His mother who caught up with him had the look of a dead person. She knew what would happen to them now.
The mother hugged up her son from behind as her body shuddered. She desperately tried to conceal the boy’s body in her arms.
“He, he’s just a boy! Please, I beg you! I beg you to forgive him!”
In response to the mother’s frantic plea, the radiant angel smiled.
They were saved. That was a warm, motherly smile that would put anyone’s heart at ease.
“—Ten thousand deaths will not suffice to atone for the crime of disrespecting Ainz-sama. We shall start with one.”
And then, the beautiful woman produced a gigantic battleaxe out of nowhere. The fact that she could wield it so easily spoke of her superhuman arm strength.
The uses for that axe were very easy to imagine, and the things they imagined were vivid indeed.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, as a breeder who raised a worthless head of livestock.”
As she watched the slowly-approaching woman, the mother realised what was going to happen to them, and hugged her child tightly.
“Please! Spare my son, even if it’s just my son! Take my life, do anything you want to me! Please!”
“What are you saying? Is there a reason to kill you? Ainz-sama does not enjoy meaningless slaughter. The innocent will not be killed. Please rest at ease and await the mincemeat that will be made for you… although if it was up to me, I would prefer to turn him into a croquette.”
The boy in his mother’s arms didn’t seem to realize that he would soon be slain. However, anyone watching knew that the child’s short life would end in a scant few seconds. Yet, nobody was willing to step forward to save him.
Although they wanted to turn their eyes from the impending tragedy, nobody could pull themselves away.
Be it mother or child, everyone was transfixed by the murderous aura that the beauty emitted.
“Regret your crime of rudeness against the most exalted one as you die.”
In the moment Albedo swung down her massive axe, the world shuddered as the sound of metal clashing against metal rang out. The source of that sound was a thrown greatsword that had buried itself into the earth, interposing itself like a shield between the pitiful mother and son, and the beautiful woman.
That sword — and its wielder — was known to every person on the street.
A living legend.
An invincible warrior.
A gentle hero.
As they beheld the entrance of the only being who could save the two of them, the people sang the name of the swordsman in their hearts.
The name of the Dark Hero, Momon.
A man clad in jet-black armor slowly emerged from one end of the alley, and wrenched out the greatsword stuck into the ground. With a mighty flick of his wrist, he shook the dirt off of it. His other hand was already holding his sword, and the battle-ready Momon faced the beautiful woman down.
“Is there a need to use so much force on a boy throwing a stone? Nobody’ll want to marry you.”
“Even if you lecture me, I won’t be hap… Kuh! The sin of rudeness against Ainz-sama knows no age or gender. All who commit it must perish!”
“And what happens if I don’t allow it?”
“Then you will be a traitor to the lord of the land, and will be exterminated!”
“Is that so? Well, that’s not a bad thing. However, don’t think you can take this head so easily, hm?
If you want it, you’d better be prepared to risk yours as well.”
Momon deftly spun the swords in his hands and took a fighting stance. That bold and dominating posture was surely the stuff heroes were made of.
“You, protect Ainz-sama.”
After giving an order to the black-armored warriors, the beauty readied her battleaxe in turn.
The spectators wanted to believe that the winner of this confrontation would be Momon. But the battle aura radiating from the two of them denied it. They could feel that the beautiful woman was a warrior who was Momon’s equal.
The two of them shortened the distance between themselves into the range of meters. And the one who disrupted the impending conflict between the two was Ainz Ooal Gown himself. By the power of magic, he soundlessly flew up from the palanquin and landed upon the earth, before putting a hand on the beauty’s shoulder.
“Ainz-sama!”
He leaned in and placed his mouth to the beauty’s ear before whispering into it. Her face lit up with a gentle, lovestruck smile.
“I understand, Ainz-sama. It shall be as you say.”
She bowed to Ainz, and then pointed her axe at Momon. However, her murderous intent from just now was absent.
“…I have not yet heard your name. Speak it.”
“I am Momon.”
“What? Momon. Then, I ask you. Do you think you can defeat us?”
“…No, I cannot. Even if I fought to the death, I can only defeat either you, or the one beside you.”
Despair filled the hearts of all who heard these words. It was because they knew that even the great hero could only kill one of those monsters.
“And besides… if I fought with all my strength, many innocents would be caught up in our battle. I cannot do such a thing.”
“How foolish. Despite your impressive skills, you would — I’ve spoken too much. Ainz-sama has a proposal for you. Listen to it with gratitude. Surrender and swear fealty to us as a warrior of Nazarick.”
“—Are you kidding me?”
“How rude. Ainz-sama does not wish to rule these streets with despair and bloodshed. The extinction of all humanity would not offer any benefits to Ainz-sama. But even if we said this, the people here would not believe it. So we will have you do Ainz-sama’s work as his subordinate.”
“…What’s that all about?”
“In the future, there may be more fools who would throw stones at Ainz-sama. At that point, we will have you remove their heads. In exchange, we will permit you to be a witness, in order to prove that Ainz-sama will not allow the innocent to suffer in his city.”
“…I see. So, as his enforcer, will I be serving from beside him?”
“Not quite. As I said, you will be responsible for eliminating traitors. Consider it to be a form of self-representation, combined with the role of an enforcer.”
“I have no intention of swearing myself to the service of evil.”
“Neither do we have any plans of perpetrating that sort of evil. Then, what will you do? If you will not pledge your sword to Ainz-sama, then you shall be slain as a dangerous individual, no matter how many people we have to kill to get to you.”
Momon looked around.
“I intend to travel, and I have no intention of being anyone’s subordinate.”
“That is also an acceptable answer. Then, shall we begin the collateral damage to the surrounding people now?”
“Wait! Don’t jump to conclusions. I haven’t made my decision yet. I also have a partner. What will happen to her?”