“Of course. If it’s an acquaintance of Momon from ‘Darkness’, even a criminal would be able to enter the city freely if you vouched for them.”
“Is that so. Then, I’m sorry to ask this of you, but please let her in. And I apologize once again, but can you let us, ‘Darkness’, in as well?”
♦ ♦ ♦
Ainz returned to Narberal and Hamsuke with the permit.
“I have the permit. Let’s go in.”
He passed by those standing while riding on top of Hamsuke. He had grabbed the attention of those waiting, but after they spotted the black armour, giant swords, Hamsuke and Narberal, they looked away, as though they had accepted it. They were keenly aware of the clear difference in status between them and Ainz.
He entered E-Rantel while receiving deep, respectful bows from the soldiers.
“Nabe, I have something to request of you.”
“I stand ready to receive any command.”
It was little unsightly for an adventuring comrade to show such signs of loyalty in middle of a city, but Ainz knew it was useless, so he continued.
“A girl called Enri will shortly pass the gate with a cart. Go and discreetly ask her why she’s in E-Rantel.”
Next, Ainz looked for a place to hide himself. It was to avoid further conversation with Enri.
He looked around and decided that a nearby stack of wooden boxes were high enough for him to hide behind and ordered Hamsuke there. The soldiers who were working behind the boxes were surprised by Ainz and Hamsuke’s sudden appearance.
“Soldiers, a moment of your time, if I may? I am curious as to what’s in these boxes.”
Ainz confirmed that he was not visible from the gate and asked the soldiers. In reality, he had no interest in the wooden boxes, but only asked because he did not want to get kicked out as a hindrance.
“Ah, yes, it’s an honour for Momon of Darkness to take interest. This is a vegetable named ‘kinshu’ from Grandel. This is—”
Ainz replied with “Is that so” or “Interesting” to the soldier who explained earnestly. His replies were insincere, but the soldier ignored it and carried on. After Ainz had learned quite a lot on how to cook kinshu, Nabe appeared from behind him.
“—I’m sorry to cut you off. Your explanations were very helpful, but my comrade is back, so please excuse me.”
Ainz announced to the soldier and trotted off on Hamsuke.
“So, what did she say?”
“She first wants me to convey her thanks to Momon-san. She had three objectives. First was to sell the herbs she gathered, the second was to check if anyone at the temple wanted to immigrate and the third was to go to the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Adventurer’s Guild? What kind of quest is she trying to put in?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t ask her that. Should I find her and beat her until she spills the beans?”
“No, don’t do that. We need to go to the Adventurer’s Guild anyways. We should be able to find out through the guild.”
It was probably not something like wanting to thank Ainz Ooal Gown directly. If that was the case, Lupusregina visited the village regularly—
“Speaking of which, Nabe. Did you receive any special report from Lupusregina?”
Ainz frowned —even though he did not have any skin on his face— when he saw Narberal shake her head.
Originally, he had stationed the Shadow Demons at Carne Village, but for the purpose of building a good relationship with them, he had sent Lupusregina instead. He had ordered her to send a report if any problem occurred, but there was not any report so far. So he decided there was nothing problematic happening over at Carne village thus far.
There would not have been a need to report that Enri went to E-Rantel alone, but uneasiness sprouted like clouds deep inside Ainz.
“I thought of Lupusregina as a hard worker. What do you think, Narberal?”
“It is as you say. It might be easy to think of her as insincere due to her way of speaking, but it’s an act. She is an excellent maid who is brutal and cunning.”
Calling someone brutal and cunning was hardly a compliment. Ainz glanced over at Nabe’s face to make sure it was not something she said because she did not hold Lupusregina in high regard, but saw only respect and admiration.
“Then is it alright to head to the Adventurer’s Guild, my lord?”
“Of course. You know the place, right? Then Nabe, hop on behind. There’s no need to take out “Statue of Animaclass="underline" Warhorse” again.”
As soon as Ainz grabbed Narberal’s hand and pulled her up, Hamsuke launched forward as if she had been waiting for it. Ainz no longer felt ashamed of riding Hamsuke around the city. He rather liked how he could talk and give commands to it. It felt like a taxi.
The Adventurer’s Guild came into view, as well as the sight of Enri entering with her cart.
“...Guess it can’t be helped. We’ll use the back door. Hamsuke, go around the back.”
“As you command, my lord!”
Normally, adventurers were not allowed to use the back door, but adamantite adventurers were allowed to do pretty much anything they pleased. It was still the first time he used the back door though. Excessively using his privileges just because he was special would only tarnish his reputation.
He asked the first guild clerk he met after going through the back door to be guided to the guild master. Fortunately, or not, the guild master was in his room.
“Oh, Momon! Welcome!”
The guildmaster, Ainzack, welcomed him with arms wide open. He grabbed Ainz just like that and hugged him. It did not matter too much since he wore his armour and helmet, but if he had worn thin clothes, it was the kind of passionate embrace that he wanted to avoid for more than one reason. There was a light pat on the back before the guildmaster slowly broke off.
“It’s been lonely because you haven’t come around recently. Now, now, take a seat. We’ll talk for a bit while we wait for the members to arrive for the meeting.”
The guildmaster pointed towards the couch with an expression of greeting an old friend.
“Thank you.”
After Ainz had sat down, the guildmaster sat beside him. The distance between the two of them was short and it felt like a suffocatingly short distance, with their knees almost touching each other.
“Momon, we’ve known each other for a long time now. How about speaking informally now?”