While Ainz was preoccupied with such thoughts, he noticed a young man running towards him. The eyes, which were normally covered by hair, were visible as his hair swayed in the wind. He was staring straight at Ainz.
Seeing Nfirea’s behavior, Ainz got a bad feeling. It was the same look of panic he had seen in the village chief.
“What’s the hurry? Is there another emergency? This village is really…”
Nfirea reached Ainz, who was rambling on.
Nfirea was panting, and his forehead was drenched in sweat, causing his hair to part. It revealed his serious expression, looking at Ainz and Narberal.
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, not sure how to speak. He finally made up his mind and asked Ainz:
“Momon-san, are you Sir Ainz Ooal Gown?”
This sudden question dumbfounded Ainz. The correct answer should be no.
But could he say that? That was the name he and his friends created. Even though it was his name right now, could he really deny it?
This period of hesitation was the best proof, and Nfirea went on.
“So it is you, Sir Gown. Thank you for saving this village and Enri.”
Ainz answered the bowing Nfirea, ”No… I…”
Hearing the words Ainz managed to squeeze out, Nfirea nodded understandingly:
"I understand you’re hiding your identity for some reason, but I still wanted to thank you for saving this village— no, for saving Enri. Thank you for saving the girl I like.”
He felt like an old uncle, thinking that ‘like’ was a word only used by youths. For a moment he allowed himself to reminisce about the past, while thinking about other, more important things.
“Ah… enough… lift your head.”
This meant admitting that he was Ainz Ooal Gown, which meant he had no possible explanation to refute Nfirea’s idea. It was Ainz’s loss.
“Yes, Sir Gown. Also, actually… I’ve been hiding something from you.”
“… Follow me. Nabel, stand by here.”
After issuing the order to Narberal, Ainz brought Nfirea to some place further away. This was to prevent Narberal from hearing anything strange and getting agitated.
After getting some distance away from Narberal, Ainz turned around to face the youth.
“Actually…”
Nfirea gulped nervously, then made a determined face.
“Sir Gown, the potion you gave to the woman at the tavern is impossible to create using normal methods and is very rare. I wanted to know what kind of person owned such a potion and it’s brewing method, that’s why I requested you for this job. I am very sorry.”
“Oh, so that’s it.”
That was the mistake.
Ainz gave a potion to Enri in this village, and he gave a similar potion to someone in Re-Lantier. That was how his identity got exposed. Not only that—
… I should had gotten that potion back. If only I had asked for the name of that female adventurer… But there’s no point crying over spilled milk.
Ainz thought that giving her the potion was the best way back in Re-Lantier.
She said ‘With such a flashy armor, you must have some potions, right?’ She probably didn’t mean to, but that greatly limited the actions Ainz could take.
For example, if someone got out of a classy car, wearing expensive clothes and dressed extravagantly, you would think that the car fit the man. However, what if he dressed poorly? You would think that man spent all his money on the car and mock him.
Ainz wanted to avoid that.
If he rejected her back then, the beauty of his companion Narberal and his flashy armor would be the subject of envy and unfavourable rumors would be spread. Things like rumors would stick with you for life and people would pick on that wound endlessly.
Ainz came to this place in order to raise his fame as an adventurer, so he needed to avoid doing things that might damage his reputation.
After considering all this, he gave the potion away.
It was a gamble, but it wasn’t regrettable even though he lost. It wasn’t a total loss yet, there were still a chance to patch things up. Ainz wasn’t perfect and will continue making mistakes.
But he didn’t understand why Nfirea was apologizing.
“There is no reason to apologize, right?”
“Eh?”
“… It is uncomfortable to hide things and asking to shake your hand with a smile. But the request this time was made in order to build a relationship right? So what is the problem?”
Ainz asked in sincere bafflement.
“Sir Gown is really forgiving…”
Ainz didn’t understand why Nfirea was impressed. Human relations were the basic requirement in society; there was no problem in wanting to establish relationships. It might be vague, but Ainz had understood something. Maybe Nfirea viewed himself as an industrial spy who was getting close to him in order to his steal secrets.
“If I tell you how to make the potion, what would you do with this information?”
Nfirea yelled in surprised and answered after pondering shortly:
“I didn’t think that far. I’m driven by curiosity… My grandmother is probably the same.”
“I see. That isn’t a problem. It would be different if you were planning to commit some felonies, but it’s fine if you don’t plan to do that.”
“How amazing. No wonder… she idolizes you…”
The mumbling youth’s hair had dried in the wind and covered his eyes once more. But Ainz could see his envious eyes. They were the eyes of a youth, who likes baseball, seeing a pro.
The young man’s expression was similar to the one made by Ainz and his comrades who were rescued after being PKed repeatedly: being in awe by the strength of a savior.
The feelings of embarrassment surfaced and were suppressed.
Nfirea’s attitude affected his heart, surprising Ainz, but he recovered immediately and took action. He had to find out something first.
“By the way, are you the only one who knows I am Ainz?”
“Yes, I didn’t tell anyone.”
“I see, that’s great.”
Ainz thought about how to ask Nfirea as he said that. He had no clue how to go about it, so he requested directly.
“… Right now I am an ordinary adventurer called Momon. I would be grateful if you could remember that.”
“Yes, I thought you would say that. I know it would cause Momon-san a lot of trouble, but I can’t help wanting to express my thanks to you. Thank you very much for saving Enri and this village.”
With serious eyes, Nfirea sincerely expressed his thanks to Ainz.
“There’s no need to be so formal. I simply happened to be passing by.”
“But even so, there was no need to give that horn as a present.”
The horn wasn’t given for any special reason, but it’s good that Nfirea thought of it as kindness. Ainz didn’t say anything, just nodded generously.
As the client, Nfirea said that they would head into the forest in an hour. He expressed his thanks for saving the village again and left.
As he watched Nfirea’s figure move away, Narberal came before Ainz and bowed.
“Ainz-sama, I am very sorry!”
“People are watching, raise your head.” When Narberal lift her head, Ainz spoke thornily: “Yes, you should be sorry; it’s because you mentioned Albedo’s name.”