The Paladin of the Sacred Kingdom Part I

by Kugane Maruyama

  As expected, Neia was ordered to polish armor.

  The meeting ended and Neia began caring for each suit of armor one at a time.

  Wetting a cloth with cold water, she wiped the mud off.

  Since the armor was enchanted, there were no scratches or dings. If there were any, they would need to be hammered out from the inside, and if the maintenance person wasn’t careful, it would end up more uneven than it started. Neia wasn’t terribly confident with such delicate work, so she was thankful she got to maintain the enchanted armor of the paladins.

  She appreciated having a job she could do with a blank mind. She didn’t have to think too hard about anything.

  Sweat beading on her forehead, she finished going over everyone’s armor.

  •

  The audience with the King of Darkness came together so quickly Neia couldn’t hide her surprise. They were able to meet him the day after Gustav went to inquire.

  The palace the party of knights arrived at—with Neia bringing up the rear—was awfully shabby. Maybe for the leader of the city it would have been grand, but it wasn’t enough for a king. It had none of the calm of history, none of the solemnity, none of the whimsy of a powerful individual; it was built only in the pursuit of practicality.

  Compared to the palaces of Re-Estize and Roebel, it was just so sad. And it was the King of Darkness’s residence. This used to be a frontier city in the kingdom, so he had probably simply occupied an existing building.

  In the profiles of the paladins with their helmets removed was a faint condescending air only Neia could detect. They must have been comparing this place to the palace back home.

  Who could blame them?

  But Neia remembered the ghost ship and the undead they had seen patrolling the streets.

  Why was a ruler who could control such powerful undead living in such a shabby palace?

  There must be a reason… If he wanted a splendid palace, he could have those dwarven craftsmen and tireless undead workers build one…

  Through the gate, two lines of undead she hadn’t seen before stood facing each other. They were slimmer than the ones they had first encountered on the way into the city and held their spears aloft so that they crisscrossed.

  The line on the right had the flag of the Nation of Darkness tied to the end, while the left side’s featured the flag of the Sacred Kingdom.

  The setup was such that the path led them beneath the flags.

  And there was music. It was a song she had never heard before, but she figured it was fine to just accept it as part of the ceremony.

  A lecture from a long time ago rose up from the depths of her memory.

  Always keep your wits about when faced with magic.

  But still, this music couldn’t be an attack spell. If this were a trap, they didn’t need to be flying Roebel’s flag.

  Neia put on a brave front as she walked forward, glancing side to side with her eyes only.

  An honor guard and the Sacred Kingdom flag. That definitely meant that the Nation of Darkness was welcoming them as state guests. Which meant Neia and the others were being accepted as official messengers from the Sacred Kingdom. Which meant that Neia was representing her country.

  Though it made her happy, the pressure gave her a nervous stomachache.

  At the end of the path draped with flags was—Neia gasped.

  A peerless beauty.

  How pretty… She’s just so pretty…

  Piercing, gorgeous features. A spotless white dress that cost who knew how much.

  Her smile was so full of compassion Neia could have mistaken her for an angel. But the proof that she wasn’t an angel was the pair of black wings sprouting from her hips.

  “Welcome, representatives of the Sacred Kingdom. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Albedo, captain of the floor and domain guardians in the Nation of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown. To put it in terms you can easily understand, I’m the prime minister.”

  “Th-thank you for the thorough introduction. I am the leader of the delegation from the Sacred Kingdom, Remedios Custodio. Thank you very much for making time for us today.”

  “There’s no need for thanks. His Majesty the great King of Darkness, is very concerned about the situation in the Sacred Kingdom. He said it was only natural that he would take time to meet with you.”

  “W-we appreciate that very much…”

  Remedios seemed overwhelmed by Albedo with her smile. Despite her being the same sex—or perhaps because of it—she was swallowed up by her beauty. Albedo’s gaze quickly surveyed the rest of the group, including Neia.

  “Well, His Majesty is waiting, so I’ll show you to the audience chamber. Would you please follow me?”

  “Y-yes. What should we do with our swords?”

  “Oh yes, there’s that, isn’t there?” Albedo smiled, seeming amused.

  Neia wondered why. Surely they couldn’t take their weapons in to meet the king. Normally, they would surrender them. It also indicated their trust.

  “Usually, we would hold them for you, but there’s no need in this case. Please wear them as you are now.”

  Neia didn’t quite know what that meant.

  That went for Remedios as well, and she asked, “Why?” She must have been more confused than anyone, having spent so much time serving alongside the Holy Lady.

  In response to the natural question, Albedo smiled again. “Because we trust you. And we thought you might feel safer carrying your weapons. Of course, we don’t consider you a threat. If you’d rather we hold on to them for you, we can…?”

  “In that case, we’ll respond in kind to His Majesty the King of Darkness’s goodwill… Would everyone besides me turn in your swords? Apologies, but mine is a national treasure. I hope you’ll understand that I can’t turn it over.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Albedo signaled with her eyes, and the undead who came out took everyone’s swords.

  Probably some of them felt uncomfortable as paladins, having to hand over their personal blades to undead, but they couldn’t refuse their commander’s orders.

  Neia turned her sword in, too, and observed Albedo.

  Her pretty smile remained on her face, so it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. Or rather, all Neia could gather from her expression was amiability. She seemed to genuinely want to be as kind as possible to them. But was Neia’s interpretation correct? If not…

  We were allowed to enter with our swords to meet her master. Was that his order? Or was it because they knew we wouldn’t be able to hurt him anyway?

  The King of Darkness was an immensely powerful caster. Maybe he was boasting that he would be victorious no matter how many of the Sacred Kingdom’s paladins came at him.

  Or maybe he has undead guarding him. Lady Albedo doesn’t appear to have any combat skills…

  The beautiful prime minister who seemed the furthest of anyone from fighting in this world smiled gently.

  “Come, everyone. His Majesty is waiting. Shall we go?”

  •

  As expected from the building itself, the throne room wasn’t anything special. This was undoubtedly being used without any changes from the way it was before the takeover as well.

  But the throne itself was gorgeous. That is, it had a conspicuous golden sparkle. It couldn’t have been solid gold, but given its size, even coating it with gold leaf would have been a considerable expense.

  And the flag behind the throne was splendid as well. She wasn’t sure what kind of thread it was woven with, but the color was deeper than black alone could achieve. In the low light, it seemed like it might have been dark purple.

  “His Majesty will see you now.”

  “Let’s bow our heads, everyone,” Remedios instructed.

  Neia, taking a knee, was mildly surprised that Remedios would choose to have the paladins bow to an undead, but she had no objections. As a squire she was well-drilled in the etiquette. That said, she’d only ever had occasion to att
end an audience with the holy king. With her head lowered, she moved only her eyes and stole desperate glances at the paladins around her.

  Seems like…I’m okay…

  Of course, she could only see them from the back, so it was possible that from the front there was something strange about her posture, but…

  It’s fine! No one said anything to me the time with the holy king! My dad even told me I did a great job!

  “Presenting His Majesty the King of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown.”

  Albedo, standing slightly ahead of the throne to one side, spoke, and there was an extremely small ksh of crumpling paper that surely only Neia could hear and then footsteps accompanied by the clack, clack of something hard tapping on the floor. Eventually, she sensed someone sit on the throne.

  “You’ve been granted permission to raise your heads.”

  Getting the timing right on that was rather difficult. Being either too fast or too slow would be rude. She counted a couple seconds silently and then raised her head.

  She couldn’t believe what she saw in front of her.

  Th-that’s the King of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown.

  The face of bare skull. Red flames burning in vacant orbits. An appropriate appearance for an undead. But this one was different from any Neia had ever known.

  The first thing that surprised her was his clothing.

  He was wearing more expensive-looking garments than any noble she’d seen since beginning her service as a squire.

  His costume was long and loose with extremely wide sleeves. The fabric was pure, immaculate white, and both the cuffs and the hem were embroidered with gold and purple accents. He seemed to be closing it at the waist with a belt, but it didn’t strike Neia as strange. It was weird, but it had the air of foreign customs, and she could only rate his outfit magnificent.

  And his gloves, the same color as his clothing, had plates that shimmered in the colors of the rainbow set in them. He held a staff made up of a rainbow of snakes intertwined. That was what produced the hard clacking she had heard.

  But what was most surprising was the halo of darkness behind him.

  …This is an undead? No way…

  Neia’s idea of undead were skeletons, zombies, ghasts, and the like.

  She didn’t feel like the King of Darkness could be described with the same word undead. Bizarrely, she wasn’t repulsed by his skull face and even felt that he was pure and sublime.

  He was more immensely strong—terrible—and didn’t exist in the range of power humans could imagine; he transcended it all.

  Forgetting Albedo, next to the throne, Neia inadvertently stared at the King of Darkness.

  What brought her back to senses was the “Now then” he uttered.

  “What a long way you’ve come from the far-off Sacred Kingdom, Lady Custodio. The other paladins in your party, as well.”

  “Not at all, Your Majesty, King of Darkness.”

  “I would have held a state feast to welcome you, but I figured you don’t have the leisure to be entertained. I carved out a slot in my schedule for you instead. Let’s not waste any time—we can cut out lengthy euphemisms, flattery, and the like, wouldn’t you say? Let’s speak our minds. Any objections?”

  “None, Your Majesty.”

  “Good. Then I’d like you to tell me how things are currently in the Sacred Kingdom. If you speak truthfully, and without omission, I think the Nation of Darkness may be able to offer you something in the way of assistance.”

  Remedios indicated she understood and spoke eloquently on the country’s status.

  What instinct made her want to volunteer that information, Neia didn’t know. It seemed most likely that she had simply gotten fed up with thinking.

  Her explanation ended with what they had told the Blue Roses—that they were just barely holding off the invasion. She probably wasn’t very happy to be telling another country, especially one ruled by an undead, that the Sacred Kingdom was on the verge of collapse.

  “I see, I see. So what is the plan now?”

  “Well, we have a favor to ask of you, Your Majesty. We heard that the adventurer called Momon is serving your country. If we could borrow that warrior who fought on equal footing against Jaldabaoth, we would have nothing to fear. We humbly request that you dispatch the warrior, Momon, to the Sacred Kingdom.”

  The red flames in the King of Darkness’s eyes went out for a moment and then came back.

  “Just as I thought. I’ll give you the answer I prepared ahead of time: impossible.”

  “Why do you say that, Your Majesty?”

  “I’m afraid it’s to do with my nation’s shame… He plays a critical role in keeping the peace here. It’s thanks to him that my people are able to live here without fear.”

  “But, Your Majesty, don’t you have an undead army?”

  “Hoh-hoh-hoh,” the king chuckled softly. “You from the Sacred Kingdom seem to find my undead army trustworthy. Then shall I lend you my troops instead of Momon? I believe you saw the undead I control—they’re all hardy warriors. I’m sure they could easily annihilate the subhumans.”

  Remedios wasn’t sure what to say.

  Could she imagine herself leading an undead army back to the Sacred Kingdom? No, she would never imagine that. Leading an undead army was the last thing a paladin would do.

  Certainly, an undead army came with lots of benefits. Undead didn’t require food or much of anything at all—you could even have them stand by in the middle of a primeval forest indefinitely without having to worry about resupply. They were truly the ideal soldiers.

  But the idea of accepting an army of life-hating enemies of all living things was, above all, frightening. Calling a foreign nation’s army to one’s own country was anxiety inducing to begin with. It was eminently possible that they could just stick around and occupy the place once all the original problems were solved.

  “Th-that would be…”

  The King of Darkness chuckled at how shaken Remedios was. “Exactly, Lady Custodio. We have people who think like you do in our nation as well. People involved in growing crops, cultivating the land, and security are gradually learning to accept undead, but unfortunately, the city people aren’t keen on getting too close to them, so I haven’t managed to get the populace to accept them yet. Of course, they seem more open to the idea than when I first took power here, but it’ll probably require a little more time. Momon lends an ear to their insecurities and takes care of a lot of issues for me. If I sent him away now, there’s no telling how the people’s dissatisfaction would explode.”

  “Then what if we paladins stayed behind instead of Momon to encourage people to trust the undead? It’s widely known that undead are the enemy of paladins. So I imagine it would be effective for us to announce that we trust those beneath Your Majesty.”

  “Mmph… That’s a proposal worth considering.”

  After some intense thought, the King of Darkness’s face moved slightly to look at his hand that wasn’t holding his staff. “…Hmm. The part that doesn’t work is that you’re from a foreign country. If someone has been through good times and bad with you, you can trust them, but if some strangers showed up suddenly and said undead could be trusted, would you believe them? I don’t think you would work as a substitute for that adamantite adventurer who has made such a name for himself in our city.”

  He was exactly right.

  They couldn’t argue with logic. It was especially impossible for Remedios, who was the emotional type to begin with.

  She had fallen silent when the King of Darkness suddenly said, “Okay. By the way, this is a change of subject, but I wanted to ask about some people who didn’t appear in your report, Lady Custodio. I heard from Momon that Jaldabaoth had quite powerful maids with him. You haven’t seen them in the Sacred Kingdom, have you?”

  “No, we haven’t. We heard about them for the first time from the Blue Roses in Re-Estize.”

  “I see… So perhaps that means he uses them as h
is last resort? Or are they lurking in some other location?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know.”

  “…You said the south of your country was still all right, but have you been in close contact with them?”

  “To some extent.”

  “So none of his subordinates have infiltrated there yet? Maybe I’m being paranoid, but…”

  The King of Darkness looked up at the ceiling.

  “You think someone under Jaldabaoth may have already snuck into the south, Your Majesty?”

  “I wouldn’t say that, but I just wonder why, if he has such powerful pawns, he doesn’t put them into play… You remember how I said at the beginning of this conversation that we should speak our minds? So I’ll ask you straight: What is the Sacred Kingdom able to reward us for our assistance?”

  It was a natural question to ask. Utterly normal. But it was extremely difficult to answer.

  “Our country’s friendship, trust, and respect.”

  The King of Darkness smirked at Remedios’s reply.

  But if asked if Remedios was in the wrong, Neia couldn’t say that was the case. At times, paladins went into battle risking their lives for that much. For example, taking on a request from a poor village that couldn’t afford to compensate and fighting off a mob of subhumans was something a model paladin would do.

  “That’s a very paladin thing to say. I had a friend who may have been called to action by those words, but not me, unfortunately. I said no flowery speeches. Can you offer me any actual benefit?”

  Does the King of Darkness consider Sir Momon his friend? Is that why he talks about him so casually without any titles and not because Sir Momon works beneath him?

  Remedios remained silent, while Neia thought those things.

  No.

  How could she say anything? There was nothing Remedios Custodio could promise.

  What would happen if they did manage to drive Jaldabaoth off?

  Naturally, the next holy king would ascend to the throne, but there wasn’t much chance that person would treat the paladins with much respect. If it was one of the nobles from the south they didn’t get along with, there was a chance members of their order might even be locked up.