The Invaders of the Great Tomb
Page 27
Jircniv willed himself to stop trembling. It wouldn’t do for the emperor, the only absolute being, the man who held all power in his hand, to show fear in front of his retainers. “Ainz Ooal Gown… Who is he? No…this isn’t the time.” He shouted out the window, “I am the emperor, Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix! I want to talk! Messengers, would you mind coming over here?” He faced his retainers. “Prepare our warmest welcome! On the double!”
He turned from his retainers as they practically fell over one another rushing out of the room, back to the dark elves, who were watching him. “…I underestimated him. If these are his subordinates… Maybe he’s too much for me to handle…? But I can’t back down now. If you want to negotiate…then our next battle will be fought with words, Ainz Ooal Gown! I’ll thwart whatever it is you’re planning!”
Epilogue
“Here are the hundred gold trade coins as promised and the bond.”
Upon looking at the contents of the leather pouch and nodding in satisfaction, Arché’s father signed the parchment offered to him with zero hesitation. Then he stamped it with the family crest. His practiced motions were evidence that he had performed similar transactions many times.
“Is that all right?”
The man looked at the parchment and nodded. If Hekkeran and Imina had been there, they would have scowled. He was the one who had come to the inn where Foresight was staying.
After looking it over a few times, he was satisfied there were no errors, and once the ink had dried, he rolled it up and tossed it into a tube for safekeeping.
“Yes, everything’s in order.” The man gestured at the leather pouch in front of Arché’s father and asked, “You don’t want to check it?”
“It’s no trouble if it’s a gold off.”
“If you say so.” The man answered the generous reply with a nod.
He had made sure the amount was correct, of course. Still, it was pretty bad for a family in these circumstances to not bother about a gold piece. Well, they were probably doomed by simple virtue of having such an irresponsible person heading their household.
The man didn’t have a problem as long as he was a good customer.
“I trust we can agree to the same interest and payment period terms as always?”
The master of the house replied with a benevolent—as expected—nod. He seemed to have no inkling that he was in the inferior position in this relationship.
The man nodded in acknowledgment.
“…By the way, is your daughter well?”
“Hmm?”
The man remembered there were three of them and added, “Miss Arché.”
“Ahh, Arché. She’s out on a job.”
“…I see.”
And while your daughter is out working, what are you doing?! he thought but skillfully concealed the contempt deep in his eyes.
He began to pity the girl for having a father like this.
He wasn’t heartless.
But the most important thing was that they pay him back with interest. And that they borrow from him again and again. He wasn’t keen on sticking his nose into other people’s domestic affairs.
“Yes, it’s a bit impertinent of her to go off earning money, but what can you do?”
The man frowned slightly at the father’s grumble. If something happened, it would be a problem if it affected repayment. And he was making quite a lot on this household in interest. If possible, he wanted to keep this relationship going for a long time. For that reason, he poked his nose somewhere he normally wouldn’t.
“Did something happen?”
“No, nothing serious. She’s just a foolish girl who’s forgotten how much she owes her parents, trying to defy us all the time.”
“Well, if that’s all…”
“I really need to give her a good talking-to—about what it means to be a noble.”
The man didn’t say what he was thinking. But he did want to say one thing: “Must be tough.”
“It truly is. That silly girl…” The man hadn’t specified for whom, so Arché’s father grumbled, assuming it referred to his own suffering.
A hundred gold trade coins was a lot of money. And if things followed the usual pattern, he would spend it all almost immediately. The man figured he would probably be summoned again in that event, but he concluded it would be better to not lend any more until the current balance was repaid.
At that point, he looked around the room.
Even to his eyes, the numerous furnishings filling the place were splendid. They would be enough to get back at least what he was owed. And even if he couldn’t make it back with the furniture and whatnot…
He lowered his eyes to conceal the emotion that came into them.
“I think it’s strange a daughter of the Furt family should have to do such dirty work. Her friends seem like commoners, surely the despicable type.”
“I wonder…,” the man said thoughtfully, recalling the pair of them he had met at the pub.
Arché’s father must have read something in the tone of his voice, because he hurriedly added an excuse. “I don’t mean anything about commoners in general. Just her friends are the adventuring type.”
“Could be.”
“Right? Maybe it was their influence that caused her to start rebelling. I really need to give her a talking-to. A girl should listen to her father; that’s only reasonable. She’s got a lot of living to do before she can talk back to me.”
With a glance at the offended father, the man stood up. “Well, I have other clients to see, so I must be going now. I’ll be expecting the repayment.”
“When is Arché getting back again?”
“Pretty soon!”
There were two little girls in the room. They looked just like two peas in a pod and were sitting side by side using the bed as a chair.
The blush of pink in their white cheeks was angelic. Their features, which resembled their sister’s, hinted at how beautiful they would be when they grew up.
They wore matching, spotless white dresses with an abundance of frills. The white legs stretching out from beneath them dangled over the side of the bed.
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yup!”
“We’re moving when she gets back, right?”
“Yup!”
They giggled. They hadn’t given much thought to what “moving” actually meant, but they knew one thing—that when it happened, their big sister, whom they loved so much, would never go away somewhere ever again. That made them happy.
Arché was away a lot. They didn’t know what she did while she was gone, but they knew it was very important in some way, so they made a point of not complaining. Still, they wished they could play with her.
Yes, they loved Arché, their warm, kind big sister, who knew so many things.
“She’s not back yet, huh?”
“Not yet.”
“It’ll be great, won’t it, Koudélika?”
“Sure will, Urélika.”
“I’ll have her read to me!”
“I’ll have her sleep with me!”
“No fair, Koudélika!”
“You’re not fair, either, Urélika!”
They looked at each other with the same giddy smile. Then they laughed, their giggles sounding like jingling bells.
“Well, then you can read with us, Koudélika, with me and Arché.”
“Okay, then you can sleep with us, Urélika, with me and Arché.”
They smiled, dreaming of the wonderful time just ahead…
Afterword
It’s been seven months since Volume 6 went on sale. Long time no see—it’s Maruyama.
This book is being published at the end of August, so it’s still hot out, huh? I have the feeling that when I was a kid the heat was mostly over by September, but it’s not like that anymore. I feel like it stays hot till about the middle of September these days. Anyhow, those are just my impressio
ns from my childhood, so maybe nothing has changed at all.
Since I wear more of the clothing known as fat than most other people, I really loathe summer. That’s because even though I’m usually in a fairly air-conditioned room due to my computer giving off heat, I sweat a ton during the commute to and from work. My cologne probably washes away in the sweat, so it’s really just the worst.
That’s the kind of hot day it must be. Those of you who saw the obi wrap at the store must have nearly emitted a strange little scream, like, Whah! Maybe you thought it was a hallucination brought on by the heat.
But it’s true!
I nearly shouted, Seriously?! when I heard, too, but it’s really happening. We’re making an Overlord anime!
I’m going to do my best to make sure we deliver something good, so thanks for your support.
Now, I’ll endure the cramps in my stomach to give some thank-yous.
To so-bin for working so hard with me on the most unbelievable illustrations ever to grace a light novel’s pages: They are true masterpieces. I’m deeply grateful, and I’m sure the readers are, too! Let’s go out to eat again sometime! Thank you, designers at Code Design for the cool design as usual. Proofreader Osako, thank you for all your corrections.
To Fta, who gives me the stern warning to not go halfway and who proposed an illustration of the Prince of Fear with zero hesitation: I’d like you to not kill yourself and put in moderate efforts on a reasonable workload.
Also, to everyone involved with the creation of Overlord, thank you! And Honey, thanks again for all sorts of things.
Finally, I thank everyone who bought the book!
KUGANE MARUYAMA
August 2014
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