It was not a good label, but looking back, it was a good memory.
“What is it, my lord?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Hamsuke asked because her master had halted and took no further action. Ainz replied in a plain tone, as though trying to change the topic. It was a voice to hide his embarrassment about the fact he was caught up in the memories of good old days.
“Then, let’s go to the Adventurer’s Guild and get some monster subjugation quests.”
They could book a room for the night in E-Rantel, but they could not afford to waste the money. The only reason Ainz, who did not need sleep or food, stayed at a high-class inn was to show off his status as the highest-ranked adventurer in the city and to make connections. However, he was already acquainted with all the relevant authorities and would be welcomed should he ever visit them. Thus, there was no need to stay at an inn any more.
Plus, even when he did stay at an inn, he would teleport to Nazarick and create undead until morning anyways. Since there was no point in lingering, it would be wiser to take a quest and leave the city quickly.
In truth, he had begun to think that there was no longer any value in staying around E-Rantel.
“Is that so? My lord seems to enjoy fighting.”
“I don’t particularly enjoy it. Even if I do accept a subjugation quest, I’ll just mop it up quickly and spend most of the time in Nazarick as usual.”
Ainz lightly tapped Hamsuke’s gigantic head.
“We also need to train you to equip weapons and armour.”
“I always train hard! Those lizardmen taught me a lot, my lord. Soon I will even be able to use an ultimate strike!”
“If you can use martial arts, that would be perfect. What about your comrade who’s training alongside you? Do you think he can use martial arts as well?”
“That fellow? He does not speak, so I would not know. Though I feel he would be a long way from being able to do so.”
Ainz did not think “it” would be able to talk either. The possibility that it would be able to use martial arts was also close to zero. It was an experiment. If Ainz’s Death Knight could learn warrior-class skills, the plan would be changed immediately. If it could get stronger from training, it could be a matter of utmost priority.
“The undead do not require rest or sleep. Since it can train continuously, it should have learned martial arts faster than Hamsuke. But since it still hasn’t learned anything, it appears to be a failure.”
“Wait my lord! He’s trying very hard as well! Day after day, even after this king had gone to bed…
I beseech thee to not kill him!”
“...Who said anything about killing? What kind of evil being do you think I am?”
“That is right! There is none in this world who is as generous as you are, Ainz-sama! He even spared a pathetically weak creature like you.”
Those chilling words flew from Narberal, who was riding just behind, and Hamsuke shook her body.
“—Nabe, we’ll be arriving at E-Rantel soon, so call me Momon.”
“As you command.”
“And Hamsuke is a vital part of the plan to strengthen Nazarick… Make sure you treat those who work for Nazarick well. Let me remind you that Hamsuke isn’t the only one I’m talking about.”
“Yes! I apologize.”
He also wanted to tell her to stop calling the humans names like “tick” or “flea”, but she didn’t listen and he had stopped trying entirely. If it was Narberal Gamma’s setting to call the humans such names unconsciously, he did not want trample on the hard work and devotion of his comrades.
“Well, let’s go.”
“Understood!”
Hamsuke strode forward with Ainz on top.
There were several people standing in line by the gate. Entering the city was much stricter than leaving and all cargos were searched thoroughly. Thus, it often took a while for peddlers or wandering merchants to get to their turn for inspection.
“Doesn’t seem like it’ll take too long…”
There were several travelers in the line, along with an armed group who looked like adventurers.
Narberal asked quietly when Ainz stood behind them.
“Momon sam—san, can we not go ahead first?”
She was right. When Ainz first arrived, he had to go through thorough and annoying inspections, but as he became more famous, the inspections became simpler and nowadays he had a free pass. Not only that, they often passed him through before others.
It was not that “Darkness” was special, but all adventurers over Mithril rank were treated like this. It was to make sure they did not displease or inconvenience what could be dubbed the “city’s secret weapons”.
They should just exempt us from entrance fee as well...
It was a tiny amount of what he had earned through adventuring, but this was the number one source of money for Nazarick. Still, he did not consider using ‘Flight’ to just get over the walls.
Momon was a hero. Thus—
“We will not cut in line... Unless there’s an emergency or something that needs to be done quickly.”
Narberal replied with her head bowed while Ainz stared in front, zoned out on top of the Hamsuke.
“The line doesn’t look like it’s moving...”
The line stayed still, as though there was a traffic jam on the road.
“What is that…? They’re checking a wagon… Checking it really thoroughly. No, they’re just surrounding it and not checking it. Did they find something illegal? Excuse me.”
Ainz asked the gruff-looking guy standing in front of him.
“Ah, yes, what is it?”
“No need to be flustered. It just looked like the line wasn’t moving, so I’m wondering what’s going on.”
“I don’t know the details, but I saw this young lady going towards the checkpoint with some soldiers. Then suddenly—”
Even though he heard the summary, it was hard to discern the details. Ainz stuck his head out and listened in towards the direction of the check point. He could hear a loud shout when he listened carefully.
Hmmm.
Ainz’s curiosity was stimulated.
When he first arrived at E-Rantel, he was asked several questions as well, but in the end he could enter easily. He almost felt that guards were rather friendly towards common folk like adventurers and travelers. There was probably a real reason why they were friendly to him, but what kind of interrogation was that country girl undergoing?
Because his adamantite rank was universal in nature, there were few cities which would not allow Ainz inside. So Ainz wanted to know what they were asking her. In the future, he might need to infiltrate a city as someone who was not an adamantite-ranked adventurer like Momon. To avoid any problems which might result at that point, he wanted to be prepared.
“Wait here. I’ll check it out.”
“I shall go with you.”