“Oh, so there’s only—”
Ainz closed his mouth before he could blurt out “one hatchling”. Referring to them as people would probably be more prudent. While none of them would actually express displeasure at his choice of words, that did not mean Ainz could casually make mistakes. If his poorly chosen words led to problems in Cocytus’ rule, Ainz would not know where to begin apologizing.
“—Only one child, then?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Just one.”
“Oh… I see. Only one child, then.”
It would seem they differed from reptiles, who had big clutches. Still, as long as the couple had a good relationship, they might well have more children in the future.
Ainz felt the collector’s blood stir within him. He kind of wanted to know if he could have one of them to play with, but forcefully separating a child from its parents was a poor thing to do.
However, he had heard that the Lizardmen had a tradition of branding themselves before travelling on long journeys. If Zaryusu’s child chose that path, then he might be able to train them up as an adventurer.
The Adventurer’s Guild Ainz envisioned was an organization made up of many species. If he could get a rarely-seen Lizardman in there, it might end up being good for publicity, like an idol enrolling in a school.
“How are the mother and child? Are they being fed well?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Many thanks for your kind concern. The mother and child are in good health, and the child looks like it will grow to be exceptionally lively.”
“Really now, is that so. This is certainly cause for celebration. Then, to commemorate the birth of a child with a glorious future ahead of him, permit me to present a gift. However, I am not fully apprised of the intricacies of birth-gifts within Lizardman culture. Share your opinion with me, then; what would be a good present?”
It would be terribly boring to give fish or something in place of a birthday cake. He would rather give them something more tangible and permanent.
“I understand. While my tribe does not have the practice of giving gifts to celebrate births… I feel that Zaryusu would be delighted to receive arms and armor.”
“Wargear, then… umu.”
If possible, he would have liked to give something which would please his wife as well, but since armor would protect her husband’s life, one could say that it would indirectly make her happy.
Just then, Kyuku fearfully spoke up.
“—May your servant venture a question, Your Majesty?”
“What is it?”
“Why is Zaryusu worthy of such high praise?”
The fact was that Ainz had no intention of praising Zaryusu. He merely thought of him as the husband of a rare white Lizardman. Still, he could not actually say that, so he racked his brains for an excuse to give.
“…He is an outstanding man. In truth, I hear that his training in Nazarick has shown admirable results. As such, I shall reward loyalty and excellence with matching largesse.”
“I am eternally grateful for your kind words, Your Majesty. We shall strive to show greater loyalty and devotion in the future.”
“Mm. Hold on to that determination of yours.”
After nodding in a magnanimous manner, Ainz considered if there was anything else he wanted to ask. A truly excellent ruler would probably want to hear about the status of the Lizardmen’s villages and compare it to Cocytus’ reports, and as such he would immediately have more in-depth questions to ask. However, Ainz could not do that.
Just as Ainz was about to dismiss him, something came to mind.
“This may not concern your village, but what do you know about the Dwarves of the Azellisia Mountain Range?”
The village of the Lizardmen was located at the base of the Azellisia Mountain Range.
“Your Majesty, I have heard about them before.”
Ainz had not expected an answer to his casually-posed question. Ainz ordered the Lizardman to tell him about the Dwarves as he rejoiced within his heart.
“With the greatest respect, your servant submits that the following was merely overheard from an acquaintance. The Dwarves are a species which builds cities in productive mines, and they use the ores thus extracted to manufacture all manner of wargear. Among those are weapons and armor made of very rare metals.”
“Very rare metals, you say?”
For a moment, Ainz thought that he had gulped in surprise.
Those words were extremely tempting to a player that loved collecting rare items.
“Do you know what these metals are called?”
“Regretfully, your servant does not, Your Majesty. My understanding does not reach that far.”
Disappointment set in for Ainz, and he chided himself for his foolish expectations.
While adventuring as Momon, he had learned about metals, but there had been no news about anything harder than adamantite. In this world, even orichalcum and adamantite qualified as ultra-rare metals. It was hard to imagine the exotic metals which the Lizardman had described being anything more than that.
Even so, Ainz could not suppress the swelling anticipation within him.
If they were a race that lived within the earth, would they have access to metals which were rare even by Ainz’s standards?
If… yes, if. What if this world possesses the prismatic ores of YGGDRASIL, and the Dwarves are mining them? Granted, that assumes that there are prismatic ores in this world, but if that was really the case, could it be possible to have them produce a [Caloric Stone] — one of the hidden items of YGGDRASIL?
The [Caloric Stone] was a World-Class Item. It could only be obtained by gathering vast quantities of the prismatic ores and then expending a certain amount of them. Usually, that would entail an extremely difficult process, but Ainz Ooal Gown had accomplished it once.
They had found a hitherto undiscovered mine for Celestial Uranium, one of the seven prismatic ores, and a critical element for the [Caloric Stone].
Under normal circumstances, a guild which found a new mine would thoroughly exploit it before selling its ores on the market. That was because tapped-out mines in YGGDRASIL would slowly recover and be ready for further harvesting. Ainz Ooal Gown had planned to do just that.
That said, the reason why they had managed to attain that World-Class item was entirely due to an extraordinary stroke of luck.
At first, they had let the prismatic ores trickle into the market, hoping to drive the price up due to their rarity. And then, the large stockpiles of prismatic ore in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick underwent a spontaneous reaction.
Ainz could still vividly recall the bizarre mood in the air, generated by everyone as they realized almost all the prismatic ores had disappeared, and in their place was an item which had rolled to the ground. Should we be happy for this, they wondered as they glanced at each other, a vague look of emptiness on their faces.
After that, they used the [Caloric Stone] when they learned that they could obtain that expendable-type World-Class Item in the same way as before. Then, they tried to produce it again, but sadly, the Celestial Uranium mine was taken from them, and that dream had gone up in smoke.
As Ainz and the others saw the Celestial Uranium being sold at a high price, they were equal parts happy and disgruntled. Given the way it was being handled, there was no way for them to produce a World-Class Item.
A wicked smile appeared on Ainz’s face as he basked in his memories, and he mocked them in his heart.
You idiots. The whole point of monopolizing it is to store up the necessary amount. There’s no way you could make it if you put the ores up for sale. Unless—
Ainz recalled Punitto Moe’s words.