The dark…
…the dark was peaceful.
His ears rang, drowning out all other sounds around him. The shadows that danced across his vision were mesmerizing, and in his mind's eye, he could see himself reaching out to them, wanting to touch and caress them. Their cloudy figures were twisting and weaving like eels in an ocean. Their unnatural dance delighted him, and he hoped to catch one and hold it to him.
They fled at his approach, and in the blackness of the void, two brilliant emerald flames ROARED to life.
Until then, he had not noticed how he shivered, how he longed to try and warm himself by the green fire that appeared before him. As they glittered in the dark like jewels in a treasure hoard, their promised warmth seemed so tantalizing.
The fire.
There's fire here.
I feel so cold.
I feel so alone.
Where is everyone?
Where have my friends gone?
Where have I gone?
The flames of before condensed into shapes, not unlike eyes, the pupils of a serpent glaring balefully at him. It was studying him, assessing his worth with indifferent patience. To it, he was no more than an insect.
No, he was something more, but he could not discern what he was to the creature in front of him.
SERVE YOUR PURPOSE. BE REBORN, AND EXPLORE THE WORLD. IN DUE TIME, YOU WILL FIND ME.
The booming baritone that echoed across to him already seemed to be trying to consume him, drawing him ever closer to great pillars of light he had not noticed before, the fangs of a terrible wyrm.
Another voice called to him from… outside, but it was too distant, too small to claw him from the abyss's grip. Already he could feel himself relaxing, accepting the inevitable that was to come. The shadows of beyond cuddled him like a woolen blanket on a cold winter's eve.
The voice resonated again, sounding far closer than last time. It was more confident, more steadfast in its tone. The pitch black around him seemed to shake as if he were being jostled.
"-llriver? Bellriver! Come on man, it's time to wake up!" the outside voice said, desperation entering its inflection.
The fangs in the void gnashed, fury augmenting the hate within the emerald fire's vision. A low hiss replaced the ringing that had tormented him until now.
He felt himself screaming, trying desperately to cover his ears, to block out the horrid noises that assaulted him so viciously. Pain erupted across his form as a maw solidified to compliment the blinding teeth, barreling toward him.
He tried to flee, but his legs were like stone, weighing him down and rooting him to the spot he found himself in.
"BELLRIVER!" the earlier voice cried, blistering light shining across his sight. It burned away the shadows that engulfed him, the pits of green hellfire closing as the maw halted its advance and retreated into whatever crevice it spawned from. He felt relief that he had been spared from whatever fate had awaited him behind those horrid, dagger-like teeth.
A fishing line seemed to tug at his back, dragging him back into the light at an exhilarating pace. The whistling of air now filled his ears, a soft hum steadily growing louder and deeper as he flew towards the focal point of the luminescence.
He involuntarily closed his eyes and looked away, his body tensing as the hum reached a crescendo and he braced for impact.
—-
When he found he could open his eyes again, he instinctively tried to shut them. Too much had already transpired, and he quivered at what would come for him next now that he was out in the glow.
Several pairs of hands and not-hands touched his body, voices that sounded muted and watery trying in vain to reach him.
Only one of them cut through the din, his eyes snapping open as he instantly recognized who it was.
His vision was both clear and yet distorted at the same time, the edges tinted with a liquidy residue that seemed to narrow his sight. At the center of that, he could see shades of color he could scarcely imagine, enhancing the natural hues of what seemed to be grass and a random assortment of flowers.
He took in the sight of what he guessed to be a satyr, massive horns like the antlers of a stag held a jingling collection of bells and other trinkets in its points. The satyr looked to be male, handsome in an ageless sort of way, bare-chested and well-muscled until the waist down, which was a pair of shaggy goat legs and cloven hooves. He had a chestnut-colored goatee and mellow eyes that framed a surprisingly chiseled face. He had a bright smile as if he had just found perhaps the greater treasure he could ever behold.
Bellriver tried to speak, but his voice came out as a withering rasp. He made a second attempt, and he was able to muster a few wet, sloppy words.
"BrRaUgH…bLuUuUrGh…bLu-Bl-blue Plan-et?" He blinked, trying to make sense of his surroundings. "Why're…Why the hell are we out in a field?"
The hands that had grasped at him now receded, granting him the opportunity to look around and notice that all his other guildmates from Yggdrasil were there with him.
He lifted a hand to touch his face, and one of his smaller arms moved. Then he realized he had smaller arms, and two larger ones as well. Bellriver marveled as his own avatar's shape greeted his gaze as he looked down at himself.
"My Yggdrasil avatar?" he flexed whatever a gibbering mouther had for muscles, and everything seemed to be where it should be when he played his favorite game…although something felt off about it.
"What's going on?" he asked. "Did I pass out?"
"I'd say so," said a large hairy Hominid, Suratan. "You were sawing logs pretty damn loudly, before we woke you up."
Bellriver moved one of his smaller arms, grasping at a few blades of dew-laden grass beneath him. A smell of a freshly-mowed lawn hit his nostrils, and he brought his smaller left arm to one of the various mouths dotting his body. It blew away the grass before the wind picked up the pieces and carried them away into the night.
"Holy shit, these graphics are BEAUTIFUL!" he said excitedly. "And this sensory feedback…it feels so real!" He looked around at his guildmates and friends, settling his gaze on Blue Planet. "I must've passed out from overworking…did Yggdrasil get an update while I was out cold?"
Several of his guildmates, those with faces he could read, suddenly seemed uncomfortable. He was about to ask why, when suddenly:
"Wait, wait. We still have to make sure it's him, hold on," a voice, strange-sounding yet familiar, declared from beyond him, shoving past his old friend and taking up most of his sight.
He recalled the shadowy form of Temperance, his face a collection of pulsating, liquid-filled sacs. The two stared down one another before Temperance leaned in and said:
"Do you have my goddamn data crystals, Bellriver?"
The gibbering mouther scowled with his main muzzle, his wonder and curiosity overtaken by annoyance, as he reflexively sucker-punched the shadowmancer straight in the imaginary jaw.
The poor guildmate was sent flying over his comrades, landing further out in the field with a resounding BOOM.
Blue Planet guffawed, holding his sides. "Ye-yeah it's him! He's back!" the Seilenoi said. An ear-splitting cheer tore apart the tranquility of the night, merriment overtaking his guildmates.
But not for Bellriver, whose hand was throbbing from punching Temperance so hard.
Pain? He asked himself. Why would a game like this have...No fucking way...this can't be REAL…can it?
—-
By the time all the "congratulations", "welcome back", and "it's good to see you" had been completed, the sun had begun to rise over the horizon, painting the early morning with breathtaking hues of oranges and purples.
They began to trek back to the tomb by that point, Dynamite dragging an unconscious Temperance through the dirt as punishment for his hastiness. The harpy wizard hummed a merry tune all the while, as the core spawn seer banged his head across the rocks in his path.
Bellriver was at the center of the group, being peppered with questions about how he had arrived in the "middle of a field of all things".
The spellsword could answer none of their questions, staring in bewilderment as he beheld the Tomb of Nazarick with his own eyes. He was especially confused about what happened to the swamp Nazarick was supposed to be in.
As they approached, his confusion only grew once he saw the floor guardians near the entrance. Many of them were dressed for battle, and at the sight of his guildmates, they bowed deeply.
A sharply-dressed man with the head of a frog stepped forward, pushing up bespeckled glass onto his nose. "Lord Bellriver, truly a pleasure to have you with us again. I take it that your trip to this new land was no trouble?"
Bellriver took a double take at being confronted by such a strange amphibian, but responded nonetheless.
"Uh…yeah, sure. We can go with that. I arrived just fine to...wherever this is." Yet as he spoke, a deep sense of foreboding still churned in his gut, and he frowned at the vague memories of his nightmares before awakening.
Momonga, his old friend and ever observant, noticed his discomfort and cleared his throat. Many of his guildmates turned towards the skeletal mage.
"Everyone!" Momonga hollered. "It has been a stressful day for us all! We should give Bellriver the chance to catch some fresh air, and enjoy the sights before venturing into the Tomb."
He tapped the Guild Staff against the stone beneath his feet. "If you don't comply, I will summon undead to bite all your asses!"
Many of his fellow guildmates gave faux exclamations of horror, rushing back into the Tomb before giggling like school children. Before long, it was only Bellriver, Blue Planet, Momonga, and the floor guardians themselves that remained outside.
Bellriver shifted from one foot to another, finally feeling the tickle of something foreign resting upon his head. He reached up and plucked it off, revealing a crown of Daffodils as he held it in his massive hands.
He moved to pick one of the daffodils from its chain, only to accidentally smash it with a new-found strength that shocked him. The crown crumbled away to dust then, the particles drifted in the morning breeze.
As he watched the remains drift away, Demiurge took that moment to speak.
"As I had stated, my Lord, it is truly a pleasure to have you back. Your presence now means that our glorious home is now at full strength. I hope it is not too presumptuous of me, but if I might make a request…may we stay to guard you three?"
Momonga had already begun to shake his head. "While that is a very kind offer Demiurge, I still think that–"
Bellriver cut him off, "That sounds nice, actually. I'd like to get to know you guys better. Plus," he looked at Blue Planet and Momonga, "unless I'm mistaken, it seems that we'll be here a while, and I'd like to know some of the strengths and weaknesses you all bring to the table."
Blue Planet and Momonga looked at him in surprise, but Bellriver refused to meet their gaze, keeping his focus on the demon in front of him. Demiurge bowed once again as the floor guardians followed his example.
"Truly, Lord Bellriver, your wisdom is among the supreme that guides our great Tomb! We would be honored to answer your questions," Demiurge praised, his amphibian form melting back into something more recognizably human-ish.
The other guardians began to phase away their armor and weapons as well, crowding closer to the spellsword. In time, they moved from standing at the entrance to sitting on the stairs, basking in the warmth of the new morning as Bellriver absorbed all the knowledge that he could from his friends' NPCs.
When he had exhausted everything that he wished to ask, he sat quietly admiring the sunrise with Momonga and Blue Planet on either side of him.
There's nothing like this back in Tokyo. There's too much shit blocking out the damn sky. It's…it's so beautiful out here, Bellriver mused, not taking his eyes off the sight before him.
Blue Planet patted the middle of his back, and Bellriver turned to look at his old friend.
"You should've seen the stars and moon last night, man. It beat the hell out of anything we could've ever even dreamed of down on the sixth floor," Blue Planet said, giving him a comforting smile.
Bellriver smiled back with the mouth closest to his chin. "You think so?" he responded, turning back to admire the scene. "We poured thousands of hours into that floor, ya know. But if it gets beaten out by a sight like this, then it's a defeat I'll gladly take lying down."
Momonga's skull face was difficult to read an expression on, but slowly, he began to have a serious look to those dark pits of cherry fire he called eyes, sizing Bellriver up with a look he couldn't quite comprehend.
"As happy as I am to see you, old friend, your arrival here just...doesn't make a whole lot of sense." Momonga stated. "It also doesn't bode very well for the future, I'm afraid."
"Hey, lay off it, Momonga!" Blue Planet bristled, starting to lay into the guild leader with a rarely-seen outrage. "He just got here, and you're already saying shit like this 'Doesn't bode well for the future'? Where do you get off on questioning a goddamn miracle like this, when you should be thankful for it!"
Bellriver slapped his shoulder with his smaller arm, and Blue Planet stopped, though he sat fuming and glaring at Momonga with abject hostility. Bellriver turned to Momonga with a newfound respect for not even flinching at the Seilenoi's verbal assault.
"Momonga, as much as I'd like to say how I'm happy to see you too, I can't help but kinda agree with Blue here. We just saw each other yesterday."
Momonga and Blue Planet practically broke their necks at that, gazing at him with a new intensity that had him squirming at his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the floor guardians were similarly aghast.
Momonga's voice was deadly inquisitive as he asked his next question, "Bellriver, what's the last thing you remember?"
Now Bellriver was befuddled, as he scrunched up his face in thought.
"We...we had just finished the Fenrir boss fight in the Asgard's Fall Raid. Temperance and I were arguing about some stupid data crystals he claimed he needed for his staff. I'm pretty sure we had just inducted those new eighteen-year-olds too… I think their names were Garnet and Brisingr?"
Blue Planet sucked in a breath as Momonga stared at him, a contemplative look enclosing his face as the guardians erupted into a fit of murmurs and whispers.
"Bellriver," Momonga stated gently, "that was over four years ago."
Bellriver's stomach fell into his feet at the moment, hastily standing up to better look at his friends. He let out a quavering laugh from a mouth somewhere on his stomach.
"W-wow, I didn't think you'd manage a funny joke like that, Momonga! Man, you got me this time! Isn't he hilarious, Blue Planet? He should do a stand-up act next!"
"Bellriver…," Blue Planet said somberly, reaching out to grasp Bellriver's shoulder. Bellriver whirled around to the guardians, many of them holding sorrowful looks for him.
"You guys are our NPCs, right? You're completely loyal? Please tell me that Momonga and Blue Planet are pulling a fast one on me! There's no way what they're saying is true!"
Shalltear Bloodfallen gave him a tight-lipped smile, as her brows furrowed. "As much as I wish I could, my Lord, to lie to you would be the most atrocious sin of all. I'm sorry, but I must confirm that what Lords Momonga and Blue Planet said is true."
Bellriver felt as if his whole world was being sucked down the shower drain, as he plopped back down on the steps with a thud. "So...what happened? How the hell do I lose four years of my life like that?"
Blue Planet scooted closer, his voice taking on a far gentler tone than even Bellriver could ever recall the already-kind satyr having. "It's not exactly a pretty story, and I only know what Momonga told me."
"I'll make sure to fill in whatever details I can specifically remember," Momonga offered helpfully, also leaning into the gibbering mouther.
Bellriver took a deep, shuddering breath. "Okay. Lay it on me, don't spare a single detail of how it went down."
And so they did. Bellriver could only sit there and take in the story of how he had DIED, their words eventually fading out as he was lost in his thoughts.
I...I can't believe how...sparse…the details are. How common...how boring it was, in the end.
He was silent for a long time, his two friends resting comforting hands on either one of his pauldrons as they returned to admiring the early morning.
Bellriver finally broke the silence by saying, "Blue Planet."
"What is it, Bellriver?" the druid asked.
"Do you remember what I had marked down on my bucket list? The one thing I wished I could do, but knew would most likely never happen?"
"Uh, I think so," Blue Planet said, as he tilted his head in thought. "Hmmm...Oh! I remember now! You said that you always wanted to try and conquer Midgard. You thought the members of that one guild, "Illicit Sinners", were major assholes. You wanted to kick them out of that world for good."
Bellriver finally barked a laugh, slapping his knee as the memory came back. The oddly-named guild had been a pretentious group of basically children, who specialized as heteromorphic PKers. Bellriver had died to them too many times to count because of their overzealous use of cash-shop items, long before he had joined up with Momonga and Touch Me.
"Yeah... is a shame that never happened," Bellriver reminisced, leaning back on his larger elbows as he replayed the moments back then in his mind. He had a thoughtful look on his face before he suddenly shot back up to a hunched position.
Several of his mouths spoke in unison, giving his voice a strange echo effect that reverberated off the stone steps. "tHiS wOrLd Is qUiTe BeAuTiFuL HeRe, yA kNoW?" Bellriver said, still hunched over.
He could feel the surprised looks of his guildmates at his sudden change in mood, but he continued.
"OuR oLd wOrLd cOuLdN't HoLd A CaNdLe tO tHiS pLaCe. i kNoW wE hAvEn'T gOtTeN tHe ChAnCe To eXpLoRe mUcH, bUt fRoM wHaT I'vE sEeN sO fAr...iT's, well, It'S StUnNiNg…,"
"Yeah," Blue Planet agreed, closely watching his friend. "It's like I said, just seeing everything last night took my breath away. It was like a great, big box of jewels was just sitting there for us to take it."
Bellriver's voice returned to normal as he asked, "So why don't we?"
Blue Planet and Momonga let out light chuckles, only stopping when they noticed he still had a serious look.
"All of us here, together again, we're nigh unstoppable. Even in Yggdrasil, the Eight Guild Alliance couldn't touch us. wHo'S tO sAy ThE sAmE dOeSn'T aPpLy hErE?" Bellriver said, finishing his statement with five of his mouths at once.
They had gotten so carried away with their conversation that they missed how the floor guardians tensed, watching the three members of Ainz Ooal Gown with keen interest.
"A great box of jewels, you called it?" Bellriver pondered, starting to pace. "Then we should claim it, all of it. You said my arrival doesn't bode well for the future Momonga? Then I say we flip the script, and make my arrival the start of something magnificent."
Momonga looked away in shame, regretting his somewhat hasty choice of words, before looking back to his resurrected guildmate.
"Even still, we just showed up last night! We still have no idea what's even out there. For all we know, there could be even more dangerous creatures and people just waiting for us to prance about unprepared. We need to do reconnaissance, gather intel, and draw up dossiers for anything that could hurt us. Only then–"
"Why not?" Blue Planet interrupted, a soft smile coming over his features. "We don't have to wage all-out war, but we could do what Trinity did, and slowly explore this new land. You gotta admit, Momonga, we can't stay cooped in the Tomb forever, as nice as it is. Plus, it's just as likely that someone finds us first. I'd rather be on the opposite side of the barrel if I can help it."
Momonga sputtered, glancing between the two best friends. He released a drawn-out sigh, giving the both of them a deadpan look despite his lack of a face.
"...if that's what you guys want, then you get the honor of explaining your plans to everyone else. I'll have Nubo reactivate the surveillance room. Let's not waste any more time," Momonga said, standing up and dusting off his robes. The sound of his staff striking the stone floor of the entrance faded as he descended deeper into the tomb.
Blue Planet stood up as well, some of the bells in his horns tinkling with the sudden motion. He turned back and offered a hand to the spellsword, a bright smile overcoming his face.
"Coming, old friend?" the Seleinoi asked.
"GlAdLy," Bellriver replied, grasping the satyr's forearm. The both of them descended together, with the floor guardians not far behind them.
—-
A few days had passed, and Bellriver was already starting to feel restless.
The Tomb had been as he had always remembered it, only now it had the distinct air of actually feeling alive. The moment he had walked in, some of his other guildmates had come to see him, wanting him to meet some of the other NPCs that were somehow sentient now.
He'd been dragged around for hours, revisiting old sites and rooms that he'd remembered with fondness.
He'd learned that, shortly after his disappearance and death, the other members of Ainz Ooal Gown had slowly abandoned the guild, citing one reason or another for their eventual departure. Only Momonga had remained, tirelessly maintaining their home and defending it from would-be invaders.
Based on that, he'd half-expected most of Nazarick to have either collapsed or simply closed off due to disuse. But to his pleasant surprise, the Tomb was not only fully intact, but some things had been added since his departure.
"Sensei did a good job with the place, didn't he?" Garnet asked, the two of them enjoying a hot soak in Nazarick's bathhouse. He held a goblet with a clear, bubbly liquid inside, sloshing it around idly.
"Yeah, I wasn't sure what I was gonna see, but I'm glad it's all still in one piece." Bellriver agreed, holding his glass of some vintage wine that Nearata had gifted him. He allowed the peaceful ambiance to endure for a few more moments before he decided to shatter it.
"So, uh, listen…," Bellriver began, setting his glass aside and leaning closer to the younger guildmate. "So it's true? Momonga was the last one standing? Everyone had just packed up and left?"
Garnet turned his helmet to Bellriver, trying to look his fellow guildmate in the face, if not the eyes. "Not necessarily. Momonga was the last dedicated guildmate still playing. Amelia and I kept playing too, but between working to make ends meet and affording college, we didn't have the time we used to."
"Amelia?" Bellriver asked, confused by the name.
"That's Brisingr's IRL name."
"Ah," Bellriver hummed, snatching up his goblet and taking a sip.
He found that not only had his physical body been enhanced, but so had his senses, particularly of taste. Bellriver nearly bawled like a child when he had been served breakfast that morning he came back.
Way better than any of that Synth-Paste they used to give us at work, Bellriver thought privately, allowing the collection of intense flavors to take him far and away from the memories of his old life.
A thought struck him then. "I've been meaning to ask, but…if we all became our avatars when we came here, how come you're able to taste or enjoy anything like food and drink?"
Garnet lifted the visor of his helmet, revealing nothing beneath, save a small, humming orb of light. He brought the goblet close to where his lips would've been and made a noise akin to sipping, some of the drink in his cup getting sucked up into the orb. There the drink slowly coalesced, becoming like a grain of sand at the center of a pearl. A few more moments passed before the fluid evaporated outright, and left only steam to waft through the air.
"I can't explain it," Garnet burped, this time taking a larger gulp from his glass. "I was kinda confused at first too, but instinct kicked in, and I found that I really could enjoy food like the rest of you organics."
Bellriver chortled at the small joke, downing the rest of his drink with a mouth somewhere on his shoulder, and slamming his goblet onto the edge of the large bath. A maid with violet hair scurried over, bowing her head as she took the empty crystal goblet and promptly refilled it.
It took Bellriver a moment to realize that they were not alone, his head snapping to see a contingent of maids waiting hand and foot just outside of the bath. He gave Garnet a questioning look.
"Yeah, it's kinda weird, I know. I'm not used to being served like a king here, and neither is everyone else. Despite our insistence, just about every NPC here actually wants to cater to our every need. I'd recommend just going with the flow to keep them happy," Garnet said, holding out his glass gingerly. A buxom brunette came forward this time, topping him off from a dark-green glass bottle.
He caught sight of the label. "Really? You're drinking apple cider? What are you, twelve?" Bellriver asked, a smaller mouth near his forehead grinning.
"I'm twenty-two. I've never been a big fan of alcohol, and as it so happens, apples are a favorite snack of mine. Get me a drink that's just that, and here we are," Garnet replied in stride, gesturing grandly to the maid.
She giggled, her chestnut hair bouncing along with the rest of her.
"Any particular reason why you're abstaining? It's not like we're nuns here, ya know. If the NPCs are here to serve our every whim, then you could have whatever you wanted," the spellsword inquired, his curiosity about the younger guildmate growing.
The mood in the baths instantly soured, as the Animated Armor turned his helmet to stare off into the distance. "I'd rather not talk about it," he said, shutting down the conversation. The tension by then was so palpable as to be suffocating.
"Uh, did you hear about Nubo getting his old pad up and running again? I think he's been stuck in there for about three days scrying by now," Bellriver offered, desperately trying to change the subject.
It worked because Garnet finally looked back excitedly. "Yeah! Sensei and some of the others have been waiting to see what he would turn up. Do you think he's managed to find anything by this point?"
Bellriver was chuckling, already rising above the water's surface and taking a towel from a patiently waiting maid. "I don't know, kid, but knowing Nubo, I wouldn't put it past him to have scoured every last square mile of the land surrounding us."
Garnet exited the water as well, his massive gemstone abdominal plate gleaming with the water droplets tracing every cut edge, dripping back down into the bath as he also took a towel.
The both of them dried off quickly, Bellriver donning his armor as Garnet the sentinel placed his mighty kite shield onto his back. The animated armor buckled his sword sheath just as Bellriver picked up his crimson longsword and dual staves. The spellsword slotted his weapons back into the void of his old inventory, disappearing into nothingness.
They left the baths then, the maids who had previously waited on them bowing as they walked out, before following closely behind. About halfway to the surveillance room, the maids broke off, taking different pathways in the hallway, leaving Bellriver and Garnet alone again.
They finally stood before the door to Nubo's quarters, the entrance made of a silver-etched metal that shone brilliantly. Rather than swing inwards, it slid into the side of the wall, granting them unrestricted access to the ophanim's room.
As they entered, they spotted several wide television-like screens floating all around, flipping through several different scenes of what looked like a village under attack.
Momonga was already there, standing next to Nubo the templar as his angelic form pulsed, causing the screens to change again, showcasing defenseless villagers as they were slaughtered by men wearing plate mail.
The guild leader observed the events intensely, the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown floating behind him. The seven golden serpents which made up the staff's head each held a different colored gem in its mouth, while their tails passed through what looked like a crown and intertwined with one another to form the body of the staff. A bend in their bodies formed a natural handle for anyone to grip the staff effectively.
Momonga turned, missing a scene of a peasant family being dragged from their home and thrown out into the street, a married couple and their two daughters. The Overlord inclined his head when he saw his comrades.
"Ah, it's good to see you two. I trust you had a relaxing time in the baths?"
"For sure, man…mind filling us in on what's going on?" Bellriver asked, noticing how both the husband and wife from earlier had been killed, and the two daughters had made a break for the forest. A group of four men began to chase them.
"Nubo has given us tangible results on the surrounding area of the tomb. We've managed to finally find some form of intelligent life. Humans, by the looks of it, though probably not for long with how viciously they're being attacked," Momonga casually stated, the guild staff floating back into his hand.
Nubo muttered something, though he did it so quietly that even Bellriver's enhanced hearing didn't catch all of it. He only made out "Why don't you…" before the templar shut up, refocusing on the screen.
Garnet's armor was clanking as he clenched his fists, seemingly ready to enter the fray. "...Sensei, don't you think we should try and do something? Those are innocent people dying out there! If we don't act now, that entire village will be burned to the ground, and we'll have gained nothing," Garnet stated, moving his gauntlet to rest on the short sword he had clipped to his belt.
"Hmmm...Despite the prospect of gaining new knowledge, I see no reason to interfere. However…" Momonga trailed off, pivoting to look at Bellriver. "Well, my young friend, this will entirely depend upon our resident spellsword here."
Three of Bellriver's mouths gaped, not comprehending what Momong was implying. "wAiT, wHaT dO yOu mEaN iT's uP tO mE? Shouldn't this be something that you decide? You're the guild leader here, isn't this kinda your job?"
But that wasn't what had stupefied Bellriver. The majority of his shock had come from seeing just how...nonplussed Momonga seemed about the affair. He had apparently been watching the screens for some time, since he'd already been in the surveillance room long before Bellriver and Garnet had arrived. The Overlord had witnessed the attack on the village from the start, most likely, if he remembered correctly how Nubo operated during his "scrying parties".
The gibbering mouther had to admit, though, that despite seeing the reckless abandon with which the soldiers slaughtered the villagers, the sight of so much blood and gore didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. Rather, he observed it with the same clinical detachment that a doctor would when viewing a cadaver.
He couldn't speak the same for the young sentinel, who still quaked with the anticipation of battle, his hand never leaving the handle of his blade.
Even still, the same desire that Touch Me preached so often to protect the weak sprang to mind, his core tightening as he subconsciously pulled his crimson greatsword from the aether. He could feel some of his mouths curl into feral snarls when he looked back to the main screen, seeing now that the two girls from earlier had been caught, the older girl shielding what he assumed to be her sister as a soldier tore into her back, a soundless scream escaping her lips.
Momonga tilted his head at Bellriver's sudden change in behavior. "As I recall, it was you who expressed the desire to "conquer the world". If you feel so strongly about it, then you can start here, with this very village on the brink of destruction. I'd decide soon though, as we're running out of time and options."
"Tick-tick, man. What're you gonna do?" Nubo inquired, one of the eyes on the rings encircling his holy core swiveling around to glance at him, awaiting his choice. The templar's many pairs of wings flared out, shutting off the other screens and leaving only the one in front of them all on.
It didn't take Bellriver too long to decide after that.
He thrust his left hand out, a portal tearing open with a soft whoomp at his command, as his two smaller hands pulled out his wooden and metal staff from the same space he had gotten his blade.
He had panicked initially when he couldn't pull up his game menus, only to realize that the ability to cast said spells had become second nature to him. The magic he needed to conjure [Gate] sat rooted deep in the back of his mind, a radiant shell that surrounded his memories of the spells he could cast, and that would flare to life whenever he called upon his abilities.
Momonga strode forward without missing a beat, his fiery eyes smoldering with the call of battle as he held two fingers up to his ear canals to send a message.
Garnet was much the same way, the inner core of whatever magic gave him life shining through the plates of his armored body. His short sword and kite shield were at the ready as he followed closely behind the skeletal mage. The two of them passed through the portal, not waiting for Bellriver as he readjusted his vambraces and hefted his divine weapons.
The portal swirled shut with a hiss behind him, Bellriver catching one last glance at the screen Nubo occupied. He saw the soldiers had tired of berating and threatening the two village girls, with the one in the lead already raising his blade above his head to strike the finishing blow.
Bellriver didn't have to finish watching, as the portal deposited him at the exact spot where the group had been, allowing him to watch everything in real-time.
The soldiers immediately backed away, cries of alarm escaping their mouths as they caught sight of the three.
Dammit! Bellriver berated himself, as even the two girls scrambled to get away from them. We should have brought some form of disguise for the villagers! We'd just end up scaring them off if we rescued them looking like THIS!
Momonga took a step forward, raising his right hand. "[Grasp Heart]," Momonga whispered, clenching his fist. One of the soldiers let out a strangled gurgle, slumping over as a fountain of blood dripped from his helmet.
Garnet shot forward, his short sword flashing with sparks as it tore its way through another soldier's armor like butter. At the same time, his kite shield was driven into and through the soldier's partner, the poor warrior exploding into a fine mist of blood and viscera.
"[eLdRiTcH dAmNaTiOn]," Bellriver roared with all his mouths, slamming his staff down. A pentagram opened beneath the last soldier, who let out hysterical screams as several tentacles wrapped around his body, slowly dragging him down into the glowing runes. His wails were cut off by the sudden end of the spell as Bellriver severed the connection to his mana.
Quiet filled the glade, as no more reinforcements came from the path beyond. Once they were sure that there was no one hiding in the trees for an ambush of some kind, they began to lower their weapons.
"Was...was that it?" Garnet asked, sheathing his sword and placing his shield back onto his back. Though he no longer had expressions, or a face for that matter, the young sentinel could still exude disappointment.
Momonga was studying his hand, as if just realizing he had crushed another man's heart with only his magic.
"It seems so," Bellriver said, scanning the environment for more soldiers. "I'm honestly surprised you used such a low-level spell, Momonga. If they'd been at the same or higher level than us, we would've been in trouble."
Momonga shrugged, taking his eyes off his hand. "Better to test the waters than to go all-out at the start. My [Grasp Heart] spell has an instant-death effect, and if they'd somehow ignored it, there would've been a secondary Stun effect to back it up. Plus," he turned to Bellriver, "say you were right and I used a higher-tier spell. I would've expended valuable mana on peons that I could've used for a more difficult fight."
Bellriver nodded, accepting Momonga's answer. Their battle tension dissipated as they realized the danger was completely negligible, the three of them taking a moment to admire the nature that had been stained by the lifeblood of their foes.
A whimper interrupted their thoughts, drawing the three's attention back to the pair of girls who had fallen to the ground earlier. The older girl held the younger tightly to her chest, her eyes distrustful of their monstrous saviors. It was then that Bellriver noticed the older girl was bleeding from a gash in her back, a wound she had received from the soldiers from earlier.
Bellriver began to slowly approach, a soft glow emanating from his hands. He halted when the younger girl let out a sharp cry, snuggling even closer into the older's body. Despite her trembling, the older sister gritted her teeth and let out a small growl, though her painful wound weakened it to more of a whimper.
Garnet pushed forward then, managing to approach without so much noise from the frightened pair. He held his hands up in a non-threatening gesture as he squatted down in front of them, still towering over their diminutive forms.
"It's okay, you guys are safe now," Garnet spoke, still holding his hands up, "because we are here. I know my friends might look a little scary, but I promise they're good people." He hooked a thump over towards Bellriver. "My friend over there with the sword and staves can help you. He knows a little healing magic, but he can't help you guys out unless you let him."
Bellriver took that moment to give off a small wave, trying for a friendly smile with his main maw. Momonga chuckled from off to the side, his staff stuck into the ground as he crossed his skeletal arms.
The two girls still had a look like a deer caught in headlights, but the eldest relented, gesturing for Bellriver to come. The spellsword took lighter steps, mimicking Garnet's example and kneeling before the two girls. His hands glowed once more, and he gently placed them upon the bleeding gash.
The older girl panted as her wound closed, rolling her shoulder as muscles and sinews stitched themselves back together. The light faded away gradually, as everyone fully relaxed by then.
"What are your names?" Garnet questioned.
The eldest of the two girls looked up and took in all three of them, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "My name is Enri, Enri Emmot. This is my little sister, Nemu," Enri replied, her hold on her sister lessening.
Bellriver noted that when they spoke, their lips didn't quite line up with their words. He raised his equivalent of an eyebrow but chose to share the observation later when they had time.
"What happened to you guys?" Garnet continued, speaking as gently as possible. He either didn't notice the lip de-sync or had the same idea as the gibbering mouther.
"Our village was attacked by the men you three just… just killed. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I'm...I'm sure we would have been killed too."
"Are there more of them out there?"
"There were a lot more. They practically swarmed the whole village!"
Garnet nodded, having gotten everything he wanted out of the duo. "Then there's no time to waste! If we want to save the rest of the townspeople, then we gotta go now."
Bellriver and Momonga gave grunts of affirmation before Momonga uncrossed his arms and pointed his left hand at the sisters, the guild staff floating back into his right hand. "Before we leave, it would be wise to leave you with adequate protections. We wouldn't want to come back and find that you had gotten hurt, or worse, while we were away."
Glowing rings of runes emerged from the Overlord's hands. "[Anti-Life Cocoon]. [Protection From Arrows Wall]," Momonga invoked, a light-green force field surrounding the two girls.
"So long as the two of you stay put, you should be fine. But just in case…," Momonga reached into his robes for something. He tossed what looked like two clarion horns to Enri and Nemu, the items clattering to the ground.
"Horns of the Goblin General? Not a bad choice for lower-level enemies, but pretty trash for higher levels," Bellriver noted, taking an item from out of his inventory. He knelt again, laying a short length of sculpted, polished ironwood.
"This is a Wand of Fireball. This'll give you the firepower," Bellriver winced at his unintentional pun, "to take down anything stronger than those soldiers. This one only has enough mana for ten shots, so make 'em count."
Garnet stabbed his blade next to the wand, the steel sinking easily into the dirt. "This is one of my short swords. When you run out of mana, use this to protect yourself. It can't shatter, and it won't dull. It can pretty much cut through anything."
The two stood up, rejoining Momonga and turning away to walk the path directly to the village.
"Excuse me!" Enri called out, catching the attention of the three. They gyrated on their path to face the village girl and her sister. The both of them bowed their heads, kneeling on their hands and knees.
"Thank you so much for saving us! We are forever grateful," Enri said.
"Thank you so much, misters!" Nemu cried.
The trio paused at the praise. Garnet gave a two-fingered salute in response. "It was no problem! As Sensei Touch Me would say, 'Saving the weak…'"
"'Is the right thing to do!'" Bellriver and Momonga finished simultaneously. The three of them turned back around, ready to continue their journey.
"Wait! May I please have the names of the ones who saved us?" Enri asked. The three paused again, processing the older girl's question.
"Who we are individually is not important, though we three come from the same family of beings. Remember the name of the ones who saved you well, for we…are Ainz Ooal Gown!" Momonga declared, turning to face the two girls and gesturing dramatically.
Bellriver and Garnet sweatdropped at the display of grandeur.
Seriously? "We are Ainz Ooal Gown"? Momonga, you're SUCH a gigantic nerd! I just hope Punitto doesn't get pissed we name-dropped ourselves like that, Bellriver wondered before they truly resumed their journey in earnest.
Though the path was short, it gave them the time to talk and plan.
"You think that we're a family, sensei?" Garnet asked, his hand resting on the gem that replaced his abdomen. His visor seemed to sparkle as he put forth the question.
"Of course!" Momonga said. "Maybe we never got to meet up IRL, but the adventures we've had and the years we've spent together more than make up for that, no?"
"Which reminds me: even if we're a 'family', did you have to say 'we are Ainz Ooal Gown' as you did?" Bellriver asked, smirking with almost all of his mouths.
Momonga rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand as he practically giggled. "Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away there…but damn did it feel good to announce ourselves like old times," Momonga purred, his staff leaving a trail of holes in the ground as he walked.
"Maybe, but we should hold off on that unless somebody asks us directly. By the way, do you happen to have anything I can cover myself with?" Bellriver asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious about his many orifices and bright-red skin. "Maybe Peasant Girl and her sister were cool with us, but I'd rather not give the whole town a heart attack."
"Already way ahead of you," Momonga replied, phasing on a red and green mask and iron gauntlets.
"Wait, really?" Bellriver laughed. "You have a Mask of Envy?"
"What about it?" Momonga asked.
"Dude, you need to get out more," Bellriver answered him, shaking his head.
"...I don't get it," Garnet stated, "what's up with Sensei's mask?"
"It's called the Mask of Envy," the spellsword answered. "You can only get it by spending a certain amount of time logged into Yggdrasil, on a VERY specific day, during a VERY specific time slot."
"Okay…and?"
"The time slot for that was 7am to 10pm. The date…is December 24th."
Garnet took a second to mull that over. "Daytime hours…December 24th–" he briefly paused walking as it finally sunk in. "Oooooh…"
"Yup!" Bellriver confirmed. "Some said it was a dark joke by the developers, for all the single players. That's why everyone calls it 'cursed'."
"Well…" Garnet laughed, "with the way Albedo has been acting, that shouldn't be an issue anymore–"
Their guild leader very pointedly cleared his non-existent throat. "Gentlemen, as enlightening as this talk has been, we really should focus on saving these poor people."
He tossed a silver amulet to the spellsword, who caught it in his right hand. Inscribed on its face was a visage of a beautiful woman, who was bisected and had her left side a rotting corpse.
"An Amulet of Greater Hel, huh?" Bellriver remarked, putting on the necklace and feeling the illusion take hold. He had no idea what he looked like, but he hoped that whatever he could be would be convincing enough.
"I shouldn't need anything, right? Even with all this armor, I still look reasonably human…," Garnet asked, his kite shield banging against his back with every step.
"That's correct. I think you should be fine for the moment. I'd recommend taking another bath when we get home, though. You're positively covered in blood," Momonga said, his face staring straight ahead.
The village came into view, and many of its residents were surrounded by more soldiers in plate armor. The sound of arguing could be vaguely heard from what the three believed were the commanding officers, the ones involved throwing their arms about wildly.
They stopped right at the edge of the path leading into the village, counting how many soldiers could be visibly seen without the need for magic.
"How do you guys want to play this? We could just swoop in, take out a few, and then let the rest go," Garnet suggested, rubbing the chin plate of his helmet.
"No," Bellriver shook his head. "If we rush in right now, chances are the villagers will either be held as hostages and used against us, or just killed outright. If we want them to remember us as 'Ainz Ooal Gown', then we need survivors."
Momonga sighed. "You're never gonna let that go, are you?"
"Nope, so long as we live, I'ma tell everybody we meet."
"Yes, well, in any event, I may have an idea," the Overlord revealed, holding his palm out face up. "[Mass Flight]."
The three of them began to float, the same sense of weightlessness as if they were floating in water taking over. Momonga leaned his entire body mass forward, allowing them to shoot upwards, higher and higher into the sky.
By the time they had finished ascending, the soldiers and villagers were the size of ants, the houses almost becoming a natural part of the scenery.
Momonga suddenly placed his hand on Garnet's chest, the blood which stained his resplendent armor pooling onto the tips of his bony fingers. The lifeblood coalesced into a diamond-shaped shard, hovering over his index finger.
"When I say now, I'm going to shoot this [Heart of the Nosoi] at the commanding officers. I'll deactivate my flight spell, then we'll drop down and take the rest of the soldiers by surprise. We shouldn't take fall damage from this height, and we'll be able to handle the majority of the soldiers without villager casualty. Are you two ready?"
Garnet and Bellriver acknowledged him, the two readying their respective weapons for the oncoming ambush. Momonga aimed, his left eye flame winking out as his finger hovered over where the commanding officers had been.
"Now!" Momonga shouted, the shard launching at such incredible speeds it was no more than a blur.
All three of them began to fall, the whistling of the air in their ears was all they could hear.
THWOOM.
Bellriver didn't wait, his sword already swinging as it decapitated three of the soldiers in a single blow, a shower of blood erupting from the stumps of their necks as they fell like stringless puppets.
Garnet had rolled as he landed, slamming his shield into another two soldiers who exploded like over-inflated balloons, some of the gore staining another three who fled outright.
As Bellriver readjusted himself, he saw that Momonga's projectile had pierced through one of the officers' skulls, leaving a finger-width hole in the side of his open-faced helmet. The shard had left an indent where it had landed, having most likely dissolved into the fine, black mist that blanketed the soldiers who stayed.
Momonga finally landed, his robes having delayed his fall to the ground. The three of them regrouped as they watched the effects of the Overlord's spell take hold. The miasma twisted and weaved through the villagers, never outright touching them and instead leaving them with cries of alarm.
The same couldn't be said of the soldiers.
One of them had already doubled over, vomit falling out of his open visor and drowning the earth in his half-digested breakfast. His helmet fell off then, showing a collection of blisters and sores developing across his face. Blood soon replaced the vomit, before the soldier fell to his knees and keeled on the spot.
Several others also displayed similar symptoms, with one developing a cherry-red rash and his lips and eyelids swelling to comical levels. Another's skin emaciated before their very eyes, mummifying within seconds before his limbs locked up into a fetal position and he fell over. A third saw his flesh begin to liquefy, his body mass flowing from between his armor plates as he tried to scream, bubbles coming out of his helmet as the armor slowly laid in a pool of the former owner.
The villagers turned their eyes away from the sight in horror, and the pestilence dissipated once the last soldier dropped from whatever disease venerated his body.
Momonga cleared his throat, catching the attention of their newly saved audience.
"Be thankful, people of this village! We have come to liberate you from your would-be murderers, for we could not stand idly by as innocents had their lives taken! Our names are not important, though we come from the same family of beings. Rejoice!" Momonga bellowed with his arms spread wide as if to embrace them all.
Bellriver facepalmed, while Garnet almost chucked, trying and failing to cover it up with a cough.
An older, bearded man at the front of the group spoke up then. "You mean to say that you saved us all out of the kindness of your hearts?" The lead villager asked, the town chief if Bellriver ventured a guess.
"You can all be at ease. This village is under our protection now. None of you will ever be harmed again," Momonga confirmed.
"Yeah, so long as we live, nobody will ever be able to touch you," Garnet added, fixing his shield onto his back.
"Yep, we got you covered," Bellriver simply said, not sure what else he could say.
Sighs of relief were had by some of the townspeople, though many more still eyed their saviors with distrust.
Bellriver took that moment to amend Momonga and Garnet's statements.
"That being said, we could still be compensated in the way of information. Saving defenseless people doesn't come cheap, but seeing as how all of you were ransacked, we won't take what's left of your money," the spellsword said.
Here's to hoping that what I just told them paints us more as mercenaries-for-hire rather than random vigilantes, Bellriver thought.
Near-instantly, all of the villagers lowered their shoulders and gave expressions of gratitude to the three. They slowly stood, conversations and speculation running rampant about the knight attack and the mysterious trio.
The village chief, the bearded man from earlier, bowed his head. "What you have just done will be remembered for generations to come. If we could, we would hold a great feast in your honor, but all we can offer is the warmth of our homes and our remaining food. Won't you stay the night, so that you might enjoy some of Carne's hospitality?" The bearded man asked, his head still bowed.
"That would be lovely," Momonga said, reworking his robes so that the front wouldn't fly open. "Let's have a celebration!"
A cheer came from the village crowd, as they rushed the three and herded them closer to the heart of their land. Many of the men and women came forward to give their thanks, as some of the children raised their arms and hopped, wanting to be picked up.
Garnet took one child, settling the small girl on his shoulders and balancing her with his right hand. The other children chose to hold onto his free hand or a piece of his armor.
The villagers went back to their homes as they came upon the town center, most likely to prepare dishes or make arrangements for lost loved ones. Eventually, the extra people disbanded, leaving only the three guildmates, the village chief, and another older woman.
The older woman, most likely the chief's wife, bowed her bonnet-laden head. "If you would follow us, we'll take you back to our home, so that we might discuss your payment."
The trio nodded wordlessly, quickly finding themselves sitting down in a bare, simple home with only a table and six wooden chairs for furniture. The chair Momonga sat in creaked under his considerable bulk, while Bellriver and Garnet flanked either side of him in the adjacent chairs.
The village chief pressed his forehead against the tabletop, his wife following his example. "Once again, we will be forever grateful for your actions today, even if they were a bit...extreme. We also appreciate that you do not wish to take monetary payment, even if we would have scrounge up every last coin in this village to pay you back."
Momonga raised a hand to stop them. "Your offer is very kind, but my associate Bellriver here was correct in that information would be an appropriate payment. We have some questions that need to be answered, and anything you can give us will be extremely valuable."
The chief's wife lifted her head from the table, nodding vigorously. "Oh yes of course! We are humble peasants, but we would be happy to answer any questions you may have!"
—-
What followed for the next hour was a back-and-forth conversation for the group, with the denizens of Nazarick learning all they could about the surrounding area, economy, government powers in the world, and more.
A map was laid upon the tabletop, with the chief and his wife pointing out the various kingdoms and settlements that existed within them. Every so often, one of the three players would ask a question, to which the chief and his wife would either stare blankly, or give incomplete info.
"Truly, we are happy to help, but this map here is the only real connection we have to the world outside of Carne. Whatever money we have usually comes from outside traders, or came from generations past," the chief mentioned at one point, looking frustrated with himself for not being able to recognize a gold coin that Garnet had held up, stamped with the image of a tree.
Bellriver was coming to the startling conclusion that just about all the riches they had in Nazarick were worthless in this new world.
Well, not EVERYTHING, Bellriver contemplated. We still have some old gear and precious metals that are worth something tucked away in the Treasury. I'm sure Genjiro's gotten back to work organizing it all by now. He was already envisioning the numerous webs the trap master had set to help sort the untold amounts of items they had stored.
Garnet put the coin away, folding his hands together. "Of course, we understand completely. We are just wandering hermits, having arrived in this land a little under a week ago."
The chief chuckled good-naturedly. "With the armor you wear, and the gear that you all possess, I could have mistaken you for professional adventurers."
"Professional adventurers?" Momonga put forward, tilting his head. Bellriver was curious himself, and leaned closer.
The chief stood up suddenly, excitedly pointing back down at the map. "Yes indeed! Just about every major city and large settlement has an adventurer's guild of some kind. Some of the rookies come by the village to ask for directions when they get lost on assignments. Here, I'll mark the closest one on the map."
He pulled a piece of charcoal from his back pocket, scribbling an X over a city he earlier identified as E-Rantel.
Momonga rolled up the map, tucking it into his robes before standing. "This session of ours has been… informative. Thank you again for everything, but I fear that our time together is drawing to a close. We should be moving on."
The chief and his wife upended themselves so fast that the chairs fell backward with a clatter.
"But-but did you not say that you three would at least spend the night? We would be happy to host you!" the wife declared, desperation entering her eyes.
Her husband was much the same way, bobbing his head in agreement. "Of course! What type of hosts would we be if we allowed our saviors to leave without full bellies and warm furs for the night?"
Momonga looked as if he was about to argue, before he paused, and his shoulders slumped. "You are right. I had forgotten your offer after you had just 'paid' us. I would be happy to allow you to show us where we will be staying."
The chief and his wife visibly relaxed, giving gracious smiles. "Please, follow my wife outside. She will lead you to where you need to go. I have other business to attend to."
Garnet and Bellriver stood up as well, the group of them heading outside before going their separate ways.
When Bellriver looked back to the main plaza of the village, he could see several sheets of cloth draped over what looked like bodies. Several families squatted in the dirt, wailing and holding one another, or otherwise mourning their losses.
The desire of wanting to protect the villagers had not abated, yet he felt no particular sorrow for the deaths those families had suffered.
I go from wanting to rip everyone's heads off to now just not giving a shit. Now I know how Variable Talisman feels… He halted that train of thought immediately.
Stop it, that's not fair to him, he has no control over that. At least he cares enough to try and minimize the damage, Bellriver scolded himself, having to shake his head before he could focus.
Before he knew it, they were in front of a freshly painted and even nice-looking barn.
"I know it might not be much, but seeing as how all of you are so… large, this would be the most comfortable accommodation. Many of the houses are in disarray, and I would not want to impose on anyone who has lost someone today," The wife explained, gesturing towards the barn doors.
So you brought us to a BARN?! It's a nice barn, I'll admit, but it's still a BARN, the gibbering mouther mentally shouted, his hands clenched into fists.
Before he could voice his objections, Garnet slid forward to shake the older woman's hand, dropping a thumb-sized gold ingot into her grasp.
"Thanks again, madam, this will be perfect," Garnet said smoothly, putting a winning smile into his voice. The chief's wife trembled, her eyes as wide as dinner plates before a massive smile split her face.
"Oh, you have no idea what this means to me, dear!" the chief's wife cried, bowing her head so low that Bellriver half-wondered if she might snap her back. "If you have any need for us later tonight, please let me or my husband know. I should be off, as I need to help with the arrangements for later this afternoon."
She scurried off then, leaving the guildmates alone.
"I guess we should see just what we've gotten into, huh?" Momonga asked, pushing the barnyard doors open.
The inside was exceptionally clean, with not even a trace of any livestock anywhere to be seen. Many of the stalls had fresh hay laid about, with the early afternoon light streaming through a window higher up on the second floor.
The place had an overall cozy atmosphere, akin to a family-owned inn or bed and breakfast. The spellsword found his opinion being reevaluated as they spread out and explored the potential bedding spaces, already picking out where he would lie down for the night.
Eventually, they had chosen their desired places, each leaning or standing next to the wooden support beams of the barn. A comfortable silence followed as they processed the events of the day, each mulling over what had transpired.
"Hey, Momonga," Bellriver called out.
"Yeah, man?" Momonga replied.
"I noticed before we left that you sent out a message to somebody. Who were you trying to reach?"
"I thought it might be a safe play to have Demiurge summon a few Eight-Edge Assassins to shadow us, and make sure we wouldn't be caught off guard. Ulbert should be expecting a tidy sum of gold to be depleted from his account in the Treasury."
"That seems kinda mean Sensei, especially after what happened when he messed with Albedo and how Tabula reacted to that," Garnet remarked, taking off his kite shield to mark his pile of hay.
Momonga shrugged. "It wasn't done because I was upset, but rather because he popped up first in my messenger. The message got routed to Demiurge because Ulbert was taking a nap, so I just told him to do what was necessary to pay for them. I'll pay him back when the time comes."
Garnet accepted this response, sitting down in his hay and resting his helmet against the wall.
"It seems to me like this barn was just freshly built," Bellriver noted. "I haven't been able to find anything that indicates something lived here before…there's not even bags of feed."
"That's because it was finished just this morning. Nubo called me as soon as he found this village during his scrying attempts, and it wasn't too long after that the soldiers began attacking," the Overlord confirmed, allowing the guild staff to hover unobtrusively in a corner.
Bellriver went quiet before he remembered something else about the impromptu ambush the trio had executed earlier.
"There were three soldiers that escaped from Garnet during the fighting. I'm assuming that letting them go was part of the plan?" the spellsword asked.
"Not especially," Momonga answered, "but it does help our case. If we hope to keep this village completely safe, then it might've been a good idea to let some live so they could report back to whoever was in charge. From there, they would either leave the area alone, or allow us to pick them off when they arrive in force."
Bellriver gave an appraising look to his guild leader. "Not bad, man. Punitto and Ancient One might flay us alive, but if we wanna keep the village safe, then those soldiers bringing their friends back might be the best option."
"On that, I would agree wholeheartedly," Momonga stated, joining Garnet in laying on a personal haystack. Only Bellriver remained standing, his adrenaline still pumping and making him hyperaware. He could hear the constant din of hammers and pickaxes tearing away at some of the ruined houses on their way to the barn, the villager's attempt at rebuilding their homes.
"By the way, did you guys notice that odd thing going on with their lips?" Bellriver suddenly asked, feeling like now might be a good time to confirm what he saw. "It looked like they weren't saying words quite right."
Garnet nodded. "Yeah, which is a little weird to hear them speaking fluent Japanese like that. It almost seems like an auto-translation feature from Yggdrasil."
"Perhaps we retained it from the transfer to this world?" Momonga suggested, "Given that Yggdrasil did end up going global after the first couple of years, it would make sense that an essential feature like auto-translation may have come with us."
The gibbering mouther hummed in thought. "That could be the case, but I can't say for sure. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy. Ah well, might as well keep ourselves busy wondering about our situation in the meantime."
There they rested in the brand-new barn until late in the evening, the sun now setting, long after the villagers had held their funerals and cried their mournful tears.
A knock came from the barn doors, and when Bellriver answered, he found the two sisters that they had saved in the forest. They both held wicker baskets laden high with a variety of fruits, cheeses, and loaves of bread.
They held them out patiently, bright smiles taking up their faces.
"We were told that you three were staying here for the night, so we thought you might like some dinner as a thank-you for what you did for us," Enri said, holding the basket out further to Bellriver. The little girl pouted as she stretched her tiny arms out as far as she could.
"Yeah, mister! Your shiny friend was cool! He went whoosh and boom and pow and…," Nemu went on and on, waving her arms around as she held the basket, accidentally making an apple spill out from its perch on the edge.
Bellriver caught it easily enough with his foot, laughing at the young girl's antics. "Thanks, ladies. You must've read my mind, 'cause I was just getting hungry." He flipped the apple up with his foot and caught it in one hand, taking a bite and savoring the taste.
Though he didn't mean to, Bellriver saw that Enri still had the short sword and wooden wand from earlier, attached to her waist by a simple leather cord. He felt a tap on his shoulder, allowing Garnet to peek around his bulky frame.
"Hey, you two! Glad to see you're doing alright! You didn't run into any trouble while we were away, I hope?"
Enri shook her head. "Not at all, mister! No one showed up after you three left, so we eventually made our way back to the village to see everybody was fine. Which brings me to the other reason as to why I'm here."
She pulled off the wand and short sword from her cord, setting down the wicker basket at the same time as her sister to give back the items to the sentinel and spellsword.
Bellriver and Garnet shared a knowing look, before turning back to the expectant Enri. "Go ahead and keep 'em. We got more of those where we come from, so one sword and wand is no skin off our bones," Bellriver reassured.
"Yeah," Garnet said. "Consider it our gift for being able to introduce us to this place, even if the circumstances were a little dire."
Enri lowered her arms, uncertainty lacing her face. "Are you two sure? What about your third friend? Wouldn't he want his horns back? I'd hate to take something that you all needed…" Enri protested, but Bellriver and Garnet were already pushing the items back into her arms.
"Seriously, don't worry about it. As Garnet said, consider it our gift to you. Or, if you still feel like it's too little, call it payment for dinner," Bellriver affirmed, smiling with what he hoped was his main mouth.
Enri's face brightened as she fixed the weapons back to her cord. "Okay! We'll leave you guys to your dinner, then. Take care!" Enri and her sister turned on their heels, walking back up the path they had taken to the barn.
As Bellriver reached down to pick up the baskets the two had left, his Necklace of Greater Hel flopped down from his neck, dangling just outside of his peripheral vision.
Wait a sec, I never actually took this off today...How'd she know it was me, and not somebody else sleeping in the barn?
Bellriver looked back up, the two sisters still in sight. Before he was able to think, he'd already called out to them, "Hey, wait for a second!"
Enri and Nemu looked over their shoulders at him, questioning looks on their faces.
Bellriver pointed at the amulet at his neck, quickly sliding it off and revealing his true form once more. "How'd you know it was me from earlier? I could've been just any weirdo living out in this nice, fancy barn you got here."
Enri let out a clear, peal-like laugh. "When you three saved the village from those soldiers and I came looking for you, Chief Haron's wife said that a man with dark hair and a 'face like a stone' dropped from the sky with a big, red sword. You were the only one I remember with a big red sword, and your armor didn't exactly change!"
Bellriver slapped his face as he groaned, "Seriously? I'm gonna have to read Momonga the riot act and let him know this disguise sucks." Garnet gave him a comforting pat on the back.
"I have no idea what that means, but don't be too hard on him. He seems like a good man!"
"He's a great man. Alright, but don't expect to save him every time!" Bellriver replied, several of his mouths grinning. Enri and her sister laughed, resuming their walk back to the village.
With their conversation finished, Bellriver took both baskets. Garnet took the door and slowly closed it behind him, their only source of light coming from the moon which had replaced the late evening sun.
They returned to their temporary beds, Garnet and Bellriver each taking their basket after Momonga shook his head at their offers of food.
"Hunger has yet to assail me, though that might be because I'm now undead. Please, help yourselves," Momonga explained, crossing his hands over one another as he watched Bellriver and Garnet tear into their food, the freshness reminding them of the meals they had back in Nazarick. The wicker baskets of essentials couldn't hold a candle to what they had previously eaten in terms of tastiness, but it was refreshing to have something so straightforward.
"So what now?" Garnet piped, setting his empty basket aside. Momonga was admiring the luminous moon, its light reflecting off his skeletal face.
"Now, we turn in for the night, and wait to see what tomorrow brings."