Chapter 36: Clementine and Khajiit
On the road to Carne Village, the party ran into a goblin ambush.
These goblins were nothing like ordinary wild ones — well-trained, well-equipped, and operating with clear coordination. Just as the standoff was about to break into violence, a girl came running from the direction of the village. The goblins were under her command.
Ainz quickly recalled: this girl was the villager from Carne Village he had saved under his true name of Ainz Ooal Gown. The Horn of the Goblin General he had handed her in passing was now what defended her home.
Nfirea's reaction when he saw her made every controlled expression fall away. Ainz understood then that this village meant something to Nfirea that had nothing to do with gathering herbs.
It was also Nfirea who put the pieces together — connecting "Momon" to "Ainz Ooal Gown." Faced with Enri's testimony and the evidence of the potion, Ainz stopped denying it. The young man bowed deeply and thanked him for saving Enri and the village.
The herb-gathering task took them into the depths of the forest. The woods had grown unusually restless of late — ogres had even been bold enough to push into the Wise King of the Forest's territory.
When the party went deeper in, Ainz slipped away with Narberal briefly, meeting up with Aura, who had been waiting in the forest on standby. He had Aura track down the Wise King of the Forest and draw it to him. One more step in building a reputation.
The battle with the Wise King of the Forest concluded in a rather peculiar atmosphere.
No matter how Ainz looked at the creature everyone called the Wise King of the Forest, it looked exactly like a Djungarian hamster that someone had enlarged to an absurd scale. It had a round, silver body, black eyes, and a pink nose, and when it stood on its hind legs, the fur on its stomach was soft and fluffy.
"I am the one thou callest the Wise King of the Forest," the creature announced. "I have no other name."
The fight itself was not particularly intense. Ainz traded a few exploratory exchanges with it while keeping up a running commentary in his head. The creature's physical defense wasn't nothing, and it could manage a few low-tier spells — but by Ainz's estimate, its combat power amounted to roughly level thirty in YGGDRASIL terms. The title of "Wise King of the Forest" and the appearance of an oversized hamster did not match up in any way he could reconcile.
During the exchange, Ainz found himself thinking of a former guildmate who had spent a whole week in low spirits after his pet hamster died.
He quickly lost interest in the fight as a fight. After easily deflecting a round of attacks, he released a weakened version of [Despair Aura V]. A wave of dread rolled out, and the giant hamster immediately flipped over and bared its stomach, surrendering at the top of its voice: "I surrender! I have been bested!"
Looking at that completely unguarded, soft belly, Ainz sighed. Killing it seemed like a waste — both out of a vague sentiment toward his old companion, and because turning it into a zombie struck him as not particularly useful.
"My true name is Ainz Ooal Gown," Ainz said at last. "Swear your loyalty to me and I will spare your life."
"Th-thank you! For this mercy, I shall repay thee with an absolutely loyal heart — the Wise King of the Forest offers this life to the great warrior, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown!" The creature leapt up immediately, its whiskers trembling with excitement.
Ainz gave it the name Hamusuke. He immediately felt the name was completely tasteless, but the creature itself — himself — was extremely satisfied with it.
When Ainz rode Hamusuke out of the forest, the Swords of Darkness and Nfirea, waiting outside, were stunned into silence. But what stunned them was not at all what Ainz had expected.
"This is the Wise King of the Forest! Incredible — what a magnificent creature!" Ninya exclaimed.
"Just being in its presence, you can feel the power it carries!" Dyne added, equally awed.
Ainz froze. He looked at the round hamster between his legs, then at the adventurers in front of him with their expressions of complete reverence. The Wise King of the Forest as they saw it seemed to be an entirely different creature from the one he was looking at.
"...I don't suppose any of you find this creature's eyes rather cute?" Ainz ventured.
Every face in the group went wide at once, as though he had said something incomprehensible.
"M-Momon-sir! You think this creature's eyes are cute!" Peter's reaction was the most dramatic.
Ainz looked around the circle and found that, with the exception of Narberal who remained as expressionless as ever, every person present wore the face of someone thinking: has he lost his mind? He looked again at Hamusuke's round, dark, bright eyes, and could only conclude that this world might have something of a problem with its sense of aesthetics.
Once the initial shock passed, Nfirea raised a practical concern: without the Wise King of the Forest to keep them in check, would the other creatures move against Carne Village?
The question was exactly the opening Ainz had been looking for. He had been planning to use this moment to demonstrate more of his capabilities and deepen his rapport with the pharmacist's grandson. But what Nfirea said next caught him completely off guard.
"Momon-sir! Please let me join your party!" The young man's eyes were earnest, his voice steady. "I want to protect Enri... protect Carne Village. But I don't have the strength to do it right now. So I want to grow stronger. Even if it's just the basics — I'm hoping Ainz-sir could teach me even a fraction of your power. I have some confidence in my pharmacy work. I'll carry luggage, do any odd job you need. Please — no matter what it takes, please agree!"
Ainz was quiet. He thought back to all the people who had tried to join Ainz Ooal Gown in YGGDRASIL, most of them for what they could get out of it. This young man only wanted to protect a village. Someone he cared about.
"Ha — hahahaha!" Ainz couldn't hold it. The laugh came out, and there was nothing mocking in it — only genuine amusement. He took off his helmet and bowed formally to Nfirea, which drew a sharp intake of breath from Narberal behind him.
"Forgive me, I lost my composure." Ainz raised his head. "I respect your determination. But to join my party, two conditions must be met — and right now you only satisfy one. So I can't bring you in. However, when it comes to protecting the village, I'll do what I can."
A flash of disappointment crossed Nfirea's face, but hope rekindled quickly. He nodded hard.
Two days later, the herb-gathering completed, the party returned to E-Rantel.
Ainz rode Hamusuke through the streets and felt he was taking part in some form of ritual humiliation. The creature's build forced him to ride with his legs spread in a thoroughly undignified angle, like a solitary grown man astride a carousel horse. And yet the passers-by and adventurers on all sides were turning to look with admiration and envy, some of them murmuring: "Is that the legendary Wise King of the Forest?" "What an imposing creature."
Ainz could only once again question this world's sense of aesthetics.
Back in the city, the group decided to go first to Nfirea's home to collect the commission fee. The Swords of Darkness escorted Nfirea on ahead while Ainz took Narberal and Hamusuke to the Adventurers Guild to register Hamusuke officially.
The process took longer than expected. The portrait sketch of Hamusuke was the main cause. When Ainz finally finished and rode Hamusuke to Nfirea's family shop, he was met by an anxious old woman — Lizzy Bareare, Nfirea's grandmother.
"You're the one who went herb-gathering with my grandson? Where is he now?" Lizzy asked.
"He should have come back ahead of us with the herbs. We're here to collect payment as well." Ainz answered.
Lizzy seemed to relax, and said she would come with them. But when they pushed open the shop door, something cold and unpleasant rose in Ainz's chest.
The shop was completely silent. Not a trace of anyone's presence.
Ainz placed his hand on his sword hilt. Narberal drew her blade.
They followed the smell to a herb storage room, and what they found there was not something easy to look at.
Peter, Lukrut, Dyne, and Ninya — all four slumped against the wall, sitting in wide pools of blood that had already gone black. Their eyes were vacant. Their faces drained of all color.
"Undead," Ainz said quietly.
At that moment, Peter's body jerked to life like a puppet on strings. Ainz moved without hesitation — a single swing of the greatsword, and Peter's head rolled. A reverse stroke took Lukrut before he could fully rise. Dyne lurched upright and was run through the throat.
Lizzy screamed and ran into the back of the shop calling for Nfirea. Ainz walked to the one member who had not risen — Ninya.
He crouched down and gently lifted Ninya's face.
It was unrecognizable. Swollen grotesquely, the left eye destroyed, the vitreous fluid gone. Ainz pulled back the clothing and found the entire body marked with the evidence of sustained, methodical violence, almost no skin untouched.
"...Rather unpleasant," Ainz murmured.
Lizzy returned quickly, her face white. "Nfirea is gone!"
Ainz examined the scene with a calm eye and pointed to a line of writing traced in blood beneath Ninya's body. "A death message, left by Ninya. It says 'underground waterway.' And a number — 2-8."
"Wh-what does it mean?" Lizzy asked, shaking.
"It may be misdirection. It may be a genuine clue." Ainz stood. "Either way, I've found a more reliable method of tracking."
He had Narberal produce a scroll and activated [Locate Object]. Not Nfirea himself — but the metal tags belonging to the missing Swords of Darkness members. The magic responded immediately. Narberal pointed to a spot on the map. "Here. Deep inside E-Rantel's graveyard."
Using [Far Sight], Ainz looked into the depths of the graveyard: a vast gathering of undead, surrounding an altar, with a gaunt man at the center holding a black orb and a golden-haired woman who looked deceptively young standing nearby. At their feet, Nfirea lay unconscious.
"Preparing this many undead — whoever it is, they have something considerable in mind." Ainz shut down the magic and turned to Lizzy. "I can accept the commission to rescue your grandson. But the price is very high."
"Any price is fine!" Lizzy said urgently.
"Not money." Ainz's voice was perfectly calm. "Everything you have. If Nfirea comes back safely, you hand over your everything."
Lizzy's face went instantly white. She stepped back, her voice trembling. "You... you're not a demon, are you?"
"And what if I am?" Ainz replied. "Do you want to save your grandson?"
Lizzy bit down hard on her lip, something working visibly behind her eyes. In the end, her fear of losing him outweighed everything else. "...I agree. Take everything I have. Just bring my grandson home."
"The contract is made." Ainz gave a small nod, turned, and walked for the door. "Then — there's no time to lose."
By the time Ainz's group reached the graveyard, the situation there had already broken loose.
The graveyard gates were shut. Guards on the walls were driving spears in a panic at the undead surging below. The air was thick with the stench of rotted flesh and the low moaning of the dead. Worse still, a monstrous undead amalgam — a giant assembled from countless stitched-together bodies — was slowly hauling itself over the wall.
The guards caught sight of Ainz on Hamusuke and blinked — then looked with immediate disappointment at the copper tag on his chest. The lowest rank of adventurer. What could someone like that do here?
Ainz swung down from the saddle, took the greatswords from Narberal.
"You might want to look behind you," he said, his tone perfectly even. "It's rather dangerous."
The guards turned, just in time to see the undead giant lurching toward them. Their cries of despair were still forming when Ainz did something no one watching could have predicted — he drew back one arm and threw the greatsword like a javelin.
The blade became a black bolt of light and drove straight through the giant's head. The impact shattered the monstrous amalgam and brought it crashing down, raising a cloud of dust that swept across the entire wall.
"— Just some undead in the way."
Ainz drew the second sword and walked for the gate. "Open it."
"D-don't be ridiculous! There are thousands of undead on the other side of that gate!" the guard captain shouted.
Ainz didn't answer. He pressed one foot lightly against the ground, cleared the four-meter wall in a single motion, and dropped from sight on the other side. Narberal rose without effort, carrying Hamusuke as she went over.
The guards stared at each other, then scrambled up the wall to look.
The black-armored figure was already deep in the undead mass, both greatswords moving in long, even arcs. Every swing cut two or three undead in half or sent them flying. He moved through that churning wave of bodies like a blade through water, cutting a path straight ahead, and then continued moving further, growing smaller with distance.
The undead he had passed lay piled in drifts. The figure ahead didn't slow.
"...He said his name was Momon," one guard murmured. "That kind of skill... no way is he copper rank. He has to be a legendary adamantite adventurer."
"A dark warrior..." another guard said softly. "No — a dark hero."
Ainz cut his way to the graveyard's interior. The undead behind him were down. The undead ahead of him were pulling back.
Even creatures of low intelligence, after experiencing enough companions destroyed in a single stroke, developed something like instinctive fear. They circled Ainz and would not come near.
"At this rate we'll be here all night." Ainz frowned slightly. He didn't want too many undead escaping and causing guard casualties that might reflect poorly on him — but he also couldn't afford to stay here.
He released part of his full capacity and summoned two mid-tier undead: Jack the Ripper and the Corpse Collector. The two stronger undead began immediately cutting through the surrounding horde.
He also summoned several low-tier undead as watchmen — insurance against any adventurers moving in to claim the prize before him.
"Let's go."
When Ainz arrived with Narberal and Hamusuke at the inner shrine deep in the graveyard, he found a circle of black-robed figures formed in a ritual ring. A gaunt man at the center was holding the black orb and murmuring intently. Nfirea lay unconscious not far from them.
"What a fine evening," Ainz said pleasantly. "Don't you think it's a waste to spend it on a tedious ritual?"
The black-robed figures went to immediate alert. The gaunt man — Khajiit — raised his eyes. "...And just who are you? How did you break through all those undead?"
"A commissioned adventurer, looking for a missing young man." Ainz scanned the room. "Is it only you? Where are the others?"
"Just us —" Khajiit started.
A light, unhurried voice came from the direction of the shrine.
"— Well, there goes the secret — it's not worth hiding any longer."
A golden-haired woman walked out, taking her time with each step. With every movement, something on her body gave off a metallic sound. She pushed back her coat, and what hung beneath it was a collection of adventurer tags — every variety, from the lowest copper to the highest adamantite, all of them present.
"My name is Clementine. A pleasure."
The woman showed a smile that belonged to something that hunts.
***
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