On their journey together, she had learned that the king before her was incredibly wise. She was correct to think that he might tell her the answer right then and there.
“…Well, there are a range of possible explanations, but the most likely is…”
For a moment, Neia thought it would be better to have him explain to their leader and not just her, but she couldn’t hold back her fearful curiosity.
“…that they don’t want to lose track of the liberation army, don’t you think?”
“Lose track of us?”
“Yes. Maybe this isn’t a very good metaphor, but say they found a nest of naughty mice. If the mice scattered, wouldn’t that be a pain? They must be waiting till all the mice gather to get rid of them all at once.”
Oh! He’s exactly right. I can’t imagine any other reason. I’m amazed he could analyze the situation so well after only being here for a few minutes… He seems to even understand how our adversaries think… Wow.
“As long as the circumstances don’t change, I doubt we have anything to fear. But I guess the tricky thing is that it’s not only our circumstances that could affect the timing of their attack. Naturally, theirs are a factor, too…”
Neia could only marvel at the king’s intelligence, how he could point out all these things so precisely.
“Thank you, Your Majesty! I’ll go report that to the commander right away.”
“Then I’ll come along.”
“Huh? But you must be exhausted from the long trip. They’re preparing a room for you, so wouldn’t you rather rest?”
“Did you forget? I’m an undead! I never need a break.”
That was true. She had completely forgotten.
Undead were beings who never tired. She remembered learning, for that very reason, that it would be hard to escape from an undead that could move as fast as she could. That utterly ordinary knowledge and her entire preconception of the undead had been shattered thanks to the King of Darkness. He was so different from what she had been taught to expect that she wondered sometimes if he wasn’t a human caster wearing a skull mask.
“Oh, I appreciate that. Then would you come with me?”
“Of course. And you don’t need to thank me. We’re in this fight to defeat Jaldabaoth together.”
She knew that by “we” he meant the Nation of Darkness and the Roebel Sacred Kingdom, but she heard it as him and her, which was a bit of a thrill.
Eventually someone knocked on the carriage door.
“Your Majesty, your room is ready.”
Neia was the one to open the door.
When the paladin standing outside saw the bow Neia was holding, his eyes nearly popped out of his head in shock.
She had never taken the bow out of the carriage before—because it happened that the King of Darkness hadn’t left the carriage since lending it to her. As a result, she had come this far without showing it to anyone.
…He’s surprised. Yeah, I know exactly how he feels. It’s definitely not the kind of weapon a squire would have…
Feeling the eyes on her, she turned back to the carriage and bowed her head.
Looking down at the ground, she didn’t raise her head until she had confirmed that the King of Darkness’s feet were settled. Then she turned to the paladin and asked, “Excuse me, but there’s something I’d like to talk to Commander Custodio about. Could you take me to her? His Majesty has said he would like to come along.”
“U-uh, yes. Understood. Then please follow me.”
The order they entered the cave was paladin, King of Darkness, Neia.
The pale-blue light from the tall mushrooms was pretty creepy. In some places where multiple mushrooms clustered together, they cast monstrous shadows on the wall. And since the humans’ skin was illuminated pale and blue, they looked almost like the dead, but strangely, that didn’t bother Neia now.
As they walked through the cave, they sometimes saw paladins on guard, as well as priests and commoners.
They had probably heard from the others, but they still couldn’t conceal their shocked stares at the King of Darkness.
They’re being so rude…
The King of Darkness probably wouldn’t get angry. He was extremely warmhearted, but that was exactly the sort of person who was terrifying when they did finally get mad.
With that in mind, she probably should have told them not to be rude, but telling every single individual would have taken all day, and it wasn’t really the sort of issue that could be solved by a quick warning like that. To the people of the Sacred Kingdom, and to living things in general, undead were naturally the enemy.
I could tell the commander…but, well, they aren’t drawing their weapons, so that’s halfway decent at least…
She suddenly noticed the King of Darkness take out a piece of paper and stare at it. She wondered what it said, but he was shielding it with a hand, so she couldn’t read it.
Eventually, they reached their destination, where voices overlapping in vigorous debate could be heard behind a curtain.
“Commander Custodio. His Majesty the King of Darkness has come with Squire Baraja.”
The room instantly fell silent.
At that point, the paper that had been in the king’s hand was nowhere to be seen.
“Have them come in.”
At their commander’s voice, the paladin raised the curtain.
The eyes of the paladins and priests—people who hadn’t been part of the delegation—contained a multitude of emotions as they stood to greet the king.
Even Neia could tell. So she was sure the King of Darkness could as well. But she didn’t detect any change in his mood from behind.
He can’t not have noticed what the atmosphere is like in here. Maybe kings just don’t sweat the small stuff…
“Listen, everyone. This is His Majesty the King of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown. Unable to watch our country continue to suffer, he came personally to aid us. Take care to mind your manners!”
Hearing Remedios’s comments, everyone in the room immediately bowed to the king.
When they raised their heads, he began to speak with a stately
