“Sure, that’s fine.”
The soldier brought her over.
On the alert for Charm or other mind-control spells, two soldiers followed at a distance of several yards. The others casually observed as she went by to ensure she didn’t make any suspicious moves.
“…Is something wrong?”
“Oh, uh, no, nothing.”
If she can detect subtle shifts in the atmosphere, she’s no mere village girl, thought the soldier as he led her to the gate’s guardhouse.
“Okay, can you take that seat, there?”
“Sure.” She lightheartedly sat in one of the chairs in the office.
“First, give me your name and please name your point of departure.”
“Okay. My name is Enri Emmott. I come from Carne near the Tove Woodlands.”
The soldiers exchanged glances, and one of them left the room. He went to go check if she was listed in the ledger.
The kingdom kept records on its residents. That said, it was fairly sloppy. Many birth and death updates were late, and some people were missing—to the point where some estimated there were tens of thousands of errors. For that reason, it wasn’t good to rely on the ledgers too much, but they could still be useful.
Despite how unreliable the records were, there was still a massive amount of information stored within. It would take quite a while for the other soldier to finish checking. Knowing that, the soldier decided to proceed with other matters. “Can I see your pass, then?”
Usually, anyone entering a city had to pay a toll, which was also called a “foot tax”. But making people from that city’s domain pay would slow everything down, so it was common to provide a pass to each village. The toll was waived for people who held a pass. Of course, the system varied depending on which noble controlled the land.
“Uh, it should be here somewhere…” Enri started to rummage in her bag, but the soldier stopped her.
“No, let me look. Can you hand it to me as it is?”
She obediently gave him the bag, and he made a careful inspection of its contents and found the parchment.
He unrolled it on the desk and skimmed it from top to bottom. The literacy rate in the kingdom was low, but checkpoint soldiers obviously had to know how to read and write. Actually, it’s more accurate to say they were assigned to their posts because they had these abilities.
“I see. There’s no mistake. I confirm that this is the pass given to Carne Village.” He rolled up the parchment, put it away, and handed the bag back to Enri. “Now tell me why you’ve come to E-Rantel.”
“My first order of business is to sell the herbs I picked.”
The soldier flicked his eyes out the window to her wagon, where an inspection of her pots was under way.
“Can you tell me the names of the herbs and the number of pots?”
“Of course. There are four pots of nyukuri, four pots of ajiina, and six pots of enkaishi.”
“Six of enkaishi?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Enri smiled with pride. The soldier figured that was only natural.
Since the soldier worked at the checkpoint, he had some degree of familiarity with herbs.
Enkaishi was one that could be picked for only a very short time right around the season they were currently in, and it was often used to make healing potions. High demand for enkaishi meant it fetched a good price. It depended on the size of the pots, but six would probably make her some decent money.
“So where are you planning to take them?”
“I used to do business with the Baleare family.”
“Baleare? You mean the apothecary Lizzy Baleare?”
Apparently, she wasn’t around anymore, but up until recently Lizzy Baleare had been the top apothecary in E-Rantel and was quite famous. If this girl had been doing business with her, she was probably exceedingly trustworthy.
The soldier concluded that he didn’t have to dig any deeper.
Their job at the checkpoint was to keep dangerous people or items from entering the city. Once something was inside, it was out of their jurisdiction.
He nodded with a grunt of approval and looked away from Enri.
There was nothing suspicious about her story. Nothing in her face said she was lying, either.
Once the examination of her cargo was complete, his work would be done for the moment.
Just then, the soldier who had gone out returned and nodded.
That meant a woman named Enri was in the ledger.
Still, all that proved was that a woman named Enri had been born in Carne. It didn’t guarantee that the woman sitting before them was actually her, and it said nothing about the sort of life this Enri woman had lived. She could be someone who had traveled, gained great magical power, and returned to her hometown, or Enri could have died on the road, and this person could be a criminal who assumed her name.
That’s why there was one more thing to check.
“Got it. Can you please call him?”
The soldier nodded and left the room again.
“Now I’m going to perform a body search. Is that all right?”
“Huh?”
Enri looked at him with suspicion.
The soldier hurried to add, “Oh, it’s not like there’s an issue. Sorry, but this is standard procedure. We barely do anything, so I hope you’ll be at ease.”
“…If that’s all, then I understand.”
The soldier breathed a mental sigh of relief. He didn’t want to anger someone who might be a caster.
The soldier who went out came back with another man following him.
This newcomer was a caster.
His pale face had a hooked nose and hollow cheeks. He was sweating profusely, probably due in part to the oppressively warm-looking black robe he wore. In his hands, he grasped a gnarled staff with fingers that looked like chicken bones.
The soldier’s personal opinion was that if the caster was so hot he should simply take off the robe, but perhaps because he was attached to the style, he stubbornly insisted on that attire. Maybe that’s why it felt like the temperature in the room rose a few degrees when he entered.
“This is the girl?”
The caster’s voice always made the soldier feel weird.
Going by appearance alone, the soldier guessed him to be in his late twenties, but his voice was awfully hoarse; from just his speech, it was impossible to tell how old he was. Did he only seem young, or was his voice just throaty?
“Umm…” Surprised, Enri looked between the caster and the soldier.
The soldier figured it was only natural that she be surprised; he was surprised the first time he heard the caster’s voice, too.
“This is a caster from the Wizards Guild. He’s going to do a simple inspection, so please wait a moment.” He gestured that she could remain seated and then bobbed his head to the caster. “Go ahead.”
“All right.” The caster took a step forward and faced Enri head-on. Then he cast a spell, Detect Magic.
His eyes narrowed like a beast eyeing its prey. The gaze that made even the solider feel threatened seemed to not affect Enri.
I knew it, he thought.
Anyone who could remain unfazed under such an intense scrutiny couldn’t be a mere village girl. Without experience confronting a monster or someone trying to take one’s life, it was impossible to face those eyes bravely. Given her lack of reaction, the soldier felt his assessment was justified.
“My eyes won’t be fooled. You’re secretly carrying a magic item. On your hip.”
Now Enri seemed surprised and looked down at her waist.
The soldier braced himself slightly. If it was a weapon, like a sword, he could understand, but he didn’t know anything about magic items.
“You mean this?” The item Enri produced from under her shirt was a shabby horn small enough to hide in two hands. It was the sort of thing the soldier would have let pass at a glance.
“…That’s a magic item?”
“Indeed. You mustn’t be fooled by its appearance. That thing contains great magical power.”
The soldier was astounded. That item contains enough power that this caster calls it “great”? How much power could it really have?
The soldier started to get the feeling this girl had dressed shabbily on purpose. He felt a chill as if a blade were pointed at him.
“Oh, it—”
“No explanations necessary. My spells detect all.” The caster shut Enri up and cast another spell. “Appraise Magic Item—mmgh!!”
For a few seconds, the caster’s face cycled through emotions—first shock, then awe, terror, and finally confusion.
“Wh-what is this? The power contained here is no normal power; it is far beyond ‘great.’ It cannot be! What in the world is thiiis?!” Spittle flew as he shouted and his face grew red. “Who are you?! We won’t be fooled by your clothes!”
Alarmed by the sudden change in the caster, the soldier also widened his eyes at Enri.
“I-I’m a normal person. I’m just a villager. Really!”
“A village girl? Why do you lie, wench?! If that’s true, then how did you get this item? It makes plenty of sense if you’re not a mere villager!”
“Huh? Umm, Sir Ainz Ooal Gown gave it to me when he saved my village.”
“Another lie, hmm? You’re saying a priest from the Theocracy gave it to you?”
“Huh? Is he from the Theocracy?”
“Gather your men! This girl is too strange!”
The soldier had no idea how things were going in that direction, but this caster had never reacted in such a weird way before. He figured he should treat it as an emergency and put his own thoughts to the side.
“All troops assemble! All troops assemble!”
In response to the soldier’s shout, his colleagues checking the cargo raced over, obviously tense.
“You expect me to believe this person simply handed over such a powerful item?! Where did you get it?! There’s no way you’re just a village girl!”
“No, Sir Gown really did give it to me! Please believe me!”
The soldier looked between the two of them. Certainly, since he and the caster were colleagues, and the caster had responded to the checkpoint’s request for help, the soldier was inclined to believe him. But Enri seemed like only a village girl frightened by the dramatic shift in attitude.
“Di-did something happen? Please tell me what made you suspicious of her!”
“Hmph! First of all, that horn has the power to summon a goblin mob. I don’t know how many, but that’s the power it contains.”
The soldier frowned. That could cause quite a bit of trouble if it was used in the city. But was that the only issue? There were plenty of people, like adventurers, who carried magic items. This horn wasn’t so strange among all the other magic items, considering that.
“The way she keeps claiming to be a village girl is also fishy. Would you give a magic item worth several thousand gold to a nobody?”
“Several thousand?!”
“Several thousand?!”
It was such an unbelievable sum that both the soldier and Enri yelped.
A normal person would never see several thousand gold in their lifetime. This shabby horn is that valuable?
“Yes. You wouldn’t give something like that away without a reason—especially not to a peasant! Of course, it would make sense for a first-rate adventurer or caster to possess such an item. But this girl keeps saying she’s just a village girl! Isn’t that strange?”
That explanation made sense to the soldier as well. People with superior ability attracted objects with superior powers. The many historical figures with superhuman abilities possessed immensely powerful items, without exception. It was fate as well as necessity.
“No, I really am just a village girl…”
“In the first place, I’ve never heard of this Ainz Ooal Gown character. At least, he’s not a caster from this city. Probably not an adventurer, either.”
“The captain of the Royal Select knows Sir Gown!”
“You mean Sir Gazef Stronoff? Your story is outrageous. Why would you know something like that if you’re just a village girl?”
“Because he came to my village! It’s true! If you ask him, you’ll see.”
There was no way they were going to contact the captain in the capital. And besides, if she really was just a village girl, she probably hadn’t made a very big impression on him, so it would be nearly impossible for him to confirm her identity.
“What should we do?”
“For now, we should probably take her into custody and do a thorough investigation. If she’s carrying around an item like this horn when she could have cleverly hidden it—well, I don’t necessarily think she’s a spy or terrorist, but we don’t have enough to make a judgment call here.”
Enri darted her eyes around in a panic.
She looked just like a normal village girl. If she was acting, then it was entirely too convincing.
Suddenly the soldiers in the area watching events unfold shouted in surprise, and a new voice sounded. “We’d like to enter the city already… What are you doing?”
When the soldier turned around, he saw a figure in raven-black armor standing there.
“Ahhh!”
Both the soldier and the caster yelped in surprise. There was no one in E-Rantel who didn’t know the man wearing that armor. The adamantite plate around his neck proved there was no mistake. He was a living legend, a man for whom nothing was impossible, the strongest warrior.
It was Momon of Raven Black.
“I-if it isn’t Sir Momon! Do excuse us!”
“What in the world are you—huh? That girl…”
“Yes! There was a suspicious girl here, so it took some time to investigate her. We apologize for inconveniencing y—”
“Enri, that’s right. Enri Emmott, right?”
Everything froze. Why did this legendary adventurer know this village girl’s name?
“Uhh, umm, who might you be? …Oh, wait. Y-you came that one time with Nfirea, right? I don’t remember speaking to you, but…perhaps you heard my name from Nfi?”
Momon put his hand to his mouth and seemed to be pondering something. After that, he waved over the caster, and the two of them left the guardhouse. The soldier wanted to go, too, but he couldn’t leave Enri alone.
Eventually the caster, who had regained composure, returned on his own. “Let her go. The adamantite adventurer Momon will vouch for her. I don’t think keeping her here any longer will do us any good.”
“That’s a natural enough conclusion…but are you sure it’s all right?”
“You would doubt the word of that great man?”
“No, not at all! Understood. I’ll let her in immediately. Enri Emmott of Carne, you have permission to enter E-Rantel! You may go!”
“Uh, okay. Thank you.”
Enri bobbed her head and left.
Watching her go, the soldier asked the caster, “And Sir Momon?”
“He went on ahead.”
“So what’s the relationship between the great hero and that villager?”
“How should I know? All he said to me was what I told you, that we should release her and that he would vouch for her.”
“Then I have another question. That Emmott girl, do you really think she’s just a villager?”
“Definitely not. She can’t be. Otherwise, why would a great hero like him step in to help her? And it can’t be a coincidence that she has such a powerful item… Do you think she could be connected to the Theocracy?”
“She said Ainz-something-something, right? If she’s someone with friends in the Theocracy, maybe we should report her to the higher-ups?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Reporting someone Sir Momon vouched for to your superiors as dangerous is…probably following protocol, but might it offend Sir Momon?”
The soldier grimaced.
Anytime soldiers got tog
ether, they discussed the feats he performed at the E-Rantel Public Cemetery.
No one could remain unmoved by the heroic tale of how he broke through an undead mob thousands—or perhaps tens of thousands—strong. His awe-inspiring appearance and heroic bearing were clearly visible even from afar. The dominant way he had his immensely powerful magical beast prostrate itself so he could mount it drove the soldiers wild.
Like women who become infatuated with a strong man, many men had fallen for the great hero Momon, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that most of the soldiers, fellow warriors, were his fans.
This soldier was one of them.
He deeply admired Momon, to the point where if Momon were to pat him on the back, he’d tell anyone who would listen. He didn’t want to invite the displeasure of one he looked up to so much.
“Yeah. If Momon vouches for her, then she’s probably fine.”
“I agree. We wouldn’t want to cause disadvantage to a personal acquaintance of Sir Momon’s. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. A big tree is better for shelter. I don’t want any trouble… Anyhow, I’ll be on standby.”
“Okay. I’ll get back to work, too.”
As Enri drove her wagon through the gate of E-Rantel, she cocked her head, wondering what in the world had happened. It seemed like her salvation had come in the form of the adventurer in the raven-black armor—if she remembered correctly, he had come to the village once with Nfirea to gather herbs.
Normally, she would want to meet him and express her thanks right away, but unfortunately when she passed through the gate and looked around, he was nowhere to be found.
Hopefully, he’ll understand if I thank him the next time I see him…?
She considered taking a little time and searching the area immediately, but there was a reason she had to veto that idea. It was a worry reigning over her mind, the thing she was gripping through her shirt, the item that if she didn’t directly confirm its continued existence, she couldn’t relax—the goblin-whatever-horn.
This is worth…several thousand…gold? That can’t be true, right? Tell me that’s a lie…
She broke out in a cold sweat. He’d given it to her so casually she didn’t think it was worth much at all. Well, no, Nfirea said it was valuable, but this was far beyond what she had imagined.
The Two Leaders Page 9
