It would not be that difficult for humanoid players, but writing macros to move the faces of demihumans and heteromorphic beings was extremely difficult. In addition, there was Ainz’s bony face to consider. The creaking of bones as they moved would probably be quite gross.
“Ah, my apologies. I opened the door to my cruel past, which should never have been touched. If any doors should have been opened, I’d pick one leading to a warmer season — right, Momonga, what did you want to discuss with me. Does it have anything to do with the NPC mercenaries?”
“Mm. How many can I trust you to command?”
“Yes, I should be able to handle three with no problems.”
“Thank you very much. I might not need to give you that many, depending on the number of door sentries. Then, I’ll be counting on you.”
Momonga left Punitto Moe, and after making the same request of Touch Me, he returned to the center of the room and shouted, “Sorry for repeating myself! Everyone, please listen to me!”
Just like before, Momonga felt the attention of everyone focused on him.
Yet, although expressions did not change in this game, he could pick up their mood, which surprised him. According to Touch Me, when in battle, one could instantly sense an opponent’s intentions, thus evading his attacks. Something similar seemed to be happening here. However, Momonga was not that sensitive. Perhaps only a warrior class could do that.
“I intend to assign the parties. As usual, they’ll be grouped into physical attackers, magical attackers, defenders, healers, and others. I also need to assign the scouts—”
Momonga paused briefly.
“Let’s assign door sentries as well. Does anyone object?”
This was something that he, the Guildmaster, had decided based on the suggestion of a guild member. Mentioning his name did not seem right.
Everyone shook their heads. Although Momonga made eye contact with Punitto Moe for an instant, the latter merely shrugged and smiled bitterly.
“If that’s the case… well, we can carry on as normal.”
“—No objections.”
“—That’s fine.”
Several people approved, and nobody seemed to object.
“Then, we’ll decide the door sentries next… How many will we need?”
“I’ll be happy to stay behind.”
The first person to raise his hand was the alchemist Amanomahitotsu. After that, two more people raised their hands. They were members of crafting classes as well.
The clan had never really focused on dungeon clearing and PKing. There were many people who played the game with the spirit of adventure within them. They were filled with the desire to set foot on unknown lands and discover unknown things. Naturally, even members of crafting classes did not spend all day in their workshops, and took levels in basic combat classes so they could handle any problems, to a certain extent. That said, since their builds contained crafting classes, they felt that they were a burden during dungeon assaults.
Momonga knew fully well why they would rise when faced with this proposal. It was because he knew that he felt bad about it. Still, Momonga lowered his head to the three of them.
“I’m sorry, but can we leave this to you?”
“Don’t be like that, Momonga-san. Please raise your head. We’re the ones chatting idly while everyone else is fighting.”
“I want to try making a new weapon too. I just discovered a rare metal processing technique, so I want to try it out.”
“We’re just bringing our tasks to the dungeon entrance. Don’t worry about it.”
After Amanomahitotsu spoke, the other two rapidly followed suit.
Still, Momonga nodded to them again.
“Then, Nishiki-san, I’d like you to share your map with the rest of us. You don’t mind, right?”
“Naturally. Ah, then, I just finished collecting information on the monsters that appear in the swamp. Nobody’ll mind if I share it, right?”
There was no reason to object.
Nishiki Enrai produced a number of scrolls — one for everyone — out of thin air and began working on it.
A flash of light leapt from the scrolls.
Everyone present reached out a hand to take a scroll. Momonga did the same.
Once the scroll opened, letters reading “New Information Obtained” appeared.
Momonga ignored the scroll which had vanished into light and touched those letters. Immediately, line after line of text appeared.
The first piece of information pertained to the terrain.
There was an X in the exact center of the sprawling swamp. A man had written in not very presentable letters “Dungeon Here”. Beside it were three symbols marked “Frog Base”. Then, there were other icons labelled “Lots of Slippery Things”, “Poison Gas”, “Boss Level” and so on. In addition, there were lines labelled “Probable Patrol Routes”.
I see, Momonga mused as he digested the information. Then, he touched the characters corresponding to the next set of information.
Next was the monster data.
There were blurry pictures of monsters, with their name, level and other data.
Lv64 Grenbera Devil Lich
Lv74 Grenbera Purple Worm
Lv78 Grenberan Swarmlord
Lv80 Mad Eater
Lv80 Swamp Naga
Lv80 Grenbera Tuveg
Lv83 Grenbera Tuveg Fighter
Lv83 Grenbera Tuveg Priest
Lv84 Grenbera Tuveg Knight
Lv85 Grenbera Tuveg Warlord
“And then—”
Nishiki’s words made Momonga stop halfway through his study of the monsters, and he turned to look at him.
“—These are the guys I met. I visually confirmed them, but there might be monsters I have not encountered yet, so be careful. Also, I saw some stronger guys in the distance, but they were near the labelled bases, so I didn’t close in to check.”
“Hm. Level 80ish means the highest levelled monsters in the depths of the dungeon will be 90 or so. That should also be the ideal level.”
Most of Ainz Ooal Gown’s members were around level 90 or so. He felt like they could clear the dungeon without a problem.
“Take-yan. Carelessness is forbidden. It’s common knowledge that dungeons are more difficult than their surrounding areas.”
Of course, the opposite case could also be true, but they had never heard of such examples before.
“Still, luck is going to be a big factor. Clearing a level 90 dungeon in one shot isn’t completely impossible. If that’s the case, then let’s go in all guns blazing. Now’s the time to burn up our cash items.”
“If we do that, it’ll be a pretty amazing sight.”
The idea that they might be able to do it filled the room, and Momonga felt his stomach cramping up.
If they felt it was impossible, they could comfort themselves when they failed by saying “It was as expected”. But if they thought it was possible and failed, the impact would be much greater.
Momonga regretted his foolish announcement.
Trying to temper their excitement with a caution was the thinking of a loser. However, that caution might help matters.
However, he could not say that, as the organizer of the event.
Just then, a savior appeared.
“—Everyone, you’re being too overconfident. Do you know how low the odds are of one-shotting an unknown dungeon? The effective level of a dungeon goes up several times when you try it for the first time.”
The speaker was Ulbert.
Granted, those words were rain on their parade, but because of that, everyone calmed down.
At the same time, a ringing reached Momonga’s ear. It was a magical ‘Message’, and it was from Punitto Moe.
『—Good luck, Momonga-san.』
Momonga signed onto the dedicated ‘Message’ channel, and cast his spell. This way, his voice would only reach the recipient of his ‘Message’.
“Thank you.”
『Don’t worry about it, but do keep in mind that panic is the seed of defeat, so you must keep calm and think logically. Remain calm, look beyond your surroundings, and don’t waste your effort on unnecessary details, Momonga-san. Carelessness is your greatest enemy. However, I’m also planning to clear this in one go. So, all the best!』