Lydia's POV
After our 'confrontation' with the Wise King of the Forest, Ainz and I rejoined the others, followed by the giant hamster in stride.
During the whole walk back, she eyed me with a gaze I can only describe as impatient. But she'll have to wait a little longer still.
Of course, I told her mine and Ainz's real names while walking, and in response, she swore loyalty to us once more, this time using our names.
Once we reached the others, they spotted us immediately, as well as the giant hamster behind us, which startled them. But, seeing no reaction from us or the 'beast', they soon calmed down.
Ainz even added, "Don’t worry, everyone. He has submitted to us and won’t go berserk and harm people."
"Her," I add, causing Ainz to turn his head to look at me in confusion. So I elaborate, "Her. She's female."
After maybe a second of hesitation, Ainz asked, "How do you know that?"
To which I just shrugged and replied, "A hunch," and he gave up thinking about it as he turned back to the group in front of us.
"Anyway, she has fully submitted to us; don't worry about it," he repeated.
The Wise King of the Forest raises her head and announces proudly, "As my lord said, this Wise King of the Forest has sworn fealty to my lords and serves them as a vassal. I swear to my lords that I will not cause trouble for anyone!"
At first, I thought that we would have some trouble convincing them that this cutie is the Wise King of the Forest, but it turned out that wasn't the case.
"This is the Wise King of the Forest! Amazing, what a grand beast!" exclaimed Ninya with excitement.
Both Ainz and I turn our heads to look at him curiously. At first, I thought he was teasing, but he's serious.
She is indeed grand in her cuteness, but calling her a "grand beast" is a bit much... There is nothing bestial about her, just a cute, giant furball.
I should try riding her. I'm sure her fur would feel heavenly to sit on or even lie on.
"Wow, this Wise King of the Forest... is as great as the legends! I can feel its tremendous power just by being in its presence!" exclaimed Dyne right after Ninya's words, bringing my attention back to the conversation.
"We would definitely be wiped out if we encountered such a monster. As expected of you. You are too good," commented Peter.
Are they serious? Like... 100% serious? I can kind of understand that she's powerful for a common inhabitant of the New World, but still...
Or perhaps...
I turn my attention back to the hamster, cutting out the conversation as I focus on her.
Do her sigils on her belly have something to do with this?
Perhaps one of them gives her some kind of passive charisma buff?
As far as I can see, she has eight sigils on her belly. Perhaps some of them explain how she ended up as she is now? But each of them seems to be made to cast a specific spell rather than mutate her.
A sigil allows her to cast 'Blindness', another 'Charm Species', and a third allows her to cast 'Extension', which I assume is what she used when attacking with her tail. A fourth allows her to cast 'Solidification'. A fifth allows her to use 'Order'. The sixth allows her to use 'Sharp Senses'. The seventh allows her to use 'Magic Missile'. And the eighth allows her to use 'Shock Wave'.
So, yeah. None of them explains how she got so big, nor how her tail became like that.
But the most obvious question remains.
How did she get those sigils in the first place? She obviously isn't the one who put them there herself. I'll ask her once we are done here and have brought her to the 11th floor.
But still, their existence in itself is interesting. I already suspected that magic had a language after observing magic circles, but the sigils are proof that this language isn't restricted to only them.
I instinctively understand it, but I don't know it.
Or do I?
After all, how can I understand a language I don't know?
I'll look into it later; I already have a lot to try.
But the idea of using the language of mana is interesting in itself and... I don't know how to describe it... but... using it feels... right. In a weird way. As if that were the language I'm meant to use rather than anything else.
I don't even know why I'm thinking that since I've never used it, but... this is what I feel at my core. As if something in it is calling me.
Perhaps those are my instincts as a Child of Mana? That would make sense.
My attention is brought back to reality when everyone starts moving towards the village.
Did I zone out for the entire discussion?
Meh, I'm sure nothing interesting was said anyway.
After that, we spent the night at the village before going back to E-Rantel.
The journey back to E-Rantel is estimated to last about three days. Since we have the Wise King of the Forest with us this time, I traveled mounted on her rather than being seated at the back of the carriage.
She is so soft...
It doesn't bother her either since, according to her, I'm not heavy at all.
At some point, Ninya walked closer to me and started talking.
He seems very curious about my abilities and how I got so powerful.
I suppose I got a bit carried away about trying the spell I had come up with, huh?
Now, I need to find an excuse... Okay, let me stall for a bit as I think about it.
"Why do you want to know?" I asked in response to his curiosity.
I can't help but notice the not-so-subtle gaze of the other members of the Swords of Darkness on us.
"Well... I need to become powerful in order to accomplish my goal," he replied with a distant gaze, as if his mind were elsewhere.
"I'm not sure I can be of much assistance..." I replied evasively.
I'm playing the role of a miko, a divine magic caster. Officially, I can't help an arcane magic caster since those are two completely different fields of magic with their own distinct rules. And that look in his eyes speaks of something deeply personal. If I can help it, I'd rather not get involved.
Contrary to my expectations, instead of being disappointed, Ninya let out a soft chuckle and said, "You are too modest, Lily-san. Even though we are from different fields of magic, your insight could be extremely helpful."
That didn't convince him to give up asking?
"I didn't exactly reach my power through conventional means... I don't think I have any helpful insight to give. And... no, nothing..." I continue, hesitating at the end since no other arguments come to mind.
This should make him stop, at least.
I see Ninya's gaze, as well as those of the rest of the Swords of Darkness, softening at my words into something close to pity, as if they understand something tragic.
Why are they all looking at me like that? I just turned down their friend.
Now I'm feeling guilty.
"Well..." I begin, catching their attention once more. "How about we become friends?" I ask, twining my fingers timidly around one another.
I've never asked someone to be my friend like this before... It's even more embarrassing than I expected. Even more so when he's just staring at me in silence in what I can only assume to be surprise.
"I'm not sure how helpful I can be... but I can try—" I continue at his silence, fidgeting with my fingers anxiously.
"—Yes, of course!" interrupts Ninya with much more excitement than I ever saw him having.
"Huh? Oh... Then... ask whatever questions you have; I'll try to help," I exclaim, surprised and a little excited.
After that, there followed a lengthy conversation about magic between the two of us while everyone else looked at us both softly.
I tried to guide him to the right path without making it obvious that I knew what I was talking about, but he is much more knowledgeable on magic than I gave him credit for.
When I asked him how he knew so much already, he told me that his old master was the one who taught him everything about the arcane arts.
The conversation then shifted towards his master, and he spoke of him fondly.
Apparently, his master is one of, if not the, most powerful magic casters in the world. And Ninya was handpicked to be one of his apprentices thanks to his talent.
His name is Fluder Paradyne. Ninya said many interesting things about this man, and the more I hear about him, the more I want to meet him one day.
He is apparently a very old man who has slowed his aging through his mastery of the arcane. He is also very close to casting 6th-tier spells, something unheard of before for a human.
Ninya also told me that Fluder is a man who swears only to magic and that his faith is in whatever god governs magic.
Apparently, the reason this man takes apprentices is that he hopes that one of them will eventually surpass him so that he can learn from them, as he believes he has reached his own limits when it comes to what he can learn alone.
Do the humans of the New World have a level cap lower than 100? That would perhaps explain why Fluder cannot make any more progress. Or perhaps he reached the top level of his job classes and never took another one.
Unlike us heteromorphs, who have to balance our racial class levels and job class levels, humans and humanoids have all 100 levels available for job classes. It is extremely difficult to reach level 100 with only one specialty since the high-level evolutions of a class are usually locked behind strict and difficult conditions.
For someone who lives by very similar rules to YGGDRASIL but without its interface, fulfilling those conditions without even knowing they exist is borderline impossible.
Perhaps I could help him. I'm sure that, in the library of the manor on the 11th floor, I have a book somewhere that could help him. I have such a large collection that I'll be more surprised if I don't have one that could help.
And for someone who loves magic as much as I do, I could perhaps even turn him into a Spirit of Magic.
I still have the quest item that I used the first time I became a Spirit of Magic. It's a ritual book that shows how to perform the ritual to transform into a Spirit of Magic. I keep it with the rest of my book collection, but this one, as well as the others that served me for the special evolutions of the Spirit of Magic race, is in a special place.
We spent the first day of travel speaking about magic with Ninya, then the second about his old master.
On the third day, Ninya told me why he wanted to become stronger and why he left the tutelage of his master.
Apparently, his sister has been taken away by a noble, and he wants to save her. He described the noble as a fat pig with lecherous eyes.
He explained that since they came from a poor family of farmers, they couldn't do anything to stop him from taking her away, and the kingdom just looked the other way since he is a noble.
Yeah... the familiar tale of those in power abusing it to do whatever they want to the detriment of those below them.
I feel my blood (mana) boil just thinking about those too-familiar kinds of people. Back in my world it was the same, but instead of nobles, it was the rich who abused their wealth to do whatever they wanted.
The society Ainz and I come from is the example of what happens when those people get too much power and greed takes over everything else.
The megacorporations became so large that they took over the government. And since there was nothing else to stop them, they basically enslaved the whole population and polluted the world until it became unrecognizable. It was to the point that the air itself became poisonous and the rain became acidic. Even the sun was taken away from us because of the permanent clouds of pollution that surrounded the entire planet.
On top of that, the wealthy and those at the top of the hierarchy of the megacorporations were the ones who had access to all the luxuries needed to live a comfortable life: education, equipment, healthcare, and much more.
They very often do as they please and abuse the less fortunate for their own amusement.
I myself barely went to school. I only managed to get a position as a secretary in real life thanks to what my parents taught me before they died. The rest of my knowledge came after I got my position and from what I learned from either the internet, friends, or books I could find in YGGDRASIL.
This is why I loved reading in YGGDRASIL; some of the books you could find were about subjects from real life rather than the game, and reading them gave me the impression of doing what I was denied by the megacorporations: learning.
That, and the world of YGGDRASIL, was just that much more exciting and colorful than real life. If I could only have a limited amount of knowledge of the real world, then I wanted to know everything about the world of YGGDRASIL.
Anyway, learning about Ninya's story made me want to help him, so I told him that if he ever needed help with it, he could come find me, and I'd gladly help.
He accepted my words with a nod and a smile.
After that, the rest of our travel went smoothly, and we arrived at E-Rantel in the evening of the third day.
I, of course, kept practicing with the Eye of Heimdall during those three days as I kept looking out for threats or simply admiring the scenery. And I'm quite proud to say that I believe I'm making some good progress with it.
I'm no longer easily overwhelmed by seeing and hearing everything around me at the same time, and I can now more easily split my focus between multiple things simultaneously.
While it is still nowhere near the maximum of the Eye of Heimdall, it is still good progress. Small steps at a time.
I just need to keep it up, and one day, I'll be able to use it to its full potential.
Well, of course, now I have to overcome this new challenge: the bustling city of E-Rantel.
It's nothing like the quiet plains and forest. The number of people and activity in E-Rantel increased the difficulty by a large margin, but as proof of my progress, even in those conditions, I managed to keep up.
I'm not at the point where I can encompass the entire city within my senses without getting overwhelmed yet, but I could easily sweep it if I had to search for something.
While Ainz and I headed to the guild to submit our quest and collect our reward, Nfirea returned to his shop to store his harvest, helped by the Swords of Darkness.
I kept an eye on them out of curiosity, but everything went smoothly on their end, and they even had a pleasant discussion.
On our end, we had to register the Wise King of the Forest with the guild and in our party under the awed gaze of the other adventurers. She also asked us to give her a name, and Ainz decided to name her Hamsuke.
When I asked him why, he replied that it was the first name that came to his mind when thinking of a name for her.
We even had to stay an entire hour after that at the guild because someone wanted to draw a portrait of us with Hamsuke.
When we finally got out, we crossed the street on the back of Hamsuke at her own insistence in the matter. Everyone in the streets looked at us with awe, respect, or fear in their eyes.
I sat with both legs on one side, because if I didn't, I would have been forced into the same embarrassing posture as Ainz just to keep my balance on her back.
Ainz has his two legs spread wide and his butt is forced to point upwards behind him.
For his sake, I act as if I haven't noticed.
At some point, we were stopped by an old lady who called us out.
"Hey, are you the group who went to harvest herbs with my grandson?" she asked.
She's Nfirea's grandmother? I'm pretty sure he mentioned her at some point.
"Who might you be?" asked back Ainz.
"I am Lizzie Bareare, grandmother of Nfirea," she replied, confirming my thoughts.
"Ah! So it is you? You are correct; I escorted Nfirea to Carne Village. My name is Momon. This is Lily," he presented us both.
"Hi," I greeted her as well with a smile and a small wave.
"Aren't you a cutie, girl? What is the monster you are riding known as?" she complimented me with a respectful bow before asking.
"This is the Wise King of the Forest," I replied, my smile growing a bit wider at the unexpected compliment.
Hamsuke raised her head and exclaimed, "This king is Hamsuke! Pleased to meet you!"
"What! This fearsome monster is the legendary Wise King of the Forest?!" she exclaimed in shock.
The adventurers eavesdropping nearby also looked surprised as they started to whisper to one another things such as "Is that the legendary monster?" and other things of the like.
"Yes, as requested by your grandson, Lily tamed it after an encounter at the destination," explained Ainz.
"To... tame the Wise King of the Forest..." she stuttered before regaining her calm and asking, "Well... where is my grandson?"
After that, I kind of zoned out of the conversation, and it led to Lizzie accompanying us to her shop to reunite with Nfirea.
I zoned out because I noticed something weird.
Who are those two weirdos trailing us from the alleys?
One looks like a woman with short orange hair and sharp crimson eyes. She is covered from head to toe by a dark cloak. She could have been considered beautiful, but her gaze ruins her beauty. She has the same eyes as a predator eyeing its prey.
The other is a sickly pale old man adorned with the most stereotypical attire of a necromancer. He looks like it's been years since the last time he went under the sun. He also looks more like an undead than a human, with his sunken eyes, the lack of eyebrows, his bald head, and his complete lack of muscle under the skin.
They follow us in silence until we reach the shop. Only then do I see them do something. The old man casts a silencing spell over the shop while the woman enters by the back door.
Inside the shop, we reunite with Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness, but the reunion is quickly cut short by the lantern going dark and the woman appearing from behind.
"Who are you!?" Lizzie is the first to react to the intruder.
"Me? No one in particular~ I just came here for her~" she replied, pointing her weapon toward me.
Huh?
"Oh, and also this one as well~" she continued, turning her weapon to Nfirea. "After all, why shouldn't we treat ourselves to such a talent when it falls into our laps, right?~ Well, it's mostly an assurance just in case the miko doesn't meet expectations.~"
At her words, the Swords of Darkness place themselves in formation in front of Nfirea while Ainz places himself in front of me and Lizzie.
"And what do you want from me?" I asked with a frown.
She smiles sweetly before suddenly lunging at me with her estoc, ready to pierce my shoulder. She passes effortlessly beside the Swords of Darkness as they are unable to react to her speed; even Ainz has a bit of latency because of the armor, as he didn't cast [Perfect Warrior] on himself in case he needed to use spells.
[Sage Gaze] told me that her weapon is enchanted to paralyze what it pierces. Of course, it won't work on me, but I need to keep my disguise under so many witnesses.
I raise a hand and cast, "[Holy Barrier]."
A yellow, translucent barrier materializes in front of me and stops her attack.
She quickly jumps away as Ainz's sword strikes where she was an instant ago, creating a gust of wind similar to a shockwave upon impact and creating a small crater in the ground.
The Swords of Darkness stared at him with awe for a second before focusing back on the woman, but a second was all she needed to grab Nfirea and jump back to her initial position with Nfirea by her side and a blade at his throat.
Her smile grows into a maniacal smirk as she seems to only grow more excited by the resistance.
"You reacted to that?" She sounded genuinely impressed. "Yes, yes, you'll do just fine, my dear miko.~ How about it?~ I give you back this young man, and in exchange, you come with us willingly?~" she sings playfully, her eyes gleaming maliciously.
"What do you need me for?" I ask again.
"Oh, nothing special, really.~ We just need you to wear a small trinket and cast the 7th-tier spell [Legion of Undead] for us before unleashing them on E-Rantel~," she explains as if it were nothing.
"And if I refuse?" I ask before anyone else can speak up.
"If you refuse, well~, I suppose this boy will do~. His talent allows him to use any magic item, right? Oh, and I can't guarantee he'll come out of it unscathed, hehehehe~," she explains with a sadistic giggle.
"And what makes you think we will just let you do whatever you want?" asked Ainz.
"Hmm, I'll admit your strength is impressive, but it's useless if you can't touch me, right?~ And have you forgotten that I have a hostage? One wrong move and I pierce his throat right here and now. I don't need him if the miko follows me like a good girl.~" To emphasize her point, the pointy end of her estoc is pressed against Nfirea's throat.
"So, what's your answer, Miko? Are you going to refuse even if it means his death? Or are you going to accept and sacrifice yourself to spare everyone here?"
I hesitate. I could save him right here and now before she can react, but that would blow my cover.
Oh... Oh. I could just do that...
"Okay, I'll follow you. Let him go."
"Heh, don't be impatient, cutie.~ Come over first~. Did you believe I would just hand over my hostage like that?~"
She gestured with her free hand for me to come closer and, with a sigh, I began walking under the gaze of everyone present.
As I walk, I use [Telepathy] to create a link with Ainz and, once it connects, I say, {Don't worry, I have a plan.}
The only thing that bothers me in this exchange is that I'm not sure she'll hand over Nfirea. What's most likely to happen is that she'll stab me to paralyze me, then stab Nfirea as well and bring us both—me for her plan, and Nfirea as a hostage to make sure she isn't followed, and as insurance in case I don't fill the requirements for whatever item is her 'trinket'.
And as I thought, she did just that. She first stabbed me in the shoulder, and I pretended to lose control of my body as I simulated the resistance of flesh and the blood flowing out of my shoulder. She caught me with her free hand before carelessly stabbing Nfirea in the back, paralyzing him as well.
I'm sorry, Nfirea, but bear with it for a little while.
"I'll keep the boy to make sure, but don't follow me, okay?~"
"What?!" shouts Peter.
"Oh? Are you surprised?~ Too bad that she can't make me keep my word, right?~ See ya~"
With that, she disappeared into the shadows with me and Nfirea in tow. The old man who didn't show up is the one who is transporting us away.
Narrator's POV
Silence settles in the shop. Everyone's gaze lingers where the woman who took Nfirea and Lily was.
They are all furious. Furious at the woman's treason and furious at their own powerlessness. They could barely speak under the woman's killing intent.
Even Lizzie Bareare, the most powerful magic caster in the room, capable of casting 3rd-tier spells, could barely focus under such intense killing intent.
They feel guilty for having forced Lily to sacrifice herself because of their own weakness.
The only exception is Momon, who stands motionless. Lily's last words, "Don't worry, I have a plan," resonate in his mind. Yet, an irrational part of him can't help but hate what he just witnessed. Even knowing that the blood was fake and that she surely didn't even feel pain, seeing her get stabbed like that put him in a very bad mood.
His emotional regulator triggers, and as his emotions settle, for the first time, he feels furious at his own undead constitution forcing him to feel nothing after witnessing his last friend get stabbed and kidnapped in front of him. It is enough to trigger the regulator a second time.
Yet, the fury stays just long enough for him to vent on the nearby wall by striking it with the side of his fist with all his might.
The strike provokes a booming impact sound and a shockwave-like gust of wind, waking up everyone else from their stupor.
They all turn towards Momon and the hole in the wall.
Seeing their gaze on him, he spoke up, "I'll go look for Lily." His tone was colder than anything they had ever heard from him. The pressure coming off him was like a glacial wind, surpassing even the killing intent of the woman.
"T-then, can I hire you to rescue Nfirea as well?" asked Lizzie, refusing to falter a second time in order to save her grandson.
Momon's head turned to look at Lizzie, and she could swear that his eyes were glowing red under his helmet.
"And what are you ready to give me in exchange?" he asked.
"What?" she blurted out in confusion.
"This is a request for an adventurer, right? What are you ready to give in order to save your grandson? Keep in mind that I'm the strongest adventurer in this town, so my services aren't cheap," he explained.
"Anything you want! Name your price!" she exclaimed, ready to pay any price to save her grandson.
"Everything," he replied coldly.
"What?!" Lizzie shouts in shock.
"I'm ready to sacrifice everything in order to save my daughter. You should be able to do the same, right?"
"Your daughter... It is said that to get one's wish, one must first sacrifice their soul to the devil. If your daughter is an angel, you are the devil!"
"Momon..." Peter tried to interfere, but a single look from him caused him and the rest of the Swords of Darkness to back down.
"Well, what is your answer, Lizzie Bareare?"
"Hmm... Alright! Everything is yours if you can bring back Nfirea alive!"
"Good. Then go and warn the guards of what we learned from that woman. She's confident enough to reveal her plan, so she must not be underestimated," he commands.
Ainz's POV
My eyes follow the woman rushing out of the building.
Good grief... I suppose I was a little too harsh on the grandma, but in the end, if she doesn't own anything in E-Rantel anymore, then she and her grandson would have to move somewhere else. And given Nfirea's relation with Carne Village, there is a good chance that they'll go there.
They'll be easier to monitor there, and if Nfirea manages to reproduce a potion from YGGDRASIL without the ingredients, he'll become a valuable asset for Nazarick, as our reserves aren't infinite and I can't just rely on Lydia to solve the problem forever.
I suppose that wasn't what you had in mind, Lydia, but you offered me an excellent opportunity.
"Hmm, Momon-san?" I hear Peter calling me once more.
"What?" I ask as I turn to look at him a second time.
I see it in their eyes that they don't look at me as they did before. I see disappointment, disapproval, and other complicated feelings I don't feel like analyzing. Perhaps they disapprove of what I did with Lizzie, but honestly, I couldn't care less what they think of me after that.
"Please, allow us to help in rescuing Lily," he asked—no, begged, and I see the other members of the Swords of Darkness nodding behind him.
"No. You'll only get in the way," I refused.
"Please, Momon-san!" This time, it's Ninya who speaks up. "She is our friend, and we can't just stay idle after she sacrificed herself for our sake."
"Indeed, it would be more than shameless to leave her to her fate after that," added Dyne.
"We aren't doing that for you; we want to do it for her sake," comments Lukruth.
I wanted to point out that she sacrificed herself for Nfirea and not them, but I guess he's right in a way. Nothing confirms that she would have stopped at Nfirea. And she had the eyes of someone who enjoys tormenting others.
I let out an annoyed sigh before saying, "Fine, but don't get in my way; I'm going to burn through my resources to find her. You can stay if you want, but don't bother me."
Without waiting for an answer, I take a bag out from behind my back. I actually took it from my inventory, but I need to put up a front before them.
From this bag, I took a magical scroll and placed it on the table.
"This scroll was created by Lily," I explained, creating a reason as to why I had them.
"Did she write it before—" Ninya began, but I interrupted him.
"—Now is not the time for that. Do any of you have a map of the city?" I asked.
"I do," replied Peter as he took out a map from his bag.
Without wasting any time, I activated the scroll, "[Locate Object]," targeting Lydia's blindfold.
The scroll burned in blue flames before the position was revealed to me in my mind. I pointed at the cemetery on the map. "There."
"Now, let's go before they start to do things they'll regret," I commanded coldly as I left the store, not bothering to check if they followed me or not.
Usually, I would have taken more precaution and waited for them to cause a little bit of chaos so as to increase my fame after resolving the crisis, but for some reason, I really didn't want to waste any time.