Overlord: The Wandering Sorcerer Chapter 15 — The Mark
The road back from the forest was quiet.
Too quiet.
Momonga walked at the front, his cloak moving gently in the night wind.
Nabe walked beside him.
Evileye followed several steps behind.
Clementine was nowhere to be seen.
That should have made Momonga feel better.
It didn’t.
He kept thinking about the black orb.
The image.
The ancient players.
The enormous tomb.
And the mark that had appeared on his cloak.
He stopped.
Nabe immediately stopped with him.
“What is it?”
Momonga pulled the cloak from his shoulders.
“There.”
A faint black symbol had appeared near the collar.
It was the same symbol they had seen above the ancient entrance.
Evileye approached.
“That’s new.”
“Yes.”
“Can you remove it?”
Momonga examined it.
“I don’t know.”
He tried dispelling magic.
Nothing happened.
Evileye tried.
Nothing.
Nabe touched it.
The symbol briefly glowed.
She immediately withdrew her hand.
“It reacted to me.”
Momonga looked at her.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
The mark faded again.
Momonga stared at it.
“Interesting.”
They continued walking.
After an hour, Evileye finally spoke.
“That mark is not simply a magical seal.”
Momonga looked at her.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve said that several times recently.”
“I know.”
She sighed.
“But I’ve seen something similar.”
Momonga stopped again.
“Where?”
“Long ago.”
“How long?”
“More than a century.”
Momonga waited.
Evileye’s voice became quieter.
“I once encountered an ancient ruin beneath a human settlement.”
“What did you find?”
“A door.”
“Like the one we found?”
“Yes.”
“Was the symbol there?”
“Not exactly.”
“What was different?”
“The symbol was incomplete.”
Momonga thought about it.
“And this one?”
“Complete.”
He looked at the mark.
“Meaning?”
Evileye shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Momonga smiled faintly.
“At least you’re consistent.”
Evileye glared at him.
“I could stop helping you.”
“Please don’t.”
She looked away.
“Good answer.”
They reached the Imperial road shortly before dawn.
A patrol of soldiers approached.
The captain recognized Momonga’s adventurer identification.
“You are the undead adventurer from E-Rantel.”
Momonga nodded.
“Yes.”
The captain looked at Nabe.
Then Evileye.
Then back at Momonga.
“We received orders to allow you through.”
Momonga raised an eyebrow.
“From whom?”
“The Emperor.”
“I see.”
The captain hesitated.
“There was also another order.”
“What kind?”
“If you encountered a woman named Clementine, you were to report her location immediately.”
Momonga sighed.
“That could be difficult.”
“Why?”
“Because she keeps disappearing.”
The captain looked uncomfortable.
“Then please report anything you know.”
“I will.”
The soldiers moved on.
Evileye waited until they were out of hearing.
“Jircniv is watching Clementine too.”
“Apparently.”
“Why?”
Momonga looked toward the road.
“That’s what I want to know.”
They returned to the Imperial capital by midday.
Fluder was waiting for them.
The old magic caster took one look at Momonga’s cloak.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”
Momonga removed it and placed it on the table.
Fluder leaned over the symbol.
For the first time since Momonga had met him, the old man’s hands trembled.
“Where did you get this?”
“It appeared after we entered the tomb.”
Fluder stared at the mark.
“That is impossible.”
Momonga waited.
Fluder looked at him.
“You said the symbol appeared after the artifact activated?”
“Yes.”
“Then it has identified you.”
“Identified me as what?”
Fluder swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Momonga’s gaze hardened.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
Fluder shook his head.
“I truly do not know.”
He touched the edge of the mark without actually touching it.
“But I have seen references to it.”
“Where?”
“In records that were forbidden to study.”
Momonga’s attention sharpened.
“Who forbade them?”
“The Imperial Court.”
“Why?”
Fluder looked toward the door.
“Because some knowledge is dangerous.”
Momonga smiled.
“I’ve heard that before.”
Fluder led them to a private chamber beneath the archive.
The room was smaller than the main library.
There were no shelves.
Only a stone table and several locked chests.
Fluder opened the first.
Inside were old fragments of parchment.
He selected one.
“This is one of the oldest records concerning the Great Tomb.”
Momonga took it.
The writing was almost unreadable. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Evileye leaned over his shoulder.
“What does it say?”
Fluder translated slowly.
“An entrance was discovered.”
He paused.
“Those who entered were marked.”
Momonga looked up.
“Marked how?”
Fluder continued.
“The mark appeared upon those who were recognized by the tomb.”
“Recognized by what?”
“The records do not say.”
Momonga looked at Nabe.
Her expression was unusually serious.
“What happened to the marked?”
Fluder hesitated.
“They disappeared.”
Silence filled the chamber.
Evileye frowned.
“All of them?”
“According to the record.”
Momonga placed the parchment on the table.
“How many?”
“Twenty-three.”
“And none returned?”
“None.”
Momonga looked at the black symbol.
“Then we have a problem.”
The door opened.
Jircniv entered.
He looked at the parchment.
Then at Momonga.
“I assume this is important.”
“Very.”
Fluder stepped aside.
Momonga explained what had happened.
The Emperor listened without interruption.
When he finished, Jircniv walked toward the table.
“Can the mark be removed?”
“We don’t know,” Fluder said.
Jircniv looked at Momonga.
“Do you feel anything?”
“No.”
“Pain?”
“No.”
“Loss of control?”
“No.”
“Then perhaps it isn’t harmful.”
Momonga shook his head.
“That’s an assumption.”
Jircniv smiled.
“Yes.”
“Don’t make it.”
The Emperor nodded.
“Fair.”
He looked at the parchment again.
“Twenty-three people disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Then perhaps the question is not what the mark does.”
Momonga looked at him.
“But why the tomb wants you.”
“Exactly.”
Jircniv folded his arms.
“I want to offer you something.”
Momonga raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“An escort.”
“No.”
“You haven’t heard the offer.”
“I don’t need one.”
“You are traveling toward an unknown ruin that may contain ancient magic capable of identifying players.”
“Yes.”
“You have already been attacked twice.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re refusing protection.”
“Yes.”
Jircniv stared at him.
Then laughed.
“You’re remarkably stubborn.”
“I prefer independent.”
“Of course.”
The Emperor smiled.
“Then I’ll offer something else.”
“What?”
“Information.”
Momonga waited.
“I can give you access to Imperial intelligence reports concerning the Great Tomb.”
“All of them?”
“Everything we have.”
Momonga considered it.
“Why?”
“Because if someone is manipulating you, I would prefer to know who.”
Momonga smiled.
“Accepted.”
Jircniv extended his hand.
They shook again.
That evening, Momonga, Nabe and Evileye stayed in the capital.
Clementine had still not been found.
Neither had the mysterious man.
For the first time in several days, Momonga had a chance to think.
He sat in the inn’s common room.
Nabe was beside him.
Evileye sat across the table.
Three cups of tea stood between them.
Momonga looked at them.
“I think I’m starting to understand.”
Evileye raised an eyebrow.
“That would be a pleasant change.”
“The tomb isn’t simply a ruin.”
“No.”
“It’s a system.”
Evileye became serious.
“What do you mean?”
“It recognizes certain people.”
“Players.”
“Perhaps.”
“And the mark?”
“A way of identifying them.”
Evileye thought about it.
“Then why did it react to Nabe?”
Momonga became silent.
That was the question he had been avoiding.
Nabe looked at him.
“I am connected to you.”
“Yes.”
“But I am not a player.”
“No.”
“Then perhaps the tomb doesn’t distinguish between players and those who belong to them.”
Momonga stared at her.
The possibility made his thoughts race.
If the tomb could recognize Nabe…
Then perhaps it could recognize the NPCs of other players.
And if that was true…
There might still be beings from YGGDRASIL somewhere in this world.
Not players.
Not humans.
NPCs.
Potentially thousands of them.
Momonga’s gaze hardened.
“That changes everything.”
Evileye watched him carefully.
“You think there may be others like Nabe.”
“Yes.”
“Other beings brought here by players?”
“Possibly.”
“Then why haven’t we heard about them?”
Momonga shook his head.
“We don’t know how many survived.”
Evileye looked down.
“And if they did survive?”
Momonga answered quietly.
“Some may have become legends.”
“Gods.”
“Monsters.”
“Kings.”
“Heroes.”
Momonga nodded.
“Exactly.” This story is hosted at g.com.
Evileye stared at him.
“So the history of this world may be full of people like you.”
“Perhaps.”
“And you intend to find them.”
Momonga smiled.
“I intend to find answers.”
Evileye shook her head.
“Which means you’ll probably find them.”
“That’s the idea.”
Later that night, Momonga returned to his room.
Nabe was already there.
She stood by the window.
“Someone is outside.”
Momonga looked toward the street.
“How many?”
“One.”
“Human?”
“Yes.”
“Same person?”
“No.”
Momonga smiled.
“Of course.”
He opened the window.
A shadow moved across the rooftops.
Nabe disappeared.
Momonga followed.
They landed silently on the roof of the neighboring building.
The stranger was already waiting.
A young woman.
Short dark hair.
Black traveling clothes.
A small dagger at her side.
She raised both hands.
“I don’t want to fight.”
Nabe kept her sword drawn.
Momonga approached.
“Then why were you watching us?”
“I was told to.”
“By whom?”
The woman hesitated.
“Someone who knows you.”
Momonga sighed.
“That answer is becoming very popular.”
She looked at him.
“You are the undead adventurer.”
“Yes.”
“They call you Mommon.”
“Yes.”
“You’re searching for the Great Tomb.”
“Yes.”
“And you have been marked.”
Momonga’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
The woman looked at his cloak.
“Because I’ve seen that mark before.”
Evileye’s words returned to him.
Momonga stepped closer.
“Where?”
The woman pointed toward the west.
“In a place where nobody who carried it came back.”
Nabe stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at her.
For a moment, fear crossed her face.
Not because of Nabe’s sword.
Because she recognized something.
“You…”
Nabe’s expression hardened.
“What?”
The woman shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Momonga noticed.
“You recognize her.”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
The woman looked at Nabe again.
Then whispered:
“Not her.”
She looked at Momonga.
“Someone like her.”
Momonga froze.
“Where?”
The woman pointed toward the western horizon.
“Near the Katze Plains.”
Momonga’s thoughts raced.
The same place mentioned in the old records.
The same region where the mysterious Great Tomb had supposedly been found.
He looked at Nabe.
She understood immediately.
The woman continued.
“If you go there, don’t enter alone.”
Momonga smiled.
“I never do.”
She looked surprised.
“Then you’re different from the others.”
“What others?”
But the woman was already stepping backward.
“Wait.”
She jumped from the roof.
Momonga moved to the edge.
She vanished into the darkness.
Nabe returned to his side.
“Should I pursue her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted us to know.”
Nabe looked toward the street.
“Then she will contact us again.”
“Probably.”
Momonga looked west.
The Katze Plains.
A place associated with death.
An ancient tomb.
And now, perhaps, another NPC.
He smiled.
“Tomorrow we leave.”
Nabe nodded.
“Where?”
“West.”
The next morning, they departed the Imperial capital.
They had new information.
A new destination.
And more questions than before.
Momonga walked along the road.
Nabe beside him.
Evileye behind them.
Clementine somewhere in the distance.
And beyond the horizon…
the Katze Plains waited.
Momonga looked at the black mark on his cloak.
It had not faded.
If anything, it seemed darker.
He touched it.
For a moment, a faint pulse of magic answered.
Then he heard something.
A voice.
Very quiet.
Almost impossible to hear.
“Welcome…”
Momonga stopped.
Nabe looked at him.
“What happened?”
Momonga stared toward the west.
The voice came again.
“…back.”
His expression changed.
He had never been there.
At least…
not in this world.
But whatever was waiting beyond the plains seemed to disagree.
Momonga smiled slowly.
“Let’s go.”
And the three adventurers continued toward the place where the dead were said to gather.
Toward the Katze Plains.
Toward the Great Tomb.
And toward the first secret that might finally explain why Momonga had been brought to this world.