Overlord: The Wandering Sorcerer Chapter 3 — The Adventurer’s Guild
By the time Mommon and Nabe reached the city, Momonga had developed three theories about adventurers.
The first was that adventurers were not nearly as organized as he had expected.
The second was that adventurers were apparently very fond of drinking.
The third was that he was going to need money.
A lot of it.
The walls of the city rose before them as the sun began to descend.
They were enormous.
Not Nazarick enormous.
Nothing in the New World seemed capable of competing with Nazarick in that regard.
But they were impressive.
Stone walls.
Watchtowers.
Guards.
A wide road leading toward a massive gate through which wagons, merchants, farmers, and travelers were constantly moving.
Momonga stopped several dozen meters away.
“E-Rantel.”
Narbe nodded.
“So this is one of the great cities.”
“Yes.”
Momonga looked at the people around them.
There were humans everywhere.
Merchants arguing over prices.
Children running beside wagons.
Soldiers checking cargo.
Adventurers carrying weapons.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Momonga felt something very close to excitement.
This was no longer a forest.
This was civilization.
A real civilization.
“Interesting.”
Narbe glanced at him.
“You are smiling.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
Momonga touched his jaw.
“I suppose I am.”
He looked toward the gate.
“Let’s go.”
The first problem was the gate guards.
The second was Momonga’s appearance.
The third was Narbe’s attitude toward the guards.
The moment they reached the gate, one of the soldiers stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Momonga stopped.
“State your business.”
“We’re adventurers.”
The soldier looked at him.
Then at Nabe.
Then back at him.
“Where are your adventurer plates?”
Momonga paused.
“We don’t have any.”
The soldier frowned.
“Then you’re not adventurers.”
“Not yet.”
“You need to register.”
“That’s exactly what we’re here to do.”
The guard’s eyes narrowed.
“And the undead?”
Momonga almost answered automatically.
I’m an Overlord.
Instead he smiled.
“I’m undead.”
“I can see that.”
“Good.”
The soldier did not smile.
“You know undead aren’t usually allowed inside the city.”
Momonga’s smile disappeared.
“Usually?”
The guard looked slightly uncomfortable.
“Some exceptions exist.”
“Such as?”
“Adventurers.
Certain magic users.
Registered undead servants.”
Momonga nodded.
“Then we’ll register.”
The guard glanced at Nabe.
“She your servant?”
Narbe’s eyes narrowed.
Momonga immediately stepped between them.
“My partner.”
The soldier looked surprised.
“Partner?”
“Yes.”
Narbe’s expression softened almost imperceptibly.
Momonga noticed.
He wasn’t sure why.
“Fine,” the guard said.
“Go to the Adventurer’s Guild.
They’ll tell you what you need.”
Momonga bowed his head.
“Thank you.”
As they passed through the gate, Narbe quietly spoke.
“You lied.”
Momonga looked at her.
“About what?”
“Calling me your partner.”
“You are my partner.”
“I am your servant.”
Momonga stopped.
He looked at her.
“No.”
Narbe blinked.
“No?”
“Not anymore.”
She stared at him.
Momonga continued walking.
“We’re both in this world.
We’re both figuring it out.
We’re traveling together.”
He shrugged.
“That makes you my partner.”
Narbe was silent for several seconds.
Then she followed.
“I understand.”
Momonga smiled.
“Good.”
The Adventurer’s Guild was much larger than Momonga had expected.
The building was noisy.
Very noisy.
The moment they entered, Momonga was assaulted by a wall of sound.
Voices.
Laughter.
Arguments.
Metal clinking against metal.
The smell of alcohol.
The smell of food.
And something else.
Blood.
Old blood.
Momonga’s eyes scanned the room.
Dozens of adventurers.
Some looked young.
Some old.
Some were clearly experienced.
Others looked like they had barely survived their first quest.
Momonga felt strangely nostalgic.
This reminded him of YGGDRASIL.
Not because the people were players.
They weren’t.
But because everyone here was gathered around the same idea.
Adventure.
Possibility.
Risk.
He turned toward the reception desk.
A young woman was standing there.
She looked at them.
Then immediately looked at Momonga.
Her expression changed.
She hesitated.
Momonga mentally sighed.
Here we go again.
He approached.
“Good evening.”
“Good evening.”
Her eyes moved between him and Nabe.
“How may I help you?”
“We would like to register as adventurers.”
“Of course.”
She reached for a form.
“Names?”
“Mommon.”
He gestured toward Nabe.
“Nabe.”
The receptionist wrote them down.
“Race?”
“Human.”
Momonga paused.
“Well…”
He looked down at himself.
“Undead.”
The receptionist froze.
Nabe stared at her.
The woman slowly placed the pen down.
“You are an undead.”
“Yes.”
“And you want to become an adventurer.”
“Yes.”
She looked toward a nearby guild employee.
The employee looked back.
Then another person noticed.
Then another.
Momonga could feel the room gradually becoming quieter.
He sighed.
“This is going well.”
Nabe leaned toward him.
“I could kill them.”
“No.”
“I could kill the people who are staring.”
“Especially no.”
“But they are hostile.”
“They’re curious.”
“They are afraid.”
“That’s understandable.”
Momonga looked at the receptionist.
“Is there a problem?”
She swallowed.
“No.
No problem.”
Her professional smile returned.
“We have had undead adventurers before.”
Momonga relaxed.
“Excellent.”
She handed him a form.
“Please fill this out.”
Momonga looked at it.
He stared.
Then looked at Nabe.
“Do you know how to read this?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He handed it to her.
“Fill mine out.”
She stared at him.
“You are the one registering.”
“Yes.”
“Then you should fill it out.”
Momonga looked back at the form.
There were far too many questions.
Age.
Race.
Place of origin.
Specialization.
Previous adventuring experience.
Skills.
Known languages.
References.
Momonga’s mind raced.
He could answer some of them.
But others…
What is my place of origin?
YGGDRASIL?
That wouldn’t work.
What race?
Undead.
Fine.
Previous adventuring experience?
Technically, thousands of hours.
But not in this world.
References?
Ainz Ooal Gown?
No.
Momonga looked at Nabe.
“This is more complicated than I expected.”
“Would you like me to answer for you?”
“Yes.”
The receptionist blinked.
“That’s not normally allowed.”
Momonga looked at her.
Then smiled.
“I have an unusual situation.”
The receptionist stared at his skeletal face.
“Yes.”
“I noticed.”
The registration took almost an hour.
In the end, the guild accepted them.
Mostly because the receptionist had apparently dealt with stranger people before.
Momonga received a copper-colored adventurer plate.
He held it up.
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
He stared at it.
“After everything?”
The receptionist smiled.
“Everyone starts somewhere.”
Momonga looked at the small metal plate.
Copper.
The lowest rank.
He suddenly found himself amused.
Ainz Ooal Gown.
One of the strongest magic casters in existence.
A being who could potentially destroy entire armies.
A tenth-tier spellcaster.
And now…
Copper-ranked adventurer.
He laughed.
The receptionist looked confused.
“Is something funny?”
“No.”
Momonga smiled.
“I like it.”
Nabe received hers.
She looked at it.
Then at Momonga.
“Are we really copper-ranked?”
“Officially.”
“That seems inaccurate.”
“It is.”
“Should we tell them?”
“Absolutely not.”
Narbe nodded.
“Understood.”
Momonga clipped the plate onto his clothing.
“Now we need a quest.”
The receptionist pointed toward a large wooden board.
“Everything available is posted there.”
Momonga turned.
The quest board was enormous.
Hundreds of notices.
He walked toward it.
Nabe followed.
Momonga began reading.
Gather herbs.
Escort merchant.
Find missing livestock.
Clear a cellar of rats.
Search for stolen goods.
Gather firewood.
He stared.
“These are…”
“Basic quests,” Nabe said.
“I know.”
He looked at her.
“You don’t seem impressed.”
“They are beneath us.”
Momonga sighed.
“Nabe.”
“Yes?”
“We need money.”
“Then we should take the highest-paying quest.”
“That’s not how this works.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re copper-ranked.”
“So?”
“So people will notice if two copper adventurers suddenly accept an adamantite-level monster hunt.”
Nabe thought about that.
“Then we should find something appropriate.”
“Exactly.”
Momonga examined the board.
He eventually found one.
Request: Goblin extermination.
Reward: modest.
Difficulty: low.
Location: nearby.
Momonga pointed.
“This.”
Nabe looked at it.
“Goblins.”
“Yes.”
“We have killed far stronger creatures.”
“I know.”
“We could kill these in seconds.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Momonga smiled.
“Because we’re adventurers.”
Nabe considered the answer.
Then nodded.
“Understood.”
Momonga pulled the notice from the board.
“One quest.”
He looked around the guild.
“So this is how it begins.”
The quest turned out to be more complicated than the notice suggested.
The goblins had been seen near a small farming settlement outside the city.
Several livestock had disappeared.
A few villagers had been injured.
The guild wanted confirmation of the goblin nest and, if possible, its elimination.
Momonga listened carefully.
Then asked:
“How many?”
The guild employee shrugged.
“Maybe twenty.”
Nabe looked at Momonga.
Momonga looked at Nabe.
Neither said anything.
Twenty goblins.
This was going to be easy.
Perhaps too easy.
But that was exactly what Momonga wanted.
They needed to learn.
Not just about combat.
About the world.
How strong were ordinary monsters?
How strong were ordinary humans?
How did adventurers actually work?
What kind of magic did this world use?
What happened after a monster was killed?
How much did people know about magic items?
And, most importantly…
Were there traces of YGGDRASIL?
They left the city the following morning.
The farm settlement was quiet.
Too quiet.
Momonga noticed immediately.
“Something’s wrong.”
Nabe nodded.
“Yes.”
They approached the nearest house.
The door was open.
Inside, furniture had been overturned.
There were bloodstains on the floor.
Momonga’s expression became serious.
“Track them.”
Nabe closed her eyes.
A few seconds passed.
“East.”
“How many?”
“More than twenty.”
Momonga looked toward the forest.
“How many?”
“I count thirty-seven.”
Momonga smiled faintly.
“Now that’s more interesting.”
They followed the tracks.
The forest grew darker.
The path narrowed.
Eventually they reached a rocky slope.
A cave entrance opened in the hillside.
Nabe pointed.
“There.”
Momonga looked at the cave.
He could hear voices.
Goblins.
Dozens of them.
He raised a hand.
“Wait.”
Nabe stopped.
Momonga looked around.
“Something doesn’t make sense.”
“The number?”
“Partly.”
He pointed toward the ground.
There were footprints.
Too many.
Some belonged to goblins.
Others were larger.
Much larger.
Nabe examined them.
“Orcs.”
Momonga nodded.
“At least five.”
He looked deeper into the cave.
“And something else.”
Nabe’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
For the first time, Momonga felt a genuine sense of danger.
Not because he was afraid.
Because something inside the cave was powerful enough that his detection magic couldn’t identify it clearly.
That was impossible.
Or rather…
It shouldn’t have been possible.
Momonga smiled.
“Nabe.”
“Yes?”
“I think we’ve found our first real mystery.”
She smiled back.
It was the first time Momonga had ever seen her look genuinely excited.
“Shall we enter?”
Momonga looked into the darkness.
“Let’s go.”
And together, the two adventurers stepped into the goblin cave.
Neither of them noticed the small figure watching from the trees behind them.
A figure wearing a red hood.
Watching.
Waiting.
And carrying a weapon far too large for its body.
The figure turned toward E-Rantel.
Then disappeared into the forest.
Momonga and Nabe never saw it.
Not yet.