"I see, so you're saying that you have found a secret enemy base beneath one of the cathedrals? That is very interesting… what? You found a place too well guarded even for you to enter… incredible. And there was even a being that seemed like it could sense your presence."
Yuri was thrown into a deep state of thought after hearing these words. A being capable of detecting shadow shinobi shouldn't exist in this human country and neither should a place that the shadow shinobi can't enter without being detected. Perhaps the enemy possessing a world class item really did reside here in the Theocracy…
Having regained her composure Yuri corrected her glasses and addressed the shinobi.
"I'll have Shizu write the report containing this information to Ainz as soon as possible, for now you are to continue searching the city for any other hidden locations and don't forget to stay on guard. Dismissed!"
As quickly as they had appeared from the darkness− the shadow demons withdrew back into the shadows leaving not a trace of their existence behind.
Ainz-sama perhaps at last we have found the enemies that have given you so much worry and misery. For the sake of Nazarick, I Yuri Alpha will devote my all to make sure that we find out everything about them that you can so you may crush them. Enemies of Nazarick will not be forgiven.
Even though Yuri along with Sebas and Pestonya was one of the most gentle and kind hearted of Nazarick's inhabitants if the matter concerned protecting Nazarick and the other Pleiades− who she considered as sisters, she would be merciless.
That said to perform such an important mission while keeping an eye on Lycan sure is a strenuous task… hmm. Maybe I ought to put a tighter leash on him. Why must all the people I work with be like this? Perhaps it would be better if I wait a bit before doing that though, he's in an n awful mood today.
If Lycan hadn't released that monstrous amount of bloodlust, if Yuri hadn't decided on holding off on reprimanding him, if the shadow shinobi hadn't found the hidden sanctuary on the same day… perhaps things could have ended differently. But everything played out due to these coincidences happening on the same day. It was inevitable…
That very same night under the cover of total darkness…
Lycan went out for a walk…
Chapter 2. Beast in the capital
Part 1
Almost every human has a tendency to be wary of the night. The darkness frightens us with its emptiness and eerie silence, but this is a lie. Our true fear comes from the fact that we don't know what hides in the darkness. Our true fear is a monster jumping out from the shadows while we least expect it.
A monster much like Lycan.
"Aaah what a bummer! I finally get a chance to go out and look for some real food and I get zilch! Maaaan, and I got all excited too!"
Lycan looked around the capital in a dissatisfied manner from one of the rooftops. He had finally managed to get out of the house and go look for some prey but no one was around.
In a world where goblins, trolls, undead and other monsters existed even if they lived inside a well-protected city people would still avoid going outside of their houses at night unless they went to an inn or someone else's house.
Lycan was preparing to go back home. Although he had managed to sneak out abusing the fact that Yuri and Shizu seemed too busy with something else, he had wasted the entire night looking for suitable prey and had come up empty.
Still it should be fine. Although he had snuck out, he had not killed anyone and thus an earful from Yuri would probably be the most punishment that he would receive tonight.
Just as he was preparing to start heading back to his home…
"My, what a fine night to be out on a walk! Wouldn't you say so as well, mister?"
Lycan immediately turned around in surprise as he heard the sound of a voice casually addressing him.
Lycan was a beast-type NPC as such sneaking up on him wasn't the easiest thing in the world due to his heightened senses. Yet somehow, someone had managed to approach him unnoticed.
Lycan saw that to his surprise, it was not a highly skilled assassin or ranger but instead a young girl. She looked to be just 15 and no older but what was more surprising than her weird two colored hair or her age was the fact that she was wearing what looked to be a suit of armor alongside with a war scythe for a weapon.
Her armor like her hair and even her eyes was two-colored. A mix of black and white pieces that seemed to form a bizarre attire but at the same time caused a sense of uneasiness in Lycan's heart.
Instead of immediately attacking Lycan instead decided to test the waters as he risked falling into the enemy's trap.
"You're right. It really is a beautiful night out. But I'm afraid that I don't know to whom I have the pleasure of talking to on this fine night."
Internally Lycan felt disgusted that he had to put on a dignified appearance as he was technically posing as the son of a noble. Even still, acting so out of character disturbed him to his core.
"The name… well my name isn't really important. I just came here to see you."
Lycan felt a growing sense of unease, if this person had come looking for him than the chance that he and the maids had been discovered was extremely high. He had to confirm and if possible retreat to warn the others.
"Might I ask how you were able to find me? I don't mean to brag but stealth isn't one of my weak points."
Zesshi displayed a childlike smile as she answered in a casual tone.
"Sure, a while ago I sensed an enormous surge of bloodlust in the capital. It was far stronger then what humans should be capable of emitting. I figured I might get lucky if I patrolled the capital tonight and sure enough I found such a suspicious looking fellow like you wandering around."
Lycan clicked his tongue. That meant that she was alerted by his emission of bloodlust earlier. If that was the case than it was his fault that he had been discovered but if he was lucky than killing this girl here and now could still fix that.
"And you decided to come here alone pursuing the source of that bloodlust? How brave."
"Well, if I called the others it would be no fun fighting, so I thought I'd keep it a secret and enjoy myself for once."
Jackpot if she isn't lying than killing here will mean our mission is secure. Now I just gotta kill her quietly and dispose of the body before anyone comes here.
Lycan celebrated internally as his failure could still be avoided and he had the perfect chance to rectify his mistake. Now all he had to do was fine away to kill this brat quickly and dispose of the body.
"Oh by the way. Do you mind if we change locations? If we fight we'll sure to wake up some of the residents and that will probably put us both in a sticky spot, right? I know just the place close by where we can go as wild as we want without having to worry about how much noise we make. Sound good to you?"
Lycan could not help but feel that this was getting to easy. Now all his problems had been solved. He did not sense anyone else close by and the chance that there were more guys like the girl who could sneak up on him were very low. Besides no matter how strong this girl thought she was, against a high level NPC like himself, she stood little chance.
Lycan silently nodded as he started following Zesshi who had turned around and jumped from the roof into an alley. After following her round through a few streets they ended up in a large square that connected four streets with houses surrounding the square on all sides. The square was about as big as half a football field so plenty of room to fight. The only problem was why on earth Zesshi thought this was a place where they could fight freely.