“Can you take it off?”
“If I do so, then that guy—“ His hand pointed to the Death Knight. “If he goes out of control it would be very troublesome.”
The village chief, along with the villagers inside the house, knew the strength of the Death Knight very well, and they all showed a surprised expression. Possibly feeling the change in the village chief’s mood and the surrounding atmosphere, Gazef nodded heavily:
“I see, in that case it would be better to not remove the mask.”
“Thank you.”
“Then—”
“Before that, sorry to interrupt, but this village was just attacked by knights of the Empire. If everyone were to carry weapons and enter, it may cause the villagers to recall their recent, frightful experiences. If I may ask, would it be possible for everyone to place their weapons in the corner of the square, and consequently put the villager’s minds at ease?”
“…What Master Gown has said is certainly correct. However these swords were bestowed upon us by the king; without the king’s orders we cannot lay them down.”
“—Ainz-sama, we are fine with it.”
“Is that so? Village chief… Also Sir Knight-Captain, please pardon my unreasonable request.”
“Master Gown indeed has the right idea. If this sword weren’t bestowed by the king, I would happily put it down. Then can we find somewhere to sit together, and would it be possible for you to recount the details of this incident? If you don’t mind, the hour grows late, and I wish to rest inside the village…”
“I understand. Then shall we proceed to my home—”
While the village chief was answering, a knight hastily ran into the square. Panting heavily, he had urgent news to report.
The knight loudly shouted an emergency situation:
“Captain! There are many shadows surrounding the area. They are approaching the village!”
Part 3
"Everyone listen up."
A calm, quiet voice could be heard by everyone.
"The prey has entered the cage."
The speaker was a man.
He had a common appearance; if he was in a crowd, he wouldn’t be particularly conspicuous. His only outstanding features were his black, artificial looking eyes and the scar on his face.
"Thou shalt devote thine faith to God."
Everyone prayed in silence. It was a simplified prayer to God. While carrying out assignments, even within domestic borders, they had to take their time to pray.
It wasn't simple, but they always had to exhibit a staunch and profound belief in God.
These knights who gave their everything to the Slane Theocracy, and to God, had a more profound faith than ordinary citizens. That was the reason they were able to carry out callous acts without feeling sinful. After the prayer ended, everyone's eyes became as cold as ice.
"Commence."
Barely a phrase.
They surrounded the village with perfectly coordinated movements, giving the impression that this was the result of constant training.
They were the Slane Theocracy's knights who specialized in carrying out illegal missions, only heard of, but never seen.
The Slane Theocracy had six such groups working for their intelligence agency. The typical duties of the Sunlight Scripture included the annihilation of demi-human villages. Although they had many opportunities to do battle, their numbers were quite small. Including the scouts, they numbered less than a hundred men.
That was because the door into the Sunlight Scripture was very narrow.
First, one had to be able to use Holy spells of Level 3, as well as all the normal high level spells that Magic Casters were able to learn. Additionally, they had to possess superior physical capabilities, resilience and spirit, along with a deep faith in his religion.
In short, they were the cream of the crop.
Watching the men around him, the man softly exhaled. Once all the men dispersed it would be difficult to grasp all of their movements. But he had complete faith in his flawless cage.
With the success of his task within his grasp, the captain of the Sunlight Scripture, Nigan Goodrich Luin, felt at ease in his heart.
Those in the Sunlight Scripture weren’t experts in covert or outfield operations, and as a result they missed four other opportunities. Every time they chased after Gazef and his group of knights, they always had be very vigilant to avoid being detected. If they missed this opportunity as well, their days of constant pursuit would continue without a doubt.
"Next time… I should ask the other teams for help and push the responsibility onto them."
Someone then replied to Nigan’s complaint.
"That’s right, our expertise is extermination after all."
The person answering was one of the team members who had stayed behind to protect Nigan.
"Looking at it, our task this time seems to be quite unusual. This is clearly an important assignment; it wouldn’t be strange if we were to enlist the help of the Windflower…"
"You’re correct. Although I do not understand the reason we were deployed this time, it’s nonetheless quite a useful experience. To infiltrate the enemy ranks is indeed good training. No, perhaps this was the ultimate objective."
Although that was what he said, it was clear to Nigan that accepting a similar task in the future would be troublesome.
This time his task was "To assassinate the Kingdom’s strongest warrior, the one unmatched even in the neighboring countries, Gazef Strolonoff."
Generally speaking, this didn’t seem like a task well-suited for the Sunlight Scripture, but rather one for the Black Scripture, which had fighters possessing strength of a heroic Level. But this time, nothing could be done about the situation.
Nigan knew the true reason the other groups couldn’t assist them, but he wasn’t allowed to tell his subordinates because that information was classified.
The Black Scripture had to deal with the upcoming resurrection of the Dragon King of Ruin, and were now protecting the divine artifact [Bewitching Calamity, Kei Seke Koku]. The Windflower Scripture was also using all its strength to chase after the traitor who stole the Miko Princess’ divine artifact, thus they had no forces left to assist him.
Nigan unconsciously stroked the scar on his face, vividly remembering the only time he had to flee like a coward. His mind recalled the face of the woman who carried the pitch-black, magically created sword that caused this scar.
In most circumstances, one could completely cure any wound without leaving a scar just by using magic, but Nigan deliberately left these scars as a reminder of his defeat.
"… Damn that Blue Rose."
Nigan detested the fact that Blue Rose and Gazef were both from the Kingdom. Nor could he forgive Blue Rose for being a priestess who served a different god. And there was the fact that she stopped Nigan’s attempt to destroy a demi-human village. She was also the type of person Nigan loathed most, both merciful and foolish.
"… The weak must look for many methods of self-protection if they want to survive. To not even know that, how stupid."
Noticing the suppressed anger in the artificial looking eyes of his leader, one of his subordinates quickly interrupted:
"Bu-, but the Kingdom is truly stupid."
Nigan did not answer, but he agreed with that statement.