Chapter 23: CH 23

ght began to set in when they reached the streets.

Magical light began to illuminate the main street, releasing their white radiance in the surroundings.  The composition of those walking in the mainstreet began to change. The number of young ladies and children began to dip while the number men who just completed their jobs began to increase. Sounds of merrymaking drifted out from the shops lining both sides of the street.

Among the street was a luxurious coach pulled by four horses that moved past Momon and the others. There was still a coach moving towards the main gate at this hour. Many people were surprised by it. However, they soon forgot about the scene and continued towards their respective destinations.

The passing of the stagecoach was like a cue for Momon and the rest to stop moving.

Several people walking behind them displayed looks of displeasure. However, they were not that brave to voice their complaints towards adventurers.

“Good work.”

“Good work.”

Matching Peter, Momon bowed his head.

“In short, the task request will end here. You must be tired as well. We’ll go our separate ways here. We will deal with matters related to the guild.”

“Really? Then thank you very much.”

“But about the reward……”

A gold coin was placed in Momon’s hand. Momon looked at it with suspicion. It was completely different from what was agreed upon.

“Isn’t this a lot?”

“The bounty for Momon for defeating the goblins was one silver per goblin. The reward for transporting the goods was six silvers in total. An additional bonus was added to congratulate you on your first successful mission.”

Momon developed a brief apprehension towards this, but pocketed the gold piece into his coin pouch.

“……I understand. If that is the case then I will accept it.”

Momon returned the luggage rack to Peter while taking the gold coin.  He gave a brief glance towards Nina—-

“Then, I will make a move.”

—-Bowing his head, Momon began to walk away.

The Axe of Cyclone watched as the back of the figure receded and without a sound. When he had mostly disappeared from sight, the first one to talk was Peter.

“So that was a bit unexpected.”

“Completely. I can’t think of him as a villager who just started his adventure.”

Responding, Dyne nodded his head. That was simply a complement to an outstanding adventurer.

Lukeluther was about to mention Ninya making a slightly displeasant face, but words did not leave his mouth. However, a different topic was said.

“Did anyone forget anything they wanted to give to him?”

Peter and Dyne shrugged their shoulders in a weird way. Reading the intention, Ninya shook his head.”

“No one forgot. And I think it would be best to stop.”

“Really? How should I put it, there were no cracks in his figure from behind, right.”

Peter and Dyne just managed to understand the conversation and wore bitter smiles. There were people with pasts that they did not want to touch among the adventurers. There was no need to stir up a nest of hornets.

“Let’s stop. And he might have received some training?”

“Peter. Think a bit more about other stuff. Other stuff right? While he might have received some training, I think that there are some obvious stuff we don;t know?”

“Cracks……What about him being a villager with search skills like a ranger or thief?”

“Ah, it’s possible but……”

Scratching his face, Lukeluther let out an uncomprehending voice. There was something he was thinking about as the same ranger.”

“Because Peter thought so, he paid more for the reward right?”

“Well, he seems excellent, and if possible I want a good relationship with him.”

“And so really. Should we investigate? If we use our connections we should be able to gain some information.”

“—-It would be best to stop.”

Ninya completely sliced apart Lukeluther’s suggestion. He was about to tell them about the suspicions he felt, but he swallowed his words.

There were many times Ninya’s knowledge saved them.

Everybody recognized that expression on Ninya’s face. It implied that Ninya knew something that the group did not.  

“That’s true—-We should really stop.”

Ninya’s muttering was barely audible but the weight of his warning settled heavily on the group, his faint trembling sent chills down the back of their spines.    

■

Momon was not heading to his inn. Entering an alley, he walked to the end and slipped into yet  another alley, his surroundings getting darker and quieter with each turn.

It was the slums.

The slums was a maze of alleyways, a mess of bedraggled tenements and tumble down shacks pressed into the already narrow paths. The pathways, littered here and there with potholes and stagnant pools of water, were in a state of disrepair.

One couldn’t really call these hovels a proper home. They were merely wooden frames roughly put together. Some time ago, someone probably wrapped cloth around  the frame and called it home. But at this moment, it was merely a clothless skeleton of one.

In the midst of a smell that was like a dog kennel that was long overdue for a cleaning, Momon continued.

The light was not strong. However, there were people that had campfires a distance away, but it was just enough to see. In the mostly dark and narrow street, Momon was not lost nor had any hesitation in his step.

There was starlight in the plains, but being hidden by the occasional tall building, it did not reach the ground.

Far behind, the distant din of the main street could still be heard in sharp contrast to the dead silence of the immediate surroundings.

Momon walked wordlessly.

On the nth time he turned, Momon had a disordered pace and he slowed down.

That was as the alley was releasing a light. A red flickering light. That was not magic, but a normal campfire or a torch.

The path curved into an alley, and Momon peaked inside.

It was yet another narrow and filthy alley with low-rise buildings and a smell of rotten food in the air. A fire was set in a corner away from the path, its flickering light partially illuminating the area around it in a mix of darkness and light.

A log was thrown into the fire, and sparks danced upwards.

He could not see the figures in the surroundings.

“So.”

Peering at the surroundings, Momon coldly laughed.

There were no figures of people. Yes, they did not enter his vision. But, there were signs. And Momon’s magic reacted.

One, two, there were four in total……

It was like they were ambushing him. No, it was an ambush. Then, who was the one that thought it up?

Momon had considered the possibility that his attackers were his employers, but dismissed that as he had not done anything to give his true identity away.

There was too little information. An impulsive decision was bad. In conclusion, there as a need to leave someone alive to talk.

Brows furrowing slightly as he gathered his thoughts, Momon paused for an instant. And almost immediately, he sauntered forward once more with an unhurried and casual pace.  

Continuing along the alley, Momon approached the fire.

As he got very close, the  figures hidden in the shadows started to move, a net spreading out as it descended on Momon.

If one was caught by the net, one would certainly be unable to move. At the same time, men with clubs moved out from the shadows, as if springing forth from the flames. There were three of them.

Basically throwing a casting net at him to stop his movements, and after mocking him, steal his belongings.

Momon understood, and laughed.

Momon had been worried about acting without sufficient information. But this turned out to be a very simple situation. At least one of them should be captured alive for interrogation. Piece of cake.  

The net spread out and over Momon’s body, trapping him inside.

That was what should have happened, but it did not. The net slipped through Momon’s body and fell into a pile on the floor—-

“Too bad.”

On top of the gauntlet, Momon held on to a ring he was wearing.

Ring of Freedom. A ring that could negate all binding, paralyzing and any other movement obstructing effects. Ainz had been most worried about Momon being captured.  He had given her this ring just in case. As such, the net had absolutely no effect on Momon.     

The three men were surprised at the fact that the net did not work. It was natural. A situation that was outside of their little common sense to think about was happening in front of them.

The shock of seeing something totally unexpected stunned them, and they were no longer capable of continuing with their plan.

In any case no matter what they did, it was game over for them. It could be said that the moment they had decided to attack Momon, it was all over.

<Mass Targeting>

<Maximise Magic – Magic Arrow>

As Momon activated the spell, six missiles of light flew from his hands, dancing in the air.  

Two headed for the roof of the house from which the net had been dropped.There was a heavy thud of the missiles striking skulls,  noise as the bodies fell, followed shortly by a dull splat.

The remaining four split off and struck two shadows hidden deeper in the alley. With a dry snap, the two figures clutched their stomachs as they crumpled slowly onto the ground.

Stunned by the suddenness of the attack, the sole survivor turned around and ran for his life. It seemed that he had finally understood his situation.

“Hah.”

Momon let out a sigh to the pitiful man.

Running was useless, there was no way he was going to get away. Momon sighed at the silly waste of energy.  

<—-Extend Magic – Charm Person>

Momon released a strengthened magic at the man. And then he spoke.

“Wait, my friend.”

The feet of the man desperately escaping, came to a stop. And he looked back at Momon with a frightened look.

“Please wait, my friend.”

Momon repeated his call as he walked casually towards the man. The face that turned back to face Momon was one of ease, the ease  of a man greeting a friend he had not seen for a long time.

“What, so it was you—-”

“Yes.”

The man’s shoulders relaxed. Seeing that,  Momon smiled and approached him casually. It might have been a smile of contempt or derision, but the man seemed not to notice.

With a distance of having a friend that one trusts from the bottom of one’s heart in front of him, the man stood.

Momon walked casually towards the man.

As he approached the charmed man, he  walked past the two men that had been hiding in the shadows. They were sprawled on the ground, fresh blood pouring out of their mouths. Here and there you could see blood on their clothes too.

At their sides, ugly clubs lay where they had fallen.

It was obvious the pair had suffered extremely, their faces frozen in a rictus of pain. There was, however, no signs of movement.

The illusion school spell <Fox Sleep> could give a man the semblance of death but in this case, there was no sign that such a spell had been used. The spell <Detect Life> showed no sign of life. In that case, the two men were truly dead. There was similarly no sign of life  coming from the pair on the roof.

The man moved closer and conveyed his dissatisfaction.

“That’s cruel, these guys all died.”

“Well you attacked me first did you not?”

“Well even so, killing everybody……”

Facing the sky, the man continued mumbling his complaints. Well it can’t be helped, he’s not going to accept what just happened—-I’ll just have to work with his dissatisfaction intact.

The spell has caused the charmed man to see Momon as his best friend. And as his friend, Momon’s words had a certain amount of effect on him. However, since this was only a low-level charm spell, it could not brain-wash him. Having seen Momon commit murder, as a friend, he would probably try to persuade Momon to give himself up to the authorities.

In summary, the man’s response was that of someone just finding out their friend killed somebody. Although there was a sense of guilt, that feeling was not particularly strong.

Momon observed his surroundings and decided not to remain here for long. Plus the bodies need to be cleared. There will be patrols from the local law enforcers although this was the slums, leaving the bodies here will bound to attract unwanted attention

While the current charm spell would last twice as long as its normal duration, it was not a permanent effect. He would need to clarify the reason behind the ambush while the charm spell was still active.  

“It is dangerous here. Please follow me…… Friend.”

“Ah, I know.”

The man followed Momon after responding to him. He kept chatting to Momon as they walked. But Momon ignored him mostly. The man did not mind no matter how cold Momon’s response was. This was due to the effects of the enchantment.

Less than one minute later, they reached their destination, which was a rundown house.

The house was quite big.

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However, it looks as if it had not been attended to for a long period.

The layer of paint on the war had begun to fall off because of age. It was not be able to withstand the effects of weather. More than half the window sills had rotted away. Same thing could be said about the roof. The wooden structure had started to decay and remnants of the decayed wood spread all over the floor.

Of course, there was no source of lighting in the house other than the moonlight that seeped in. None the less, it is still brighter than the alley.

Momon entered through the large gaping hole in the wall.

The interior of the house looked abandoned with weeds growing from the floor. Seeing that, Momon pondered. He would leave behind footprints if he stepped on it. The man behind walked into the  house calmly, and left a trail of footprints behind.

The rotted wooden flooring gave up on supporting Momon’s weight and crumbled. From the damaged roof top, a ray of starlight filtered in, illuminating Momon like a stage light. Momon closely observed the surroundings.

The man following behind Momon entered cautiously.  

“Hey hey, is this fine?”

“No problem, friend. The place here is safe.”

“Is it? Mah, if you say so.”

“Then, next will be?”

Momon turned around.  From the beginning, his magic has been activated to look for signs of life.

There was.

Other than the man, there were three people within the surrounding area. All three were inside the house. Momon used his heightened senses and was able to confirm the same number presences.

“Then, you are given one minute to immediately bring the three bodies back here.”

The shadows around Momon suddenly moved towards the direction he was pointing towards. This was not a metaphor. But two dimensional shadows that really moved.

“Eek!”

The man released an incoherent scream, like a small animal while looking at the shadows surrounding the place. Of course, no matter how he looked, he was not able to tell them apart.

“Then, since we have time. Let’s begin my questioning.”

“Huh, what?”

“Simple. Why did you attacked me? Who ordered you to do so?”

If it was a request from someone, then the matter would be rather complicated. After hearing the man’s answer, Momon let out a sigh of relief.

“No one did. We did it just for the money. Of course, if we knew it was you, we wouldn’t do something like this. Trust me, I am someone who treats my friends gently.”

“Hmph”

Momon already heard what he needed to hear.

Momon let out a smile. He moved in a way that would not leave any tracks in the overgrown weeds, heading closer towards the man. The distance between them was so close till both of them felt each other’s breath. He took off his gauntlet and placed a finger on the man’s chest before invoking his magic.

<Drown>

The man’s eyes dilated, and he clasped his mouth. Water came out from the corners of his mouth.

<Drown> was a magic that infused the lungs with water. It was a magic that progressed in a countdown. It was useless towards those that had the ability to breath underwater. There was a long delayed before it was able to cause the death of the target. In Yggdrasil, it was not a terrifying magic, as there were ways to counter it.

Due to the attack, the man’s enchantment was lifted. He was shocked by the magic’s effect and  his fear started kicking in when he was unable to breath, and he started clutching his throat. At that moment, Momon spoke to him gently.

“It’s pointless. You won’t be able to spit out the water. You may try to swallow it but it will still accumulate in your lungs.”

The man turned and fled after understanding Momon’s words. Of course, Momon did not allow such an act. Momon casually slipped out a leg and tripped the man. He felt onto the wooden flooring of the rundown house with a loud crash.

Momon placed his foot beneath the body of the man. With a quick motion, he flipped the man around. He then placed his foot on the man’s stomach while increasing the pressure of his foot.

Instinctively at some level, the man understood what was happening to himself. He tried to the push Momon’s foot aside, but it would not move. No matter how he twisted and writhed, it would not move an inch.

As if he understood the extreme difference in their strength, the man clasped his hands in front of his chest with a pleading expression. 

Fear, appealing, pain.

The man’s expression continued to change. Momon silently watched as the man grabbed his foot with a panicked expression. The man pushed with desperate strength as his face turned bright red from  being unable to breathe. He probably pushed harder than he had ever pushed. In times of great danger, people were capable of great feats of strength, like pushing aside pillars to escape from a burning building. But even strength born from desperation had its limits in front of Momon’s overwhelming strength.   

The man’s body flapped uselessly as Momon looked expressionlessly at the man’s crimson face.

The corners of Momon’s mouth turned ever so slightly upward.

Eventually, the man’s eyeballs rolled upward and water poured from his mouth. His body flopped bonelessly to the ground unmoving.

“Humph”

With a slight snort, Momon lifted his foot from the corpse, his expression faintly bored like a child that had gotten sick of a toy.

Momon turned towards the returning presence.

“Thank you for the good work”

As if setting down some luggage, with a casual movement of a single hand, three bodies tumbled forth. The presence was shrouded in darkness, its shape and figure indiscernible. However, Momon’s <Detect Life> spell had reacted to it.   

“Now, shadow demons, please show yourself”

Shadows without thickness expanded from the darkness. It was as if something two dimensional had gained a third dimension.

Emaciated humanoid figures with bat wings attached to their backs, their fingers ending in sharp claws.

The figures were pitch black, as if created from darkness itself. The only other colour were the eyes, a sickly glowing shade of yellow. The name Shadow Demon certainly suited them.  

[We would request that you show us your true form as well]

“?”

[We would like to confirm that you are whom that our great lord has ordered us to serve]

“Well in that case……tell me the name of your master first”

[Our master’s name is Ains Ool Gown. The Supreme One]

“Understood”

Momon’s form started to twist and shift.

The form that Momon settled into was no different from the one she normally took in Nazerick. Her clothing however, remained the same, making the chest stick out slightly.

“Will this do?”

[……We cannot properly verify your identity. We repeat. Please show us your true form.]

“……Alright, it can’t be helped.”

Scratching her head lightly in embarrassment, Momon hesitated. She finally nodded with an expressionless face worthy of a noh mask and the outline of her face twisted and melted.    

The form that her face settled into, was quite simply, not human.

Her head was like a pink egg, its bald top gleaming with nary a strand of hair growing.

There were no protrusions at all at the spot where the nose was supposed to be. The area was as flat as a field. The areas belonging to the eyes and mouth were simply empty holes. Eyeballs, lips, tongue and teeth were totally non-existent. The face was akin to the drawing of a child’s doodle using a black pen. There were changes to the body as well. The well endowed breasts shrunk like a deflating balloon that was pierced by a needle.

She dropped the hemp sack on the ground, and the five beautiful fingers on her hands, were replaced by four weirdly long fingers. The fingers wiggled like stick insects and on one of the fingers was a ring.

Doppelganger.

That was Momon’s—-Narberal Gamma’s true form.

By raising the level of the race doppelganger, it was possible to gain one more form, but Narberal’s doppelganger level was stopped at one, and 57 levels were focused into her magic. Thus she could not change into anything besides her maid form, but it was possible to use illusion magic to changer her appearance. This was why she was suitable for infiltrating the town as an adventurer.

There were none but two NPCs from the human or demi-human races in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

The maids were homunculi, and Narberal and the others, the maids with combat abilities were like that as well. A camouflaging beetle-like race, a predatory slime, a lycanthrope, dullahan, and an automaton.

The sound was like wind passing through a tunnel.

The strange voice was a mix of both a male and female tone.

“Have you confirmed it?”

[We have confirmed that you are Narberal Gamma that has orders from Ainz-sama. We will become your subordinates from here on out.]

Narberal, without a word, changed her body. The repulsive figure of a doppelganger disappeared, and the one standing there was a beautiful woman. It was like the earlier figure was a complete lie. She picked up the sack that fell on the ground, and again placed it on her back.

“Reveal yourself, shadow demon.”

Resuming her usual tone of speaking, but within it was a feeling like an impending storm that was absent before. As if detecting the changes in her tone, from within the shadows, another two shadow demons joined the first and knelt in front of Narberal. Narberal moved towards the first shadow demon.

“Nee, why must I show my real figure?”

Lifting her leg, she kicked up the stomach of the shadow demon. If it was one of the members of the Axe of Cyclone, if it was done improperly, an impressive force would rupture their internal organs.

Ripping sounds of kachi kachi were heard. The shadow demon’s body bent into a shape like the kanji for nine(九), unable to withstand the pain, moans escaped its mouth.

“If it was for checking the ones born from the hands of the Supreme Ones, I can understand. But as my subordinates why must you see my real figure? The figure of this woman was made by the Supreme Ones for me and is special.”

Maintaining her poker face, Narberal delivered several more kicks.

She was not slacking off. Narberal was a magic-type. As expected it would take a while to kill a about level 30 shadow demon with pure physical ability. Was that understood, or was that not understood?

Once again, she kicked.

The other shadow demons made no indication of stopping her.

Jet black fluid escaped the mouth of the shadow demon and its body started to convulse non-stop. Only then, did Narberal stop kicking.

“—-Fu~. I believe that this is the words of Ainz-sama, and since you are the reinforcements from Ainz-sama I won’t kill you.”

She lightly wiped off the sweat that accumulated on her brow.

“Now, dispose of the bodies and trash. There should be a place with zombies and skeletons we control—-”

The order was directed towards the remaining one that was spared. At this moment, Narberal was staring a specific spot on the wall.  A place beyond the point of the wall surfaced in her mind and she closed her mouth.

—-She began to think.

Although it was beneficial to have an increased number of minions, however there were cons as well. Her master sent minions from the servants serving him. This might cause some discomfort among the servants. This was as if saying that her strength was insufficient.  

An action that would cause Ainz to frown will not be good.

“—-There were none, so dispose of them.”

[Understood]

A different shadow demon from the one who was scolded lowered his head deeply.

“Afterwards, I learned several things from the adventurers party so watch their movement. If you observe strong adventurers you should learn useful information.”

[Hah]

The information obtained by joining a low level adventurers party was minimal. The information obtained mainly pertained to basic knowledge.

“Escape if you are discovered when monitoring them. You are allowed to kill them, but you are strictly forbidden from massacring every single one to the point of stopping the flow of information. This will be all, begin your operation.”

Letting her gaze leave the bowing shadow demon, Narberal looked up. Even further above the barely remaining scaffold, the stars were sparkling.

<—-Fly>

Narberal’s body flew into the air. Completely negating gravity, it was like a balloon that floated upwards.

<Invisibility>

After the invoked magic completely wrapped around Narberal’s body, an invisible barrier was formed around her.

Passing through the damaged roof, an invisible Narberal flew towards the sky. Before exiting the damaged house, she used magic to confirm that there were no observers nearby.

She had climbed about 300 metres.

The stars above her sparkled, and from there, she saw the countless lights illuminating the streets.

“Hah.”

Alone, and surrounded by fresh air, Narberal breathed deeply several times.

The job that was given to Narberal, was something worse than she had thought.

Jobs to kill or to break were fun, but to her, smiling at lower existences was extremely tiring. However, if she did her job well, she understood that Ainz would enjoy it so she had to do her best.

“Ah. Hah, I want to kill them.”

Just like responding to the numbness of her shoulders, she stretched her neck. Narberal eliminated those thoughts from her mind. There will be chances in the future. For now, she had to endure.  

“Hah.”

Sighing one last time, the effects of the flight ended, and she began to descend.

A rumbling could be heard from the rushing of the air. Her sidetail and clothes fluttered in the wind.

There was a need to look for a different job tomorrow. Before that she had to inform the shadow demons looking for strong adventurers of various things. The things she had to do were like a mountain.

“I have to do my best—-”

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