Текст книги "Overlord - The Men in the Kingdom - Part 1"

Nine men and women sat around the circular table.

Despite the leaders who commanded each section of the Eight Fingers gathering in one place, none of them made the effort to meet each other’s eyes. They simply looked over the documents in front of them or talked with their own subordinates.

It was like a gathering of completely separate organizations. Although the situation wasn’t so bad as to call it explosive, the guarded caution they had for one another was apparent , like one between enemies. However, from each of their respective points of view, this was the obvious response. Even if they were one group and working together, in reality, they would often steal assets from one another and rarely joined forces.

For instance, the drug trade manages and operates everything from a drug’s production to the moment it hits the market. Something the smuggling group had no part to play in. The groups did not openly interfere with one another, but it was common to see them attempt sabotage while the other had their backs turned.

Such actions held absolutely zero merit for an organization as a whole. This was one of the pitfalls of multiple criminal groups banding together to form a larger one.

These people attended the routine division meeting of the Eight Fingers despite having such terrible relations as they had a good reason to do so.

The reason was: any who did not attend was considered to be a possible traitor and targeted for purging. That was why even those who had no business in the Kingdom went out of their way to attend the meeting.

Even those who normally secluded themselves in safety stepped out onto the spotlight. Needless to say, their fear of being assassinated meant that they brought bodyguards with them. These were two of their most skilled men that they were allowed to bring to the meeting, selected carefully from their own group.

—All except for one person.

“Everyone is present. Let’s begin our regular meeting.”

The chairs creaked loudly as the man’s voice caused everyone to sit up straight.

The one who opened his mouth was the speaker for this meeting and also the leader of the Eight Fingers. Adorned with the mark of the Water God, the man who looked to be in his fifties wore a gentle expression on his face, the type who did not seem to belong in the underworld.

“There are a number of topics for discussion, but the first that needs to be sorted– Hilma.”

“Yes~?”

The one who responded was a woman in white.

Her skin was sickly pale and her clothes were white as well. A tattoo of a snake crawled down her right arm, starting from her shoulder blades and reaching to her hand holding a pipe that gave off poisonous, purple fumes. Wearing purple mascara and lipstick, the thin garments that hung loosely around her body gave her the decadent aura of a high class prostitute.

She yawned deliberately.

“Can’t you start a bit earlier?”

“… I heard that your drug cultivation facility was attacked.”

“Yep, it’s true, a village that was used as a production plant. Cost me a pretty penny too. I might cut down on distribution.”

“Were you able to find information on the ones responsible?”

“Nope, it was perfect …Well, it’s not like I don’t have any leads.”

“Their color?”

Everyone knew what he meant by that question.

“Don’t know. It’s just starting to become clear; I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“I see. As you’ve all just heard, this is the current situation. Raise your hand if any of you have any information.”

There was no response. It was unclear whether they didn’t know, or simply had no desire to answer.

“Then next is—.”

“—Hey.”

The man’s voice rang low, holding an incredible amount of power.

All of the eyes in the room gathered in one spot. In that place was a bald man with half of his face covered in tattoos of beasts. Everything about him was large; the outlines of his muscular figure obvious even through his clothes. The cold glint of his eyes belonged to that of a warrior.

Although the other group leaders had brought bodyguards with them, the man had no one standing behind him. It would be meaningless to bring along people who would be of no use. That much was obvious.

The man glared at Hilma, the leader of the drug trade. No, he probably did not intend to glare at her, but his knife-like eyes made it appear that way.

For a moment, the bodyguards behind the woman drew in their breaths. They could feel the overwhelming difference in power between them.

They knew that the man was a monster capable of killing everyone in the room.

“How about employing our services? It’ll be hard for you to protect your assets with those small fries of yours.”

Zero. He was the representative of the security division that accepted a wide range of jobs, from bouncers to bodyguards for nobility. What made him even more famous was that he was the strongest member of the Eight Fingers. But the offer from a man of his caliber—

“No.”

—was rejected.

“It’s fine. I can’t reveal my key positions.”

That was the end of it. As if he had lost interest, Zero closed his eyes, making it seem as if he had turned into a boulder.

“Then I’d like to take you up on that offer.”

A skinny man opened his mouth. His soft demeanor contrasted harshly against Zero.

“Zero, I want to hire your guys.”

“What’s this, Cocco Doll. Can you afford it?”

While Hilma’s drug trade was on the rise, Cocco Doll’s slave trade was on the decline. With the slave market outlawed by the efforts of the Golden Princess, he and his group were forced to hide deeper underground.

“Don’t worry about it, Zero. And while we’re at it, I want you to lend me the best of the best, someone from the Six Arms.”

“Oh?”

Zero reopened his eyes, his interest piqued for the first time.

He wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Almost everyone present shared his sentiment.

The name ‘Six Arms’ originated from the sibling god of the God of Theft, one who was said to possess six arms. They were the six strongest members of the security division.

Needless to say, the most powerful among them was Zero, but the remaining five did not fall very far behind. One with the ability to cut space, one who controls illusions, and among them was even an Elder Lich, a powerful undead.

If Gazef Stronoff or adamantium rank adventurers were the strongest on the surface, then the Six Arms were the strongest of the underground. Employing someone of such caliber could only mean one thing.

“You must be in quite a bind. Alright, just sit tight and wait. My strongest subordinates will ensure the safety of your goods.”

“Sorry~. I ran into a bit of trouble with a girl that was supposed to be disposed of. This much preparation is probably a bit excessive but if that store goes under then it puts me in a sticky spot. Let’s save the talk about the payment for later, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Since the discussion is over, can you start immediately? There’s actually something that I need handled as soon as possible.”

“Alright. I’ll lend you the guy who I brought with me.”

“… Then we can move on to the next topic. Those who know about the new adamantium rank adventurer ‘Momon of Team Black’, any thoughts?”

Intermission

Clang clang. One could hear the sound of precious metals banging against one another.

Having confirmed that there was no longer anything in the upside-down sack, Ainz spread the glinting coins on top of the table.

He counted the gold and silver coins in stacks of ten pieces each.

Despite having already counted it numerous times, Ainz picked up the sack and peered inside.

Needless to say, it was empty– after checking it a second time, Ainz tossed aside the sack and grabbed his head.

“Not enough… This is nowhere near enough…”

His human face that was created with an illusion became undone. Of course, the mountain of coins in front of him was a small fortune. It was an amount that an average person from this world would not be able to earn even after several decades. But from the perspective of the Supreme Ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the only one who could earn foreign currency, it was severely lacking and a great cause for concern.

Ainz’ mind was forcibly calmed whenever an emotion he experienced exceeded a certain threshold. For example, if he was hit by the panic of only having a single silver coin left remaining, his mind would immediately regain its composure. Currently however, that response failed to activate because at the back of his mind, he knew that there were still some gold coins in the coffers. This left him with a feeling of anxiety that burned through his body.

Ainz shook his head and proceeded to divide the gold coins in front of him based on how they would be spent.

“First, this is the additional funding for Sebas.”

Ainz’ face stiffened as he saw how the pile was reduced in an instant.

“Next is… costs for the restoration of the Lizardmen village that Cocytus requested as well as the necessary tools…”

Although it wasn’t as large as the one before, another significant chunk of the pile also became separated and only a few gold coins remained.

“… About the supplies for the Lizardmen village, I can use my connections with the guild as an adamantium adventurer. It’ll cover a bit of the costs so… about this much?”

He took back a few gold coins from Cocytus’ pile.

“…Maybe I should find a merchant and get a sponsorship. It would be a way to earn a regular income aside from adventuring.”

Including Ainz, there were only three parties of adamantium rank adventurers in the Kingdom. For this reason, there were instances where they would receive commissions from merchants. Ainz dearly wanted to accept those kinds of jobs because for him, they were easy and paid extremely well. However, he had hesitated to do so up until now.

He feared that it would paint his Momon persona as greedy, that the people and other adventurers would see him as someone who would accept any job for money.

Ainz was planning to elevate ‘Momon’ to an adventurer who was praised by all and when the time came, credit all of his fame to Ainz Ooal Gown. In order for this plan to succeed, it was necessary that he pay close attention to how the masses saw him.

“But still… I have no money. Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed in an inn like this.”

Ainz looked around the magnificent room.

This was the most splendid room of the best inn in E-Rantel. The money to rent such a place was exorbitant. Since it was useless to Ainz who had no need for sleep, he wanted to use the funds for the rent elsewhere.

It was the same for meals. Even if he were served luxurious food, all of it was useless to him since he could not eat. It would be smarter to refuse them and save on food expenses.

However, Ainz knew very well that he could do no such thing.

Ainz was, no, Momon was the sole adamantium rank adventurer of this city. Such a person could not make a cheap inn his residence.

The necessities of life were one of the easier ways of comparing oneself to others. An adamantium rank adventurer must dress and live befitting of his status.

He had to show such vanity for the sake of maintaining appearances.

That was why Ainz could not lower the quality of his inn even if he knew that it was a needless expense.

“If the adventurer guild thinks I’m so valuable then they could at least pay for my room… Haa… I guess they would do it if I were to ask.”

But he did not want to owe any favors. Until now, he took on urgent job requests and worked so that people would be indebted to him. He wanted to save it for later to use as a bit of intimidation. Spending it on such a trivial matter would interfere with his plans.

“Ah~ I’m broke. What should I do? Should I accept some requests, after all…? But there aren’t any that pay well these days. And if I take on too much then the other adventurers will resent me…”

He had to make Ainz Ooal Gown a lasting legend, a good one rather than bad, if possible. Ainz imitated a sigh and counted his spending money in his head from the coins that remained.

“Speaking of money, what should I do about the Guardians’ salaries?”

Ainz pondered as he leaned back in his chair and looked to the ceiling.

The Guardians insisted that they did not need something like wages, claiming how they could possibly desire compensation on top of serving the Supreme Being which is their greatest joy.

But from Ainz’ perspective, he questioned whether it was alright for him to simply accept their good will. Work must be met with fair compensation.

Even if the Guardians insisted that pledging their loyalty to the Supreme Being was in itself the reward, it was difficult for Ainz to be convinced.

It may just be his self-righteousness, having experienced working in a company for pay. However, he could not abandon the notion that work had to be rewarded.

He did fear the possibility that a salary might corrupt his children who did not know any better. Even so, there was merit in introducing it as an experiment.

“The question is what I’m going to reward them with.”

His eyes moved from the ceiling back to the few remaining gold coins on the table.

“If I consider the Guardians as department heads of a listed company, then they would need at least 15 million yen annually… Shalltear, Cocytus, Aura, Mare, Demiurge… Albedo would need a bit more, right? So multiply by six and… Hmm, yep that’s impossible. I can’t raise that much money.”

Ainz pulled at his head and suddenly opened his eyes wide.

“That’s it! I can substitute it with something else! Currency that can only be used in Nazarick– make something like notes for children and have one equal a hundred thousand yen!”

Having shouted as much, Ainz frowned once more.

But what could they spend that currency on?

All of the facilities in Nazarick were free. Even if he thought of minting coin, he could not think of what to spend it on.

“Maybe use it to buy items from this world?”

Ainz compared the common goods of this world with those of Nazarick and doubted whether any of the Guardians would actually want them.

“But if I start charging for the stuff that was free up until now, that would be counterproductive… what should I do…”

After thinking it over for a while, Ainz came up with a great idea.

“Right! I’ll just ask the Guardians to think about it. I can ask them if they have anything that they want badly enough to pay money for!”

As Ainz muttered happily to himself about his nice idea, his smile suddenly turned bitter.

“With that said…”

He realized that he was talking to himself more and more often.

He knew that it started back when the game was nearing its end, the loneliness from his guild mates no longer showing up. But why was it that his muttering did not die down even after the NPCs gained sentience and moved about on their own?

Perhaps it became a habit, or—

“Because I’m still alone…”

Ainz gave a lonely smile.

Of course, saying that he was alone even with the self-aware NPCs by his side was rude to them. But he also had this thought; in order to act as Ainz Ooal Gown, the leader of the 41 Supreme Beings that the Guardians wanted, it was possible that he was killing Suzuki Satoru.

Ainz heaved a sigh and turned his gaze back on to the coins on the table. That was when he heard a knock on his door.

After a brief respite, the door opened. Confirming that the person who entered was the one he was expecting– Narberal Gamma, Ainz deliberately fixed his expression so that one corner of his lips curled upwards, into a face that looked as if he were looking down on someone.

The low rank illusion that Ainz was able to cast plainly showed his emotions on the surface. As such, there was a chance that he would show a face ill-fitting of Nazarick’s ruler. That was why he practiced a countless different expressions in front of the mirror so that whenever he was in the presence of others, especially Narberal, he could seem more dignified. He had a great deal of trouble choosing an expression out of the many he practiced.

“What is it, Nabel.”

He questioned her with an equally decorated voice.

“Yes, Momon-sa… san.”

“… It seems the ‘sama’ appears occasionally. No choice but to leave it as an old habit. Regardless, at least you fix it when I give a warning, albeit temporarily. I guess I must give up on that endeavor. Ah, there is no need for you to bow your head, I am not angry. And the respectable way you address me… well, it should be fine since it seems other people including the guild leader have come to some misunderstanding about us. So, what is it?”

“Yes, the iron ore that you demanded of the merchant has arrived.”

It wasn’t a demand I just bought it normally….

Thinking so in his head, his dignified expression remained unmoving.

“I see… where was the iron ore from? Was it gathered from all eight locations?”

“I apologize. I was not told.”

“…It’s fine. I have plenty of money. Although I do not know how many places it was gathered from, there should be more than enough money to purchase all of it.”

Ainz confidently filled the sack with the coins that were stacked on top of the table and tossed it at Narberal’s feet. He watched as she courteously picked up the bag.

“Understood, but may I ask you a question?”

“Is it regarding the reason why I am buying iron ore from different locations?”

Ainz explained it to Narberal who nodded her head.

“It is so that I may toss them into the Exchange Box. In other words, I wish to test whether or not the amount of gold differs based on where the ore was mined.”

The Exchange Box was not influenced by the appearance of the original object. For example, regarding a detailed stone statue, it would ignore any workmanship and calculate its worth to be equal to a stone of the same weight. Then the test was to see how it handles the difference in components– in the actual material. That was the reason why he was buying iron ore from various locations.

“As you already know, Nabel, it works even if you were to put in something like barley.”

Although I inserted in bulk and only got one gold coin from it– Ainz added on in his head.

That was what spawned the plan to build barley fields outside of Nazarick, to grow them in bulk.

Using Golems and Undead would allow them to create a vast field. Of course, there were countless obstacles before reaching that point.

“I understand. Then I will proceed to buy them as soon as possible.”

“Right, but maintain your vigilance. There is no guarantee that you will not be attacked. If something happens… you understand what to do, correct?”

“Use Shadow Demon as a shield, abandon the notion of gathering information, prioritize my safety above all else and focus entirely on retreating. I will then move to the fake Nazarick built by Aura-sama, delivering false information to the enemy.”

“Correct. Prioritize your safety. Never take the roads that are easily assaulted or where there are no crowds. And even if humans talk to you or provoke you, do not cause them severe harm. I was quite shocked when that man begged me for help while crying, saying how he was only trying to hit on you. You must also control your bloodlust. I will not go so far as to tell you not to beat a pickpocket should you happen to run into one, but don’t take it too far. Also, refrain from calling humans insects. In other words, try not to injure or kill humans. We are the greatest adventurers, Momon and Nabel of Black, after all.”

While watching Narberal who seemed to show that she understood, Ainz thought over any other precautions that he may have missed then nodded his head.

“…Hmm. This should be enough. Then go, Nabel.”

Narberal bowed her head and left the room, the leather sack in tow. Ainz watched her back as she left and, despite not having lungs, sighed heavily.

“… The expenses only pop up when I don’t have any money. Damn it all.”

Chapter 3. Those who pick up, those who are picked up.

Translator: Sene9ty

Editors/Proofreaders: JcqC, Ferro, TaintedDream, Namorax, Skythewood, SifaV6, Storm Loki

Part 1

Mid Fire Month (8th Month), Day 26, 15:27

After escorting the old woman to her house, Sebas headed towards his original destination.

The place he arrived at was surrounded by wide walls.

Beyond it, he could see three towers, each five stories tall. None of the buildings in the immediate area reached as high as the towers, making them seem incredibly tall.

The towers were surrounded by several narrow, two-story buildings.

This was the headquarters of the Kingdom’s Magician’s Guild. They needed that wide berth of land in order to create new magic and nurture magic casters. The reason they possessed so much land despite receiving almost zero funding from the Kingdom was because they were the ones in charge of creating magic items.

Eventually, he spotted a sturdy looking door. The decorated wooden door leading to the two story building was left wide open, flanked on either side by numerous armed guards standing watch.

Without being stopped by the guards – receiving only a cursory glance – Sebas stepped through the doorway.

Beyond it was a set of wide, level stairs that led to another door connecting to a splendid, aged building made of white marble. That door as well was left open as if to welcome all guests.

Passing through that door led to a small entrance hall, and beyond it was the lobby. The tall ceiling of the hall was adorned with countless chandeliers that were lit with magic.

To the right was the lobby’s lounge, complete with numerous sofas where several magic casters seemed to be in the middle of a discussion. To the left stood a notice board, numerous adventurers and people wearing the robes of magic casters could be seen staring earnestly at the parchments nailed on the board.

Further inside, several young men and women sat behind a counter. All of them had the same emblem as the one hanging in front of the building embroidered onto their robes.

On either side of the counter stood a skinny, life sized puppet without eyes or a nose– a wood golem, reminiscent of a sketch. It was most likely used as security. Save for the guards outside, the reason that the guards inside the building were not human was probably so that the Magic Guild could appear unique.

Without missing a beat, Sebas steadily approached the counter.

The young man at the counter acknowledged Sebas and greeted him with his eyes. Sebas slightly nodded in response. The two were already familiar with each other because of his frequent visits.

The young man smiled and gave his usual greeting to the man in front of him.

“Thank you for visiting our Magician Guild, Sebas-sama. May I ask for the purpose of your visit?”

“I would like to purchase a magic scroll. May I see the list, per usual?”

“Yes, of course.”

The young man quickly placed a large book on the counter. He most likely already had it prepared when he saw Sebas walk in.

Made with rich, thin, white paper and a leather cover, it was a splendid book. Considering that the words were embroidered in gold thread, it alone would make it quite expensive.

Sebas pulled the book towards him and opened it.

Unfortunately, he could not read its contents. No, it would be more accurate to say that those from YGGDRASIL could not read them. Although he could understand their speech because of the strange rules of this world, written words were a different story.

However, his master had given him a magic item for this exact problem.

Sebas drew out a spectacle case and opened it.

Inside was a pair of glasses with a thin, silver-like frame. Looking closely, they were engraved with narrow letters– patterns. The lens were crafted from blue ice crystals.

As he put them on, the magic within them allowed him to read the words.

He quickly flipped through the pages with meticulous precision and suddenly stopped his hand. His eyes moved from the book and rested on a young woman who was sitting behind the counter, next to the young man. He spoke to her in a gentle voice.

“Is there a problem?”

“N-nothing at all…”

The girl blushed and lowered her face.

“I just thought… that your posture was quite striking.”

“Thank you very much.”

Sebas showed a gentle smile, causing the girl to blush even deeper.

The gray-haired gentleman Sebas was someone who you would be attracted to simply by looking at him. On top of his graceful countenance, he radiated an elegance that turned the heads of nine out of ten women, regardless of age. It could not be helped that the young woman at the counter would mindlessly stare at Sebas; it was quite common, after all.

Sebas nodded and returned his gaze to the book, his hand stopping on a certain page as he asked the young man a question.

“This magic– ‘Floating Board’, could you tell me about it in detail?”

“Of course.”

The young man began his explanation without hesitation.

“‘Floating Board’ is a tier 1 magic that creates a floating, translucent board. The size and weight limit of the board varies depending on the caster, but when invoked from a scroll, it measures one meter on all sides and can hold up to 50 kilograms. The caster can be at most five meters away from the board. Please note that it can only follow, the board will not recognize any other movement commands like leading the front and so on. If the caster quickly turns 180 degrees in place, the board will slowly re-position itself behind the caster. This spell is usually used to transport goods and in construction sites.”

Sebas nodded his head.

“I see. Then I would like one scroll with this magic.”

“Understood.”

The young man was not surprised by the fact that he chose a rather unpopular magic. Most of the scrolls that Sebas would buy were the unpopular kind, such as this one. The Magician Guild could only be grateful to him for helping them get rid of their surplus stock.

“Will one scroll be all?”

“Yes, if you would, please.”

The young man gestured at the man sitting beside him.

Having listened to the whole conversation, the man immediately stood up and entered through the door behind the counter. Scrolls were an expensive commodity. Even with guards, it should not be stored at the counter.

Around five minutes later, the man returned. In his hand was a single rolled up parchment.

“Here it is.”

Sebas stared at the parchment that was set on the counter. The craftwork of the rolled up parchment was impressive, even at a glance, it was different from the ones found in the market. He checked to make sure that the name of the magic written in black ink matched the name of the magic that he wanted then removed his glasses.

“I’ve confirmed it. I will be taking this.”

“Thank you very much.”

The young man politely bowed his head.

“This scroll is a tier 1 spell and will cost one gold and ten silver coins.”

A potion created from the same tier of spells cost two gold coins. Compared to that, it was relatively cheap. A scroll was special in that normally, they could only be used by those who are versed in the same branch of magic. It basically meant that a potion that could be used by anyone would obviously fetch a higher price.

Of course, even if you were to call it cheap, one gold and ten silver coins was still quite a large sum for the average person. It was about a month and a half worth of wages. However, for Sebas– no, for the one he served, the amount was trivial.

Sebas took out a leather pouch, loosened the top, and counted out eleven coins. He then handed the amount to the young man.

“The payment has been received.”

The young man did not do something like checking the coins for authenticity in front of Sebas. He had traded with them often enough to earn their trust.

♦ ♦ ♦

“That old gentleman was cool!”

“Yeah!”

After Sebas exited the Magician Guild, the receptionists, especially the women, gathered together and started to make a fuss.

Rather than the faces of sagacious women, they had the faces of girls who had met their adored prince. One of the men who sat at the counter frowned with jealousy, but having experienced Sebas’ elegance firsthand, remained quiet.