“I see…”
The village chief stared at Ainz with a worried look, as did all the other villagers.
Ainz gently raised his hand, telling everyone to be at ease:
“Leave it to me. All the villagers will seek shelter in the village chief’s house; the two of us will stay here.”
A bell rang, and the villagers began to gather. At the same time, Death Knight went next to the village chief’s home to guard it and Albedo stood next to Ainz waiting for his commands.
In order to dispel the village chief’s anxiety, Ainz cheerfully spoke up:
“Don’t worry, since this is a special case I’ll help you free of charge.”
The village chief ceases to tremble and forces a smile. He probably had already made mental preparations to bet everything on Ainz.
After a short while, several horsemen appeared on the road and slowly paraded into the square.
“… Their equipment is different and appears to be haphazardly arranged…. Are these even proper soldiers?”
Ainz was perplexed by their equipment.
The knights from before had an imperial emblem on their armor, and they were armed with matching swords and a full set of armor. But these horsemen, even though they were also wearing armor, had no discernible uniform. Some wore leather, while some didn’t even wear armor, exposing the chainmail vest usually worn underneath.
Some wore helmets, while others did not. The only thing they had in common was that all their faces were exposed. All of them were equipped with the same kind of sword, but some carried a bow, or perhaps a pistol, a mace or other spare weapons with them.
To put it nicely, this group looked filled with veteran warriors who have seen countless battlefields. If you weren’t feeling too generous, they looked like a ragtag mercenary group.
In the end around twenty horsemen rode into the square. Although they were wary of the Death Knight, they were still more or less able to neatly arrange themselves in front of the village chief and Ainz. From within their ranks a single man emerged and rode towards Ainz.
This appeared to be the leader of these men, having the most eye-catching and courageous appearance. He slowly surveyed his surroundings, looking at the village chief, then at the Death Knight and then at Albedo. He looked around for quite some time. But upon realising that the other party remained motionless, he suddenly pierced Ainz with his sharp eyes.
Even while being he was stared at with such fierce eyes, Ainz remained calm and unmoving. This kind of pressure wouldn’t even cause the tiniest ripple in his heart.
Not because Ainz wasn’t afraid of these eyes, his imperviousness was simply a side-effect of him being an Elder Lich. Perhaps his YGGDRASIL abilities allowed him to be full of self-confidence.
Having surveyed the area, the captain spoke with an imposing voice:
“—I am a knight captain of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, Gazef Strolonoff. Under orders from the king, I have come with a punitive force to fight against the knights of the Empire and have been patrolling around various villages.”
His deep, smooth voice resounded in the square and the village chief behind Ainz muttered:
“A knight-captain of the Kingdom…”
This person was never mentioned during my talk with the chief—With a slight undertone of blame directed at the village chief, he asked in a low voice:
“…. What kind of person is he?”
“According to the traders that pass through, he was the champion of a tournament held in the past, which was used to determine the King’s personal guard. Presently he is a direct subordinate to the King and commands an elite group of soldiers.”
“Is the person in front of me really that great…?”
“…. I don’t know. This is only hearsay.”
Ainz carefully looked at the horsemen; they clearly had the same emblem on their chests. Their emblem looked very similar to ones here in the village. That said, there wasn’t enough information and thus his identity couldn’t be ascertained.
Gazef looked at the village chief:
“You must be the village chief. Could you tell me who the man standing next to you is?”
“Do not bother. Hello, Sir Knight-Captain of the Kingdom, I am Ainz Ooal Gown, a Magic Caster. Because the villagers were attacked by knights, I came to here to rescue them.”
Stopping the village chief who was about to answer, Ainz gently saluted, and introduced himself.
Gazef quickly stepped off his horse, making a loud sound from his heavy metal armor, he stood on the ground and made a deep bow:
“Thank you for saving this village, I am unable to repay your kindness.”
The air shook slightly.
As a Knight Captain, he would probably have been part of the privileged class, so showing such respect to a no-name like Ainz in a world with clear differences between the social classes would be a huge surprise to anyone. That said, in this country, or even the entire world, human rights had yet to be fully established. Just a few years ago, there were still countries practising slavery.
Even though their standings were completely different, Gazef still got off his horse to bow to Ainz. It was clear what type of a person Gazef is.
Ainz’s intuition told him that Gazef’s identity as Knight-Captain of the Kingdom wasn’t fake.
“…. No need to be so polite. In fact, the purpose of this was to receive a reward, so there is no need for thanks.”
“Oh, a reward. That is to say, you are an adventurer? Hmm… I see. Looks like you seem to be a great adventurer……But please forgive my ignorance, I have never heard the name of Master Gown before.”
“I am a traveler who just happened to pass by here, so I am not a very well known figure.”
“… Currently traveling eh. I apologize for wasting the time of such an outstanding adventurer, but would it be possible for you to tell me what happened to the men who came and raided this village?”
“It would be my pleasure, Sir Knight-Captain. Most of the knights who came and raided this village are already dead; they should be unable to cause any more trouble. Is there a need to continue explaining?”
“… Killed…. Was the deed done by Master Gown?”
Hearing the way that Gazef addressed him, Ainz realized that names in this world were called in the Western and not the Japanese style. The sequence of a name would be Given Name + Surname and not Surname + Given Name. That explained why the village chief had shown such a strange expression when Ainz asked him to address him by Japanese custom. Though they were not familiar with each other, Ainz still asked the other person to call him by name. Of course the village chief would be confused.
Realising his own mistake, Ainz still used the shameless nature he acquired as a working member of society to gloss over his faux pas.
“… That is correct, but also not correct.”
Keenly aware of the meaning of Ainz’s words, Gazef looked towards the Death Knight, from which he could probably smell a thin scent of blood.
“There are two things I want to ask… Who is that?”
“He is one of my created servants.”
Gazef hummed, then with sharp eyes looked at Ainz from head to toe.
“In that case… What is that mask?”
“Because I am a Magic Caster, I have to wear this.”