“Is that so? That’s fine with me, we can complete the preparations now.”
“Then let’s go.”
Everyone got up and left the room.
After returning to the guild, they found the number of adventurers inside had increased. Several groups could be seen loitering near the parchments, but almost all of them were focused on one young man.
The blond, young man was talking to a receptionist and the other two were also listening carefully. If business was great when Ainz came just now, the situation had taken a 180 degree turn.
The receptionist’s face— no, her mouth was in the shape of an O. It was an expression of shock and she was looking right at Ainz.
What’s happening?
Just when Ainz was feeling baffled, the receptionist got up, walked over and said:
“There is a job request asking for you by name.”
Her words changed the atmosphere drastically and Ainz could feel curious eyes staring at him unreservedly.
The Sword of Darkness members were all surprised.
Seeing the strange twist in atmosphere, Narberal moved slightly. That was preparation for battle in case of emergencies.
Ainz became anxious.
Not good, Narberal’s action were not good. From Narberal’s perspective, she might believe the change in their surroundings to be abnormal and take actions to protect Ainz. But that was too obvious in this scene. Judging from common sense, you would normally not take such actions.
Defending should be the first priority, but this was too thoughtless.
This fool. Albedo is the same, just what are they thinking. No… They’re definitely not using their brains. Just because they discriminate against humans they think it’s fine to squash them like bugs.
Since all members of ‘Ainz Ooal Gown’ were from heteromorphic races, it was unavoidable for them to have such an attitude, but they still needed to be mindful of the right time and place.
The troubled Ainz wanted to ask his past guild mates “Why make this sort of NPC?” While the character setting doesn’t matter, but they should have at least some basic ability to deal with others, and know how to act according to the time, place and situation by reading the mood.
There was no time to lecture here in this situation. If the others noticed that Narberal was preparing for battle, there was no telling how big a mess it would make.
Ainz immediately used his hand to chop Narberal on the head. He didn’t use his full strength, but the strike from the metallic arm seemed to cause some pain. When the confused and surprised Narberal looked at Ainz with teary eyes, he ignored her and asked the receptionist:
“Who made the request?”
Ainz rebuked himself after asking, it was obviously the young man before him.
“Yes. It’s Nfirea Bareare-san.”
He heard this name just now──just as he was thinking that, the youth came over:
“Hello. I am the requester.”
The young man nodded as he greeted Ainz, who also nodded in reply.
“As for the request──”
Ainz interrupted with his hand raised before the young man finished:
“My apologies, but I have already signed a contract for another job, so I can’t take yours.”
The tension in the place increased, and the members of the ‘Sword of Darkness’ were exceptionally excited.
“Momon-san! This is a request by name.”
Peter’s reaction made Ainz doubtful, was a request by name so surprising? But──
“That might be the case, but I should carry out the job I was assigned before that, right?”
Ainz judgement was sound and the adventurers around them also nodded in agreement. A suggestion out of goodwill was raised at this moment:
“B-but… our job is not really a request, we can’t even pay you any reward if we don’t encounter any monsters…”
Peter stuttered as he uncertainly informed Ainz.
A job request from the youth who had a famous grandmother and was renowned himself, was a huge step up compared to wandering around hunting monsters for bounties. That's why Peter had such a reserved attitude.
Ainz who made this conclusion said gently:
"… How about this, Peter-san. Bareare-san had not discussed with me the contract details, remuneration and timeline, I will decide after hearing his piece."
"I'm fine with that. I want to start soon of course, but it can wait a day or two."
"How about letting our friends from Sword of Darkness listen in to our discussion. If we make a deal… No, if we can't make a deal, please allow me to take on the job I had promised them."
"Eh? Momon-san, will it be fine for us to attend too?"
"Yes. I wish for your opinion as one of the party involved."
Receiving consent from the Sword of Darkness, Ainz and the others returned to the room they were in moments ago.
Things felt rushed.
Ainz smile sheepishly again, sitting in his original seat. Narberal was besides him, the youth left a one seat gap between him and Ainz. The sword of darkness team sat in their original seats like Ainz.
Among this group, the first to speak up was the youth:
"The receptionist already mentioned this, but allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Nfirea Bareare, working as a pharmacist in this city. As for the content of the job, I planned to journey to the nearby forest. As everyone knows, the forest is very dangerous, and that's why I wish for you to be my escort and help with gathering herbs if possible.
"Bodyguard. I see."
Ainz nodded calmly, thinking about the difficulties of this job.
Ainz knew he was strong and together with Narberal he would be able to wipe out any attacking monsters. Since Ainz and Narberal were both Magic Casters, they didn’t have any shield-like abilities or skills to protect others, so he wasn’t confident in being an escort.
"The remunerations will be higher—"
"— Please wait a moment. Being an escort would be better suited for you guys, Peter-san. Would you like to be under my employ instead?"
"Eh?"
"For escort and herb gathering tasks, having the Ranger Lukeluther-san and Druid Dine-san assistance would be more efficient."
"Oh! Momon-san has great foresight. Druids can fully utilise their powers in the forest and will be more powerful than rangers like Lukeluther."
Dine's deep voice was full of arrogance, while Lukeluther looked displeased.
"What a thing to say, Dine."
"Taking the abilities of a Druid into consideration, it’s an undeniable fact! And don't forget I have also dabbled in the arts of medicine!"
"Hmmm— Peter, I'm fine with it. I will show you how strong I am compared to Druid-san."
"This means everyone is in. We will hunt any monsters we encounter and turn them over to the city for extra money. How about splitting Bareare-san equally between the 6 of us, Peter-san?"
"If Momon-san thinks it's okay, we have no objections."
"Bareare-san, sorry for the wait. Will it be convenient for everyone present to take on your job?"
"I see, I'm okay with it. I will be relying on you all. Ah, please just call me Bareare."
Ainz's group started introducing themselves. Narberal gave him a dirty look, but still finished her introduction.
"As for the plan, we will head for Carne village to set up a base and afterwards head into the forest, that's our usual practice. The number of days we will spend gathering herbs will depend on our harvest. But it will be at most three days, the average in the past was two."