Overlord Volume 6 - The Men in the Kingdom Part II

A refreshing flavor spread from their mouths.
After about two mouthfuls, Brain put the glass down. He coughed and said in
an earnest tone:
“…It’s been a long time since I had wine.”
“Same here. Or rather, I should say I haven’t eaten at home in a while.”
“…Working in the Palace is hard, huh.”
“There’s a lot for the Warrior-Captain to do.”
“Are you in charge of the Royal Family’s security too?”
“Yes. It’s what I do for the most part.”
Brain could sense Gazef’s upright nature through his words. It would be fine
to lapse a little, but he insisted on sticking to his guns.
The nobles must hate commoners like this.
It would seem Brain’s guess was on the mark, because Gazef very rarely
mentioned the nobles. Despite his lofty station of the Kingdom’s Warrior-
Captain, Gazef mainly talked about his military duties or how he served the
Royal Family. There was hardly any talk of the decadent world of ballrooms and
banquets.
An imposing social barrier still separated noble from commoner, though this
practice had largely vanished in the nearby Empire.
Brain suddenly found it all very amusing.
In the past, he had honed his sword skills to defeat Gazef, and he had selfishly
thought that “the next time we meet will be a battle to the death.” Yet the two
of them were now friends who could share a drink.
Perhaps Gazef had picked up on his thoughts, but the other man smiled too.
They clinked their glasses together. Perhaps the wine was starting to get to
them, but they used a bit too much force and the wine spilled out, soaking the
table.
“Oi oi, don’t spill it on the food.”
“Don’t you think the wine’ll make it taste better?”
“Well, my tongue’s pretty bad so it’s all one to me… is it the same for you,
Unglaus?”
“Brain. Call me Brain.”
“Really now. Call me Gazef, then.”
“Got it, Gazef.”
The two of them looked and each other and laughed, and there was a clear
ringing note as their glasses clinked together again.

Gazef brought up all manner of topics, and Brain soon found himself in
unfamiliar territory. As they were getting into it, Gazef nonchalantly asked:

“Come to think of it, how did a man like you end up like that, Brain?”
He asked that question carefully, as though afraid of reopening old wounds.
His penetrating gaze did not appear to be testing the truth of his words. He
seemed genuinely worried about hurting Brain’s feelings.
“Mm, thanks.”
Gazef froze at Brain’s unbidden thanks. Perhaps that face of his was amusing,
but Brain’s own expression softened a little. Then, he straightened himself up
and said:
“…I saw a monster.”
“A monster? Some kind of magical beast, maybe?”
“I think it was a Vampire… her name was Shalltear Bloodfallen. With just her
pinky finger she managed to deflect the move I invented… to defeat you.”
Brain sensed that Gazef’s eyes had slightly widened.
“…Is that so.”
Those words were accompanied by a savage smile. Brain knew well what that
smile meant.
It was the desire of any warrior to defeat a mighty foe.
Brain had once felt that way about Gazef. Gazef had probably wanted to fight
Brain as well, to re-experience that pitched exciting battle from back then—
However, that bestial grin promptly vanished. In its place was the smile of the
Kingdom’s Warrior-Captain.
Brain described the Vampire’s appearance, but Gazef replied that he had
never heard of her before. Then he took a mouthful of wine. Brain had a sip
himself, and then described their battle — no, of how she had trampled him
underfoot.
However, he stayed away from the topic of being employed by the Death-
Spreading Brigade. He felt that Gazef might say “every man walks his own path
in life,” but the truth was that in front of a righteous man like Gazef, Brain felt
ashamed of mentioning the depths to which his past self had sank in pursuit of
sword skills.
There was no doubt in Gazef’s eyes after he had heard the whole thing.
“Do you believe me?”
“…The world’s a big place, after all. It wouldn’t be strange if such a monster
did exist. When you look back at history, there were things like the Demon Gods

and the Dragon Lords. Still… I don’t think I could beat such a powerful monster
either.”

“Yes. I don’t know how strong you are now so I can’t really comment, but I’m
still certain that you can’t beat her. She lives in a world which people like us can’t
even approach. Even if the two of us attacked at once, all we’d manage to do is
draw the battle out from one second to two.”

“Shouldn’t you be comforting me and saying ‘no, it’s alright’ or something?”
Gazef mock-complained.

However, Brain sternly told him:
“Gazef. You have to protect the royal family as the Kingdom’s Warrior-
Captain. Don’t challenge her even if you see her. You can’t waste your life like
that.”
“Thank you for your advice. However, if that monster called Shalltear strikes
at the Kingdom, I will throw my life away even if all it does is buy some time.”
What time could he buy? Gazef would be helpless before her unless she wanted to
play.
Even so, Brain began to feel that Gazef might be able to do it, even if it was
just to buy some time.
“She’s called Shalltear. Shalltear Bloodfallen.”
After Brain described her appearance once more, Gazef nodded gravely.
“Right, I got it. However, you’d best tell me again once I recover from the
wine, just to be safe. I’ll learn as much as I can about her too.”
“I don’t think any amount of learning is going to help against her.”
“If we know a storm is coming, shouldn’t we try to do something about it?
Can’t just leave things be. Besides, we might be able to come up with something
if we can pick enough brains.”
“If only that were the case.”
“I’m not too close to him, but I know an adamantite-ranked adventurer. He
ought to be able to come up with something useful… anyway, what do you plan
to do in the future, Brain?”
Brain’s eyebrows knitted at that question. What should he do?
His eyes unconsciously drifted to his beloved Katana beside the table.
It was lingering attachment.
Ultimately, that was all it was. No matter how much he tried, he would never
be able to beat that monster. His dream of becoming the greatest swordsman
was in ruins. He had indeed wasted his life.

From now on, he would have to keep his feet firmly on the ground and live his
life correctly.

It was just a childish dream…
“What should I do, huh… what about working on a farm?”
He had been born in a farming village, and while he had forgotten much about
agriculture, the knowledge still lingered in the recesses of his mind. The only
other thing he knew besides that was swordsmanship. Put in a nicer way, he had
lived a very focused life.
“Farming… well, that’s not bad, but… how about this? Why not serve the
nation with me?”
Brain did not think it was a bad idea. He might not be able to beat that monster
called Shalltear, but he considered himself quite capable in terms of human-
scale ability. However—
“I’m not a very sociable person, and I’m not into the bowing and scraping
business.”
“Well, I don’t bow and scrape that much…”
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of you. Just that the thought of serving
in the court made me think of that sort of thing… In truth, I think that’s a pretty
good idea, Gazef. Fighting for others… that’s it! Oi, Gazef, I met a boy called
Climb.”
“Climb? That hoarse-voiced kid?”
Gazef went “ohhhhhh” as he saw Brain nod.
“Where did you meet Climb? I thought he was the Princess’ bodyguard, so he
shouldn’t have had many chances to leave her side…”
“I saw him training on the streets.”
“Training on the streets, huh… well, he just doesn’t have talent. I don’t think
he’ll get any stronger than he is now. All he can do now is train his body and
improve his physical attributes. Was he doing that? If not, I might have to guide
him a little.”
“Hm — indeed… he’s got no talent for swordsmanship. However, he’s
stronger than me in some areas.”
The look on Gazef’s face seemed to say “are you kidding me.”
Indeed, Brain was far more skilled than Climb, and more talented as well.
However, Brain knew that this discrepancy meant nothing in the face of true
power, and so he felt that laughing at Climb for it would be hypocritical.
Rather than quibble about such a trifling difference, Brain felt that Climb’s

strong will — which had withstood the murderous intent of the mighty Sebas —
was truly worthy of praise.

I was beaten and chose to flee. But Climb would never run if someone he had to
protect was behind him. He would choose to fight. Perhaps a man like him… could clip
that monster’s nail.

Brain did not say anything about Gazef’s confused expression. Instead, he
roughly explained the day’s events; in other words, the raid on the Eight Fingers
brothel.

“I see. So you and Climb… I see.”
“You can abandon me if you think it’ll cause problems. I mean, when you think
about it, having someone like me who goes in and out of your house is going to
cause you trouble if I’m at odds with the underworld, don’t you think?”
“No, not at all. In fact, I rather welcome it… those bastards are the maggots
infesting the Kingdom. I would like nothing more than to carve my way into
their headquarters.”
“Are Eight Fingers so bad for the Kingdom?”
“They make me want to throw up. They control most of the secret societies
in the Kingdom and profit from them. The money and benefits go to the nobles,
allowing those rogues to mix with them and swan around in normal society. If
we try to arrest them, the nobles obstruct us, so there’s nothing we can do on
that front. The only way we can hurt them is by doing what you did, Brain. We
need to barge into their cunningly concealed hideouts, force their criminal acts
into the light, and make a big fuss of things. Of course, they’re more powerful
than the average noble, so if we fail, the consequences will be severe.”
“You’re out of luck, then?”
“Indeed. Therefore, I hope what you did weakens them. Unfortunately, that’s
not too likely.”
“Can’t you have the King issue a royal decree or something?”
“The nobles opposing him will interfere from the sidelines, so we can’t do it.
And they have allies in both factions, which makes things even trickier.”
As the air hung heavily over the table, the two of them drank their wine in
silence and reached for the food.

2

Lower Fire Month, 4th Day – 07:14
The members of Blue Rose had entered the keep early in the morning. Each
of them carried a large sack, which made metallic clattering noises when put on
the ground. The sacks contained all their gear, because entering the Royal Palace
all girded for war was not very appropriate.
After putting down their weighty luggage, the group rotated their shoulders.
Renner looked kindly upon them, and their team leader, Lakyus Alvein Dale
Aindra, asked her:
“Will you have any royal duties to discharge later?”
Renner had hardly any power, but she still had her responsibilities as the
princess.
“It’s fine. Those matters can wait. Don’t worry.”
“Aha.”
A mischievous expression came over Lakyus’ face. Similarly, Renner also
flashed her a mischievous look, which then melted into unrestrained laughter.
“Lakyus. Once you’re ready, I’d like to ask you to take care of that matter as
soon as possible.”
“Why? I heard yesterday that we were going to attack in secret, taking each
location in turn. Isn’t that so?” asked Evileye, the masked arcane magic caster.
She had not removed her face-concealing mask even in the Royal Palace. She
had not been censured for such suspicious dress because she was an adamantite-
ranked adventurer, the elite of humanity, and also because her team leader
Lakyus was a member of the peerage.

“Something unexpected happened last night, so I feel we need to change part
of the plan. It’s like this—”

Renner described the brothel raid from last night.
Climb stood stock still behind Renner, and the members of Blue Rose looked
upon him with respectful eyes. Their gazes made him feel itchy.
Charging into the brothel and saving people from their hellish confines was
not Climb’s doing. He had merely borrowed the strength of the two men who
had gone in with him. Frankly speaking, Climb had done nothing worthy of
praise.
Instead, he felt disappointed with himself. He had not been rebuked for his
reckless, independent action and the plan had not been canceled, only altered.
The fact that he actually felt relieved by that only made it that much more tragic.
“Not bad, cherry boy.”
“Yup, Gagaran’s right. Apprehending a member of Six Arms is a pretty big
deal.”
“…‘Undying King’ Davernoch. ‘Void Cutter’ Peshurian. ‘Dancing Scimitars’
Edström. ‘Thousand Kills’ Malmvist. ‘Phantom Devil’ Succulent. And then their
leader, ‘Battle Demon’ Zero.”
Tia smoothly recited each name.
“Davernoch is undead. Peshurian is said to be able to cut down even distant
foes. Edström can skillfully use special magic weapons. Malmvist is a fencer with
a poisoned blade, adept at lunges. Succulent has already been apprehended. And
Zero is a brawler who excels in empty-handed combat. Each of them is
equivalent to an adamantite-ranked adventurer.”
“Mmm. Catching one of them is a big aid to us.”
“Amazing work, Climb. Still, it was great good fortune that you met Brain
Unglaus and fought by his side,”
Climb agreed with that sentiment.
“The fact that he could take out Succulent in one hit proves that Unglaus —
the man who fought the Kingdom’s strongest warrior (Gazef Stronoff) to a
standstill — is the real deal. That said, I’m more interested in that old butler
which even he couldn’t beat.”
“I didn’t get Sebas-sama’s address…”
“…Hm, Climb. Did he not tell you because he was wary of you, or did you not
ask because you knew you should not have asked… which is it?”
“Both of them, Evileye-sama. Perhaps he might have told me if I had asked

him. However, Sebas-sama volunteered his help despite the fact that I was the
one who involved him in this, and I did not want to learn anything which might
cause him difficulty.”

“…Hm — you’re an honest chap.”
“Yup.”
The sisters seemed to be sizing Climb up from head to toe.
“I have no idea why I’ve never heard of such an amazing person before…”
Climb could sense everyone’s sudden wariness of Sebas, as though it had been
triggered by those words from Evileye. Just as he was about to retort, Lakyus
clapped a few times and the mood in the air changed.
“Alright, let’s leave this aside for a moment. If not for him, we would not have
found the accurate location of the brothel and we would not have captured the
head of the Slave Trafficking Division (Cocco Doll). Both Climb and ourselves
are indebted to him.”
“You’re right, Lakyus. Then, Princess. You said you were going to change part
of the plan — does that mean we’ll be attacking a new location instead?”
“Yes, Evileye-san. I was hoping to attack several points at once by today and
take them all down in one fell swoop. They will gain the advantage and we will
lose it the more time we take.”
The room was dead silent.
Only Blue Rose would be participating in this operation. They had insisted on
taking the targets one after the other due to this lack of manpower.
“Er, but Princess. I believe we told you before that we don’t have the people
for it, right? Did someone agree to help us in the middle of the night? We can’t
hire adventurers for this, can we?”
One of the founding principles of the Adventurer’s Guild was to defend
humanity against external threats. Thus, there was an unwritten rule in the guild
that they would never involve themselves in disputes between humans.
Otherwise the Adventurer’s Guilds of various countries would not be able to
step over national borders and help each other.
Therefore, if the Guild judged that their involvement in a matter would result
in their involvement with a perpetual feud, they would apply pressure on their
adventurers to abide by that unwritten rule. This applied even if the Guild’s
intervention would save lives. The pressure which the Guild could apply
included warnings, not recommending jobs to them, and expulsion from the
Guild in the worst-case scenario.

As a result, there were some adventurers who engaged in illegal activities,
becoming part of a group known as Workers. However, there were rumors that
the Guild would employ their own private assassins to go after those who
violated the rules with malice aforethought.

The fact that Blue Rose had begun their opposition to Eight Fingers was a
violation of this unwritten rule, but they were adamantite-ranked adventurers
and arguably the Guild’s representatives, so there was no way they would
actually be chased out of the Guild. Thus, their actions had received tacit
approval. However, the only reason why they had been excused this trespass was
because they were the ones who had done it.

“The most stupid thing we could do is to involve the city guard in order to
bulk up our numbers. Those people have the guards in their pocket. All we can
do is have them handle cleanup at the end. Otherwise there’ll be trouble.”

“Same with borrowing house troops from the nobles. We can’t ask them for
help when we don’t know who’s in bed with Eight Fingers.”

“Hmph. The only people we can trust are Stronoff and the men loyal to him
— his warriors… no, we don’t even know how many of his warriors can be
trusted.”

“Practically speaking, yes. In the end, there’s not much we can do because we
don’t know exactly know how far our opponents can reach. Still, if we do nothing
but investigate because of that, the Kingdom will fall apart one day. We can’t
adequately remedy the problem when we’ve got cries for help from all sides.”

Renner nodded as she heard Lakyus’ complaints.
The Empire’s interference only compounded the turmoil within the Kingdom
as corruption continued to eat into the government. Climb narrowed his eyes,
as though he had glimpsed the sun from behind her back; after all, his mistress
insisted on fighting on despite the dire circumstances. Once more, Climb
realized that she was the only one capable of ruling the Kingdom and granting
happiness to the masses, and his loyalty to her was further strengthened.
However, there were those who did not understand that point and had
decided that all the princess had to be was a decoration — her sole purpose being
to sit there and look beautiful. Climb was filled with anger at these people —
primarily the nobles — and his hands balled up into fists.
However, Renner’s lovely voice filtered into his ears and dispersed his anger,
and he once more committed himself to listening to their conversation.
“You’re right. Therefore, I thought of asking a reliable noble for help.”

“You know of trustworthy nobles, Princess?”
“I do, Evileye-san. There aren’t many of them, but I know of one who can be
relied upon.”
“Oh, and who is that, Renner? I don’t doubt your judgment, but there’s no
point in them being reliable if they can’t do anything for us. There’s also no
guarantee that he’ll be able to muster up enough troops from his domain either.
“I don’t think that will be a problem. Also, I will be bringing the Warrior-
Captain along.”
“I can understand that.”
“Mm, the Warrior-Captain’s a reliable man. Or rather, if even he’s in bed with
Eight Fingers, then we’re finished.”
“Climb, please go call Marquis Raeven over. He was present at the latest
meeting, so he ought to still be within the Royal Capital.”
“The Marquis? I did see him in the company of the Prince…”
Indeed. Marquis Raeven matched all their criteria for the man they needed…
his trustworthiness aside.
He was one of the Six Great Nobles, those whose assets and so on surpassed
those of other nobles by far. However, there was no proof that Raeven was not
in cahoots with Eight Fingers. One could also say that his wealth might have
been the result of Eight Fingers’ bribes.
However, Climb promptly rejected that notion.
Renner — his mistress, the wisest of all women and the one who was the most
deserving of respect — had chosen that name. That being the case, Marquis
Raeven ought to be reliable.
However, the members of Blue Rose seemed displeased, in contrast to Climb.
“Oi, oi, Princess. Are you sure you can trust this Marquis guy?”
“They say Raeven’s a bat.”
“A bat who flits back and forth between the Royal and Noble factions. If he’s
doing it all for his own gain, then Eight Fingers’ filthy lucre will move his heart.”
“I don’t want him to leak intelligence about us, Princess.”
As the disapproval poured on from the gathered people, a loud clap cut
through the air. Its source was Lakyus.
“…That’s enough, all of you! Ahhh, Renner, Marquis Raeven didn’t exactly
leave a good impression on me. Is he really trustworthy?”
“I can’t guarantee that. And I believe he’s taken money from Eight Fingers.”
Eh?! Everyone present was surprised, and they had confused looks on their

faces. However, someone hit on a possibility and asked:
“Are you trying to spread false information in order to manipulate the

enemy?”
“We did that before some assassinations. Spread news about assassins coming

from somewhere to divert the attention of the security personnel.”
Renner shook her head at the notion of the assassination.
“That’s not it, Tina-san and Tia-san. I believe that some people won’t help

Eight Fingers even if they do take their money, right? You could say I lost my bet
if it turns out he was more active behind my back than I thought, but… Climb.
Go get Marquis Raeven. He should be willing to meet me once you tell him about
the destruction of the brothel and the capture of the head slaver.”

Climb’s eyes shifted, checking the light outside the window. The morning sun
was almost blinding, and it seemed a little early to wake someone up. However,
one could not keep Great Nobles at one’s beck and call, so it might be best to
arrange a meeting now.

“Should we talk about capturing the head of the slave trade? Your servant
believes that it might be better to keep it a secret for the time being.”

Renner said that she had to play that trump card to compel an audience, but
surely not even a Great Noble could refuse a Princess’ summons. That being the
case, should they not keep it in reserve?

Renner shook her head at Climb’s opinion.
“We need to lay our cards before him if we want him on our side. Doing so is
the best proof that we trust the Marquis.
No wonder. Climb nodded and then bowed respectfully.
“Your servant understands. Then, I shall summon Marquis Raeven now.”
“Please do, Climb. Now, since this will take some time, shall we have tea?”

●

Lower Fire Month, 4th Day – 09:37
Blue Rose believed that it would take some time for Marquis Raeven to arrive.
They estimated that he would come by around noon.
As a nobleman, he had a fixed schedule to keep, which largely consisted of
meeting with other nobles. It would be one thing if the King summoned him for
an audience, but Renner was just a powerless princess, after all. She would be

lower on Raeven’s list of priorities.
Therefore, when Climb returned earlier than expected, they all thought for a

moment that he had been chased back. Thus they were hard-pressed to hide the
looks of surprise on their face when they saw the forms of two men behind him.

One of them was, of course, Marquis Raeven.
His appearance was, in a word, impeccable. His tight-fitting clothes were
made of some sort of rare animal hide — possibly some sort of magical beast —
and stitched with goldwork. The embroidery around his collar and his front
buttons was of exquisite workmanship, and the front buttons probably had tiny
gemstones worked into them, given the way they caught and reflected the light.
His stand-up collar completely concealed his narrow neck. This was top-class
apparel, which was undeniably suited to him. He was the very picture of a
member of the Kingdom’s Six Great Nobles.
After him was a slightly plump man.
When Renner saw him, she exclaimed in surprise:
“Onii-sama.”
“Yo. If it isn’t my sister from a different mother. You look well… oh, and if it
isn’t the Alvein heiress and the renowned Blue Rose. How wonderful. To think
we’d run into so many adamantite-ranked adventurers here.”
The man who had entered without knocking, and who had addressed them all
in a bright and cheerful voice was none other than the Second Prince Zanac
Valleon Igana Ryle Vaiself.
Lakyus curtsied to him, and Zanac replied by way of a grand wave of his hand.
“I heard you were talking about something quite interesting, so I decided to
drop in.”
“I have come in response to Renner-denka’s summons.”
“Yes. Thank you for coming all his way, Marquis Raeven. Please raise your
head.”
Renner rose from her own seat as she saw her elder brother — one with higher
status than herself — make his entrance.
Marquis Raeven had a cold smile on his face as he straightened up.
His smile was very sinister, and it made people think he was quite creepy. Yet
for some reason, it seemed perfectly suited to him. It did not displease others
who looked upon him.
“Then, would the others mind retiring to the adjacent room for a while?”
“I understand, Onii-sama. Lakyus, Climb, I’m sorry, but could you please go

next door?”
“Got it.”
With that clipped reply, Lakyus indicated that her colleagues should get their

things. They were probably going to gear up in the next room to avoid wasting
time.

The five members of Blue Rose and Climb nodded in unison before entering
the adjacent room. After she watched them leave, Renner bade the two
remaining people to take a seat.

“Please, have a seat over here.”
“Yes, Renner-denka.”
“Sure, sis.”
One of them threw themselves onto the seat, while the other one settled
himself in gracefully. Renner poured a cup of tea and placed it before Raeven.
“I am honored that your Highness would personally pour a cup of tea for me.”
“It might have chilled a little. Please forgive me.”
“Oi oi oi, where’s mine?”
Zanac glared unhappily at the two tea-drinkers.
“Ah, but do you not dislike tea, Onii-sama?”
“True, I’m not a fan of colored water. Still, it feels like something’s missing if
I don’t have anything to wet my throat.”
“Then I shall have the maid fetch something. Will fruit juice do?”
“Tea will be fine. There’s no need to let news leak out.”
“I doubt the maids will have time to report to their families if we make our
move by today.”
“Still, you should be careful. Women have big mouths, after all. In particular,
the maids who serve in the Royal Palace are frighteningly quick at tattling.”
Renner smiled, then poured a cup of tea and placed it before Zanac.
“…Hmph. So you’ve already made use of the maid intelligence network, have
you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah, never mind.”
With that, Zanac took a swig of tea.
“Ack, it’s bitter,” he said while sticking out his tongue.
“Still, your Highness. What matter is there which needs to be discussed so
early? That said, your servant will rush to your side at any time. You have but to
give the word”

“Thank you. Then, I shall get to the point since time is tight. I wish to borrow
your intellect.”

●

After coughing briefly, she wasted no time getting to the meat of the subject.
Marquis Raeven’s narrow eyes parted slightly, full of surprise. However, he
recovered almost instantly and hid his consternation.
“My intellect, hm. Since it is Your Highness that asks… your servant fears he
will not be able to live up to your expectations.
“I think you will do fine. After all, I doubt anyone is your equal in affairs of
the court, Marquis Raeven.”
Marquis Raeven and the Prince exchanged looks.
Princess Renner had hardly ever participated in political power struggles. So
what did she mean by “affairs of the court”?
Marquis Raeven smiled leisurely. He knew too little, and thinking too hard on
the matter would only lead to a strange conclusion. That much was obvious. He
decided to hold off on his decision until he learned more.
“And what would you have your servant tell you?”
“I wish to ask if someone like yourself, as a secret supporter of the Royal
Faction — or rather, as the one who holds the entire Royal Faction together —
could mobilize the faction’s forces.”
“…What?”
Given the look on Marquis Raeven’s face, one might be forgiven for thinking
a spell had suddenly gone off in front of his face. Just about anyone who saw this
would have been shocked, because Marquis Raeven was not normally an
expressive man.
Still, his reaction was understandable. Any other noble might laugh it off, but
this was a truth which had been hidden until now.
People thought of Marquis Raeven as a bat, flitting from one side to another,
but the truth was that he had been guiding the Royal Faction and warding off
any potential conflicts which might tear the country in two. His private crusade
was the biggest part in keeping the country whole.
The Kingdom would have fallen apart long ago without someone like Raeven
around.

Zanac sucked in a tiny breath.
He had already sensed that Renner, with her unimaginable intellect, was a
fiend in human form. Yet, she was like a prisoner in the Royal Palace, without
eyes or hands to see or work her will. How had she grasped the truth under these
circumstances? Nobody else in the Kingdom knew the answer besides Zanac.
Both of them suspected that she was merely bluffing, but they rejected that
notion almost immediately. Renner spoke as though explaining a fact of life.
Both of them had seen people hiding daggers behind their smiles, but Renner’s
attitude did not seem like an act. In that case, how exactly had she found out
about that?
Renner seemed to think further explanation was in order. She ignored
Marquis Raeven’s shocked expression and calmly continued:
“…No, perhaps I should have asked one of the two members of the Royal
Faction, but Marquis Blumrush has been secretly passing on information to the
Empire, no? That would mean…”
“What-what did you say…”
“A moment please, Your Highness!”
Zanac murmured hoarsely, but Raeven’s eyes shot wide open and he shouted.
“Marquis Blumrush…”
“You knew, right? After all, is that not why you tried to keep the good Marquis
from learning too much?”
The two of them stared speechlessly at Renner.
They looked at the beautiful girl, who calmly said, “Am I wrong?”
“You…”
Marquis Raeven was so overcome that he forgot to address her as “Your
Highness.”
Renner had been right about everything.
Only Zanac and Marquis Raeven knew that Marquis Blumrush, a Great Noble
of the Royal Faction, had betrayed the kingdom. They had kept quiet about his
treason to keep the balance between the factions from breaking down.
Marquis Raeven had been desperately trying to keep this from the Noble
Faction and had come up with all manner of schemes to keep the Empire from
learning this. His efforts should have been flawless, until now.
Zanac only knew about this because Marquis Raeven had told him. Then how
had this caged songbird discovered it? As Zanac imagined it, he felt himself break
out in goosebumps.

“How did you find out…”
“Oh, I just listened to what everyone was saying. And I do talk with the maids
from time to time.”
How reliable were the maid’s words?
An unbelievable idea filled Marquis Raeven’s mind.
And then, after sifting through his memories, he could conclude that what
Renner said — what she had gleaned from the conversation and gossip traded
by the maids — was on the mark. The girl before him had sifted through a
mountain of dross and picked out the diamonds in the rough, which she had
fashioned into a jeweled necklace.
Therefore—
“—A monster.”
He quietly intoned the word that most suited the woman known as Renner.
Renner should have heard that loud and clear, but all she did was smile,
without rebuking Marquis Raeven for his rudeness. He abandoned the line of
thought he had been following until just now.
She deserved his honesty. And his recollections of the past were correct.
“—Your servant understands. Then, I seek to bare my heart to you. Do you
object, my Prince?”
After seeing Zanac nod, Marquis Raeven straightened up and looked Renner
in the face. His attitude now looked quite similar to Gazef when he had his sword
raised.
“However, before that, your servant wishes to address the real Renner-denka.
Is that permissible?”
“What do you mean?” Renner asked innocently, as though she had no idea
what was going on.
“A long time ago, your servant once saw a girl. With incredible insight, that
girl spoke words of invaluable wisdom. However, your servant took a long time
before he understood the meaning and value of those words.”
Marquis Raeven’s voice echoed through the silent room.
“…She was a girl whose words taxed the understanding of others. When your
servant saw this girl, who was viewed as incomprehensible by others, for a
fleeting moment, your servant saw a dangerous individual.”
“A dangerous individual?” Renner asked calmly.
“Yes. Your servant had merely glimpsed a fraction of it and had thus written
it off as a baseless worry. However, what your servant thought at the time was:

‘those are a pair of hollow eyes which do not care about the world and hold
everything in contempt.’”

The mood in the room was vastly different from before, and a chill seemed to
spread through the air. Marquis Raeven hunched his shoulders as if to protect
himself.

“However, when your servant saw that girl again, she had the aura of a child
about her. At that time, your servant believed that he had been mistaken…
therefore, your Highness. I was wondering if you could show me that cleverly
concealed true nature of yours.”

Their eyes met. It looked as though a pair of serpents were writhing and
struggling against each other.

And then, Renner’s eyes lost their shine.
Marquis Raeven smiled coldly, as though he had seen something nostalgic.
“Ah, as I thought, it was actually…”
Zanac broke out in a cold sweat as his little sister, who had a pure and lovely
smile on her face, suddenly turned into a frightening monster. No, in truth, he
had already sensed her disgusting true face beneath her beautiful looks.
However, he had guessed that Renner wanted to seize power for herself, or to
shatter the Kingdom that held her prisoner.
It would seem those guesses had been off the mark.
This was a being that was fundamentally different from himself, something
alien to him.
“As I expected, Renner-denka. Your Highness’ eyes are just like the ones I
recall from my memory. Were you merely pretending ever since then?”
“No, Marquis Raeven. I was not acting. I was satisfied.”
“…Does Your Highness perhaps refer to your soldier, the man Climb…?”
“Oh yes. All this is thanks to my Climb.”
Oh. To think that that boy could actually change Your Highness… your servant
thought of him as nothing but a — a child… what does he mean to Your Highness,
if I might ask?”
“You mean Climb…?”
Renner’s gaze trailed off, staring into the air. She was thinking about what
words she could use to describe his value to her.

●

Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself.
If there was only one word to summarize her entire being, that would be
“Golden.” That word derived from her blinding beauty. However, very few
people knew that she possessed a talent that far outstripped even her good
looks.
Her talents lay in thinking, insight, observation, innovation, understanding
and the like. All her mental faculties were abnormally well-developed — in other
words, she was a genius.
Her talent could only be described as a gift from the heavens. Her deductions
might seem to have come from flashes of inspiration, but the truth was that they
were pieced together from countless scattered fragments of information,
gathered by her extraordinary powers of observation.
In all likelihood, nobody on the continent could match up against her mental
abilities.
If one were pressed to find an equal for her, then one would have to look
beyond the human race. However, very few entities were on her level, even
among these superhuman beings.
In Nazarick, only Albedo — the Guardian Overseer who could manage the
vassals of every single Floor — as well as Demiurge — who possessed a fiendish
intellect and was hyper competent in every aspect of national administration, be
it military, domestic and foreign affairs — could be considered on par with her.
Human beings often considered matters from their own perspectives. From
that point of view, one could say that “strange” or “wondrous” people were
merely labels applied by plebeians.

●

That said, she had a flaw. She could not understand why she could understand
these things, but others could not. Perhaps someone on her level might have
been able to appreciate how gifted she truly was. If that were the case, the
outcome would probably have been different.

However, there was nobody like that around.
In the end, when a little girl spoke of things that baffled those who heard
them, the reaction to her was fear. Renner was very cute as a child and so she

was not hated. Instead, she was cherished, to a certain extent. However, the fact
that nobody could understand what she said had an extreme effect on her mental
development. The girl’s heart began to warp as time went by.

Perhaps it might be easier to describe this phenomenon as “the loneliness of
genius.”

Trapped in an environment where there was nobody else like her, the stress
she had to bear grew and grew. For a time, she could not keep anything down;
she threw up whatever she ate.

Those who saw the princess become skinnier and skinnier by the day felt that
she would not be long for this world.

If not for that puppy of hers, that prediction might well have come true. Even
if she had somehow endured it, what returned might well have been a Demon
Queen. She would have made decisions through cold, mathematical logic,
making the few suffer for the sake of the many.

●

At that time, it had only been a passing fancy. She had gone out with her
guards on a rainy day to lift her spirits, and then the girl had encountered a dying
puppy.

The dying puppy looked at her — its master — with a strange expression in
its eyes.

What a weighty gaze, she had thought.
The expression in its eyes was one of innocent reverence.
She was used to others looking at her like an oddity, and she was used to
people looking at her with adoration. However, she could not understand the
look in the puppy’s eyes. In those sincere eyes, she saw revulsion, surprise,
delight, emotion, and — a human being.
Indeed, in those eyes, she saw a human being like herself.
The puppy which the girl had picked up became a boy, and then a man.
Whether he was a puppy, a boy or a man, those eyes peered through her with
the same blinding purity.
However, it no longer bothered her.
Thanks to those eyes, she could speak to others like a normal person. She
could coexist with the vulgar, inferior lifeforms around her.

And now, Renner’s world was complete so long as Climb was in it.
“Climb… hm. If I could join with him… hm — and if I could chain Climb up
and take care of him like a pet, and make sure he couldn’t go anywhere, perhaps
that might be better.”
The air in the room froze. Even Marquis Raeven was shocked, to say nothing
of Zanac, Renner’s half-brother.
They had thought the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom would spout
some childish fantasy. No, they should not have expected any such saccharine-
sweet simpering from the true Princess Renner, but they had not expected her
to go that far.
If only she had been bothered by her deviant passions. What she said flew in
the face of all common sense.
“I, I see. So that is your true nature. How shall I say this… when you were
young, I felt something was off, like I had unfastened a button. But now I fully
understand your abnormality.”
“Really, Onii-sama? I do not think I have done anything abnormal.”
“Take care of him if you will. Nobody will object to Your Highness’… no, it
might still be difficult. Unless you had help.”
“Indeed. It’ll be quite hard to fulfill that dream while maintaining the facade
of a proper princess… and there’s no point in forcing him to look at me. I want
to chain him down and take care of him like a dog, while he looks at me with
those eyes of his…”
Few people enjoyed hearing about the sexual fetishes of others. Marquis
Raeven could not help but want to stagger a few steps back after making contact
with the soul of the woman called Renner.
“Like a dog… does that mean you do not love him, Your Highness?”
Renner turned an incredulous, scornful gaze on the Marquis.
“Of course I love him. I like the way he looks at me. And I love how he clings
to me like a puppy.”
“Forgive me, but I do not understand it. That is not called love, my sister.”
“I think love can take many forms.”
“…A thousand apologies, but I find this topic very hard to follow.”
“I do not need you to understand me. All you need to know is that I like him,
and that I love him.”
She’s weird.
They had sensed something twisted about her mind, but they had not

expected her to be this warped.
The two of them glanced at each other, before the eyes of the Princess with

the abnormal mind. Both of them were at a loss for what to do.
They had heard that the Princess had fallen in love with a common soldier,

and had expected that it might blow up into a matter of national importance.
Yet, what they had heard was far more ridiculous than they had expected.

“Well then, the problem of fetishes…”
“It is not a fetish. It is simply love.”
Renner sounded like she was reproachfully interrupting Raeven’s words, and
he resisted the urge to shoot back.
“Very well, love it is, then… right. Although under the present circumstances,
the union of Your Highness with Climb… -kakka is a little—”
“It’s impossible. Not just that, if word got out, you’d be married off
immediately to some noble. If it was Aniki,[2] who’s in deep with the Noble
Faction, he’d probably pick one of the nobles from the Noble Faction.”
“Indeed, Onii-sama. If our eldest brother took the throne, my marriage would
be the first thing he would push through. I believe they’ve already discussed the
matter beforehand. After all, there’s a noble who looks at me like his personal
possession every time we meet.”
“Your servant is aware that a certain nobleman is willing to join the Noble
Faction, but he requires an appropriate inducement.”
“Still, when you think about it, it’s not likely that I can be with Climb, no…?
Even if he received a title, he’d be a Baron at best. And even if he somehow
received a higher title, there’s no way they’d let a princess marry someone
beneath her station like him.”
“I fully understand that. Given the current state of the Kingdom, that dream
of yours cannot come true no matter what methods you use.”
Zanac smiled thinly. He was certain that this was the best move he could
make.
“How about making a deal with me? If I gain the throne, I will match you to
Climb.”
“I accept.”
“That was fast! Are you sure?”
“There is no reason for me to refuse. After all, that bet has the highest

2. 兄貴 (Aniki), an informal form of address for “elder brother.”

probability of success. When you came to my room with Marquis Raeven, I had
thought of asking you the same thing myself.”

“…That is to say, you had already worked this out ahead of time?”
Zanac smiled bitterly by way of reply, but his heart was in a different state
from his face. While he had guessed that his little sister was smarter than him,
he had not expected to have been so completely outclassed by her.
When he thought calmly about it, there was no need for Renner to be so
honest with him. No, it was understandable if she had done so in order to evoke
this exact response from him.
He cursed his sister in his heart: you monster.
“Also, Onii-sama… or rather, this should be a matter for Marquis Raeven.”
“What does Your Highness command?”
“Marquis, I believe you have a son, do you not?”
“Indeed I do. My child is five this year. Is something the matter?”
The image of his darling son’s face appeared in Raeven’s mind, and he fought
the urge to squish his cheeks. He thought of the look of disgust on Zanac — who
was sitting next to him — and forcefully swallowed the urge to sing his child’s
praises.
“Please wed your son to me.”
“Absolutely not! How could I turn my child over to a woman like you?!”
Raeven exclaimed. Then, he met Zanac’s icy gaze, and looked at Renner’s still-
smiling face, and he blushed crimson at his gross misconduct.
“Please, please forgive me, Your Highnesses! Your servant was momentarily
confused, and…”
He coughed, and then turned to Renner.
“Your Highness, forgive my intrusion, but could you tell your servant the
reason for that?”
“You should know well the reason for that, no?”
“Oi, oi, sis. You were the one who brought it up—”
“You would marry your servant’s son and bear Climb’s child. Your servant’s
son would then bear a child with the woman he loved — and that child would
carry on the family name. Your Highness would then be his mother in name
only… am I correct? It is quite a good plan. Your Highness would be able to bear
a child with the man you love, and although it would be a deception, your servant
would be able to continue his bloodline.”
“I have no interest in domains or the succession. All I require is a stipend for

my trueborn child. I will not make a claim upon your family estate.”
“In this respect, your servant has the utmost faith in Your Highness.”
“…Even Father will not be able to easily reject a proposal like this from a loyal

vassal like Marquis Raeven. The Marquisate will gain the royal bloodline and you
can be with the man you love. And I will have you as a collaborator. Nobody loses
out, and any betrayal means we all go down together… ah, it’s quite a perfect
plan. Still, you shouldn’t be talking about this sort of thing in front of me…”

“Ara, I merely wanted to be sure you were on my side, Onii-sama. Besides, I
doubt you’d want to know after the fact, am I wrong?”

Zanac did not answer. This was because Renner was correct. In addition, he
could not possibly refuse a proposal like this which had so thoroughly ensnared
each other’s weaknesses. She might have a screw loose, but someone as excellent
as herself was an indispensable talent for the future of the Kingdom.

“Now then, that is enough about ourselves. I hear Your Highness has clashed
with Eight Fingers? And captured the head of their slave-trading enterprise?”

“Indeed. It is as Climb has told you. Thus, I wish to press the attack before
Eight Fingers retreats back into the shadows. I have learned about the activities
of Eight Fingers within the Royal Capital, and I wish to attack these locations by
today. The only problem is a lack of manpower. I called upon you, Marquis
Raeven, because I wished to borrow your strength.”

Zanac and Raeven looked at each other, and Zanac was the first to speak.
“And which locations will you be attacking?”
Renner handed them the transcribed parchment, and the two of them went
over it.
“And this information has been verified?’
“Naturally. I had Lakyus investigate it for me. I’ve just received reports that
these are Eight Fingers installations. The problem is that all these locations are
in the domains of different nobles.”
It was not a problem of extraterritoriality yet, but charging into a noble’s
domain was essentially challenging the noble in question.
“That should not be a problem. If we can find evidence connected to Eight
Fingers, we can apply pressure on the nobles.”
“Even if we don’t find it, we just have to search harder. At least we’ll know
where they’ll go to dispose of documents that are troublesome to themselves.”
The three of them laughed. There was no warmth in that laughter.
“Then, sister. I have a question; or rather, an important suggestion.”

Zanac looked around. This was the first time he had checked to see that
nobody else was present. In other words, this was a very important topic, of the
utmost secrecy.

“Actually, our elder brother has been taking money from one of Eight Fingers’
divisions. We were hoping to use this to oust him from the succession, so we
were checking to see if that division had headquarters in the Royal Capital. Now,
we have received confirmation that this division does have a base here. I was
thinking of adding it to the list of targets.”

“Certainly. We might as well take them all out in one fell swoop. After all, who
knows when we’ll have another chance like this if we miss this one? And which
division is this?”

“The drugs division.”
“That’s quite unfortunate. Several days ago, I had Lakyus attack three of their
drug-plantation villages. Therefore, you’ll need to make your move soon, or the
opposition will make their escape.”
“What… I see. Marquis Raeven, can you move right away?”
“That would be very difficult. Your servant is aware of which nobles are not
involved with Eight Fingers, but not all of them are reliable. There are probably
only two households left. I will need time to persuade them, but there is another
problem.”
“What is it, Marquis?”
“Our forces might not be enough to overcome Eight Fingers.”
Some powerful adventurers could take on an entire army by themselves.
There were many theories as to why there were so many superhuman
individuals among the ranks of adventurers.
The most reliable explanation was that under extreme circumstances, the
body — some might say the brain — would become abnormally active and
trigger a super-recovery phenomenon, causing one’s physical parameters to
increase non-stop. Other explanations included some form of blessing,
evolution through the absorption of mana, and so on. However, what they all
had in common was that the physical, mental and magical attributes of the body
would increase rapidly.
There were higher chances of this improvement phenomenon happening
when facing powerful opposition. Given the fact that adventurers often faced
powerful monsters with varied abilities, it was very easy for them to trigger such
phenomena.

If the enemy had personnel like that, regular soldiers would be useless against
them.

“Your personal guard ought to be able to handle it, am I wrong, Marquis?”
Raeven’s answer to Zanac’s question was a shake of the head.
“It is true that they are retired adventurers, and all of them are above mythril-
rank. However, the enemy also counts incredibly powerful people among their
number. The Six Arms are the direct-action department of Eight Fingers, and
each of them is said to be the equivalent of an adamantite-ranked adventurer. If
they took the field, things would be very bad for us. Of course, things might be
different if we could gang up on them.”
“Adamantite-ranked…”
Zanac’s speechlessness was only to be expected. It was said that each of these
highest-ranked adventurers could take on a thousand enemies and win. One
could even say that no amount of normal people could begin to oppose them.
“Then I’ll ask Lakyus to have Blue Rose split up and take action, with each of
them taking a single location. It should work if any one place does not have two
or more members of Eight Fingers in it.
“…Your servant recalls that Blue Rose has five members, but the enemy has
six people in Six Arms. That being the case, having them act separately might
incur the cardinal sin of splitting one’s forces up… although, I doubt all six of
them are in the Royal Capital. If the members of Blue Rose do not mind, then
we can attack five locations at once.”
“I’d like to take them all out at once, but that would be difficult. What a shame;
eliminating them all in one stroke would be the best outcome.”
The parchment Renner held listed seven locations. Including the one Zanac
and Raeven knew, that would make eight targets. However, they did not have
that much manpower.
“It angers me that we’ll have to let three targets go, but there’s nothing we
can do about it.”
“How about having those who have finished their attacks proceed to the
remaining three locations?”
“That ought to be the best solution. Your Highness, mobilizing troops in the
Royal Capital will be problematic. How should we handle that?”
“I’ll talk to Father about it. Don’t worry about it for now. You’ll have to give
it up in the end, no? I’m a little greedy…”
Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“He’s here.”
The maids should have gone to answer the door, but today they were not
around. Therefore, it was Raeven who made to stand up, but Renner tugged on
his hand to stop him before walking without hesitation to the door and opening
it.
After checking to see who was outside, Renner was all smiles as she looked
back to the other two.
“We have someone who might be able to help us with attacking the sixth
location.”
The confused man that Renner ushered into the room was the Kingdom’s
Warrior-Captain, Gazef Stronoff.

3

Lower Fire Month, 3rd Day – 21:00
Climb held a black object in his hand. This wobbly black object would have
been perfectly spherical, but it was so soft that it was deformed, as though it had
been squashed.
He took this mysterious black sphere, which seemed to be filled with a black
liquid, and splattered it on himself — his armor.
The sphere splashed open, staining Climb’s pure-white armor with black
spots. After seeing this, people would assume that the sphere Climb had just
been holding was filled with some sort of black dye. However, that was not all.
The droplets of black dye staining Climb’s armor quivered, and began flowing
over the surface of the armor, as though to cover its entire surface. Within
seconds, the brilliant white of Climb’s armor turned a gloomy black, without
missing a single nook or cranny.
The sphere Climb had just splattered on himself was a magic item known as a
Magic Dye. Apparently, higher-grade dyes could resist acid, fire, ice and other
kinds of elemental damage, but the only thing this particular dye could do was
change color.
The reason for why he used this went without saying — it was because his
pure white full plate armor was far too conspicuous.
Lakyus had gathered the leaders of the various teams and Climb stood before
her as well.
In the center of all the leaders was a female warrior dressed in a glittering
array of battle gear.

First was the magic sword known to all — the Demonic Sword Kilineiram. It
was the size of a bastard sword, but nobody could see its dark blade — which
reminded onlookers of the night sky — since it was sheathed. However, the hilt
alone spoke of its exquisite craftsmanship. Of particular note was the huge navy-
blue sapphire on the pommel, in whose depths flickered a flame-like brilliance.

The full plate armor she wore gleamed with the radiance which only platinum
and gold could produce, and it was inscribed with countless depictions of
Unicorns. This suit of immaculate armor — pure as the driven snow — could
only be worn by a virgin.

In contrast to her shining armor, the cape on her back was made of some sort
of cotton cloth which resembled the gray of a mouse’s pelt. This was the Cloak
of Rat Speed, which improved its wearer’s movement speed, dexterity and
evasive abilities. It was a deceptively powerful magic item.

However, her Floating Swords — another famous magic item — did not seem
to have been activated.

Unlike Climb, Lakyus was conspicuously dressed because she probably
intended to settle the matter with her own magic.

Beside her were other familiar faces.
There were the members of Blue Rose, and Gazef Stronoff.
Climb felt very awkward and out of place as he stood beside them.
Lakyus explained the details of the operation, which was to attack and capture
eight installations run by Eight Fingers.
However, there were only seven teams, so after those teams had taken their
objectives, the team leaders and Marquis Raeven’s bodyguards — former
adventurers, each ranked above mythril — would proceed to the last location,
while the rest of the team members would continue to hold their objectives.
They had to destroy as much of the enemy’s fighting strength as possible and do
their best to take prisoners. Failing that, killing them would be the next best
thing.
That was all.
Lakyus then warned the others again that they were going up against a crime
syndicate that controlled the criminal underworld. They might encounter traps
or very powerful individuals, so they could not allow themselves to be careless.
Climb’s body trembled.
This was not fear, but stress from being given responsibility in such an
important operation.

Climb was much weaker than the other team leaders, but he had been chosen
to lead a team anyway because he was stronger than an average soldier, and the
sponsor for this operation had recommended him.

In addition, Marquis Raeven’s personal guard — a team of former adventurers
who had previously held the orichalcum rank — had been detached to help him
out.

How could he back out when everyone had bent over backward to
accommodate him?

In addition, when he realized why he had been selected as a team leader, he
could not hand that duty over to anyone else.

Blue Rose, Marquis Raeven, Gazef Stronoff, and Prince Zanac, who was in
charge of firefighting during a civil disturbance. None of these people were
connected to Renner. It was precisely because of that reason that Climb —
Renner’s bodyguard — had been chosen as a team leader, to show that Renner
was deeply involved in this operation.

It seems this was the brainchild of Marquis Raeven and Prince Zanac, but why would
they do this?

Climb had no idea of their reasons. Even so, his heart gushed with courage as
he resolved himself to complete this great task, in order to let more people know
of Renner’s contributions to the nation.

They were dismissed after the briefing was complete. The man who had been
waiting in the back called out to him in a casual tone.

“Everything set?”
That man, whose name was Brain Unglaus, was the helper Gazef had brought
along, and he was also Climb’s assistant team leader.
“The team’s ready, we’re just waiting for the word. Also, this is the path we’ll
be taking. That guy picked it.”
Brain handed Climb a map of the Royal Capital with a red line drawn on it,
while Climb looked in the direction where Brain was pointing.
There stood one of the former orichalcum-ranked adventurers. He had been
assigned to Climb’s team. The man seemed to have noticed Climb looking his
way and waved to him. In turn Climb nodded to the somewhat aged man.
Perhaps he should not have done so, being the team leader and all, but it was a
natural gesture for Climb, given that his strength was nowhere near enough to
qualify as a team leader.
To Climb, he was not so much leading everyone as he was counting on

everyone else to help carry his weight.
As they were talking, a hulking person approached them and called out to

Climb:
“Oi, cherry boy.”
Could you please not call me by that name? Climb thought as he sensed a change

in his teammates’ eyes.
Fortunately, nobody was looking at him with scorn. Someone seemed to be

smiling on him from the side, someone with a strong attachment to him, like a
parent doting on their child.

“What’s the matter, Gagaran-sama?”
Unlike how she had been at the inn, she was decked out in first-rate magic
items.
The breastplate of her reddish-black spiked full plate armor was inscribed
with eye-like patterns. This was the famous suit of armor known as Gaze Bane.
Her gauntlets were also somewhat unique, carved with patterns of two
intertwining snakes. This relic could restore the health of those it touched. They
were called the Kerykeion Gauntlets.
The long, massive, spiked war pick at her waist was called Fel Iron. The
luxurious crimson cape she wore, — reminiscent of royal garb — was called the
Crimson Guardian. Below her armor was a Vest of Resistance, a Dragontooth
Amulet and a Belt of Greater Power. In addition, she wore Winged Boots and a
Twister Circlet, while the rings she wore also possessed powerful magic.
This was the full battle attire of Gagaran, one of the Kingdom’s topmost
warriors.
She possessed this many jaw-dropping pieces of equipment because she was
an adamantite-ranked adventurer. Much like her, Evileye, Tia and her sister Tina
were outfitted with similarly potent magic items.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just thought the cherry boy might be feeling nervous, so I
came by to smack your ass.”
So she was worried about me…
Still, Climb hoped that she would not keep calling him “cherry boy” He could
go to any old brothel and get rid of his virginity anytime he wanted. He simply
had not chosen to do so.
Just as Climb began weeping inside, Gagaran turned a keen gaze upon Brain,
who was standing by Climb’s side.
“Brain Unglaus. The man who fought the Warrior-Captain to a draw… I see,

so those reports weren’t exaggerated or made up.”
“So you’re Blue Rose’s warrior, Gagaran. I see… incredible. You’re definitely

worthy of being an adamantite-ranked adventurer team’s warrior. In that case,
do I pass?”

Climb had no idea what they meant by passing and not passing. He looked at
Brain, who shrugged and told him what Gagaran was thinking.

“She came to see if I was a warrior worthy of taking care of you, Climb-kun.”
“Really?”
“As if… What happens to you doesn’t really matter to me. I just felt that it
would be a shame for you to die a virgin, so I thought that if we had the time,
maybe I could break you in. Still, now I know that you didn’t beat ‘Phantom
Devil’ by chance. You really are an incredible warrior. Even without crossing
blades, I can tell that it’ll be easy with you around.”
“Thank you very much. On my part, I now know the rumors were true as well.
Still, it’s best not to get careless. There’s a lot of monsters out there who can kill
us in moments.”
“Oh, aren’t we careful. I don’t mind men like that. While you’re not a cherry,
how about a quick tumble?”
“I’ll pass. It’ll probably get squashed.”
Climb did not ask which part of him would get squashed.
“Really? What a shame. Be careful, Climb.”
Gagaran waved farewell and then strode off. As Brain watched her leave, he
quietly said, “I didn’t expect her to be so nice, given the way she looks.”
“It’s not just Gagaran-san, but everyone in Blue Rose is very kind. Evileye-
sama’s the same way too. She might dress like that, but she’s a very nice person.”
“A masked magic caster, huh…That’s right, Gazef said he met a guy called Ainz
Ooal Gown who was also like that. Could it be that wearing masks is a trend
among magic casters… hm? Looks like they’re moving out.”
“Seems like it. The teams that have to travel a long way need to set out first,
otherwise they won’t be able to coordinate their attack timing with us.”
Both of them looked forward, at the teams which were heading out before the
others.
Climb looked around, searching his surroundings for a certain woman.
Naturally, she was not there. She ought to be moving with Prince Zanac now.
He knew she was working hard, so was it selfishness on his part for feeling lonely
without the chance to see her?

“We’d better go too, Climb-kun.”
“…Yes! Let’s go,” Climb told his team.
Climb. The assistant team leader Brain Unglaus. The four former orichalcum-
ranked adventurers. 20 house troops from Marquis Raeven’s estate. They were
then accompanied by a high-ranking priest, staff from the Magician’s Guild and
various support personnel, all of whom had dealings with Marquis Raeven. In
total, 32 people quietly set out.

4

Lower Fire Month, 4th Day – 20:31
“To think we could put together such a team… I must give thanks to Ainz-
sama.”
That was the first thing Sebas said when he saw the people assembled in the
house.
Shalltear and Mare had been dispatched from the Floor Guardians, led by
Demiurge. The forms of Entoma and Solution of the Pleiades battle maids were
also visible. Then, there were many of Demiurge’s high-level vassals — the Evil
Lords. This was a staggering amount of fighting power. One could consider it
overkill.
“To think the first and second strongest of the Floor Guardians would be
here…”
“Mm — and they are under my command, in accordance with Ainz-sama’s
wishes. Sebas, do you object?
“Of course not.”
“Then I hope you will not misunderstand me. Ainz-sama commanded us to
rescue the human (Tsuare) but the fact is that we have assembled these people
for a higher purpose — namely, to slaughter the foolish members of Eight
Fingers who dared spit upon the faces of the Supreme Beings. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly. Rescuing Tsuare is a secondary objective, am I correct?”
“Indeed. However, I do not believe she will be able to endure a resurrection
spell, so I approve of your suggestion to rescue her while she is still alive.”
He said so in sour tones.

“That said, dealing with her if she is dead is a legitimate question. In addition,
if I were the enemy, I would surely toss the head of my hostage at anyone stupid
enough to walk to their deaths.

“But if the hostage taker were you, Demiurge, surely you would abuse the
hostage in front of the enemy in order to frighten them into submission, no?”

“I am forced to admit the rightness of your words. The thought of
immobilizing would-be rescuers and then having them watch as I tortured their
hostage… ah, what a moving sight it would be.”

“And what part of it would move you?
Sebas hid his irritation below his smile as he asked his question. Needless to
say, Demiurge’s perceptive gaze had probably seen through Sebas’ false smile, so
it was nothing more than going through the motions.
“All of it, Sebas. All of it.”
Demiurge smiled thinly, and there was a penetrating gleam within his faceted
eyes.
“Of course, if it were me, I would even let the humans who came to mount a
rescue escape with their hostage. First, I would let them rest at ease and believe
they had escaped, and then I would turn the tables on them. After all, the greater
one’s hope, the deeper one’s despair.”
“That does seem quite fun. Let us try that next time, if we have the chance.”
“B-but, if the enemy really got away, w-wouldn’t that be really bad?”
Demiurge and Shalltear both laughed at this.
“Mare, you say the most interesting things sometimes. The point is that the
enemy does not escape. Well, if they did manage to escape, I would have to praise
them for it.”
“As expected of you, Demiurge. You can afford such arrogance because of your
absolute certainty that the opposition will not escape.”
Demiurge was cheerfully talking about his hobby of tormenting others despite
the limited time. Sebas decided to ask a question to cut that discussion short.
“Demiurge, you said you were going to slaughter the Eight Fingers. Does that
mean you have information on them?”
“Mm, there will be no problems at all. I have secured that intelligence.”
“Ohh,” Sebas breathed in awe. On this point, Sebas’ respect for him was
genuine.
Demiurge should only have spent a very short time in the Royal Capital.
However, he had managed to obtain the relevant information. Sebas had no idea

what methods Demiurge had used to do so. Given that Demiurge was acting in
accordance with their master’s wishes, this was surely not idle talk, but he had
concrete proof to show for it.

“Then there’s the matter of the location — there’s quite a few of them, so we’ll
just have to attack them all. Of course, we need to capture people from several
locations who might possess intelligence, and then we must let Eight Fingers
understand the full extent of their idiocy—”

At this point, Demiurge paused to glance at Sebas before continuing.
“—In order to mete out the appropriate punishment to those who abused the
person which Ainz-sama pledged his protection — and in his own glorious name,
no less — we must have them tell us everything they know. Everyone, are there
any objections?”
“N-not at all!”
“They will pay with their bodies for disrespecting Ainz-sama.”
“I have no objections, of course.”
Thus did the two Floor Guardians and the butler of Nazarick answer
Demiurge.
The two Pleiades and the Evil Lords did not answer, but instead bowed deeply
to Demiurge.
“Very good. Then, Sebas. Could you tell me where the opposition has
summoned you? I wish to see if that location is listed in the information I was
given.”
Sebas told Demiurge the location given in the parchment left in the house,
and Demiurge smiled.
“How fortunate. Or perhaps I should be sad that there is one fewer place to
assault. The address of the location you have is a perfect match for a point I have
scouted. Then I shall hand that area to you.”
“I have no problems with that. However, she might be hurt. I would be
grateful if I could be assigned someone who can use healing magic.”
“Ainz-sama wishes for us to save that human… Solution. I had thought to keep
you as a mobile asset thanks to your exceptional sensory abilities, but would you
be willing to assist Sebas?”
“Understood, Demiurge-sama.”
“And then there are the other humans in that building, the ones who
kidnapped Tsuare…”
“If you dare aid any of those humans who trod Ainz-sama’s name into the dirt,

I really will kill you this time.”
“Don’t worry, Demiurge. I will slaughter them all.”
“I have been watching from the side since just now… but would it trouble the

two of you to speak more cordially?”
Sebas noted that Demiurge had an expression on his face which was difficult

to describe in words. At the same time, he mused that he probably had a similar
look on his own face.

Still, why did he dislike Demiurge so much? It was quite surprising when he
thought about it. He did not dislike Shalltear — who was a sadist much like
Demiurge — yet he could feel anger burning in his belly every time he spoke to
Demiurge.

That said, not going along with Demiurge for this matter would be like
spitting upon his great master’s kindness. Sebas silently apologized to his master
and then bowed to Demiurge.

“You came to help make up for my mistakes, yet I was so rude to you. I
sincerely apologize for that.”

“…I did not take it to heart, Sebas. In any event… once you rescue Tsuare, you
will swiftly evacuate her to the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Will that
be acceptable?”

“Naturally. However, have preparations been made to receive her?”
“It’s fine. We’ve already made preparations in that area~”
Sebas nodded in acknowledgment as he heard Entoma’s honey-sweet voice.
“I trust that there are no other problems, then? I do not think so. Then, I shall
divide us into seven groups, and then decide which of the locations we will
assault. Naturally, Sebas and Solution have already been allocated. And
Shalltear, I need to remind you of one thing!”
The sudden firmness in Demiurge’s tone made Shalltear tremble.
“W-what is it, Demiurge?”
“I am placing you on mobile support duty, so you will be on standby for a
while. You lose your senses when you’re splashed with too much fresh blood,
and having you lose control when fighting a mass of mooks will be troublesome.”
“It, it’s fine! As long as the Spuit Lance drains them dry, it’s much less likely
to trigger.”
“That is still unacceptable. We need to be very careful in this operation. Risks
must be avoided at all costs. Also, let me get this out of the way first, Sebas.
Rescuing Tsuare and punishing Eight Fingers is only the first stage of the plan.

However, I cannot reveal the details of stage two to you, much less the details of
the entire plan. This is because you will be returning to Nazarick after Stage One
is complete, and at that point you will no longer be involved. It is better to
reduce the number of people who know in order to reduce the chances of
information leaking.”

“Understood. Then I shall prepare to move out.”

●

After Sebas left the room, Demiurge turned to the people who remained:
“Alright, first things first. I have something very important to tell you, so pay
close attention. Entoma, you can create illusions, am I correct? Can you create
an illusion as I direct?”
“Understood.”
Heeding Demiurge’s directions, Entoma created an image in the air. The free-
floating illusion pleased Demiurge.
“You are absolutely forbidden from killing this person. Minor damage is fine,
but it is fundamentally prohibited. I hope you all remember. This goes double
for you, Shalltear.”
“There is no need to keep harping on it. I know that…”
Shalltear pouted as Demiurge needled her, while Mare smiled bitterly.
“Ah, is, is it really alright to, er, not tell Sebas-san?”
“Don’t worry. Given his personality, he won’t harm people out of hand…
although, just in case, could you help me stop him in case something unusual
comes up?”
“Understood.”
Demiurge nodded in satisfaction.
This operation was closely linked to a plan that would reap great benefits for
Nazarick. Any serious errors might set back Nazarick’s… no, the Supreme Being
Ainz Ooal Gown’s stated goal of world conquest.
Since his master had said “I will turn the matter over to you,” failure was no
longer an option.
Albedo had also sternly added that due to Shalltear’s, Cocytus’ and now Sebas’
mistakes, any further errors might lead to the abilities of the Floor Guardians
themselves — the most powerful entities created by the Supreme Beings —

coming into question.
Of course, their master had not displayed his displeasure at these mistakes,

and the matter of Cocytus seemed to be proceeding as their master had planned,
but relying on their master’s kindness was most definitely not the right attitude
to have.

I wish to demonstrate the usefulness of the Guardians to Ainz-sama through the
success of this operation.

What value did foolish subordinates who could not satisfy their master
possess?

And then, if their master were thoroughly disappointed by his pathetic
minions, would even the last remaining Supreme Being vanish as well?

Even someone like Demiurge felt his body run cold with fear as he
contemplated that possibility.

We must not fail. In addition, we must succeed brilliantly enough to erase our past
mistakes!

With an iron will in his heart, Demiurge surveyed everyone in the room.
“Also, I hope none of you will forget that the person who brainwashed
Shalltear might still be watching hungrily, waiting for a chance to strike.
Therefore, none of you are permitted to leave your operation areas without
permission. I hope you will all keep that in mind. When any Guardian —
including myself — questions you, you will immediately put up your hands or
the equivalent appendages and refrain from suspicious movements. Any such
movements will be met with death, for safety’s sake. Does anyone have any
questions?”
“Er, ah, I asked a question just now, but can I ask again?”
Demiurge smiled warmly to Mare, and then made a gesture to indicate that
he should continue speaking.
“Al-alright. I, I remember that Sebas-san does not have a World Class Item
like we do. Is that alright?”
“Ainz-sama has considered that point before. Sebas will serve as bait. Ideally,
the enemy will take it. Albedo is standing by in the Throne Room for precisely
that reason. In addition, those who cannot use the [Message] spell must be more
careful and not act on their own. I will be overseeing the entire operation, so
please contact me if you have any questions. In addition, I have already informed
Mare about everything, including my plan, so if an emergency arises where you
cannot contact me, Mare will direct the operation.”

“Then… what about myself?”
“Forgive me, Shalltear. However like I said earlier, I cannot trust you
completely, so you will be standing by for now. Ah, what I mean is that I am
worried about your [Blood Frenzy].”
“I got it! I! Got! It!”
“Once Stage One is complete, we will begin Stage Two. I will now begin
explaining this stage, which is the most critical stage. Thus, I hope you will pay
close attention — what is it?”
A Shadow Demon appeared out of Demiurge’s shadow and whispered a report
to him.
“Is that so? Well, it is sudden, but it cannot be helped.”
This matter was quite troublesome for Demiurge, but he could not leave
matters at that.
“Forgive me, Mare. According to the latest news, there is one more Eight
Fingers base to attack. I apologize for this, but I hope you will change your
target. I believe you will be sufficient by yourself, but for safety’s sake, take
Entoma with you.”
“Al-alright. Er, ah, please leave it to me.”
“Well answered. Then, we shall discuss the details later. While everyone is
here, I will begin explaining the plan for Stage Two — Gehenna. This is the most
important part of our operations in the Royal Capital, so I hope you will pay
close attention.”

Chapter 8 The Six Arms

Chapter 8 | The Six Arms

1

Lower Fire Month, 4th Day – 21:51
In the Kingdom, people were used to sleeping at dusk. This was because
lighting lamps cost money. Villages with more poor families typically lived a
regimented lifestyle of working in the day and resting at night.
However, life in the urban areas was different from how it was in the
agricultural regions. This difference was particularly apparent in the colorful,
busy city streets. They sprang to life when the shops and residences lit up, like
nocturnal beasts.
However, this was not so in the place where Climb was headed. That place
was not a shining nightlife district, but more like a lightless street, shrouded in
darkness.
Climb was silent and he did not carry a lantern as he walked through the quiet
alleys. The fact that he could see while moving in the darkness was thanks to a
magical effect in his helmet which made it function like a set of night vision
goggles. While he could only see up to 15 meters in front of him, what he could

see was as bright as day.
In addition, the plates of his full plate armor — made of mythril and other

materials — did not make noise when they bumped into each other, unlike steel
plate armor. In addition, the enchantment on the armor meant that there were
no sounds of metallic rustling when in motion. Unless they had exceptional
hearing or were a skilled thief, not even someone standing beside Climb would
be able to pick up on the sounds of him walking.

That was why he had joined the reconnaissance party.
After walking down the alley, his target came into view.
It was surrounded by imposing walls, which sealed it off from the surrounding
area. It felt like a prison, or a fortress. His mind raced with dark thoughts like
What sort of illegal activities are going on inside? Even the magical lamps installed
on either side of the door could not dispel that mental image.
According to their intelligence, their target ought to be behind these walls,
but he could not see it from here.
“That’s it. I’m sure of it,” Climb muttered as he hunkered down. A voice
answered from the empty air beside him.
“Agreed, leader. Judging by the feel of this place, that should be it. I’ll go take
a look around, then.”
The person who replied was a former orichalcum-ranked adventurer who
possessed thief-type skills. After he was done, Brain — who was traveling with
them — added:
“Be careful. You might be invisible, but some warriors can see through it.”
“Of course. Our enemy is the Eight Fingers, after all. I’ll be operating under
the assumption that they have thieves or magic casters on my level. So I hope
the two of you will pray for my success.”
With that, the presence beside Climb began fading away. While he could not
hear anything even while craning his neck to listen, perhaps a thief on par with
him might be able to hear soft footsteps drawing away, heading towards the
residence.
This left Climb and Brain.
They had left the others behind because they were not skilled at stealthy
movement. The noise from full plate armor would practically broadcast their
location to the enemy. That said, nobody was foolhardy enough to take off their
armor and approach the enemy when there was an upcoming battle.
That was why the two of them were here.

Of course, they were both warriors, and they could not move like thieves did.
Even so, Climb and Brain could move in the darkness — Climb relying on his
enchanted armor, while Brain used martial arts — and together they had come
this close to the enemy camp. However, what came next could only be left to a
professional.

The two of them had risked so much to come here so that they could decide
whether to attack or flee if the infiltration failed or if the enemy bolstered their
defenses. Therefore, their mission was already accomplished just by staying here
and watching the enemy.

Even so, they could not help but feel uneasy as time passed. Since they were
waiting and had not gone in themselves, their thoughts naturally turned towards
the worst.

“It’ll be okay, right?”
As the words slipped from Climb’s mouth, Brain calmly answered:
“I don’t know, but… all we can do is trust him. We have to trust in the skills
of a former orichalcum-ranked adventurer.”
“You’re right. After all, he’s a veteran adventurer.”
They did not know how long they had waited, but Brain’s hand suddenly went
to the Katana at his waist. Just as Climb was about to reach for his sword in
response, a somewhat panicked male voice came from beside them.
“Wait! Wait! It’s me. I’m back.”
It was the voice of the thief who had gone to scout ahead.
“Ah, as I thought. You came so close but didn’t do anything, so I thought… you
must have been trying to see if I could really detect you with martial arts, right?”
“Yes, sorry about that. You’re right. I’m really sorry for daring to test the skills
of the great Brain Unglaus.”
“Don’t worry about it. I might have done the same thing in your position. That
aside, can you tell us what you’ve learned?
The air rippled beside Climb, and he sensed that someone had sat down. He
could not see anyone when he looked beside him, yet she had a strange feeling
that someone was there.
“—First, I think that place is used for training of some sort. There’s a large
yard behind the wall, making it look like a practice yard. I only had a cursory look
through the interior, but there seem to be several segregated rooms inside. I
guess it’s a base for Eight Fingers’ security division. Also, there’s one place which
was heavily guarded, so I had trouble approaching. And then something terrible

happened, leader.”
The man’s tone changed. It was now filled with the utmost tension.
“I discovered two important things when I went inside. One is that there’s a

prison here, with a woman inside. The other is that there are several people here
whose descriptions match those of Six Arms.”

The woman aside, they had already expected Six Arms to be here. So what was
the problem?

Climb’s doubts were immediately answered by a question from Brain.
“You said ‘several people’? Doesn’t sound like one person.”
“Five of them. Now that Phantom Devil’s been captured, that ought to be all
of them.”
In other words, this was an impossible hurdle for them. They had drawn the
short straw. However—
“That’s… well, it’s terrible, but it’s also pretty fortunate. Since they’re all here,
that means the others can easily take down the other locations.”
That was the silver lining on a very dark cloud.
“Then, what should we do?”
“What can we do? We can’t attack this place. Let’s fall back.”
“Are you alright with that, Climb-kun?”
“I don’t like it, but we don’t have a choice. If Six Arms are gathered here, then
it must be a permanent base or it holds something they value heavily. It would
be bad if we withdrew before verifying that. However, I don’t think we should
do anything our fighting power can’t cover.”
“Indeed…”
“Then, should I go in again and take a look, maybe bring some documents
back?”
“No, it’s too risky. Forget it. Since they haven’t found us yet, I think it would
be wiser to retreat right away. What do you think?”
“That’s right, I approve. But then what should we do next, attack another
point?”
“I think that would be the most effective course of action. Could you report
to the people behind us? We’ll wait here to make sure nobody comes out to
pursue you.”
“I doubt there’ll be anyone like that, but you can’t be too careful. In that case,
I’ll leave this to the two of you.”
The thief had not yet dispelled his invisibility as he deliberately moved quickly

so Climb and Brain could hear. He then fell back to where the rest of the team
members were waiting.

“…Doesn’t seem like there’s any movement so far, Climb-kun.”
“Yes. Then we should probably retreat and go to another location with the
others.”
“Sounds good — hm. Climb-kun, look.”
Climb’s eyes followed Brain’s finger, and they both saw a man they had met
yesterday heading for the building they were watching.
“Isn’t that Sebas-sama? Why is he here?”
“…It doesn’t seem like a coincidence, but… what happened? Is he part of
them?”
“I’m sure he isn’t. Brain-sama, you think so too, right?”
“Aye, he can’t be. Unless he’s really good at acting. Still, I don’t think Sebas-
sama is that kind of man.”
“In any case, let’s call out—”
Just as the words left his mouth, Sebas turned and his eyes fixed on the two
of them. Climb and Brain were some distance away from the building in order
to observe it, and they were hidden in the darkness. Under normal
circumstances, it would have been quite hard to find them. While he might have
looked in their direction by chance, Climb was completely certain that it was not
the case this time around.
Sebas jogged over.
His speed was abnormal. He was so fast that he seemed to be teleporting every
time they blinked as he closed the distance to them. He was running normally,
but his celerity was such that their brains refused to acknowledge it.
Then, he flew over their heads. More accurately, he leapt over the heads of the
two people hunkered down in the alley.
“What a coincidence, fancy meeting you two here. Is something the matter?”
“Er, no, we actually wanted to ask that ourselves… we were planning to attack
that building which was owned by Eight Fingers, so we were lying in wait here.”
“…Just the two of you?”
“No, there’s several others behind us.”
“I see,” Sebas said quietly. Climb then asked him:
“Sebas-sama, why did you come here? Do you have business in that building?”
“Yes. That is precisely so. The woman I mentioned yesterday, the one whom
I rescued, was kidnapped. The enemy called me over here, and so I came.”

“Is that so! Our colleague who scouted ahead did say there was a woman
inside.”

“…And where is that comrade of yours?”
“Oh, I think he’ll be back soon… ah, there he is.”
The no-longer-invisible adventurer returned from where Brain was looking.
He looked at Sebas in surprise. Clearly, the sudden appearance of this dashing
old gentleman was quite out of place here.
“This is Sebas-sama, the person who lent us his aid when we caught the
Phantom Devil. The person in the cell you mentioned earlier seems to be a friend
of Sebas-sama’s, which is why we met here. This man is completely trustworthy,
so please do not worry.”
“I see,” the thief answered. He then began talking about what he had learned
starting with news on that woman. After hearing everything, Sebas spoke in a
grateful voice.
“I see. I understand. Thank you. Rescuing her now will be much easier.”
“No, please don’t worry about it, sir. By the way, everyone’s ready to pull
out…”
The thief felt guilty as he realized that he and the others had decided to retreat
while that female friend of Sebas was still locked up within that building. He
sneaked a look at Sebas’ face.
“Sebas-sama. Five of the strongest fighters in Eight Fingers, called Six Arms,
are in that building… Can you defeat them?”
The thief knotted his brows as he heard Climb’s question. Climb understood
what he was thinking. The Six Arms were each the equivalent of an adamantite-
ranked adventurer. Surely he must have thought that taking five of them on at
once was impossible. However, Sebas simply ignored those thoughts and nodded
gently.
“Five people of Succulent’s caliber shouldn’t be a problem.”
The thief kept himself from rolling his eyes, then he pulled Climb and Brain
away. He looked at Sebas with a pained expression on his face, and then asked
them:
“…Leader. Is he a madman?”
Anyone would think such a thing upon hearing Sebas speak like that. Anyone
who knew the strength of an adamantite-ranked adventurer would surely think
so too. However, Climb had glimpsed a fraction of Sebas’ power, and he knew
that Sebas was definitely not bragging.

“No. That man really is that amazing.”
The thief stared long and hard at Climb. The look in his eye was as though he
was gazing upon a lunatic.
“Brain-sama thinks so too.”
“Eh?! Even Brain Unglaus thinks that as well?”
Brain smiled bitterly to the thief and nodded.
“Yes, Sebas-sama is strong enough that Gazef and I couldn’t beat him even if
we went at him together.”
“That. that’s really… no, if what you said is true, then it would be amazing…”
It was hard to believe, but he had to accept it given that the two of them had
said that much. The thief looked at Sebas with a complex expression on his face.
“If we can count on your aid, Sebas-sama, we might be able to… sorry, could
you tell Sebas-sama about the Six Arms?”
The thief agreed, and Sebas quietly waited for him to finish speaking.
However, he lost his gentlemanly reserve upon hearing the title of one of Six
Arms’ members.
“Undying King Davernoch, is it… a mere fool does not deserve that title.”
Sebas did not react beyond those muttered words, and the thief finished
sharing his information. Just then, Climb asked:
“Then, Sebas-sama… if you don’t mind, could we count on your assistance?”
“Of course. I came to save Tsuare, after all. Leave Six Arms to me, then.”
“Then I hope you will come at them from the front and draw their attention,
Sebas-sama. We will use that opportunity to infiltrate the place. While we
cannot possibly replace you, please allow us to help rescue Tsuare-san on your
behalf.”
“Just as well. Nothing would be better than for you gentlemen to help rescue
her while the enemy is distracted, to prevent her from becoming a hostage or
from being spirited away via a different route.”
“I understand. We will definitely rescue Tsuare-san safely. Then, who will be
going in? I know the original plan was to have everyone infiltrate, and it was a
good idea…”
“Hm — if we’re sneaking in quietly, then we need to make as little noise as
possible. After that, once we rescue Tsuare-san, we’ll need to head out as directly
as possible, so we’ll need to be able to fight. That being the case…”
The thief looked at Climb and Brain after the two of them addressed their
questions to him.

“Well, if we had unlimited use of [Invisibility] spells there might be another
way, but… I think the three of us are the most suitable for the task.”

“You mean I can go too?”
“Well, my fellow warriors’ armor is too noisy, so they’re not suitable for
infiltration.”
“I understand. Then we’ll be sneaking in.”
“If our magic caster could use [Silence] spells or the like, it’d be a different
matter… well, if it’s just the three of us, then there’s still a way. I’ll ask everyone
to cast [Invisibility] spells on us.
“[Invisibility], huh,” Climb said bitterly. “My helmet can see through
invisibility once a day, so I’ve no problems if everyone is invisible, but how about
the rest of you? It would be bad if we got lost because we couldn’t see the
others.”
“I’m fine. Someone’s already cast a [See Invisibility] spell on one of my magic
items. It can only be used once, but I can use it on myself.”
“I don’t have an ability like that, but I don’t think I’ll miss the sound of your
footsteps, leader.”
“Is that so. Then communications between the infiltration party ought to be
fine. In that case, we’ll be going in first; please wait a while before making your
move, Sebas-sama.”
“I will be counting on you.”
Sebas bowed his hoary head to them, which startled Climb and Brain. After
all, they had done nothing to make this amazing man bow to them. This was
because they were sort of using the mighty Sebas, much like they had during the
brothel raid.
“No, please don’t worry about it. The truth is, we came to attack this location.
In fact, we’re very grateful that you’re willing to deal with Six Arms for us, Sebas-
sama.”
“Then we are helping each other out, are we not?”
There was no hint of any resentment or malice towards Climb and the others
on Sebas’ smiling face. Climb stood up, his heart at ease.
“Then we will be falling back first, to have the others cast spells on us.”

2

Lower Fire Month, 4th Day – 22:15
Some time later — although it was still a few minutes before the appointed
time — Sebas stood before the main gate. The gate was lattice-shaped, so he
could peer through it, but the trees within prevented him from seeing too far
inside.
“Oi, you’re on time, aren’t you?” a voice asked hoarsely. Following that, a man
stepped out from among the trees.
Of course, Sebas had noticed the man’s presence from the beginning. That
was because he had activated an ability which allowed him to sense all life signs
within an area. That said, sometimes it could not detect opponents who were
using stealth-type skills, so he could not rely too heavily on it. However, it was
still useful to some extent.
“This way. Follow me.”
The man opened the door, and he led Sebas down a path in the yard.
Considering this yard was the property of a criminal organization like Eight
Fingers, it did not feel particularly gloomy and the vegetation was neatly
trimmed, as though they had a skilled gardener taking care of things.
After following the path for a while, a vast space which looked like a training
area unfolded before his eyes.
There were several bonfires blazing away merrily, and bright red firelight
illuminated the surroundings.
There were about 30 people here, with many men and several women among
them, and they all had wicked smiles on their faces. Said smiles were crude and

intoxicated with violence, certain of the prospect of victory.
Sebas looked around him. There was nobody here who could begin to rival

him, but he found the Six Arms of which Climb had spoken.
One of them wore a hooded robe. The robe was black, stitched with a bright

red flame pattern below the waist. Sebas could not see the face under the hood,
but there was no trace of life energy wafting out from beneath it. In fact, it was
precisely the opposite. It would seem the nickname of “Undying” was not merely
metaphorical, but that this was a true undead being; hence the name.

Their sole female was dressed sheer silks, and looked to be agile. She wore
gold bangles on her wrists and ankles, which rang with crisp metallic sounds as
she moved. She had six scimitars at her waist.

The next man was dressed in a cotton suit. He also wore a gold-stitched jacket
(a matador’s traje de luces) and a vest. His weapon was a thin sword whose blade
seemed to be extending from a rose blossom, and it radiated a rose’s fragrance.

The final man wore a suit of unadorned full plate armor, and his sword was
securely stowed within its sheath.

There were four of them in total. Their leader Zero was not here. He was
probably waiting somewhere to make his appearance.

The four of them advanced on him, and the others moved to encircle Sebas.
“Hey gramps, I heard you’re pretty good, huh? You can send a man flying with
just your fists, right?”
“We got to where we were in Eight Fingers through our skills. It would be
pretty bad if we lost. That idiot didn’t realize that. While the slave trading
division’s on the decline, we can’t lose in front of their boss.”
“Actually, at this point I have a question. Succulent insisted that he lost to
Brain Unglaus. Or did he lose to you, but he just didn’t want to admit it?”
“Yes. I never fought him directly. I met him once at the house, and the next
time I saw him, he was unconscious on the ground.”
“I see. Well, all right, it’s no wonder he lost. Considering his opponent was
the great Brain Unglaus, there’s no way he could have won with that strength of
his.”
“Considering he continued honing his skills after that duel and he’s on par
with Gazef Stronoff, I suppose it’s understandable why he lost.”
“Still, that doesn’t mean we can let you off. We’ll take care of Unglaus and the
Princess’ shiny lackey later. You’ll be the first, you troublemaking old man. We’ll
kill you first.”