"You may leave Shalltear. When you leave, tell Narberal or Insect Queen to summon Demiurge over. Tell him I want to discuss my next plan with him."
"Understood, Ainz-sama."
Chapter 1 — The Two Adventurers
Part 1
The Kingdom’s city of E-Rantel was situated at the border between the Baharuth Empire and the Slane Theocracy. Since it was protected by 3 layers of city walls, it was known as the Fortress City due to its appearance. The zones between each layer had their own unique characteristics.
The outermost walls were used by the Kingdom's military and had all the necessary military armaments.
The innermost wall housed the administrative zone. This zone has its own warehouses for food, and was heavily protected by soldiers.
The zone in between these two areas was the residential area for civilians. When you hear the word city, this was the zone that matched it.
Of the several plazas within this zone, the biggest one was called the central plaza. Lots of people set up shop there, laying out all sorts of vegetables, spices and other sorts of merchandise.
In the lively crowd, a shop owner shouted loudly in an attempt to attract customers. Elderly housewives and merchants haggled over the price of fresh ingredients, youths are being enticed by the fragrance of juicy, barbecued meat kebabs.
This plaza was incredibly lively in the day, the noisy and crowded atmosphere would carry on till sunset. But two figures leaving a five-story building put an end to the rowdy atmosphere.
Every eye in the plaza was drawn to the duo as they stood motionlessly.
One of them was a female between fifteen and twenty years old. The corners of her eyes were sharp and shone with the brilliance of obsidian. Her thick, shiny black hair was tied up in a ponytail and her snow-white skin glittered in the sun like pearls.
Her most prominent part was her elegant air and her exotic beauty that would make anybody look twice. The brown cloak she wore was plain, but on her it looked like a lavish gown.
Her partner was of an indeterminable gender, since there were simply no visible signs to determine it.
Some people in the plaza mumbled: "Dark warrior."
That's right, that person was wearing an elegant full body armor decorated with purple and golden markings. The face couldn’t be seen through the thin slit in the helmet. Under the red cape on his back, two large swords could be seen, complementing the style of dressing.
The two of them looked around and the armored figure took the first steps.
The crowd started to murmur as they watched the back of the two figures fade into the distance. They were surprised by the rare sight they just saw and felt no fear or wariness towards the armed duo.
The reason for that was that the duo exited from the building known as the 'Adventurer's Guild', an association for experts who hunted monsters. Other armed people also left the building as well after the two left. The observant people had also noticed small copper medals hanging on their necks.
The duo only attracted attention because of the lady's beauty and the strikingly cool armor.
They walked silently on the narrow road.
The water pooled in the tracks of carriages reflected the sun. The road itself was made from sand and mud, thus meaning that it was not as good as those paved with stone and was hard to walk on. It was easy to slip and fall, but the pair’s balance was excellent and their walking speed was almost the same as if they were walking on a stone paved road.
The fleet-footed lady confirmed nobody was around and said to fully armored person next to her:
"Ainz-sa—"
"— No, my name is Momon. And you are not the battle maid Narberal from the Great Tomb of Nazarick, but Momon's adventuring partner Nabel."
The fully armored person — Ainz — interrupted the girl named Narberal and she responded:
"Ah! My humble apologies, Momon-sama."
"Don't address me as — sama. We are normal adventurers and comrades. It would be weird for you to add — sama."
"B-but! How could I be so impudent towards you, the supreme ruler?"
Ainz stopped the agitated sounding Narberal with a hand gesture, signaling her to lower her voice. Then he replied with a hint of resignation and helplessness:
"I’ve repeated this many times already: Here, I am the Dark Warrior Momon… No, just your partner Momon, so don't address me as — sama. That’s an order."
After a moment of silence, Narberal answered reluctantly:
"Understood Momon-sa — san."
"Never mind, this will have to do, there is no need to add honorifics though. If you add honorifics when addressing comrades… how should I put this… others will think we aren't close."
"But… that would be too disrespectful…"
Ainz shrugged at the stammering Narberaclass="underline"
"We can't reveal our real identities. You do understand that part, right?"
"You are absolutely right."
"… Your tone… well, never mind. Anyway… what I want to say is that you must be careful in everything you say or do."
"… Understood, Momon-sa — san. But is it really fine for me to accompany you? Wouldn't someone as beautiful and gentle like Albedo-sama be more suitable?"
"Albedo, huh…"
Ainz’s following words were full of complicated feelings.
"She needs to manage Nazarick while I am away."
"Pardon my impudence, but you can leave the management of Nazarick to Cocytus-sama. All the guardians feels the same… Taking your safety into consideration, wouldn’t the best Guardian, Albedo-sama, be the best choice?"
Ainz smiles awkwardly at Narberal's query.
When he expressed his wish to head for E-Rantel, Albedo was the one who objected the most.
After all, she knew she wouldn't be able to tag along.
Shortly after he was transported into this world, Ainz went outside while leaving his escorts behind and Albedo blamed herself for being incompetent. Therefore, Ainz was unable to strongly oppose her opinion. But this time was different since it was done after a lot of careful planning, so he wouldn't back down.
His opposition consisted of guardians who’d obediently listened to 'orders', even if it went against their will. But Ainz didn't think that was a good thing. He felt guilty forcefully imposing his will on the guardians created by his guild mates.
Ainz who tried to convince them and Albedo who was adamantly opposing. They had no middle grounds and were fated to never reach a consensus. But Demiurge whispered something into Albedo's ears, and she suddenly stopped her resistance. She even bid Ainz farewell with a smile of approval.
Ainz still didn’t know what Demiurge said to her and he felt uneasy at how Albedo changed her stance so drastically.
"… I didn't bring her along because there was no one I trust more than her. I can leave Nazarick without worries because she is there."