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 discernable 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 vil ages.”
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 real y 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 vil age. 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 vil age 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
Chanter. Because the vil agers 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 vil age, 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 traveller who just happened to pass by here, so I am not a very wel known figure.”
“... Currently travelling eh. I apologise 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
vil age?”
“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?”
“... Kil ed…. Was it the by the hand of Master Gown?”
Hearing the way that Gazef addressed him, Ainz realised 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 Chanter, I have to wear this.”
“Can you take it off?”
“If I do so, then that guy——“ His hand pointed to the Death Knight. “If he goes out of control it
would be very troublesome.”
The village chief, along with the villagers inside the house, knew the strength of the Death
Knight very well, and they all showed a surprised expression. Possibly feeling the change in the
vil age chief’s mood and the surrounding atmosphere, Gazef nodded heavily:
“I see, in that case it would be better to not remove the mask.”
“Thank you.”
“Then——”
“Before that, sorry to interrupt, but this vil age was just attacked by knights of the Empire. If
everyone were to carry weapons and enter, it may cause the villagers to recall their recent,