Towards the absent man she expressed her true thoughts.
“Even if all of Nazarick were to turn against you, I would still stand by your side.”
Part 3
“Come, come, come, Momon-san, please find an empty seat.”
There were six men in the room, three of whom were fully armed and ferocious-looking men. Another man, though also mighty and majestic but unarmed, stood up and welcomed Ainz. There was another thin and neurotic-looking man wearing a robe. The last was an obese man in the innermost corner of the room.
After Ainz sat down with everyone’s gaze upon him, the man standing up immediately opened his mouth again.
“Let me introduce myself then. I am the leader of this city’s Adventurers’ Guild, Burdon Issac.”
This middle-aged man looked quite capable and vigorous.
Exuding the atmosphere of a veteran of a hundred battles, there should be nobody who would question him being an outstanding warrior.
“This is the mayor, Panasolei Gierge Di Leitenmaya-san.”
After Ainz slightly nodded, Panasolei lightly waved his hand in response.
Obese — no, to be honest, basically his entire body was fat. His belly was a mass of bloated fatty oil, and even his chin consisted of excessive fat. Because it was covered with fat, his face looked like that of an unremarkable obese bulldog.
The hair on his scalp was already thin enough to reflect light, and the remaining hair had already turned white.
“Momon-san, pleased to meet you.”
Perhaps it was due to a stuffy nose, but when he spoke he would let out a fuee noise. Ainz once again nodded in acknowledgement to this fat, piggish man.
“This person is Re-Lantier’s Magician Guild Leader Theo Rakesheer.”
The man was extremely thin, like bamboo. While giving off a nervous disposition, the man nodded towards Ainz.
”Like you, these three men were invited to join us. They are all representatives from three of Re-Lantier’s adventurer teams that we take pride in. From the right to the left is Kuragura’s representative Igavaruji-san, Sky Wolf’s representative Berette-san, and Rainbow’s representative Mokunaku-san.”
The postures of these three men were magnificent and gave off the impression of strength, befitting the color — mithril— of the metal that hung around their necks. Although the equipment they wore was certainly trash for Ainz, for the adventurers of this city it was relatively much better.
Each person’s eyes carried a different emotion, but one common sentiment between all of them was curiosity.
One of them— Kuragura’s representative Igavaruji, glared with sharp eyes at the seated Ainz and asked coldly:
“Before this, there is something I would like to inquire about, Guild Leader Issac. I have never heard of the name Momon. Since he is of mithril class, he should have accomplished some feats before right? Just what has he done?”
Although his tone carried a little hostility, Issac, who seemed to not notice, cheerfully responded:
“His feats include taming the Virtuous King of the Forest, and resolving the cemetery incident last night.”
“The cemetery incident?”
Differing from the confused Igavaruji, the adventurer team Rainbow’s representative Mokunaku let out a gasp.
“Could it be the incident involving the large number of undead?”
“Fueee— You are quite well informed. That news was quite troublesome, that is why orders have already been issued requesting no leaking of this information. Where did you hear about it from?”
Whether or not due to nasal congestion, a ‘fuee’ noise would often be heard during his speeches. It could also be because he used his mouth to breathe that his tone had almost no cadence. It felt a little strange, like he was reciting a play script word for word.
“Apologies mayor. I also heard little about it, and truth be told it is difficult to answer your question of the source from where it was overheard. On top of that, I do not know of any more details.”
As their eyes clashed, both men smiled. Mokunaku had a false smile whilst the mayor had a wry smile.
“Fueee— sounds like a lie, but so be it. There should be plenty of people who know about the undead incident anyways. Fuee— sorry, I’ve unintentionally interrupted.”
“It doesn’t matter mayor. As such the Guild has concluded its judgment and believes that Momon-san is qualified to be a mithril grade adventurer.”
“Just for that? Because he solved one incident? What about the adventurers who went through the advancement tests and rose step-by-step? Won’t they hold a grudge?”
The bare minimum of politeness demonstrated towards Issac earlier had completely disappeared as Igavaruji openly revealed hostile intent. At that moment, another cold voice joined from the side.
“Hey Guild leader, explain it clearly. To be honest, I share his sentiment. I don’t agree with Momon-san’s mithril rank.”
The one who interrupted from the side was the Magician’s Guild leader— Rakesheer. He had a mocking expression on his face, but then Ainz understood that expression was in fact not directed at himself, but at Igavaruji. However, the man himself did not seem to recognise this and Igavaruji showed a friendly smile towards Rakesheer.
“Between the Magician Guild’s Leader and I, great minds think alike.”
“Ho, ho ho.”
As if hearing something hilarious, Rakesheer’s thin lips curved to become even thinner. This wasn’t an expression of good will, because his eyes clearly showed his contempt.
“Is that so? I feel that your view and my view are as different as night and day.”
“What do you mean by this—”
“It’s true, don’t argue Igavaruji-san. Some in the Guild even reckon that Momon-san should be orichalcum class.”
“What!”
Igavaruji’s face showed plain disbelief.
Seeing that expression, Rakesheer entire face twisted in a smile.
“With only two people, Momon-san— no, including the Virtuous King of the Forest, the three of them broke through thousands of undead, and defeated the individuals in the middle of carrying out an evil ritual.”
“—Something like that is simple if you’re stealthy enough!”
Rakesheer dramatically sighed and said:
“What you say is indeed correct. If I thought it was just that, then Momon-san would still not be orichalum class. However a certain set of undead bones revealed Momon-san’s true strength.”
After Rakesheer said these words, he looked with solemn eyes at Ainz who was wearing dark armor.
“…Skeletal Dragon bones. Momon-san killed a terrifying undead with absolute defense against magic.”
“That, that..! A S-Skeletal Dragon is indeed very powerful! But then, even mithril class adventurers are able to def—”
“— defeat two at the same time?”
“What!”
The gasps came not only from Igavaruji, but also from the other two adventurers. Following this, the way the two men looked at Ainz appeared to have undergone a slight change, as if trying to gauge the depth of his skills.
“The remains of two Skeletal Dragons were left on the scene. Within such a short amount of time, would your teams be able to break through thousands of undead, exterminate two Skeletal Dragons and kill the instigators, preventing them from setting their scheme in motion? Amongst the adventurers who headed towards the cemetery, there were even some who witnessed wraiths, the twisted souls of the departed, and other powerful undead.
Igavaruji wordlessly bit his lip.
“Let me ask you another question. Allegedly, apart from Momon-san there was also a woman in his team. That young woman was a magic caster. Against Skeletal Dragons, which have absolute immunity against magic, she could only be said to be quite powerless. In this kind of situation, if you likewise only had two people… No, including the Virtuous King of the Forest, three people, would it be enough to accomplish that kind of feat?”