Yet, an unknowable impulse made him wrinkle his brow.
“…However, the battle will commence in several days, perhaps as early as tomorrow. From whence shall your forces arrive, your Majesty? We cannot wait too long…”
“That will not be a problem. They are already nearby.”
The answer raised doubts in Nimble’s heart. Looking at the sky, there didn’t seem to be any airborne troops approaching.
Kabein must have had the same suspicions as him. Naturally, the garrison was surrounded by an extensive security net. The approach of anyone apart from Imperial troops would be immediately reported to general-ranked personnel. Could it be that a report had been lost?
Nimble looked around, but it didn’t seem like anyone present knew anything about it.
“My apologies. No, saying they’re nearby would be a problem. Well, I just wanted to say they can arrive immediately.”
“What…?”
He still had questions, but he put them aside as Kabein continued asking, “How many troops will be coming?”
“Around five hundred.”
“Five hundred…”
Although Kabein hid his reaction masterfully, Nimble could not conceal his own disappointment.
“General, will there be a problem integrating his Majesty’s unit with the Imperial Army?”
In order to demonstrate their loyalty to Ainz, the Empire had to shed oceans of its peoples’ blood.
As such, Ainz' unit would have no chance to deploy, so putting them into the Imperial Army’s formation would be fine.
“If it’s just five hundred, then we won’t even have to rearrange our formation. As for the Sorcerer-King’s honor guard, perhaps we should leave that duty to his subordinate.”
He was trying to say, “Don’t be so eager to rush into the fray.” The Imperial army would have to go in first and take losses in order to prove their sincerity to Ainz, so letting Ainz' unit do too much would be troublesome.
Ainz nodded in acceptance of Nimble’s suggestion. Nimble sighed in relief, but when he thought about it calmly, that shouldn’t be logical. What could a mere five hundred troops do? In all likelihood they were merely an ornamental escort.
However, what happened next far exceeded Nimble’s predictions.
Having cast some kind of spell, Ainz seemed to be talking into thin air.
“Can you hear me― Shalltear? Open a ‘Gate’ to my position and then send the troops over.”
The eyes under Ainz' mask seemed to move.
“Good. General, I have summoned my unit.”
As he finished saying that, space warped.
A black, hemispherical object appeared behind Ainz' back.
Nimble remembered something about a ‘Gate’ being mentioned earlier.
The gate opened, and what came forth was―
The world went silent.
A strange absence of sound filled the surroundings. A wave of quiescence surged forth.
The five hundred troops revealed their forms. Compared to the 60'000-strong Imperial army, they were far too few. However, nobody could look down on these five hundred soldiers.
The unit of monstrous soldiers before them made that clear with their power.
“These are my troops.”
Before the silent audience, Ainz introduced his forces.
Translator: ZackTan, Nigel
Editors: Viet Nguyen, Ferro, Nigel, M
In a small but luxurious room, a young girl sat on a throne. She spoke in a voice that was very innocent and cute, and which was quite fitting for her age.
“Okie, I’m counting on you then!”
“Yes, your Majesty! I won’t fail you!”
The man who looked like a knight rose from where he was kneeling and elegantly left the room.
After the door had been closed for a while, the girl then asked the minister at her side.
“Is it okay now?”
“Yes, he was the last person, so it's fine.”
After hearing the minister's cold words, the girl's innocent expression suddenly crumbled.
Perhaps it was because of fatigue, but her eyes clouded over and narrowed, while her mouth formed a ^ shape and her shoulders drooped.
“So tiring.”
Her attitude and tone was that of a 40-year old woman, but her voice still sounded young and cute, which was at odds with her appearance.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Yes, I have, so can I stop putting on this appearance now?” The girl pulled up her skirt while saying this. “I could do without this skirt that shows off the full length of my legs as well.”
“I have told you many times before, but you can’t, your Majesty.”
The girl was the queen of the Draconic Kingdom, “Black Scale Dragon Lord” Draudiron Oriucrus.
Even though she was called a Dragon Lord, her fighting ability was no greater than that of a normal person. However the Slane Theocracy still considered her to be a Dragon Lord because of the unique ability she was born with, the extremely rare ability which was the difference between a true Dragon Lord and an impostor.
She could use Wild Magic, the proof of power which distinguished a true Dragon Lord from a false one.
“As long as your appearance can evoke the desire in others to protect you, they will work harder.”
“Are all humans lolicons? I would feel more comfortable if certain parts of me were bigger.”
Draudiron put both of her hands on her flat chest and squeezed.
“Yes, if it was that form…”
“―Don't speak of it like a form! That is my real appearance!”
“I apologize for my disrespectful words, your Majesty.”
“Oi, that hardly sounds like an apology.”
“That is not so.”
After staring at the minister's cold smile for a while, Draudiron realized that she would not be able to break down that expression of his, and she turned away in displeasure.
“Back to the topic, that form may be popular with men, but not so much with women. Instead, your present form appeals to men and women of all ages. So if you want to change back to that form, you will have to wait until the country is stable again. Or do you have any other plans to propose?”
“Don't speak of it as a form….”
“However, if the situation continues like this, whatever form you take will not matter anymore.”
A heavy silence fell for a while as they contemplated the current situation of the Draconic Kingdom.
.
“The beastman invasion this time seems totally different from how they’ve always been.”
“Indeed. Their army's motive this time does not appear to be small scale skirmishes, but the complete destruction of this country, followed by turning it into a livestock ranch.”
There was a beastman kingdom near the Draconic Kingdom.
Said beastmen were demi-humans similar to various carnivorous animals such as tigers and lions, but bipedal. Just looking at their faces would tell you that they were carnivorous, and they preferred human meat.
Man-eating races were quite common. Three out of the six biggest countries on the continent viewed humans as food. The Troll Kingdom near the center of the continent even considered 6-month old human fetuses to be an exquisite delicacy, which they served to their most honored guests.