazarick on Ainz-sama’s orders. He’s rarely in Nazarick these days. I can still contact him, but I’d rather not unless it’s for official business.”

There were hints of jealousy in Shalltear and Aura’s eyes. Demiurge, who was busy helping out the master, was the target of envy and jealousy amongst the guardians.

“Ah~ I’m so jealous. I know defending Nazarick is an important role as well, but if we don’t get any intruders, we can’t get any results either. How would we know if we’re of any use or not? I want to work hard for Ainz-sama on the outside as well.”

“I have only made mistakes so far…”

“It’s alright, Shalltear. Soon, you’ll probably be able to do– no, you’ll definitely be able to do work that will help Ainz-sama. But it might be a bit difficult until you get smarter…”

“Aura, do you not think your words are a bit… harsh?”

“My, my, it’s true that you’ve only made mistakes so far. Try to get some results befitting the title of a Guardian.”

Shalltear grinded her teeth at Albedo’s words, but soon made a bright expression like a lit lamp.

“Hohoho, why do you think I brought up a topic that was not advantageous to me? For you, who would not know anything if Demiurge was not here, I will extend my hand to help you. I shall find out for you!”

Shalltear took out a book. It was heavy and looked like it was easily over a thousand pages long. For Shalltear, who appeared to be a frail girl on the outside, but completely different on the inside, the weight was nothing.

“Huuuuh? That’s... is that..?”

“Kuuuh, it’s the gift you got from Ainz-sama!”

Aura and Albedo couldn’t help stare enviously at her.

“That is correct. This is the encyclopedia written by Peroroncino-sama! A reward for carrying out Ainz-sama’s commands!”

It was more like a participation prize than a true reward, but Shalltear still smiled because it was one of the greatest gifts she could receive. Or rather, that was how it was supposed to be. An item left behind by one’s creator was more important than any reward.

The dictionary named ‘Encyclopedia’ was given to every player at the start of the game. It was a unique item that was impossible to take by force unless the owner gave it away voluntarily.

Yggdrasil was a game that emphasized the joy of learning about the unknown. This was an item that reflected the developer’s intention of turning mysteries into exploration.

Once a player encountered a new monster, the Encyclopedia automatically recorded its basic data. However, the detailed stats were not recorded, only the name, appearance, and if it was a mythological monster, the myth behind them. If one wanted to fully utilize the potential of this item, they needed to investigate the monster’s weaknesses or special abilities themselves and manually enter them into the book.

The Encyclopedia that Shalltear held was an item that Peroroncino used to own and which he wrote extensively on. Ainz had given it to Shalltear after remembering that Peroroncino left the book behind in the Treasure Room before he quit.

But a considerable amount of records had been erased from it. It was as if Peroroncino had been afraid of someone reading everything that was written on there.

The item did not have much use, but Shalltear did not care for any of that. For her, it was more important to have an item that her creator once used.

“B… bi… bico…”

Shalltear kept turning the pages while murmuring.

Albedo and Aura tried to peek from the side, but Shalltear stepped back with her book and glared sharply at both of them.

“Hmph. Well, it doesn’t matter. I got a bracelet from Ainz-sama anyways.”

Aura gently ran her finger along the silver band on her wrist and Albedo did the same to the ring on her left pinkie finger. But there were other people who had received the ring other than her.

I want to receive something special just for me. A special item from Ainz-sama…

Just as Albedo was gently rubbing her lower abdomen, Shalltear spoke out. It appeared that she had found the page she was looking for.

“Bicorn! Found it, now…”

Shalltear suddenly stopped moving and looked at Albedo with a surprised expression. Then she looked at the book again.

“What? What does it say?”

Albedo asked cautiously.

“…A sub-species of unicorn. Unlike unicorns which represent purity, bicorns represent impurity. Unicorns only allow virgins to mount them, but bicorns are the opposite and virgins cannot ride them… Haa?!”

Shalltear and Aura opened their eyes so wide, it seemed like they could almost fall out of their sockets.

“That’s impossible… Albedo is?”

“What do you mean impossible? Just what do you think I am?”

“Huh? Uh, but, how should I say this, Albedo, aren’t you a succubus?!”

“S… su… succubus… succubus.”

Confused, Shalltear started searching for the page on succubi.

“Well, I am a succubus! I’m sorry for not being experienced even though I’m a succubus! But I can’t help it! I’m stuck in the Throne Hall as the Overseer of the Guardians! And Ainz-sama never calls me over to his bed… I don’t want to do it with any men besides Ainz-sama…”

Albedo suddenly raised her head after she had been murmuring while staring at the floor.

“If we consider that…”

Albedo glanced at Aura before swaying her head. If Aura was experienced, it would have been a problem.

“Shalltear, what about you?”

“…I have no experience with the opposite gender. But if you are talking about experience with the same gender…”

Aura tilted her head as if she did not understand for a second before realizing what it meant and made an ‘Uwaaaah’ sound while frowning.

“But! There are no suitable men around. I prefer the dead ones, but rotting ones are too much… right?! Right?!”

“Even if you want our approval, it’s too much for us to accept your weird fetishes, Shalltear.”

All three lowered their gaze to the ground along with a silent agreement not to talk further on the subject.

“Well… I understand why I can’t ride the bicorn… but this is nonsense. What do I do…”

Albedo frowned in unhappiness. The bicorn shuddered as though it had been scolded as well.

“Mmm… It’s like a part of Albedo’s abilities are sealed now.”

“But it is not like mounted combat is your specialty anyway, and it is only one of your abilities that you cannot use. If you cannot ride bicorns, why not borrow other beasts from Aura? Is a unicorn not fine as well?”

“Muu… I don’t have a unicorn. Although I want to get one.”

“There’s a better way. I just need to get some help from Ainz-sama to ride the bicorn!”

Albedo smiled while exclaiming loudly as if there was no better alternative.

“That is cheating!”

“Hmph!”

Albedo snorted at Shalltear.

“Would you mind watching your words, Shalltear? This is a necessary issue so I can fully utilize my powers as the Overseer of the Guardians.”

“Kuu! Hmph! If you cannot bed him unless it is for duty… you are a failure as a woman. It seems you cannot seduce him with just your charms alone.”

“Aaah?”

Aura interrupted the two staring each other down as if she was at loss for words.

“Hey, I’m starting to wonder what the heck you guys are talking about, so can you guys quit it? Let’s stop talking about irrelevant things and focus the matters at hand. Since you won’t be needing it immediately, it’s not a big problem, right? Can’t you summon anything else?”

“Well, I have a magic item, so summoning a mount isn’t so much of a problem for me.”

“Well, then use that. Problem solved.”

“If I summon using a magic item, then I need to switch my equipment or take out the item, so there’s an extra step involved compared to just using a summoning skill. Plus, a bicorn has better combat abilities…”

“Then you can just let the bicorn fend off the enemy while you use the magic item to summon a mount. It’s a very common tactic for a Beast Tamer who’s just starting out.”

“I guess that’s the only way.”

“Then I suppose we can say that Albedo became weaker.”

“Can you not laugh so cruelly at others misfortune?”

“You seemed very happy when I had my misfortune, Albedo.”

If she had denied it, then Shalltear would press on saying that she was.

“Afu, seriously… Let’s stop staring at each other here and go somewhere else. This is a rare vacation that we got from Ainz-sama.”

Albedo conceded as did Shalltear, who stopped arguing to nod. But—

“…I don’t know what to do even if we do have a vacation. We were made to guard the Great Tomb and serve the Supreme Beings. To work is our very existence…”

“However, since Ainz-sama told us to take a break. We must take a break.”

The reason why three of them were gathered was because their master said:

“All of you work so hard every day. Why don’t all the female guardians take some time off and spend it together every once in a while?”

It was because of that.

“Well, since we went out together and spent some time together, should we disperse? But does this really count as spending some time together?”

“Good question. If he asks if we spent some time together, how much time is appropriate? Speaking of which, what do you guys usually do with your time?”

“I patrol between the 1st and the 3rd floors. I also gather the opinions of the area guardians, check the security status of the floors, and when I have free time, I take a bath and touch up my makeup…”

“You work harder than expected.”

“What might you mean by ‘expected’?”

“A bath… What about you, Aura?”

“Mmm… When Mare’s at the colosseum, I’m patrolling the forest. There’re a couple newcomers as well. Then when I come back, I sleep… That’s about it.”

“That’s it!”

Aura and Shalltear looked at Albedo in surprise.

“That’s it. By newcomers, you mean the inhabitants of the new village on this floor, right? I’ve never been there before. Let’s go together.”

“Ara, you’ve never been there? Shalltear, what about you?”

“I have been there.”

Aura explained to Albedo who was making a curious expression.

“All the other guardians are the same. Cocytus took a look when he came by for the lizardmen, Demiurge likes to drop by and check on things, and others come for a visit once in a while. Mmm… then let’s go now. It’s pretty close.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Nazarick Time 9:38

The newly created village on the 6th floor consisted of about ten log houses. It would be more accurate to call it a ‘tribe’. To the right of the village were farming fields and to the left was an orchard several times the size of the fields.

The surroundings were obviously a forest and from the sky, it would look like a gigantic hole, hence the name ‘The Green Hole’. When cutting down trees and digging out their roots, it would be inevitable for the ground to be uneven. However, the village was strangely immaculate, organized and clean. This was thanks to Mare’s magic.

In the orchards were various figures hard at work. At a glance, they appeared to be human women, but they had skin coloured like tree bark. Beside them were creatures that could only be described as moving trees.

The former were dryads and the latter were treants.

The treants carried the dryads on their arms and raised them up to the fruit trees so that dryads could take care of the orchard.

“Apart from them, ten lizardmen live here. They often go over to the lake to the north, where we’ve just been, and play in the water. It’s not like they live in the water either, isn’t it strange?”

“It is bigger than the last time I was here. More residents as well.”

“That’s right. When we conquered the Great Forest of Tob, we found a couple of species suitable to live in Nazarick as well.”

“The species that are acceptable to Nazarick… must be non-human, require no food and be mild-tempered, those were the conditions, right?”

“Yea, Ainz-sama said that. More specifically it wasn’t ‘require no food’ but ‘must be a self-sustainable species’… Since dryads and treants can gather nutrients from the soil, they don’t really need to eat. Although if the nutrient in the soil is depleted or if it doesn’t rain, it might be a little dangerous.”

“Hmm, does Mare make it rain every once in a while? Or do you use a magic item?”

“That’s usually Mare’s job. Same with recovering the nutrients in the soil. Apparently there’s a magic that makes the land more fertile and it also completely recovers the land. According to the dryads and the treants it’s so delicious that they’re going to get fat… but I wouldn’t really know about how it tastes.”

Albedo, who had been coldly looking around the village like inspecting the tools for an experiment while Shalltear and Aura were talking to each other, showed a glimpse of emotion in her eyes.

“Oh? Isn’t that the sous-chef in the field over there? What’s he doing?”

Following her line of sight, they saw a mushroom-like monster squirming in the corner of a small field, surrounded by a fence which was covered in vines bearing red fruits. On a closer look, it was apparent that he was picking those red fruits while wearing clothes that he could afford to get dirty.

“It’s just what it looks like. He comes here from time to time to grab ingredients. He’s also growing this and that on the side. Want to take a look?”

Albedo and Shalltear looked at each other. Looking at each other, they saw that neither of them was opposed to the idea and felt as long as they were not interrupting their duties, it would be fine to see what their comrade was doing.

“Yaho~. Working and sweating hard as always!”

The sous-chef raised his head at Aura’s energetic voice and spotted the three.

“It’s not like this body particularly sweats either.”

He stood up and straightened his waist with a grunt. It was an appropriate gesture for someone who was working while squatting, but he didn’t really have any feature that could be described as a waist. Because his body was completely straight and there were no contours or narrowing points anywhere, it was difficult to tell whether he really was stretching his waist or was doing it for the sake of doing it.

Next, the sous-chef stretched his neck as if it was strained. His head was a mushroom and looked as if a purple liquid was oozing from it, but since it was very adhesive and sticky it never splattered anywhere.

“Is that a tomato?”

Albedo took interest in the red fruit in the sous-chef’s hand. He raised it up all the way to his face and tilted his head as if it was something strange.

“It seems like a tomato. It’s a tomato you all know very well. Not the type that gathers sunlight to explode, not the type that attacks you suddenly, not the type that glows like gold when you cut it, but a regular tomato.”

“So I reckon it’s a common everyday tomato used as cooking ingredients, right?”

“Yes. Since I don’t have the skill for it, I can’t cultivate any vegetables that confer special effects. Were you interested in it because you wanted a dish made with tomatoes? Unfortunately, I can only make drinks.”

“No, I was asking purely out of curiosity. Isn’t it Shalltear who would want a dish made with tomato?”

“…Why do you think vampires would drink tomato juice? Undead cannot receive buffs from eating food at all.”

“Speaking of which, there are not many people in Nazarick who need to eat.”

Just as Aura said, most NPCs used items, so they no longer needed to consume food.

“It can’t be helped. If they started eating as well, the upkeep for Nazarick would skyrocket. Especially big eaters like your beasts would be a problem.”

“Seriously? Then should I let them go outside and forage there?”

“It’s not necessary. Ainz-sama, along with the other Supreme Beings, calculated our income and expenditures in such a way that they would be balanced when they created this tomb.”

“Ahhh, is that why Ainz-sama ordered so that only those who were self-sufficient be allowed in? So it would not upset the balance of the population?”

“Yea… Don’t you know about it?”

Albedo looked at the faces of the other three, one after the other.

“This is troubling. Not knowing anything about the place you’re protecting is no good. Make some time for it in your schedules. I’ll explain everything then.”

Albedo let out a sigh and looked at the field without much thought. Then she recognized the plant leaves that were spread out in front of her.

“Is that a carrot… no, a magical carrot?”

“No, that’s not the case. Did the Overseer not receive any reports about it?”

“What do you mean?”

The sous-chef’s gaze headed towards Aura.

“Mm, nothing… I see. You weren’t told of it. Then Aura-sama, what should I do? Will Aura-sama demonstrate it? I believe I taught you as well?”

“I definitely put it on the report…”

Aura smiled before breathing in deep and shouting with a loud voice.

“—Long live Ainz Ooal Gown!”

The rows of leaves started moving in response. The main roots, which were covered by the soil like normal carrots, dug themselves out by vigorously wiggling left and right.

They were shaped like ginsengs, but there was a clear difference between them and ginsengs. They had distinguishable arms and legs, and moved with clear self-awareness. Around the stem were holes resembling eyes and a mouth.

Shalltear opened her eyes wide and spoke their name.

“Are these mandrakes? I thought they didn’t exist inside Nazarick…”

“Ah! So that’s what it is! I knew about it from the report, but it’s my first time seeing it up close.”

The mandrakes arranged themselves into a formation while shouting ‘Long live Ainz Ooal Gown! Long live Ainz Ooal Gown!’ in unison.

“They’re not too smart. It’s a shame, considering that their cousins Galgenmaennlein, Alruna and Alraune are pretty intelligent… We didn’t spot any of them in that forest. Maybe it’s simply too big and that’s why we haven’t ran into any yet. There was a pretty sizeable underground cave at the mountain range. It seems like there’s a myconid tribe in there. We haven’t touched them yet.”

“But I’m truly moved that you taught them to speak this much.”

The sous-chef picked up one of the mandrakes lined up in formation and stared at it. The mandrake was squirming about, as if being held by the stem on top of its head hurt.

“Long live Ainz Ooal Gown! Long live Ainz Ooal Gown!”

The mandrakes broke their formation and surrounded the sous-chef as if they were protesting the violence inflicted against their comrade. However, they only repeated the same phrase.

“I apologize, Aura-sama. Could you make them return?”

“Okay! Good! Go back!”

Along with the mandrake that the sous-chef gently lowered to the ground, all the mandrakes went back inside their holes. The way they burrowed underground again reminded everyone of animals getting ready for hibernation.