Chapter 83 - Volume 11 (1/2)

v11 Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The I Crisis

1

The Great Rift

It referred to the huge chas the western side of the Dwarven Capital, Feoh Gēr

It was aand 120m across at its narrowest point Its depth was unknown nobody kneas waiting down there, and nobody had returned alive froate it

For the longest time, this natural barrier had protected Feoh Gēr from all manner of monstrous attacks They could thwart anyas they defended the suspension bridge which ran across the Great Rift

Yet today, Feoh Gēr’s garrison — the military base that stood between the Great Rift and Feoh Gēr — was in a whirl of shouts and confusion

“What’s going on? So on!”

That cry came from the commander-in-chief of the Dwarven Army, a veteran of over 10 years of service

The inforarbled and contradictory, and nobody had any idea of as happening The only thing he could be certain about was that so had happened at the fortress which defended the Great Rift

“The oa are attacking!” one of the platoon co a report from the fortress

News like that was hardly uncooa and the Dwarves were roups of hundreds There had beenthe commander-in-chief’s ten years of service than he could remember, but until now all of theed to get close to the garrison, oa were a race that was strong against weapon attacks, but very weak against electrical attacks Knowing this, they had stocked the fortress with ] and co] was a spell that pierced the eneainst an enee It could wipe out an entire wave of Quagoa in one shot, and on top of that, the Dwarves guarding that place were armed with crossbows enchanted with the ability to inflict additional electrical daarrison were inferior in both gear and numbers However, it was not because they did not wish to allocate military power to an important base, but because the Dwarven Army had always lacked in manpower Thus, the fortress had to draw its defenders froer pool of troops, and they had to do so in numbers which would not invite censure

Despite all this specialization against Quagoa attacks, the fortress was now in a state where they did not even have the people left to call for aid What did that mean?

“Don’t tell ht off! Have there been any otheruntil now”

Cold sweat poured down the co invasion” appeared before his eyes There had been ruo, but even so, he had been trying his best to deceive hi Yet, it was unfolding before his eyes

The coether Noas not the tis

What was the right thing to do now?

A gently-sloping tunnel in the shape of a spiral led froarrison to the fortress, and ahead of thearrison was located at was their final defensive line, and on top of that, they had gates of mithril which were alloyed with orichalcum They could withstand an eneates

Should they close the gates?

If they did so, they would not be able to send out reinforce their co for their lives at the fortress

Still, his hesitation only lasted for a moment

There were less than 20 people in the fortress There were over 100’000 Dwarves in Feoh Gēr There could be only one anshen one thought of which side had priority

“Close the gates!”

“Relay the orders! Close the gates!”

Before the echoes faded fro sound caates covered the entrance These gates, which had not been touched except during training, were now being used for their true purpose

“Sir! It’s the Quagoa!”

“What?!”

After hearing the cry fro the tunnel entrance, the co for at the -enchanted weapons, even one of them was a formidable foe And now, hordes of them, so many that they could not counted with both hands, were rushi+ng at them

How could this be? Had the fortress really fallen? How ainst theates?

The commander-in-chief had these and many other questions in his heart, but in the end he shook his head

“Don’t let thereat cries, the soldiers for this did not slow the speed of the Quagoa charge This was because they trusted in their fur and hide to protect theainst ue The Quagoa had made a wise choice Their skin was such that crossbow boltsa spear line could do was to hold them at bay However, the people here had anticipated that the Quagoa would try soainst it

“Mages! Blitzkrieg!”

A third-tier area-of-effect spell, [Thunderball] and two second-tier spells, [Thunderlances] cale which would not hit them

The casters of these spells were the threeat the head of the horde was instantly slain by the [Thunderball], as one would expect of the Quagoa’s bane The Quagoa behind the hit by it as well

It was only for a short period, but it gave thereat clang The sounds of hah from the other side of the sturdy doors

The tense athtened somewhat However, the commander-in-chief, the men around him, and everyone here knew that this was not over yet

The gates were very tough The teeth and claws of regular Quagoa would not be able to daoa had teeth which were said to rival the hardness of s, it would not be unusual to find such entities participating in an attack like this There was no way to rule out any probleate was electrified!”

That was a suggestion the commander-in-chief had ates alone were not reliable enough as a final line of defense Of course, there had been various reasons for why they could not enchant the gates, such as a lack of national power, but a big part of that had been because the fortress had always her-ups had the attitude that “as long as the fortress holds, everything will be fine”

Looking around, he saw grim and dark expressions on everyone’s faces

This was bad If they lost their hope for the future, they would end up losing when the fighting became desperate

The commander-in-chief decided to turn the situation around, and shouted:

“Well done! We’ve ensured the city’s safety! But it’s not guaranteed by anyup barricades in case the eneates! Hurry up!”

New determination filled the faces of the Dwarven soldiers The knowledge that there was still soile hope was better than none at all

The commander-in-chief’s chief of staff stood beside him and whispered into his ear

“Sir, should we bury the gate with sand and dirt?”

The commander-in-chief pondered the other Dwarf’s words

If they sealed it off completely, many Dwarves would express their disapproval

“They have no idea what’s going on”

The commander-in-chief noticed his chief of staff’s expression He had probably assumed the commander-in-chief’s statement to be a reply to his question

“Sorry, I didn’t ent Council”

“You’re one of them too, aren’t you, commander-in-chief? So that’s their response to a co it off is enough We should abandon Feoh Gēr”

The coed his chief of staff by the hand to a place where the men would not hear them

He did not want their conversation to be overheard by anyone

“You think so too?”

They had no idea how ate

The enemy attack had been too swift and they had been forced onto the back foot Thus, they had lostnoas like locking the their eyes

The only solid piece of data they had was that the enenable fortress, and they had to think of a way to deal with that

Under these circu power into consideration, it would be extreates and beat back the eneht well be to abandon their capital

“Then, howit in dirt and soil buy us?”

“If we collapse the cavern, we’ll be able to buy a lot of tiain a few days at ers will a collapse pose?”

“As you knoe aren’t far fro the Tunnel Doctors check, there’s a chance that it ht affect the city as well The worst case scenario is that a shortcut opens up froh it and into Feoh Gēr…”

“In other words, we need to find out right now Then, next question Do you think the fortress fell under sheer weight of numbers? Why didn’t the people in the fortress inforht of a few possibilities Personally, the oa have enlisted the help of another species”

“Could it be the Frost Dragons?”

The Quagoa had conquered the former Dwarven capital of Feoh Berkanan, and had taken it as their home However, the Royal Palace at the heart of the city was ruled by a Frost Dragon

Both parties did not have a perfectly cooperative relationshi+p, but since they lived together, they ht help each other out

The coons were essentially natural disasters once they reached a certain age

There had originally been four Dwarven cities

Feoh Berkanan, which had been abandoned during the attack of the Deo

Feoh Gēr of the east, which was their current capital

Feoh Raiđō to the south, which had been abandoned several years ago

And finally, Feoh Tiwaz, to the west

This western city had been destroyed during a battle between two Frost Dragons — Olasird’arc=Haylilyal and Munuinia=Ilyslym, and it was little more than tumbled ruins

“I feel that it’s very likely While I don’t knohat they did to induce that arrogant lot to take action, the other alternative is that they did it themselves; either they invented some kind of spell, or they found a route that bypassed the Great Rift”

“Even arves haven’t found a way around the Great Rift”

“Still, howa tunnel or so as other ave theone above ground too”

“The Quagoa on the surface?”

“There oa were completely blind under the sun, so it was ioa to move their forces on the surface

However, that wason his part

No, it was too late to regret it now He had to take that into consideration when planning future strategies

“Chief of Staff, we need to consider that they round and enhance our surface defenses accordingly Send a few people over without coet word to the Council and have thearrison, the fortress in front of the Great Rift and the Council Chamber in the city itself, there was one more military base in the Dwarven city of Feoh Gēr

It was a fortress erected for the benefit of those people taller than Dwarves — hu to the surface The coave the order to reinforce that area and stay alert for any surface attacks

“Understood!”

“Also, have the men prepare to bury the door If we need the Council’s permission, I’ll find a way to convince them”

“What if the Council takes their ti?”

“Do your best I’ll do my best too”

That was all he could say Of course, his plan was to push for it as hard as possible, in his position as one of the eight councillors, but if the others vetoed him, then all he could do was try as hard as he could on his own

“Report! Report! I have a report! Where’s the co toward the source of that voice, the co Lizard

Riding Lizards were a kind of Giant Lizard They were large reptiles that measured three meters from head to tail They were not very numerous, so the Dwarves raised them as mounts and used them as pack beasts for day to day work

However, e They were only employed in dire circuarrison know about the conditions on the frontline

Unease filled the heart of the commander-in-chief

“Where’s that man from?”

“He should have been posted to the fortress at the surface entrance this week”

That validated the feeling of dread in the coiven the man’s expression and his near-crazed tone, it was plainly obvious Asking that e the reality before his eyes

“I’er ran towards the commander-in-chief at full speed It could not be delayed This was so which had to be heard immediately so a course of action could be quickly deterer fell off the Lizard’s back, and shouted as he desperately tried to right hiency! Mon-monsters! There’s oa, but he quickly ruled that out The oa

“Cal! What happened? Is everyone else alright?”

“Y-yes! There’s scary monsters at the entrance! They say they want to talk about the Quagoa army headed this way!”

“Whaaaaaaat?!”

Their tiine that the two events were unconnected Could they be the bosses of the Quagoa, or the ones who helped them cross the Great Rift?

“Who, who are they? What do they look like! Chief of Staff! Gather every ht now!”

“Understood!”

The commander-in-chief did not even have the time to watch his panicked subordinate leave

“How many of those monsters are there?! What are your losses?!”

“Y-yes! There’s about 30 of theht! They even said they wanted to make a deal with us, but they looked very evil, so I don’t think that was their real intention There must be some sort of scheme at work!”

How exactly did they qualify as evil? More i questioned again, the soldier gulped and explained,

“They’re fearso aura!”

“What?! The undead?!”

Beings who hated the living, who sowed death in their wake, the enees appeared in the commander-in-chief’sZombies, Frost Bones, and the like However, none of those undead were powerful adversaries This man should have known that In that case, as he so afraid?

Besides, why had the undead coht in the oa, both of which were living beings?

“Chief of Staff, are you ready yet?! Move out once you’re done! We don’t knohat kind of undead are out there, but do not take thehtly! Don’t let thehtily, but if they look down on us, we’ll be in danger!!”

2

The group advanced, with Gondo in the lead

Since Gondo usually travelled underground, he was not very familiar with the surface Therefore, he had to rely on his sense of direction over the terrain when it ca forward Initially, Ainz orried about this But after seeing Gondo advance without hesitation, he began to trust the uidance to him

The fact was that Gondo had no reason to deliberately lead Ainz astray now that the Quagoa were attacking the Dwarven capital That being the case, there should be no proble him lead the way

Under Gondo’s leadershi+p, Aura’s rassy plain

They boasted high dexterity and great staical beasts Even in the thin air of the snowyAinz and the others on their backs, their speed did not decrease one bit They headed north at speeds of over 100 k rowls froical beasts scared them all away Thanks to that, their travel time was cut to a minimum

In less than a day, they had reached the sole reuided his beast over to Gondo and asked him a question

“…Well then, Gondo The southern city of Feoh Raiđō was accessed through a fissure in a cave Is Feoh Gēr like that as well?”

If that was the case, they would need to search for a way in Gondo — who had initially been frightened by hisit — replied:

“Umu Most cities where Dwarves live are like that However, Feoh Gēr was designed with considerations for large-scale trade with huhtly different from Feoh Raiđō Firstly, it’s easy for humans to find, and in order to e fortress on the outside You’ll knohen you see it”

Ainz looked around after hearing that, but he still could not find any trace of a structure

“You won’t see it if you don’t head further northeast”

Gondo’s words were full of confidence It would seem he was quite certain of where their destination was Since he was the only one who could lead the, so all he could do was trust hie] spell

The captured Quagoa had been taken to Nazarick There, they had been questioned, and their knowledge used to suppleoa were a race that suboa of the Azellisian Mountain Range were divided into eight clans, all of ere united under the Clan Lord They nu this information, Ainz stamped them as a race which held no char the Dwarves or the Quagoa, Ainz would choose the former without hesitation

However, he learned that thedeterth when they ive rise to a powerful individual

Then, he thought about the prisdom

Even if he had not eaten one of the prismatic ores, perhaps this Clan Lord had reached his station by eating one of the rare h to capture, then it orth investigating hi theh I’ 80’000 people After all, that’s the sort of country I want

The country Ainz wanted

It was a nation where many races lived in hare one had of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown

It was a nation where his friends, wherever they were, could live and sht to show these Quagoa some mercy

Still, if they swear their loyalty to me, where should I put them? This e to the south of E-Rantel? But there ht be residents there too… Uy level as the theood idea to let Cocytus handle the this far, Ainz considered the opposite side of the coin

What if they don’t bend the knee? Shall I rule them by force? Shall I exterminate them? Or should I kill all the adults and use the children for experi over them the best way?

As he considered various ht

“Over there!”

Ainz looked where Gondo was pointing, and sure enough, there was soainst the side of the ht for it While there wereso, and thus they proceeded directly and openly

As they closed the distance to the fortress, the defenders at the fortress spotted them, and the sentries came to life

Much like what he would do before a sales pitch, Ainz inspected his clothing, and ic iteet torn or wrinkled, but his memories as Suzuki Satoru told him that he should check anyway

After they approached the fortress, the Dwarves cocked their crossbows and took aiht be lethally wounded by the bolts were Gondo and Zenberu

While he had thought of sending theotiate to prove that they had no hostile intentions, they , so he abandoned that idea Instead, Ainz would proceed first, while Gondo and Zenberu would show up later

He halted his beast outside the effective range of their crossbows and then dise of the crossbows, he ordered Shalltear and Aura to stand by and protect Gondo and Zenberu

After that, all that reies

If there were any players, they would immediately take a defensive stance and fall back While he could not confir his talks with Gondo on the road, it was more likely that they did not exist However, if he was careless, hethe NPCs (the children) and Ainz did not want to experience that a second ti him from thehad the same frozen expression on their faces Thanks to their messy beards, he could not differentiate one individual Dwarf from another, but how should he put this — they looked coh, Ainz stepped forward, faking an air of calm

His hands were raised, to show that he had no hostile intent

As he drew closer to the fortress—

“Hold it right there!”

—A warning cry rang out It sounded like its oas having a seizure Granted, he was undead, but Ainz could not help sighing internally as he mused, this is a pretty bad reception for sons of hostility

“Why have you come here, undead!”

Ainz stroked his shi+ny cheekbones

“I adoe a friendly relationshi+p with the Dwarven nation We will not attack you if you do not attack us, so please lower your weapons”

Confusion appeared in the eyes of the Dwarves watching fro:

“After capturing the Quagoa who invaded Feoh Raiđō, I learned of their plans to attack this place If you have no faith in your strength of arladly render assistance Yes, that’s right — it will be a good show of friendshi+p”

He sesture did not carry over to the opposite side

“What about that Dwarf behind you? Is he a hostage?!”

It would seem the Dwarves were still wary of hi, you know? Is that any way to talk to a king?”

The Dwarves looked at each other, and then one of the on, show us so!”

“—-I see That does reed “Then, allow me to introduce him He is one of you, Gondo the smith, wholy reat pains to practice

With the air of a natural-born leader, he gestured to his subordinate to step forward

A deep sense of satisfaction filled Ainz as he heard the stifled gasps of awe co hours of practice had not gone to waste

Now that Gondo was here, Ainz — as in a goodand yielded the floor to him

“Sorry, but can you enter the fortress and explain the situation to them in detail?”

“Umu, leave it to ates and requested perates did not open

“…What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know Maybe so happened?”

“… Is, is that really hiic to take his face!”

Ainz frowned as he heard the Dwarves’ voices Staying alert was very important, and even Ainz approved of it Still, they would not be able to ress if nobody trusted the about the possibility ofan acquaintance here If that was the case, they would be very fortunate

“I say, Gondo, can you prove yourself to thee of this city? Like say, where you live, so that only a person who lived in this city would know?”

“Oh, ohhh, yes… I’ll tell that guy’s wife his secret Ah, there’s a restaurant called the Black Gold Beard Pavilion! It’s run by a guy whose face looks like an anvil His food tastes terrible, and the only decent thing there is the stew!”

The Dwarves fell silent Ainz looked at Gondo, so too hard

“Idiot! That place isn’t for eating, but for drinking! Their stout tastes best!”

“Liar! It’s the red mushroom beer that’s the , their cloudy wine is the best! Just iorizake)

“None of you knohat real beer tastes like! Bearded Lady’s the best!”

Ainz made a mental note that the Dwarves liked their beer a lot, and then replied to them:

“How about it? Can you accept that this is the real Gondo? Speaking of which, all anted to do was infor to circle around the Great Rift and attack this city All you have to do is send our warning to the people at the top This way, our country will have discharged its duty, even if the Quagoa attack is a fierce one It would be quite upsetting if you chastised us afterwards”

Several Dwarves pulled their heads back from the s

So a discussion

“Wait there! We’ll send a report to our co to Gondo, that person was the highest appointment holder in this country’s military

It would seehest authority

“Kukuku~”

Ainz did not suppress his chuckling

There was a clattering noise, and when Ainz glanced towards its source, he saw that Dwarves had trained their crossbows on hied; they seerip of powerful ehed?

“Forgive ht if only Gondo enters? He’s proven his origins, hasn’t he?”

“No, he can’t, no, it’s not allowed, stay there! Wait there!”

He had not been laughing at them, but it would see emotions were suppressed, but small emotional ripples could sneak by

Hoould a company react if a salesman whoh he had so about that It had resulted in a ht as he backed away together with Gondo

And so they stood there for some time

When Jircniv came to visit, I provided refreshments, furniture and made all sorts of preparations to welcos like that? …No, the circumstances now are different froed visit, Ainz was essentially a cold-calling door-to-door salesrateful that they had not chased him away on the spot

In addition, he would not be able to enjoy any drinks they gave hiive the Dwarves very valuable infor for an appropriate response Well, I can use that as fodder for negotiation during official diplomatic relations I’ll bear with it for now

Still, it would probably be better to change and avoid giving offense

First, he took out a fake Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown It was a perfect cosmetic copy, down to the metal used in its construction However, that was all; it did not possess even a tenth of the power of the original, and it was merely socketed with jewels that had the sainal

Ainz ilohich quickly darkened Why did it have such an adjustment function? His past companions’ obsession filled him with irritation

It did not seem to be linked to his own aura

Ainz radiated a black halo froe

Is it just a visual effect?

There was a sudden clatter, which snapped Ainz out of his thoughts When he turned to look at the source of the sound, he saw three Dwarves seated on the ground

They looked like the Dwarvesthe fortress, but at the same time they seemed more impressive In truth, two of them were better-dressed than the other That one must have been a soldier in this fortress, and the other tould probably be his superiors

…Why are the three of the down to talk the proper etiquette a atif it’s a Dwarf-only expression

Their mouths were hidden by their beards, so it was difficult to see the looks they had on their faces

Baffled, Ainz nevertheless extended a hand to the seated Dwarfs

One could take that as the intention to help them up, or that he wanted to shake hands But in truth, he wanted to tell the

It was hard adjusting to different cultures If he handled this poorly, the other side ht take offense

If they attacked hi like, “You should have done some research on our country’s customs since you wanted to for to say in response

Though he was very uneasy about this, Ainz gave thanks to his un face, and kept his hand extended

The Dwarves glanced back and forth between Ainz’s face and hands, a troubled look on their faces

Hiven that I look like this… it can’t be helped, right? Reactions like this are kind of expected froh they feared him in E-Rantel as well, they had not reacted in this way Therefore, it hly-placed person was impolite in their society

In the end, the worried Ainz decided to pull them up by the hand

Since they have the time to waste on this pointless business, it should oa haven’t attacked yet If they did attack, we could have the them about it would count as a small favor, so I should bear with it Ahhh, what a shame Still, which one of them is their leader?

“Well then, I aentle her-ups was of higher rank, so he addressed the space between them Then one of the Dwarves nodded forcefully, like he was trying to shake so off his face

“Ahee of the military—”

“The military— I see”

So this was the commander-in-chief Ainz was surprised He had not expected their top man to come down in person

Could it be that this country has heard of the Sorcerous Kingdoht them news at a very opportune tioa? I do apologize fora busy time, commander-in-chief”

The commander-in-chief’s eyes ide

“I see… so you already knohy I ca about, Ainz thought Naturally, he did not actually say it

“—Of course That is correct”

He nodded al manner he had practiced many times before