The Men of the Kingdom Part II

by Kugane Maruyama

  “Mas— Mr. Momon, how about going to the client’s house like we planned in the first place?”

  “…And ignore Jaldabaoth? Don’t you think my role in the capital might be to stop his plan?”

  “It might be, but I think it’s important that we confirm with the client first.”

  “You’re right.”

  “More importantly, I suggest dropping that crane fly onto the cobblestones.”

  “Hmm? Oh, sorry. I thought it would be dangerous if you got caught up in that fight.” Momon gently put Evileye down.

  “Na— No, please don’t worry about me. I knew what your intentions were.” She bowed deeply. “Thank you very much for saving me. As I mentioned briefly before, I am Evileye of the adamantite-rank adventurer team the Blue Roses.”

  “I appreciate your courtesy. I am Momon, also an adamantite-rank adventurer. And that caster is my teammate Nabe. So what are your plans now? Those two are your friends, aren’t they? If so, I don’t mind helping you transport them…” His finger pointed to Gagaran and Tia.

  “I thank you for your kindness, but that won’t be necessary. My other comrades should arrive shortly. We might even use resurrection magic right here.”

  Momon’s armor clanked loudly.

  Evileye sharply perceived a streak of intense interest in the gaze coming from the slit in his helmet.

  “Wait, you can— Er, I mean, so you can use resurrection magic, can you?”

  “Uh, er, yes. Our leader Lakyus can resurrect the dead.”

  “I see! Then I’d like to ask you something: Does resurrection magic work even if you cast it from very far away?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Umm, for example, if you wanted to bring these two back to life and you cast from some far-off place—say, the empire—where would they come back to life? In the empire or at the location of the corpses?”

  Why is he so interested in resurrection magic? Is he just curious? Faith casters who could use tier-five spells weren’t terribly common, so it wasn’t strange for him to be curious.

  Or did someone important to him die? In that case, her answer might be harsh. All she could do was hope that wasn’t the case.

  “I don’t know the details, but I heard that for the spell Lakyus casts, it doesn’t really work unless the corpses to be revived are in the immediate vicinity. So to answer your question, Sir Momon, it wouldn’t be possible to cast it from the empire.”

  “Hmm, hmm, then I have another question. After reviving those two, would they be able to head straight into combat?”

  “That would be impossible,” Evileye declared simply.

  The resurrection spell Lakyus could cast was the tier-five spell Raise Dead. The magic consumed a vast amount of life force, so iron-rank adventurers or below would definitely turn to ashes. The two adamantite-rank adventurers could be resurrected fine, but due to the loss of vitality, they wouldn’t be able to move very well, and it would take a while to recover.

  If what Jaldabaoth had said was true, and they still weren’t out of danger, then their team had suffered quite a loss. No, as long as this man is the only one who can compete with that demon, nothing will change even if we resurrect them. It’d be smarter to have them recuperate…

  “I see… I understand things for the most part. If it’s all right, I’d like to meet this woman Lakyus. Do you mind if I wait with you for a while?”

  “What! Why do you want to meet her?!”

  She realized she’d raised her voice, although she didn’t understand why herself. Something had prickled in her chest when Momon said he wanted to meet Lakyus.

  Even she was surprised. Momon, on the receiving end of the shout, seemed equally disturbed.

  She blushed with intense shame beneath her mask. At least she was wearing a hood so he couldn’t see her ears turn red.

  “Uh, I might be able to ask her about resurrection magic, and although we’re both the same rank, she’s been a team leader longer than me, so I thought I’d offer a greeting… Also, there’s nothing to say that Jaldabaoth wasn’t only pretending to flee and won’t come back here. So those were my reasons. Is there a problem?”

  “N-no, if that’s all, then… I’m sorry I shouted.”

  When she learned he was also taking precautions against Jaldabaoth, the prickly feeling disappeared. Anyone could have guessed why from our previous conversation… And if he’s taking precautions against Jaldabaoth…does that mean he wants to protect me…? Hee-hee…

  “So until then, do you mind telling me what happened here?”

  “Before that, I can’t bear to leave my comrades’ bodies out there, so do you mind if we move over that way?”

  Momon didn’t mind at all, so they walked over.

  She had guessed they would have horrible burns, but the corpses were immaculate, as if the demon’s fire burned up only people’s souls.

  After closing their eyes and crossing their hands over their chests, Evileye took Shrouds of Sleep out of her bag and wrapped Tia first.

  “What are those?”

  “If you wrap a corpse in one of these magic items, it keeps them from turning undead or rotting. Supposedly it has some beneficial effect when you cast a resurrection spell, too.”

  “I see,” said Momon, and he gave her a hand, wrapping Gagaran’s large body when he noticed her struggling. He was so strong that lifting Gagaran looked easy.

  Standing before the two bodies wrapped in white cloth, Evileye said a brief, silent prayer. The dead deserved respect, even if Lakyus was going to resurrect them later.

  “Thanks for your help.”

  “Don’t mention it. I’d rather continue our discussion from before. Can you tell me what happened here?”

  Evileye readily consented and began to explain. Still, all she knew was why she had come and how Jaldabaoth had appeared partway through the battle with the bug maid.

  Momon and Nabe had been listening quietly, but when she was saying how the Blue Roses had beaten the maid to within inches of her life, their mood changed dramatically.

  “Did you kill her?” His tone was neutral, but she sensed an anger he wasn’t able to completely conceal.

  That was confusing. She didn’t understand why Momon would be mad if they killed Jaldabaoth’s maid. For the time being, she decided to just explain the outcome as fast as she could. “No. Jaldabaoth showed up before we could kill her.”

  “Oh. I see, I see…”

  His anger dissipated until there was none left, as if Evileye had only misunderstood. Nabe was listening in silence, and the anger in her hard eyes had not disappeared, but her attitude had been negative from the start. Evileye wasn’t even sure the anger was directed at her.

  Momon cleared his throat and asked, “Mm, do you think it’s possible that Jaldabaoth fought you seriously because you were trying to kill the bug maid?”

  Evileye realized why he’d gotten angry. It must have been because he suspected that they’d picked a fight with a neutral maid, which might have sparked the whole situation. They’d stepped on a tiger’s tail when there had been no need to do such a thing.

  An adventurer was always supposed to avoid unnecessary combat. If a member of the highest rank didn’t understand that, they risked making adamantite-rank adventurers, including Momon, look bad. That must be what he’s trying to say. But from Evileye’s perspective, that wasn’t how things were.

  “Jaldabaoth said he was going to envelop part of the royal capital in flames. There’s no way any maid of his could be a decent person. I think my comrades were right to fight her.”

  She would insist on that. That maid was stronger than Gagaran and Tia, so they wouldn’t have fought her without a reason. Their choice to engage had to have been the right one.

  There was Evileye, unconsciously revealing her raw feelings in her argument, and silent Momon. Behind a mask, behind a closed helmet. They couldn’t see each other’s eyes, but Evileye was sure their gazes were clashing.

&
nbsp; Momon was first to look away.

  “Er, yeah. Hmm. I see what you’re saying. Sorry.” He bowed his head slightly.

  This flustered Evileye. She couldn’t back down, so she had nearly started a fight, but it wasn’t right to have the man who’d saved her life bowing to her.

  “Oh, please raise your head! You’re so wonderful, you don’t nee— Agh?!” Upon realizing what she was saying, she yelped in confusion.

  Certainly, Momon was a wonderful person, but in this context wonderful wasn’t the right word to use.

  Evileye shrieked in her head. Ahhh! How can I help it? He was so cool! Shouldn’t I be allowed to feel like a girl for the first time in a few hundred years? He’s so strong—yes, he’s a warrior who’s stronger and more wonderful than me, so of course!

  Evileye watched him with girlish interest. If it seemed like he was blushing, she might still be able to hold out hope; if not, chances were slim.

  Evileye’s body had stopped developing around the age of twelve. For that reason, she didn’t have most of the things men desired, and it was difficult to both arouse desire in them or get them to satisfy hers. Of course, a certain rare subset found her extremely appealing, but they really were rather uncommon, and judging by Nabe, the one next to Momon, she guessed he was not one of them.

  Evileye mustered the courage to glance at him, but when she looked, Momon and Nabe were standing shoulder to shoulder looking up at the night sky.

  At first, she had no idea what they were doing, but then she remembered her strange yelp from a moment ago, and it dawned on her.

  Her shout had put them on guard.

  That’s not what it was aboooout! She felt so pathetic she nearly started to cry.

  “…Maybe it was just your imagination? I don’t see anything,” Momon said, having scanned the night sky.

  “Y-yes, it must have been. My apologies.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’d rather have it be your imagination than have the enemy catch me unaware,” he answered nonchalantly. With Nabe’s help, he had sheathed one of his huge swords; the other he held to stay on guard.

  Evileye didn’t have words for his kindness. Just then, something lit up at the edge of her vision. It wasn’t the white light of magic but the vermillion of a raging fire.

  “Mr. Momon, look over there.”

  Both of them saw the red glow as Nabe spoke. Evileye’s eyes widened under her mask—she knew where those flames were coming from.

  “What is that?”

  The curling crimson flames blazed up to the heavens. They had to have been easily over a hundred feet tall. How far they stretched was impossible to gauge, but it was definitely more than a few hundred yards.

  The flames rose like a flickering veil and stretched like a sash to completely enclose one area of the capital.

  In shock, Evileye observed this phenomenon for the first time in her life, and a quiet male voice reached her ears.

  “…The Fire of Gehenna?”

  Drawn by his question, she turned toward Momon. “Wh-what in the world is that? Do you know something about that huge wall of fire, Sir Momon?”

  Momon jumped and answered with much less confidence than his murmur would have led one to expect. “Hmm? Oh…n-no, I don’t know for sure, so, er, can I tell you once I have confirmation?”

  “Of course, that’s fine, but…”

  “I—I need to talk to Nabe for a moment. Please excuse me.”

  “Huh? I can’t go with you?”

  “Er, no, it’s just a quick consultation between teammates, so I’d rather you didn’t…”

  Of course. Embarrassed to have asked a question with such an obvious answer, her eyes roved around until they found the woman called Beautiful Princess.

  The grin on her pretty face appeared to be a triumphant one.

  Maybe it was just her imagination. But maybe it wasn’t. Any woman given special treatment by an ultra-first-class man would feel superior to members of the same sex.

  Evileye couldn’t suppress the strange emotion that appeared in her heart.

  The flame of an uncomfortable anger—jealousy.

  Not only is he strong, he possesses knowledge I don’t… I’m never going to meet another man like this.

  Some say that human women had a tendency to be attracted to power. Because they’d been continuously exposed to powerful external threats, their racial preservation instincts kicked in, and they desired to marry a strong man, bear children, and live under his protection. Of course, that wasn’t to say that was how all women chose their men. Personality, appearance—all sorts of things fostered love. Still, there were signs that this tendency was pronounced.

  Evileye had always scorned women like that. You’re weak, so you’ll get someone to protect you? How incredibly foolish. All you have to do is get strong enough that you don’t need protection… At least that’s what I thought I believed…

  If she let this man get away, would she ever find one who could fulfill her?

  Evileye was immortal, so there was no doubt that Momon would grow old and die before her. And no matter how hard she tried, she probably wouldn’t be able to have his children. She couldn’t avoid being alone again in a few decades, but she thought for once in her life, she’d like to try living as a woman.

  It wouldn’t be so bad if someone else had his kids. I wouldn’t grumble about a lover or two if he gave me the most affection.

  “…Then please wait just a minute. Apologies…Miss Evileye?”

  “Hmm? Oh, sorry. I may have been overthinking it. I’m sure there are some things you need to decide as a team. I’ll wait here.”

  In truth, she didn’t want to put the slightest distance between herself and Momon. She didn’t want to leave him alone with that beautiful woman, against whom she didn’t stand a chance. But there was no way she could say those things.

  Nobody liked an overly persistent woman. A man who felt like someone was trying to tie him down would flee.

  She recalled conversations she’d heard in bars. At the time, she’d thought they had nothing to do with her and gotten up from her seat with a scoff. Dang… So I guess any tidbit of knowledge can be put to some use… If only I had been paying proper attention back then… I wonder if I have time to learn a woman’s ways, Evileye thought as she followed the withdrawing pair with her eyes. She knew it wasn’t what she should be thinking about under these circumstances, but even if she tried to consider the issue at hand, she didn’t have enough information, so she only went in circles. Either way, in a few hours she’d be plunging into a battle where she might die, so she could probably afford to relax a bit and seriously consider this nonsense.

  Is this a fait accompli?

  She wasn’t sure how enticing she could be with a body that couldn’t bear children, but it was worth a shot.

  She sighed. “Shall we beat Jaldabaoth…and build a future?”

  Evileye declared war on Jaldabaoth, who was surely behind that blazing wall of fire, in her head. Sir Momon is probably the only one who can defeat you. So I’ll be beside him. And if that maid shows up again, I’ll slay her! I may not look it, but I’m the cursed one they called Nation Breaker! Don’t underestimate me, Jaldabaoth!

  “She probably can’t hear us here, right?”

  “I think it would be nearly impossible to listen in at this distance.”

  “Still, I guess we should take precautions.”

  Ainz activated an item he’d bought. It would prevent them from being overheard. He’d been saving it because it was single-use, but now he had no choice.

  “So, Nabe. I have a fairly good idea of what his plan is; however, the more precise a machine is, the more danger there is of the whole thing breaking if one gear gets messed up. That goes for plans as well. I want to avoid misinterpreting something and ruining everything by assuming I know what’s going on and acting without confirmation. You understand, right?”

  “I see. I’d expect nothing less from you, Supreme One
.”

  Ainz returned Narberal’s heartfelt praise with a confident nod befitting a ruler, as if to say he had everything in the palm of his hand.

  —I wish.

  In his head, he was practically drowning in a waterfall of cold sweat.

  How was he supposed to know what Demiurge was up to? The only reason he had appeared earlier was because he noticed combat breaking out in the capital and thought, It’s my first battle in the royal capital, so I’ll make a cool entrance. The shock upon realizing he was fighting Demiurge was so great that he nearly lost his cool—to the point where he had to be automatically evened out by the special psychological affinity the undead naturally possessed.

  Then, when he’d figured they were fighting the Eight Fingers as ordered, it was actually some adamantite-rank adventurers. He really couldn’t understand and had half given up trying to think about it.

  In his position, his comments just now were a bad move. Ainz was well aware that pretending to know things was dangerous. Sometimes it was safer to just reveal one’s ignorance. But Ainz was a respected ruler. He needed to display wisdom befitting the Supreme Beings, demonstrating they were worthy of reverence.

  If a superior, even at company president level, was too ignorant, it was natural they would lose the trust of subordinates.

  And so, after frantically spinning his nonexistent brain’s gears until they’d nearly melted, what he’d come up with was that tired excuse.

  It was unclear if Narberal was just obedient or his logic was more convincing than he’d thought, but she had respect in her eyes. Ainz pretended to give her an order, though it was really asking her a favor. “Yes. So in order to make Demiurge’s plan a success, get in touch with him. The reason I’m not is because people are watching—by which I mean that woman. And also because I can’t use magic in this form. Hmm…Evileye is observing us so closely. I don’t know for sure, but she must be suspicious of me.”

  “Really? I think not. I’m pretty sure it’s something else she’s feeling.”

  At this remark, Ainz glanced at her out of the corner of his eye so as not to appear suspicious.