Several small packages of goods lay scattered messily on the ground. Among them were tin cans of potato powder and oatmeal, beef jerky wrapped in brown paper, and some flattened loaves of white bread—mostly the kind of food that kept well on long journeys.
In addition, there were a few small boxes of pepper, rosemary, curry powder, and fine salt. It was obvious that the owner of these supplies was a gourmet who never skimped on his own meals.
All of it had been bought by the lord's servants at Barrett's request. Of course, even though he and EeDechi were regarded by the townsfolk as "invincible warriors," the two of them had still paid in gold coins.
Barrett tied the large and small bundles together with hemp rope, splitting them evenly into two big backpacks, each roughly half a person tall. He and EeDechi each shouldered one, ready to leave Lord Martin Smith's castle and head south.
Although they owned spatial rings, they still had to keep up the act of "ordinary travelers." The moment they reached an empty corner, the two bulky packs would disappear inside the spatial ring.
EeDechi also carried a small gray cloth sack on her back. It hung heavy, as though it held an oval ball inside. If anyone stared at the sack for too long, they would notice it twitching faintly, like something alive was moving within.
The living thing curled up inside was, of course, Cheeko. EeDechi and Barrett had promised to bring the little creature along on the journey. On a long road like this, having an adorable cat to pet every now and then would surely do wonders to chase away the weariness of travel.
"Two warriors, thank you for everything you have done for the people of this land." Martin Smith gave a twitch to the mustache at the corner of his mouth. He pulled his gaze away from the gray cloth sack on EeDechi's back, his face expressionless.
He said to Barrett, "Might the two warriors be willing to tell me your true names? If your deeds spread among the people by word of mouth, they will at least know exactly who it was that helped them."
True names? Barrett frowned. All this time the lord and everyone around them had simply called them "warriors," never once using their actual names. Barrett spoke up. "My name is Mongo Bartley."
He pointed at EeDechi, whose face below the eyes was hidden by a scarf. "He's called Samus Clifford."
Martin turned his gaze to EeDechi and let out a quiet sigh. "A warrior worth ten thousand gold coins—why help an evil cat?"
"You recognized me?" EeDechi's eyes flew wide open, and her hand instinctively steadied the backpack at her waist that held Cheeko.
Martin smiled. "You only dyed your hair, yet you still dared to stand among the crowd and admire your own wanted poster. I have to say, the courage of the strong always matches their power—it truly knows no bounds."
EeDechi stared at him coldly. "You want ten thousand gold coins too? Let me give you one piece of advice: no matter how much money you have, if you don't have your life to enjoy it, it's nothing but a pile of worthless dirt."
Barrett gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist and threatened in a low voice, "We've fought the Sorcerer Kingdom to the death this whole time. We're not some soft-hearted do-gooders. I wonder whether your wife and daughter are worth more than ten thousand gold coins?"
The three of them stood in the castle hall right after the midday meal, with almost no one else around. This tense, sword-drawn exchange could only be heard by the three of them.
"Good, good, good." Martin Smith smiled and waved his hands again and again. "You two, calm down. Ten thousand gold coins is certainly a hefty sum, but no matter what, as the lord here I'm not short on money."
Whether his generous expression was real or fake was impossible to tell. EeDechi signaled Barrett to slide the longsword—drawn half an inch, its edge gleaming coldly—back into its sheath. After all, they could hardly threaten to slaughter the lord's entire family, wife, children, and all.
A servant came hurrying into the hall. He failed to notice the stern, icy looks on EeDechi and Barrett's faces and said to the lord, "My lord, the Dark Undead Knights have returned. They're here to question us about yesterday's business with the stone giant."
"Uninvited guests, one after another." Martin shook his head and walked out of the hall with the servant.
EeDechi and Barrett exchanged a quick glance. The pair dropped their act as "ordinary travelers," stowed the big bundles into the spatial ring, and strode straight toward the castle gate.
They had barely reached the battlements when they spotted Martin Smith standing just outside the castle entrance, talking to two black-robed men mounted on black horses.
At first glance the two black-robed figures looked ordinary enough, but Barrett soon noticed black holes gaping in the horses' necks, exposing stark white bones inside. The riders kept their faces hidden beneath deep hoods, revealing only sunken skeletal eye sockets that flickered with faint blue light.
Dead men riding dead horses. Worst of all, the Sorcerer Kingdom's emblem was stitched in purple thread across each rider's chest. These were undoubtedly scouts from the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
"Prepare for battle!" EeDechi ducked back behind the parapet, ready to draw her giant sword at any second. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the lord's second daughter hiding behind a stone pillar, watching her father's negotiation with open curiosity.
The black-robed riders wheeled their horses around and rode off at an unhurried pace, as if they had seen nothing unusual. Martin Smith walked back into the castle, caught EeDechi's grim expression, and gave a casual shrug. "Ten thousand gold coins just slipped through my fingers."
"You didn't turn us in?" EeDechi stared hard at the calculating middle-aged man. He had originally planned to use her and Barrett's strength to get rid of the "evil cat" Cheeko in his eyes.
Martin smiled and called out a greeting to the girl behind the pillar. His voice suddenly carried a trace of sorrow:
"I have three children. My youngest daughter died from a strange illness called 'Death's Kiss.' My eldest son fell on the battlefield fighting the Sorcerer Kingdom. I'm sure you've heard of it—the war a few years ago when Ainz Ooal Gown unleashed magic that shook the world and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of our soldiers.
"Though everyone dies where they belong on the battlefield, I'm still furious. But I'm only a mediocre little lord—I have no power to take revenge.
"And now I've let the very people the Sorcerer Kingdom is hunting with everything it has slip away right under their noses. That's something that could make me happy for the rest of my life. No amount of gold coins could ever buy it!"
Martin Smith broke into a grin so infectious it lit up his whole face. His second daughter came running across the flagstones, bursting with questions about what it felt like to speak with the Dark Undead Knight. EeDechi suddenly realized that this father—who saw himself as nothing more than ordinary—had a smile that was warm and radiant.
Martin pulled a scroll from inside his coat and handed it to EeDechi. "The king has ordered every army to assist the Sorcerer Kingdom in tracking you down. This scroll shows the troop positions in my lands and the surrounding regions. It might prove useful to you."
EeDechi took the scroll in silence. The two of them thanked Martin Smith, mounted the brown horses they had bought from nearby villagers, and rode away. Their mounts' hooves clattered over the cobblestones in front of the castle, carrying them farther and farther into the distance...
...
Deep winter had passed and the snow had melted, yet the weather felt even colder. The sky stretched out in a vast, pale gray. A wide river wound its way into the distance. Beside the river stood a tall watchtower next to a rickety suspension bridge, and several guards on the tower kept a constant watch over the ground below.
With the military deployment map the lord had given them, Barrett and EeDechi no longer had to stick to muddy mountain trails to stay out of sight. They soon reached the Mirelle River in Cortshire. After studying the routes, the two decided the best path was to follow the river downstream. It would save their strength and let them avoid the militia patrols.
But they had no boat. That didn't stump the versatile adventurers one bit. EeDechi and Barrett were chopping logs and splitting firewood in the woods beside the river. They fitted round logs and thick planks together, lashed them tight with coarse hemp rope, and sealed every joint with magic adhesive. Just like that, a crude but perfectly serviceable little boat was born.
Soon night fell and the sky darkened. The two adventurers quickly finished their supper, shouldered the little boat, and pushed it into the river. The narrow cabin was just big enough for them to lie down side by side.
Deep into the night, the world fell silent. Twinkling stars gradually filled the sky, shining brilliantly like scattered flecks of gold across dark blue velvet.
The plump cat Cheeko lay sprawled on Barrett's chest. It lifted its head to gaze at the night sky, its round, bright black eyes reflecting the river of stars overhead.
EeDechi lay in the open cabin, counting stars on her fingers and trying to pick out one or two constellations. Bored, she pulled out her bronze seal and tossed it idly from hand to hand. The antique bronze seal flew up into the deep night and dropped back into her palm.
"Hard," EeDechi sighed softly. She thought back over everything that had happened lately. Defeating the Great Tomb of Nazarick still felt impossibly far away. To smash through every obstacle in front of her, she would have to grow stronger. But her power was already at the very peak of the world—she had no idea how to climb any higher.
The last of the Thirteen Heroes, Rigrit, had once told her that only by breaking through the ceiling of the world could one surpass the shackles of level one hundred. "Breaking through the ceiling of the world" sounded far too strange and mysterious; even now, EeDechi still couldn't figure out what it actually meant.
"I suggest finding a few really strong teammates," Barrett said from beside her. His broad palm stroked the cat on his chest, and Cheeko narrowed its eyes in pure contentment.
EeDechi sighed deeply. "Teammates aren't easy to find. The humans in this world are just too weak. People with strength close to level one hundred are rarer than fish in the desert."
She tossed the bronze seal high into the air. The boat beneath her suddenly jolted, shifting position, and the seal plunged straight into the river. Barrett looked up and let out a relieved breath—boat had only bumped a small hidden reef, no real damage.
"My bronze seal!" EeDechi lost her cool. She sprang up in panic, dove headfirst into the river, snatched the seal in seconds, and hauled herself back aboard, soaked to the skin.
She cared far more about the bronze seal than her own clothes. It was her personal magic item. She pulled a white handkerchief from her spatial ring and wiped the seal over and over, rubbing away every drop of water.
Suddenly the bronze seal flared with blinding golden light. The glow broke free, forming a line of text that hung bright against the pitch-black night:
[Hero's Companion:
[When the holder faces hardship, they may summon one banned character to fight alongside them.
[Do you wish to summon?]
EeDechi stared at the words, eyes locked on "banned character" for a long moment. A strange feeling stirred inside her—if she summoned it, something incredible was going to appear.
"Companions showing up this fast?" Barrett exclaimed. "What are you waiting for? Summon it already!"
EeDechi gritted her teeth and whispered, "Yes, summon."
The golden text faded like smoke. Silence returned to the river, broken only by the steady drip of water from EeDechi's wet clothes onto the cabin floor.
"Gone?" Barrett scanned the darkness. The night was thick and heavy; the little boat glided downstream as smoothly as if it were sliding across ice. "Nothing? I was expecting a pillar of light to shoot down from the sky and drop off some powerhouse."
EeDechi felt a flicker of disappointment too. Then, without warning, the vanished golden text reappeared:
[Recruitment Event:
[Holder, please post a recruitment advertisement to begin the recruitment event.
[Even those with clashing ideals may walk the path together. Good luck.]