[The protagonist’s alignment is slightly positive.
He has a moral bottom line, though not much of one.
He occasionally ignores the rules.
He’s a gamer and not from our Earth.
The protagonist is from Earth in the year 2137, a miserable soul from the cyber age.
Because of that, he has no omniscient knowledge of the story.] ◇◇◇ The afternoon sunlight over E-Rantel was somewhat harsh.
Lucien leaned against the wooden backrest of a bench outside the Adventurer’s Guild.
People came and went along the street.
Most were adventurers dressed in leather armor and carrying crude weapons, or merchants hurrying about their business.
A few minutes earlier, a fat nobleman wearing a silk coat, with a bulging coin pouch hanging from his waist, had walked past the bench.
Lucien had merely adjusted his sitting position and flicked his fingers slightly.
The heavy coin pouch instantly crossed the distance between them and landed securely beneath his broad cloak.
Blink.
It was one of a high-level assassin’s signature abilities, originally intended for short-range teleportation during combat.
It could be used a second time within an extremely short interval, and its speed was almost impossible for the human eye to follow.
Using an ability like that to steal a coin pouch was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
The fat nobleman continued walking without noticing anything, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief as he went.
Lucien weighed the pouch beneath his cloak and listened to the faint clinking of gold coins against one another.
At the same time, the heavy sound of metal came from his left.
“Clank, clank.” The footsteps were steady, each one carrying a distinct sense of weight.
Lucien turned toward the sound and saw a suit of pitch-black full plate armor enter his field of vision.
The owner of the armor was extremely tall, standing at least two meters, with two extravagantly designed greatswords crossed over his back.
The black-armored warrior stopped in front of the bench.
As Momon came to a halt, several low-ranking adventurers who had been chatting nearby instinctively fell silent and moved a little farther away.
“An exceptionally refined technique.” A deep voice came from beneath the helmet.
“No incantation, no lingering traces of magical power, and you crossed the distance instantaneously.
If I saw correctly, that was some kind of high-tier spatial movement skill, or…
an extremely rare martial art.” The black-armored warrior tilted his head slightly.
“Using an ability of that level merely to take an ordinary man’s coin pouch seems rather excessive.” Momon took another step forward.
There was no clear goodwill or hostility in his manner, but simply standing there, his enormous frame created an oppressive presence.
The surrounding adventurers found the atmosphere stifling and gradually left the area one after another.
“I am Momon, an adventurer currently searching for a party and…
interesting things.” He paused, his tone remaining calm.
“The technique you used just now greatly interests me.
Would I have the pleasure of speaking with you?” “I’m a thief.
I just make a living however I can.
That little trick wasn’t worth mentioning.” Lucien answered casually.
He felt little toward the towering warrior, but when his gaze fell upon the cold-faced beauty standing behind him, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.
Noticing his gaze, Nabe immediately showed an expression of disgust.
However, since the Supreme Being had personally chosen to approach this man, she restrained herself.
When Lucien looked back at Momon, he already had a guess about the man’s identity.
“A thief?” The red lights beneath Momon’s helmet flickered slightly.
“But as far as I know, even the highest-ranking thieves rarely possess spatial abilities that clean and efficient.” “Family trade,” Lucien replied casually.
Momon fell silent for several seconds.
He was evaluating the man before him.
In YGGDRASIL, there were indeed certain unusual classes or skill combinations capable of producing similar effects, but this was the first time he had encountered anything like it in this other world.
Did that mean the man was also a player?
Or was he some unusually powerful native of this world?
“I see.
A family trade.” Momon’s tone remained steady.
“Then, may I ask whether your family trade is available for hire?” Lucien was just about to answer when he caught sight of a thin figure approaching from the side.
It was a man wearing worn leather armor, with two short daggers hanging from his waist.
The Orichalcum-ranked adventurer plate on his chest gleamed brightly, flashing beneath the sunlight as he walked.
The man stopped in front of the bench.
He first glanced sideways at the imposing suit of black armor nearby, but the iron plate on Momon’s body immediately inflated his confidence, and whatever concern he had felt vanished without a trace.
He fixed his gaze on Lucien, especially on the bulge beneath his cloak.
“Friend, you’ve got quick hands.” The thin man lowered his voice, but he could not conceal the smugness in his tone.
He planted one foot against the edge of the bench, leaned forward, and moved closer to Lucien.
“That nobleman’s coin pouch had at least a dozen gold coins in it.” He grinned, revealing several yellow teeth.
“I saw everything.
Pulling something like that in broad daylight, right outside the guild, takes some nerve.” Lucien raised an eyebrow.
Although he had not used any particularly advanced technique, being spotted with the naked eye by a mere Orichalcum-ranked adventurer still surprised him slightly.
That should not have happened.
Beside him, Momon’s thoughts raced.
He wanted to know how this thief, who was capable of high-level teleportation, would handle the trouble in front of him.
The result could provide valuable information.
However, Orichalcum-ranked adventurers were not especially rare, and the information this man could provide was far less valuable than anything he might learn from the mysterious figure before him, who appeared to possess tremendous strength.
Furthermore, if a conflict broke out, there was absolutely no possibility that a mere Orichalcum-ranked adventurer could pose any threat to this thief.
Therefore, if circumstances allowed, Momon wanted to do him a favor.
Seeing Lucien remain silent, the Orichalcum-ranked thief assumed he was frightened.
He straightened his body and deliberately puffed out his chest, making his Orichalcum plate even more conspicuous.
“You know how this works, right?” He raised two fingers and rubbed them together.
“We split it fifty-fifty.
Hand over half the gold as hush money.
Otherwise…
I’ll arrest you and drag you before that nobleman to claim the reward.” Although the man kept his voice low, he was so excited that the end of his sentence rose slightly.
Several Copper-ranked adventurers passing nearby heard the commotion and stopped to look over.
However, once they saw the Orichalcum plate, they quickly turned away and hurried onward.
An Orichalcum-ranked adventurer was not someone they could afford to provoke.
Lucien looked at the rank plate practically being shoved into his face and sighed.
“Do you need assistance?” The flames beneath Momon’s helmet flickered as he asked quietly.
“I appreciate the offer.” Lucien turned toward the silent suit of black armor beside him and smiled, though his tone carried a hint of helplessness.
“Could I trouble you to wait a few seconds?” Before Momon could answer, Lucien had already reached out and gently placed a hand on the thin man’s shoulder.
The man’s expression shifted between smugness and confusion.
He clearly had not expected a petty thief to react this way when faced with an Orichalcum-ranked adventurer.
Just as he opened his mouth to curse, the scenery before his eyes suddenly shattered.
Then Lucien and the Orichalcum-ranked thief vanished from the spot at the same time.
In a dead-end alley two streets away from the Adventurer’s Guild, foul-smelling trash bins and rotting wooden crates were piled everywhere.
Space briefly distorted.
The instant the man’s feet touched the ground, before he could even understand why he had suddenly gone from the bright entrance of the guild to this dark alley, a burst of agony spread through his entire body from his throat.
Lucien did not even draw a weapon.
He merely pressed two fingers together.
A thin layer of shadowy energy coated his fingertips as they effortlessly sliced across the man’s throat.
The man’s eyes widened violently, blood vessels spreading across the whites.
He clamped both hands tightly around his neck, but dark-red blood still poured through the gaps between his fingers, instantly staining the Orichalcum plate on his chest that he had been so proud of.
“It’s hard to believe.
I’ve only been in this world for a month, yet you’re already the fifth adventurer who’s come looking for trouble with me.” “I really don’t understand.
You’re only capable of this much, yet you chose the same kind of work as me, and you were even naive enough to believe that fairness was somehow part of the rules governing this world?” Lucien wiped his fingers clean and paid no further attention to the man who was already as good as dead.
“What a waste of time.” The air distorted once again.
Outside the Adventurer’s Guild.
The wooden bench gave another faint creak as Lucien settled steadily back into the exact place where he had been sitting before.
Momon narrowed his eyes beneath his helmet.
After witnessing it again with his own eyes, he could now be completely certain.
That was genuine spatial teleportation.
The interval between Lucien’s disappearance and return was absurdly short.
Did that skill have no cooldown?
More importantly, when Lucien sat back down, Ainz’s keen undead senses caught the faint scent of fresh blood in the air.
“Your problem has been dealt with.” Momon’s steady voice sounded again.
“A very clean method.” “Just another skill I use to make a living.” Lucien shrugged, his tone relaxed.
“Where were we?
Right, you asked whether I accept employment?” “Yes.
I am searching for capable companions.
Your ability has proven your value.
However, before that, there is one thing I need to confirm.” The black-armored warrior turned his head slightly and looked directly at Lucien.
“What is your purpose in acting within this world?” Lucien had not expected him to ask such a direct question.
Still, being straightforward instead of hiding his intentions was fine with him.
He did not answer immediately.
Instead, his gaze passed over Momon and landed on the beautiful woman who had remained motionless the entire time.
Before answering, he asked a question of his own.
“First, I’d like to know something.
What exactly is your relationship with this beautiful lady?” The flames in Ainz’s eyes suddenly leaped.
He was greatly shocked.
Immediately afterward, however, a green glow flared beneath his armor, and his emotions were forcibly suppressed.
He explained calmly, “Her name is Nabe.
She is my adventuring partner.” “Is that so?” Lucien made no attempt to conceal the doubt in his voice and immediately followed with a direct question.
“But from what I know, this young lady’s name should have something to do with the Greek alphabet.
If I remember correctly, there are five sisters in total, and she’s the third, so her name should have…
Gamma in it?” The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere instantly turned cold.
(To be continued.)