The most regrettable was Nigan, who was the first to die. They lost the one who probably held a lot of information over a few simple questions.
But this failure taught Ainz that using merely the knowledge he had from YGGDRASIL wasn’t enough to handle this world, so Nigan’s death wasn’t a complete waste. It was better to look on the bright side, as he had learnt plenty from this failure too.
As Ainz distractedly thought about these matters, Ninya continued:
“Be as it may, my magic knowledge is quite limited. Magic Casters sponsored and educated by a country might be able to create such a spell. The priests in the Slane Theocracy received a faith-based Magic Caster education. The Empire has mystics, warlocks and mages, Sorcery based Magic Caster schools. It wouldn’t be surprising if other states such as the Yagarande Republic being able to use dragon magic.”
“I see. With the backing of an entire nation, it wouldn't be surprising for any sort of magic to pop up.”
From the intelligence he garnered earlier, the Yagarande Republic was a state formed by demi-humans, with councilors setting the policies. Most worthy of note were the Five Dragon Councilors, said to be very powerful. The Republic was a potential threat to the Slane Theocracy, which preached the principle of human supremacy.
Ainz was interested in this country, but he was still building his base and couldn’t spare the effort to investigate. Just carrying out the current plans had already depleted a lot of Nazarick’s resources.
“Can I ask about something else?”
Ainz asked Ninya other questions and felt satisfied.
Ainz asked Ninya and Peter many things, causing the Sword of Darkness members to look at them with the kind of look that said “They are still chatting”. They talked about spells, martial arts, adventurers, news about the neighboring nation, all in all a wide range of things.
Although these questions needed to be worded carefully, but the responses were very helpful. Ainz was confident that he had learnt a lot more about this world.
But it still wasn’t enough. After learning one thing, more questions popped up, especially when it came to magic. A world built with magic as a foundation was really different, which really surprised Ainz.
The biggest difference was the level of civilization. It appeared to be at the Middle Ages, but it was actually only a few generations behind Ainz’s world; some things were already on the modern level. And all this development was engendered by the existence of magic.
After knowing this, Ainz gave up researching the technology of this world. It was impossible to compare a magically-developed world to a scientific one. There was magic to produce salt, sugar and spices, and people also used agricultural spells to restore nutrients to the farmlands instead of implementing crop rotation.
Believe it or not, the sea wasn't salty. This intel was completely different from what Ainz took to be common knowledge.
Ainz carefully satisfied his curiosity. After some time:
“There’s movement.”
Lukeluther suddenly said tensely. His tone was completely different from the one used when flirting with Narberal. Right now, he looked like a veteran professional adventurer.
Everyone drew their weapons and looked in the direction Lukeluther was facing.
“Where?”
“There. Right there.”
Lukeluther pointed at a corner of the massive forest in response to Peter’s question. The visibility was bad with the forest blocking the way, and there wasn't any movement. Even so, no one doubted Lukeluther.
“What should we do?”
“Don’t force your way. If it stays inside the forest, then let’s ignore it!”
“It would be best to stick to the plan and let Nfirea fall back!”
As they were discussing loudly, there was movement in the forest. The monsters showed themselves.
Fifteen creatures as tall as children were surrounding six giant beings.
The former were the demi-human Goblins.
Each twisted face had a flat nose, and two sharp fangs protruded from each large mouth. Their skin was dark brown, and their messy black hair seemed to be fixed by hair wax.
Their clothes were ragged and looked burnt brown due to either dirt or dye. They wore tanned animal skin on the outside as armor. They had a club in one hand, a small shield in the other.
A cross breed between apes and humans, a monster with a tinge of evil.
The giant beings were between 250–300 cm.
They looked a bit retarded with their jaws sharply protruding out.
The bulging muscles on their arms were as thick as trees, and the muscles almost reached the ground since the giants’ backs were hunched. Each held a tree trunk with the branches removed and they wore only an untanned animal skin on the waist. They smelled even from this distance.
Their skin, full of warts, was burnt-brown in color. Their thick chests and abdominal muscles seemed rather tough. They looked very strong, like shaved twisted gorillas — Demi-human monsters known as ogres.
Almost all the monsters had ragged bags, which appeared to be used for long journeys.
The monsters looked at the group while walking onto the plains. Although there was still some distance, hostility emanated from their ugly faces.
“… Their numbers are a bit high. Looks like a battle is unavoidable.
“Yes, you are right. Goblins and ogres will attack when they see a smaller group. Or rather, their intelligence tells them to gauge combat prowess by comparing numbers, which can be a bit of a hassle.”
Through experience, Ainz knew that this world was nothing like the game, but he was still sort of perplexed by the fact.
Just by observing height and skin color, one could tell that each ogre and goblin had different characteristics, meaning they were individuals. It felt like facing twenty-one different monsters.
“Is reality different from the game?”
As if he were entering a zone without any walkthrough and fighting unknown monsters, this encounter reminded Ainz of the feeling he had when battling in Carne Village. Ainz mumbled in a voice the surrounding couldn’t hear.
“Well then, Momon-san.”
“… Oh, what is it?”
“We agreed to each taking half of the enemies we encounter, but what about now?”
“We can’t split into two teams and dispatch the attacking enemies?”
“It would be bad if all of them run towards one side. Can Nabel use an area attack like ‘Fireball’ and wipe them out?”
“I can’t use ‘Fireball’. My strongest spell is ‘lightning’.”
Ainz remembered that this was the restriction he gave her.
“‘Lightning’ is a row piercing spell right?”
“In that case, how about we lure them into a row so that she can wipe them out from the side?”
“We will need to construct a line of defense to hold them back…”
“I will take care of that. Can I request everyone to protect Nfirea on the carriage?”
“Momon-san…”
“If a mere ogre troubles me, my bark would be worse than my bite. Please watch me dispose of the ogres with ease.”
Ainz’s confident voice told the Sword of Darkness members that this was the best plan, giving them a sense of security.
“Understood. But we won’t watch idly while the enemies attack; we will do what we can to help from the side.”