The Theocracy shored up their assault and finally broke though the elf capital’s defenses.
Ainz spotted Theocracy troops in the city itself and hastily took action.
Under cover of Perfect Unknowable, the first thing Ainz did was find an elf on their own and capture them while there were no witnesses around.
When he finally got his opportunity, he found himself with a female elf, likely a servant.
He used Charm on her and took her through a Gate back to where Aura and Mare waited. Like the elf they’d captured previously, they asked a few questions, but she didn’t have much valuable information.
Deciding they’d get nothing more from her, Ainz didn’t hesitate to use Death on her. He figured no one would notice a missing servant in a castle about to fall.
Stripping off the clothes and anything else that would identify the corpse, he sent it through a Gate to a far-off land—specifically, to where they’d found the ursus. He figured the wild things would eventually take care of the body, and if anyone did stumble across it, it would just be some mysterious remains with no visible injuries. Nothing connected it to Ainz himself.
It might have been more natural to move it to the air above the castle and drop it—making it look like a suicide—but he decided that if she was missing, then perhaps he could use that knowledge to his advantage later.
He’d used a little MP disposing of the body, but given his recovery speed, there was nothing to worry about. They had neither the need nor the time to sit and watch further.
The surviving elves were employing guerrilla tactics throughout the city, and the Theocracy forces were struggling to advance, but given the numbers advantage, it was only a matter of time. There were no signs of champions strong enough to turn the tide, suggesting neither side had any to put into play.
The elf king himself was supposed to be formidable, but if he wasn’t out there fighting, perhaps he’d already made his escape.
In which case, he might have taken the magic items with him, and they were wasting their time. As he pondered this, Ainz turned to the twins.
“Let’s go.”
They knew the approximate location. It was a pity they’d been unable to find any concrete information on what items the treasury held or what powers this superstrong king actually had. Perhaps he should have targeted a higher-ranking elf, but they hadn’t had time to be choosey.
Only one real problem.
How—? Or rather, who should hide?
This was enemy territory, and he wasn’t about to let them split up.
They’d taken pains to keep themselves concealed, so if they just waltzed into the place, that would all be for naught.
It would be best if all three could remain hidden.
There were ways to accomplish that. But all had their downsides.
If Ainz had Perfect Unknowable active, only Aura could tell where he was. And even then, she would only have a vague impression of his general location. Druids were capable of acquiring a skill that could see through Perfect Unknowable, but Mare didn’t have that—his build was all offensive magic, with precious few exceptions.
When Aura had the Ghillie Guise Cloak on, neither Ainz nor Mare could find her.
Mare’s standard outfit included a Dappled Cape, which provided excellent concealment outside, especially in forests, but the effect was halved indoors. The castle might be carved out of a living tree, but it still counted as inside, and the cape’s cloaking ability was reduced to the point where even Ainz could sort of tell where he was. Aura and Ainz knowing Mare’s location was fine, but this meant it was easier for enemies to spot him and thus sort of pointless.
If Ainz hid, Aura could see him, but Mare couldn’t.
If Aura hid, neither Ainz nor Mare could spot her.
Mare’s Dappled Cape didn’t offer particularly strong concealment, and that wasn’t really improved if he used the Ghillie Guise Cloak—either way, odds were high someone else could spot him.
There was no way for all three to hide, so it was better if one person stayed hidden in case of emergencies. But who? Aura was probably best for that role, but in a pinch, it might be a problem if the other two didn’t know where she was. They might accidentally turn her way and run into her.
This is a huge mess.
He’d had a week to prepare. They really should have talked this through at some point.
Ainz had done plenty of stealth missions back in Yggdrasil. On their initial conquest of Nazarick, his whole party had snuck through the marshes filled with lurking tsveik. But with other players, they’d prepped their own stealth measures and mostly knew how it worked—there’d been no need to preplan, just a quick confirmation before leaping into action.
Perhaps the kill-steal idea had left Ainz a bit giddy and forgotten that he wasn’t playing Yggdrasil anymore because he had completely forgotten to run his plan by the twins.
So why had neither of them brought it up? The most plausible explanation was that it was a side effect of their absolute faith in him. Lord Ainz must have a plan! (He was too scared to ask if that was actually the case.) He glanced at them and found their eyes gleaming with trust.
He was too ashamed to admit it simply hadn’t occurred to him. Ainz’s brain—not that he had one—went into overdrive, running fever hot. He could try asking their opinion but didn’t want to waste any more time on this. So he went with the best idea he could come up with.
“I’ll use Perfect Unknowable. Aura, you take the lead.”
That settled it.
The twins would not hide. They would have to rely on Aura’s senses and do their best to avoid running into anyone. If that did happen, they’d handle it, and Ainz would stand by, ready to back them up as necessary. Since they couldn’t see each other, the risk of them getting split up during an attack was greater than the risk of the twins getting spotted.
Neither argued.
Are you really fine with that? Go ahead—offer feedback!
Ainz was always happy to be argued with.
Putting their heads together would assuredly result in a better idea.
And they agreed because it was his suggestion and they trusted him. That was tantamount to an abandonment of thought. If Ainz had missed something or picked a bad plan—and that happened plenty—then what? They’d likely not say anything even if it did go south, but that was hardly a good thing.
This is the downside to NPCs. Still…I could insist they offer their two cents, but we really don’t have time to discuss them. Best we leave this problem for another day and just have them be extra careful.
He ran several strategies by them, then activated his spell, following Aura and Mare into the castle.
There were very few elves here—it had been the same when he entered on his own—so they didn’t run into anyone. It helped that Aura was listening closely and moving when there was no one around.
The Re-Estize Kingdom’s castle was also largely deserted at the end, but at least they’d barricaded the entrance and tried.
The Theocracy was already in the city, but no one was putting up any resistance. It was like nothing was happening.
No one moving to defend themselves…because their leaders have already abandoned the city? I’ve heard this is the only elf-led country around, but the woods are vast. Maybe they have territory to the south. Could even be another city.
In that case, this was a futile effort.
But Ainz would find out soon enough. No point speculating, so he abandoned the line of thought.
The treasury was upstairs, on a floor no one was allowed to enter.
It was two stories above the king’s own chambers, at the very top of the palace. He’d considered accessing it from outside, but naturally, there were no windows.
The three of them climbed on.
Up stair after stair, no sign of anyone here. When they reached their destination floor, Aura muttered, “What the…?”
The ceilings were a good fifteen yards high and glowed like they had lights fitted all over. There were no windows anywhere, so this light was clearly of a magical source.
But it wasn’t exactly bright.
Ainz moved around a bit, making sure no debuffs had hit him.
This wasn’t the kind of light priests used against undead. This was the elf country, so odds were it was some sort of druid faith spell.
That wasn’t the odd part. The sixth floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick was much the same. Arcane and psychic magic both had light spells, too. But with no side effects, it was hard to pinpoint the spell, much less what type of magic.
Aura’s question had been prompted not by the ceiling but the floor.
It was covered in dirt.
The whole floor was one vast open space, no walls or partitions—a solid hundred yards in every direction—and dirt was scattered across the breadth of it.
Not every inch, but the area around the doors in back had especially thick layers of soil.
Aura kicked the ground a couple of times, turning the dirt over. The floor was right below it. It wasn’t that thick a layer.
“Is this in lieu of carpeting?”
It did give that impression. The dark elves hadn’t used any rugs, either. At most, they had cushions of woven grass.
“Ugh, man… I guess it takes all kinds, but this seems pretty uncultured? Or is this a security system? Ensuring we leave footprints?”
“B-but wouldn’t it be better to just leave guards?”
Ainz agreed with Mare on that point. He’d glanced around, but the place was deserted.
So lax… If there’s no one here— No, maybe there usually is, but they’re busy fighting the invaders. The servant said they weren’t allowed up here. Then again, there wasn’t any mention of guards, either.