Seeing the duo exchange gazes — with Ainz still wearing a close helmet — Lukeluther misunderstood something and flirtingly joked with Narberaclass="underline"
"It’ll be fine, don't worry. As long as there's no surprise attack, it won't be too hard. And with me scouting, no enemies will sneak by. So Nabel-chan, I am strong right?"
Narberal ignored Lukeluther and his serious expression:
“Momon-san, may I crush this… lower life form (Mosquito)?"
"Cold words from Nabel-san get!"
Everyone smiled awkwardly at Lukeluther, who gave a thumbs up and didn't react to Narberal's cruel response. They assumed that Narberal didn’t consider all humans as lower life forms, only specific people.
Ainz rejected Narberal's sincere request and felt his nonexistent stomach hurting. They were journeying with humans now, so he wished that she would keep such thoughts to herself.
Nfirea seemed to have misunderstood something and interjected:
"It will be fine. From here to Carne Village, we are in the territory of the 'Virtuous King of the Forest', a powerful monster. Unless we are extremely unlucky, we won't encounter any monsters."
"Virtuous King of the Forest?"
Ainz recalled the intelligence collected from Carne Village.
‘Virtuous King of the Forest’ is a monster capable of using magic, possessing incredible power. It lives deep in the forest, so there are few eyewitness reports, but its existence has been around for quite a long while. Some even say it is a several hundred years old four-legged silverish, white beast with a snake-like tail.
I want to meet it. I'm not sure if rumors are true, but it might possess incredible intelligence if it’s been alive for so long. It got the title of Virtuous King of the Forest after all. If I can capture it… It should bolster Nazarick's strength.
Ainz imagined the appearance of the monster in his mind.
Speaking of the Virtuous King of the Forest, some extinct animals looked… Looked like monkey… Ah, orangutans. Forest man… Or sage? With a snake as its tail… Was there such a monster?
Thinking YGGDRASIL had that sort of monster, Ainz finally found the answer:
It’s a Nue!..The appearance should be the head of a monkey, body of a tanuki, limbs of a tiger and tail of a snake… I’m not sure if it was a monster from Yggdrasil, but it might have been summoned just like those angels.
<TL Note: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nue>
As Ainz was thinking about Nue in YGGDRASIL, Lukeluther spoke to Narberal in a flirty tone again:
“Hmmm, if I complete my job flawlessly, would the cute Nabel-chan change her attitude towards me?”
Narberal clicked her tongue with disgust.
Lukeluther acted as if he were hurt, but no one consoled him. Everyone treated their interactions as a comedy.
Under the scorching sun, the group chatted leisurely as they advanced. Their shoes were stained by juice from trampled grass, the smell of which was prominent.
Looking at the group wiping away their sweat, Ainz was grateful for his undead body. He was unfazed by the bright sunshine and wasn’t tired from wearing the heavy armor.
Only Lukeluther remained lively, joking while the group moved in silence:
“Everyone, there is no need to be so careful since I am on lookout. Nabel-chan trusts me; look at how calm she is.”
“Not because of you. It’s because Momon-san is here.”
Narberal frowned. Thinking that things might get out of hand, Ainz places his hand on Narberal’s shoulder, and her expression warmed instantly.
Observing their interaction, Lukeluther asked:
“Say, Nabel-chan and Momon-san, are you two a couple?”
“Cou-couple? What are you saying! That’s Albedo-sama!”
“You!” Ainz shouted. “What are you saying, Nabel!”
“Ah!”
With her eyes wide open, Narberal covered her mouth with her hands. Ainz coughed and spoke coldly:
“… Lukeluther-san, could you please not make baseless assumptions?”
“… Ah- my bad. Just kidding. Ah— Could it be that Momon-san already has a significant other?”
The way Lukeluther bowed suggested that he wasn’t sorry at all, but Ainz wasn’t as mad as before. Picking Narberal as a companion was a really stupid decision.
But despite thinking that he picked the wrong person, Ainz didn’t really have a choice since she was the only one he could rely on. Almost all of the created NPC’s in Ainz Ooal Gown were heteromorphic; few of them could be brought into a human city. Narberal was pretending to be a human, and at least she had the appearance of one… but Ainz forgot to take her personality into consideration.
From the look of things, maybe the other battle maid, Lupusregina Beta, would’ve been more suitable, but it was already too late for that.
Because of her blunder, Narberal’s face was pale, so Ainz gently patted her on the back to calm her. A good superior must be able to forgive the first mistake of his subordinate. But if she repeated her mistake, he would need to reprimand her appropriately. If she became depressed or reserved because of a mistake, then the mission would be negatively affected thereafter.
More importantly, she only mentioned Albedo’s name. There was no need to alter memories — probably.
“Lukeluther, cut the crap and stay alert.”
“Got it.”
“Momon-san, I’m sorry for the rudeness of my companion. It is wrong to make conjectures about the affairs of others.”
“Don’t worry. If he can keep that in mind in the future, we can just let this go.”
The two of them looked at Lukeluther’s back and heard him mumbled “Wah— Nabel-chan hates me now. Ugu, her opinion of me is totally negative.” His head depressingly drooped.
“That fool…! I will lecture him later. And I will pretend I didn’t hear anything just now.”
“Well, I will have to trouble you with that. Since Lukeluther is on guard, let’s leave it to him. I would like to find out a few things.”
“No problem. He caused trouble for you, so just let him work to compensate you.”
After Peter smiled in acknowledgement, Ainz walked to Ninya and Darwin’s side. He switched positions with Darwin, who then walked alongside Narberal.
“I have a few questions related to magic.”
After Ninya nodded, Ainz started to ask. Nfirea looked over as well, interested in Ainz’s question.
“If bewitched or controlled by magic, a person may divulge confidential information. As a countermeasure, are there any spells that will conditionally kill an affected a person after he answers a few questions?”
“I’ve never heard of such magic.”
Ainz turned and looked at Nfirea from behind his helmet.
“I don’t know either. Magic to correct or strengthen something can be activated after a fixed period of time, but not to the extent you speak of.”
“… I see.”
Ainz was disappointed to not hear the answer he was hoping for.
And so, the problem of how to use the survivors of the Sunlight Scripture will have to wait.
The survivors were few, but it would be a waste to dispose of them. To understand the magical theory behind why the Sunlight Scripture members disappeared after dying, they performed dissection on a few of them alive, which was really wasteful. Since they died so easily, wouldn't it have been better to squeeze more information from them? Losing one person meant forgoing the chance to ask 3 questions.