But then he suddenly remembered that Eight-legged Spiderblade Assassins belonged to the kind of Magical Beings that were able to render themselves invisible.
"He wanted to pay his respects to Ainz-sama, so I brought him over."
"It is a great honor to meet Momonga-sama—"
"— No need for courtesies. You are from the back-up troops right?"
"Yes, apart from me we have prepared four hundred servants to attack this village."
Attack? How did it turn out like this? Ainz couldn’t help himself and thought— Sebas really has no talent for delivering messages.
"… There’s no need to attack, the problem has already been resolved. Who is commanding you?"
"Aura-sama and Mare-sama. Demiurge-sama and Shalltear-sama are on alert inside Nazarick, and Cocytus-sama is patrolling the area around Nazarick."
"So it’s like this…… Too many of us would just get in the way. With the exception of Aura and Mare, everyone else shall withdraw. How many Eight-legged Spiderblade Assassins are here?"
"There are fifteen of us."
"In that case you are to remain on standby with Aura and Mare."
Seeing the Eight-legged Spiderblade Assassins nodding in understanding, Ainz shifted his sight towards the funeral. When the graves started being covered with earth, the two young girls started crying non-stop.
Since it didn’t look like the funerals would be ending soon, Ainz slowly walked towards the village. Albedo and Death Knight followed him.
Although interrupted by the funerals, Ainz still spent a lot of time here learning things such as common sense. After leaving the village chief’s house, the sun was already setting in the sky.
It appears that role in this heroic rescue drama took a lot of time.
But he didn’t consider this time wasted. As he got to know about this world, more and more unanswered questions were piling up. Learning as much as he did was enough to make him content.
While looking at a beautiful sunset, Ainz thought about what he should be doing next.
It was very dangerous to act without knowing the situation in this world. The best course of action was to first collect lots of information by concealing his identity and doing covert operations. But after rescuing this village, he was no longer able to conceal his identity. Even if the knights were completely wiped out, they belonged to a nation who would try to find out what happened. In his old world, scientific investigation was well-developed, and perhaps this world would have other means of investigation.
Even if there weren’t any well-developed investigation methods, as long as the village survived, one day someone would find traces of Ainz there. In order to avoid information leaks, the villagers could be brought back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. However, the kingdom to which these villages belong would certainly object. It wouldn’t be surprising if such an incident were treated as a mass-kidnapping.
There were two reasons for stating his name and letting the knights escape.
The first was because as long as Ainz wasn’t hiding inside the Great Tomb of Nazarick, news about him would slowly start to spread. In that case it would be better if he was the one to disseminate the information.
The second reason was to spread the news that Ainz Ooal Gown had rescued the villagers by killing the knights. Of course, the primary intention was to let other YGGDRASIL players catch wind of this.
Ainz wanted to have a shelter inside the Kingdom, the Empire or the Theocracy.
On one hand, if there were other players in these countries, clues pertaining to their existence would start to surface. On the other hand, if Ainz were to mobilize all of Nazarick in order to search for these clues, not only would it take a lot of effort, but the risk would also be high. If someone had temperament like Albedo’s, giving him the wrong order would certainly create an unnecessary enemy.
With respect to intelligence gathering, becoming allies with one of these countries had a great deal of benefits. In order to protect the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s independence, having the backing of a strong party would be useful. But since he didn’t know about the relative strengths of these countries, he judged it would be wiser to not hastily associate himself with one at the moment. Also, since Ainz didn’t know who the strongest person was in this world, he couldn’t let his guard down. In these three countries, there might be someone even stronger than Ainz.
Becoming a member of one of these countries might bring quite a few disadvantages, but there should be a lot of benefits as well, right? The question is, how does he gain citizenship?
If the answer was to become a slave, then no thank you. He wouldn’t consider becoming a black-hearted corporate employee like Meromero either. That’s why he had to reveal his presence to all forces, observe their reactions and potential offers and choose the ideal side. These were the fundamentals of looking for a job.
So when should he immigrate? As long as Ainz lacked information, there was a possibility that Ainz would be manipulated.
Thinking about all this, Ainz wearily shook his head.
In these past few hours, he used his brain too much. He didn’t want to think anymore.
"Sigh …… Let’s call it a day. We’re done here. Albedo, let’s head back."
"Understood."
Albedo’s answering voice was very tense. Since no danger was present, there wasn’t a need for her to be on alert.
Considering this, he could only think of one reason as to why. Ainz, using a low tone, inquired:
"…… Do you hate humans?"
"I don’t like them. Humans are fragile and inferior creatures. If I crush them like insects, there would be a pretty sight to behold…… these two girls are exceptions though."
Even though Albedo’s voice was as sweet as honey, what she said was still very cruel.
Considering that Albedo had the appearance of a warm-hearted goddess, Ainz thought that her previous sentence was at great odds with her appearance and began to admonish her:
"Is that so….. I understand how you feel. However, I hope you’ll calm down a bit, since knowing how to conduct oneself is very important."
Watching Albedo nod frantically, Ainz started to worry.
At this stage, Albedo’s likes or dislikes wouldn’t cause any problems, but that wasn’t necessarily true in the future.
Knowing the preferences of his subordinates was a matter of great importance.
After noting Albedo’s prejudice against humanity, Ainz started looking for the village chief. Courtesy obligated him to say his farewells before leaving.
He immediately located the village chief. The chief had a solemn expression and stood in a corner of the square speaking with several villagers, yet something wasn’t right. The village chief’s face showed a troubled expression as if something were about to happen.
Did something troublesome happen?
Ainz repressed the urge to say goodbye. When saving someone, one should do it properly. With this thought in mind, he approached the village chief:
“… What’s the matter, village chief?”
The village chief’s face lit up with a glimmer of hope.
“Oh, Ainz-sama. There seems to be people riding horses, who look like soldiers approaching this place…”