Текст книги "Overlord - The Invaders of the Large Tomb"

Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane

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"My bad, I might have walked a bit too fast."

The walking pace required in order to cover the same amount of distance between the footsteps of a man wearing full body armor such as Ainz and the robe wearing Narberal was completely different. It wasn't hard for Narberal to keep up due to her physical capabilities, but as a man, there was still a need to apologize for not being considerate of his walking pace.

"No, I do not have any complaints."

"Is that so..."

Ainz couldn't figure out whether the reply was a typical response that servants gave their masters or if Narberal really didn't mind. While slowing down his pace, Ainz searched for a topic to discuss.

Ainz felt somewhat embarrassed for the unapproachable atmosphere he had been radiating moments ago. As such, in an attempt to improve the current awkward mood, Ainz desperately tried to think of a topic to discuss. However, nothing good came to mind.

He thought about meaningless conversation starters that salespeople often used, such as talking about the weather. Talking about sports was also a good choice, but one had to find out which teams the other person rooted for first.

Considering whether or not to start that kind of conversation, Ainz started mumbling deep in his heart.

Why do I need to be this considerate to someone like Narberal, who is just a subordinate? Well, since it turned out this way, I might as well use this opportunity to practice master-ser​vant dialogue. That being said, it must befit the status of a ruler. What do people with absolute power talk about with their subordinates/servants?

Thinking back on the everyday conversations that took place in Ainz's old company, something like that should be fine, right?

Ainz was the supreme overlord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, not some senior executive of a company. If a comparison had to be made, he would be more like a company president or a CEO.

No, it's still a bit different from a president... Speaking of which, what's the conversation like between the King and Gazef Stronoff? It would be useful as a reference.

Even if that was the case, they had already gotten to this point. If they went on like this, the mood between them would end up too heavy to bear. Ainz ended up forcefully opening his mouth.

"...Narberal ...What do you think of this voice?"

Ainz pointed to his voice box, or more accurately, pointed to the place where his vocal cords should be. He pressed down on the area where his throat should have been with his gauntlets. He expected only the metallic sensation of his gauntlets, however, there was an elastic feeling, giving out an uncanny impression that his throat really existed.

"Truthfully, I don't think this voice is good. Although it doesn't sound strange, I still think the usual voice of Momon-sa...san sounds better. While I understand there is a reason behind doing this, I admit preferring to hear your old voice."

"Is that so? I quite like this voice... Neuronist selected it from amongst fifty people. There's an indescribable charm to it."

Suddenly, thinking back to the time when Ainz listened to a recording of his voice, he quietly muttered something and calmed the sudden turmoil in his head.

"Is that so? However, I still think Momon-san's original voice sounded better."

"I am grateful to hear that, Narberal. Speaking of which, I had no idea that I could also equip this..."

Unsure whether Narberal's response was merely courtesy or her real thoughts, Ainz once more reached towards his neck, feeling the creature that was attached to his throat—the Lip Bug—wriggling.

Normal people would definitely find it itchy.

Is it that I simply didn't know, or did the rules somehow change? Lacking information on these kind of things could also pose certain dangers in the future. Not only about this world, but the knowledge from YGGDRASIL also needs to be relearned.

The game YGGDRASIL was designed with the intention of letting players enjoy exploring the unknown. Because of this, there was a need to test a variety of different things, which resulted in the development company investing huge amounts of resources to in order to create the system.

As such, the players were able to encounter a completely unknown world.

Not even mentioning the lack of information on the maps given at the start, dungeon related knowledge as well as information on mining, cooking, monster breeding e.t.c... everything was unknown to the players. It was the kind of world where players were forced to discover things for themselves. To make it clearer, even things such as what could be equipped and what couldn't required the trial and error of the players themselves.

Although there were raid and information websites, the data posted on these sites was already well known, or information that simply wasn't credible. YGGDRASIL was a game designed for its players to explore. Gaining knowledge was like finding treasure. There was no benefit in informing other players for free.

Hence, the only information that could be trusted came from within one's own guild, or from trades made with other reliable guilds. Everything else was simply useless third-rate information.

There was also a period where the forums were flooded with suspicious threads that began with "I'm planning on leaving my guild, so I will release all their information".

Well, there was most likely some real information released amongst those…

There once existed a guild called "Three Burning Eyes".

It was formed by the owners of a site which charged its members a fee each time for accessing information, and specialized in sending spies to join other, higher-ranking guilds in order to steal information and other such dubious acts. The Gaming Administration did not punish such deeds and it was quietly accepted as a means of acquiring intelligence. However, the guilds who had been stolen from were much less forgiving.

What happened was that those guilds formed an alliance and attacked "Three Burning Eyes". After capturing the respawn point inside the guild's base and the respawn points of the temple in the surrounding streets, the alliance began to PK the guild members from "Three Burning Eyes", and when they resurrected, PKed them again, not letting even a single one go. They kept this up until "Three Burning Eyes" disbanded and all its members scattered.

And in the end, the most memorable part was when they made their information site free to access. How nostalgic, Ainz thought.

Well, there were definitely no spies in Ainz Ooal Gown... However, if it wasn't for that incident, maybe we would have had more members…

Because of that incident, the recruitment process for Ainz Ooal Gown had been halted, and the guild was formed with 41 members, which was the minimum number required for a guild to be considered as high tier.

During the final years of YGGDRASIL, the chances of reliable information being made public on the web was rather high. However, the only time that Ainz really focused his attention on information sites was during the golden period where "Ainz Ooal Gown" was at its peak. The amount of useful information was really limited at that time.

My knowledge of the game most likely peaked at that time. Although I still paid attention to the announcements made by the Game Administration... this world likely contains YGGDRASIL players apart from myself, thus I need to also consider the risk posed from having less knowledge than them.

Through the captured members of Eight Fingers, Nazarick was able to acquire lots of useful intelligence. However, that information largely pertained to the Kingdom and the Empire. There was very little regarding the Theocracy, the Holy Kingdom and the Republic. There was a need to further improve intelligence gathering.

"What a pain, I thought so much about it, but in the end I still feel troubled. It's time to switch to a more light hearted topic."

In order to change the conversation, Ainz mildly looked around his surroundings.

"Speaking of which, the Empire seems quite lively."

"Is that so? I felt the same way in E-Rantel."

In response to Narberal's words, Ainz glanced around once more.

"The streets are full of life and the people’s eyes are bright. It's a sign that people believe they're living well."

Although Narberal responded from behind with "As expected of Momon-san", Ainz was a bit embarrassed by his own words and didn't reply. It was only a slight feeling that Ainz had about the people on the streets, and whether it was true or not, Ainz still did not have confidence in what his eyes saw.

It's not as though I was following Pandora's Actor's lead... "it's a sign of something”. To think I could say these words out loud without shame... It's like I've turned into a poet or something.

Because he had been expected to act like a hero back in the royal capital, Ainz had gotten into a hero's mindset, and it was apparently starting to become a habit.

The face beneath Ainz's helmet showed an expression of slight embarrassment—of course it was impossible for a skull to turn red—and then Ainz saw the hotel Fluder had described to him.

Even from a distance, one could tell that the imperial capital's best hotel was far more luxurious than its counterpart in E-Rantel. That was one way of describing it, but that impression was only based on the level of facilities and the difference in style. One could say the high-class hotels of the Kingdom were steeped in history while those of the Empire were recently-opened, and if you asked which was better, everyone would have different opinions.

"I'm not sure about going in, but the atmosphere does seem pretty nice."

Ainz gently touched the adamantite plate that hung in front of his chest and headed towards the entrance.

Similar to E-Rantel, athletic soldiers in leather armor were standing guard at the entrances and exits. As Ainz and Narberal approached, the guards turned questioning glances to them. However, after focusing on a single point, they hurriedly looked away with wide eyes.

"A-Are they the real deal? I think they are the real deal, judging from the equipment they have... "

Hearing the whispers that came from his comrade, the other security guard tried his best to stand still and hide his nervousness. However, as they closed the distance, his tension was obvious, but he was nonetheless capable of speaking politely.

"My apologies, adamantite-rank adventurer-sama. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, but may I please see your identification?"

As Ainz handed over his plate and asked, "Does this hotel only accept members?"

"Yes, in order to maintain the reputation of this hotel, we only accept regular members or those with referrals. However, adamantite-rank adventurers are an exception to that rule."

Wiping both hands with his sleeves, the other security guard carefully took the identification plate that Ainz handed over as if he was afraid of breaking it. Turning it over, he read out the words carved on the back.

"Darkness'… Momon-sama?"

"That's right."

"Verification complete! Thank you for giving me the chance to hold an Adamantite plate!"

His attitude when returning the plate was still as careful as before. The plate that served as proof of an adventurer's status was made using the same type of metal that corresponded to the rank of the adventurer. Even though the plate was fairly small, the cost of making an adamantite plate was astronomical. While the plate might be extremely hard to break, the possibility of accidentally losing it was still there. For someone like the security guard of a hotel, the thought of having to compensate for the loss of an adamantite plate was simply unbearable. The security guards had heard of many stories where adamantite plates had being lost before. Such as when trying to return the plate, a Crane-Parrot—a type of bird—would fly by and snatch it up. Stories like these weren't told to make people pay more attention, but were actual events which had happened before.

A look of relief bloomed across the faces of the two security guards once Ainz took back his identification plate.

"Now then, may we enter?"

"Yes, Momon-sama. Please allow me to lead the way."

"Is that so? We'll be under your care then."

Tipping wasn't a thing in the Kingdom. Hopefully it was the same in the Empire. Ainz couldn't help but think about these kinds of things while being shown in.

After walking through a spacious lobby with marble-like floor tiles, they reached the reception counter.

"Announcing the arrival of the adamantite-ranked adventurer Momon-sama and company."

Sitting behind the reception counter was a man with the appearance of having received a proper upbringing. After being acknowledged, the guard turned towards Ainz and bowed respectfully before heading back to his post.

"Welcome, Momon-sama. For choosing to grace us with your presence during your visit to the Empire, I wish to express our very deep gratitude."

The receptionist bowed deeply towards Ainz.

"No, please don't worry about it, for now I wish to stay for one night."

"Understood. To begin, please sign here at the guest register."

Ainz smiled underneath his helmet. Having practiced writing down his name using the language of the Kingdom countless times, he flawlessly signed the paper after picking up a pen.

"Thank you very much. Now what kind of room would you prefer?"

For Ainz, all rooms were the same whether they were cheap or luxurious. However, as usual, he had an appearance to maintain.

It's not like I have a need to eat food, even if the accommodation didn't include complimentary meal I'd be fine with it.

Ainz suddenly thought about the foods that existed in this world.

A green-colored juice which smelled irresistibly sweet and delicious, a pink-colored food that looked like scrambled egg, carefully sliced cooked meat covered in a bluish liquid which made the meat look more tender and juicy. Every one of those mentioned dishes stimulated Ainz's curiosity, but unfortunately he wasn't able to eat them.

...Libido, appetite, and the desire for sleep. Despite the numerous benefits of having an undead body, many other important things were lost. How unfortunate. But on the other hand, the possibility of becoming immersed in bodily desires would be too high if I regained my human body.

Having imagined being in bed with Albedo, Ainz ended up tilting his head.

A boss that sexually harasses female employees—that was the image that appeared last in Ainz's head after his earlier imagination.

Even though Albedo proclaimed her love to me... how complicated. If only I didn't mess with the... oh!

"Sorry for the delay. Any room that is fitting of our status would do. ...By the way, is it fine for us to pay using the Kingdom's currency?"

"That is not a problem. The exchange rate is one to one to begin with."

"Is that so? I will leave it in your hands then."

"Certainly. I shall begin preparing a room suitable for Momon-sama. In the meantime, please take a rest in our lounge."

Ainz saw that the arrangement of the chairs in the lounge were separated into small groups where the distance between each group was quite far apart. More than fifty seats luxurious enough for high ranking officials were available. Just the appearance alone made the chairs seem extremely comfortable. There were even minstrels softly playing music in the background.

"Everything in the lounge, including food and drinks, are complimentary services, please put yourself at ease and enjoy them."

In any world, as long as a certain amount of money was put in, corresponding amount of service would be returned. Even so, the services being returned here did not please Ainz at all.

"Understood. Come, Nabe."

Ainz entered the lounge with Narberal and chose the nearest chairs to sit down on.

There were a few other guests also resting in the lounge. The majority of them were adventurers. If high ranking adventurers could complete quests that paid generous rewards, their living standard would naturally increase as well and they could afford to live in hotels like this.

Regardless of where they were, be it the Kingdom capital or E-Rantel, all adventurers led the same lifestyle.

Ainz made sure that the adamantite plate hanging around his neck was visible for the others to see, so that they would become the topic of conversation amongst the guests at the hotel. It wasn't a bad thing to raise one's profile through this method.

While being conscious of the attention he was getting, Ainz opened the menu that was next to him.

Can't read it…

Ainz slowly flicked through the menu, even though he couldn't read, to prevent others from finding out.

Even though Ainz brought along the item that had previously been lent to Sebas which allowed one to read any language, in the current situation, it would be weird to suddenly take it out and use it.

"Sebas… and Tsuare..."

The image of Sebas along with Tsuare popped up in Ainz's mind when thinking about whether or not to use the item.

"Is something wrong with that woman?"

"Ah, no, it's not a big deal. I was wondering about how she is adjusting."

Although Ainz had handed everything to Sebas, he still had the obligation to ensure Tsuare's wellbeing since he made the promise to protect her.

"I don't think there's any problem. At the moment... because the head maid is currently under house arrest, Sebas-sama is personally teaching her the skills needed as a maid. After she has learned an adequate amount of proper etiquette, she will then study cooking and a few other types of work. We plan on teaching her a bit of everything until we discover what work she is most suitable for."

"Is that so? Well then, it should be fine leaving it to Sebas. Also, it's about time to release those two from house arrest… Albedo’s temper should have cooled off by now."

Narberal lowered her head without saying a word.

Noticing that their conversation had ended, a waiter quietly walked towards them.

"Have the two of you decided on what to order?"

"I'll have iced Makyatia. What do you want, Nabe?"

"I want the same."

"It's okay to order something that you like."

"No, I want to have the same drink. Oh, and also, I want milk to be added to mine."

"Certainly."

Having received the orders, the waiter bowed deeply, and left quietly.

Makyatia was a drink that looked similar to latte, and Ainz often saw it in E-Rantel. It smelled like latte as well. However, since latte and coffee also existed in this world there must be some difference. Nevertheless, Ainz would never find out because he could not consume any food or drinks. He had previously experimented by attempting to eat and drink, but the only results were that everything spilled out from below his chin without tasting anything. Not a single benefit was found.

The reason why Ainz chose this drink was because it was only served in high-class establishments. It was probably the most suitable choice for the current setting.

While wiping away non-existent sweat, Ainz thought of the most pointless question to ask.

"Nabe... what does Makyatia taste like?"

Knowing that Narberal had tried the drink before, Ainz curiously asked her.

Narberal made an expression that showed that she was thinking. It was the kind of expression one would make such as when being asked what does coffee tastes like by someone who has never tried it once in their life.

"Hmmm... If I had to describe it, I would say it tastes similar to Shakerato. Except it leaves behind an aftertaste of condensed milk."

"...Is that so? Sounds delicious."

Never heard of a drink called Shakerato before. Is this perhaps a type of drink that only exists in this world? The possibility of that seems high.

"It's not bad. Only so-so." Narberal replied.

Just as Ainz responded to Narberal with a "Hmmm", the drinks that were ordered arrived.

"Don't mind me and drink up. Otherwise it'll be weird if neither of us touched our drinks."

Having becoming accustomed to wearing his helmet all day long, Ainz did not notice the unnaturalness of not removing his helmet despite drinks being served in front of him.

"Thank you."

"It's fine if you drink mine as well. Anyway, listen up. For the time being, the plan is to first tour the capital in the next two days. I've heard that the amount of goods they sell at the central market is unbelievable. It's definitely worth taking a look. Also, they sell magic items in the center area of the northern market and adventurers frequent that place."

This information was acquired from the captured members of "Eight Fingers". Although most of the reports received were related to the black markets, Ainz didn't have any plans on visiting them. He only knew of it from glancing at the reports provided.

"The third day is to visit the Adventurer's Guild. If possible, I would like to make connections with some of the adamantite adventurers of the Empire, if not, then let's simply complete our current tasks and head home. Overall it should take around seven days. Do you have any other suggestions?"

Narberal, who stopped drinking halfway, listened in silence and shook her head.

 

Part 2

The capital of the Empire, often regarded as the manifestation of the Empire's power, contained many aspects which surprised people. One of them was something which the majority of travelers that arrived at the capital were amazed of—that every road in the capital was covered by bricks and stones.

Amongst the surrounding countries—even within the technologically more advanced Theocracy—the thought of having to cover the roads of an entire city in stones would make most cower. Of course it wasn't possible to do the same for every city within the Empire, but the fact that the capital of the Empire was capable of achieving this further reinforced its might. It was something which often made the diplomats from other countries sigh.

Especially the design of the roads; when one walked on them, one would immediately be able to appreciate their elegance and practicality.

Unlike the typical roads seen elsewhere, the roads in the capital were segregated into separate lanes where the ones in the center were the driveways for carriages and the lanes on the two sides were the sidewalks for pedestrians.

To ensure safety, the sidewalks were raised higher from the ground and were protected by a fence. At night, street lights which were placed in sets on the side of the roads lit up, powered by magic. Furthermore, platoons of knights regularly patrolled the streets to ensure the peace.

On one of these roads within the Empire's capital, a young man could be seen humming and smiling as he strolled leisurely on the sidewalk. The man was maybe 170 cm in height, and looked around twenty years old. With blonde hair, blue eyes, and a healthy skin color that suggested he had regularly been exposed to sunlight, the man's features could only be described as common throughout the Empire.

He was not the pretty boy type. If put in a group of ten people, the man would definitely not stand out. However, an indescribable charm radiated from him which seemed to attract other people. It might be because of the invigorating smile on his face, or his confident way of walking.

With every step he took, a metallic jingling which sounded like it was caused by the friction of chains could be heard from beneath his. Knowledgeable observers would realise that it was the noise made from wearing chainmail.

Two swords hung from his waist. From their length, they seemed to be short swords. Parts of the handles were completely covered by the hand guard, with the blades hidden in the sheaths. One could tell that they were definitely not cheap. And finally, a mace and a yoroidoshi were stored behind his waist.

[TL-Note: A Yoroidoshi (鎧通し) is a variant of the tanto and lit. an “armor piercer”. For more information, click here.]

Possessing two weapons was considered normal for this world. However, it was quite uncommon to see someone with weapons which could be used to slash, pierce, and make bludgeoning attacks.

To an average person, the man would seem like an adventurer. However, the well-informed ones would be able to tell that he was a worker simply from the fact that adventurers were required to wear metallic plates around their necks.

Worker. This word was used to describe people who left the career path of an Adventurer.

The work given to adventurers was directly provided by the Adventurer's Guild, where the content and difficulty of the tasks were thoroughly investigated beforehand. Only the ones that were deemed suitable were assigned to adventurers and had corresponding ranks according to the difficulty of the task. In other words, work that were deemed inappropriate such as ones that might endanger the safety of the public, or the law-breaking kind of work like investigating the plant materials used in the creation of narcotics. Those kind of requests would be instantly rejected by the Adventurer's Guild.

Also, work that might damage the ecological balance of an area was also rejected. For example, the Adventurer's Guild would never issue requests involving the removal of monsters that play certain roles in an ecosystem. This was due to fear that the removal of the monster might trigger the collapse of the ecological balance in an area, which might result in hordes of other monsters leaving their habitats and causing damage to human settlements. However, if said monster left its habitat by itself and entered human territory, it would be treated as a separate matter entirely.

In other words, adventurers were friends of justice.

However, the world did not operate on that principle alone.

Regardless of how one described things, there were people who were willing to take on high-risk work simply for the reward. There also existed the kind of people that simply enjoyed slaying monsters.

These people, when compared against the adventurers that stood in the light, preferred to stay in the darkness. The "dropouts" amongst the adventurers. That was what some people called them.

However, not all workers were the kind of people that were previously mentioned.

Hypothetically speaking, if a young village boy was heavily injured and an adventurer group that was capable of performing healing magic happened to pass by, were they allowed to cast the spells to save the boy?

The answer was no.

There was a rule that strictly forbade adventurers from using healing magic on the common people unless a certain fee was paid to the adventurers.

This was because the common usage of healing magic was restricted by the temples, where patients were required to come to the temples and pay a certain fee in order to receive healing. If the adventurers ignored this system and freely went around healing people, the temples would become unable to feed themselves.

For this reason, the temples had strongly pressured the Adventurer's Guild into enforcing this regulation.

If adventurers were unable to obey the rules, then they could opt to become a worker.

Although this made the temples seem like the bad guys, this was not without good reason. Due to the influence of magic on the daily lives of people, magic could be considered as another political tool for power. In order for the temples to provide benefits to the people without becoming controlled by politics, the only source of income they could receive would be from the people. In exchange, the temples provided healing, cleansing of the undead, as well as researching and developing new healing spells.

If the adventurers ignored the regulations and used their healing spells freely, the temples would be forced to become more secular, and their initial ideologies would become corrupted.

As such, there were always two sides to a story. Without light, there would be no shadow. The existence of workers could be described in the same way. For money, they were willing to ignore regulations and often make a mess of things, however, there were also cases where they had brought benefits to the people, such as the creation of cheaper medicine.

Having said that, this was the kind of profession this man had—Hekkeran Termite.

"Hmm... what to buy?"

There were simply too many magical items Hekkeran wanted. For the time being, he should probably focus on defensive items first. After that, there was one more that he wanted due to special reasons.

"First I should deposit the money... the rest will be used to buy the magic items needed for adventuring. Eh? Got the order wrong. First buy the items, and then deposit the rest."

Hekkeran scratched his head.

If it's like that—

"As the vanguard, I need to have more magic resistance, maybe it's time for me to take out my savings as well. No, if for some reason I still need to rely on subjugating undead from Kattse Plains to make a living, it might be better for me to buy items which make me more resistant to poison, paralysis and sickness."

Magic items were highly valued in this world. Especially the ones that were useful during battle were highly sought after by adventurers. If it was a first-rate item, then he would simply give up on buying it.

For the time being, the items on his mind were not the extremely expensive ones. However, it would still require years of saving in order for an average person to purchase them. That was why he was taking his time to properly think things through.

His relaxed face, which couldn't contain the smile behind his excitement suddenly became tense the moment he sighted a group of knights currently standing by the side of the road.

The group composed of light and heavy-armored knights were standing guard at a road junction. Due to the Temple of the Four Great Gods being in the vicinity, the amount of patrols in this area was considerably high. Although these knights wouldn't just suddenly start questioning normal people who were simply passing by, Hekkeran could still feel the gaze of the knights gathering on the weapons that he was carrying.

It might be alright for adventurers, but for workers like Hekkeran that had no backing from any organizations or persons of influence, it simply wasn't wise to get into conflicts with knights tasked with protecting the Empire.