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

Part 1

Several worker teams had already gathered on the Earl’s estate before dawn. The last team to arrive was Hekkeran’s 'Foresight'. In total, eighteen people were present. The workers gathered for this job were considered to be among the cream of their profession in the capital.

The worker teams maintained a distance between each other as they sized each other up. When the four members of 'Foresight' finally arrived, they were welcomed by the collective stares of the other worker teams. This scene could almost be considered spectacular in its own way.

"Ah, somehow I feel like I’ve seen all these faces somewhere before. Such as Beetle-san over there, didn’t I see him recently at Kattse Plains?"

"Eh? Did I not mention this in the hotel? Greenham’s team also accepted this request… Did I really not say this? Somehow I feel like I’ve said this before… In any case, the worker teams that are gathered today all possess considerable fame within the capital! Let’s have a round of applause for the deep pockets of the client."

"I think I’ll pass on that. Anyways, the ones over there are the team leaders, right?"

In the area between the separated teams, three people had gathered in the center, exchanging information.

"Greenham should be over there, it seems. No doubt about it. Well then, time to go and greet them."

"…Tch! Urgh, that guy is also there? Ah, I see. Then, the elf girls over there are… Hmph, that guy is absolutely the worst. Die, you piece of shit."

Imina practically spat that last sentence out. Although she kept her voice down, it still worried Hekkeran and the others enough that they had to quickly check their surroundings to see if anyone else had noticed.

"Imina-san!"

"I know, I know, Rob. He’s going to be a colleague for this job… However, I really don’t want to see that guy’s face."

"—I don’t like it either."

"Well, if I had to pick between like and hate, I also dislike him. Even so, you still need to consider the situation."

Hekkeran, who broke into the conversation between Imina, who was showing a vexed face, and Roberdyck, helplessly shrugged.

"…Oi, oi, you still have to greet him afterwards, so don’t think about unpleasant thoughts, or they’ll show on your face, okay?"

"Do your best, leader."

Hekkeran frowned in response to Roberdyck’s encouragement, as though saying "don’t poke into other people’s businesses", and then walked towards the group of three.

The first person that greeted Hekkeran was a worker who wore a steel-blue suit of full plate armor. The design of the armor was oddly rounded, almost spherical. Due to the especially large pauldrons, the man wearing the armor appeared more like an upright beetle than a human.

However, after seeing that the helmet had a horn-like design which stuck out from the forehead, it became obvious that the armor was intended to look this way.

However, one thing that wasn’t intentional was the length of the man’s legs. They were very short. The sight of him wearing the armor was like a real rhinoceros beetle that had been forced to stand upright by children who were playing around. To put it in kinder terms, short legs like those of dwarves gave more stability. It was one of the traits which suited a warrior.

"Just as I had foreseen, thou also came, Hekkeran."

"Yo, Greenham. I thought the request wasn’t too bad so we came."

Hekkeran raised his hand as a gesture at the remaining two leaders in a casual manner. The two of them responded back without any unpleasantness. Although Hekkeran was the youngest and least experienced of the four of them here, his skills as a worker were on the same level as them.

"About your side…" Hekkeran said, after glancing over to Greenham’s team and quickly counting them. "There’s five of you. What happened to the rest?"

"Resting, recovering from fatigue. Due to our previous work being of similar nature, some of our members had to stay behind to help with the transportation and repair of damaged goods."

This man, Greenham, was the leader of 'Heavy Masher', a worker team comprising of fourteen members.

Having more members definitely had its advantages, such as having more options available in choosing how to handle each request. In particular, it provided the flexibility of being able to select the best suited members for each different request.

However, it was not without its disadvantages, such as receiving less income due to having to split the payment between more people, or running into more conflicts due to disagreements between members, which made it more difficult for them as a team to take fast action.

When taking into consideration the personalities of typical workers, it wouldn’t be unusual at all for a team to just suddenly disband. Being able to maintain full control over such a large team of workers demonstrated just how strong Greenham’s management and leadership skills were.

"Fuuhn, how tiring. How about supporting us so you can earn enough not to disappoint the comrades you left behind?"

"Thy suggestion is foolish. After we finish this job, bonuses will be given based on the leader’s performance. As unfortunate as it is, the best performance will naturally belong to me."

"Oi oi, spare me already. It’s fine to speak like you normally do."

Greenham simply grinned. Sensing that he had no intention of stopping, Hekkeran shrugged and turned towards the other man.

"I think it’s the first time we’ve met face-to-face."

Hekkeran stretched his hand out, with a "pleased to meet you" intention. The other man grasped it and shook back. He had a very strong grip.

He moved his eyes and stared directly at Hekkeran.

"—'Foresight', I’ve heard a lot about you."

It was a voice that sounded as clear as a bell, which matched very well with his appearance.

"Likewise, 'Tenmu'."

The genius swordsman that was undefeated in the arena, there wasn’t a single worker who wouldn’t recognize who he was. This man’s 'Tenmu', was in a sense a team composed purely of himself. Part of it was the reason why Imina made her previous unpleasant face.

"The sword genius who’s said to be a match for the Kingdom’s strongest, Gazef Stronoff. It’s reassuring to have your squad with us."

"Thank you. However, I think it’s about time for it to be said the other way around. That man should only be referred to as being able to match up to this Eruya Uzruth. "

"Oh. So good with words."

Eruya smiled faintly, fully displaying his arrogance. Seeing this smile, the unpleasant feelings concealed inside Hekkeran almost surfaced again.

"Well then, we’ll be relying on you inside the ruins."

"Of course. Leave it to me. It’ll be great if there are monsters that can put up a decent fight inside the ruins."

Eruya said as he tapped on the weapon hanging by his waist, producing a ‘pon pon’ sound.

"It’s completely unknown what kind of monsters might exist inside. Perhaps we’ll even run into dragons?"

"That would be quite scary. Monsters such as dragons would definitely put up a hell-of-a fight. However, victory would still be mine."

Putting up a ‘is that so?’ smile, Hekkeran was the last one to react due to forcefully having to suppress his other emotions.

Taking only the skills with a sword into account, there were rumors that Eruya could even win against orichalcum ranked adventurers. Considering this point, there was some basis behind his boasting. Having confidence was a good thing, since it was also important for workers to showcase their abilities and appeal to their clients.

However, there should be a limit to just how much one can boast.

The world’s strongest race, Dragons.

Masters of the sky, capable of producing powerful breaths, with scales that were near impenetrable, and possessing a physical prowess that was superior by far. As they age, they even became able to use magic. Having a life span that humans simply couldn’t compare with, the wisdoms that they accumulate would humble even sages.

They were the kind of existences often described in legends, whether as evil villains or as beings that aided the heroes. Just like in the tales of the Thirteen Heroes, the last opponent in their adventures was a dragon known as the 'Dragon God'. In many stories, dragons tended to be the final opponents of heroes.

Even though these existences were only used as an example during conversations, but to still be able to act this arrogantly was rather surprising. No matter how one interpreted it, Eruya’s words seemed like a joke. However he could tell that Eruya was completely serious just from the looks in his eyes. Just how self-conceited could he be?

It was still uncertain what kind of monsters would be in the ruins. Eruya’s sense of judgement would definitely be a hindrance to the overall operation of things.

It’s probably best to stay away from him.

It would be convenient if he was to perish by himself, but it would still be troublesome if the overall formation became broken. A faint smile appeared on Hekkeran’s face as he reached his conclusion, and adjusted his attitude towards Eruya, towards the direction of ‘discard after use’.

"Over there must be the members of 'Foresight'. Oya—"

The look of his eyes when he saw Imina was filled with prejudice and disdain.

There were rumors that Eruya hailed from Slane Theocracy, where humans were considered the most superior race. As an alleged citizen of the Theocracy, he had the tendency to treat those with mixed blood as lower-class humans.

For a man like that to see a half-elf such as Imina to be participating as an equal simply did not make him any happier.

It’s because of this that the rumors end up becoming so credible… However, people from the Theocracy should have a baptismal name, although there’s also been rumors that he’s forsaken it.

Hekkeran considered this deep in his heart, and said out loud just in case.

"…Oi, oi, don’t be so hostile to my comrade, okay?"

"Of course. We’ll be comrades for the same work this time. I’ll definitely be cooperative."

"I will take your word for it."

Perhaps the powerful wild child Eruya matured, but Hekkeran was still afraid that he would run amok. In short, he could feel the mental instability of Eruya. Hekkeran couldn’t relax even after giving the warning, that’s how unpleasant the atmosphere was.

"Ay, trust me. Anyway, returning to the previous topic, I don’t mind letting someone else take leadership during this trip. As long as there are no special cases, I’ll follow the orders given. If we encounter battle, I don’t mind taking the frontlines. I’ll let you guys witness my blade skills."

"Yes yes, understood."

"…Well then, I’ll be returning to my team then. If there are any problems just call me."

Eruya bowed, and walked off.

Hekkeran’s face slightly twitched after seeing a number of women following Eruya. However, showing one’s emotions here was simply unacceptable. It was not uncommon for situations to suddenly turn unfavorable after one’s emotions were exposed. As the leader of a team, this kind of behavior would be unacceptable.

Hekkeran suppressed his emotions, and removed all facial expressions.

Looking away from what he considered as trash, he greeted the final person.

"Hello, elder. I see you’re still healthy and well."

"Hoi, Hekkeran. You’re also looking well."

The sounds produced from the words said were due to the loss of frontal teeth.

Parupatra 'Green Leaf' Ogrion.

Also known as the ‘Origin’, he wore armor that looked as if it were brimming with lights reflected from green leaves wet from the morning dew. The armor wasn’t made from metal, but rather from the scales of a Green Dragon. Parupatra’s team was able to successfully hunt a dragon. Of course, from the size of the scales one could tell that it wasn’t that powerful. However, even then a dragon of that size was still an existence that posed a severe threat to adventurers and workers alike.

Furthermore, Parupatra was over eighty years old.

Typically, in this line of work, the majority of people would have retired by their early forties, sometimes even before forty. There were very few adventurers above the age of fifty. As harsh as it may seem, for a profession which is constantly surrounded by death, it’s hard to ignore the decline in one’s physical abilities.

In fact, even as a special case, when compared to his peak, the time when he was at Orichalcum rank, his skills had dropped considerably. Even so, Parupatra still hadn’t left the front lines.

Many people within the industry respected Parupatra for continuing to adventure despite his advanced age.

"Fumuu. However, that guy seems a bit dangerous."

The wrinkled face of Parupatra became tense as he spoke in a hushed voice. Hekkeran also agreed.

"That’s right. It doesn’t matter if he ends up killing himself, but it’ll be bad if we end up getting dragged down with him."

"Indeed, it’s true that guy is really strong, but his overconfidence could endanger the rest of us. He’s like a walking hazard."

Greenham also chipped in with a whispered "So troublesome to deal with". After seeing Eruya’s attitude, almost none of the workers would think otherwise.

"Also, just how strong is that guy anyways? I haven’t been to the arena recently."

"Does thee not know? I however, do—does elder also know?"

"I’ve only heard about it but never witnessed in person. I might be able to find out more if I ask my comrades. In the end, how do we define the threshold for strong? If we use Gazef Stronoff as the reference point, from what this old man currently know of… for example, ah that’s right… where would we place the Four Knights of the Empire?"

"The knights titled 'Heavy Explosion', 'Unmovable', 'Lightning', and 'Violent Wind' huh… That’s quite difficult to judge. Although it’s true that when compared against that man, the Kingdom’s Warrior Captain, the Four Knights are slightly weaker. However, the time of Gazef Stronoff being the strongest is already over. The passage of time have finally triggered the arrival of stronger beings, signaling the birth of a new era."

"Are you talking about Uzruth? Is he really that strong? Besides, I’ve never witnessed the actual strength of the Empire’s Four Knights in person… The strongest that I’ve seen so far would be the captain of the Mithril Imperial Guards under the direct command of the Emperor. He’s also quite strong… maybe on the same level as the Four Knights?"

"From what this old man knows so far, the strongest amongst all would be the Dragon Lords from the Republic. Those aren’t something that humans can go up against."

"I did hear that there were five or seven of them… Opps, let’s first get back to putting a rough estimate on the strength of Uzruth. Let’s limit it to just the swordsmen among humans for now."

"If we’re doing it this way then we’ll have to exclude the swordsmen from the Argrand Republic since they’re mostly composed of demi-humans. It’ll be the same for the Warrior King of the arena. What’s left would be the Valkyrie Knight of the Holy Kingdom who wields the Sacred Blade, but that means we’ll only be comparing sword skills in the end."

For workers, gathering information on those who were strong could be extremely important for the completion of requests. Because if they ever ended up as opponents that needed to be faced during a request, one could quickly decide how to proceed. Beyond this, it’s also natural for those who live by their swords to collect this kind of information.

That was what was happening right now. Originally, it was supposed to be a discussion on just how strong Uzruth really was, yet it was slowly turning into an information exchange of those who were strong. It was almost becoming like an argument between children where phrases like ''that guy is so strong!'' could be heard.

''While the overall skill level of those in the Slane Theocracy is quite high, I’ve yet to hear of any particularly prominent ones. Anyways, even if there are, we won’t be including divine magic casters here right?''

''Doesn’t the Kingdom also have a female warrior that is of the highest adventuring rank? How good is she?''

''Ah, that 'Boob-less Big Chest'. She’s quite strong indeed. However, I heard that she lost to the Warrior Captain during the tournament.''

''…I seem to recall that she had almost beaten an adventurer to death for calling her that. Hya, hya, hya... Such a scary woman!''

''At the pace we’re going, it’s getting more and more difficult to name more. Let’s see, the one referred to as the Dark Knight of the City Alliance, Serabright the 'Flash' from the adamantite rank adventuring team 'Crystal Tear' and Optics the 'Crimson' from the worker team 'Great Blaze of the Crimson Lotus', both from the Draconic Kingdom. Also, hailing from the Kingdom… Brain Unglaus.''

The conversation stopped for the first time.

''Brain Unglaus? Who the heck is that?''

Parupatra inconceivability asked Greenham in a surprised manner.

''Does elder not know? He’s also a famous swordsman of the Kingdom… how about thee?''

Hekkeran shook his head. It was a name that he did not know.

''I see, thou knew it not…''

Unable to hide his disappointment, Greenham used an unreliable tone as he tried to recall what he knew.

"Although this was from before, back during the time when I entered the tournament held by the Kingdom, he was the opponent I faced during the quarter-finals. The me of that time couldn’t even reach his ankles."

"Wasn’t that the tournament where Gazef Stronoff also participated in?"

"That’s right. The result was that Brain Unglaus lost to Gazef Stronoff. However, a match between the strong can truly be described as spectacular. It was almost like a perfect textbook play for swordsmen, how they deflected and parried each slash, how they decided the angle of one’s swing based on the given situation at hand… et cetera. Those can only be described as eye openers truly showing you the depth of swordplay."

For a man like Greenham to be saying this, it definitely showed just how skilled that Brain Unglaus must have been in order to be able to fight evenly against the strongest warrior known in the Kingdom. His skills would definitely be first class.

Hekkeran sighed. It appeared that there were still plenty of strong guys out there that he didn’t know of.

"Fumuu… Well then, between Unglaus and Uzruth, which one would be stronger? Tell us your thoughts."

"Uzruth." Greenham answered "If compared against the Unglaus of that time then the winner definitely would be that guy. It was only recently that I watched some of his battles in the arena, so I’m sure of it."

"So in other words, Uzruth would have been able to match evenly against the Kingdom’s Warrior Captain of back then? Is he really that strong!? Otto!"

Due to over excitement, Hekkeran accidently raised his voice and had to suppress himself.

"I see. Unglaus huh. Looks like I was able to gain a bit more information about the Kingdom… Oh that’s right, have you guys heard? Doesn’t the Kingdom now have its third adamantite ranked adventurer team?"

"Of course, I’ve already heard, elder."

"Ah, sorry. I haven’t heard."

"Hekkeran… Thou ignorance could bring much harm to thy team. "

"I already know that. However, it’s really difficult to gather information on those of the same profession as us within the Kingdom. It’s also a waste of money."

"Hya hya hya. So courageous. This old man does not dislike that!"

"Elder, I wish to hear thy opinion on this. I’ve heard lots of rumours about Momon from ‘Darkness’, but some of them are just ridiculously outrageous. For example, being able to successfully subjugate a Gigant Basilisk with only two members and without the support of any healers."

"Uwah, aren’t those simply false rumors?"

Even for adamantite adventurers, to be able to defeat such a strong opponent like the Gigant Basilisk with only two people was simply near impossible.

"Does thou also agree, Hekkeran? The more information I gather, the more dubious the whole thing seems. Even regarding the information on the event that happened within the Kingdom’s capital, the rumors were that they defeated a demon with a difficulty rating of over 200 in just one hit. In my opinion, it seems more likely that the Kingdom’s Adventurer Guild deliberately spread wrong rumors out of personal interests, just to gain additional adamantite ranked adventurers.”

"That’s possible. The appearance of new high ranking adventurers is definitely an amazing thing. However, would the Guild really do something like this? They’re very strict on certain things, that’s why they’re called a guild."

"In that regard, it’s a bit different in each city depending on the Guildmaster who’s in charge. Back when this old man was still an adventurer, the Guildmaster that was in charge of my city was the absolute worst. I ended up punching him straight in the face. Hya hya hya! I’ve been a worker ever since that incident."

Parupatra laughed happily.

The story behind why Parupatra became a worker was extremely well known. It might be reasonable to say that there shouldn’t be any workers within the Empire’s capital that didn’t knew it. This was something that was often brought up by Parupatra after he gets drunk.

"Having said this much, I don’t think it’s likely that the Guild would do this kind of stuff."

"In that case, you think it’s true then?"

"It’s hard to believe. Even when I try to think about it rationally, a difficulty rating of 200– it’s already hard enough to imagine just how terrifyingly strong that would be, to be able to defeat that kind of opponent in just one hit is simply impossible. Even if that was possible the probability would have to be extremely low. Could it be that the event happened more like this, a super high difficulty rating demon appeared and countless teams tried to subjugate it, and the final blow was delivered by the 'Darkness'?"

"If you say it like that, then it sounds a lot more believable."

"I think it’s possible. It wouldn’t be that strange for someone within the adamantite rank to be that strong. The skill range between adamantite rank adventurers can be extremely big."

"So Hekkeran and I are of the same opinion, but elder thinks it really happened as told, is that right?"

"Hya hya hya. I do think of it that way."

"Seeing in person beats hearing a hundred tales. Now I want to meet him at least once… yet at the same time I don’t."

Just as the two of them were about to agree to what Hekkeran had said, the sound of someone getting hit, followed by the cries of a woman, interrupted their conversation.