Some undead did control other undead. But what kind of undead would be able to take a ship that normally sailed the sea under its power?
Before long, the ship was fully visible.
It really was a ghost ship.
The whole thing was a wreck. There were gaping holes in the hull, and the boards were twisted up in places.
It was huge—definitely bigger than the flagship of the Sacred Kingdom’s navy, The Holy King’s Hammer. If it weren’t falling apart, it would have imparted quite a powerful impression.
The last of the three masts was rigged with a fore-and-aft sail, while the other two had square sails. But they were so ragged, it didn’t seem like they would be able to do their job. The ram jutted out to an unusually sharp point and gleamed as if it had been polished. Not only that, it had the dim glow of enchantment, and the entire ship seemed almost proud of it.
But what was most eye-catching of all was the crest raised on the main mast. It definitely belonged to the Nation of Darkness.
The ship was floating about three feet off the ground.
Soon it was passing by, ignoring the party that was frozen stiff staring at it.
As they all stood stock-still, the fog began to dissipate. Was it the ship causing the fog as it sailed along? No, if that were the case, the fog would have been thickest when it approached them, and they wouldn’t have even been able to see it. The ship must have been surrounded by the fog at a short distance, like a membrane meant to conceal it.
Or maybe it was a cage to keep its prey from getting away. Neia’s own thoughts sent a chill up her spine.
The King of Darkness… An undead ruler. He might actually be terrifying…
When she heard he had summoned weird giant goats, she had imagined adorable barn animals, so maybe she had been underestimating him.
That made her anxious.
Just as undead were the enemies of paladins, might not paladins be the enemies of undead? In that case, their fates were…
Still, in order to get help from Sir Momon, who was supposedly Jaldabaoth’s equal in combat, they needed to ask for his cooperation. Neia wiped the sweat off the palms of her hands.
“…It looks like the fog has cleared. Let’s go, everyone.”
This undead king could reign over something that bizarre.
Neia braced herself.
The King of Darkness may be undead, but he allows humans to live… I wonder what he’s like. But I’m sure a squire like me won’t get to meet him anyway…
3
In the distance, they could see the outermost rampart of the famous triple-walled city, E-Rantel, the capital of the Nation of Darkness—and its splendid gate.
But what caught Neia’s attention wasn’t either of those things. What her eyes latched onto were the giant statues on either side of the gate.
It was an undead holding a strange staff—it looked like snakes twisting together. Perhaps they depicted the king, Ainz Ooal Gown.
Neia was still quite a ways away, but she could make out the details. She felt that even if she walked right up to it, she wouldn’t be able to find any sloppiness in the workmanship.
There were people-shaped creatures laboring around the statues.
Huh? Wait. Aren’t they kind of big? I mean, that’s the height of the wall. I get that the statues are big, but… Who are those workers?
The other members of the party seemed to wonder the same thing, and the paladins were discussing the hulking workers among themselves.
“…Surely they’re not human.”
“Couldn’t be. Maybe giants? Although they don’t look like hill giants to me…”
“Giants? Will we be all right? I’ve heard that some are friendly, but…”
Neia was only a squire, so she had never seen a giant before, but she had learned about them in her lectures on monster knowledge.
Giants were essentially a bigger version of humans, but not only were they stronger, they had racial abilities, too. Using those abilities, they were able to tolerate harsher environments than humans, so they were often found in those areas and didn’t have much relationship with the plain dwellers.
Some races knew more magic than humans, and some had more advanced cultures.
Some races were evil, and some were good. One of the Thirteen Heroes was a giant, and there was a sea giant who showed up in Roebel now and then on business.
That said, typical giants were violent and dangerous.
And the race of dangerous giants that often showed up in the human world were hill dwellers. One well-known subspecies of giant was the trolls.
So why were there giants in this undead city?
“…Maybe there were always giants in this region? And he conquered them?”
“You’re saying the King of Darkness controls giants? I haven’t heard anything like that!”
It was only natural for the paladin to yelp in surprise at such a suggestion.
They had gathered a large amount of information in preparation for their trip to the Nation of Darkness. Of course, there were a heap of unknowns, so it was hard to say whether they had succeeded, but they definitely put in a lot of effort. But first there was the ghost ship and now giants? The mystery only deepened.
Neia wondered if maybe the King of Darkness was an undead giant, but if that were a noticeable characteristic of his, it should have been in the information they had gathered.
Then Gustav called out to her from behind. “Squire Baraja. It’s about time to change formation. Head to the rear.”
“Yes, sir!”
During their travels, Neia led the way, but once they were near the city, her position switched to the rear. Remedios and Gustav took the lead.
“Commander Custodio, should we send someone ahead to announce us?”
Usually it would be alarming if a party of knights in full plate armor showed up outside a city. For that reason, when they entered cities and villages in Re-Estize, they had sent a single paladin ahead of time to say they were coming, and only then would the party approach with Roebel’s
