However, he lacked manpower and was absolutely unprepared. Normally he would be at the
end of his wit, but perhaps he still had a joker up his sleeve.
"Is that an Archangel of Fire? It looks like one, but... why would a such a similar looking magical being appear... Is it because of a summoning spel ? And if that’s the case... ...?"
Gazef shifted his gaze toward the muttering Ainz and inquired with a sliver of hope:
"Master Gown, are you willing to be employed?"
There was no response, but Gazef could perceive Ainz's general mood.
"With respect to payment, I can guarantee your satisfaction."
"Please forgive me for declining."
"Even if you only lent us the knight you summoned, that would be fine as well."
"Please forgive me for declining once again."
"Oh... ...Then as decreed by the Kingdom's law, can I subject you to conscription?"
"That's a dumb alternative... ...I wasn't planning on saying these words, but if you intend to use the Kingdom's authority, then I would have to resist a little bit."
The two stared at each other; the first to avert his gaze was Gazef.
"...To have been wiped out before even engaging with the Silian Theocracy's men, how
frightful."
"Wiped out...You sure know how to jest. In any case, for understanding my position in this
matter, I am very grateful."
Gazef closed his eyes, carefully examining the bowing Ainz who was expressing his thanks.
Gazef wasn't jesting when he said "wiped out." His intuition screamed at him that this Magic Chanter putting up a little resistance would result in a somewhat dangerous situation.
Gazef believed it was better to trust intuition than to rely on half-baked ideas, especially when
facing a life threatening situation.
Who is he really?
While thinking, Gazef looked toward Ainz’ bizarre mask. What the hell is underneath this mask?
Is he a person I know? Or...
"Is something wrong? Is there something on my mask?"
"Ah, no… it’s nothing, I was just thinking that this mask is very special. This mask can be used to control a Magical Being like that... in that case it should be a powerful item... right?"
"Well, this is a very rare and expensive item that is unique in this world."
If someone had a high-tier magic item, it also meant that the ability of the individual in question
was very high. By this reasoning, Ainz’ chanting and magic abilities should be fairly strong.
Having been unable to solicit Ainz’s assistance, Gazef felt a bit dejected.
Deep in his heart, he had hoped Ainz would accept this commission since he was an adventurer.
"...... Continuing this is meaningless. Well then Master Gown, please take care. Thank you once again for saving the village."
Gazef removed his metal gloves and reached out his to grab Ainz’ hand. Normally, Ainz should
have also politely taken off his own metal gloves, but he did not do so. Gazef however didn’t
care and tightly held Ainz’s hands, speaking his inner thoughts:
"I am very grateful to you for protecting innocent vil agers from being massacred. Also...... I don’t want to ask this of you, but I hope you can protect the vil agers here again. I don’t have anything
to offer to you right now, nevertheless I still ask you accept my request ...... I beg you. "
"Well this..."
"If you ever visit the King’s capital, I promise that I will gift you whatever you desire. This I swear upon the name Gazef Strolonoff."
Gazef freed his hand with the intent to kneel, but Ainz’s hands stops him:
"... There’s no need to go this far... I understand, I wil protect the vil agers. This I swear upon the name Ainz Ooal Gown."
Gazef became slightly more relieved after hearing Ainz swearing by his name:
"Thank you, Master Gown. Now I can charge forward without worries."
"... Until then, please take this."
Ainz took out an object and gave it to the happy looking Gazef. It was a strange little sculpture
and there didn't seem to be anything special about it. But——
"As long as it is your gift, I will gladly accept it. Well then Master Gown, although it saddens me, I will be going."
"...Shouldn’t we wait until nightfall before moving out?"
"The other side has a sort of "night vision" magic. Attacking in the night would be
disadvantageous for us, but not necessarily for them. Besides... Master Gown needs to be able
to observe the flow of battle."
"I understand, to have such a profound sense of planning, you are worthy of your title as the
Kingdom’s Knight-Captain. I wish you success, Sir Knight-Captain."
"And I wish Master Gown a safe journey home."
Ainz silently watched Gazef’s back gradual y disappear. Albedo felt something change in her
Master but didn’t inquire further.
"...Well ... Upon meeting the humans here, I could only muster enough empathy to treat them as
insects... but after conversing with them, I’m starting to see them as small animals."
"Is that why you vowed to protect them, using your name as guarantee?"
"Maybe... No, it’s probably because he had the resolve to face his own death..."
The Knight-Captain had a different kind of resolve than Ainz had.
Ainz’s mind yearned for such a resolve.
"...Albedo, command the servants around here to knock out anyone who is hiding in ambush."
"Right away… Ainz-sama the vil age chief’s party arrives presently."
Ainz turned towards Albedo and saw the village chief and two other villagers running in his
direction..
They were gasping for breath, panicking, and their anxiety was obvious. The village chief
immediately opened his mouth to speak, as if even breathing was a waste of time.
"Ainz-sama, what are we supposed to do? Why is Sir Knight-Captain leaving the village, leaving
us unprotected?"
The village chief's voice had a lot of fear in it, but there was a hint of anger as well.
"... He is doing the right thing, village chief-sama ... the enemy’s target is Sir Knight-Captain. If he stays here, the vil age will turn into a battlefield. Furthermore it doesn’t look like the other
party is willing to let you escape. He has your best interests in mind."
"So that’s why the Knight-Captain left... then, then should we continue to stay here?"
"That would be a bad idea. After Sir Knight-Captain, they will probably target the village next. As long as we remain inside their net, we won’t have any place to run to. However... our opponents
will likely have to use all their forces to subdue Sir Knight-Captain, presenting us with a great
opportunity to flee. That’s when we should escape."
That was the reason the Knight-Captain made a big fuss about his escape. He wanted to bait
the enemy into using all their forces to attack him.
After understanding the intentions behind Gazef’s actions, which had a very low chance of
surviving, the village chief lowered his face which had turned red. For the sake of creating an
opportunity for the villagers to escape, he was willing to charge onto the battlefield and sacrifice his own life.
Not understanding this, even misunderstanding everything and throwing tantrums. The village
chief was probably ashamed of himself.
"I was just assuming... misunderstanding their good intentions ...... Ainz-sama, what should we do?"
Even the villagers behind the chief were showing their remorse:
"Although we live near the forest, we’re don’t actually have protections against demon attacks.
We were just lucky, but misunderstood and thought it was safe. We didn’t even think of a
method of self-defense; as a result not only did we lose our dear neighbours, but we also