The sobs of the most celebrated king, both in all kuagoa history and certainly their future, melted into the cries of the children being disposed of by friendly soldiers.
5
Ainz exited the treasury with Gondo. The dragons were waiting prostrate outside. Including Hejinmaar, there were fourteen total. That meant all the dragons he had mentioned were present, so there was no need to go running around catching anyone.
…It’s fine if they all out obey me, but it’s also a shame that we can’t acquire any additional dragon corpses… Should I just kill a few for some random reason? No, that would be brutish. If I’m going to do that, I should have them reproduce and harvest the… Hmm? I guess that’s just as bad.
“Your Majesty, Great King of Darkness. I’ve gathered those who swear allegiance to you.”
Ainz was lost in thought when Hejinmaar spoke to him. He decided to give up on those thoughts for the moment and answer. “Raise your heads.”
The dragons all looked up at once.
Given the dragons’ size, once they raised their heads, they were far taller than Ainz, but he didn’t feel like he was being looked down upon in the slightest.
There were a few puzzled gazes, though.
They had heard what happened, but it was probably hard to believe that Ainz had killed their father with one blow. Ainz would probably feel the same way if their positions were reversed. There are plenty of things you can’t believe till you’ve seen them.
Just as he thought that, one of the dragons shouted.
“I can’t accept it! Who is the one who slew our father?”
Ainz walked over to the dragon. Then he smiled and said Come at me with a hand gesture.
The dragon’s claws came toward him immediately.
They were fast but still slower than the troll Ainz had fought recently.
He made no effort to dodge, instead taking the attack head-on. Waiting to confirm that the dragon, thinking it had landed an attack too fast to dodge, lost its beaming smile after realizing Ainz simply had no need to dodge. Then Ainz cast a spell.
“Grasp Heart.”
The dragon crumpled just like his father had, and Ainz shifted his gaze to the others.
“Anyone else?” he asked quietly, and the dragons all lowered themselves even farther than before, scraping the ground. No one doubted his power anymore.
After Ainz tossed the dragon corpse through a Gate, he and Gondo got up on Hejinmaar.
The mother dragons were much larger, so they might have been a more appropriate mount for the conqueror than Hejinmaar, but Ainz figured he had ridden the dragon this far, so he might as well finish things this way.
“Go outside. Some of my subordinates should be waiting there.”
They and the group of dragons all left the capital and were led by a Hanzo to an area where a ton of kuagoa were prostrating themselves.
The sight of more kuagoa than he could count all bent over on the ground was so strange that Gondo emitted a hoarse little yelp.
Ainz felt like reacting the same way, but he couldn’t very well act like that in front of his two guardians, who were smiling as if to say, Look at what a good job we did.
“Lord Ainz! They’ve been selected as you ordered: four thousand males, four thousand females, and two thousand children. The rest are all corpses now. We also had them recover the corpses that were in decent condition, so they’re gathered up elsewhere.”
“I see. So we offered them mercy, and they rejected both our offer and the idea of having gratitude for it. The fools.”
He noticed the kuagoa kneeling at the front of the group shudder.
“And where’s the one they call king?”
“Over there.” When he looked in the direction Shalltear pointed, sure enough, it was the kuagoa from earlier.
Before calling out to him, Ainz activated his black halo. According to his research, this made him seem more ruler-like.
With the sound of the dragons shivering in his ears, he spoke to the king.
“King of the kuagoa! Raise your head.”
“Yes, sir!”
Trembling, the kuagoa king looked up. Then he opened his eyes wide and stopped in place as if frozen.
The hoo of an exhalation sounded extra loud.
“…I’m known as a compassionate king. I consider the crime of failing to accept my offer immediately to have been paid for with the blood of your race. If you’ll all work hard for me, I’ll guarantee your prosperity.”
“Yes, sir! Even our children and grandchildren will humbly serve you with all their might.”
“That’s a fine answer. I like that very much.”
“Thank you, sir!”
When Ainz waved his hand to signal that the conversation was over, the king lowered his head once more.
Nice! I guess all my practice has paid off.
He did a mental fist pump to celebrate that all the trial and error in the mirror testing out different lines had been worthwhile. Then he turned to the two guardians who had performed so well.
“You both did magnificently. I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you!”
“My heart is bursting with the thought that those words have washed away my previous shame!”
“Uh, okay…”
Seeing how happy Shalltear was, Ainz was sure he had said the right thing.
“And are the numbers all right? If there are still too many, I can cull them as much as you wish.”
“N-no… I think this is a fine amount. By the way, was there anyone around there very strong? Not compared to us, but someone who would be considered strong in this world.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see anyone like that…”
“N-no. The kuagoa you were just talking to is apparently comparatively strong. Although we didn’t see him do anything.”
“I see…”
How the death knights were killed was still a mystery. Perhaps it was a fluke. Or maybe…
I suppose it’s possible they fell into the Great Chasm…
Ainz was mortified it had taken him so long to come up with that idea. He had been discussing their defeat in such a heated way with Shalltear that the thought his guess was wrong was…no longer enough to make his face blush with shame. But the smoldering remnants of embarrassment made him want to writhe on the ground. Especially when he recalled that Shalltear seemed to have been taking notes, he…was returned to a stable emotional state.
I should probably just gloss over this in the most convenient way possible.
But if he blundered here, he might end up with someone pointing out that he had said one thing when reality was different.
This is bad! This is really bad! I shouldn’t have gotten so full of myself and said all that stuff. Man, I wanna cry.
Ainz heaved a sigh.
Well, when I think about it, maybe this is a good time to show the guardians that I do make mistakes sometimes. If I could gradually get the guardians to see me not as some kind of amazing ruler but as a decent, normal ruler, maybe I’d be freed from some of this stress. And then maybe the guardians would keep an eye out for my errors and give me advice.
He had heard dragons possessed sharp senses, so he made up an order as an excuse to send them away and then shifted to a location slightly removed from the kuagoa. Gondo seemed sad that he had been left behind, but this time he would just have to bear it.
Once it was only the three of them, Ainz swallowed hard.
What he was about to do could ruin everything he’d worked so hard to accomplish so far. He was nervous about changing the status quo, as well as what might happen next. Despite his inability to feel fear, he was slightly scared. Even so, he mustered his courage.
“I have a question for the two of you… Do you remember how I said there might be a being here strong enough to defeat the death knights?”
The two of them exchanged glances with some recognition.
“Yes, that’s right. Apparently, it was my mistake
. The dragon I killed might have been able to defeat the death knights, but aside from that, there doesn’t seem to be anyone.”
“We know, Lord Ainz. You were teaching us a lesson. That you would take the blame for my inadequacy… I’m so grateful for your compassionate consideration, Lord Ainz!”
“…Huh?”
Strangely, the two of them were looking at him with reverent eyes. Shalltear’s were especially over-the-top. Her cheeks flushed red, and her eyes were moist. She was so emotional, it seemed like she would burst into tears if she didn’t strain, keeping her lips tight.
What did I say that was so worthy of respect? Ainz was confused. What was it that had tugged at their heartstrings?
But what Shalltear said… Would the right thing to do be to deny it? N-nah, she did get some training on this trip. So I’ll go along with it this time, Shalltear!
“It would appear you saw through my plan, eh, Shalltear?”
“My lord!”
The light in both guardians’ eyes grew even brighter.
Huh? He did wonder, but he felt it was best to say what he meant to say.
“But I do sometimes make mistakes and misread things. I want you to remember that in some corner of your minds.”
“My lord! I hardly think you, our great ruler, could ever do such a thing, but I understand!”
Shalltear had apparently reached her limit and began to sob, still keeping herself low to the ground. As she wept, enduring her pain, teary-eyed Aura placed a hand on her shoulder. It was a touching scene that displayed the friendship between them, but Ainz had no idea what was going on, so he escaped reality by wondering how Shalltear could secrete bodily fluids like tears and drool when she was an undead.
He was completely confused as to how things had reached this point. But he decided it was fine. Yep, the world is full of things we have to accept without understanding in order to avoid trouble—like explanations during addresses given by the company president.
He got the sense he was shoving this particular issue off onto his future self, but he decided to be satisfied with the thought that in the future, he would be smarter. Ainz did the only thing his current self knew to do.
He crouched down in front of Shalltear and wiped her tears away like a parent would do for a child.
At that instant, her eyes flooded anew.
“Lode Aind.”
“There, there. Don’t cry, Shalltear. I’ve said it before, but all your beauty will go to waste, you know?”
“Wuhd I usevul to you?”
“Yes, you did a magnificent job. I’d expect nothing less from my guardians.”
“Lode Aiiiind!”
She clutched at his robe.
“Er, mm-hmm. It’s about time to stop crying now, don’t you think?”
“Y-yes…” Shalltear looked up at him with her crinkled face. “Thank you so much for being so merciful.”
“Sure. Mm. Now, let’s move on to the next order of business. We have lots to do.”
•
The regency council had been clamorous since the morning, but when the latest news came in, it fell silent.
The dwarves couldn’t decide whether to hang their heads or pull their hair out. Not a single one of them managed to maintain his composure.
Someone finally murmured, “…He’s back.”
“…How…? That was so fast. Did he really…take back the capital?”
“…Are you complaining?”
“How could you say such a thing about the monster—err, great one who has returned after conquering the dragons that made our palace their lair? How brave you are. You’re every bit as courageous as this legendary hero of a king… Please tell His Majesty the King of Darkness that we believe him wholeheartedly.”
The messenger reported that the king came back riding a dragon.
Dragons were said to be proud due to their immense power. Thus, dominating a dragon was an astonishing feat, and the question of how he had managed it was deeply intriguing.
Common sense might say that he coerced the creature to obey using magic, but anyone who knew the King of Darkness could imagine the possibility that he had frightened the dragon into submission with brute force.
No, that was probably the more likely option. Surely he didn’t need to use magic to subjugate the dragon. They could even imagine it bowing down after receiving a single glance from the king.
The chief of the food industry heaved a sigh and looked around at everyone with a stony expression. “So what are we going to do? We’re out of time. His Majesty is already back. We need to go see him right away, which means we have to decide this now—about the chief of the smith shops!”
The chief of the smith shops had taken the ingot from the King of Darkness and fled the country.
It went without saying that it was unforgivable to leave the country with an item from another nation’s king who had requested an item be made from it. This incident would surely hound them into the future when they opened trade with other countries.
This was a lethal wound to a country that was planning on doing major trade in the blacksmithing industry.
Who would commission work from a country that was responsible for such a scandal? And it wasn’t just any smith who had run off with the ingot. It was one of the leaders of the nation! In the worst case, it wouldn’t be strange for people to think the country itself had masterminded the crime.
Having envisioned what the future might bring, they launched a search and had also been discussing how to cope if they didn’t find him.
But no one had been able to come up with something that seemed like it would work—something that would earn the King of Darkness’s forgiveness.
“…I still just can’t believe it. He wouldn’t take the ore and run off like that…,” the chief of administration murmured, but it was a meaningless utterance in this room. The time that those words could have made an impression on someone was long past.
The supreme commander looked coldly at him. “Then, what are you saying happened? There’s no question that the chief of the smith shops had it with him and now he’s gone. We even have eyewitness testimony from people who saw him exit the city!”
“…You don’t think the King of Darkness was controlling them?”
The room fell silent.
No one agreed. On the contrary, the supreme commander looked displeased.
“To say something like that about the person who retook our capital—a feat that was impossible for us—just because you don’t want to admit that a friend and fellow dwarf committed a crime… Honestly, it makes you trash.”
“Stop it, Commander! You know he’s put the most effort into the search out of all of us—he’s tired!”
“I don’t think this is an issue of shooting your mouth off out of exhaustion.”
“Now, now, Commander, let’s save unconstructive conversations like that for later. We have more important things to decide. Should we inform the King of Darkness right away? I don’t think it would be a horrible idea to not tell him and buy time while we search some more…”
The chief of the merchant council shook his head. “That’s a bad move. It would look like we withheld information. Better to come clean and beg for forgiveness. In the first place, are we really going to find him? If he’s unlucky, he could be in some monster’s belly right about now. If we could at least get the ingot back, it would be fine… That idiot.”
It wasn’t the sort of thing to say about a friend, but no one stopped him from disparaging the chief who had caused this huge issue. On the contrary, the supreme commander was even nodding in agreement.
“That he didn’t take the dagger is the only silver lining. But still. If we apologize…will His Majesty forgive us? Not that we have any other choice…”
“Giving an honest explanation of what happened is more important than the apology itself. And then we just need to be prepared to accept whatever demands he might have.”
Everyone agreed.
“What do you think his demands are likely to be?”
The stolen ingot was a type of metal the dwarves had never seen before, so it was difficult to properly appraise its value. That meant they couldn’t suggest an amount to pay in compensation. If they proposed an amount that was too low, it wouldn’t be strange for the king to be angry.
Their only choice was to have the King of Darkness set the price. But they imagined that he would rather have something else besides money. They just didn’t know what.
“I have no idea. Maybe the question should be how much we are willing to accept? Or rather…what would we turn down?”
“Can we even? Seems impossible. This city may have historical value, but we don’t have any national treasures with magical or physical powers.”
Back when an evil spirit trampled the capital, only one dwarf from the royal family survived. That last king, known as the Rune Crafter King, took their most powerful magic item and left the country, so they had no national treasures to speak of.
“…Mph! That’s it! What about the treasury in the capital?”
“Like I said before, it’s pretty lame to offer that to someone who reclaimed the city… Though it’s true we have nothing else.”
Looking around, he saw that everyone was nodding in agreement.
“…We just have to hope the dragons didn’t break in.”
“Don’t even talk like that… Okay, so I guess this time we should have His Majesty come alone?”
Hmm? One’s missing. Did something happen?
When Ainz entered the room, the dwarves were all wearing calm expressions.
The one who spoke as representative was… Well, Ainz wasn’t sure because they all had the same face. He at least knew that it wasn’t the supreme commander.
The various comments expressing gratitude beginning with “Thank you for taking back the capital” wore Ainz out because they went on for so long. And just as he was starting to forget what had even been said during the earlier part of the speech, the commander’s mood suddenly changed.
“Now, we also have a profound apology to make, Your Majesty, King of Darkness. Your Majesty gave our colleague, the chief of the smith shops, an ingot, and he has run away with it. We’re currently searching but haven’t been able to find him or the ingot thus far… You trusted us with the ingot, and this incident has resulted in a total breach of that trust. I don’t know how we can apologize…”
The Dwarven Crafter Page 30