“Hmph! It matters not how hard I work here… well, there are subsidies for the amount that we move, but that is merely a fixed sum. The truth is, working here simply does not pay enough.”
“It pays better than regular work.”
The Dwarf before him was right. Gondo had chosen to work here because he needed to raise funds in a short period of time.
“Not enough for my aims. That is why I intend to go digging around in the abandoned city. None may gainsay my claim, no matter what kind of metal I excavate.”
The manager knitted his brows into a mass.
Gondo’s words might have been quite extreme, but he was also correct.
“You seek the white iron, then?”
“Yes, exactly. After all, nobody will quibble with me if I recover it from there.”
The fundamental fact was that all these mines were nationalized. Thus, one would have to pay an appropriate — appropriately high — price if they wanted white iron. However, anything one dug out of an abandoned mine was essentially finders keepers. However, if anything happened to them there, the country would not provide any assistance, of course.
“…Would you sell it to me? I’ll pay well, of course.”
They had not yet dug up white iron from the mineral veins near this city. Thus, once the ores ran out, the price of the metal would rise asymptotically.
However, Gondo knew that the Dwarf before him was not making that proposal out of self-interest. He was doing so purely out of the kindness of his heart.
He probably intended to negotiate with Gondo with a higher price than what a middleman would charge. However, Gondo was not digging the white iron up to sell it — in other words, he was not prospecting for profit.
“How shall I say this… I have already decided what to use it for. It will all be going to my research.”
A shadow fell across the sinister-looking Dwarf’s face.
“Are you still saying that sort of thing… Well, I cannot say I do not understand how you feel, but should you not face reality and settle down here as a crew leader? What would your father think?”
In that moment, anger blazed up in Gondo’s heart. However, he lowered his face to hide the rage twisting it before it could show. After all, the Dwarf before him had helped Gondo’s father many times before. That was why he was so concerned about Gondo, his son, immersing himself in research that could not possibly bear fruit.
While the other man had said what he had out of goodwill, Gondo could not bring himself to accept those words.
“I face reality every day. Father did not walk a false path. I will revive the arts that were lost!”
In the end, he could not hold back his wrath completely. As he vented the dregs of his rancor with those words, Gondo turned and strode away without looking back.
He felt guilty about making people worry for him, but it was overruled by the passion he felt for what he had to do, no matter the cost.
Yes.
That was what he lived for, as someone who could not be compared to his outstanding father.
Gondo bit his lip, and looked forward.
Chapter 1: Preparing for the Unknown Land
1
After returning from the Empire, Ainz sat at his desk in E-Rantel and leaned heavily against the back of his chair.
While he had already begun recruiting for the newly-founded Adventurer’s Guild of the Sorcerous Kingdom, it would take quite some time before the results could be seen. Until then, he would have to amply prepare himself.
His top priority was setting up a school to train the adventurers, but if circumstances permitted, he could use the Adventurer’s Guild itself. It would probably be a sign of hospitality to prepare a hostel for the volunteers who had traveled a long distance to seek him out. Their instructors would be those adventurers who had chosen to remain within the Sorcerous Kingdom.
I should probably ask Albedo and the others about how to manage the territories… but before that… why did he bring up the matter of vassalage… it’ll be troublesome for Albedo and Demiurge, right?…?
Ainz had no idea what Jircniv was thinking. Neither did he know how to explain the situation to those two sagacious individuals. Why had Jircniv made a proposal like that? For all he knew, Demiurge might have been working behind the scenes here.
I should have discussed all this with Demiurge beforehand. Ah, but he went to a faraway place, and now all I can do is think of how to take care of it between Albedo and myself… as I thought, it’s impossible, huh…
Haaa, he sighed internally. His unease and confusion made his nonexistent stomach ache. And then, when he thought about what would happen when they returned, the pain intensified.
Ainz shook his head, and then considered the information he had learned in the Empire as a way to avoid thinking about what loomed ahead of him.
“…Runes, huh.”
Bits and pieces of knowledge from YGGDRASIL were scattered throughout this mysterious new world, like stars glittering in the night. He had found traces of other players, the existence of World-Class Items, and so on.
He could now add the existence of runes — a form of writing from Suzuki Satoru’s world — to that list.
The reason why the people of the Theocracy could summon angels from the religions of Suzuki Satoru’s world was probably due to magic originating from YGGDRASIL.
Then, what about these runes? How had they come to exist in this world? Were the runes in this world the same as those in Suzuki Satoru’s world? Or were they simply a form of magical writing which happened to resemble them, and thus the term had been automatically translated as “runes”?
…The Dwarven Kingdom is located in the nearby Azellisia Mountain Range. I’ll need to investigate it thoroughly. As I thought… I can’t avoid going there, can I?
Naturally, Ainz had asked Fluder about runes before returning to E-Rantel.
However, all he knew was that the King who hailed from the Azellisian Dwarven nation had once visited the Empire, that he was a runesmith, and that the Empire purchased weapons and armor from the Dwarven Kingdom. However, about a hundred years ago, all traces of rune-carved magic items were lost.
While this was very valuable information to Ainz, it was not what he truly wanted to know.
There was no runesmith job class in YGGDRASIL. If that’s a profession which is unique to this world, then there’s a chance that the technology of both worlds might be combined into one. Therefore, I’ll need to investigate this matter in greater detail. However, who should I send there?
All he wanted was to visit the Dwarven Kingdom and ask about runes and the like. As for the profession of runesmith — well, it was a technical matter and a potential state secret. In the worst case scenario, he could make them talk by using charm spells and the like if they were very tight-lipped about it.
If it was simply a matter of using charm or domination magic, or kidnapping people with teleportation magic, then just about anyone would do. But what if there was a player behind these runes? For all he knew, the person who had brainwashed Shalltear was hiding there.
I want to learn more before going in, but it won’t be easy to find out about something that even Fluder doesn’t know.
Ainz slowly rose from his seat.
In an instant, the woman beside him sprang into action. She had an energetic look on her face that matched the boyish cut of her hair. She was Decrement, Ainz’s duty maid for the day.
Ainz reached out a hand to halt Decrement, and then began to pace slowly around in his office.