Ainz and Aura emerged from the elf treasury.
The upshot—he wasn’t entirely sure it was a disappointment. There had been mystery fruits, coconuts larger than Aura was tall, and there was no way to appraise their value at the moment.
But nothing made of particularly rare metals turned up. The materials were all things easily found in nature—a tad disappointing, but at least they could still hope for some unusual effects or previously unseen abilities.
So Ainz wasn’t upset. Perhaps the needle even tipped toward pleased.
The haul was already gone.
He’d used a Gate to toss it all near the log house above Nazarick.
This might have come as a shock to whichever member of the Pleiades was on duty, but since he’d sent Mare out on his own, he didn’t want to stop and explain. He simply barked an order to take care of the items—given the risk entailed—within the log house for now.
When that was done, he assumed a grave expression—his bony features never changed—and turned to Aura.
“Well then, Aura, let’s do this.”
“Yes, Lord Ainz!!”
She sounded enthusiastic and bent down with her back to him.
To be clear, her movement speed was far greater than his own. If she took off, she’d leave him in the dust. Naturally, since she had to track the elf king’s blood trails, she wouldn’t hit her top speed. But even then, Ainz would likely not keep up. He did have equipment that could improve his speed, but changing gear meant more than simply swapping that slot for something else.
Ainz’s default loadout was a resistance puzzle, min-maxed to the extreme limits of his equipment weight capacity. If anything changed that balance, he’d have to consider the cumulative effects—which took time. He had little trouble using scrolls or consumables, but this brought out his finicky side.
And even if he did use it, he wasn’t sure he could keep up with Aura.
So his best option—was to have Aura carry him.
Naturally, an adult man riding a little girl around was an extremely—extremely—uncomfortable visual. Ainz would much rather not. The emotion wasn’t strong enough to be repressed, which meant it stuck like a thorn in his side.
But Mare’s life might depend on this decision.
Certainly, Mare should have no issues defeating the elf king. Ainz was pretty sure they’d seen the end of what he could do, and he was exhausted and injured—he had no path to victory. But nothing was ever guaranteed.
He could send a Message asking for an update, but mid-combat, that could prove distracting. His best option was simply to catch up as soon as possible.
So Ainz had to swallow his pride. Make this choice not as Satoru Suzuki but as Ainz Ooal Gown.
That left one concern.
How should she carry him?
Given Aura’s strength, she could probably manage the princess carry. Others might well go for the standard piggyback. Yet, Ainz had chosen to treat her like a mount—or more accurately, this had been Aura’s own choice.
At first, he’d suggested she heft him onto her shoulder like so much baggage. That was less inherently mortifying, and the self-deprecating joke contained within that metaphor amused him.
But Aura insisted she could never treat him like baggage, and attempting to argue the point seemed like it would take a while.
Ainz himself had ruled out the princess carry—that would simply lead to emotional resets.
Which left the mount.
His mind made up, he steeled himself and stepped aboard the little girl’s back. He also took a dagger out of his item box. It was not clear if he would need it, but better safe than sorry.
Floating next to them was an Elemental Skull, called here via Summon Tenth-Tier Undead.
Some might suggest he bring out some other undead and ride them instead of Aura. But he hadn’t for one simple reason.
Which would be sacrificed first?
Faced with an unexpected threat, his summons would act as a shield, giving Aura and Ainz time to retreat. For that reason, he could not use an undead as a mount.
Certainly, he could simply dismount if they encountered an enemy, but that delay might prove fatal. Ainz knew this was overcautious. But they were in the middle of a war zone, and the odds of something unexpected were that much higher—best to consider safety first and be prepared—using an undead as a shield, for instance.
Elemental Skulls were more about magical DPS than tanking, but he’d gone with it anyway because tanks weren’t always the best choice to cover a retreat. In Yggdrasil, DPS units trying to tank was not advisable. Only absolute freaks like Touch Me had ever managed to play both at once and just proved how inadvisable it was. No one else could copy him. But you were certainly welcome to try.
Aura took off.
Following the faint traces of blood on the floor, she bounded down the stairs—and then drew to a halt.
Taking her eyes off the trail, she looked ahead. Ainz followed her gaze but saw no one.
He considered asking, but if something had gone wrong, best he stand ready to give the Elemental Skull an order—and wait for Aura’s word. And he had a hunch what this might be.
His hunch proved correct.
“Lord Ainz, message from Mare.”
“Ah,” he intoned. It was hard to act dignified while seated on her back, but he could at least maintain a master’s tone of voice. “From your attitude, I surmise Mare is not asking for help. Can I assume he’s successfully captured the elf king?”
“Well…the king has already been killed.”
“What?”
Without the primal earth elemental, the elf king would certainly have been rather weak. But not weak enough to be slain by just anyone from this world—he should have been able to escape any such threat.
“……There was another powerful figure in play here? Did Mare engage?”
“Yes and he defeated them, but they’re still alive. What should we do? Mare suggests they might possess valuable intel. They might have been monitoring the fight between you and Shalltear.”
“What? They saw that? Did they have a World Item? Let’s catch up with him and secure this person. Then we’ll return to Nazarick. Time’s a-wasting! Aura, sorry about this—it won’t be much longer.”
The report hadn’t used a plural, so evidently there’d only been the one real threat. Still, it was possible they had a number of weaker fighters accompanying them. Without knowledge of the specifics, beating a hasty retreat was the ideal move.
“I’m not put out at all—but let’s hurry. Lord Ainz, hold on tight.”
The words barely left her mouth and Aura shot off like a bullet. Far faster than before, didn’t even slow on corners—running up the walls instead. Ainz had never been on a roller coaster, but he imagined it felt like this. This body felt no fear, yet it was still rather frightening. Perhaps even scarier with his gaze this low.
When acting as a warrior, he could run at similar speeds, but there was a big difference between running on your own power and putting yourself at the mercy of someone else’s full-throttle cornering.
In what felt like mere seconds, Mare came within view.
He had an unfamiliar human on his shoulder, his other hand holding his own staff and a new sinister-looking scythe.
Ainz had a ton of questions. I heard the elf king was slain, but where’s the body? What happened to the magic items he had on him? But they were on enemy ground. Withdrawing safely was the priority.
Looking grave, he stepped down from Aura’s back acting confident, like riding her had been absolutely necessary and totally normal. Then he stuck the dagger in the floor.
It was difficult to quickly remember a featureless corridor, but if a recognizable dagger was left sticking out of it, that would make things easier. This dagger was long since embedded in his memory, so he could use it as a spell target.
Ainz opened a Gate.
“Go on in.”
Mare stammered in reply and then carried the human on through.
Ainz dismissed the Elemental Skull, and then he and Aura went through the Gate.
Once through, he found the pile of items from the treasury. To one side, he found Entoma bowing her head—she must have come out to collect the pile. And she probably realized the new Gate likely signified Ainz’s return.
Some death knights stood awkwardly around them, likely here to help her.
“Welcome home, Lord Ainz.”
“Hmm, keep working on these, Entoma. You have a ring?”
“I do.”
“Then loan it to Aura. Aura, this is a valuable source of information. Do not let it die. Take it swiftly to the Ice Prison. I’m sure Neuronist can handle it, but make sure all gear is removed.”
“L-Lord Ainz, a moment…?”
“What, Mare? You look concerned.”
“Y-yes, this human…is really strong. I’ve used Sandman’s Sand on her, but if something wakes her up, I don’t think Neuronist could win.”
“…Ah, in that case… Aura, remain close to this woman until I return. Stay on guard.”
Aura slipped on the ring, took the human from Mare, and teleported away. Ainz turned back to Mare.
“So…why is it you think this human was watching the Shalltear battle?”
That was the question of the hour.
“R-right, this human used both your the Goal of All Life Is Death and Shalltear’s Einherjar. I can’t imagine that’s unrelated!”
“She what?!”
Ordinarily, nobody had more than one move powerful enough to call an ace. Having two available boggled his mind. Perhaps Mare’s idea was on the money. Did she have a means of copying skills?
“I’m shocked you left her alive.”
“Y-yes, I thought Micro-catastrophe would kill her, but she’s got incredible life force. And luckily didn’t die.”
“You used Micro-catastrophe on her?! And she survived… That woman really is powerful. You may have been the lucky one. What about the elf king?”
Mare described his end, and Ainz furrowed his nonexistent brow. The king had likely had a magic item capable of thwarting Stop Time, and he’d like to go collect that but also wanted to learn more about this new human.
He should probably prioritize the item. The human would not easily escape Nazarick.
Well, I can send Pandora’s Actor. He can search the place. Or should I have him investigate the human? No, better I do that myself. In which case…
Ainz turned to Entoma.
“Entoma, please wait here. I’m going to call in Pandora’s Actor.”
As she answered, he activated Message.
✦ ✦ ✦
