Overlord: The Wandering Sorcerer Chapter 5 — Copper Plates
By the time Mommon and Nabe returned to E-Rantel, Momonga had reached a conclusion.
Adventuring was considerably more complicated than killing monsters.
Killing monsters was easy.
The difficult part was everything that happened afterward.
There were reports to fill out.
Rewards to collect.
People to talk to.
Questions to answer.
And, apparently, a considerable amount of time spent sitting in taverns.
Momonga was beginning to suspect that taverns were the true headquarters of adventurers.
They returned the completed quest report shortly after noon.
The receptionist examined it carefully.
“You eliminated the goblin nest?”
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“And rescued the surviving merchants?”
“Yes.”
She looked at the report again.
“Did you encounter any orcs?”
Momonga nodded.
“Five.”
Her expression changed.
“And you defeated them?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Momonga glanced at Nabe.
“Carefully.”
The receptionist stared at him.
Nabe stared back.
The woman eventually decided not to ask.
She counted out their reward.
Momonga accepted the coins.
He looked at them.
Actual money.
Not gold pieces appearing in an inventory.
Not an item description.
Real coins.
He turned one between his fingers.
“This is interesting.”
Nabe looked at him.
“It is money.”
“I know.”
“You have said that several times.”
Momonga smiled.
“I think I’m enjoying the novelty.”
The receptionist gave him a strange look.
Momonga slipped the coins into a pouch.
Then he noticed something.
There was another adventurer standing nearby.
A young man.
He had been watching them since they entered.
Not openly.
But Momonga had noticed.
He wore simple leather armor and carried a sword.
He looked inexperienced.
Nervous.
And very determined.
The young man finally approached.
“Excuse me.”
Momonga turned.
“Yes?”
“Are you really copper-ranked?”
Momonga looked at his plate.
“Yes.”
The young man looked at Nabe.
“And her?”
“Also copper.”
The young man looked confused.
“Then how did you defeat those orcs?”
Momonga considered his answer.
“Practice.”
“Where?”
“Elsewhere.”
The young man stared.
Nabe looked at Momonga.
Momonga suspected she was amused.
“Right,” the young man said slowly.
He bowed.
“I’m Climb.”
Momonga’s attention sharpened.
Climb.
The name was familiar.
Very familiar.
He remembered seeing it in reports and stories from the original history he knew.
But this Climb was younger than he remembered.
Much younger.
Momonga smiled.
“Nice to meet you.”
Climb looked relieved.
“Are you staying in E-Rantel?”
“For a while.”
“Then perhaps we’ll meet again.”
“I’d like that.”
Climb bowed again and left.
Momonga watched him disappear into the crowd.
Nabe leaned closer.
“You recognized him.”
“Yes.”
“Another player?”
“No.”
Momonga smiled.
“Something much more interesting.”
“What?”
“A person who doesn’t know how extraordinary he is.”
Nabe didn’t understand.
Momonga didn’t explain.
That evening, they found an inn.
A real inn.
Momonga stood in the doorway for several seconds.
There were tables.
Beds.
A fireplace.
People talking.
The smell of cooked meat.
It was almost painfully ordinary.
And therefore wonderful.
The innkeeper looked at him.
“Room?”
“Two.”
Nabe immediately spoke.
“One.”
Momonga turned toward her.
“One?”
“There is no reason to waste money.”
The innkeeper looked between them.
Momonga stared at Nabe.
Nabe stared back.
She had won.
“One room.”
The innkeeper handed them a key.
“Second floor.”
Momonga took it.
“Thank you.”
They went upstairs.
The room was small.
Two beds.
A table.
A window.
A washbasin.
Momonga stood in the middle.
“This is…”
He looked around.
“Nice.”
Nabe placed her belongings beside one of the beds.
“You have seen more luxurious accommodations.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you pleased?”
Momonga looked at the bed.
“Because I paid for it.”
Nabe blinked.
Momonga laughed.
“That probably sounds strange.”
“It does.”
“I know.”
He sat on the bed.
It creaked.
He stared at it.
Then laughed again.
Nabe watched him.
“Are you certain you are the same person who once ruled Nazarick?”
Momonga stopped laughing.
The question caught him off guard.
“Perhaps not.”
Nabe looked at him.
He continued.
“Perhaps that’s the point.”
The following morning, Momonga made a decision.
They would remain in E-Rantel for several days.
Not because they had nowhere to go.
Because they needed information.
The city was a crossroads.
Adventurers arrived from everywhere.
Merchants traveled through it.
Soldiers passed through.
Rumors spread quickly.
If Momonga wanted to understand the New World, there was no better place to begin.
So they spent the next several days doing something that neither of them had expected.
They listened.
At the Adventurer’s Guild, Momonga learned about monsters.
At taverns, he learned about politics.
From merchants, he learned about trade routes.
From guards, he learned about the surrounding territories.
And from old adventurers, he learned stories.
Stories about the Six Great Gods.
Stories about the Eight Greed Kings.
Stories about ancient ruins.
Stories about beings who could use magic far beyond what ordinary humans understood.
Momonga listened to all of them.
Very carefully.
One evening, he returned to the inn unusually quiet.
Nabe noticed.
“What happened?”
Momonga sat down.
“I heard something.”
“What?”
“The Eight Greed Kings.”
Nabe waited.
Momonga looked at her.
“Their descriptions.”
“What about them?”
“Some of the stories don’t match.”
Nabe’s expression became serious.
“How?”
“Different artifacts.
Different abilities.
Different dates.”
Momonga leaned back.
“Some people say they arrived together.
Others say they appeared over several generations.”
He paused.
“And one story mentioned a weapon that could destroy anything.”
Nabe’s eyes narrowed.
“World Item.”
“Maybe.”
Momonga looked toward the window.
“If that’s true…”
He fell silent.
Nabe waited.
“Then other players definitely came here.”
“Yes.”
“And if players came here…”
“They may still exist.”
Momonga nodded.
“Exactly.”
For the first time, the mystery became something more than an abstract possibility.
There could be others.
Somewhere.
Hidden.
Waiting.
Or perhaps ruling.
Momonga looked at Nabe.
“What would you do if we found another player?”
“I would determine whether they are hostile.”
“And if they are?”
“I would kill them.”
Momonga sighed.
“You always make things simple.”
“They are simple.”
“No.”
Momonga looked at her.
“They’re not.”
He stood.
“Let’s not decide what people are before we meet them.”
Nabe nodded.
“As you wish.”
On the fourth day, they received another quest.
This one was an escort mission.
A merchant caravan was traveling toward a small town.
The guild needed adventurers to provide protection.
The pay was significantly better than their previous quest.
Momonga accepted immediately.
“Why this one?” Nabe asked.
“Travel.”
“You could simply travel.”
“Yes.”
“Then why accept a quest?”
“Because someone pays us to travel.”
Nabe nodded.
“Logical.”
Momonga smiled.
“I think I’m getting good at this.”
The caravan consisted of six wagons.
The merchant was a middle-aged man named Ainzach.
Momonga nearly choked when he heard the name.
Nabe noticed.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“You reacted to his name.”
“It’s… similar to something I know.”
The merchant looked at him.
“Something wrong?”
“No.”
Momonga smiled.
“Your name is unusual.”
“So is yours.”
Momonga laughed.
“Fair enough.”
The caravan left E-Rantel shortly after sunrise.
For the first few hours, nothing happened.
Momonga enjoyed it.
The countryside stretched around them.
Farmers worked in the fields.
Birds flew overhead.
The road was peaceful.
Nabe walked beside him.
The merchant occasionally talked to them.
They learned about the destination.
The local markets.
The weather.
Nothing important.
And yet Momonga found himself enjoying every minute.
Then, just before sunset, Nabe stopped.
Momonga noticed immediately.
“What?”
“Something is ahead.”
“How many?”
“At least thirty.”
“Monsters?”
“No.”
Momonga looked toward the forest.
“Humans?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Bandits.”
The merchant overheard.
“What?”
Momonga raised a hand.
“Stop the wagons.”
The caravan stopped.
The guards looked confused.
Then arrows flew from the trees.
One struck a wagon.
Another struck the ground.
Panic erupted.
“Bandits!”
Momonga stepped forward.
Nabe was already moving.
But Momonga stopped her.
“Wait.”
“Why?”
“Let’s see what they want.”
A man stepped onto the road.
He wore leather armor and carried a sword.
“Leave the wagons and walk away.”
Momonga stared at him.
The man looked at Nabe.
Then at Momonga.
His face became confused.
“Is that an undead?”
“Yes.”
The bandit leader frowned.
“You’re adventurers?”
“Yes.”
“What rank?”
Momonga smiled.
“Copper.”
The bandits laughed.
Several of them stepped out of the trees.
Momonga counted.
Forty-three.
Most were poorly equipped.
A few had decent weapons.
Two had bows.
One had magic.
Very low-level magic.
Momonga glanced at Nabe.
She understood.
They could handle this easily.
But Momonga wanted to learn something.
Not about the bandits.
About himself.
He stepped forward.
“Leave.”
The bandit leader laughed.
“You’re outnumbered.”
Momonga looked at the forty-three men.
Then back at him.
“No.”
The leader’s smile disappeared.
“You are.”
Momonga shook his head.
“I’m not.”
He pointed at himself.
“There’s me.”
Then at Nabe.
“There’s her.”
He smiled.
“That’s enough.”
The bandits charged.
Nabe moved first.
A flash of silver.
Then another.
Weapons fell from hands.
Men collapsed.
Momonga cast a simple spell.
Magic Arrow.
The bolts struck weapons, shields, and bows rather than bodies.
The bandits froze.
They suddenly understood.
They were hopelessly outmatched.
Momonga walked toward their leader.
The man dropped his sword.
“Please.”
Momonga stopped.
“Where did you come from?”
The bandit swallowed.
“South.”
“Why attack merchants?”
“We’re starving.”
Momonga looked at the caravan.
Then back at the man.
“How many people are with you?”
“Forty-three.”
“Families?”
The man nodded.
“Some.”
Momonga sighed.
This wasn’t the answer he expected.
He looked at Nabe.
She waited.
Momonga turned toward the merchant.
“How much food can you spare?”
The merchant stared.
“What?”
“Food.”
“For them?”
“Yes.”
“They attacked us!”
“I know.”
The merchant looked furious.
Momonga remained calm.
“If we kill them, their families may starve.”
The merchant hesitated.
Momonga continued.
“You can report the attack to the guild.”
The merchant stared.
“Then why help them?”
Momonga looked toward the road.
“Because I don’t think killing hungry people solves hunger.”
Silence.
Finally, the merchant sighed.
“Fine.”
He ordered several sacks of grain to be brought forward.
The bandits stared.
The leader looked at Momonga.
“Why?”
Momonga smiled.
“Consider it an investment.”
“In what?”
“Your decision not to rob us again.”
The man nodded slowly.
“I won’t.”
Momonga turned away.
“Good.”
Nabe followed him.
After several minutes she spoke.
“You spared them.”
“Yes.”
“You gave them food.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Momonga looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
Nabe was silent.
Momonga smiled.
“Maybe I’m trying to figure out what kind of person I want to be.”
Nabe considered that.
Then she nodded.
“I think that is acceptable.”
That night, the caravan stopped beside a river.
The merchant shared dinner with them.
Momonga sat beside the fire.
He couldn’t eat much.
But he enjoyed the smell.
Nabe sat beside him.
The stars appeared overhead.
The same stars.
The same strange, beautiful sky.
Momonga looked at them.
“I wonder what the others would think of this.”
Nabe looked at him.
“The other Supreme Beings?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Touch Me would probably try to help everyone.”
“Probably.”
“Ulbert would complain.”
“Certainly.”
“Peroroncino would…”
Momonga stopped.
Nabe waited.
Momonga laughed.
“Never mind.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Nabe said:
“I am glad you chose me.”
Momonga looked at her.
The words were so unexpected that he didn’t know how to answer.
Nabe continued.
“If you had chosen another NPC…”
She paused.
“I would not have wanted it to be anyone else.”
Momonga’s expression softened.
“I don’t regret it.”
Nabe nodded.
“Good.”
The fire crackled.
The caravan slept.
The river flowed.
And far away, beyond the road, the New World continued moving.
Momonga did not know it yet.
But his decision to become an adventurer had already put him on a path that would eventually cross with princesses, kings, monsters, heroes, vampires, magic casters…
And one particular blue-haired woman whose fate had once been very different.
For now, however, he had only one concern.
Tomorrow morning, he needed to find a way to increase his adventurer rank.
Because copper was beginning to feel embarrassing.