The members looked put out despite the fact that it was their leader who had spoken.
They’d seen such a pile of riches! Who could agree with that idea, even if he was a veteran? They were probably visualizing the treasure escaping their grasp.
“How about it? We may have investigated the ground level, but we didn’t do a thorough job. Maybe there’s another way in hidden beneath the mausoleum. And shouldn’t we examine the graveyard?”
“He’s right. I once heard a bard sing of the vast Sasacharre ruins, which had a quick, safe route to the center hidden near the main entrance.”
“Yeah, Gringham. We already examined this room and unfortunately there aren’t any secret doors here.”
“So, rather than taking a loss, I’d like you to split anything you guys find on this level with us. Hmm. Maybe ten percent from each team? And then if you find a lower level, will you give us first dibs tomorrow?”
“I have no objections to that proposal.”
Gringham was the first to reply. Hekkeran agreed a beat later.
“Okay, then, no one seems to have any objections. But what about you, Uzruth?”
“Personally, I take issue with it, but if it’s only ten percent, then it’s fine.”
The old man smiled naively in response to Elya’s half-sarcastic remark. Elya made a sour face upon his attitude being evaded so simply.
“Oh, sir, in that case, I’d like to ask you a favor. There was a flag woven out of precious metal thread in the mausoleum we searched, but it was so unwieldy that we didn’t bring it back with us. Could we have you go and recover it?”
“My team is in a similar predicament to Hekkeran’s. Sorry to make extra work for thee, but we would much appreciate if you recovered ours as well.”
“Then take our stuff, too.” Elya jerked his chin at a slender elf, and she stumbled as she put down the huge sack she was carrying.
“Got it. Is there anything else you want to leave or have us grab?” No one replied to Palpatra’s question. “Okay! Then as I proposed, we’ll search the ground level. Do be careful in the tomb. If you see anything with monetary value, feel free to leave it for us.”
“Ha-ha. Monsters we’ll leave, but unfortunately for you, sir, we’ll be taking every last bit of treasure.”
Some of the workers chuckled and Hekkeran said, “Okay, then, shall we go?”
Everyone accepted his suggestion immediately, and so they took a step forward. Eyes bright with anticipation and greed, they took a step into the unknown ruins, this subterranean tomb.
Hekkeran opened the door at the end of the room, and a hallway extended farther in. By this time they were expecting it, but this hallway had been kept clean as well.
There wasn’t a speck of mold or moss on the stone pathway, and in the walls on either side were double levels of hollows containing things the size of human bodies wrapped in shrouds. It didn’t have that corpse stench, but there was some kind of smell—the chill in the air or perhaps an atmospheric hint that someone had died.
Every so often pale light shone from the ceiling, but there were definitely gaps, so darkness remained here and there. Hekkeran didn’t have any trouble walking, but it was dark enough that he worried they might overlook something. He felt like he should have brought a light.
“Rober, is that body registering as an undead?”
“No.”
Arché responded, “Oh yeah?” and turned toward a body, took out a dagger, and sliced open the shroud. Seeing that, two others left the main party to inspect the body with her.
“…Judging from height and build, there’s an extremely good chance this is human—adult male.”
“No clothes, so we still can’t tell what era these ruins are from, huh?”
“These ruins really are a mystery. The style of architecture doesn’t indicate a time period, and neither does the burial method. They could even be from over six hundred years ago.”
“If they were, it’d be a historic find.”
Among informed experts, it would be a point of debate, but these people were there to work.
Flustered upon realizing Hekkeran and Gringham were staring at them coldly, Arché hurried to give the results of their inspection. “We still don’t know which era these ruins were built in or what their story is.”
“Understood. Can we move on? I want to get to the monster killing.”
Going along with disapproving Elya, the party proceeded down the hall, but only a couple of steps later they stopped again.
They tensed into battle stances holding the weapons they had already drawn.
From somewhere up ahead, they could hear the sound of numerous bones clacking.
Glimpses of the undead running down the hall flashed in the ceiling lights.
As the distance closed and the identity of their opponents became clear, the workers couldn’t believe their eyes, and a shock rippled through them.
“This is just ridiculous…”
“Whoa, are you serious…?”
“Huh? Skeletons? Really?”
As soon as someone said the name of the monsters, the laughter they couldn’t hold back filled the hallway.
“C’mon. Skeletons? Look how many of us there are!”
Skeleton-type monsters didn’t look all that different from one another, so it could be difficult to tell what type one was facing at a glance.
But from their presence, it was easy to assert that these were plain old skeletons.
“If someone were sending out scouts to test our strength, they probably would have sent something stronger… I got it! There isn’t actually any monster ruling these ruins. Either that or it’s one so incompetent it can’t even estimate our fighting power. Or it could be a half-wit who hasn’t even figured out there’s a raid happening.”
They couldn’t stop laughing.
“Ah, but I just can’t believe it’s skeletons. Maybe all the treasure was in the mausoleums up on the ground level.”
“That would be the worst.”
For workers equivalent to mythril-rank adventurers, skeletons were incredibly weak. And whose idea had it been to send fewer skeletons than the amount of workers?
Facing the six skeletons standing in their way, they exchanged glances that said, Who’s going to take ’em?
“Not it.” Elya was the one to clearly assert himself. Everyone understood how he felt.
“Then I shall lead.”
Gringham stepped to the front in a single smooth motion.
What were the skeletons, with their barely existent intelligence, thinking? Did they imagine the warrior who stepped forward had been shoved out of formation? Or was it something else?
They attacked all at once; however—
The ax and shield clobbered them.
It only took a few seconds. No, even less than that.
Gringham smashed the skeletons, stomped on their remains, and let out a tired-sounding sigh. It was due not to exhaustion from combat but to the utterly pathetic fact that his first battle in these huge untouched ruins that he was so happy, as a worker, to have the chance to explore was against skeletons, the lowest tier of undead.
“How fragile. It seems they really were just skeletons. But it wouldn’t be wise to let our guard down. Let us proceed cautiously, keeping in mind the possibility that stronger undead could appear.”
Everyone pursed their lips and proceeded farther into the ruins, heads filled with fantasies of the mountain of treasure that surely awaited them.
“Sheesh. They’ve gone.”
“Yes, they have. They may be workers, but we all shared a meal, and they’re our teammates on this job. I hope they make it back safely… What do you think, Momon?”
“They’re probably all going to die.”
Ainz answered in a low voice, and the adventurer team leader who’d asked the question was taken aback.
Crap, I just said what I thought.
“N-no, I mean, they should all be prepared to. These a
re untouched ruins. Who knows what kind of danger awaits? Wishful thinking will only get them hurt.”
“I see… Thanks for your…concern.”
That seemed pretty forced…but I guess he’s taking it at face value? Works for me…
The leader must have been nodding because he had blindly taken the adamantite-rank adventurer’s words in a positive light. Ainz’s work—being friendly with him during the whole trip to Nazarick to get him to show goodwill—had paid off.
“Well then, I think I’ll take the first rest, as we planned.”
Ainz walked toward his tent—which he naturally shared with Narberal. He knew some of the humans suspected their tent was at a distance from the others so no one would be able to overhear any rough, heavy breathing. Or rather, the leader of the other team had told him as much.
The man seemed to want to get closer to fellow adventurer Momon more than the workers and had been passing information he’d gotten from them to Ainz.
Ainz entered the tent with Narberal, shut the opening, and took a look outside just to be safe. No one was paying attention to them. On the contrary, it seemed like they were purposely avoiding looking in their direction.
“I was right to not outright deny that our tent was a love nest. Now no one thinks it’s weird that we pitched it at a distance, and no one will approach or pay too much attention to us.”
Instead of losing anything by doing that, they had actually gained a lot.
Ainz took off his helmet and revealed his skull face.
“Okay, Nabe—er, Narberal. I’m returning to Nazarick. The plan is to send Pandora’s Actor in my place, but until then, if anything happens, find a way to handle it.”
“Understood, Lord Ainz.”
“Right. Then contact me immediately in an emergency.”
Ainz canceled the magic that had created his armor and swords. The weight of the helmet in his hand disappeared at the same time.
The restricting sensations that had been enveloping his body thus removed, he sighed in relief, even though he wasn’t tired. It was probably the same for the way he rotated his shoulders even though there was no way for them to get stiff—these things had to be vestiges of his humanity.
“Phew.”
The remnants of human emotion were a bother at times.
If he had been able to handle everything in a calm and collected manner, things might have turned out differently. But if he didn’t have vestiges of his human self, would he still have been so attached to the Great Tomb of Nazarick? He probably would have lost the feelings he had toward Satoru Suzuki’s memories, as well as the memories he’d made with his friends.
Ainz smiled bitterly and cast a spell. The thoughts of his human vestiges could no longer be found in even the smallest corner of his mind. Ainz wasn’t the outstanding sort of person who could do two or three things at a time. Now he had to discard any unnecessary thoughts.
The spell he cast was Greater Teleportation.
Thanks to a ring he was wearing, he was able to get through the barriers inside the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and he instantly arrived outside the Throne Room.
“Welcome back, Lord Ainz.”
He was immediately greeted by a woman’s beautiful voice celebrating his return.
“Thank you, Albedo.”
After straightening up from her deep bow, a smile that reminded him of a riot of blooming flowers appeared on her peerlessly beautiful face as she stared at Ainz, as if she could see nothing else.
Urk…
When he noticed the tender light in her sparkling golden eyes, he nearly wriggled in discomfort. But that would have been unbecoming of the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown, so he held it in.
In order to suppress the low-intensity and thus lingering emotions, he conspicuously cleared his throat, though his bony body didn’t require it.
“The raiders should be here soon, according to plan. Actually, they might be here already. How is the welcome party prep coming along?”
“Swimmingly, my lord. Our guests are sure to have an enjoyable time.”
“I see… Albedo, I’m looking forward to seeing your style of hospitality.”
He stepped into the heart of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the Throne Room. Albedo followed after him a moment later.
He’d given her one order with regards to the raiders. He wanted to examine how her idea of a defense system fared in a real battle.
His old guildmates were the ones who had thought about which monsters should spawn where and stationed them accordingly. There was nothing wrong with that. But now that Nazarick’s situation had changed, he couldn’t say for sure that there wasn’t a better way to position them.
Thus, an overhaul of the defense system was critical. Now, they were going to test it.
“The raiders are weak. We won’t be able to test everything. Still I’m hoping there will be something we can gain from this.”
“Understood. I guarantee we will perform up to your expectations, Lord Ainz.”
“Good. As we agreed, I’ve cut down the amount of cost-incurring traps, like the one where we send undead charging into poison gas. Make do with traps that use auto-spawning minions. No issues with that, right?”
Albedo smiled in response, and Ainz nodded.
“Okay. Then I’ll have some fun in here for a while. By the way, what are the other floor guardians up to?”
“I gave orders to gather the moment you returned. Shall I let them in as they arrive?”
“I’ll allow it. The more the merrier.”
Ainz leisurely took a seat in the throne, and a number of monitors just like television screens floated before him. They all showed scenes of what was happening inside Nazarick, things Albedo wanted to show him as she controlled the displays.
Most likely, they showed parts of the defense network that Albedo had adjusted, but he didn’t really know what was different from before.
In order for this to be a fruitful exercise, I have to get something out of watching this, too. Otherwise I’ll be in a pinch if we’re all sharing our opinions afterward.
Ainz was the absolute ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He couldn’t very well tell his subordinates he knew nothing about its defense network.
“And just to make sure, there’s no chance of Ariadne activating, right?” he asked, even though he had the console open and had confirmed, flipping through the tabs, that there were no issues.
“I don’t believe so. There is one thing I wanted to ask. If the raiders built a blockade, would it end up activating?”
Ainz remembered a Yggdrasil Q and A he’d seen a long time before. Or had it been patch notes from the developers?
“It shouldn’t… Yeah, I don’t……think so.”
That’s how it would have been in Yggdrasil, but there was no guarantee those rules would hold in this world. Actually, he wasn’t even sure if there was any Ariadne in this world.
“What about manipulating the humans to activate it on purpose?”
“There’s a chance it wouldn’t work, but considering what we’d lose by it activating, I don’t think it’s an experiment we’d want to perform.”
The Ariadne System…
It was the evaluation mechanism of Yggdrasil’s base-building system.
There was an easy way to build an impregnable fortress: Blockade the entrance and make it so no one could invade. The Great Tomb of Nazarick would have been pretty much perfect if they had buried it completely underground. But from a gameplay perspective, that couldn’t be allowed.
The Ariadne System existed to keep guilds from building bases that couldn’t be raided.
There had to be a route from the entrance to the heart of the dungeon. Other things Ariadne checked included distance walked inside and number of doors; there was a wide array of specifications.
If a dungeon that didn’t follow the rules was uploaded to Yggdrasil, the guild would be penalized and its resources would sharply decrease.
/> In the case of Nazarick, they were able to maintain such a vast dungeon because they had solved all those issues on levels five and six, not to mention put in tons of real cash.
The workers appeared on one of the monitors Ainz was controlling.
“Tch! Okay, they’re finally in. They kept me waiting long enough.”
Ainz was filled with disgust as he watched the video of them tramping with their dirty feet into the sanctuary he’d built with his friends. If his emotions became too unbalanced, they would stabilize immediately, but this smoldering sort of irritation couldn’t be completely suppressed.
“Albedo. Don’t let a single one of them out of here alive.”
“Of course not, my lord. Please enjoy witnessing the fate of these thieves who dare trespass on your most sacred home. Oh…but who will you use as the guinea pigs for your sword experiment, the ones you requested?”
“Ahh, right. I sparred with the old man for a round. This guy I fenced with a bit on the way here. That team won’t be good for practicing. So, by process of elimination…they’ll be good.” Ainz pointed at the monitor, turning it so Albedo could see.
Chapter 3 | The Great Tomb
1
The workers led by “Green Leaf” Palpatra parted with the other excited, expectant teams and looked out from the top of the stairs near the entrance to the central mausoleum.
Nothing moved in the graveyard, sleepy like death. There were only silence, darkness, and starlight. When Palpatra took a step down, one of his teammates spoke.
“Isn’t this kind of a waste, sir? Don’t you think one of the other teams could have searched the graveyard?”
“Of course they could have. There’s not a huge gap in ability between the teams, minus that piece of shit one. Heavy Masher and Foresight could probably do anything we can.” Palpatra interrupted his teammate’s “So then—” and continued, “We got first dibs on tomorrow’s search, right? It’s not a total loss. Besides, we may finish searching the ground level by tomorrow, so the last team might end up guarding base camp with no gains at all.”
“I see…”
“It’s too risky to be the first ones to raid unknown ruins anyhow. They’re our canaries. Hope they make it back safely.”
The Invaders of the Great Tomb Page 14
