Tracks were laid down in the larger main tunnels for minecarts, while hand-powered elevators serviced the shafts which had been sunk for vertical mining. In addition, there were the countless smaller tunnels which emanated from them. When added up, the distance these tunnels spanned easily exceeded several hundred kilometers. Due to their size, there was no way to fully man them with guards. Even guarding every single shift of miners was beyond them. Therefore, if a monster showed up, the miners had no choice but to drop everything and flee back to the nearest critical juncture, where guards would be stationed.
Unfortunately, as the people on the surface knew well, the Dwarves all had short legs. It would take a miracle for every single person to escape with their lives. Gondo and the others halted their minecart in the middle of the passage and activated their magical lanterns.
They then proceeded into a side passage with their mining tools in hand. Their destination lay at the end of the tunnel ahead — their dig site for the day. Gagaiz gave his orders, and the miners moved to their positions without any complaints.
They stripped off their work clothes and headed to the miners-only bathhouse. This bathhouse ran off the tremendous amount of heat given off by the gigantic crucibles of the national foundries. Though the water was not very hot, it was the perfect temperature to melt away the fatigue accumulated by their tired bodies. Gondo filled a ladle with hot, brownish water from a basin, and then dumped it on himself with no reservation. It would seem there was some sort of iron content in the water, and indeed, one would be able to taste something if they swilled it in their mouths.
He scrubbed hard at his beard and his hair. A dwarf who did not care for and clean their beard could hardly be considered an adult. How about getting a drink after this! Another time, perhaps! What a shame! If you change your mind, come down to the White Beer Pavilion and have a cup or two with us! After towelling himself dry and putting on his clean everyday clothes, Gondo walked up to the counter with the sinister-looking Dwarf manager. He took off the necklace he was wearing and handed it over.
The manager looked it over, and then placed a pouch on the counter. Due to the fairly high mortality rate in the mines, wages were calculated on a weekly basis. Apparently they had paid a daily rate in the past, but that led to situations where the workers did not have enough to drink at taverns.
One could say that the present system was designed to cater to that sad state of affairs. While the pouch before him did contain a sizable sum, Gagaiz and the others would probably spend half of that on beer.
Let me look upon your face. Gondo was not happy at the bright illumination, but he continued looking forward. This caused the skin to gradually turn pale.
That condition was called Whitesnow Sickness, and this examination was to see if he was showing any signs of it. Hmph, you do look well. In truth, I used to discover the symptoms in that way. However, examining the face is more accurate than listening to the lungs. Or are you making light of my experience? Experience is vital. It helps nobody. Also, Gondo. Have you not considered a permanent position here?
You could be a crew leader. After all, you are quite experienced in that field. And where will you be headed now? I trust my asking is redundant, but you do know that place is a dangerous region, no? Who will you be travelling with? To the latter, my answer is no. Once discovered, some or all of them might have to die. Rather than risk that, it would be better to go alone, and lower the chances of being found.
Did you leave something behind there? I told you, did I not? I plan to go digging. Can you not do enough digging here? It matters not how hard I work here… well, there are subsidies for the amount that we move, but that is merely a fixed sum.
The truth is, working here simply does not pay enough. Gondo had chosen to work here because he needed to raise funds in a short period of time. That is why I intend to go digging around in the abandoned city. None may gain say my claim, no matter what kind of metal I excavate. After all, nobody will quibble with me if I recover it from there. Thus, one would have to pay an appropriate — appropriately high — price if they wanted white iron.
However, anything one dug out of an abandoned mine was essentially finders keepers. However, if anything happened to them there, the country would not provide any assistance, of course. Would you sell it to me? Thus, once the ores ran out, the price of the metal would rise asymptotically.
However, Gondo knew that the Dwarf before him was not making that proposal out of self-interest. He was doing so purely out of the kindness of his heart. He probably intended to negotiate with Gondo with a higher price than what a middleman would charge. However, Gondo was not digging the white iron up to sell it — in other words, he was not prospecting for profit.
It will all be going to my research. What would your father think? However, he lowered his face to hide the rage twisting it before it could show. That was why he was so concerned about Gondo, his son, immersing himself in research that could not possibly bear fruit. While the other man had said what he had out of goodwill, Gondo could not bring himself to accept those words.
Father did not walk a false path. I will revive the arts that were lost! As he vented the dregs of his rancor with those words, Gondo turned and strode away without looking back. He felt guilty about making people worry for him, but it was overruled by the passion he felt for what he had to do, no matter the cost.
That was what he lived for, as someone who could not be compared to his outstanding father. Gondo bit his lip, and looked forward. Until then, he would have to amply prepare himself. It would probably be a sign of hospitality to prepare a hostel for the volunteers who had travelled a long distance to seek him out. Their instructors would be those adventurers who had chosen to remain within the Sorcerous Kingdom.
Ainz had no idea what Jircniv was thinking. Neither did he know how to explain the situation to those two sagacious individuals. Why had Jircniv made a proposal like that? For all he knew, Demiurge might have been working behind the scenes here. I should have discussed all this with Demiurge beforehand. Haaa, he sighed internally. His unease and confusion made his nonexistent stomach ache. And then, when he thought about what would happen when they returned, the pain intensified.
Ainz shook his head, and then considered the information he had learned in the Empire as a way to avoid thinking about what loomed ahead of him. Runes, huh. He had found traces of other players, the existence of World-Class Items, and so on. Then, what about these runes? How had they come to exist in this world? Naturally, Ainz had asked Fluder about runes before returning to E-Rantel.
However, all he knew was that the King who hailed from the Azellisian Dwarven nation had once visited the Empire, that he was a runesmith, and that the Empire purchased weapons and armor from the Dwarven Kingdom. However, about a hundred years ago, all traces of rune-carved magic items were lost. While this was very valuable information to Ainz, it was not what he truly wanted to know. However, who should I send there? All he wanted was to visit the Dwarven Kingdom and ask about runes and the like.
As for the profession of runesmith — well, it was a technical matter and a potential state secret. In the worst case scenario, he could make them talk by using charm spells and the like if they were very tight-lipped about it. If it was simply a matter of using charm or domination magic, or kidnapping people with teleportation magic, then just about anyone would do.
But what if there was a player behind these runes? For all he knew, the person who had brainwashed Shalltear was hiding there. Ainz slowly rose from his seat. In an instant, the woman beside him sprang into action. She had an energetic look on her face that matched the boyish cut of her hair.
Ainz reached out a hand to halt Decrement, and then began to pace slowly around in his office. As Ainz logically considered the potential profit and loss of this endeavour, old memories sprang unbidden to mind in the gaps between numbers.
He recalled the dangers he had encountered in unexplored regions, the joy of discovering new things, the sorrow of failing a quest, and the expressions and words of the comrades with whom he had shared these experiences. The guild called Ainz Ooal Gown was an organization which had been founded on those principles.
Naturally, some people might scoff at the idea of comparing games — which held no danger to their players — to reality. Still, hesitation could cost one the chance to gain new knowledge, and result in one losing the initiative. Who could say it was not possible? That would be the choice of personnel.
Who would be the best candidate to send there? Should I ask the opinion of Demiurge and Albedo? That person was Ainz himself. Ainz could say without any false pride that there was nobody in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick who was better at him at adapting to unknown phenomena and magic.
Simply put, the most efficient course of action was for Ainz to proceed by himself. However, if there really was an enemy player there, it would also be the most foolish move he could make. That means I should pick people who can buy me time while I prepare to make our escape.
The first people to appear in his mind were the Floor Guardians. As level NPCs, they would be able to buy time for Ainz to escape, even against other players. That said, could he really use the NPCs, the beloved children of his former friends, in such a way? What if I used high-level vassals led by an undead lieutenant?
No, their flexibility is too low, compared to the NPCs who were built from scratch. Vassals had the merit of being much more easily disposable, as opposed to the NPCs. But at the same time, their abilities lacked breadth and thus their lack of adaptability was a weakness. When he excluded the emotional side of the issue from his considerations, the NPCs were the ideal choice.
Ainz the player had not conducted experiments to that effect, and thus he could not be sure if he could be resurrected. However, there was no doubt that the NPCs could be resurrected, as he had done with Shalltear. Ainz sat down in his chair once again. But in the end, he still could not reach a conclusion. With a self-deprecating smile, Ainz looked over to Decrement.
Would they think I was a cruel master? Nobody would even think of refusing. We were made by the Supreme Beings, and thus we exist only for the Supreme Beings. There is no greater joy for us than to carry out any command they give us. There was no deeper meaning to my question. Put it out of mind. Ainz pulled out a map of the surrounding area. In particular, Ainz was sure that there was no other map which covered the interior of the Great Forest of Tob in more detail.
Sadly, he could not be sure of the accuracy of the scale, and so he could not conclude that it was a perfect map. However, with this in hand, it was much less likely that he would get lost. Ainz placed a finger on E-Rantel, and then slowly traced a line north, passing through the Great Forest. There was no problem up to this point.
After eliminating the monsters and beasts with low intelligence, they took control of several demihuman and heteromorph settlements and that was the end of it. There was a large cave underground, but he had no intention of messing with it for the time being. Of course, he could take control of it if doing so was profitable to him. His finger reached the gourd-shaped lake at the northern tip of the forest. Further north of there was the Azellisia Mountain Range. It was uncharted territory.
He had just impressed upon adventurers the importance of exploring the unknown. Practicing what he preached would make for good publicity. He waved away the smile that came naturally, and began his contemplation in earnest. He considered the advantages that would come from personally going to a place where there might be other players. Obviously, having the Sorcerer King show up in person was a clear sign of his sincerity. In addition, his perspective was unlike his subordinates, who tended to view those outside of Nazarick as inferior lifeforms.
Ainz qualified as a moderate among the members of Nazarick. As a result, he felt that he was not a bad choice for negotiating with the Dwarven Kingdom — or a non-courageous choice, if he was being honest with himself. He was the ideal choice, be it in terms of intelligence, adaptability or other areas.
However— Who will administer this country in the meantime? Somebody else had to answer that question. That person was naturally Ainz Ooal Gown.
Ainz screamed internally, over and over again. If he had to pick between the two, he would rather go to the Dwarven Kingdom. More to the point, all he needed to do was to visit once and he would be able to teleport there in the future. Ainz knew many techniques to escape a situation like that. Ainz smiled as he took on the expression of Suzuki Satoru the salesman. Then, the context of his smile changed.
Plus… as time goes by, I might be able to hand over the vassalization of the Empire to Demiurge and Albedo, and let them draw up the plans for it. As he fervently made excuses for his behavior, Ainz began thinking about the next problem: Who would he take with him?
Ainz folded his arms with a puzzled look on his face. While he would like nothing more than to have Albedo or Demiurge around, they had more important things to do and they were also project leaders. If he brought either of them along, then problems would crop up in their affairs.
Aura and Mare were very good choices, especially because they were humanoids like the Dwarves. Thus, their counterparts would not be too wary of them. Cocytus would be tricky. Granted, he was a good pick for visiting a cold and mountainous region, but he was now in charge of the Great Forest of Tob, which also made him a project leader of sorts.
Ainz hoped that he could focus his energies on that task. In addition, his unusual appearance — combined with that of Ainz — would probably make the other party unnecessarily nervous.
Sebas was a good choice too. He was currently providing administrative support in E-Rantel, with Tsuareninya as his assistant. Gargantua and Victim were out of the question, of course. Aura — and the monsters she commanded— could be considered an ideal choice for the role of a tank.
In the worst-case scenario, he could sacrifice her beasts and escape with Aura. And then there was Shalltear, the best one-on-one fighter. She could serve as a trump card against a strong foe. In addition, there was another reason why he wanted to use Shalltear.
He should have brought Mare along instead, considering that he might be facing an army. However, if they encountered a player, their priority would be to retreat and not exterminating the enemy. Thus, he would leave Mare behind this time around. I am currently travelling with Shalltear-sama and we have reached the village of the Lizardmen. What should be done, Ainz-sama? I will lower the defenses for about two minutes at that time. These fields were strong enough to impede fairly high-tier spells, but they drained the vassals to the point where he had to rotate them out several times a day.
In addition, they also impeded friendly teleportation. Thus, there were occasions when he needed to briefly disable the defense grid to permit direct teleportation to this place. Of course, lowering the defenses meant that enemies could teleport in as well.
I shall relay your message to Shalltear-sama. A Lizardman is coming as an emissary of Cocytus. Her too? Ainz thought, but he did not give voice to those words.
A man with no confidence in his sense of style could not say such things. With Decrement in tow, Ainz walked while giving orders to an undead being he had created on the fly. Said orders were to inform the undead guarding the great hall of this manor about the arrival of a Lizardman via [Gate]. As he watched it disappear into the distance, Ainz contemplated the effective use of the undead which he had created.
Unfortunately, that would be very difficult to accomplish. Even if Ainz gave a command, the undead could only give vague responses. In addition, it was very hard for Ainz to manage the massive increase in the number of undead which he had created. There was always the risk that he might slip up and give an order to a completely unrelated undead minion by accident. In the future, he might be able to set up some sort of system to address this problem, but that was impossible given the present circumstances.
He would have to consider the matter in earnest after seeking the opinions of Albedo and Demiurge. While pondering this problem, Ainz reached his changing room. As usual, the two lines of maids greeted him with eyes aglitter.
Today, he would wear something in pure white. It seemed too flashy for someone like Ainz, who was used to wearing dark browns. On top of that, the maids adorned him with a gigantic necklace made of gold and other metals.
It made him worry that the magpies would try to steal it on account of its shininess. But the part of the outfit that made the least sense was the feathers which protruded from his back. Am I a peacock or something?
None of them looked worried, or had any expressions that could be considered anywhere close to negative. All of them had the same look of nervous awe on their faces, their cheeks tinged pink. They were like a bunch of fangirls standing before a beloved idol. Is this really all right? Is this really so attractive to ladies? Looks like I have no fashion sense, after all.
As Ainz waxed melancholy within his soul, the maids finished dressing him up. Was it an Archaeopteryx or something… I think they were pet dinosaurs for druids. They ruffled when he folded his arms in front of himself, which was quite annoying. Please tell us what clothes we should pick in future. While he had already dispelled the magical field surrounding this building, the person passing through the [Gate] did not appear right away, thanks to the [Delay Teleportation] spell he had cast.
This was the same spell he had used during the battle with Shalltear. In addition, the spell also informed the caster of how many beings would be teleporting into their vicinity.
Thus, Ainz knew that only one person had teleported here. Entoma might not have come here with Shalltear, but she would probably be arriving soon. It could not cancel it entirely. Thus, some time later, a black half-sphere appeared within the area of the [Delay Teleportation] spell. Shortly after that, a Lizardman fearfully poked its head out from within. As he — it should have been a he, right? The question percolated in his mind, but there was something to do before that.
Once he was sure that nobody else was coming, he ordered a Death Knight standing by on the sidelines to reactivate its magic item. The Death Knight nodded in acknowledgement and strode forth, and then Ainz turned his gaze to the kneeling Lizardman. She radiated the air of an icy princess. Under normal circumstances, most people would be upset at a maid in a palace or a similar location taking this tone with them.
The supplicant might well smirk as he noted that the ruler doing so was accompanied by just a single maid. Alternately, he might pity the Sorcerous Kingdom for having so little manpower that a maid had to perform such duties. However, these Lizardmen were trained by Cocytus, and they fully understood that any of the NPCs was vastly superior to them. Ah, what a pain. Ainz Ooal Gown was briefly troubled by the remnants of the spirit which belonged to Suzuki Satoru the salaryman, but that could not be helped.
In truth, Ainz could not tell the difference between one Lizardman and another. If their scales were a different color, or if they had obvious distinguishing features — brands or an abnormally large arm, for instance — it might have been possible, but he could not tell how the Lizardman before him differed from any other. In any case, Ainz had Decrement command the Lizardman to identify himself.
I thank you for your magnanimity! Your servant is Kyuku Zuzu, former chieftain of the Razor Tail tribe! Should he openly display his ignorance, or pretend that he knew? Ainz chose neither of these, but picked a third option — in other words, he nodded to continue the flow of the conversation. After all, Cocytus might have mentioned this during a previous report.
Following that, Ainz ordered Decrement to have the Lizardman tell him why he had come here. What a pain! This was basically how things went whenever he met with a subordinate— his servants. Just as Ainz sighed internally, Decrement gave the Lizardman a command. Cocytus-sama, the ruler of our villages and the master of the lake, wishes to present something to His Majesty the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, Supreme Overlord and ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, as well as the liege of Cocytus-sama.
Instead, he inclined his head toward Decrement, who stepped forward and received a scroll from the Lizardman. Then, Ainz had to wait for Decrement to return and present it to him before he could finally read it.
There were so many numbers recorded within that it would take quite a while to read through it here. Therefore, Ainz rolled the scroll back up and gave it to a Death Knight who was standing nearby. Only then could he finally address the Lizardman directly. Ainz rose from his throne, and spoke to the Lizardman. This was because he had no idea how to handle being directly questioned. This is not a formal interview.
Neither will I censure you for any lack of respect in your behavior. I understand he has remained within the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick as of late? He is the father of a healthy child, and his relationship with his wife is similarly excellent. I permitted him to return because his child was about to be born, and now it has.
I see, I see. Well, it is good that the happy couple is getting along. Ainz could not help but remember them. Smiling from the memories of the past — although his expression did not change — Ainz continued asking questions.
It is as Your Majesty has surmised. Referring to them as people would probably be more prudent. While none of them would actually express displeasure at his choice of words, that did not mean Ainz could casually make mistakes. Just one. Only one child, then. Still, as long as the couple had a good relationship, they might well have more children in the future. He kind of wanted to know if he could have one of them to play with, but forcefully separating a child from its parents was a poor thing to do.
However, he had heard that the Lizardmen had a tradition of branding themselves before travelling on long journeys. If he could get a rarely-seen Lizardman in there, it might end up being good for publicity, like an idol enrolling in a school. Are they being fed well? Many thanks for your kind concern. The mother and child are in good health, and the child looks like it will grow to be exceptionally lively.
This is certainly cause for celebration. Then, to commemorate the birth of a child with a glorious future ahead of him, permit me to present a gift. However, I am not fully apprised of the intricacies of birth-gifts within Lizardman culture. Share your opinion with me, then; what would be a good present? He would rather give them something more tangible and permanent. While my tribe does not have the practice of giving gifts to celebrate births… I feel that Zaryusu would be delighted to receive arms and armor.
Just then, Kyuku fearfully spoke up. He merely thought of him as the husband of a rare white Lizardman. Still, he could not actually say that, so he racked his brains for an excuse to give. He is an outstanding man. In truth, I hear that his training in Nazarick has shown admirable results.
As such, I shall reward loyalty and excellence with matching largesse. We shall strive to show greater loyalty and devotion in the future. Hold on to that determination of yours.
However, Ainz could not do that. Just as Ainz was about to dismiss him, something came to mind. Ainz ordered the Lizardman to tell him about the Dwarves as he rejoiced within his heart. The Dwarves are a species which builds cities in productive mines, and they use the ores thus extracted to manufacture all manner of wargear.
Among those are weapons and armor made of very rare metals. Those words were extremely tempting to a player that loved collecting rare items. My understanding does not reach that far. While adventuring as Momon, he had learned about metals, but there had been no news about anything harder than adamantite. In this world, even orichalcum and adamantite qualified as ultra-rare metals.
It was hard to imagine the exotic metals which the Lizardman had described being anything more than that. Even so, Ainz could not suppress the swelling anticipation within him. If… yes, if. It could only be obtained by gathering vast quantities of the prismatic ores and then expending a certain amount of them.
Usually, that would entail an extremely difficult process, but Ainz Ooal Gown had accomplished it once. They had found a hitherto undiscovered mine for Celestial Uranium, one of the seven prismatic ores, and a critical element for the [Caloric Stone]. Under normal circumstances, a guild which found a new mine would thoroughly exploit it before selling its ores on the market.
Ainz Ooal Gown had planned to do just that. That said, the reason why they had managed to attain that World-Class item was entirely due to an extraordinary stroke of luck. At first, they had let the prismatic ores trickle into the market, hoping to drive the price up due to their rarity.
And then, the large stockpiles of prismatic ore in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick underwent a spontaneous reaction. Ainz could still vividly recall the bizarre mood in the air, generated by everyone as they realised almost all the prismatic ores had disappeared, and in their place was an item which had rolled to the ground. Should we be happy for this, they wondered as they glanced at each other, a vague look of emptiness on their faces.
After that, they used the [Caloric Stone] when they learned that they could obtain that expendable-type World-Class Item in the same way as before. Then, they tried to produce it again, but sadly, the Celestial Uranium mine was taken from them, and that dream had gone up in smoke.
Shalltear is on the hunt, but she may not like what she finds. Ainz sent her out for information, but when Blood Frenzy activates, the time for talk is over.
Can anyone, undead or alive, put an end to her. What do you do when your favorite game shuts down? Momonga decided to stay logged in right up until the very end. But when the servers go dark, he finds himself transported into the game world--and he's been transformed into his skeletal avatar from the game, awesome magical powers included!
The Sacred Kingdom has enjoyed a great many years without war thanks to a colossal wall constructed after a historic tragedy. They understand best how fragile peace can be. When the terrible demon Jaldabaoth takes to the field at the head of a united army of monstrous tribes, the Sacred.
In the kingdom of Re-Estize, a sinister organization known as the Eight Fingers holds sway of the criminal underworld. Ainzs orders Sebas to infiltrate the capital to gather intel on this shadowy group sucking the marrow from the kingdom's bones.
At the same time, a young soldier named Climb struggles. It has been a week since Momonga logged in to his favorite RPG one last time and stranded himself there. Now he leads his guild as the Ainz Ooal Gown overlord. Finding himself in dire need of better information, he travels disguised as an adventurer to the walled city of.
The human realm of the kingdom is headed for its greatest disaster yet! After failing to prevent a daring raid on the Eight Fingers' appalling brothel, the Six Arms are dying for a chance to defend their reputation as the criminal underworld's strongest enforcers.
These criminals are notorious for their. The Sacred Kingdom is surrounded on all sides. As the army of feral creatures closes in, the country's strongest paladin Remedios leads her exhausted troops in a valiant defense.
Retrieved March 15, Retrieved November 5, Overlord took place. The first generation was born before it; the second generation afterward. That's how it was explained to me, anyway. It's been seven months since Volume 6 went on sale.
Long time no see—it's Maruyama. This book is being published at the end of August, so it's still hot out, huh? I have the feeling that when I was a kid the heat was mostly over by Ainz, the undead overlord, is in dire need of better information about the world he's found himself in, and to get it, he travels to the city of E-Rantel.
He made his armor vanish and, enjoying the
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