But with a cracking sound, the calm and cruel voice of the woman came from behind:
“— too slow.”
His shoulder felt an intense burning pain. Thinking he was hit by the Stiletto, his mind was covered by a shadow.
— Mind control.
The man resisted with all his might, but the shadow intensified.
The sound of a friend came from behind.
“Ara— Are you okay? Is the wound deep?”
“Yeah, it’s no big deal.”
The man turned and smiled at his friend.
The woman made a scary smile upon hearing this.
Part 3
Setting off at sunrise, the group followed a road hidden by the grasslands.
“We will reach Carne Village before long.”
Hearing that from within his group — Ainz has also been here before — but on the surface only Nfirea has been here before, all of his travel companions nodded in unison. Other than that they didn’t have any other reaction, they just walked quietly. Nfirea, the one who spoke also had an impatient expression.
There was an exceptionally awkward atmosphere between them. The one who created this atmosphere, Ainz, hid his mood under his helmet.
Ninya kept on looking at him with eyes of disdain, but this was his own fault, so he could not say anything.
This was also influenced by yesterday’s speech.
He apologised to everyone during breakfast, it should have been easy to forgive at that point, but he was unable to say the simple words “I forgive you”.
Although Ainz knew he was being petty, he was unable to let it go.
Even after turning into an undead, which changed both my body and my mentality, I’m still like this…
After turning into an undead, all of his stronger emotions would be dampened, but all his weaker feelings wouldn’t disappear completely. The fact that his petty anger was still around after such a long time was proof of this. His past companions had an important place in his heart. Although they were deep feelings, it would be slightly bad if he continued this way, but right now he had no intention of being the one to change the mood.
Being aware that his feelings were like that of a child throwing a tantrum, Ainz was angry with himself for his childish behavior.
Within this awkward atmosphere there was only one exception — Narberal, who was walking next to Ainz. Because she hadn’t been harassed by Lukeluther, she was happy enough to start humming.
With that, the group quietly walked forward, quickly arriving on the outskirts of Carne Village.
“W-well! The view here is so vast and open, perhaps we don’t need to march in formation—”
Lukeluther deliberately said so.
Looking to one side, only a vast green forest could be seen, casting some doubt on his statement. Also, it was part of the basics that one shouldn’t let his guard down even in open areas, so it would be wise to keep walking in formation even now.
It was just that everyone knew the reason they were silently walking like this wasn’t because of the vigilance required by adventurers.
“… It is very important to stay vigilant. Just like this… eh, let’s just proceed to the village.”
“Of course! In order to avoid being attacked, it is important to keep alert at all times!”
Even Peter and Forest Druid Dyne replied in succession, Lukeluther also gave off an expression that said “Not about that”.
“Maybe a Dragon will fly here from a faraway place and attack us.”
Ninya also said. Hearing those words, Lukeluther quickly responded:
“What kind of weird development is that. Use your common sense, how could that kind of thing happen, Ninya!”
“Of course it is impossible. It’s only a rumor that there are dragons on the outskirts of Re-Lantier. I heard that in ancient times, there were dragons that could freely manipulate the weather, but I have never heard of anyone seeing a dragon recently. Ah, no… recently I’ve heard that Frost Dragons were seen near the Azellerisia Mountains, but that was really far to the north.”
In ancient times? Considering what the men from the Sunlight Scripture have said, dragons are the strongest race of this world…
In YGGDRASIL, dragons were also considered the strongest enemy race. Not only do they have powerful physical attack power, physical defense and endless stamina, they were also able to use numerous special abilities and magic.
They had already reached a special level.
YGGDRASIL had many different types of monsters, among them were named monsters along with regional monster chieftains and they also had very strong world-class monsters. Even if six teams consisting of six members each were to fight against these monsters, their chances of success would be very low.
Other than the boss who appeared at the end of the main-story, “Devourer of the Nine Worlds”, there were still the “Eight Dragons”, the “Seven Demon Kings of Sin”, the “Ten Great Angels of the Tree of Life”. The expansion “Valkyrie’s Downfall” also introduced new bosses, the “God of the 6th Day” and the “Five Rainbow Buddhas”. Altogether, there were thirty-two level-breaking monsters. Some of these bosses were from the dragon race, which showed the preferences of the developers.
If dragons really exist, then I must be extra careful. In YGGDRASIL, dragons were a race with indeterminate lifespan, so meeting a dragon with power beyond imagination wouldn’t be strange.
“Ah — if you don’t mind me asking, but what’s the name of the dragon who’s able to change the weather?”
Ainz wasn’t shameless enough to calmly ask something of the person he had a quarrel with, so he quietly whispered. But it was still loud enough to catch everyone’s attention, so Ninya quickly turned his head around.
They were acting like a quarreling couple, Ainz wanted to use that question as a chance to reconcile with Ninya.
Ainz could not resist thinking about the scene he saw in a coffee shop in the past to compare with this situation.
Having said that, since it was Ainz who asked the question, Ninya showed a small, cheerful expression. The members of the Dark Sword and Nfirea smiled as well and only Narberal was unmoved. Speaking of which, ever since this morning, Narberal didn’t even notice the awkward atmosphere between those two.
“Terribly sorry! Once we’ve returned to the city, I will look that up!”
No, there is no need to be so excited… Just saying that you don’t know is good enough… I only wanted an answer…
Just that he did not say those words.
“Eh, in that case Ninya-san, if time permits, would you please help me check it out?”
“I understand, Momon-san!”
Everyone nodded in satisfaction, making Ainz feel embarrassed. The situation would be different if it was the other way round, but being oldest person in the group he couldn’t help feeling ashamed.
“Alright, we should be arriving at Carne Village soon…”
This would be the first cheerful thing he said all morning, but suddenly Nfirea went silent.
Everyone started looking at the village as it gradually came into view. It was a simple village that was situated next to a forest. No strange atmosphere could be felt from it and there was also nothing of interest, so nobody knew why Nfirea suddenly stopped talking.