Chapter 1 - E-Rantel Noir

Junsui and Clair begin their investigation into the matter surrounding her collar. Their aim? To find a key that can unlock and remove the collar restricting her power.

Chapter 1 - E-Rantel Noir

Part 1 - E-Rantel Suspect

Scene 1

Claire and Junsui moved through the streets once again.  This time it was daylight, and they were heading back the way they had come the previous night.  The sun was just letting go of the horizon, and the streets were still dark enough to hide a body in an alleyway.  The two counted on this.  They needed the bodies to remain undiscovered until after they had completed their investigation.  It would be troublesome if the local forces tried to hamper their progress.

Because of this the two were moving at just less than a jog.  Their rapid pace didn't attract any undue attention, however.  They were both accustomed to moving about like this, Claire so because she had been an adventurer for a while, and Junsui so because he had been in war scenarios countless times.  In both cases, moving like this was required on an almost daily basis, as a result both had practised it to near perfection.

Their movement was rapid, yet fluid.  The building reeled past them at a comfortable pace.  People did so in a similar fashion.  Most did not even notice their passage.  Everyone was busy with their own preparations for the day.  They were setting up their shops, closing up the bars to clean them, restocking their supplies from delivery carts.  E-Rantel was constantly busy, if not with store front business, then with the admin necessary to conduct that business.

After about half an hour, with the sun just beginning to light up the second level down from the top of the buildings on the western sides of the streets, they arrived at the entrance to the alley.  The bodies were still there.  The mass of blood had driep up over the course of the night, and now blackened the place even more.  The lumps of flesh that lay scattered over the floor was stiff, and about to begin smelling.

Junsui moved quickly.  He checked the pockets of the nearest body, it was the one whom he had carved up last.  Claire contented herself with searching the nooks and crannies of the alley for anything that could be considered information.  She, even now, only just barely managed to hold back the bile rising up in her throat.  The scene was only slightly less disturbing visually than the previous night, but the slowly rising smell more than made up for that.

Junsui moved on to the second body.  This was the one he had basically split in half.  Again a search of the pockets delivered no useful results.  He looked over at Claire.  She had managed to gather enough courage to move to the one he had killed first.  Its body was the least violated, and it seemed she was able to manage that.  Junsui searched the last remaining body.  In this one's pocket, he did find something.  In it were a set of keys.  None of them were the key to Claire's collar, which relieved Junsui.

"I found a set of keys,"  he called out to Claire.

She nearly jumped off the ground when he called.  She was nervous, not only from being in the presence of such death, but also from the danger of being seen by one of the passers by.  Every minute the spent here, was a minute more during which it became lighter, easier for someone to spot them, and busier.  Each passer by was a potential discoverer, and it made her heart stop every time she heard a voice or pair of footsteps.

She turned her attention to Junsui after finder her footing once again, and once she had made sure her heart had resumed regular operation.

"Is it there?"  she asked, refusing to get excited over what was likely nothing.

"No.  But I think one of these is the key to the room in which you were held."

Claire's heart dropped, but only ever so slightly.  The final result was a slight rafe of it.  At least now they could move on with the investigation.

"It's this way, I think,"  she said, turning around to head deeper into the alley.

Junsui followed, and the two moved deeper into the fading shadow.  They moved right to the back of the alley, and around a corner.  Right after they found a beaten old door in one of the walls.  Here Claire halted and looked to Junsui.  He moved up and tried to open the door.  He went through about half of the key on the ring before one finally turned and the lock opened.  A turn of the nob and a slight pull and they were in the room.

The room was barren.  The only soft furniture in the room was four torn mattresses lined up against the furthest wall.  Right acrosss from the door, was a hip height spool used as a small table.  Around it were four stumps of wood used as stools.  On the table were a set of cards, and some more money.  The floor was covered in bottles of alcohol.  To put it lightly, the room stunk.  There was a stench of sweat, alcohol, and a general stuffiness from not airing out the room regularly.

This was enough to push Claire's already upset stomach over the edge, and she gagged.  She only turned her attention back to the room after several convulsions had emptied the contents of her somach, relieving her of her breakfast.  She turned to find Junsui already conducting his investigation.

'He isn't faze by this?  He really isn't normal,'  she though as she watched him.

Junsui moved around the room like a cat.  His steps were light, and he was careful not to disturb anything any more than was absolutely necessary, and not at all wherever possible.  He firsst moved to the beds.  Their stench forced him to cover his mouth and nose before clossing the last two metres.  He spent several mnutes investigating beneath the mattreses, and around them for anything of use or value, but found nothing.

From here he turned his attention to the table.  Again he prowled.  He made sure to take all the oney on the table, careful to return the cards to their exact original position.  He was about to give up his investigation, when something caught his eye.  It was an envelope.  A small piece of paper about the width and length of his hand.  Its presence itself wasn't remarkable.  But it was out of place.

The envelope was made of the finest weave, and its refined design and sculpture was completely unique within the room.  Everything else was shodden, old, run down and covered in a stench that would make a troll gag, but this envelope was spritely and untouched.  If not for its current location and context, it wouldn't be hard to imagine it being a letter from a king, or some other high ranked official or person.

Junsui carefully removed it and returned to the door.  Claire had kept her gaze on him from the relative safety of the open doorway all the while.  SHe had considered closing it for fear that the stench, which was now billowing out of the doorwar, would solicit an investigation from a neighbour.  It had not as of yet, though, and it seemed they were about to be on their way.

As Junsui arrived at her position, the two exited the room, closing the door behind them.  Junsui removed the cover of his mouth, and breathed in deeply for several seconds before speaking.  Claire also felt relieved, but couldn't dare to open her mouth for a breath of air, for fear that instead of taking in air, she would expel another portion of her insides.

"Let's get out of here for now,"  Junsui suggested and Claire was all too happy to agree.

The two left the alley.  In the distance behind them the bodies were discovered with a shriek.

"Seems we left just in time,"  Junsui commented as they continued away from the scene.

"A-Are you sure they can't link us to what happened?"  Claire asked nervously.

She didn't like the prospect of becoming a convict.  She didn't know what the undead king and his soldiers would do to her as punishment, and she had no desire to find out.

"Don't worry, we're completely innocent of the scene as far as any evidence can prove."

Claire gave a sigh of relief, and the two moved on in silence.  After a while they stopped at another inn to refil Claire's stomach.  It was a good excuse for Junsui to eat once more.  He felt peckish.  The two sat down in a dark and deserted corner of the inn.  They ordered two simple meals, some meed, and waited.

Junsui only spoke once they had each taken a swig of the drinks.

"I found this on the table,"  he said, producing the envelope from his pocket.

Claire stared at it.  She was in shock.  What was such a fine, and damn expensive, thing doing in a place like that?

"It's addressed to the thugs that captured you.  Should I read it?"

Claire nodded, unable to produce any sounds other than that of her gulping.  Junsui opened the letter with the most delicate and practised ease she had ever seen.  He took out the letter from inside.  It was made from the same, fine silk paper as the envelope.  He began reading its contents.

The contents were unremarkable.  They contained about two paragraphs of thinly veiled flattery to the group, and two paragraphs detailing the job that was expected of them, along with how they would get the reward after the job was done.  The letter confirmed their suspicions that the thugs had been hired to kidnap her, and that the handover would have been at sunset.  This raised several other questions, such as why the pick-up never showed, and what intention there could be for someone of such wealth to wish harm on Claire.  Despite Claire being from a rich family, she had no political influence, nor had her family ever made a splash in the world, or upset anyone.

These questions were put aside for the time being when Claire got a hold of the letter.

"This...  This is from the paper mill my family always uses for our paper!"  she said, almost a little too loud.

"Are you sure?"  Junsui asked.

Claire nodded.

"Yes.  The paper is made from a rare silk that only that paper mill can produce within the Kingdom.  There might be others, but only that mill uses a scribe able to write such refined calligraphy,"  she explained.

"Then we know where we have to go next,"  Junsui answered.

She agreed completely.  They would be heading towards the paper mill next.  The investigation was beginning to pick up a lot of momentum, and Claire hoped this was a good sign, one of a possibly rapid resolution to her current situation.

Scene 2

The morning air was steadily becoming colder and colder with each passing rise of the sun.  It was late autumn.  It had been two weeks since E-Rantel had become the new domain of the Sorcere King.  His official title was thus, but the people he ruled called him Ainz-sama.  This was in mimicry of his own servants, as well as in defiance of his authority.  Momon, the legendary adventurer, may have convinced them not to openly rebel against their new lord, but that didn't mean that they were happy with his rule, nor that they wouldn't show at least some defiance.

There was, of course, no way that the Skeleton King, as some also called him, didn't know that his people called him this.  Yet for some, strange reason he didn't ever speak out over it, nor did he take any action to stop or counter this.  This action baffled the people.  Why would the king tolerate people calling him by names and titles he had never given them permission to use?  Then again, he had never demanded they call him by his title as the Sorcerer King, nor had he forbidden calling him by some other name.

In the end, the city and the lands around it had settled into an uneasy peace.  This was in reality a very smart move on the part of Ainz.  By allowing the people some liberties, some non-violent way of expressing their - initial - contempt of his rule, and be in their eyes defiant, he prevented any more serious retaliation.  By doing so, he also fostered the idea that he wasn't as tyrannical as the rumours made him out as.  He showed, through his tolerance, to the people that he was lenient, and tolerant, that he allowed them their freedom, granted they did not abuse that freedom to break his laws, which were themselves quite lenient.

It was in this atmosphere, that Claire and Junsui now dwelt.  Claire had grown accustomed to it, however Junsui immediately noticed the slightly uneasy air when he had entered the city.  He had to admit that this Ainz-sama was at least not a completely incompetent ruler, though he had yet to determine if this competence was his own, or his advisors'.

The pair were strolling through the marketplaces of the city.  They moved from one to another, looking for the best prices for their goods.  Junsui might have swiped some money from the thugs the previous night, but he was in no way out of his financial problems.  And the money they had found in the room, were Claire's which had been taken from her.  Neither was really in a very good position.  ONe could only all it better than banktruptcy.

They spent about two hours going through the various stalls, and slowly accumulated the supplies they needed.  Along the way Junsui had impressed Claire when he bought seeral items they did not need, only to barter it to another merchant for a considerable profit.  This had slightly increased their budget, and had impressed upon Claire the mercantile skills that Junsui possessed.

'He is pretty good at trainc,'  Claire thought,  'What on earth was his jib in his home country?  He is very skilled in combat, especially with the sword, he has a military baring about him, he is very good with people, and excellent trader...'

Claire rattled off the list of qualities she had noticed in Junsui, and tried to think of a career that would require, or at least benefit from or foster the growth of these qualities.  Her efforts, however, bore no fruit, and so after an extended time agonising over this, she let the issue rest.  She was resolved, however, to solve this issue before they parted ways, one way or another.

She freed her mind of this mental burden just as they were coming around the corner to the local adventurer's guild headquarters.  At first she thought they were just passing by the place, though she couldn't think of a destination that would take them from their place of sale, to another such place, that would take them past the guild.  For a moment she thought that perhaps he had simply been strolling about and gotten lost, but the resolution on his face made her dismiss the thought.

'What are we doing here?'  she thought.

The two approached the guildhall, and without any hesitation, Junsui opened the door.  To her sirprise, he didn't enter, but instead stepped aside, holding the door, and motioned for her to enter.  She tried to think of a reason for why he would be doing this now, versus every other time they had walked in through a door, and realised that for the first time, they were entering together.  At the hotel, she had been the one with the key to the room, so she had been the one to open the door, and the time at her captor's room, they had in a way burst through the door prepared for a possible combat scenario.  This was indeed the first time that the had passed through a door in a more normal fasion.

Was this an act for the adventurers inside, or was this his sincere behaviour?  She wondered.  More than anything, though, this was completely unuqual.  The society of E-Rantel, and indeed most of the Kingdom, did not place a very high value on woman per se.  DUe to the constant warfare, and the harsh work required to make up for the time spent fighting, and the hardships it caused, hard work and the ability to contribute to the betterment of the country was what earned one respect.

Apparently this was not the case where Junsui had grown up.  It seemed that etiquette, chivalry, and politeness had been foremost in his education.  Claire was a soft shade of pink as she passed through the door.  Junsui followed suit, and closed the door behind him.

The inside of the building was just as Claire had left it a few days prior.  She suddenly felt severely self-conscious.  She was in a severely weakened state, and if she was to reveal this fact to those present, she would lose all the respect she had worked so hard to gain.  She had been an adventurer for nearly a year and a half.  Over the course of that time she had put herself in severe danger, wilfully marching into harm's way.

Though her actions were seen as reckless by some, it had earned her the respect of her peers.  She was admired as a powerful adventurer, with nerves of steal, and impressive skills.  It had been the respect of those around her, that had allowed her to ascend to the rank of gold plaque adventurer.  She had been allowed to take on missions that would usually be far above her rank, by temporarily joining with other adventurer groups.

All of that work, all that time spent in harm's way, injured, hurt, or fighting off illness would have been for naught if she broke the image everyone held of her.  For all the stiffness in her mind, she maintained a calm, collected, and authoritive aura that was her usual self.

She kept wondering, though, what their business here was.  Her question was answered when they reached the reception destk.

"GOod afternoon, Junsui-san,"  the lady at the desk greeted him.

"Good afternoon, ma'am,"  he replied.

"I assume you are here for your plaque?"  she inquired.

Junsui nodded in reply and produced seven copper from a small bag hanging from his hip.  Upon recieving the payment, the woman handed a small copper plaque to him, which he prompty put in his pocket.

"You're joining the guild?"  Claire asked in a hushed tone, careful not to reveal surprise to those around them.

"Yes.  I just came from a far away land, and I'm here to earn money.  The natural thing to do would be to join the local adventurer's guild."

Junsui spoke in the same hushed tone that Claire had used, apparently understanding the situation.  The two didn't continue the conversation, but instead thanked the receptionist for her aid, and headed out.  Claire responded only once the guild was no longer in their line of sight.

"Why couldn't you just transfer your credentials and history from the previous guild?"  she asked.

This was something he could have done.  Guilds do not all operate across the various borders.  In order to allow travelling adventurers to not have to start from scratch, it was possible to transfer credentials from one guild to another.  This allowed one to retain ine's rank, with all the perks associated.

"We didn't have guilds in my home country.  One either worked for the government as an assassin or agent, or worked privately for a lord or businessman directly.  Some did freelance work, mostly as assassins, but they were in the small minority,"  Junsui explained.

"No guilds?"  Claire mouthed to herself.

What a strange country his was.  No guilds?  Freelance work, assassins?  These were all things that were severely frowned upon in her society, and actively discouraged.  An adventurer found to have dabbled in the dark work of assissinations, independent freelance work, or to be working directly for a lord or member of nobility, without accepting a quest through the guild, was immediately ostracised and expelled from the guild.

It was a strange world indeed from which he came.

Junsui didn't give her a truthful answer, of course.  There was no such thing as an 'adventurer' where he was from.  His society simply wasn't conducive to the evolution of such institutions.  And once he had taken over, he had made sure that people with the skills to become 'adventurers' would only be able to work for government agencies.  INstead of revealing this to her, he had rapidly concocted some plausible excuse for the absence of guilds and adventurers, that would still leave room for his skills and expertise.

It seemed to have been successful.

She didn't inquire any further into his origins, and seemed to resign herself to knowing only what he had told her.  IN fact, Junsui thought he noticed a slight spark in her eyes.  What exactly this meant, he was unsure of, but it was certainly something that had not been there a couple of moments earlier.

"So you are new to adventuring?"  she asked.

"I'm new to the admin and working of it, at least.  I know an ample amount regarding hunting and killing,"  he answered.

Claire nodded in agreement, and the spark in her eyes twinkled even more brightly.

"Then how about the two us form an adventurer group together?  I can teach you the basics of adventuring, and you can... protect me until we get this collar removed.  And, we both get to share the experience gained from any kills you make during that time."

Claire hesitated for a moment before saying the word 'protect'.  Saying it was an admission of the weakness and vulnerability of her current state, and was something she did only with considerable effort.

Junsui immediately saw the benefits to forming a group with Claire.  He could use her status to take on missions well abose his plaque based clearance.  This would allow him to more easily ascend the ranks, and do so with a greatly reduced chance of attracting unwanted attention.  As such, he agreed without hesitation.

As the two approached the eastern gate of the city, they found a group of around eight individuals blocking their approach.  They seemed shady, if not down right worth killing.  Junsui pundered the idea of killing them immediately to save them the trouble of having to deal with them, but decided against it.  Doing so would create an unfavourable atmosphere between him and Claire.  His wanton killing of the thugs had already called into question his character, slightly, doing the same to a group of people who had provided him with no justifiable reason to, would only undermine his character further.

The two continued their walk unabated.  By the time the distance between them and the group had lessened to just three metres, the group had yet to move aside.  Junsui found this most irritating, and resolved to ensure they experienced at least a smidgen of pain before he let them go.

"Well well, Claire.  Have you found a pet?"  the middle of the group asked, to which his comrades chuckled in the most incessant manner.

Scene 3

Junsui didn't react to their words with anger, or fury, as Claire had feared he might.  His reaction, though, was no better at helping the situation.

"Oh?  Were the lot of you not good enough for her?"  he answered, with a frighteningly straight, even careless face,  "Poor you, Claire,"  he said to her,  "I didn't know you had standards so low that even these things could think they had a chance at being considered for a position as your pet.  I'll have to teach you about choosing the right pet, so you don't make that mistake when you go looking for one."

As pale as Claire turned at his remark, so red did the group of eight in front of them turn.

"Hey, you!"  the one who seemed to be the leader yelled,  "I don't remember giving  a maggot like you permission to butt in on my conversation with Claire!"

Junsui turned his gaze to his opponent slowly.

"I don't remember being taught in school that bacteria could talk.  Do you have different bacteria in this country, Claire?"  he asked aside to her.

Claire was unable to get a word out.  This was not good.  She didn't know if she feared for her life, or that of the group's.  She might be a gold plaque adventurer, but this group of eight metal plaque adventurers could beat her.  They couldn't do so in a fair fight, but they had never been known to fight failry.  They might have some trick up their sleeve that could defeat Junsui, in which case he would face intense torture before finally facing death.

On the other hand, she new next to nothing about Junsui.  He fought using a weapon she did not know, with a style she did not know, and using abilities that she couldn't decide whether to classify as either spell or art, much less the rank or tier of them.  Most of all, though, he had shown absolutely no issue with killing.

This was not good.

"Boys, let's teach this s**t who is the real bacteria here!"  the leader yelled to his companions,  "whatever that is,"  he added in a mumble.

The group had expected Junsui to break and flee with Claire either close on his heals, or left to fend for herself.  To their surprise, however,Junsui did no such thing, but simply continued to stare at them boredly.  This prompted their leader to change tactics.

"I see you haven't run yet.  Do you think you can stand up to us?  You're a mere copper adventurer, and what's more, there's only one of you, versus either of us, each of whom is ranked as a metal plaque.  We outrank, out class, and out power you a hundred to one."

"You think so?"  was Junsui's simple reply.

His callous reply had their leader shivering, and builing a bright red.

"I challenge you to a fight!  My group, against you!"  he yelled.

"That's a little unfair,"  Junsui answered.

For a moment the leader thought Junsui would complain about them being more than him, but before he could insult Junsui again, he continued.

"Feel free to call for some more help, or this will be over way to fast."

That reply was too much for the group, and they all moved.  Their atack was off balance, as Junsui had expected.  They were driven by their emotions, and this made it impossible for them to coordinate their efforts.  They didn't even try to, they simply ran at him in what quickly became a bundle.

Claire held her breath, either Junsui, or the eight opposing him, would be dead in a moment.

Junsui didn't move, or change his stance.  He simple closed his yes and awaited their attacks.  The leaer was the first to reach him, and brought his sword down from above his head.  It was aimed for Junsui's right shoulder.  At the last oment, Junsui brought up his left hand from where it had been resting on the scabbard of his own sword.  As his hand reached his chest, it was in the clutch that the statues of the Buddha usually held their right hand.  His thumb, index finger and middle finger were straight and stiff, whilst his ring finger and pinky were curled over from their first knuckles.

At first it semed that he would halt his hand by his chest, and wait to receive the attack, but his hand continued on its path.  It caught the sword, and his two outstretched fingers gently pushed it out of the way.  The sword swung down pointlesly by his right side, and crashed into the ground.  It had completely missed its mark.  Junsui had not a single scratch on him, not even a single millimetre of his clothes had been cut.

The leader stared at the sight in front of him in complete disbelief, his jay on the ground beside his sword.  He didn't have a moment of respite, however, as Junsui moved his left foot forward about half a metre.  In the same motion, he brought his left hand, that had just blocked the attack, forward.  It impacted the leader's chest just towards the middle of where his arm reconnected with his body.  The force pushed him off his feet and sent him flying backwards nearly a metre.

As the leader fell, the first of his companion brought his own weapon to bare.  He came from behind his leader, and just to his right.  His sword also came from above his head, but did so diagonally from Junsui's left to his right.

Once again Junsui waited to the last moment.  His right foot, which was now about half a metre behind his left, swung clockwise over the ground, just barely not touching it.  It generated a circular momentum that cause Junsui's entire body to twist and turn.  He lowered his head slightly and swung out of the way just as his opponent's sword reached the spot where his head had been.

He continued the swing and brought his right elbow up behind him.  It impacted his second opponent's ribs with a small crack, and sent him over his leader.  Just as the first to attack reached the ground - the leader - the third's attack was brought into the fray.

This time it was a battle axe.  Its wielder was a brawny man.  He wasn't exceptionally tall, but his muscles provided the leverage he needed to swing the axe with relative impunity.  His strike came from the bottom, this time.

Junsui placed his weight on his right leg, and lift his left off the ground, just barely.  He continued the sing.  He bent his knee, and lowered himself until his right upper leg was nearly horisontal, his left leg still just barely above the ground.  He bent his left leg, and tucked his knee against his stomach.  At the same time he pushed himself off the ground by straightening his right leg.

By bringing in his left leg, he increased his spin.  He spun into the air, just clearing the path of the as as it came up into the air.  As he came down, he extended his left arm.  The motion pushed his fist out and into his third opponent's right shoulder.  The punch caused him to lose the power he needed to hold onto the axe and it flew into the air, free from his grip.  The strike also caused severe pain and he collapsed to the ground.

There were five left now.  These were slightly behind the leading three, and broke off their attack runs.  Instead the circled their target, looking for a weakness whilst they desperately attempted to come up with a plan of attack.  The situation lasted for a couple of seconds before they lost their nerve.

The first to flee was the one behind Junsui.  UPon noticing the unusual movement behind him, Junsui initially thought this was the beginning of their attack, but as he turned to face the direction from which the attack would come, he saw that the source of the movement was rapidly receding into the distance.  The other four that still remained standing, followed suit, and soon only the three who had been hit by Junsui's attack was left.

Their leader, who was largely unhurt, unlike his two remaining companions, also lost his will to fight and took off, or at least seemed to.  A moment, and a few steps, later he turned around and pulled out a small crossbow.  The moment the weapons was levelled with Junsui's head, he released the bolt.  It flew straight and true, and impacted with Junsui's forehead.

The lead had a smirk on his face as the bolt fle through the air, all the way up until it reached Junsui's forehead, at which point it vanished.  The bolt went through his head, and continued on its flight path as if nothing had happened.  similarly, Junsui's head showed no sign that a crossbow bolt had just passed through it.  A moment later, Junsui vanished.  He evaporated as if his body was made of smoke that had been kept together by a thin membrance which the bolt had perforated.

The man became aware of a presence behind him.  He turned around to find Junsui staring right into his eyes.  He stumbled backwards a couple of steps, and unleashed another bolt.  This bolt flew forward only to be met with the same fate as the previous one.  ONce more Junsui evaporated.

A presence again came into being behind the leader.  This time, however, he didn't just turn around to face it, he brought up a dagger that had been hidden in his cuff.  Once the motion was complete, the man looked down to see how badly he had wounded his opponent.  He was confronted with a sight he could not comprehend.  Instead of finding his hand resting on his opponent's chest, with a blade embedded between his ribs, he found his arm on the ground in a puddle of blood.

A jolt of pain burst through his body and rose into an explosion in his head.  He screamed as the air was forced out of his lungs by his contracting chest muscles.  For several seconds he gasped for air before passing out and collapsing on the ground.

Claire was confronted by a sight even stranger than the one the mand had been.  She saw him turning around the last time, swinging his arm with a blade held in his hand.  It missed Junsui, and the arm swung limply by his side.  He halted his torn and faced his opponent.  He looked down and screamed as if in severe agony.  The scream lasted only a few moments before he collapsed to the ground, a puppet who's strings had been cut.

"That takes care of that,"  Junsui spoke as he stepped over the three unconscious adventurers.

He spoke as if he had done nothing more but to swat a couple of flies.

"We should be on our way."

Part 2 - The Paper Mill

 

Scene 1

The sun was just beginning to crescent above the buildings of the city.  The lowest rays were reaching the first floor windows facing the streets.  The city was clad in the golden finish it usually had this time of the day.  The dark wooden panels and struts on the walls of the buildings appeared only as voids, areas where the golden coating could not adhere.

 

In the southern quadrant of the middle ring of the city there was an unusual commotion, a bustle that was not part of the usual activity of the day.  At the entrance to an alleyway there was a gathering of people from most of the walks of life.  Merchants, craftsman, travellers, all were gathering as equals at the entrance to the darker alley, each desiring a look at the scene inside.

 

Only one thing brought people from so many different social standings together:  a chance for a gaze at something gossip-worthy.  What they were trying to look at, was a scene of utter devastation.

 

Marius pushed through the crowd of people.  He was surrounded by three or four guards, each occupied a different wind direction from him, pushing people out of the way, and keeping them from crowding back in behind them too quickly.  At the furthest end of the crowd, behind the officers, remained a contingent of skeleton soldiers.

 

Marius had been required to take them along with him on all of his patrols since their new leader had taken over.  It would have been an easy matter to send these soulless ghouls in to disperse the crowd, or at least to make way for him and his companions to get to the scene, but it was a welcome respite from their presence, so he endured having to push through the crowd.

 

They finally reached the end of the crowd, and burst into the alley.  What confronted them was a horrible scene.  Four bodies lay scattered in the alley.  It would be more accurate to say three bodies, and enough flesh to form a fourth, as one of the victims had been sliced into salami pieces that lay in a pile at one side of the fissure between the buildings.

 

From these bodies a severe stench billowed.  It forced the officers to cover their noses whilst at the same time trying to suppress the natural reflex of their bodies that tried to empty their stomachs and add their contents to the blood covering the floor.

 

“This is horrible,”  one of Marius’ companions mouthed through a closed nose.

 

“Who could do such a thing?”  another asked.

 

“I have no idea, but whoever he is, he is no human,” Marius added his two cents.

 

The two continued into the alley and inspected the bodies and parts as they went.  One of the four no longer had a head.  Another had a hole in his chest about the height of two fingers, and the width of one.  The third had its legs cut of, and was nearly split in half.  A gash ran from its hips to the base of its neck.  The fourth could not rightly be called a body.  It was just a lump of thinly cut slices of meet.  Only the head and the chest above the fourth ribs was intact, along with its lower legs that lay two metres further into the darkness.

 

The floor and walls were covered in a thin layer of blood.  Around the bodies the blood was slightly thicker.  Nothing in the alley had not been stained by the bodily fluids of the poor b******s.

 

“What on earth happened here?”  Marius asked a middle aged woman kneeling at the side of the headless corpse of the headless corpse.

 

She remained quiet for nearly thirty seconds after he had inquired, completing her analysis spell on the area.

 

“There were four of them, another man, and woman,”  she finally began her report as she opened her eyes,  “It seems that the woman had been kidnapped by these men, but the other man intervened.”

 

“What did he do?”  Marius asked.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“What do you mean you don’t know?”  Marius’ companion asked, rather irritatedly,  “You’re brought to these scenes exactly because you can see what happened.

 

“The man cast a spell just before he began his attack.  I don’t know what exactly it did, but at that moment, the alley became void of its occupants.  When the spell broke, everything was already over.”

 

Her words troubled Marius greatly.  If there was someone who could cast a spell that made the area immune against such a high tier time-crossing surveillance spell, then they were in deep trouble.  The only way someone of that ability could be involved, was if a large syndicate, probably a massive international one, had hired him.  This raised more questions.  Was the kindappee important enough that someone of that skill was hired to retrieve her?  Who was this woman, for what had she been kidnapped, why was such a powerful individual hired to retrieve her?  He resolved to look into the issue further once he had completed his investigation of the surrounding area.

 

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Shayla was going about her normal day.  She was busy going through, approving, and filing the reports she received from the patrols under her jurisdiction.  She still wondered a little about the man she had met the day before, Jeremy, but he had only ever been a passing interest, and she was sure she would forget about him soon enough.

 

She filed most of the reports she received.  Mostly they were duplicates of essentially the same report.  Patrol group U departed from barracks at V hundred hours and took route W; X and Y happened and the patrol returned to the barracks at Z hundred hours.

 

She had been doing this for most of the day, but she suddenly stopped after opening one of the reports.  She re-read the report to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood something, and then dashed out of her office, leaving even her quill on the desk, with ink still on the tip.

 

Shayla made her rapid way through the city streets.  She was heading towards the centre of the city, towards the palace where the lord of the land resided, the Sorcerer King.  Her movements were fast, and slightly unsteady, but she knew she had no choice but to go.

 

Following the takeover of E-Rantel, the Sorcerer King, and his new henchman Momonga, ordered all the admin officers to keep an eye out for any reports that seemed similar to the incident preceding the graveyard brawl nearly a year ago.  They were ordered to report any such instances personally with all due haste to Momonga.

 

When Shayla rounded the corner to the main gate, she shivered.  The castle was being remodelled by the Sorcerer King.  Nothing of it’s final shape could be seen, but knowing what the Sorcerer King was, an undead, everyone knew something horrendous and bone crushing would emerge.  She hesitated for a moment, but gathered up her courage and sense of duty, and marched forward.

 

She was stopped at the gate by two human guards, though six skeleton guards weren’t far away.  She explained that she had an important report to present to Momonga, and they let her enter after explaining the route she had to take to reach his office.

 

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Ainz was strolling through the innermost corridors of his new palace.  He had little intention of remaining there for too long, or of staying there for any extended period of time.  This was only his forward outpost, so to speak, his home was still The Great Tomb of Nazarick.  He was only here to inspect how the renovations were progressing.

 

As he passed by, the work pace measurably increased.  Everyone feared that he would be dissatisfied, and that they and their families might suffer untold horrors as a result.  He didn’t mind this.  Their fear pushed them to work harder, and kept them from becoming lax in their servitude and obedience, so it worked out well for all parties involved.

 

Originally Ainz had intended only to renovate the structure to add traps and torture rooms and so on.  Had he done only this, there would have been no need to bring in human workers; Mare could have done this on her own.  Demiurge and Albedo had vehemently opposed the addition of such security measures, however.

 

“Ainz-sama, forgive my openness,” Demiurge had begun.

 

“Please, Demiurge, if you have something you feel is of importance to add, then do so,”  Ainz interrupted him.

 

“As you wish, Ainz-sama,”  Demiurge bowed,  “You are the lord of this realm, the highest being of all the world, but now recognised as such by this land as well as within The Great Tomb of Nazarick.  We must make sure that this is not forgotten.  I believe that it would be best to also renovate this filthy human dwelling to fit your stature.  A façade as imposing and as impressive as that of Nazarick.  Of course nothing can ever compare, but we must make sure that whenever the insects look towards the city, they will see towering over it this monument to your power.”

 

Ainz was silent for a moment.  He had come to understand the importance of symbolism from his upbringing.  In Japan symbols, monuments and shrines were of great importance, and it would make sense to have a reminder for people.  Humans had such a short memory, after all.

 

“Very well, Demiurge, I shall have Mare extend her renovations.”

 

“With respect, Ainz-sama, perhaps it would be even better if we let normal humans handle the external renovations,”  Demiurge interrupted once again.

 

“Why is that?”  Ainz asked.

 

“Well, my lord.  It is certain they will be unable to produce the quality of work that is acceptable to our lord, but we can always touch up their work afterwards.  The reason for having them do it, is also a symbol of their subservience.  By having humans from among the people build our new castle, we will show everyone that they are completely obedient to us.  It will also solidify in their minds that we are now their rulers.”

 

Demiurge didn’t elaborate on his last point, but Ainz didn’t need him to.

 

“Very well, Demiurge, I leave it to you to make the arrangements.”

 

Demiurge bowed deeply at being entrusted with this new responsibility.

 

As Ainz rounded a corner in the corridor, heading back towards the main thrown room, a message for him arrived.  It had been sent by the guards at the gate.  A young lady from the city’s defence forces had a report she was to deliver to Momonga.  Ainz sighed at this intrusion, but made the necessary preparations to receive her.

 

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Shayla knocked on the heavy, wooden door that was the entrance to their saviour’s office.

 

“Enter,”  a deep voice emerged through the door.

 

She did so.  She entered the rather spacious office, closed the door behind her, and bowed.

 

“I hear you have a report to present,”  the saint clad in black armour spoke.

 

His voice was neither harsh, nor angered, but she sensed a slight irritation from him.  She feared she must have caught him at a most inopportune time.  She had her orders, however, and knew that as irritated as he might be at her intrusion, he would be much more so had she disobeyed the order.  She thus stepped forward without hesitation and placed the report on his desk.

 

“It is a report from the regiment I am responsible for, Momonga-sama.  They found a number of bodies mutilated in a manner similar to the incident you had us keep an eye out for.”

 

“Is that all?”  he asked.

 

“That is all, Momonga-sama.”

 

He waved her off and she left without a word.

 

“Send Lupusregina to me.”

 

She heard through the door as she closed it behind her.