By the time Ainz left the Adventurer's Guild with Lupusregina and the members of Sword of Darkness, night had fallen over E-Rantal.
He looked at the new copper plate on his chest and couldn't help but sigh.
The registration process had taken longer than he expected, consuming the whole afternoon, and all of that for him and Lupusregina to be classified as the lowest rank of adventurers, copper.
"Are you disappointed with your ranking?"Perhaps sensing his mood, Peter asked while laughing.
"I guess you could say that." He didn't hide it.
Momon was a character he had come up with on a whim.
He wanted to relive the moments he had gone on adventures with his friends in Yggdrasil, so he thought being an adventurer would be his best option.
The armor and swords were both made with his [Create Greater Item] spell, which is to say they were made using his mana.
While laughable in comparison with his normal equipment, it would seem these items were still considered quite powerful for the beings in this world.
The name Momon was chosen by Albedo in honor of his former name, while the backstory was something he created together with Pandora's Actor.
He had been very excited for this role, but unfortunately, the nature of the job adventurer was very different from what he had imagined.
Instead of people who went on adventures while exploring the world, the adventurers of this world were just glorified monster hunters.
Disappointed as he was, he still went through with the process of registering in the Adventurer's Guild for a simple reason.
He wanted to be famous, or rather, to increase his Influence as much as possible.
As Ainz, he received quite a bit of Influence just by having rumors about him spread, so he got a simple idea.
If the name Ainz, which wasn't even his original name, could gather influence, what if he made another one? Could he earn even more?
So he came to E-Rantal intending to start the legend of Momon, but the result…
Despite showcasing his power, he was still classified as a copper rank, which had to do with a policy in the Guild.
A newbie had to start at copper, no matter how capable they may seem.
"It's understandable. For someone as strong as Momon to be a copper rank should be very humiliating." Dyne added, in his now-familiar blunt way of speaking.
"I wouldn't go so far as to call it humiliating; rather, I'm curious as to how we can increase our rank as fast as possible."
With his power and the help of Nazarick, he didn't doubt his ability to quickly rise through the ranks.
Hearing his question, everyone turned to Ninya, the brains of the party.
"Ahum," Ninya gave a perfunctory cough before turning to him.
"The Guild classifies adventurers and quests into 8 ranks. From lowest to highest: Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mythril, Orichalcum, and finally Adamantite."
He was already familiar with this way of classifying adventurers because of the prisoners who had been interrogated.
Apparently, this was the classification used by the Adventurer's Guilds in all human nations in this region, although the Slaine Theocracy was an exception for not having an Adventurer's guild in its territory.
"Normally, a party only has access to quests of its rank, and after completing 10 of those, they are presented with the possibility of taking a rank-up quest of the next rank. Once the party completes it and goes through an assessment by the Guild, they officially change ranks."
So I would need to complete at least 77 quests to reach the Adamantite rank.
That would be very time-consuming.
"Is there a faster way?"
"There is, but it isn't something that you can actively pursue. Parties that perform exceptionally during a crisis sometimes jump ranks without going through this process."
"A crisis? Can you give me an example?"
This piqued his interest.
"Well, something like saving a city from an invasion of demihumans, or dealing with a big criminal organization, or vanquishing a great monster. The two current Adamantite-class parties in the Re-Estize Kingdom, Blue Rose and Red Drop, got to their level using this method."
Blue Rose.
Isn't that the party that clashed with Nigun in one of his missions?
A party composed of only women that operates mainly in the capital.
Their leader is a priestess in the Realm of Heroes who can use resurrection magic, the only one in the Kingdom.
The lowest resurrection spell, [Raise Dead], was a spell of the 5th tier, so only a divine caster in the Realm of Heroes or above could cast it.
In the Re-Estize Kingdom, only Lakyus from Blue Rose could use it, while in other countries, this was a mystery.
According to Nigun's report, Blue Rose is a party of compassionate people who would even protect a group of demihumans if it seemed like the right thing to do.
Comparatively, Red Drop seems to operate in a gray moral area, so he wasn't as interested in them.
Righteous people were easier to exploit, so there might be some merit in cultivating a relationship with this party.
It was his intention to use them to increase his popularity faster.
"About Blue Rose…"
As the conversation continued, they reached an inn.
***
The evening had brought quite a few people to the Brilliant Unicorn.
As he entered the Inn, Ainz saw many tables already occupied.
Those sitting wore different outfits, but the plates on their chests showed that all of them were adventurers.
These adventurers all turned to look at his group when they entered.
Their gazes wandered over them, taking in his armor and swords with some awe.
But then they saw his copper plate, and these gazes turned into disdainful smirks.
The gazes passed through Lupusregina, followed by quite a few whistles.
He saw a dangerous smile appear on her face, but thankfully, she restrained herself.
They followed the members of Sword of Darkness as they approached a certain table.
"Hey, Damian, is that dinner offer still up?" Peter quickly spoke to the man who seemed to be the group's leader.
"Ha! Of course, Peter, come here all of you, and introduce us to your friends."
Damian was a burly man who looked to be in his late 20s.
The plate on his and his 4 companions' chests identified them as Platinum-ranked adventurers.
"He he, these here are Momon and Lupita, people who saved us from a group of Ogres and Goblins outside." Peter pulled chairs for them before sitting on one.
"A pleasure to meet you." Ainz offered his hand for a handshake.
"Oh? No need to be so formal. If you saved these little brats' asses, then you're also a friend of mine; sit here." Damian shook his hand while drinking his beer.
"I was wondering why this cheap brat was bringing people to the Brilliant Unicorn, but it turns out you saved his life." Another man, this one looking like an arcane caster, spoke.
The Brilliant Unicorn was one of the best inns in E-Rantal.
Not nearly as expensive as the Shinning Golden Pavilion, this inn served as a gathering place for some of the best adventuring parties in the city.
"For real, I was thinking that Lukrut, this horny brat, was trying to woo this lovely lady, but I guess even he knows his limits." This time, someone who looked like a ranger spoke as he patted Lukrut on the back.
"Shut up, you shitty geezer; at least I don't need to pay to do it, unlike a certain someone."
"Ha ha ha! He got you, Ryan." Everyone at the table laughed upon hearing this.
"Is this any way to talk to your teacher, you shitty brat?" Ryan grabbed Lukrut, and the two of them began to wrestle.
"Don't mind them, Momon; it may not look like it, but those two are actually very close." Peter quickly explained.
"It's true. The people from Golden Axe helped us a lot when we began our party." Ninya added.
"Humph! You brats were so green back then that it would hurt my conscience to let you get yourselves killed out there." Damian finished his mug with a big gulp.
"And what do you want by bringing these two copper plates here? You want us to show them the ropes as we did with you guys?" He turned to Peter and asked.
"Ha! You think too highly of yourself. Just Momon here could defeat all of you on his own; what would you even teach him?" Lukrut, who had just freed himself from a headlock, sneered at the question.
Is he trying to use me to flex?
He didn't take him for a boaster, but then again, he didn't have a good opinion of the man from the get-go.
"Oh? He is that powerful?" Damian turned to Ninya.
"Even more than you're thinking. When Momon saved us, he took only a few seconds to kill half a dozen Ogres, and they were all bisected."
There was a moment of silence at the table before all the members turned to him in astonishment, then back to Ninya.
"Are you serious?"
"Uhum." Ninya sounded strangely proud as she nodded.
"Damn, brother, I thought you were just a newbie, but it seems your abilities match this fancy armor of yours." Damian patted his shoulder in a good mood.
But just as he was about to respond, a man at another table turned to them.
"Pfft! Ha ha ha ha ha!" An annoying laugh came from the man.
Ainz turned to see the source and saw that it was a thin man wearing armor.
A big scar crossed his ugly face, giving him a fierce look.
On his chest, a mythril plate could be seen.
A Mythril-ranked adventurer?
Currently in E-Rantal, this was the highest rank of adventurer available.
The man was not done; he then assumed a mocking tone.
"Hey, look! I just slayed a dragon, and had a hot night with the Golden Princess, ain't I awesome?"
The people at his table all laughed along, and soon people from the other tables joined them.
"Some people really like to boast; it's so ridiculous." The man gave him a disdainful glance before he turned to his companions, as if nothing had happened.
The people of Golden Axe and Sword of Darkness turned silent, and he made a sign to stop Lupusregina from killing the man.
Sigh…
Some people really like to court death.
If any of this reaches Albedo's ears, not only this man but potentially everyone who laughed might die mysteriously in the days to come.
Then again, what an idiot.
He didn't even confirm whether what Ninya said is true, and he is already eager to offend me.
One of the most important things when deciding who to mess with was information gathering.
You had to make sure of who you were dealing with before breaking face with them.
In his days as a salaryman, this was true.
In his days as a player of Yggdrasil, it was true.
And even more, back when he was the Demon Lord.
To provoke a stranger for free with his meager strength was beyond foolish.
But then again, going by the reaction of the people at his table, that man should be considered powerful in this region.
But so what?
"Just because you doubt my words, does that make them a lie? Some people really like to discredit others; it's so ridiculous." Ninya retorted.
Hoh? I didn't know you had it in you, Ninya.
How bold.
Creak!
The chair hit the floor as the man stood up and walked to their table.
His face was twisted with rage as he looked down at Ninya.
"What did you say?"
He then looked at the plate on Ninya's chest.
"What right does a silver-plate weakling have to question me, huh!?"
Oh, he got confident now that he saw her rank? What a brave man.
"What's wrong with saying the truth?" Despite the pressure on her, Ninya didn't back down.
"Humph! What truth? As a superior, I can doubt any claims coming from a weakling like you, but what are you going to do about it, huh? Should we take this outside?" The man's hand went for his sword, an obvious threat.
Seeing this, Ninya opened her mouth to say something, but he stopped her.
"This is enough, Ninya. You did more than enough."
He got up and turned to the man.
"I must applaud you for your great courage, my friend. If you don't mind, might you tell me your honorable name?" He asked politely.
"Who is your friend? But at least you know your place. My name is Igvarge."
As the man spoke, Ainz gradually remembered why he felt familiar.
He is just like Belius, isn't he?
Someone who doesn't understand his position until the end.
"Very well, Igvarge. Since you seem to doubt my strength, why don't we go outside to resolve this?"
This might be a good opportunity to spread his name faster.
"What? You think you can defeat me in a fight?"
"You? No, no, no. I mean your party."
Igvarge looked at him in surprise, and quite a few people in the hall gasped at his words.
"I will fight all of you at the same time."