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Overlord (Light Novel) - Volume 11, Chapter 2 - In Pursuit of the Land of the Dwarves Part 1
Volume 11, Chapter 2: In Pursuit of the Land of the Dwarves Part 1
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Shalltear and Aura gathered at the lakeside near the Lizardman village, accompanied by their hand-picked followers.
Under Shalltear were 25 undead beings, each around level 80 or so. Aura had picked out 30 magical beasts. There were six Vampire Brides who were attendants to Shalltear, Aura and Ainz. Then, there were the five Hanzos Ainz had brought with him. After that were five Mammoth-like magical beasts of burden which had been summoned with in-game currency. Said beasts had cargo harnesses on both sides, the kind that was commonly used in YGGDRASIL.
They could be considered the weakest beings in the group, given that they were only level 40 or so. Still, their cargo-carrying capabilities were quite impressive, and their cold and fire resistance meant that they could move easily through frozen tundra or near calderas filled with churning lava. The most important thing was that their appearances belied their incredible mobility and ability to operate for long periods without eating or drinking.
Ainz ordered Cocytus to stand by behind him, and then called Zenberu forward.
“What do you wish of me, Your Majesty?”
Zenberu stepped away from Zaryusu and Crusch — Ainz remembered their names — and came before him. Ainz could not help but look at the little white Lizardman that Crusch was cradling.
Perhaps Crusch sensed Ainz’s collector spirit, but she instinctively moved to protect her child.
It’s not like I’m going to snatch it away...
Feeling a little depressed, Ainz handed Zenberu three items.
“Take them. This ring eliminates the need to sleep, eat or drink. This ring grants cold resistance. And this necklace grants the ability to use the [Fly] spell. I will teach you how to use it later. It’s in case you fall off a cliff.”
“Many thanks, Your Majesty.”
This was the basic mountaineering gear he used during his YGGDRASIL days. He could swap out his gear in response to any unique area effects he encountered in the Azellisia Mountain Range.
“Sorry about interrupting your preparations. I have done everything I needed to do. You may return.”
Zenberu nodded and returned silently.
“Cocytus. It would seem the children are quite curious.”
The children did not flee but kept their distance, looking at Ainz and the others with sparkly (?) eyes.
Mm. Would the kids be able to adapt if I brought them to a human city? No, what if I did the opposite and brought human children here? Maybe I could build a campsite nearby, and then bring the Lizardman children there.
Ainz imagined a scene of human, Lizardman and Goblin children playing together. Then he added Aura and Mare, the Dark Elf children. And then he decided to throw in Shalltear as well.
He had put Shalltear in because he saw her making preparations alongside Aura, the undead and the magical beasts. There was no special significance to it.
I like that image. Maybe I should suggest this to Albedo and Demiurge...
“If. They. Displease. You. Shall. I. Order. Them. To. Leave. Immediately?”
“That was not what I meant… Don’t you feel that children might be able to get along, even if they are of different races? Don’t you think human children could walk hand in hand with Lizardman children?”
“I. Am. Unsure. But. If. It. Is. Your. Will. Then. I. Am. Sure. That. They. Will. Join. Their. Hands. Ainz-sama.”
...This has nothing to do with my will or orders or whatnot, it’s just a matter of getting people of different species to work together. I guess I can’t make this suggestion due to my position as King...
Ainz’s ideas would all be interpreted as absolute orders. Thus, to some extent, it was quite frightening.
“...Really now. Then, it’s about time we set off. —Aura, Shalltear! Are you ready?”
The two of them replied almost instantly
“Yes! We’re all set!”
“The same. If you give the command, we can move out at any point, Ainz-sama.”
“Zenberu!”
“No problems here!”
“All right, then let’s go!”
“Ainz-sama. Be. Careful! If. Anything. Happens. I. Can. Mobilize. My. Forces. At. Any. Time.”
Cocytus had a point. If there were enemy players around, things might escalate into a full-scale battle, and that would require the use of military force. However—
“—That might happen eventually. However, this is more of a reconnaissance in force. If we encounter anyone strong, we will fall back after gathering sufficient intelligence. If that happens, we will look forward to your accomplishments on the battlefield.”
“Understood!”
***
The plan was to head north and climb the mountains, guided by Zenberu’s memories.
The mounted undead acting as their vanguard proudly displayed the flag of the Sorcerous Kingdom.
All the intelligent beings who lived near the lake were under Cocytus’ banner. Thus, raising the flag meant that they did not need to fear any attacks. Even so, that only applied to intelligent creatures — those that understood the concept of being ruled. It meant nothing to low-intelligence creatures, like beasts, for example. On the contrary, it raised the chances that such creatures would attack them. Still, there were no monsters in this forest which Ainz and his group could not handle.
Shalltear seemed to be looking around for such foolish beings, but she could not find a single monster. In the end, they reached the northernmost end of the lake.
Their eyes followed the course of a small stream that fed the lake, and ahead of them lay the serrated peaks of the Azellisia Mountain Range. Under a clear blue sky and sunny weather, it was quite a majestic sight, and it stirred a faint emotion within Ainz’s heart.
Just then, Zenberu closed the distance to Ainz, and made a suggestion.
“Could I be allowed to walk ahead of you? I think looking at the surrounding scenery might help me recall something.”
Naturally, there were no objections.
“All right. Go to the head of the column, then. But don’t go alone. Take one of my people with you. If anything attacks, use them to cover you and fall back. You are a very valuable member of this expedition.”
“My deepest thanks.”
After commanding — or rather, asking — the magical beast that he rode, the creature obeyed and began moving. Since Zenberu had no experience in riding, Ainz had put him on one of Aura’s magical beasts, which could be controlled by speech rather than technique.
There was a big difference between their speed in the mountains and their speed while travelling along the lakeside.
In other word, they moved very slowly.
At first, they simply followed the stream north, but they slowed down after detouring to avoid a waterfall.
Zenberu tried his best to recall the route he had taken, but it was very difficult to retrace the steps he had taken only once, several years ago, while heading in the opposite direction. In addition, their elevation was still very low, so the tall trees blocked their line of sight.
Even if the shape of the land had not changed, the trees still grew as time passed.
Zenberu continued forward as he struggled to jog his memory.
Most of the group’s members did not require rest, but Zenberu — the most important person of all — was among the few exceptions to that. Thus, they had to stop several times to take a break before they continued on in silence.
They caught glimpses of what seemed to be monsters in the distance, but they did not seem to want to approach. Perhaps Ainz’s group was too numerous, or perhaps the monster had fed itself already. Ainz thought that capturing an unknown monster to play with might be fun, but he decided to give up on that idea this time round.
Their current objective was to reach the Dwarven Kingdom.
Ainz knew very well that a hunter who chased two rabbits would catch neither.
With a faint twinge of regret, Ainz chose to hurry on their way.
As the group neared the edge of the forest, the trees gradually grew shorter, and the sun began falling behind the mountain.
The blue sky was dyed a madder red, and then it passed into night. The silhouette of the mountains against an endless sea of stars could only be described as majestic. The knowledge that even this magnificent view was but a fraction of this world made Ainz feel like nature itself was bearing down on him.
His sinuses quivered, and he took in the fresh, fragrant air.
Why could he do that — or rather, if he could do this, why could he not tell how food smelled? Ainz pushed those thoughts out of his mind, and instead chose to savor this air, which could not be found in Nazarick or the outskirts of E-Rantel.
In YGGDRASIL, he would not have been able to experience the greatness of nature in this way.
He felt a sense of fulfilment, just like when he had gained new experience while adventuring as Momon, and Ainz’s heart filled with satisfaction. In all honesty, they could go back now without ever finding the Dwarven Kingdom and he would not mind at all.
Isn’t — isn’t this the sort of scenery adventurers should be seeing?
Ainz chuckled, and then spoke to the people behind him.
“Then, we shall camp here for tonight.”
After they all replied in the affirmative, Shalltear asked Ainz, “Shall we return to the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick?”
Indeed, the wisest thing to do would be to make a mark here and then teleport them all back to a safe place to spend the night. However, for some reason he did not feel like it. It was not a matter of the merits or demerits of the situation, but a purely emotional issue.
“There’s no need for that. We shall set up camp here.”
“But Ainz-sama, the thought of making you camp at such a place…”
A quick look around would reveal only bare rock, and the frigid mountain winds — granted, they had no effect on Ainz, who was immune to cold — stole body heat. Anyone without cold resistance or thick woollen clothing would feel as though they were being pricked by needles. This was probably because the wind had blown across heaped piles of snow and brought the cold air down the mountain slopes.
Ainz smiled as his respect for the grandeur of nature grew ever deeper.
In YGGDRASIL, there were guilds that explored and adventured to turn the unknown into the known. They travelled on an endless journey with those feelings in their hearts.
They were weak in guild battles, but threw themselves singlemindedly into the unknown reaches of the world. At that time, he did not understand what they were thinking. However, after encountering a magnificent world like this one, he began to see where they were coming from.
While he had been Momon, he too had entertained the thought of letting go of everything and travelling the world—
“—Ainz-sama?”
The thoughts that had begun floating up in his head were suddenly scattered.
“What is it, Shalltear?”
“F-forgive me for interrupting your contemplation, Ainz-sama.”
“Ahh, no, it’s fine. I wasn’t thinking of anything important.”
“Really? All right, then…”
“Then, what’s the matter? Ah, you’re talking about camping here, right?”
“Yes. Please accept my sincerest apologies for not preparing a suitable tent despite knowing that you might wish to stay here, Ainz-sama. I wish to retrieve one from Nazarick. Might I be allowed to use [Gate]?”
“There’s no need for that. It wasn’t that you forgot the tent, but rather, I didn’t write it down on the list because it wasn’t required. Did you know that Mare can make a shelter with magic?”
Shalltear nodded.
I see. Then, you should know that I can do so as well. I could use a magic item like the Green Secret House instead, but that might be a bit too cramped for our numbers. Now, watch this.”
Ainz looked for a suitable location. It could be slanted, but the important thing was that it had to be open and free of rocks.
He found one almost immediately, and then Ainz cast his spell. It was a 10th-tier spell.
“[Create Fortress]!”
As the spell took effect, a mighty tower appeared where there had been nothing before. It was a tower which stood over 30 meters tall, standing erect and proud like it was going to swallow up the starry sky.
Its massive double doors looked strong enough to shrug off battering rams. The walls were studded with countless spikes to keep anyone from climbing them. Four demonic statues adorned the corners of the uppermost level of the tower. They felt weighty and oppressive even at a glance.
This sturdy fortress-like fortification was the physical incarnation of the word: “towering”.
“Then, let’s go.”
As Ainz approached the door at the head of his group, the iron doors swung open. He waited there for everyone else to enter. In YGGDRASIL, anyone on the same team could open those doors with a touch. On the contrary, everyone else could only gain entry by destroying the door. He wondered how the door in this world would make that judgement.
Ainz left two of the undead outside, and then ordered them to open the door after it shut. The doors remained closed.
He waited a bit longer, but there was no sign that the doors would be opening.
“...Could it be that only I can open them? Aura, go touch the doors.”
With a “Sure!” Aura touched the doors experimentally, but they did not seem like they wanted to open.
It would seem only Ainz could open those doors. He mentally furrowed his brows. Friendly fire was a pain in the ass… If other players existed in this world, small changes like this might end up affecting others, and in the worst-case scenario he might end up killing someone by accident.
It’s been nearly a year now… And I still have to be careful about using my power. It would be a tragedy if someone got caught in our area-of-effect attacks. Should I point it out to the higher-ranking people? Mare, especially… although they might resent me for nagging them about it if they’ve already realised it… I guess I’ll try and pass it off as an off-hand remark or something.
Subtly reminding people was unexpectedly difficult. It was completely different from just going up and scolding them. Ainz had become thoroughly acquainted with that fact during his time in the working world.
As his heart grew heavy, Ainz decided to terminate his experiment and open the gate to let the two undead outside come in. He closed the gates once more after ensuring that everyone was through, and then moved forward.
A pair of double doors faced the entrance, and a passage stretched on beyond them. At the end of the passage was yet another set of double doors. The way was lit by magical lights, so there were no problems travelling along it.
The instant he opened the inner doors, a blinding light shone upon them.
Before them was a round hall. The floor was as white as snow and the ceiling was high above. A spiral staircase coiled up from the center of the room and connected to the upper levels.
“Then… we shall spend the night here. Anyone who needs to rest can do so. Anyone who does not… well, standing here isn’t very good either. Everyone, stand by in your rooms.”
Ainz indicated ten doors with his pointing hand. Incidentally, space here was expanded, so this place was larger on the inside than the outside.
“There are more rooms like these on the second and third floors, so go ahead and use them. Aura, Shalltear, Zenberu, the three of you stay behind. I want to plot our future route given what we have learned today. Ah, yes, let’s gather on the couch over there. Then, carry on, everyone.”
“Ainz-sama, what shall we do with the Vampire Brides?”
“Umu…”
Ainz could not answer Aura’s question right away. After all, bringing them along had been Decrement’s idea, and he could have done perfectly fine without them. Ainz paused briefly to think before saying, “I’ll give them orders later. For now, have them wait in their rooms.”
Thus he handed the problem off to his future self.
Then, Ainz headed to the sofa and sat down. Shortly afterwards, the three people he mentioned earlier sat down as well, he began speaking.
“Then, let’s start by recording our travels for the day. Aura, please.”
“Yes, Ainz-sama.”
Aura flipped open a memo pad, holding it open with one hand and sketching a map on it with another.
“I’m not too confident on some of the smaller details, but it should roughly be like this.”
“Umu. Thank you, Aura.”
It was a fairly crude map, but they could verify distances and the like from the air.
“Now then, I know you’re tired, Zenberu, but I would like to request your cooperation. You might not like this.”
“...What do you mean, Your Majesty?”
Ainz smiled to the somewhat nervous Zenberu.
“In other words, I wish to look through your memories.”
“W-what does that mean?”
“...I think I came off like a villain when I said that. I can control others’ memories with magic, but that same magic can browse through the memories of others. Frankly speaking, it drains a lot of mana and I’d rather not use it if I could avoid it, but relying on your clouded memories alone is somewhat worrisome.”
“I, I trust it will not have any side effects?”
“It’ll be fine. Thanks to the assistance of a certain cleric, I can safely say that I’m quite the veteran at this. There won’t be any problems as long as I don’t do any weird things in there. In fact, I’ve performed the same procedure on one of my maids and there were no problems either.”
“You mean Shizu, right?”
“Exactly, Aura. That said, the spell isn’t all-powerful. If the person himself has almost forgotten an event, I can only get rough details. There are also other things which complicate the spell’s use. For instance, the memories might not reside within the brain, but accessed from a more primordial source—” Ainz shrugged as he realized he had gone off topic. “Well, something like that. In any case, I’d like to investigate your memories.”
“I see… Just in case, I would like to ask again, but is it really going to be alright?”
“I understand your concerns. Do not worry, Zenberu. I will not alter your memories. I swear that on my name.”
“Then — what should I do?”
“Umu. Sit there, and relax. This won’t hurt a bit. However, I need to verify some details with you before I cast the spell. Things like, how many months and years ago and where these memories took place, and so on.”
After hearing Zenberu’s explanations, Ainz cast the spell.
Having cast this spell many times before, Ainz had an expert’s confidence in his handling of the magic, but still, using it was extremely difficult.
Since any changes to the memories remained forever, mishandling them might lead to an irrecoverable situation. It was like trying to reprogram a computer without making any backups of the data. One could say it was an excellent spell for making vegetables.
More importantly, the spell expended a vast amount of mana while it was in effect. That was what made it hard to use.
Ainz felt his mana draining away in torrents after briefly browsing Zenberu’s memories.
Ainz’s original plan was to find the targeted memories and then browse around at his leisure. However, he estimated that his MP would run dry before that. In addition, the problem with this spell was that even if he wanted to wait until the next day for his mana to recover before casting the spell again, he would still have to start from the beginning.
As a result, other spells were more effective at gathering information.
After grumbling in his heart, he saw what looked like a mountain. Just as he found the place he was looking for, his mana ran out.
Examining memories of the past are the most tiring. It’s much easier to view recent memories…
As he had expected, the memories he found were blurred, as though shrouded in mist. He saw the faces of Dwarves, but they all looked the same to him. He did not know if that was Zenberu’s fault, but he could not tell them apart. All of them were simply beards who bellowed in crude tones and swilled beer.
This is no good. I used that cleric as a test subject and it worked well on Shizu. But I feel like I still can’t use it well enough… I can’t afford to make mistakes with delicate things like memories. I wanted to continue experimenting with that cleric, but he can’t even speak coherently any more… Well, rewriting memories works if I limit myself to the recent few years. I guess I should conduct an experiment on what’ll happen if I wipe a person’s memories clean...
Maybe I should select a few people sentenced to death from E-Rantel and use them for experiments…
With that thought in mind, Ainz ended the spell.
“How are you, Zenberu? Do you feel unwell?”
“Eh? I feel fine, but weird…”
Ainz smiled.
“I merely looked through your memories. It would be strange if that felt weird to you, given that I made no changes. That is probably a placebo effect of some sort; it should fade soon.”
Zenberu shook his head forcefully. Ainz paid him no heed, but turned his attention to the map.
Even after looking at Zenberu’s memories, he still did not quite get it.
There were no distinguishing features there, and how could he confirm his position in the confusing scenery of the mountains? In addition, the memories of hiding from monsters had been far more vivid in comparison.
The fact was that even if his mana recovered by tomorrow, he would not gain information which was worth that massive expenditure of magical power.
“Then, we shall stick to the plan and have Zenberu lead us north. I didn’t see anything helpful in his memories anyway.”
It was not as though he had any better ideas.
Dispatching outriders would only serve the purpose of massacring the monsters ahead of them.
“Dismissed. Everyone, rest… well, it looks like nobody needs to rest besides Zenberu. Well then, prepare yourselves for tomorrow.”
***
As she watched her master return to his room, Aura turned to Shalltear, who was seated beside her.
“There are rooms to the left and the right of Ainz-sama’s own room. Which do you want?”
Aura had a magic item which allowed her to go without sleep, and Shalltear was undead. Strictly speaking, neither of them needed a room. However, it would be rude not to use the rooms provided for them, and it would be bad for security if they were too far away from him.
“Hm~ well, I’d think either side would be fine, don’t you think?”
“Well, I guess that’s right… Say, what are you doing?”
Aura looked over to Shalltear after hearing her distracted response. This was when she realized Shalltear was writing something in a memo pad.
“Hm, Ainz-sama said that, check. I’m taking notes, of course. I don’t want to forget Ainz-sama’s words.”
“Hmmm~ that’s pretty hardworking of you. Lemme see.”
Aura paused to peek, and saw that the memo pad was covered in densely-packed script, with hardly any blank space left in between the letters.
After a quick glance, she discovered that Shalltear had essentially recorded her master’s words down in exacting detail, as well as the actions he took.
This… how shall I say this? Of course, it makes sense to preserve Ainz-sama’s words for posterity, but I doubt Shalltear is writing them down for that purpose...
Shalltear should have recorded the key points of her master’s wisdom, and then learned from them. However, this situation was beginning to make her feel uneasy.
“Ah, you know. I feel that taking notes is a good idea, but that shouldn’t be the whole point, right?”
Shalltear looked at her with a baffled expression on her face.
“Got it? Maybe taking notes makes you think that you’ve done a good job. But what you should be doing is recording the important things and using them to teach yourself how to deal with similar situations, right? Is it really okay to take notes like this?”
“It seems okay…”
“Well, if that’s the case, then great. Just in case, you should go over them again once you return to your room. Try to think about what Ainz-sama had in mind and then put yourself in his place and imagine what you would do in his shoes.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really.”
After saying that, Aura suddenly wondered why she was saying that sort of thing to Shalltear. And then, for some reason, she felt that guiding her in that way was very natural to her.
Haaa. For some reason, I feel like I have a useless little sister… It might be a little disrespectful, but I wonder if Bukubukuchagama-sama felt the same way?
***
They prepared to set out on a particularly brilliant morning. That said, their preparations were nothing more than walking out of the magically-created tower and forming up in a column. Ainz felt that this was much less enjoyable compared to his travel preparations from his time as Momon.
After that, they continued their search, but their efforts from dawn to dusk yielded no fruit.
As the sun sank below the slopes of the mountains, Ainz narrowed his eyes.
They had travelled more than 100 kilometers on the backs of their magical beasts — in other words, they had exceeded the distance to the Dwarf city which Ainz had estimated. Yet, they found nothing. In other words, they would have to begin the time-consuming task of combing the countryside.
Ainz used magic to create a resting place as before, and then, it was time for the next day — in other words, the third day.
Suddenly, Zenberu exclaimed in a strange voice.
“Over here! I remember this place!”
There were no more trees in sight, only a field of rocks. Zenberu’s voice echoed exceptionally loudly in this place.
“Your Majesty! We should be very close!”
“Is that so! Then, everyone, proceed with caution!”
In accordance with Ainz’s orders, the group formed up into a neatly-ordered column.
“Then, I’ll leave this to you, Zenberu.”
“You can count on me!”
The group advanced, led by Zenberu.
Finally, they saw something which looked less like a cave than a crack in the mountain.
Ainz had seen something similar in Zenberu’s memories, but he felt that it should have been bigger. Still, this was probably the right place, given Zenberu’s overjoyed reaction.
The memories were Zenberu’s own; the Lizardman’s perspective ought to be more reliable than Ainz’s fragmentary glimpses.
Ainz smoothed out his mussed-up robe, and gestured to Aura.
Acting as they had planned earlier, Aura led her beast towards the fissure.
“Kingdom of the Dwarves! His Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown, King of the newly-founded Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown to the south, has come to pay you a visit! Will you not send someone to receive him?!”
The voice of Aura the herald echoed through the fissure.
Yet, there was no response.
Aura looked at Ainz with an expression that said, “What should I do now?”
Ainz indicated that she should announce them again.
And so, Aura shouted at the top of her voice once more.
However, there was still no response. There was no sign of anyone appearing even after waiting a while.
Zenberu had said that there should be guards watching this exit in order to prevent intruders from the outside. If this was the case, someone should have heard Aura’s voice.
Were they avoiding the Dark Elf?
Ainz recalled Aura for the time being, and then summoned Zenberu.
“It’s your turn now. Go shout a bit and see how it goes.”
Ainz cast several buff spells on Zenberu. While it did not guarantee his safety by any means, it greatly reduced the danger he might face compared to being sent out without those spells.
Zenberu drew near the cave and shouted. Still, there was no response.
“...Hanzos.”
“Presenting ourselves to the Master.”
The ninjas poured out of Shalltear’s shadow. The other Hanzos were arranged behind the Hanzo Leader.
“Infiltrate the interior and verify the situation. Do not be spotted.”
“It shall be done. May I ask how far we should investigate? The Dwarven city is said to be riddled with mining tunnels. Fully investigating the intricate web of those tunnels will take a long time.”
“Perform a cursory inspection. Focus on the central region and the administrative areas of the city. You may investigate the tunnel interiors later.”
“Understood.”
The Hanzos took off in a sprint, following their Leader. The way in which they ran, leaving afterimages behind them, was a motion unique to high-level ninja-type monsters.
Ainz indicated that Zenberu should return to the center of the group — allowing him to wait in a safe space. He could be very useful when negotiating with the Dwarves.
“—Shalltear, don’t slack off on security.”
“Understood!”
After using a skill, Shalltear was fully armed and armored in an instant. She surveyed her surroundings carefully, not letting a single detail escape her.
Now that Shalltear — the strongest Guardian of Nazarick — was ready for battle, no opponent, however strong they might be, could instantly kill her with a single combo. That said, experience was the important thing when fighting players, and giving that task to the inexperienced Shalltear was quite dangerous.
In other words, the experienced Ainz might still need to act as a role model for her.
Ainz carefully watched his surroundings as well. Soon, the Hanzos returned. They had taken longer than expected, probably because they had travelled a long way.
The Hanzos lined up before Ainz and fell to one knee. Naturally, their leader spoke for them.
“—Ainz-sama, we have discovered what might be a Dwarven residential area. We searched it, but found no signs of life.”
“—What happened?”
“We did not investigate thoroughly, but there were no corpses or any sign of household products within the houses. Neither were there any signs of battle.”
“It would seem the Dwarves abandoned this city of their own will, for some reason.”
He glanced at Zenberu, who seemed very shocked as well. He might only have known him for a short time, but he had gained a bit of insight into Zenberu’s personality, and this did not seem like an act.
“—All right, then. Lead us to the residential district.”
“Yes!”
Ainz followed behind the Hanzos. This was unknown territory and he could not be careless here. Shalltear, Aura and Zenberu were also escorted by high-level undead and magical beasts.
The only ones left outside were the low-level Vampire Brides and the Mammoth-like magical beasts.
This was done to set a trap. Any unknown beings who saw them as enemies would surely start whittling down their fighting strength from the part of their forces which they were confident in beating. In addition, it was basic tactics to begin attacking their supply lines in the hope of learning something from the objects which they dropped.
Thus, he did not leave them there alone. He had also positioned a Hanzo nearby, in concealment.
That Hanzo was not there to rescue them.
Rather, it was there to observe the enemy and learn about their attackers. After that, being able to learn their fallback point — or better yet, their home base — would be an unexpected bonus.
The reason why they had not returned to Nazarick at any point during their journey was also to prevent the opposition from knowing that they could replenish their forces infinitely using the [Gate] spell. This would make them think that Ainz and company could be worn down over time.
Well, even if the enemy does appear, it would be good if the Vampire Brides were safe.
Ainz did not want the Vampire Brides to die. However, he did not mind sacrificing respawning POP monsters to gain information on the enemy.
Was this being a little cruel, Ainz thought as he entered the cave.
There was no light from the outside in the cave, and soon they were immersed in complete darkness. However, it posed no problems to Ainz, who had darkvision. Shalltear, Aura, the other undead and the magical beasts also possessed that ability. At their level, mere darkness was not a disadvantage to anyone present.
Zenberu, on the other hand, was being cradled like a princess by one of the undead.
Given the fact that all the stalactites and stalagmites in the area had been cleared away, and the fact that the area was flattened and easy to walk through, there was no doubt that this place was a Dwarven city.
The Hanzos led them onwards. There were many forking paths along the way, all of which led quickly to dead ends, according to the Hanzos guiding them. They had probably been dug to confuse intruders and buy time, or perhaps to help mount a counterattack.
There were spells which Ainz could use under these circumstances, but the Hanzos lacked such abilities. It only made sense that they had taken a long time considering they had to investigate all these possible paths.
As he thought about that, one of the Hanzos turned to face him.
“Ainz-sama, we are about to reach the residential district.”
“Really now. ...There’s some kind of blurred lighting in the distance, Hanzo. Didn’t you say there were no Dwarves here?”
“Yes, there are none. This light is being emitted by a crystalline mineral.”
A vast open space sprawled ahead of them.
As he looked for the source of the illumination, he saw multiple sturdy pillars supporting the ceiling. Crystal-like objects grew from the ceiling, and they radiated the light which the Hanzos had spoken of.
There were no other sources of light — no man-made ones, at least — as far as Ainz could see.
This place seemed like a residential district, as the Hanzos had described it. It certainly looked like a city, with long rows of dull buildings, roughly two stories tall.
Perhaps it was because their builders were a short race, but their structures were all shorter than human-constructed buildings. Even so, they were still taller than Ainz, and he could not tell the size of the city on account of his line of sight being obstructed by the buildings. However, the sheer number of buildings here made him feel that counting them all was an exercise in futility.
“Hmm…”
As Ainz surveyed the city, the flame of hope in his heart went out with a “chu~”, as if extinguished by a basin of cold water.
It was too run-down.
The stories he had heard of the Dwarven city conjured up a mental image of a shining, intricate and dignified place, but there was no sign of that here. There was no trace of YGGDRASIL — of a player’s presence — here either.
Ainz stepped forward, and pushed open the door to one of the buildings.
As the Hanzos had said, he was greeted by an empty space.
He could not see any furniture from where he stood at the entrance. The only things that remained were shelves which had been installed into the walls and other things which could not be moved. White dust covered the ground. It would seem nobody had been in here for quite some time.
“—Zenberu! Call out and see if there’s anyone there!”
After hearing Ainz’s order, Zenberu shouted the name of the Dwarf who had taken care of him in the past.
The fact that there was no echo within this confined space clearly demonstrated the sheer size of the cavern.
Zenberu shouted several more times, but as before, there were no signs of anybody emerging in response.
“—Hanzos. Search the tunnels outside this city for anything that might serve as a clue. Find the reason why this city was abandoned. However, given that we know nothing about the extent of the tunnel network, return if you feel you have gone too far.”
“Understood!”
While it might have been faster to have everyone head out on their own and search, Ainz was not nearly stupid enough to split the party under these circumstances where he did not know what was going on. He ordered everyone to gather and conduct a little investigation. As Ainz waited behind, they opened the doors of one building after another.
All of them were the same as the first.
Some of them contained abandoned furniture, but that was more of a bookshelf here and a table there. He had not found a residence with a complete set of furniture.
Checking all the houses like this would take a lot of time.
“Aura, you have the best senses of all of us. Have you found any clues?”
“Nope. Can’t feel anyone around.”
“Is that so… Then we’ll split up into two teams to search further. Shalltear, take command of the undead and act as our lookouts. Aura, go ahead to the house where Zenberu stayed the last time he was here. Search the city for the reason why the Dwarves are no longer around, but take care not to stray too far.”
The two Guardians replied in the affirmative, and then he saw Zenberu bowing in gratitude.
After nodding magnanimously, Ainz cast [Fly].
He slowly floated up.
This would be a dangerous course of action if anyone was waiting in ambush, but for some reason, Ainz had a feeling that there was nobody around.
“Ainz-sama!”
Shalltear flew over in a panic.
“It’s dangerous! Please descend!”
“Come to think of it, you’re right. It seems I got careless.”
It was only natural that Shalltear would be angry. After all, he had flown up — where anyone could draw a clear line of fire to him — purely because he was acting on a baseless instinct.
“Still, the fact that I was not attacked is further proof that there’s nobody here. Also, there’s a chance that anyone who spotted me might want to come closer to learn more, so I’ll leave perimeter security to you.”
“Please do not use yourself to lure the enemy into a trap.”
Punitto-san had a point; depending on the circumstances, a leader might have to use themselves as bait. ...Still, I guess it’s hard for someone like Shalltear to understand that, given that she isn’t one of my friends, but my protector.
“Forgive me,” Ainz said to Shalltear before looking downwards.
This was a city, filled with many identical buildings, as neatly laid-out as a go board.
“—There’s an impressive-looking building over there, and there and there.”
Although most of the buildings looked like they had been cast from the same mold, there were few which seemed larger than the others.
“Shall we go and look?”
“...Let’s call Aura back first. It feels like things might become very troublesome if there’s an ambush there.”
Everything Shalltear had said since just now had a point.
“Ainz-sama!”
Just then, Aura’s voice came from below. Looking down, he saw Aura and Zenberu waving to Ainz, and given the way they were doing so, it would appear something out of the ordinary had taken place.
“Looks like they’ve found something.”
“It seems that way.”
The two of them exchanged looks before landing alongside Aura, followed shortly by the undead hurrying to their position.
“Come see this, Ainz-sama!”
Aura led them into one of the houses she had opened up.
Ainz gave the place a once-over, but he could not detect any differences from the other buildings, and he found nothing special within it.
“Is this the Dwarven home where Zenberu once stayed?”
“No, this isn’t it. On our way to the home of the Dwarf who took care of Zenberu, we found several buildings that had been opened up. After checking them, I found footprints on the ground, and those might not be Dwarven footprints. Here, have a look. Zenberu, Dwarves don’t go barefoot, right?”
“Ahh, of course not. They all wear shoes, and they don’t take them off even inside their homes. I used to see them in sturdy, metal-soled boots.”
“That means these footprints are clearly not Dwarven.”
“How much can you learn from them?”
“Hmm, let’s see…”
Aura tilted her head in contemplation.
“They seem to have been made by a biped, and the drag marks between the left and right footprints suggest a tail of some sort.”
“Was it something like a Lizardman?”
Shalltear turned to look at Zenberu.
“No, it wasn’t. The tail is slim, not thick like Zenberu’s. Also, the footprints were filled in with dust, so they must have been left there for quite some time. Whoever left them did not go back and forth often. Also, it looks like the person who came in here left immediately after entering. ...Did they come because they were interested in a Dwarven city?”
Aura shifted her gaze from the house to the road outside.
“And it’ wasn’t just one person… there were a lot, at least 10 of them.”
“How far can you follow this trail? This is our only clue, after all, so I’d like to follow up on it as much as possible.”
“Understood. Could you follow behind me, then?”
There was no possible reason to refuse.
Everyone trailed after Aura, while Shalltear stood by behind Aura to protect her.
The owner of the footprints moved as Aura had predicted — it had the same objective as Ainz, wandering around and looking into the Dwarven buildings.
Halfway through the trail, Aura suddenly ground to a halt and stared at the road ahead. She was looking at one of the huge buildings that Ainz had spotted from above.
“There’s many identical footprints here. It looks like a squad of them came from over there. What should we do? Should we investigate this squad?”
“...No, it might be better to see where these footprints’ owners disappeared to. We’ll investigate the other group later.”
“Understood!”
Aura started moving again. In the end, they reached a building that was fused with the walls and seemed to span the entire city.
It looked like a bungalow, but it was huge.
“...There shouldn’t be anyone inside, but for safety’s sake, I will use magic after this. The enemy’s defensive spells might take effect centered on me, so everyone should keep their distance.”
Using divination-type magic carried the risk of being targeted by counterattacks. While the only one among them who might actually be killed in one hit by such a backlash was Zenberu, there was no reason to unnecessarily deplete his subordinates’ health.
“Ainz-sama, please allow me to guard your person.”
“Eh? Then I’ll come too.”
“No, you need to stay where you won’t be affected and watch your surroundings.”
After being rebuked by Shalltear, Aura looked pleadingly at Ainz, but in this case, Ainz shared Shalltear’s opinion.
“Indeed. Your sensory abilities are the best among us, Aura. While it does not seem likely, if there actually is an ambush, you may end up being the first one to deal with it.”
After hearing that from her master, Aura had nothing left to say. All she could do was reluctantly express her acknowledgement.
Ainz conjured a magical sensor and sent it into the building.
As expected, there was no sign of anyone hiding within, and so he sent it deeper inside.
What was this building used for? A counter and — are those lockers? It looks like a bathhouse, but there’s no separation for genders… is this a Dwarf-only building?”
As Ainz observed the interiors of several rooms, he found a place that looked like the tunnels through which he and the others had passed through just now.
Could this building be a checkpoint or base of some sort? Maybe it was meant to stop the enemy coming from the depths of this tunnel. Does that mean the tunnel leads somewhere else?
A quick search of the building’s interior revealed no trace of the enemy. He quickly summarized the state of the inside of the building, and then let Aura head inside, in order to verify if the footprints ended inside that tunnel.
After that, Ainz, Shalltear and Zenberu followed. He left the magical beasts and undead waiting outside in case the Hanzos returned in the meantime.
As they followed behind Aura, Ainz whispered to Zenberu: “What do you know about this building?”
“Sorry, Your Majesty, but I don’t know that much. All I know is that the gigantic building that our company saw just now — the one in front of the building where we picked up the trail of the footprints — was apparently used for administrative tasks. Also, the other big buildings we glimpsed from time to time used to house taverns or blacksmiths and the like. Even the Dwarven chiefs — no, their people in charge — don’t live in big houses. I don’t know the reason for that,” Zenberu concluded.
Just then, Aura stopped at the tunnel’s entrance.
“The footprints came from here. Shall we go on?
Ainz was briefly stymied by Aura’s question, but it soon passed.
“No, let’s not. There’s other places to investigate in the city. We’ll leave this place to the very end. Also, it would be better to have the Hanzos around for it.”
One could also say that the tunnels were very extensive, considering that the Hanzos still had not returned.
After they went back outside, Ainz cast a [Message] spell to speak to the Hanzo Leader.
“What’s the matter, Hanzos? Haven’t you found anything yet?”
『Our deepest apologies for taking so long. However, please take heart; though it has taken some time, we have finally found a trace of someone’s presence.』
“What? Really? Did you discover any evidence about the disappearance of the Dwarves?”
『This is not proper evidence, but there seems to be something — a sound coming from the depths of this tunnel.』
“Not a natural sound, I take it?”
『Indeed! It sounds like someone digging out an ore vein. What should we do? Would it be best if we went forth to investigate?』
“No, forget it. Before you do that, take us there. Our present location is—”
Come to think of it, he probably could not get the message across clearly using speech alone.
“That’s it, we’ll use a torch as a signal.”
『Understood!』
After ending the [Message], Ainz took out a torch. It was self-igniting, and he handed it to one of the undead waiting nearby. The undead creature waved it from side to side, signalling the Hanzos, whose location was unknown.
Of course, this was no ordinary firebrand. It was an artifact sold in shops; it did twice the damage of normal torches when pressed against the bodies of slime-like monsters.
This was somewhat wasteful, but Ainz did not have any ordinary torches with him.
The torch seemed to sear a red band into Ainz’s vision before the the Hanzos finally appeared before him.
“Forgive our tardiness, Master.”
“Dispense with the formalities, time is money. Take us there now.”
“Understood!”
Ainz rode atop a magical beast in pursuit of the running ninjas.
Eventually, they came before a building like the one they found while following the footsteps. The Hanzos stopped here, so this was probably their destination.
After alighting from his beast, Ainz listened to the Hanzos’ explanation of the situation.
“There is a hidden tunnel within this building. The entity in question is inside that tunnel.”
“Ainz-sama, there’s a new set of footprints here. It doesn’t look like it came out of the tunnel, and they only lead inside. The person who made them wore boots, and given their size, I would put them around Shalltear’s height. Also, there’s only one of them.”
Ainz nodded to Aura, who was staring at the ground in front of the building.
“...Let’s try to open a friendly dialogue with this person. Even if they attack, you are only allowed to defend yourselves. Under no circumstances are we to make the first move. Do you understand? In order to avoid alarming the other party, we’ll have Aura try to talk to them, and then—”
Ainz touched his face.
Were humans the only species that shunned the undead? Or was it a given fact of this world?
In any case, his subordinates still stood at the head of an undead army. That being the case, he might make a better impression by exposing his face and not hiding his identity.
“Alright, Hanzos. Take us to where you heard that sound.”
The Hanzos led them through the building and into the tunnel.
The ceiling was fairly low, so it should have been excavated by Dwarves. Dwarves in YGGDRASIL were universally short in stature.
If they had dug this tunnel, it would probably be around this height.
Aura’s ears twitched as they moved through the tunnel. That confirmed the accuracy of the Hanzos’ report.
Ainz strained to listen, but he could not pick up the sound Aura had heard.
“Is that it? ...Is it close?”
“It’s hard to tell. I can’t judge the distance accurately because of the echoes.”
“Umu. If it’s in a straight line, an arcane eye would be able to reveal the other side’s identity…”
Someone without Aura’s keen hearing — derived from racial or job classes — would not be able to hear anything due to the distance between them. However, if they drew closer, the other party might pick up on the presence of a long procession on the move.
If anyone heard an unknown group approaching them, their first instinct would probably be to flee for their own safety. Of course, having Aura around meant that they would not be able to escape, but the opposition might still be able to elude her if they could [Teleport] or if they had skills which allowed them to meld into the earth.
The wisest decision would be to send Aura and the Hanzos, or for Ainz himself to go, since he could go invisible.
“Then, we’ll send out the stealth-capable people from this point on. Aura and the Hanzos, you’ll go first. I will follow. Shalltear, you should wait here.”
“If that is your order.”
“...No, would it be a bad idea to wait here?”
Ainz looked to the ceiling. It looked like sturdy bedrock, but there were no such things as absolutes.
“Fair enough. Return to the building from earlier and wait for us to return. ...No, if I do that, the Hanzos will also… Aura, do you think the footprints lead toward the source of the sound?”
“Yes, they’re heading there. The person who made them is probably the source of the sound.”
“I see. Then, can you lead me there?”
Aura nodded.
“Then, the two of us will go ahead first. Everyone except Aura and myself will proceed to the building at the entrance of the tunnel. If anything untoward happens, particularly the appearance of powerful beings on our level, fall back immediately. In that case, we will make our own escape, so do not be worried. The destination for any [Gates] will be Aura’s building in the forest.”
“Understood! But will the two of you really be alright by yourselves?”
“I’m not sure. Well, I’d like to think that we’ll be fine.”
One could consider flaws all day long and end up nowhere. All he could do was accept that he was compromising his safety to some extent as he took action. This was something Ainz had learned recently.
Shalltear had not said anything which made him want to change his mind. Or rather, it might be that Ainz’s orders left no room for objection, so all she could do was obey gracefully.
Ainz set out with Aura. He did not use magic yet since they were still some distance away.
The two of them walked in silence for some time, and then the sound reached Ainz’s ears.
“...It seems whoever’s doing this is doing their best to minimize the amount of noise generated.”
Ainz had no idea why that topic came up, but if Aura mentioned it, then it should probably be correct.
“Does that mean we can assume the other side is on high alert as well?”
“So should we start by capturing them?”
“Only if they seek to flee. After all, if our first contact is violent, it might be very difficult to have friendly relations with them in the future.”
“I understand. Then, let me go ahead and talk to them normally.”
“Proceed. Then, I shall make myself invisible — no, for safety’s sake, I’ll follow behind you while invisible, Aura. If the other party makes a run for it, then we’ll have no choice but to capture them.”
