"Stop!"
The angry voice of Belius resounded through the village, threatening but fearful.
A group of people surrounded him from all sides. Some carried sticks, others canes, but most were unarmed.
They were the survivors of Carne Village, people who had gone through the worst day in their lives and barely survived due to Ainz's interference.
Their eyes were painted in a deep hatred as they looked at Belius, who kneeled powerlessly on the ground.
Belius struggled to move, but his body wouldn't obey him.
Ainz had used [Hold Species] on him, a spell that immobilized the target for as long as the caster maintained the spell.
Feeling the villagers looking at him, Ainz nodded.
The village chief was the first to move. He approached Belius and gave him a solid punch to the face.
Belius fell to the ground with a bloody mouth, seemingly surprised that someone had punched him.
Before he could say anything, another villager kicked him in the jaw, making three teeth go flying through the air, leaving a trail of blood in the air.
Then came a mother who had lost her son. She slammed a stick on one of his arms, making a cracking sound that was quickly muffled by his scream of pain.
An old man thrusted his cane at Belius's guts, making him vomit.
Two children, no older than 8, threw stones at his face while crying.
One by one, the villagers approached to vent their anger.
Belius cried, his screams going from curses to pleading as the attacks continued.
His cries were ignored by the villagers, who continued to hit him with the same furious intensity. Because of this, Ainz had to cure him a few times so Belius would not die before everyone had their chance to vent.
After what felt like a long time, a lonely figure approached Belius, who at this point lay on the ground, desperately arfing for breath, so tired he could no longer even beg for mercy.
Feeling no one hitting him anymore, Belius tentatively looked up.
His swollen eyes only opened into tiny cracks, but through them he saw her.
It was the girl he had followed into a house, the one who had gotten away.
She looked at him with hate, her eyes, red from crying, now carried a strength that frightened him.
He tried to apologize to her, to beg for her mercy, but found his mouth an uncooperative mess of broken teeth that couldn't pronounce the words properly.
The girl didn't say anything to him, only responding by raising a sword with a trembling hand before bringing it down with all her strength.
He screamed in pain, but he was quickly interrupted by another stab, and then another and another.
The girl continued to furiously stab him while screaming.
Her cries of fury mixed with his own cries of pain to give birth to a macabre symphony that filled the whole village.
***
Ainz sat on a small wooden bench listening to the crying girl sitting across from him.
She seems tired.
Enri Enmot looked exhausted from the events of the day, something he could understand perfectly.
Despite that, the girl stubbornly forced herself to stay awake, for her savior had come to visit her.
Her sister, Nemu, was sleeping on a bed in the other room.
After Belius' execution, Enri had washed her sister and soothed her to sleep. The little girl had fearfully clung to her older sister for a good while before giving up control of her body and falling asleep.
Maybe Enri also wanted to sleep after that, but Ainz had come to visit, so she struggled to resist her own exhaustion and entertained him.
"Here, use this." He handed her a handkerchief he had stored in his inventory.
It was black and embroidered in gold at the edges.
"Thank you!" Enri didn't even look at it and wiped her tears, leaving a bit of snot on the tissue.
Seeing this, her eyes widened, her face turning red from embarrassment.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Ainz Ooal Gown-sama, I- I'll wash it before returning it to you, just wait." She said and prepared to go outside, but he held her hand and pulled her back.
"It's okay, don't worry about it. Also, call me Ainz." Ainz laughed and looked back at her, trying to find the person who had killed Belius with a sword, but only seeing a little girl instead.
He had given Belius to the villagers mainly because of her. He respected her strong will. Having the courage to face him to protect her sister was something he found more and more admirable as he learned about the weaknesses of these humans.
So, upon hearing what Belius had done to her and her family, he decided to hand him over to the villagers so they could vent their anger.
And Enri had not disappointed him. She had killed the man with the sword of one of her summons.
The goblin troupe had scared the villagers at the beginning, but after he explained that they came from an item he had given to Enri, they all accepted their existence.
He figured that after being faced with the Death Knight, these goblins might look cute in comparison.
Even now, they were outside of her house, making sure she was safe.
He could feel their wary gazes on him. They recognized his overwhelming power, but were still ready to fight him for Enri.
This was because Enri was their summoner. A summon had absolute loyalty to its summoner, something he had already tested with the undead he created.
"Ainz-sama, here." Enri handed him a small horn.
This was a Horn of the Goblin General, one of the two he had given her, the other being responsible for summoning the goblin troupe.
"Why are you handing this to me?"
"This is a precious item that Ainz-sama generously gave me for my protection, but now that my sister and I are safe, I should return it, no?" Enri gave him a confused reply.
So that's why.
Once again, his opinion of Enri improved. This item was useless for him, but for her village it was a life-saving treasure. Her taking the initiative to return it showed she was not greedy and wouldn't be blinded by benefits.
"Here." He put the horn back in her hands.
"I don't have much use for this item. Use it to protect yourself and your village." And seeing as she insisted, he continued.
"I won't stay here forever, Enri. There's no guarantee that another tragedy like the one from today won't happen again in the future, so keep it to yourself." He put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair.
It must have been uncomfortable for her because of his gauntlets, but if she felt it, she didn't show it.
Hot tears fell from her eyes.
"Thank you, Ainz-sama."
"Truly, thank you."
Those were tears of joy.
***
Ainz ran his hand through Enri's hair.
His bony fingers passed through her dark blonde hair without disturbing her sleep.
Only with her like that did he feel comfortable with removing his gauntlet.
He wondered how she would react if she came to know that he was an undead. Would she still feel grateful, or would she despise him?
After coming to know her a little bit more, he wanted to believe that the former was true, but there was no need to test this for now.
They had talked for a long time, and Enri eventually could no longer fight back her exhaustion, falling asleep beside her sister.
She's warm.
His finger brushed against her skin, and he felt the heat emanating from her blood. This was the warmth that only a living being could have, something that he might never again experience.
After many centuries as an undead Demon Lord, Ainz was used to his condition, but after fusing with Suzuki Satoru, he once again began to have mixed feelings about his form.
His interactions with Enri only strengthened this feeling further, for there was something he couldn't experience.
Children, huh?
Be it as the Demon Lord or as Suzuki Satoru, he had never thought about being a father, but now he was feeling the urge to become one.
Is this the proof that I'm a completely different being from those two?
Ainz contemplated the nature of his existence, finding it more intriguing than anything else.
"Shadow Demon." A creature came out of his shadow and stood beside him.
This was a Shadow Demon, a level 30 demon who specialized in stealth.
"You are to protect her from now on. If anything happens, you are to give me a sign." He instructed the demon, and it entered Enri's shadow, remaining quietly there.
Considering the level of beings in this world, this should be enough.
Ainz got up and walked past the troupe of goblins at the entrance.
"Take good care of her." He left these words and began to walk through the village.
The wreckage had been mostly dealt with, so he didn't find anything blocking his path as he walked through the common areas.
He could see his Death Knight still carrying debris to the edge of the village. He had assigned this task to it after seeing how the grieving villagers were struggling to do the job.
Sebas was doing the same thing, but in his case, it was out of a desire to help the villagers. Ainz had noticed that and allowed him to do it.
Looking at the Death Knight, he was reminded of one of the characteristics shared by all undead: they never got tired.
This characteristic, when combined with no need for food or sleep, made the undead the best labourers in the world.
Since I can now make permanent undead, maybe I should start assigning tasks like these for them in the future.
Since coming to this world, he had discovered many new applications for his skills and even some new powers that didn't exist in Yggdrasil.
Nfirea Bareare, a man with a talent that allows him to use any magic item, regardless of the requirements.
While talking with Enri, he had asked her if she knew anyone whom she could ask for help in an emergency, and she told him about her friend who lived in E-Rantal.
It seems I will need to visit E-Rantal soon.
Be it because it was the biggest city in the region or because of this mysterious friend of Enri, E-Rantal had already become his next target.
As he was thinking about this, a [Message] appeared, and he accepted it.
[What is it, Aura?]
[Ainz-sama, a group of armed men on horses is approaching the village.]