The Men of the Kingdom Part II

by Kugane Maruyama

“Do you really think so? I know her thoughts inside out. I knew it was a fatal error to get angry back there… Maybe I should have just killed her?”

  There was no answer.

  All Ainz had felt when he heard that they’d beaten Entoma to within inches of her life was rage. As always, the intense emotion was immediately suppressed. Even so, for a moment, he was consumed by seething anger—it was a miracle he hadn’t smashed the sword he’d been carrying into the top of Evileye’s head.

  The reason he’d been able to hold back his fury and urge to kill her was that, based on the conversation they’d had, he had judged that the drawbacks of killing her would be just too great. He had a chance to become connected with someone who could use resurrection magic—a very good person to know; it would have been a waste to throw that away.

  I’ve grown a bit, learned some patience, he reflected. If he hadn’t had the experience of flying off the handle when Shalltear was brainwashed, he probably would have killed Evileye without even considering the drawbacks. The inhabitants of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the NPCs created by the Supreme Beings, were treasures Ainz had to protect. It would be unforgivable if they were tarnished. His ability to think and prioritize had to have been due to his maturation.

  Ainz sensed that he was becoming more capable as he built up experience, and his illusion face grinned between his closed helmet and the rubber mask he was wearing for extra insurance. If he kept improving at this rate, he would definitely become a ruler worthy of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. At least, that’s what he hoped.

  Until then, I have to avoid disappointing them or making any big mistakes… This is so intense.

  “Oh? I’d expect nothing less from you, Lord Ainz. So you can see through that lady completely? Truly, you have eyes befitting the enthroned.”

  “Cut the flattery, Narberal. I’ve only put in the natural amount of thought considering the mistakes I’ve made.” He waved an embarrassed hand and then, in a booming—at least, he hoped it was booming—voice, he gave her orders. “Time for action, Narberal. Find out all the plans without delay and inform me. Also, please tell him that I’m guessing, but there is a good chance I will be the one to handle the incident Jaldabaoth causes.”

  Narberal bowed and cast a spell.

  Ainz did a fist pump in his head. What he’d said to Narberal earlier wasn’t a lie. Right now he couldn’t use magic due to Perfect Warrior, so it was only natural that she Message Demiurge, but he had one other unstated reason.

  Now that he’d pretended he understood Demiurge’s entire plan, he needed to avoid contact with the intelligent Demiurge as much as possible so his comprehension couldn’t be doubted.

  There was a risk that due to turning everything into a game of telephone with Narberal, some of the information he received would be distorted. But that was a small risk to take—compared to Ainz being deemed unfit to rule the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

  Ainz slowly approached Evileye.

  He figured he needed to distract her while Narberal was talking to Demiurge.

  “Sheesh. How do I explain this…? And…why is this kid so powerful? I wonder what she looks like underneath that mask…”

  2

  5 Late Fire Moon (September) 12:47 AM

  In one corner of the castle, in a room that wasn’t so big, brightly lit despite it being the middle of the night, a large number of men and women had gathered. They were each equipped, but there was no standard gear set.

  They’d been urgently assembled here—all the adventurers of the kingdom. Some were high-ranking, with orichalcum and mythril plates, and some were low-ranking, with iron and copper plates—a true sweeping mobilization.

  The high-ranking adventurers had already deduced that they’d been convened to handle the ongoing situation in the capital, since they’d been summoned to an inner part of the castle where people of indefinite status were usually not allowed to go.

  And from the boy wearing white full plate armor standing at attention in the corner, they could guess who the client was; a tiny minority of them had a vague idea of who the man standing next to him was from his adventurer-like vibes and katana.

  When the door opened and a group of women—with only one man among them—appeared, a murmur went through the crowd.

  They were all big names, recognizable by every adventurer in the kingdom.

  At the head of the line stood the leader of the adamantite-rank team the Blue Roses, Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra. Next was the Golden Princess, Renner. Then the head of the capital’s adventurers’ guild. Then from the Blue Roses, Evileye and one of the twins. Bringing up the rear was the kingdom’s strongest warrior, Gazef Stronoff.

  The group stood before the crowd. The boy in white armor unrolled a large piece of paper and hung it on the wall behind them. It was a detailed map of the capital.

  The first to speak was a woman around forty years old, but she was a former mythril-rank adventurer, and her eyes were filled with vigor. “First, I’d like to thank you all for gathering here to confront this crisis.” She scanned the room full of quiet, serious-looking adventurers and then spoke again. “Under normal circumstances, the adventurers’ guild does not permit intervening in matters of the state.” Her gaze rested momentarily on the members of the Blue Roses, but she didn’t say anything—her eyes imparted just as much as her mouth could have. “But this case is an exception. We’ve decided the adventurers’ guild will offer its full support to the kingdom in order to resolve the incident as quickly as possible. The princess will explain the details of the operation. Please listen carefully.”

  The princess stepped slowly forward, accompanied by the members of the Blue Roses and Gazef Stronoff on either side. “My name is Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself. Thank you for gathering here to confront this crisis.” She bobbed her head.

  Several adventurers sighed in admiration of her dainty elegance.

  “Usually, I would express my gratitude at greater length, but there’s no time, so I’ll head straight into the explanation. Today in the early dawn, a fiery barrier enclosed a part of the capital”—she gestured with a finger to circle a large area in the northeast on the map—“in this area. I believe everyone here has already seen the wall of flames, which is over a hundred feet tall.”

  Most of the adventurers nodded, and a few looked out the windows. The flames weren’t visible from inside the castle walls, but a red glow had been cast on part of the sky.

  “The fire is similar to an illusion in some ways; for instance, it doesn’t seem to harm those who come into contact with it. According to someone who actually touched it, it doesn’t feel hot, nor does it prevent intrusions like a barrier. Apparently there aren’t any obstacles to operating inside it, either.”

  At those words, some of the adventurers, mainly low-ranking ones, voiced relief.

  “The culprit behind this incident is called Jaldabaoth. We’ve received reports that he is an immensely powerful, extremely cruel demon. And the leader of the Blue Roses has confirmed that there are low-level demons roaming inside the wall of flames. She reported sensing a discipline to their actions that would indicate orders from a superior.”

  Lakyus nodded in confirmation.

  “Bashing in the heads of our enemies is standard. Do we just have to beat this Jaldabaoth guy?” an adventurer wearing a mythril plate asked, and Renner gave a single nod.

  “Ultimately, we’re hoping that will resolve the incident, but what we’d like to ask you to do is thwart the demons in their objective. According to the information we’ve gathered, their goal is to steal a particular item that has been transported into the city.”

  A murmur went through the adventurers. They mainly did jobs around the city and had realized that the zone within the wall of flames was the main economic district, where all the warehouses and company headquarters were located.

  “…How did you acquire that information?”

  “Jaldabaoth told us.”

  “Doesn’t that mean
there’s a good chance it could be false?”

  “The chance is certainly nonzero. This entire incident could be a huge feint to draw our attention. But I think we can believe him. He hasn’t made a move since creating the wall of fire. And if what he said is true, sitting back and doing nothing could result in a worst-case scenario. We need to charge in there.”

  “So how strong is this demon Jaldabaoth you’ve been talking about? I don’t remember ever reading about a demon by that name, so if you have an idea of his difficulty rating, even just a rough estimate, please tell us.”

  Lakyus frowned and stepped forward. “My teammate Evileye has witnessed his strength, but we can’t decide what to rate him right now, so we’ll alert you at a later time.”

  A difficulty rating was a value given to monsters encountered by adventurers that indicated their strength. The higher the value, the more powerful the monster, but among adventurers it was generally believed that judging solely by rating would land most people in trouble—the reason being that difficulty varied widely among individuals, so the ratings could act only as reference points.

  For that reason, the numbers weren’t used terribly often, but the adventurer who asked must have figured it would be most helpful in a situation like this one, where the idea was to let everyone know how strong the monster was in a simple way.

  “Instead, I’ll explain what happened. Right as my teammates defeated a bug maid, whom we believe was a servant of Jaldabaoth, he appeared, and in the ensuing battle… You’ve probably already noticed that Gagaran and Tia are not with us…” Lakyus scanned the faces of the adventurers in the room. “He killed them.”

  “In one hit.”

  The crowd was thrown into an uproar by this additional comment from Evileye.

  Adamantite-rank adventurers… They were the greatest elites, living legends. That they’d been slain with a single blow was too impossible to believe.

  However—

  “Don’t panic!” Evileye’s earsplitting yell was enough to dispel the heavy atmosphere. “Yes, Jaldabaoth is strong. Having faced him and been helplessly defeated, I can testify to that. He’s the kind of monster people can’t beat. Even if everyone gathered here went up against him, you’d probably all meet a miserable end. However! We haven’t been truly defeated yet! I’m proof of that, since I faced him and lived. Don’t worry, there’s someone among us who can fight this demon on equal footing!”

  With a murmur, some of the more informed adventurers turned to look toward a certain point in the room, at the adventurers there.

  “I think some of you may know that a third adamantite-rank adventurer appeared in E-Rantel. Yes, him—” She gestured to two adventurers, and almost everyone’s eyes gathered on them. “—the leader of Raven Black, Sir Momon, the Dark Hero!”

  The imposing figure standing at attention in one corner of the room and his peerlessly beautiful partner had already been attracting a lot of attention—he was clad in armor black as a crow and wearing his closed helmet despite being inside the castle. Upon learning that his status was high enough for his rudeness to be overlooked, the room filled with murmurs of admiration.

  Momon took the plate that proved he was adamantite rank out from under his crimson cape so that everyone could see it.

  “Okay, Sir Momon. Please come forward!”

  Evileye seemed delighted to welcome Momon to the front, but he waved her off. Then he leaned over and whispered something in Nabe’s ear.

  “Mr. Momon says there is no need to spend time on him. He says we should launch into the operation to stop Jaldabaoth as soon as possible.”

  “That’s too bad. But he’s right. Okay, Miss Evileye, may I continue with the explanation?”

  “O-oh… Sorry, Princess Renner, please continue.” Her mask may have kept her face hidden, but her gloomy tone spoke volumes about her mood.

  “As Miss Evileye pointed out, we have someone on our side who is comparable to the enemy mastermind Jaldabaoth. I hope you’ll remember you’re not heading into an unwinnable fight. Now, I’ll explain the details of our plan.”

  Renner drew a line in an arc across the map.

  “First off, I’d like you all to take on an offensive role.”

  “Offensive?” A doubtful voice spoke up. “Not defensive?”

  “We cannot win with defense. First, we’ll have all of you adventurers form a battle line. Behind that, the guards will form a second line. At the back will be a rearguard of support troops from the shrines and wizards’ guild. We’ll have you advance into the enemy’s territory in this formation. If no enemies intercept you at that point, your line will steadily press farther into their territory behind the fire wall. Should you be intercepted, please attempt to break through. If you can, advance. If not, we’ll have the front line retreat to draw in the enemy. Meanwhile, the reserves will have built a barricade as far up as possible. When you retreat, please fall back to these fortifications.”

  Those would be the line of support from the wizards’ guild, among others.

  “At these strongpoints, the wounded will be healed, and then we may ask you to sortie again.”

  “Wait a minute! Doesn’t that mean…that the guards will be fighting in our place?”

  The guards had next to no potential in such a battle. It would be virtually impossible for them to fight like adventurers.

  Renner was about to answer the question when another adventurer spoke. “There’s a critical flaw in that plan. Isn’t it possible that while the line spreads out and defense weakens during the retreat, demons will seize that chance and surge into the city? A low-level demon is still stronger than your average citizen. There’ll be a ton of casualties! It would be safer to use Fly and try to break into their territory in one go.”

  “We considered that method, but lots of monsters classified as demons can fly, yes?”

  Many of the adventurers recalled demons they had faced and nodded in agreement with Renner. Even plenty of low-level demons had flight-capable wings.

  “Casting Fly in the usual manner would attract too much attention. So we thought of dropping in from a high altitude or using buildings to obstruct the enemy’s view during a low-altitude charge, but there’s something else we have to do first. You mentioned that as our line spreads out, defense will weaken, but that goes for the enemy line as well. That’s why this is an offensive operation and not a defensive one.”

  Murmurs of approval could be heard here and there.

  “You adventurers will be the bow. It will be like drawing back the string and loosing an arrow into enemy territory.”

  Just like the adventurers spreading out, the enemy would spread to react. That meant their defense would also be weakened.

  Ranks or files… The easiest to break through in a head-on charge would be the ranks.

  In a nutshell, the line the adventurers would be forming was all a ploy to weaken the enemy line.

  “And our arrowhead will be Sir Momon. Once we’ve judged that the enemy camp has weakened sufficiently, we’ll have him make a decisive charge at low altitude.”

  “What happened to the Drops of Red? These two may be adamantite-rank adventurers, but I can’t imagine they’ll be able to break through on their own. To make doubly sure we win, I think we need a protective squad to send after Jaldabaoth with them. Don’t you?”

  At this question from an adventurer, everyone up front exchanged glances, and the head of the guild answered as representative. “They’re currently out near the border of the council state on a job. We used Message to relay the situation, but it would take at least half a day for them to arrive. It seems like it would be too dangerous to wait that long, so we cannot count on them for help this time.”

  “So what will the Blue Roses be doing? Are they going with Mr. Momon?”

  “Having lost two of our members, our combat capability has taken a huge hit. Tia and I will assist in the battle to form the line. Evileye will play a different role an—”

 
; “I’m currently recovering magical energy in order to accompany M— Sir Momon.”

  “Then I have a different question—for the captain, there. What are the nobles’ private forces doing? What about the Select? The Blue Roses have lost Gagaran. If you substituted for one of them, couldn’t they clear the way for Mr. Momon?”

  “I’ll answer that.” Gazef took a step forward. “The nobles’ private forces are guarding their masters’ houses, and the soldiers are guarding the castle. My direct subordinates are protecting the royal family.”

  A murmur went through the crowd, and the same adventurer asked another question.

  “Does that mean you’re not going to the front lines, either, Sir Stronoff?!”

  “That’s right. My role is to remain at the castle to protect the royals.”

  The mood shifted. There was agitation in the air. Even though they understood logically that what he was saying made sense, emotionally they refused to accept it. Receiving money in exchange for shedding blood—that was the adventuring life, and they were prepared to launch themselves into this deadly battle. But if they were going to risk their lives for money, the nobles and royal family should, too—they collected taxes. The crowd believed the elites should not have been holing up in the castle where it was supposed to be safest but out in the field, spearheading efforts to save the people.

  And what’s the big idea, using the best forces only to protect themselves?

  As discontent with the nobles, and especially the royal family, mounted, Gazef stepped back. No matter what he said now, the adventurers would take it as an excuse. That was why she—Lakyus—spoke instead.

  “I understand your dissatisfaction. But please remember this: The money to gather you all here is being paid not by the royal family but out of Renner’s private assets. And we were able to bring Sir Momon here thanks to the noble Marquis Raeven. The reason his soldiers aren’t joining us is that he wants them as defense in case demons spread into the rest of the city. I feel the same way as all of you toward the nobles and the royal family, but I want you to know that they aren’t all like that.”