“There’s no need. I’ll be very brief.”
All the soldiers who spotted Ainz shouted out in surprise. In E-Rantel, there was not a single person who did not know of the adamantite-ranked adventurer, Momon.
Ainz put special care into appearing confident as he approached the checkpoint. Inside was an agitated magic caster, a soldier and a country girl sitting on a chair.
“We want to enter the city as quickly as possible… but what’s the matter?”
“Uwaaah!”
The two men screamed out in surprise like the soldiers on the outside and the country girl looked over in his direction with a stupefied expression.
“M-Momon-sama! I apologize!”
“What are you... Hm? She’s...”
It was a familiar face. He felt as if he had seen her before and he racked his brain —even though he did not have one— for information about her.
“Yes! We were investigating this suspicious girl, so it took some time. We apologize for inconveniencing you, Momon-sama—”
Ainz remembered the girl's name while thinking that the man’s voice was distracting.
“—Enri. Yeah, you’re Enri Emmot, correct?”
“Uh, I’m sorry but who… Ah, that’s right. You came to the village with Enfi. I don’t remember talking with you… Did you hear my name from Enfi?”
Ainz froze unintentionally.
The one who met with Enri was the masked magic caster, Ainz Ooal Gown. Right now, he was the adamantite-ranked adventurer wearing pitch black armour, Momon.
Damn it! I said it out loud without thinking. Crap, I need to leave here quickly. But why is she here?
If she was looking for me— no, looking for Ainz Ooal Gown, is something wrong? I need to hear about the details.
Considering what she had just said, it was not likely that she had discovered his true identity, but he needed to take the possibility that he had been discovered into consideration. Even if she could not tell that Ainz and Momon was the same person by comparing the voice from several months ago to what was coming out through the helmet now, there was nothing to lose by being careful.
Ainz called over the magic caster with a beckoning gesture. The magic caster would know more about the situation than the soldier.
He took the magic caster outside the checkpoint, far away enough so that nobody else could listen in the conversation.
“So... She’s a friend of a friend of mine. Can you tell me what happened?”
Technically, it wasn’t a lie since Nfirea was both Ainz and Momon’s acquaintance.
The magic caster opened his eyes wide. His expression was similar to surprise, but it was subtly different. One might compare it to a strand of string connecting to another. It was like he had solved a puzzle.
“Is that so… Of course…”
He wanted to tell the magic caster to stop talking to himself, but Ainz waited for him to speak.
“I thought she was a simple countryside girl, but she was carrying a powerful magic item in the shape of a horn. So I was going to find out how she came into possession of such a powerful item among other things.”
“What kind of horn was it? And its effects?”
“The effects were—”
Ainz looked up into the sky after hearing the whole story. He wanted to avoid the situation because he realized he had given that item to her.
He had given Enri that item for her to protect herself, without knowing that this kind of item was abnormal in this world. He did not imagine that it would cause her trouble. He could make excuses, saying that it was not his fault, but he could not just abandon her either.
Should I help? I’m not at fault, the one who has the item should be responsible… But it’d be troublesome if that item went into someone else’s hands. Plus, if she gets arrested…
Nfirea knew that Ainz and Momon were the same person. If he heard about this situation from her later on, he would think that Ainz had abandoned her.
There’s definitely going to be a problem… It doesn’t matter what happens to other useless humans, but he’s a valuable one. There’s a saying, “turn crisis into opportunities”. If I help her, Nfirea will be thankful and I’ll be able to chain him down with obligation.
Ainz spoke in a tone that he thought sounded very insightful.
“There’s no need to worry about it. I know very well what kind of person she is. She’s definitely not someone who would cause trouble, so please let her go. Can you do that?”
“Of course. If it’s an acquaintance of Momon from ‘Darkness’, even a criminal would be able to enter the city freely if you vouched for them.”
“Is that so. Then, I’m sorry to ask this of you, but please let her in. And I apologize once again, but can you let us, ‘Darkness’, in as well?”
♦ ♦ ♦
Ainz returned to Narberal and Hamsuke with the permit.
“I have the permit. Let’s go in.”
He passed by those standing while riding on top of Hamsuke. He had grabbed the attention of those waiting, but after they spotted the black armour, giant swords, Hamsuke and Narberal, they looked away, as though they had accepted it. They were keenly aware of the clear difference in status between them and Ainz.
He entered E-Rantel while receiving deep, respectful bows from the soldiers.
“Nabe, I have something to request of you.”
“I stand ready to receive any command.”
It was little unsightly for an adventuring comrade to show such signs of loyalty in middle of a city, but Ainz knew it was useless, so he continued.
“A girl called Enri will shortly pass the gate with a cart. Go and discreetly ask her why she’s in E-Rantel.”
Next, Ainz looked for a place to hide himself. It was to avoid further conversation with Enri.
He looked around and decided that a nearby stack of wooden boxes were high enough for him to hide behind and ordered Hamsuke there. The soldiers who were working behind the boxes were surprised by Ainz and Hamsuke’s sudden appearance.
“Soldiers, a moment of your time, if I may? I am curious as to what’s in these boxes.”
Ainz confirmed that he was not visible from the gate and asked the soldiers. In reality, he had no interest in the wooden boxes, but only asked because he did not want to get kicked out as a hindrance.
“Ah, yes, it’s an honour for Momon of Darkness to take interest. This is a vegetable named ‘kinshu’
from Grandel. This is—”
Ainz replied with “Is that so” or “Interesting” to the soldier who explained earnestly. His replies were insincere, but the soldier ignored it and carried on. After Ainz had learned quite a lot on how to cook kinshu, Nabe appeared from behind him.
“—I’m sorry to cut you off. Your explanations were very helpful, but my comrade is back, so please excuse me.”
Ainz announced to the soldier and trotted off on Hamsuke.