“...Well, legally speaking, I have to accept that. I can’t stop you… That said, we’ll sorely feel the absence of a strong man like you. You should have gone on your warrior’s journey earlier, right? Why now? Is it because there aren’t any more demihuman attacks?”
Since that time half a year ago, the demihumans had stopped attacking this fortress. In the past, they had attacked about once or twice a month, in groups of about a few dozen each time.
While they only numbered a few dozen, they were still demihumans, who had superior physical abilities compared to mankind, and many of them possessed special abilities on top of that. Those were numbers which could easily slaughter an entire outpost wholesale.
Both Olrand and Pavel had experienced many situations where they had to send out elite troops for relief operations.
“You know I don’t enjoy slaughtering the demihumans, right? I like fighting strong people and becoming strong.”
“So how about the Grand King, then?”
“Ahhh, that guy…”
“Oh, and then there’s the Demon Claw, the Beast Emperor, the Ashen King, the Iceflame Lightning, and the Spiral Lance.”
Pavel had mentioned the nicknames of several notable demihumans, but none of them moved Olrand’s heart apart from the one he had first mentioned.
The Grand King Buser.
He was the king of a certain demihuman tribe, a being known as the Lord of Destruction.
That nickname came from the fact that he was skilled in martial arts that destroyed weaponry and his fighting style that revolved around such sundering techniques. He was a mortal enemy of the Holy Kingdom who had defeated many famed warriors, and he had fought Olrand in the past. Back then, he had destroyed Olrand’s longsword, his backup weapons of a shortsword and handaxe, and even a billhook used to cut trees for firewood.
Although he had broken all of Olrand’s weapons, the Grand King withdrew after seeing the reinforcements sent from the fortress. In a sense, being able to hold out until help arrived was a win for Olrand, and many people praised him for his valor. To Olrand, however, it simply meant that the Grand King did not think that slaying Olrand was worth the risk, and so all Olrand felt was a hollow sense of defeat.
“I do want to fight him again, but… I guess I still can’t beat him now. You’d probably need one of those people they call heroes to defeat him, otherwise it would be very difficult. Therefore… ah, you’ve also heard of it, right boss? How that great warrior, Gazef Stronoff, died in battle.”
“Ah, yes, I did. The higher-ups are debating hotly about how that’s going to affect the surrounding countries, after all.”
The death of Gazef Stronoff, known as the mightiest warrior of the Re-Estize Kingdom, was a matter of great interest to the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom — particularly the skilled ones.
“Do you know any specifics?”
“I’ve heard some rough details. Apparently, he duelled a magic caster known as the Sorcerer King and was struck down. Frankly speaking, the fact that he would actually challenge a magic caster to a duel is quite hard to take in.”
Olrand agreed as well.
However, the term “magic caster” was quite broad. Divine magic casters could, after using spells which enhanced their physical abilities, end up stronger than a half-baked warrior. In addition, the paladins who were the pride of this nation could use magic too, so to some extent, one could not say they were not magic casters. In that case, he could understand the reasons for the duel.
“...In addition, others say that the Sorcerer King massacred an entire army. Apparently he summoned gigantic goats, or sheep, rather.”
“Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard that. Still, gigantic goats? What a weird magic caster.”
The mention of goats reawakened unhappy memories of Olrand’s defeat. That said, while the rumors said he had summoned goats, they were clearly not ordinary goats.
“Well, it’s also because of that weird magic caster. That’s why I need to do this.”
“...That’s why? I don’t quite get your meaning.”
“This hasn’t changed from when I lost to you, but I’m the sort of person who disregards items that grant flight, spells, and the like. I’ve always thought that all you need to do is beat them with your sword. However, after the Kingdom’s Warrior-Captain-dono — who was stronger than me — lost to those, I began to think that maybe I shouldn’t look down on them.”
“Which means?”
“Which means I need to go on a warrior’s pilgrimage.”
“...Don’t tell me you’re going to challenge those people in our country that you can’t beat?”
“I won’t.”
Some of the opponents which Olrand could not win against were fellow members of the Nine Colors.
The Vice-Captain of the marines, Enrique Belsway, known as “the Blue.”
The Captain of the Paladin Order, Remedios Custodio, known as “the White.”
Pavel Baraja, known as “the Black.”
Ran Tsu An Rin, one of the Mermen who lived in the sea, known as “the Green.”
And then, outside of the Nine Colors, there was the most powerful priest in the nation, Queralt Custodio.
In other words, they were some of the most highly placed people in the land, and challenging them would surely cause great ructions in the country. If it was just a mock battle, then it ought to be all right, so long as it was against a fellow member of the Nine Colors, but an all-out duel would never be allowed.
However, that would not do.
A true clash of blades was completely different from a mock battle. Sometimes, the winner and loser could be completely reversed between them. Many people became much stronger — or weaker — when going from training to a live combat. Naturally, the strong were recognized as such because they showed their power in actual combat. Therefore, one could not consider a warrior pilgrimage complete without fighting a real battle.
“That’s good, then... still, where do you plan to train yourself?”
“I was thinking of visiting the Sorcerous Kingdom you mentioned earlier. It seems there’s powerful undead there.”
The Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown.
It would have taken an incredible attention-seeker to actually name a country after themselves, but it was not entirely unthinkable. More to the point, it was a fact that the person who had done so had the power to back it up.
“I’ve heard of it from the merchants who travel between the Kingdom and the Holy Kingdom.”
Thanks to the teachings of the Holy Kingdom’s temples, the common man both hated and despised the undead. Even Pavel was no exception. No, Olrand thought. Pavel did not hate them because they were the enemies of the Holy Kingdom, but because they were his wife’s enemies.
However, he could not bring that up. While he did not lose himself in chatting about his wife as he did with his daughter, he still spoke far too much.
“The Holy Kingdom’s stance is to tacitly acknowledge the existence of the Sorcerous Kingdom, right? They say it’s okay for people of the Holy Kingdom to go over there… right?”
There was no way to hide the fact that the Sorcerous Kingdom, with its armies of the undead, was an intolerable foe of the Holy Kingdom. Many people had urged them to send out troops when they thought of how the people in the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Capital of E-Rantel must be suffering. However, the Holy Kingdom presently faced the threat of the demihumans, and they would not be able to conduct military operations in other countries without first pacifying the hill region.
The feelings of the people aside, the leadership's response to the Sorcerous Kingdom did not escalate beyond half-hearted criticism.