The reason why they had not returned to Nazarick at any point during their journey was also to prevent the opposition from knowing that they could replenish their forces infinitely using the [Gate] spell. This would make them think that Ainz and company could be worn down over time.
Well, even if the enemy does appear, it would be good if the Vampire Brides were safe.
Ainz did not want the Vampire Brides to die. However, he did not mind sacrificing respawning POP monsters to gain information on the enemy.
Was this being a little cruel, Ainz thought as he entered the cave.
There was no light from the outside in the cave, and soon they were immersed in complete darkness. However, it posed no problems to Ainz, who had darkvision. Shalltear, Aura, the other undead and the magical beasts also possessed that ability. At their level, mere darkness was not a disadvantage to anyone present.
Zenberu, on the other hand, was being cradled like a princess by one of the undead.
Given the fact that all the stalactites and stalagmites in the area had been cleared away, and the fact that the area was flattened and easy to walk through, there was no doubt that this place was a Dwarven city.
The Hanzos led them onwards. There were many forking paths along the way, all of which led quickly to dead ends, according to the Hanzos guiding them. They had probably been dug to confuse intruders and buy time, or perhaps to help mount a counterattack.
There were spells which Ainz could use under these circumstances, but the Hanzos lacked such abilities. It only made sense that they had taken a long time considering they had to investigate all these possible paths.
As he thought about that, one of the Hanzos turned to face him.
“Ainz-sama, we are about to reach the residential district.”
“Really now…There’s some kind of blurred lighting in the distance, Hanzo. Didn’t you say there were no Dwarves here?”
“Yes, there are none. This light is being emitted by a crystalline mineral.”
A vast open space sprawled ahead of them.
As he looked for the source of the illumination, he saw multiple sturdy pillars supporting the ceiling. Crystal-like objects grew from the ceiling, and they radiated the light which the Hanzos had spoken of.
There were no other sources of light — no man-made ones, at least — as far as Ainz could see.
This place seemed like a residential district, as the Hanzos had described it. It certainly looked like a city, with long rows of dull buildings, roughly two stories tall.
Perhaps it was because their builders were a short race, but their structures were all shorter than human-constructed buildings. Even so, they were still taller than Ainz, and he could not tell the size of the city on account of his line of sight being obstructed by the buildings. However, the sheer number of buildings here made him feel that counting them all was an exercise in futility.
“Hmm…”
As Ainz surveyed the city, the flame of hope in his heart went out with a “chu~”[3], as if extinguished by a basin of cold water.
It was too run-down.
The stories he had heard of the Dwarven city conjured up a mental image of a shining, intricate and dignified place, but there was no sign of that here. There was no trace of YGGDRASIL — of a player’s presence — here either.
Ainz stepped forward, and pushed open the door to one of the buildings.
As the Hanzos had said, he was greeted by an empty space.
He could not see any furniture from where he stood at the entrance. The only things that remained were shelves which had been installed into the walls and other things which could not be moved. White dust covered the ground. It would seem nobody had been in here for quite some time.
“—Zenberu! Call out and see if there’s anyone there!”
After hearing Ainz’s order, Zenberu shouted the name of the Dwarf who had taken care of him in the past.
The fact that there was no echo within this confined space clearly demonstrated the sheer size of the cavern.
Zenberu shouted several more times, but as before, there were no signs of anybody emerging in response.
“—Hanzos. Search the tunnels outside this city for anything that might serve as a clue. Find the reason why this city was abandoned. However, given that we know nothing about the extent of the tunnel network, return if you feel you have gone too far.”
“Understood!”
While it might have been faster to have everyone head out on their own and search, Ainz was not nearly stupid enough to split the party under these circumstances where he did not know what was going on. He ordered everyone to gather and conduct a little investigation. As Ainz waited behind, they opened the doors of one building after another.
All of them were the same as the first.
Some of them contained abandoned furniture, but that was more of a bookshelf here and a table there. He had not found a residence with a complete set of furniture.
Checking all the houses like this would take a lot of time.
“Aura, you have the best senses of all of us. Have you found any clues?”
“Nope. Can’t feel anyone around.”
“Is that so… Then we’ll split up into two teams to search further. Shalltear, take command of the undead and act as our lookouts. Aura, go ahead to the house where Zenberu stayed the last time he was here. Search the city for the reason why the Dwarves are no longer around, but take care not to stray too far.”
The two Guardians replied in the affirmative, and then he saw Zenberu bowing in gratitude.
After nodding magnanimously, Ainz cast [Fly].
He slowly floated up.
This would be a dangerous course of action if anyone was waiting in ambush, but for some reason, Ainz had a feeling that there was nobody around.
“Ainz-sama!”
Shalltear flew over in a panic.
“It’s dangerous! Please descend!”
“Come to think of it, you’re right. It seems I got careless.”
It was only natural that Shalltear would be angry. After all, he had flown up — where anyone could draw a clear line of fire to him — purely because he was acting on a baseless instinct.
“Still, the fact that I was not attacked is further proof that there’s nobody here. Also, there’s a chance that anyone who spotted me might want to come closer to learn more, so I’ll leave perimeter security to you.”
“Please do not use yourself to lure the enemy into a trap.”
Punitto-san had a point; depending on the circumstances, a leader might have to use themselves as bait…Still, I guess it’s hard for someone like Shalltear to understand that, given that she isn’t one of my friends, but my protector.
“Forgive me,” Ainz said to Shalltear before looking downwards.
This was a city, filled with many identical buildings, as neatly laid-out as a go board.
“—There’s an impressive-looking building over there, and there and there.”
Although most of the buildings looked like they had been cast from the same mold, there were few which seemed larger than the others.
“Shall we go and look?”
“…Let’s call Aura back first. It feels like things might become very troublesome if there’s an ambush there.”
Everything Shalltear had said since just now had a point.
“Ainz-sama!”
Just then, Aura’s voice came from below. Looking down, he saw Aura and Zenberu waving to Ainz, and given the way they were doing so, it would appear something out of the ordinary had taken place.
“Looks like they’ve found something.”
“It seems that way.”
The two of them exchanged looks before landing alongside Aura, followed shortly by the undead hurrying to their position.