Late at night, in a dead-end alley somewhere in E-Rantel.
Blood covered the ground, and the air reeked of iron.
Three adventurers lay collapsed against the wall.
One had been disemboweled and was already dead.
The other two were still struggling for breath, slumped side by side in a steadily spreading pool of blood.
The tendons in all four of their limbs had been severed.
Fear had completely overtaken them, almost drowning out the constant agony coming from their ruined bodies.
“Ahaha~” Clementine let out a sweet, playful laugh.
Beneath her cloak, she wore revealing scale armor made from overlapping metal plates.
In her hands were two stilettos smeared with blood and scraps of flesh.
The heel of her boot rested on one adventurer’s chest.
“Come on, tell me one more time.” Clementine’s voice was remarkably gentle.
But as she spoke, she bent down and drove one of her stilettos into the man’s uninjured left shoulder.
Then she twisted it hard.
“AAAAAH!” “Where is that person with the Talent that lets him use any magic item?” Her voice was as sweet as someone coaxing a child, yet the cruelty of her movements did not lessen in the slightest.
She slowly twisted the weapon free, rolled it once in her hand, then plunged it viciously into the man’s thigh.
The repeated bursts of agony nearly tore his voice apart.
He could no longer form a complete sentence.
Clementine did not care.
She continued turning the stiletto inside the wound.
The unfortunate adventurer’s thigh was fairly muscular.
Skin, blood, flesh, sinew, bone, even the resistance of hair and tissue against the blade, all of it created a vivid sensation beneath her hand.
She savored every part of it.
“I’ll talk!
I’ll tell you everything!” The other adventurer, who was still somewhat conscious, finally broke.
“It’s Nfirea!
Nfirea Bareare, the genius apothecary!
He runs a potion shop here in the city!
Please…
just let me go!” Clementine turned toward him and blinked.
“Nfirea?
An apothecary?” She tilted her head.
Then her smile became even sweeter.
“But you know, people will say absolutely anything when they’re hurting if they think it’ll make the pain stop.” “I’m not lying!
Everyone in E-Rantel knows him!
I swear!” He strained his neck forward, raising his voice as much as possible as if volume alone might make her believe him.
He was no longer hoping to survive.
He only wanted a quick death.
Unfortunately…
“I don’t believe you.” Clementine cut him off.
The smile slowly disappeared from her face.
Her eyes became cold and malicious.
The adventurer’s pupils contracted sharply.
Clementine turned slightly and, with a motion too fast for him to follow, drew another stiletto from her waist and drove it straight into his right eye.
Blood and the shattered contents of the eye burst outward.
The man screamed in unbearable agony.
Clementine did not finish him.
Instead, she carefully savored the faint trembling beneath her hand as the life gradually drained from her prey.
Clementine had once been captured herself.
During that experience, every part of her body had been subjected to the most vicious forms of torture imaginable.
Something in her had changed afterward.
She had grown obsessed with tormenting people who could not fight back.
More than anything, she loved their screams.
Only after both adventurers finally died from their wounds and suffering did Clementine reluctantly pull her weapons free.
She flicked the blood from the blades.
“Living people always lie.” “Dead people are much more honest.” As the corpses gradually lost their warmth, the body of the adventurer whose eye she had pierced suddenly twitched.
His remaining left eye rolled back, losing the light of the living.
Then he moved.
Despite the tendons in all four limbs having been severed, he forced himself upright like something no longer bound by the limitations of life.
Clementine smiled.
“Now then, answer my question.” “Who is the person capable of using any magic item?” “Nfi…
rea…” “Apothecary…” “So you really were telling the truth.” Clementine licked her lips and returned to her deliberately cute smile.
“Nfirea…” “I’m coming to get you.” The next morning.
At a street-corner stall, Lucien bought two slices of coarse bread, two boiled eggs, and a cup of warm milk.
Yesterday, he had given Ainz the coin pouch he had stolen from the fat nobleman.
Now he had very few silver coins left.
He would need to find some time to scout the wealthy district and replenish his funds.
Just as he was about to head home, a young woman in white robes approached from the opposite direction.
“Oh?
It’s you!” Her eyes lit up, and she came over on her own.
Lucien recognized her as the nurse from the municipal infirmary the previous night, the one who had treated them rather warmly.
“Morning.” Lucien greeted her casually.
“You’re up early.” The nurse smiled.
“The gentleman you brought in last night has stabilized.
It’s a good thing you got him there when you did.
He went through quite a few healing potions.” “I’m actually heading to Mr.
Nfirea’s shop now to restock.” “Nfirea?” The name was unfamiliar to Lucien.
“You don’t know him?” “He’s one of the most famous apothecaries in E-Rantel.
He’s still young, but the potions he makes are considered some of the best in the city.” After giving a brief explanation, the nurse hurriedly excused herself.
“I should get going.
See you next time.” Lucien watched her leave and quietly committed the name Nfirea to memory.
In an unfamiliar world, knowing more about prominent locals was never a bad thing.
When he returned home, Yuri had already cleaned the entire place until it was spotless.
It was even cleaner than it had been the previous night.
The moment Lucien entered, Yuri immediately pulled out a chair for him.
He sat down and had barely taken his first bite of bread when a notification appeared in his system interface.
It was a private message from Ainz.
Lucien opened the conversation.
There was a simple morning greeting.
Beneath it appeared the words: [The other party is typing.] A few seconds later, the notification disappeared.
Then it appeared again.
[The other party is typing.] This continued for nearly an entire minute.
Finally, only one sentence arrived.
“Do you have any plans today?” “Nothing important.
Why?” Lucien replied almost immediately.
On the other end, Ainz considered asking about Yuri several times.
In the end, he decided against it and deliberately changed the subject.
“If you’re free, would you like to come to the Adventurer’s Guild with me?” “I’ve noticed that adventurers in this world can accept all kinds of requests.
Their role is somewhat similar to players taking quests back in YGGDRASIL.” “If anything interests you, you could register as an adventurer as well.
It might make certain things easier later.” Lucien had little interest in becoming an adventurer.
Still, he had nothing else to do, and learning how the guild operated might prove useful.
“Sure.
I’ll meet you outside the guild.” Half an hour later, at the Adventurer’s Guild.
The guild hall was already bustling despite the early hour.
Adventurers were everywhere, searching for parties or examining available requests.
Ainz wore his conjured suit of pitch-black full plate armor.
Nabe followed behind him with her usual cold expression.
Lucien had changed into leather armor and wore a hood, standing nearby.
At the reception counter, Ainz was negotiating with one of the guild employees.
“I’ll say it again.” His deep voice resonated from beneath the helmet.
“My companion is an accomplished magic caster capable of using Third Tier magic.” “My own abilities as a warrior are certainly no weaker than hers.” “We would like to accept more difficult requests with correspondingly higher rewards.
That would be far more appropriate for our actual level of ability.” The receptionist looked troubled.
“I’m very sorry, Mr.
Momon.” “I understand that both you and your companion are exceptionally capable, but the guild has strict regulations.” “You are currently only Copper-ranked adventurers, so you may only accept requests appropriate for that rank.” “These rules exist to protect adventurers from taking on work beyond their abilities.
Please understand that I can’t make an exception.” Ainz fell silent.
Of course he understood the rules.
He was simply tired of this tedious beginner progression.
At present, his adventurer rank was Copper, the lowest tier.
That meant the guild would only assign him worthless low-level jobs.
They wasted time and barely paid anything.
But there did not seem to be much he could do about it.
Just as Ainz was about to give up and take some random low-level request, one of the adventurers seated at a nearby table stood up.
Four people had been gathered there.
The young man who approached carried a greatsword and wore fairly good equipment.
He addressed Ainz politely.
“Excuse me.” Ainz turned toward the group.
The young man gestured toward the silver adventurer plate on his chest.
“We’re the adventurer team Swords of Darkness.” “We’ve just accepted a request to clear out monsters outside the city.
The reward is based on the number of monsters killed.” “Would you be interested in joining us?” “We could form one party and split the earnings evenly afterward.” Payment based on the number of monsters hunted.
That meant there was effectively no restriction based on rank.
The more monsters they killed, the more money they would earn.
The red lights behind Ainz’s visor flickered.
That was exactly what he wanted.
“Very well.” Ainz accepted without hesitation.
The young man was delighted.
He immediately invited Ainz’s group upstairs to one of the empty rooms, where the guild provided free tea, so they could discuss the details of the request.
(To be continued.)