Chapter 36
When dealing with mages or a demon beast, there are a few things you need to do to ensure your survival .
First of all, you will need an item that has resistance against your opponent . You'll be dead if you make the first move . If you are unarmed against a mage, you are as good as dead from the start . This is why taking on a magic knight is especially tricky .
And never look them in the eye, even if you have a resistance item in your possession .
One last thing . If you feel somewhat attracted to their voices, hurt yourself . You may already be enchanted .
―――That was the guidelines for training new knights, in the Unified Nation of Ishtalica .
「Haah . . . . Haah . . . . . Excuse me for disrupting your meeting, this is an emergency! Is Lloyd-sama here?」
At the sound of this voice, the members in the main conference room looked at the door that had opened with a loud bang .
There was a knight who was looking for Lloyd while trying to catch his breath, which had become disordered due to his haste .
「I'm here . What happened!」
「A, Ainz-sama has . . . . break the seal on Kadyma-sama's lab and escaped! He's now heading for the main gates!」
「Kadyma, did she lend him a hand huh」
「 . . . . No, Your Majesty . Even Kadyma-sama won't be able to break the seal of that room from the inside」
「We can ask her about it later . Your Majesty, I will now go to stop Ainz-sama」
Even though it was an unforeseen situation, Lloyd, as the marshal, was able to respond calmly .
The only thing on his mind was to do everything in his power to protect the crown prince .
Sylvird was a little relieved because Olivia had returned to her room a short while ago . If it hadn't been for that, she would have been even more restless if she had received such a report .
「Hurry up, I don't mind if you use the King's guard too . Stop him at all costs」
「As you will」
It would be difficult for even Lloyd to stop the current Ainz in a head-on melee . Knowing this, Lloyd picked up the bladeless sword displayed in the conference room .
「I'm borrowing this」
「 . . . . Very well . A little injury is inevitable, so do whatever you can to stop him」
「Ha!」
＊＊＊
「Umm Kadyma-san . Why are you following me」
Ainz has escaped from the lab, and somehow Kadyma was walking alongside him .
「I've done all the work they asked me to do nya . I'm tired and I'm going to rest in my room nya . Good grief, I've never seen Ainz like this」
「You're not gonna stop me?」
「You've crossed the line where I can still stop you, I also hate to deal with troublesome matter nya」
「Are you feeling sorry for me?」
「I'm sure father will going to ask me a lot of things that have happened nya . . . . . You're going to tell him about it later too nya . Good grief, this nephew of mine is a real piece of trouble nya . . . . . . Well then, bye-bye nya」
Kadyma suddenly started running with a light jump .
Although it was still a long way to go, she realized something and left Ainz to go to her room .
「Why so sudden . . . . Aah, I see . Thank you very much Kadyma-san」
Ainz also understood why Kadyma had left so suddenly . A little further on, halfway along the path that led out of the basement and into the hall, she was there .
「Good day, Ainz . I haven't seen you since yesterday, have I?」
「Aah Claune, Good to see you again today」
「Well, it's an honor to hear such a thing from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince . What do you say? Let's have a cup of tea in my room」
Claune has grown even more beautiful over the past few years . This year, Ainz will turn eleven, making Claune fifteen years old .
Even at the Liebe Girls' Academy, where many young ladies gather, she is so popular that she is said to be the second coming of Olivia, and she has been asked countless times for an arranged marriage with the families of her fellow female students .
The mere sight of her walking from the station to the school was enough to attract many admirers, and there were even a few instances of them confessing their love on the street .
Many men wanted to have a relationship with this beautiful and highly educated girl, but their wishes were never fulfilled .
「I'm really nervous about having tea with a woman as beautiful as Claune」
「What was that, it's embarrassing, Your Royal Highness . . . . . Shall we go to my room then?」
「I'm sorry to say something like this a beautiful person like you, but I have a prior appointment today」
「 . . . . That's mean of you . Even though I've mustered up my courage to ask you out . I've never invited anyone other than the Crown Prince to my room, you know?」
This was their playful conversation that is different from their usual . This was a way for both Ainz and Claune to keep their feelings out of each other .
「Well, sorry . I have to get rid of some big fish out there . I'll bring you some delicious seafood from Magna on the way home, and we'll all have a feast in the evening」
「 . . . . You're really still going out there」
「Yeah」
「Even after I tried to stop you?」
「Yeah」
「What if I told you that from now on you could have all of me at all times?」
「 . . . . My heart almost skips a beat right there . But I'm still going」
Claune does not want to let him go at all costs . However, Claune also understands Ainz’s firm determination, and she has her own pride as well .
「 . . . . . Is it impertinent for a woman to ask a man not to go when he has made up his mind to go?」
「I don't think it's impertinent . It's nice to know that Claune cares about me, so could you just welcome me back when I get back?」
「Haaah . . . . . You've always been so stubborn huh」
Claune then stepped aside and opened his way .
「Thank you . That's what I like about Claune」
「Oh my? Are you telling me you like me?」
「 . . . . Well, let's talk about it later」
Although he had feelings for her, he was not yet able to be honest with her . Because they both know how they feel about each other, they feel frustrated, and this has been going on for the past few years .
「Girls like it when you say things like that, you know? But I wonder will you remember it?」
「Aah, I'll remember it . . . . . I'll be going then」
Claune opened the way so that Ainz could pass through .
A moment later, Claune came close to Ainz .
「Nn . . . . Take care, may the goddess blessing be with you」
「Is that a good luck charm for me . It's not on the mouth though?」
「Fufu . Maybe another time」
「I see, so this is your way to get even huh . I've learned a lot . Thank you, Claune . Here I'll go then!」
The goddess' blessing was bestowed upon Ainz's cheek . He was a little disappointed that he didn't get on his mouth though, so he decided to save it for later .
She tried not to show any tears as she wanted to see him off without showing her weak figure so that he would be able to face it with firm determination .
But that was only for a short time . As soon as Ainz was out of her sight, a tear ran down on Claune's cheeks .
Ainz ran the rest of the way through . He ran up the stairs to the hall, one step at a time, and finally arrived at the hall .
「Hello, Ainz-sama . Good day to you . The weather is great today! Do you want to go for a walk?」
He knew this would happen . It can't be helped . Now it's time for the real thing, Ainz thought, bracing himself .
The other side is the grand marshal, one of the strongest persons in the unified nation of Ishtalica .
「Hello, Lloyd-san . It's a beautiful day today, so I thought I'd go outside and relax . Do you want to come with me?」
「Thank you for the invitation . But I haven't finished my work yet . . . . . 」
「That's too bad . Well, I'll take the chance to go by myself then」
「I'm afraid, that's not going to happen . You will need an escort . Also . . . . . . I wonder, how far you'll go?」
With those words, the air around him changed . Even windows around us seemed to tremble .
The air that Grand Marshal Lloyd emitted was a pressure that Ainz had never experienced before, a pressure that nothing can rival it .
「I was thinking of a gift for my mother, so I will be going to the port city of Magna . . . . . So, please step aside, everyone」
Ainz emitted the same thing that stopped Kadyma's movement . Ainz did not understand the principle, or even what he was using in his head . However, in the depths of his mind, in a place like his soul that he could not put into words, he somehow understood .
One more moment of delay and Ainz would have been in Lloyd's reach . He managed to get a head start on the last moment .
The members of the Kings guard who had come with Lloyd didn't seem to understand what had happened to them, but they can feel something strange with their body .
「The matter of destroying the seal, and an ability to stop our movement . It seems that Ainz-sama has suddenly become stronger」
「 . . . . . Lloyd-san seems to be able to resist it a little huh . Even Kadyma-san looked like she was having a hard time trying to talk」
「Even though I look like this, I'm still a Grand Marshal you know . But . . . . hmm, it's even "though" for me to move huh」
Lloyd's forehead was covered with sweat as he said so . I wonder if he's still trying desperately to move his body .
「That's good then . I wonder, will Lloyd-san let me go when he's still stuck in here」
「The winner has the right to do what they want, there's no mistaking it . The loser has no right to complain . Ainz-sama, you can do whatever you want . But, please don't forget that it will come with a lot of responsibility」
Lloyd backed off more easily than Ainz had thought .
Ainz was surprised that his movements were so easily stopped, but now was not the time to be thinking about that, he had to get to the station first .
Ainz, who was quick on his feet again, went outside . He ran as fast as he could to get to the White Rose and catch the train .
＊＊＊
「Good grief, you're really an interesting person」
In the hall after Ainz had left, the King's Guard were still unable to move . Warren, who had finally arrived, saw them . Lloyd muttered so to himself . He was wondering what to do now .
「I don't know what had happened here . But I do understand that Ainz-sama has gone . It seems that our Crown Prince is even more mischievous than Olivia-sama huh」
「It's as Warren-dono says huh . . . . Well then, Fhuoh!」
Lloyd gathered momentum with his body and shouted . There was a sound like something bursting, and Lloyd's body regained its freedom .
「Oya? Was that a farce?」
「I wish I could really say it was a farce, but unfortunately I was completely unprepared earlier . It seems, since Ainz-sama had gained some distance from me, I was able to disarm it now」
「Fumu . . . . . . Then, Lloyd-dono, what do you think about it?」
「It's probably binding magic . I never expect him to be able to use such a high level of magic . Binding magic is easy to counter with defensive measures, but the problem was that I didn't prepare that defense measures back then」
「Certainly, I've heard that binding magic was highly effective against human . By simply wearing a piece of equipment from a monster material will gain your resistance to it」
「Exactly . Good grief . . . . . Not only was I in a hurry, but I also regretted that I didn't send someone to get that defensive measures」
The only thing Lloyd said was that it was hard to move, it was hard enough to make his forehead sweat . But was he still able to move in that situation or not? Only Lloyd himself knew for sure .
＊＊＊
Ainz has safely left the hall and is running to the castle gate . He couldn't take out a carriage, he wouldn't be able to use it as expected, and it would take a long time to prepare a horse .
Then, he thought, he would have to run as fast as he could to get there .
「Shit . . . Seriously . This castle was ridiculously large . I'm even amazed at my own house!」
The castle of Ishtalica, the White Night, was so large that he had to walk a reasonable distance to get out .
It was really a disadvantage for Ainz at the moment .
After a long run, Ainz finally arrived near the castle gate . A person was waiting for Ainz .
「Ainz-sama . No way, I never expect you to reach here」
「Dill . . . . !」
Dill is now working as a knight in the castle . Even after graduating from the academy, he has had many opportunities to become Ainz's escort, and now they are much closer than ever before .
Unlike his father, Lloyd, he swings his sword beautifully as if it were dancing .
He was still young as a member of the new knights, but as an apprentice to Ainz's bodyguard, his ability was recognized by the knights in the castle .
「It's no use to try to stop me . I will still head straight to Magna」
Before Dill could say anything, Ainz told him that there was no point in stopping him .
The result, however, turned out to be quite different from what Ainz had imagined .
「 . . . . I will accompany you . Well then, please use this horse」
Dill said he would go with him . He called another horse from the shadows and told Ainz to use this one .
「Dill?! You're not here to stop me?」
「It is true that I served Ishtalica, but before that, I serve Ainz-sama personally . It is at times like this that I can at least say something like this . If I am fired, I would appreciate it if you could hire me as your knight personally, Ainz-sama」
He smiled his typical refreshing smile and told Ainz what he thought .
When Dill said that he should hire him if he was fired as a knight, Ainz stopped in surprise, but he also smiled and expressed his gratitude .
He has accepted his resolve .
「I'll hire you as many as you want . If you want, I'll even make you a new Knight's Order and make you as its leader! Thank you for getting the horses ready, we're heading to the White Rose now!」
「Ha!」
＊＊＊
It was helpful that I had a horse as a means of transportation now .
We were able to reach the White Rose earlier than expected . He felt really sorry to the people for galloping down the main street on horseback .
Ain thought that he should create an opportunity to apologize eventually .
「Let's go Ainz-sama! Just leave the horse tied up here!」
「Okay!」
The horses were tied up where the carriages normally stop and we proceeded through the station .
Seeing Ainz and Dill coming on horseback, the passengers at the station started to wonder what was going on .
「What's going on, Your Highness!」
「Majolica . I'm sorry, I'm on my way to Magna for an urgent matter」
「To Magna, at a time like this . . . . . ? Your Highness, you can't be serious right」
On our way, we passed by Majolice . It was the first time he had seen Ainz in this state, and when he heard the word Magna, he immediately understood .
「 . . . . . Your Highness! Take this with you!」
Majolice threw one of his cloth bags to Dill, who was standing beside Ainz . Dill took it, but it was apparently quite heavy as he was struggling .
「I'll bill the castle later, so feel free to use it! It's a Heal Bird's magic stone that I just procured!」
「 . . . . Yeah . Thanks!」
The Heal Bird's magic stone is useful for recovery . At the very least, Majolice decided to give it to him .
「Ainz-sama . Please hurry」
「Then, Majolice . I'll visit you at the store some other time!」
「 . . . . I wish you good luck」
And Ainz, running for the train . The next step is to somehow get the royal water train up and running .
Normally, the train would have to go through several managements, including the butler's office, to operate . The problem is how to make it move now .
「Ainz-sama . I'm afraid I have one thing to say」
「What is it?」
Dill talks to me while running .
「We need the royal train to get there in time . But there are a lot of procedures that need to be followed to use the royal train」
「Yeah! I was just thinking about that too!」
「Only one, there's a way for us to use it」
「Huh!? Just tell me!」
「You can use it with a pretense of a royal decree . It is an absolute right of command granted only to royalty . However, if the use of it is found to be inappropriate, there is a possibility that you will be stripped of your position as the crown prince when you return to the capital」
What Dill said was a possibility . But in fact, his revocation from the crown prince was already certain . He had disobeyed the king's orders, and despite his position as the crown prince, he had gone all the way to a dangerous place and used his rights inappropriately .
Still, Ainz smiled .
「So, we can use the train with that huh?」
「Yes, we can . I've taken you this far . But I don't really like the idea of you using it . Do you understand?」
「 . . . . Dill」
「Ha!」
Ainz thanked Dill again . He was grateful that he has served him so well .
「Continue your escort . We're on our way to Magna as planned」
Of course, Dill knew that Ainz would say this . It was his own last stand and advice . But now that his lord had made up his mind, he made up his mind that he would do everything in his power to make his wish come true .
「As you wish」
The commotion in the White Rose station did not stop after that .
Ainz went to the White Rose stationmaster's place and used the royal decree to use the royal train .
After the train departed, Sylvird and the others received the call and used the liaison machine to order the train to stop .
However, there was no contact with the train . There was some kind of radio interference happening between them, and the train did not come to a stop .
＊＊＊
Ainz ordered the driver to overwork the furnace . He used it as if he was only thinking about making it last until Magna, and it would probably be difficult to get it running again without replacing the furnace when they arrived .
They arrived at the port town of Magna in about half the usual time . The town had the same beautiful weather and clear waters as usual, but the atmosphere of the people was completely different .
There were no stalls open, and no marketplace in operation . Everyone must be frightened when they heard about the sea dragons .
「It was the worst atmosphere I've ever had」
「You are right . But when it comes to the sea dragon, it is inevitable that it will be so . Moreover, there's two of them this time . . . . . It's an unprecedented situation, and we don't know what will happen to the port city」
「Dill . Tell me what you think . How much is Chris-san's and the others chance to win against it」
「 . . . . . We can manage if it's only one of them . Sea Dragon causes great damage every time it appears, but we also had prepared a countermeasure against them . As a result, the Ishtalica’s fleet was born . But if there are two of them, it's hard to predict because we can't just double our calculation」
「Don't make it too ambiguous . Be honest with me . So, you're saying, by just simply bringing second subjugation team are not going to get rid of them?」
Ainz was happy to hear his concern but was still curious about what he thought . Then they continued their conversation .
「With all due respect . It is very likely that the outcome will be as you say, Ainz-sama」
「As expected huh . Well then . . . . . 」
Ainz began to think about what to do, how to get to the scene, but more importantly, how to deal with the sea dragon .
「Ainz-sama . How do you plan to defeat the Sea Dragon? Certainly, with Dullahan as it's opponent, it might even manage a sea dragon . But Ainz-sama is not the Dullahan」
Dill, who had been assigned to work at the castle and had become his personal guard, albeit an apprentice, had also heard about Ainz's dark knight .
The dark knight is indeed strong, but it is unlikely to be able to give a decisive blow to the sea dragon .
「Hey, Dill . Where do you think a Sea Dragon's magic stone is located?」
「 . . . . . It's supposed to be buried in its forehead area」
「I see, understood . Now then, we need to get the ship ready」
「Ainz-sama! What are you trying to do!」
When asked by Dill, Ainz did not answer . In his mind, he had thought about how to attack it, but he was not ready to talk about the means .
. . . . . . In Ainz's bosom, there was a dull, shiny claw hidden .
「Dill . What do you think we should do about the ship?」
「Ha! . . . . Now that we've come this far, there's no use in stopping you huh . But I'm here to protect Ainz-sama, so don't forget about that!」
「Hahaha . Thank you, Dill, I'm counting on you」
That was Ainz's true feelings .
Although he was hiding it, Ainz had a slight tremor in his limbs . That's why he felt strongly relieved that Dill was there to say he would protect him .
「We will use our Glacier ship . Its speed is reasonably fast . It will be fine, because today, under the influence of the sea dragon, there is no demon beast in the sea」
「I'm really grateful you're so prepared . I don't know what I would have done without Dill」
「Good grief, Ainz-sama . But please tell me one last thing . If you're just going to throw away your life here, then I will have to stop Ainz-sama here」
It was his last confirmation . Dill was willing to risk his life to serve Ainz to fulfil his wishes, but he will stop him here if he was just going to throw his life away . He could not allow that, no matter what .
「 . . . . I'll be fine . I won't get myself killed . Let's defeat the sea dragon and get back to the castle as soon as possible . I have to get some praise from my mother too!」
Dill was a little relieved to see Ainz expressing his love for Olivia even at a time like this . He didn't know what kind of method Ainz would use, but he chose to believe that it wasn't a way that will risk his life .