The most important thing was whether or not he could actually lead Ainz to the city.
In reply to that question, Zenbel made a face like it might be difficult but said he probably could.
The dwarf city was located within an underground cavern that was inside a mountain, so as long as the shape of the mountain hadn’t changed, Zenbel was fairly confident he could get them there.
When Ainz heard that, he recalled an underground city in Yggdrasil and got a little excited.
The last thing he asked was how far away the dwarf city was.
The answer was that following the route Zenbel took in reverse would take about a week of hiking in the mountains. That would bring them to the northern edge of the lake.
Lizardmen weren’t built for walking on dry land, so if it took Zenbel a week, the actual distance was maybe around sixty miles.
The unfortunate thing was that Ainz only had Zenbel’s memories to go by and couldn’t use a map to find a shorter route.
I should probably be prepared to get lost any number of times.
It reminded Ainz of adventuring in Yggdrasil, bringing out a broad smile.
“…Was that helpful?”
“It was indeed. I’m not opposed to these sorts of journeys where you advance through darkness by only a lantern’s feeble light. It psychs me up.”
Maybe the lizardmen thought he was joking? They laughed a bit.
Ainz didn’t feel like correcting their mistake. It was probably hard to understand for anyone who didn’t have experience in Yggdrasil.
“Okay, Zenbel will serve as our guide. We’ll make preparations based on the information we’ve just received. Aura and Shalltear are arranging for an escort. You get ready, too.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
Ainz nodded benevolently and stood up from Cocytus.
He ignored the quiet murmur of disappointment from below.
Chapter 2 | In Search of the Land of the Dwarves
1
The group of monsters Aura and Shalltear selected was gathered on the coast near the lizardman village.
Shalltear’s level-80-or-so undead numbered twenty-five. Aura’s chosen magical beasts came in a group of thirty. Six vampire brides would attend to Ainz, Shalltear, and Aura. Additionally, Ainz had brought his five Hanzos.
There were also five mammoth-like creatures to transport their supplies. They were fitted with baskets on either side of their bodies; Ainz had used them often in Yggdrasil.
These mammoths were only around level 40, so in this party, they were rather weak. Still, there was a good reason they were relied upon for transport. Since they had resistance to chill and fire, they could operate without issue whether their duties took them to a region of ice and snow or a crater filled with bubbling lava. Their appearance belied their impressive speed, and another advantage they had was an ability to go for a long time without eating.
With Cocytus at his back, Ainz called Zenbel over.
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
Zenbel left the group of lizardmen Ainz knew the names of—Zaryusu and Crusch among them—and walked over. Ainz’s gaze shifted to the white infant in Crusch’s arms.
As if she had sensed his collector’s instinct, she moved to shield the baby.
It’s not like I’m going to steal your kid…
Feeling somewhat sad, Ainz handed Zenbel three items.
“Take these. This is a ring that will make it so you won’t need to eat or drink. This one protects against chill. And I’m also lending you this Fly necklace. I’ll teach you how to use it, so it’ll be handy if you slip and fall.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
That was the basic item set Ainz had used for mountain climbing in his Yggdrasil days. They could deal with any special environmental effects as they came up when the party entered the mountains.
“Sorry to interrupt your preparations. The handover is all I needed you for. You can go back.”
Zenbel bobbed his head and returned to the others.
“Cocytus. Those kids sure are curious, huh?”
The children were maintaining a moderate distance, but they stared at Ainz’s group with what were probably gleaming eyes.
Hmm. I’m sure if I took some of these children to a human city, they would fit in soon enough. Or maybe I should bring human children here? I could build a camp nearby and move human children there. And then lizardman children can be carried over, too.
Ainz pictured human and lizardman children—goblin, too—playing together. Plus Aura and Mare, dark elf children. He added Shalltear in, too.
He only put Shalltear in there because he happened to see her readying the magical beasts alongside Aura. There was no other reason.
What a nice scene. I should propose it to Albedo and Demiurge.
“IF THEY OFFEND YOU, I CAN ORDER THEM TO DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY.”
“That’s not what I’m thinking… Do you think children from different races could become friends right away? Do you think human children and lizardman children would hold hands?”
“I’M AFRAID I DON’T KNOW. BUT IF IT IS YOUR WILL, LORD AINZ, I’M SURE THEY WOULD.”
…It’s not about my will or orders. I’m asking whether people of two different races would be able to hold hands. Maybe it’s not a good idea to have as a king?
Ainz’s idle thoughts and musings were liable to become commands. That’s why so many things worried him.
“…I see. Well, it’s about time to leave. Aura! Shalltear! Are you all ready to go?”
When he called out to them, their answers came back without delay.
“Yep, I’m good!”
“Me as well. I’m ready to go whenever you are, Lord Ainz.”
“Zenbel!”
“No problems here!”
“Okay then, we’re off!”
“TAKE CARE, LORD AINZ! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, I’LL MOBILIZE THE ARMY RIGHT AWAY.”
Cocytus had the right idea. In the event a hostile player turned up, Nazarick could very well be forced into deploying its army in preparation for an all-out war, but…
“It’s true that’s how things might turn out in the end. But what we’re doing is more like reconnaissance in force. If we encounter someone powerful, we’ll prioritize intelligence gathering and withdrawing. After that, I’ll be counting on you.”
“YES, MY LORD!”
•
They were to head north along the lake and then trace the path of Zenbel’s memories into the mountains.
At the head of the party was a group of mounted undead holding the Nation of Darkness’s flag aloft.
All sentient life-forms of the lake were under Cocytus’s rule. As long as the flag was displayed, they wouldn’t attack. Of course, this held true only for those who could grasp the meaning of rule—intelligent life-forms. Common beasts and lesser intelligences either gleaned no meaning from the flag at all or were possibly even provoked by it. Regardless, this forest held no monsters that Ainz’s party couldn’t deal with.
Shalltear kept a sharp watch in every direction as if she was eager to encounter anything thoughtless enough to approach, but in the end, their party arrived at the edge of the lake without her so much as spotting a monster off in the distance.
Following the path of the wide, shallow river that ran into the lake brought everyone’s eyes to the steep peaks of the Azerlisia Mountains. There was something about the magnificence of the season’s refreshing breezes and clear blue sky that touched Ainz.
Right about then, Zenbel drew up beside Ainz with a proposal. “Do you mind if I take the lead now? I want to see the scenery as we go—to stimulate my memory, you know?”
There was no way Ainz could object.
“That’s fine. Feel free to take the lead. But don’t go off on your own. I’ll assign some of my underlings to you. If you get attacked, use them as a shield and come back immediately. You’re an extremely important part of this group.”
�
�Thank you.”
Zenbel gave an order to the magical beast he was riding—more accurately, he made a request—and the beast began to move in response. He didn’t have experience riding, so he was borrowing one of Aura’s mounts and controlling it via speech, not skills.
Once the party entered the mountains, its pace changed considerably.
They walked much, much slower.
At first, they were merely following the river north, but after they climbed up past a waterfall, their speed dropped even more.
Zenbel was desperately trying to remember the way, but as might have been expected, it seemed he was having an extremely hard time retracing a path he traveled only once several years ago—not to mention in reverse. It didn’t help that their group was still at a low altitude where tall trees blocked their line of sight.
Even if the shape of the mountain hadn’t changed, the trees had grown.
Working frantically to adjust for the differences between current day and his memories, Zenbel pressed on.
Most of the party members didn’t require rest, but the critical Zenbel was included among those who did, so their silent hike was punctuated by occasional breaks.
Sometimes they saw what seemed like monsters in the distance, but whether it was due to the party’s numbers or because the monsters weren’t hungry, the wild creatures never showed any sign of approaching. Ainz was interested in capturing monsters he wasn’t familiar with, but he had decided not to fuss about that on this trip.
His goal was to reach the dwarf kingdom.
Ainz knew very well that when people tried to accomplish multiple things at once, the most likely outcome was achieving neither.
He did find the missed opportunity slightly unfortunate, but he hurried on ahead.
The scenery traded taller trees for shorter ones as they approached the tree line in the setting sun.
The azure sky was dyed a deep, flaring crimson, and darkness fell soon after. There was no way to describe the mountains blocking out the sea of stars other than majestic, and when Ainz considered how even this view that stretched far into the distance was only a tiny part of the world, he felt like the enormity of nature might overwhelm him.
His nostrils quivered as he appreciated the scent of fresh air that flowed in.
Driving away the questions of how he could do such a thing—of particular interest was how he could smell but not taste food—Ainz savored air that couldn’t be found on the outskirts of E-Rantel.
He never could have experienced this vastness of nature in Yggdrasil.
The sense of fulfillment, like when the adventurer Momon added another page to his experience, left Ainz quite satisfied. Honestly, he felt that it would be fine even if, failing to find the dwarf country, they packed up and went home.
This—this is the scenery a true adventurer should gaze upon.
Ainz smiled and then, turning around, called out.
“Okay, let’s stop here for the night.”
Shalltear agreed and immediately asked a question. “Lord Ainz, does that mean you will go back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick temporarily?”
Certainly, setting up some sort of landmark and then teleporting to somewhere safe to spend the night was a perfectly fine option, but he didn’t feel like it. It wasn’t about the pros or cons but emotion.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll stay here.”
“But, Lord Ainz, I hardly think a place like this is suitable for…”
The place they had stopped at was a rocky area, and the wind whipping down from the mountain rapidly sapped body heat—though Ainz had total resistance to chill, so it didn’t affect him. Anyone who lacked similar resistances or at least thick fur would probably feel as if they were being stabbed with needles. Maybe it was because the wind was carrying the cold down from the patches of snow scattered among the peaks.
The grandeur of nature made Ainz smile even more.
In Yggdrasil, there had been a guild whose goal was to make the unknown known; those explorers must have gone on any number of journeys with this feeling in their hearts.
Since they focused entirely on venturing into the unknown, their headquarters had been shabby, and they never were very successful in the guild battles. At the time, Ainz hadn’t really gotten it, but with this splendid world laid out before him, it seemed he finally understood.
He had experienced this as Momon as well. Traveling the world, liberated from everything, was—
“Lord Ainz?”
All his thoughts scattered.
“What is it, Shalltear?”
“E-err, I didn’t mean to interrupt you while you were thinking.”
“Oh no, don’t worry about it. It wasn’t anything important.”
“Oh? If so, then I’m glad…”
“What did you need again? Oh, it was about staying here, right?”
“Yes. I must apologize. Even though you intend to stay here for the night, I have neglected to prepare a tent. I’ll fetch one right away from Nazarick, so may I cast Gate?”
“No need. It’s not like I forgot a tent. I didn’t put one on the list because it was unnecessary… You know how Mare can create accommodations using magic?”
Judging from Shalltear’s gestures, she was familiar with the concept.
“Very good. Then, know that I can do the same. We could use an item like a Secret Green House, but that might be a bit cramped for this many people. Watch this.”
Ainz searched for an appropriate location. It didn’t matter if the ground was sloped, but it had to be an open plot with no large boulders in the way.
He found what he was looking for right away and began casting. He chose a tier-ten spell. Create Fortress.
Once the spell was completed, in the space where there had been nothing, an imposing tower nearly a hundred feet tall appeared, seeming to bite into the stars above with its dark silhouette.
It had thick double doors that seemed like they could repel even a battering ram. In order to keep any who would try to climb in at bay, the walls were covered with sharp spikes. Demon statues glared in the four cardinal directions from the top floor. To those looking up from below, their presence loomed.
This tall fortress, with its massive or even overawing presence, was surely worthy of the word towering.
“Let’s go.”
Ainz led the party to the iron doors, which opened automatically. Then he stood to the side and allowed everyone else to enter. In Yggdrasil, anyone from the same team would be able to open these doors simply by touching them. Anyone else who tried would be attacked. What would the doors do in this world?
Ainz had two undead remain outside. Then he ordered them to try to open the door once it was shut and shut it.
He waited, but the door didn’t open.
“…Am I the only one who can open these doors? Aura, try touching them.”
“Okay,” she said and reached out to touch them, but they didn’t show any signs of opening.
Apparently, it really was the case that only Ainz could open them. He frowned inwardly. This, along with friendly fire, was terribly annoying. If there were other players in this world, there might be some who accidentally attacked or even killed their friends due to that one little change.
I’ve been here for almost a year, but…I still have to be careful when I exercise my powers. I don’t want to see us getting caught up in one another’s area-of-effect attacks. Should I tell the higher-level people to be mindful of this as well? Some are already paying proper attention, like Mare, so it might be obnoxious for them to hear… Maybe I can bring it up casually.
Giving warnings was harder than it seemed. Ainz knew well from his time in society that simply scolding people wasn’t enough.
Somewhat uneasy after his experiment, he opened the door to let in the two undead still outside. Once he confirmed that everyone was in the spacious foyer, he shut the door and led everyone farther in.
Across from the front entrance was a set of double
doors that opened into a corridor. At the end of the corridor was another set of double doors. Magic lights illuminated the area well enough for everyone to walk with no trouble.
When the far doors opened, a dazzling light could be seen.
The room beyond was a circular hall. It had high ceilings and white floors. In the center was a spiral staircase leading up to the next floor.
“Now, then… We’ll stay here for the night. Those who need rest, rest, and everyone else… Well, we won’t feel very settled if we all hang around here, so stand by in your rooms.”
Ainz pointed at a door. There were ten in all. Incidentally, this space was expanded, so the tower was larger than it looked from the outside.
“The second and third floors also have rooms, so use them. Aura, Shalltear, and Zenbel, stay here. I want to discuss our plans, taking into account the route we took today. Let’s have our meeting on those sofas over there. All right, get going, everyone.”
“Lord Ainz, what should the vampire brides do?”
“Hmm…” Ainz didn’t have an immediate answer for Shalltear’s question. Frankly, the only reason he brought them along was to satisfy Decrement. He didn’t need them at all. He thought for a moment and then gave instructions. “I’ll have orders for them later, so have them stand by in their room.” He left it entirely up to his future self.
Then Ainz moved over to one of the sofas and sat down. He permitted the other three to sit as well, and once they had done so, he began the meeting.
“Okay, first let’s record the route we took today. Aura, I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, my lord.” Aura spread out a sheet of paper and started to draw while referencing a notepad she carried in her other hand. “I’m not sure about the exact distances, but I think this is what we did.”
“Hmm. Thanks, Aura.”
It was a rough map, but he could figure out the distances later from the sky.
“Now, I’m sorry, since I know you’re tired, but, Zenbel, I’m going to do something you won’t like.”
“…What does that mean, Your Majesty?”
The Dwarven Crafter Page 7
