Chapter 65: Volume 2 – Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The library of Ashurbanipal was one of the places that showed just how grandiose Nazarick truly was. Its countless books neatly stacked on endless rows and shelves held more knowledge than in any other place in Yggdrasil. At least, that was a widely held belief amongst the denizens of the Tomb.

Momonga had not come here just to gaze at its magnificence; no, he had a certain goal in mind. Demiurge had speculated that there may be spies lurking around that could not be detected by either the shadow demons nor the recently expanded intelligence department. With that came a need for mercenaries that could deal with such problems.

With Dark Sage knowing where every single book and mercenary scroll was located, he had no need to wander around or bother the resident librarians. However, like every other NPC, they wanted to be of use and followed him around.

The mercenary in mind was called The Specter, a level eighty-five reconnaissance unit that had both incredible detection and stealth abilities. The downside was that the undead monster had a rather lackluster fighting ability for its level, and could be compared to a level fifty monster in that regard.

Luckily, there were about seventy of such mercenary scrolls to use and more than enough resources in the vault to pay for the summoning.

Momonga picked up the necessary scroll from the shelf and activated it. To his surprise, the scroll didn't burn up as it was supposed to. While he wondered what might have gone wrong, a translucent, dark humanoid shape formed in front of him.

'The summoning worked but the scroll didn't get burned up. Wait a minute, what is this?' Two distinct sensations came from Nazarick. First was some sort of number going down from eight to seven, and the second was how much the summoning had used from the skill's energy reserves.

{ I have arrived, my master. What is your bidding? } The specter asked with a soft whisper in Momonga's mind.

{ Report to Demiurge, and treat his word as mine. } Momonga replied in a casual manner.

{ As you command. } The creature said and dissipated right before Momonga's eyes.

'Now what could this number mean? Could I summon the other Specters with a single scroll? Maybe it is the total amount that can be summoned? There are so many unknowns. I will need to dedicate more time to investigate Nazarick. It's unfortunate that Dark Sage can't help me. At least by the looks of it, summoning took only a small amount of the skill's energy and it is already regenerating.'

For now, he needed to wait and see how the specter would perform. If there was still a doubt that all the foreign spies were accounted for, he could try to name it to increase its power even more.

About two hours later, Momonga felt the number bumping up to eight again and received a nonverbal notification that the limit was reached.

'Oh, it regenerates.' That meant that there were more tests to perform.

Ten minutes later, he was once again in the mercenary scroll section of the library, but this time Demiurge and Albedo were following him.

"I want the both of you to use this summoning scroll." He said as he handed it to Albedo.

"My Lord, forgive my ignorance, but wouldn't a mercenary scroll be spent after a single use?" Albedo asked even as she carefully unrolled the scroll, ready to activate it.

"That is not the case anymore. By the looks of it, even the usage of summoning scrolls is tied to Nazarick."

The moment Albedo tried to use the scroll, he got a nonverbal notification of her attempt to summon a specter and the option to grant or deny her that request. Obviously, he granted her permission and the monster was successfully summoned, once again decreasing the number to seven.

'What if I granted Demiurge permission beforehand?' If he already knew that the numbers would replenish, then he could safely proceed with the experimentation without fear of exhausting a very limited resource.

Momonga set up permission beforehand for one summon and then told Demiurge to use the scroll twice. Predictably, the first summoning was completed without any hiccups, but during the second one the mental request appeared once again.

As Momonga had already guessed, the number went down with each summon and was now just standing at five. With a few more slots for summoning available, he then decided to experiment with other mercenary summons.

His next choice of mercenary summons were Hanzos, a ninja-type humanoid monster that likewise specialized in stealth. They had lesser stealth abilities than specters but possessed useful assassination-oriented skills, thus making them much more lethal.

To his surprise, hanzos had their own count and had a summon limit of eleven. The doppelganger count was way higher, standing at twenty-two, as they were weaker monsters. Overall, it seemed that the stronger the monster the lower the available summon limit was.

What's more, each of the monsters had drained a little bit of energy from the skills pool but, by the looks of it, those limits could be safely exhausted on a regular basis and the skill would regain its energy with relative ease.

"Did either of you sense the limits of how many mercenaries we can summon?" Momonga asked.

"Yes, Lord Momonga." Both answered simultaneously.

"Can you sense how much energy has been spent and how much still remains?"

"No, Lord Momonga." Again, both answered.

'Hmm, can I grant them the required permission to access this information?' With a little concentration, he had a feeling of how to give the necessary access and to test it out, he granted Albedo the ability to see how much energy Nazarick had.

"Can you sense it now?"

"Yes, Lord Momonga. Looks like Nazarick's energy reserves are at ninety-six percent, and the current regeneration rate is at two point seven percent per hour." Albedo answered with a hint of pride in her voice.

'She could see all that? Why am I even surprised? Those two have a better grasp on these things than I do.'

He gave Demiurge the same permission he gave Albedo, and then said, "Then I will grant you both the freedom to summon mercenaries however you deem fit, but monitor the energy reserves carefully."

"My Lord, what would happen when one hundred percent is reached? Does the energy regeneration stop or is it used on other parts of the skill?" Demiurge asked.

'I have no idea. How do I even look for that? Take a deep breath and concentrate. Nazarick sort of gives out answers when investigated!' he thought to himself and started to concentrate. The answer came into his mind instantly, showing him that, at this moment, the skill just stops regenerating the energy once the limit is reached.

"It is not used on anything. For now, you can try to keep it constantly under one hundred percent at all times but do not go lower than eighty-five percent, just in case."

With over fifty different mercenary monster summons available, there was quite a diverse cast to choose from and by the looks of it, at least two dozen could be summoned each day with the current limitations he imposed.

Leaving his two subordinates with the task of figuring out which summons were needed the most, Momonga left the library with a feeling of a job well done.

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Fuze sat in a carriage opposite of his childhood friend, Baron Veryard. Considering the positions that both of them held, they had to keep a polite distance from one another. After all, A Guildmaster of the Free Guild branch and a minister of a country could not publicly be friends due to the possible conflicts of interest.

One of the knights appointed as the Baron's guard knocked on the window and Veryard opened it.

"My Lord, we are approaching the border." The man said and saluted, guiding his horse beside the carriage.

"Let the guild members take the lead." Veryard said and closed the window then turned back to face Fuze. "Are you sure we are coming out of this alive?"

"They want to peacefully coexist. Killing envoys would likely put an end to that." Fuze calmly responded.

"I know what the letter said. I am asking you as the guildmaster. Can those monsters be trusted?" Veryard asked with an equally calm tone.

"I'm sure some of them can be. We will have to wait and see." 'We're going straight into the belly of the beast to pretty much assess what the guild and the kingdom should do, and you are already asking me such questions?'

"I guess I have been involved in worse negotiations than this." Veryard said with a light smile and turned to look out of the window.

Not even a dozen minutes later the carriage stopped. The baron opened the window and looked outside. He gulped at the sight of a dark void in front of the whole procession and creaked, "Fuze, you have to see this!"

"Transportation magic!" Fuze said in a whisper. 'What in the hell is that! What sort of magic are they wielding?'

"Indeed." Veryard responded in an equally small manner. 'Looks like I have to be prepared for them to show off what their nation is capable of. A sound tactic when meeting an envoy for the first time. I must be careful to not overstep boundaries when pushing for a beneficial deal for our side.'

Both quickly retreated back into the carriage as the procession started moving through the void.

Mere moments later, they were met with the sight of a sprawling city.

"By the looks of it, they are building a human-style civilization. That would explain their desire for diplomacy. What are the chances of their leaders being otherworlders?" Veryard asked.

"It is certainly within the realms of possibility, but I can't recall any previous case from the top of my head."

'Is that a kijin? And another?' Fuze watched the monsters who walked past the carriage. 'Just how many strong monsters do they have? Considering that their military force would likely include a lot of these types of monsters, I can easily put the monster nation in full S rank.'

"Fuze, is there a problem with the monsters you are seeing?" Veryard asked.

"Tempest likely is an S-rank threat." Fuze replied with a whisper.

"That bad? I would assume the guild alone could not lend enough strength to deal with a fallout if talks go horribly wrong, then." Veryard asked as casually as one would when asking if it will rain today.

"Blumund's branch alone; no. The church likely would need to be involved." Fuze said as he intently watched every single monster that walked past or just stood on the sidewalk watching the procession.

"Ah yes, the saviors of humanity. What would we do without them." Veryard replied with a light smile. "Let's hope we can reach common ground with Tempest."

"Agreed." Fuze said flatly.

The procession stopped in front of a large castle and, to his surprise, an elderly human-looking butler was waiting for them in the castle's courtyard. Even the first glance made it clear that the man knew how to act the part.

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The castle itself, both from the outside and the inside, was at least up to par with Blumund's royal castle. The only thing that was different was a rather disturbing amount of artwork depicting three individuals. By the detailed report he received from the adventurer trio, he already knew that they were the three Lords ruling over Tempest.

'Well, that's to be expected from monsters. They want to be worshiped by their subjects.' Fuze mused as he passively glanced at the statues and paintings on his way to the throne room.

As he walked with the adventuring trio behind the Baron's retinue he suddenly noticed a glaring difference in Eren's appearance, namely two long ears poking out of her blonde hair. 'Huh… wait a minute. She is an elf?!'

"Care to explain yourself?" He whispered while keeping a neutral expression.

"I can still be with the guild, right? You won't tell anyone?" Eran hastily responded in a small, cute voice, blinking her eyes innocently.

"Why did you cancel your illusion now?" He asked.

"They could tell and got angry with me."

"We will talk about this later." He said in a frigidly calm tone, "You will explain everything." Eren flinched and looked away with a whistle.

Fuze resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, and with a deep breath re-assumed a neutral expression seeing that the group stopped in front of a large door.

The official part went on pretty much as expected with the usual diplomatic pleasantries. Tempest's leaders acted just like any nobility would upon receiving a diplomatic envoy, which, by itself, was a strange sight to see. Monsters usually acted more on instinct and just flung their power to get their way.

It was hard to tell exactly how powerful the so-called 'Supreme Overlord' Momonga was, but considering that the demons serving as his advisors were at least greater demons, if not archdemons, he himself was at least in special A category with the possibility of being in S, and thus on a Demon Lord level.

The moment he was with the trio in the guest quarters, Fuze checked if no one was observing them before he started pressing them for answers. "Sit down, all three of you, and start explaining."

"I had to hide my ears so I could be an adventurer." Eren said as she hunched her shoulders forward, holding her staff and looking down at the floor.

"With an elf as grandmaster's assistant and about twenty elves in our branch alone?" Fuze asked with a flat voice.

"Well, that, um…"

"You not only hid the fact that you are an elf, but it could have caused the whole mission to fail when I sent you three to make first contact. You better give me a damn good explanation or all three of you are getting your memberships revoked!" His voice got increasingly louder and angrier with each word.

"Elyun, you will have to come clean with Fuze." Kaval said.

"Fine! The real reason why I hid my ears was so that no one would recognize me. I am a noble, of sorts." Eren said while still looking down.

"You, nobility?" Fuze asked, dragging his palm over his face. "You are from Sarion then?"

"Yes."

"Which family?"

"Grimwald." Eren said in a barely comprehensible mumble.

Fuze blinked twice and then asked. "I beg your pardon, did you just say you are Elyun Grimwald, the daughter of Archduke Erald Grimwald?"

"You know my father?" Eren looked up in surprise, but quickly looked back down upon realizing the obvious reason.

Fuze silently stood up and started to pace back and forth.

"Boss, it's not that bad. We have kept her safe." Kaval carefully said.

"Not that bad, you say!" Fuze glared at him. "And what would have happened if she died on a mission I sent her on, huh? You think no one would care if a freaking cousin of the Sarion Empress died!"

He then turned back his attention to Eren. "And you, your grace! Did you even think about the consequences of your actions for even a moment?"

"Yes. I know what I'm doing!" Eren said, standing up. "We are a great team and you trusted us. Why does it matter that I am a noble?"

"Not just a noble. You are royalty! But since you seemingly don't care or understand, I'll explain." Fuze raised his voice to a full shout. "The moment you die, someone is held responsible, and it's either me, the guild, or Blumund! Do you think your father and the Empress will just shrug it off? At the very best, it's only my head on the line, which likely would be delivered to them in a platinum plated box! At worst, we are looking at a full blown war!"

Fuze continued frantically pacing back and forth as the trio sat silently watching him. "First, I'm contacting the grandmaster, then your father and you are getting sent home with an armed escort!"

"You can't do this to me!" Eren protested as she glared back at Fuze defiantly and added. "If you contact my father, I'm asking for asylum in Tempest. I'm sure Lady Buku will grant it."

"Do any of the Tempest's Lords even know who you are?" Fuze asked with a deep exhale. There was no use shouting at these irresponsible 'children' anymore.

"No, but I'm sure…" Eren's voice trailed off like it was no big deal.

Fuze sat down and screamed in exasperation and anxiety into his hands as he clutched his face.

"Boss, you alright?" Gido asked carefully.

"Just kill me now!" Fuze groaned, still clutching his face.

He then leaned back and stared at the ceiling saying in a broken voice. "Did none of you even consider that this could have been seen as a provocation?"

"Why would it?" Eren asked innocently.

"Why? Because a foreign royal entered a foreign nation under the pretense of being just an adventurer. Your death is more than enough of a cause to start a war."

"Oh." Eren said and sat down. "What now, boss?" She asked quietly.

"We either keep this a secret and get you out of here safely as quickly as we can and then you return home, or you tell them who you are and you start acting as an official envoy of your country, and hope to God almighty they don't see it as a provocation."

"What if they already know?" Gido suddenly asked.

"Why would…" Fuze looked down and stared at him, his face plastered in dreadful realization. "We are being watched, aren't we?" He jumped to his feet and frantically looked around using every detection method known to him.

"I'm sure it's no big deal." Eren said, trying to shrug it off.

A knock on the door caused all four to jump up.

"Come in." Fuze said, trying to sound calm and composed, but the moment he saw who entered the quarters his hands started to shake.

Eren was the first to react. "Lady Buku, what a pleasant surprise!" She said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Let's have a little talk before things get out of hand, shall we?" Buku said with a smile and sat down on a chair between the two sofas.

"I assure you the Free Guild…" Fuze started to say.

"We know." Buku interrupted him by raising her hand. "That's why you are talking with me, at least for now. Eren, or should I say Elyun, you are not here on your country's behalf?"

"No. They don't know I'm here." Eren shook her head.

"My proposal is a rather simple one. You drop the current act completely and officially declare who you are and we start treating you accordingly. As a royal of a foreign nation we have not yet established any diplomatic relationship with. You, in turn, contact your family, explain the current situation, and get an official stance from Sarion."

"A-alright. I'm sorry I made such a mess." Elyun said apologetically.

"Just consider yourself lucky that Momonga's advisors were not the ones dealing with this situation." Buku said with a smile. "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. I will contact my father and explain the situation… I am not a hostage, right?"

"You are not, unless Sarion decides to respond to our existence in a hostile manner."

"It will not happen, I promise." Elyun said.

"We'll see." Buku said, standing up. "Come, we will provide you separate quarters until things are cleared out."

Fuze sat down in silence once Lady Buku and Elyun left with Gido and Kaval following as her bodyguards.

'As if things weren't complicated enough as they were. Grandmaster will have my ass for this oversight.'

Proofreading by I AM THE STRING CUTTER, Sad_Smiles, Somnium Hypnos and placid_void.

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