Overlord Premise Chapter 19 (Patreon)

I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS UPDATE TOOK SO LONG!!!

Ever since the polar vortex hit my area (and the entire eastern half of the U.S.) it's just been one thing after another. First, I was trapped inside with the power flickering as the ice and snow weighed down powerlines and broke tree branches. Then, a few days ago, I was going to run a few quick errands and then get right back so that I could get out an update, only for my car to get hung up on the short ice wall that the local city plow truck had left at the end of my driveway. I call one tow truck company, they tell me it'll take at least 2 hours for anyone to get out to me, only for no one to show up and I have to call again, just to be told that they can't get any of their trucks out of the metropolitan city north of where I live, so they have to cancel. So, I called a second place, and they told me that there were 15 other calls ahead of me because of multiple car wrecks, so I start waiting again. In the end, it wasn't the two company that got my car off the ice wall, two of my neighbors came home and saw my car stuck and came over to help. We spent a while digging out the bottom of my car as best as we could, then the neighbor across the street used his SUV and tow straps to pull my car off the ice, and gave me a bag of salt that he had extra of, and the three of us spent until right before the sun had fully set breaking up the ice wall with shovels and clearing the end of my driveway. As you can imagine, I didn't have the energy or motivation to do anything after that.

But I'm still sorry and will make sure to get out the updates for Collector Hero and Magma Dragon King as soon as possible in February!

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you a new chapter! Tuareninya Veyron has been found and is currently under Sebas’s protection. Yay! However, we all know that the shady dealings of the capital of Re-Estize all connect back to the ‘Eight Fingers’ in one way or another. The expansive criminal organization is currently dealing with its own issues and the sudden interference in one of their branches won’t go unnoticed. When the underworld machinations of the ‘Eight Fingers’ conflict with the will of the ‘Supreme One’, Nazarick will move. But before any ensuing clash, there could prove to be a few spots of good still within Re-Estize.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 19 – Reach of Eight Fingers, Spots of Good

Stars blanketed the cloudless night sky above a rural plantation village within the Re-Estize Kingdom. The weather had been clear and hot for so long that the fields of plants had all required being irrigated by hand to keep the crop alive. Everything was dry though, the well water carried in by buckets was poured only at the base of the plants so as not to waste it.

Two men in light armor, each carrying a single lantern on one hip, patrolled the large fields. Neither of them appeared overly attentive though. Their hands weren’t anywhere near their weapons, not having had to draw them in several months. With days and weeks of nothing but the same patrols over and over again and not a single bit of action, it was no wonder the guards had become lax.

“Ugh… It sure is hot again today.” The man on the right side of the path complained. Even at night he had a bit of sweat on his forehead. “The hottest days should be over in the Kingdom…”

The man on the left agreed with a nod. “Seriously. I’ve heard that if you go up north, or head towards the sea, it’s a little cooler.”

“If it would just rain here a little, it would be cooler too.” The man on the right complained as he glanced up at the lookout tower that they were approaching. The plantation village was surrounded by them along with a high wall, all because of the need for security for the crop that they were growing. ‘Nothing’s really changed in the past several months. I’m sure today will be no different. No need to wave our lanterns to signal the others.’ He thought as he and his partner continued walking.

The standard signals had also suffered from the laxness of the guards after months and months of nothing happening within the rural plantation village. The waving of lanterns was a signal for ‘all clear’, and the halt of a lantern’s movement along its designated path, or if a lantern went out, was a signal that something was wrong. But none of the guards bothered with waving their lanterns anymore and the ones in the lookout towers didn’t look for the signal either.

This lack of attentiveness would prove to be the downfall of this entire village.

Two shadows leapt from the tall crops just as the guards walked by, neither making a sound. A hand covered the mouth of the guard on the right and a dagger was stabbed into his neck in an instant. Unlike what one would expect, no blood escaped the wound. The blade of the dagger glowed a faint red, darker red lines spreading across it like veins as the magical blade drained the blood from the man quickly; such was the effect of the weapon known as a [Vampire Blade]. The other guard would’ve cried out in shock, but his mouth was covered and an identical blade was stabbed into his neck as well.

Tia and Tina let the two dead men go once they felt them go limp, only for something to keep the corpses upright. As one, both of the bodies began to move forward in a slow walk, their arms raising slightly ahead of them to help maintain balance. As the lanterns on their hips hadn’t gone out or stopped for more than a short moment, nothing was amiss to the few guards in the lookout towers that even bothered to pay any attention. The two kunoichi had already used a ninjutsu skill: [Hide Shadow], to sink into the darkness and hide at the edges of the tall plants on either side of the path.

“Preparation here is complete.” Tina said to seemingly no one.

“Perfect.” Tia kept her ‘report’ to the unseen person as short as possible.

A vague distortion in the air was seen for a moment as a person hidden by a spell moved. “Yeah. I know. I was watching.” Evil Eye said, having been the one to cast [Animate Dead] on the two slain guards and turn the corpses into simple zombies that would continue to walk straight ahead as it was the command she’d given them upon their creation. “I’m moving to the next location. We have to catch the high-ranking members if we can.”

“I’m also moving on to the next raid. Where are the other two?” Tina asked Evileye before she moved on.

“Probably screwing around since they have nothing to do.” Tia said flatly as neither Lakyus nor Gagaran had a role in this infiltration raid.

Evileye, even unseen, shook her head once. “They’re hiding out near the village, ready to simultaneously attack both the front and rear in case of emergency. All right. I’m going to the highest priority location. You two should also continue according to plan.” With that, the invisible Caster flew into the air and was gone.

Tia and Tina glanced at each other and nodded before dashing down the pathway, still hidden in the shadows of the tall crops thanks to [Hide Shadow]. With a few hand signals, Tia told Tina where she was headed next.

‘I’ll head to my target building according to plan.’

Tina gave her twin sister a thumbs up as the two separated. As she dashed past the fields, she narrowed her eyes at the crop. ‘Black Flour. The raw material for the most rampant drug in the entire Kingdom. A cheap and effective way get euphoric and intoxicated, the most well-known narcotic in the Kingdom. There were supposedly no side-effects but the brains of the corpses of addicts had shrunk to four-fifths their normal size.’ Tina nearly scoffed at that lie. “There’s no such thing as a drug with no side-effects.” But it had been a very convincing lie to those that used it.

The most problematic thing was that the withdrawal symptoms of Black Flour were not pronounced, and since no one around the addicts was harmed it was ignored. Consequently, Kingdom authorities failed to understand the true threat and spent all of their efforts exposing the evils of other drugs. With their inaction against it, they’d tacitly given their permission for people to use Black Flour and it had rapidly spread throughout the Kingdom.

‘I don’t care one way or another about drugs, but the spread of Black Flour is their plot.’ Tina thought to herself as she crouched down and pulled out a small tube and cracked the top off. A spark ignited the soaked cloth wick within the tube and created a steady flame. Touching the fire to the bases of the stalks within arm’s reach saw the half-dry plants quickly burning. Tina dashed away, lighting more and more fires in one field after another swiftly. Even before the first fire had become noticeable, half of all the fields of Black Flour had fires stared within them.

Tia was silent and swift as she left the field behind and came to a stop with her back pressed up against the brick wall of one of the largest buildings overseeing the fields. Her coral eyes looked for any trace of people or guard dogs. Not seeing anything, nor hearing any commotion yet, she nearly slid along the wall until she got to the corner of the building and peeked around it. ‘Even if it is a request from a friend of the team leader…taking requests that don’t go through the Adventurers Guild is against the rules. That goes for one of the only two Adamantite Adventurer teams in the Kingdom too.’ She blinked once as she recalled something. ‘Actually, I heard there was a new Adamantite team. So there are three now?’ She put that aside as a commotion began to rise up from the building she was hiding in the shadow of.

“Fire! Fire!”

“The fields!”

“Water! Get Water!”

“How did this happen?!”

People rushed from the large building as the fire spread rapidly across the half-dry fields of Black Flour. A black smoke rose up from the crops as the blaze consumed the plants. Tina had clearly done a good job as the fire was already everywhere, in every field, by the time that anyone had noticed. In the confusion, panic, and the rush of the people within the plantation village to try and put out the growing conflagration, Tia easily slipped into the large building.

‘I have to gather intelligence in this building. While the fields and the village burn, it should be easy.’ Tia thought to herself as she quietly moved through the, now empty, building in search of records or communication. Any message, ledger, or record about the other plantation locations or the Eight Fingers organization would be a boon for the Blue Roses. ‘If I can unearth at least part of their organization, then our leader will be happy.’ Peeking into a room with a sturdy wooden door, Tia saw shelves with books on them and a large wooden desk with drawers. The papers on the desk were her first target as she slipped into the room and began to look through everything.

The Eight Fingers—the powerful underworld organization that manufactured Black Flour and spread it throughout the Kingdom. Their name was derived from a deity that was subordinate to the God of Earth…the God of Theft, who had eight fingers on each hand. The organization was split into eight divisions: slave trafficking, assassination, smuggling, thievery, drug dealing, security, moneylending, and gambling. It was said that they were behind every criminal group in the Kingdom’s underworld. But because it was so large, the organization’s inner workings were shrouded in mystery, always hidden from sight.

Tia read over another paper and her eyes narrowed. ‘Clearly, the noble that held power in these lands is an accomplice. But without inquiry from the royal family or the involvement of judicial officials it would be difficult to pin the crime on a landed aristocrat. The noble would just feign ignorance or shift blame onto the villagers.’ Not that these villagers were innocent. All of them were members of Eight Fingers, even if on the very edge and lowest level of the organization, and at least half of them were Black Flour addicts too. Tia found a piece of paper with words that didn’t make sense…when read in order, at least. It was close to gibberish if read normally, so clearly some kind of code was in use. She folded up the paper and secured it in her armor.

By the time Tia emerged from the building, slipping out through a window on the second floor after checking that the coast was clear, not only were the fields all burning in towering conflagrations…but the village itself was burning intensely, the dryness of the area making even the withered grass along the ground into tinder for the flames.

‘Burning the fields probably won’t even address the symptom. We’re merely buying time… If we can’t strike a critical blow soon, then even this will have been in vain.’ She rushed off, ignoring the screams of the villagers as they burned or choked to death on the smoke and fumes let off by the burning fields. She’d meet up with Tina near the edge of the village and then regroup with Lakyus and Gagaran.

On a hill a distance from the burning plantation village, Lakyus and Gagaran watched on as the black smoke rose high into the air. The glow of the great blaze lit up the night as the entire village slowly began to vanish into the flames. The lookout towers collapsing, the buildings turning to ash and blackened stone, even the wall surrounding eh plantation village was on fire.

“Lovely. It burns so well.” Gagaran said with a smirk as she watched the blaze eliminate one of the sources of the drug poisoning the Kingdom.

“I hope that this will buy us the time we need.” Lakyus said, her expression guarded as she watched the village burn in the distance.

Gagaran looked at the thick black smoke that rose high into the night sky, bits of black ash slowly falling from it and towards the ground. “I’d be just as wary of the smoke as the fire. We’re burning the plant that the drug ‘Black Dust’ is made from, so breathe lightly.” Glancing at Lakyus, Gagaran hefted her war pick onto her shoulder. “So, what now? We burning another site like this one?”

Lakyus nodded slightly, her blue eyes never leaving the inferno. “That’s the plan. We must strike where we can. If we’re not vigilant, Black Dust will spread across the Kingdom just like this wildfire.” The drug was already spreading, and addicts were found in increasing numbers. But it hadn’t fully taken hold anywhere yet…there was still time to stop it.

“Problem is, they’ve got enough outposts for cultivating the drug that you could cover half the map with them. Eight Fingers really is a massive organization.” Gagaran glared at the burning village, knowing it was only one of many.

“Terrifying, isn’t it? An underworld syndicate so large that they could undermine an entire nation.” Lakyus had taken this request from her friend simply because she recognized the real danger that the Eight Fingers represented.

Tina and Tia approached side by side, seemingly emerging from the shadows cast by the flames of the burning village.

“We finished everything as planned. Fiendish leader.” Tina reported as soon as she and Tia were within earshot of Lakyus and Gagaran.

“And we left no evidence of our identity.” Tia said as she walked beside her sister.

Lakyus pouted slightly at the ‘fiendish leader’ remark, but let it go since she was used to it by now. “Tia, Tina, did you find anything?”

Tina shook her head once. “Not at all.” Even though her part of this mission hadn’t really involved looking for information, she’d still kept her eyes peeled for anything important.

“Not sure if it’s valuable.” Tia pulled the folded up paper from her armor and handed it to Lakyus.

“What is this?” Lakyus asked curiously as she saw the nearly gibberish message.

Gagaran cocked an eyebrow as she tried to read the paper. “Code, maybe?” It certainly couldn’t be read as it was. “I hope Shorty had better luck.”

Almost as if she was summoned, Evileye floated towards them while dispelling her invisibility. “I’ve returned.”

“Happy hunting, Evileye?” Lakyus asked with a small smile.

“Mm, you tell me. Catch.” Evileye tossed Lakyus a folded up paper.

Lakyus caught the paper and unfolded it, finding more gibberish sentences, though this paper was noticeably longer than the one Tia had found. “Both the plantation building and the leader of this outpost have these strange messages.”

Evileye’s mask covered her face entirely, so her expression wasn’t able to be seen, but the Caster shrugged once. “It’s likely the code that the drug dealing section of Eight Fingers uses.”

“This could be the lead on Eight Fingers that we’ve been waiting for.” Lakyus said as her eyes read over the paper again, trying to see if she could parse through the words and find the true meaning hidden within.

The five of them would make their way towards the capital after this. After all, the one that had made this request of Lakyus would need to be kept updated on the task, and she was very intelligent, perhaps enough to figure out this code for them.

-Re-Estize Royal Capital-

The oval blackness of the [Gate] spell appeared within the foyer of the manor that Sebas and Solution were using for their cover. Emerging from the void, Momonga stepped into the manor and his ever-changing, myriad-colored eyes locked onto Sebas and Solution as both of them bowed to him.

“Where is Tuareninya?” Momonga asked while the [Gate] vanished behind him.

“My lord, she’s sleeping upstairs.” Sebas answered promptly without raising his head.

Momonga looked up the stairs and then towards Sebas and Solution again. “Solution, guide me. Sebas follow behind.”

Solution bowed slightly lower. ‘Yes, my lord.” She began to ascend the stairs with Momonga behind her and Sebas bringing up the rear. Once they got to the second floor, Solution turned to the left and headed down the hallway before she stopped in front of a closed door. “The girl is in this room, my lord.”

“I do not wish to disturb her sleep, so I will cast a spell.” Momonga informed both Solution and Sebas. “[Silence].” The Second Tier spell eliminated all sound within a given area around the caster and was more than enough for what Momonga wanted to do. Opening the door, not a sound was made, and Momonga entered the room in the same absolute silence. Looking at the young woman sleeping in the bed, he saw similar features to Celicia, though with long blonde hair, rather than short brunette hair. ‘It’s a small miracle that she’s even alive after being taken by the lord of the land she used to live in. A much larger miracle that right as she was about to be discarded to die, that her path crossed with Sebas’s.’ With his confirmation done, Momonga left the bedroom and closed the door behind him before canceling the [Silence] spell. “You’ve both done well.” He praised Sebas and Solution.

“Thank you, my lord.” Solution and Sebas both bowed to Momonga.

Momonga was already running through various ideas of how to help Tuareninya and how he’d get her to Carne Village to reunite with Celicia. ‘Celicia only told Momon about her kidnapped sister. If I, as Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, suddenly show up with her sister, there’d definitely be questions as to how I knew such things.’ He needed to keep ‘Momon’ separate from himself if he wanted to get the most out of his Adventurer persona. After all, there were things that would be better handled by an Adamantite ranked Adventurer than by an unknown Caster. ‘Not to mention that Tuareninya has suffered horrible things for years now. Helping her with that trauma is outside of my experience. I could try memory alteration spells…but I haven’t practiced any of them since coming to this world. I have no idea how they’ll work compared to back in YGGDRASIL.’ There were options, but nothing that was technically viable right here and now. “Sebas, Solution, I’ll need a few days to brush up on memory alteration magic if Tuareninya decides that she wants to forget all that’s happened to her. In that time, I’ll also come up with a believable reasoning to take her to Carne Village. Until that time, keep her here…hide her identity by having her be a maid or servant to the Young Lady and her butler. It can only hep to further promote your cover story.”

“Yes, Lord.” Sebas and Solution both complied with their new orders.

“Sebas, you’re sure that you left no evidence that can be tracked back to you at the scene, correct?” Momonga asked as he looked at the butler.

Sebas nodded with certainty. “I left no evidence that could be traced back to me, my lord.”

Momonga was glad to hear that. “Very good. However, should anything come up, contact me immediately.”

“Of course, Lord Ainz.” Sebas bowed his head again, thankful that the Supreme One was already working towards helping Tuareninya.

“Once this situation is handled, you two will return to Nazarick. I’ll grant you rewards for your excellent work.”

Solution smiled and bowed her head. “You’re grace is boundless, my lord.”

Sebas agreed with a nod, never raising his head. “Serving you, my lord, is the greatest honor we can ask for.”

Momonga shook his head once. “We’ll discuss your rewards upon your return to Nazarick. [Gate]!” The black and dark purple void appeared in the air next to Momonga and he walked through it to return to where he’d previously been.

-E-Rantel ~ Inn of Shining Gold-

The [Gate] spell let Momonga walk back into ‘Momon’s’ reserved room as if he’d never left. Seeing Narberal waiting for him in her guise of ‘Nabe’, Momonga looked at her with a small smile. “I’ve returned, Narberal.”

“Welcome back, my lord.” Narberal bowed to Momonga, a small, little smile on her lips. “The iron ore that you ordered has arrived, the merchants is waiting for payment downstairs.” She looked uncertain for a moment, but then spoke up. “My lord, if I may ask…”

“You want to know why I order it from eight different locations?” Momonga asked her question before Narberal could finish, making the Pleiades Battle Maid nod. “It’s to throw it in the Exchange Box. I want to see if they have different values based on where they’re from.”

The Exchange Box—also nicknamed ‘The Shredder’ in YGGDRASIL—was a function that allowed a Player to throw in unwanted items and receive YGGDRASIL gold for them. Since Nazarick ran on YGGDRASIL gold and Momonga couldn’t just farm that any more like he could back in the game, he needed a way to replenish it going forward. To that end, he’d been experimenting with tossing in all sorts of products and materials from the New World to see how much the Exchange Box would give him.

‘When I tried using wheat it took a ridiculous amount to get even a single YGGDRASIL gold.’ Momonga recalled one of his first tests with the Exchange Box and how poorly it went. ‘There are more than a few items within the Treasury that would grant me tens of millions of YGGDRASIL gold if thrown into the Exchange Box…but I really don’t want to part with them if I don’t have to.’ Momonga had always been an item hoarder, even for some single-use items, and now that he couldn’t replace some of those items, he wanted to keep them even more.

“Thank you for explaining, my lord.” Narberal bowed to Momonga politely.

Momonga reached into his inventory and pulled out a sack of Re-Estize coins. “This should be enough to pay for the iron ore. Make sure that you get a receipt of purchase from the merchant, Nabe.”

“Yes, Lo…Mr. Momon.” Narberal corrected herself again as she accepted the bag of money from Momonga and slipped out of the room, barely opening the door at all before closing it behind her.

Once he was certain that Narberal was gone, Momonga flopped down onto the large bed in the room and let out a heavy sigh. “Why does money always disappear faster than you can make it?!” Selling off the Basilisk parts had been a large windfall, of course, but even that money would start getting low soon with everything that Momonga was financing and his various experiments. “And now I need to practice with more advanced memory alteration spells and see how they work compared to YGGDRASIL. Who can I get to help me with that?” The most he’d ever done was lightly alter Brita’s memory of what Shalltear looked like while in her [Blood Frenzy] form. Left unsaid was that he also had to come up with a believable story that would let him reunite Tuareninya and Celicia soon. ‘It’s so hard to be a Ruler…’ Momonga thought to himself in the privacy of his mind.

-Lo-Rente Royal Castle, Training Room-

A large room that was lined with racks holding various training weapons was normally quiet at this early hour of the morning. But today, among the racks of swords, spears, shields, and armors, there was a persistent sound of a sword being swung and of a young man counting.

“Four-hundred ninety-seven…” Climb swung his sword in a downward slash, working hard on maintaining the form of each strike. “Four-hundred ninety-eight…” He swung the sword down again, sweat running down his face from how long he’d been training this early in the morning. “Four-hundred ninety-nine…”

The young man was training so hard while many were still asleep in their beds. While he was normally seen in the white, mithril plate mail armor that Princess Renner had bestowed upon him, while he was off duty he wore more common clothing of a simple beige cotton shirt and brown workmen’s pants with two cargo pockets on the right leg. Unlike the vast majority of the knights within Lo-Rente castle, Climb was not a noble, nor related to any aristocrat. He was of common birth and yet held the position closest to the ‘Golden Princess’ Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself. Because of that, there were many that were jealous of the young man.

“Five-hundred!” Climb completed another downward slash, his breathing heavy.

“That’s enough, don’t you think?” Gazef spoke up from the doorway of the training room, his experienced eyes seeing the strain that Climb had put himself through.

Climb turned swiftly to look at Gazef, surprised to see the Royal Chief Warrior so suddenly. “Lord Stronoff.”

Gazef wore his standard armor, as he did every day that he was in the castle. With a look over Climb’s face and the way the young man’s arms shook just slightly, it was obvious that he’d pushed himself a bit too far. “Any more than that will be too much. No point in killing yourself.”

“You’re right…” Climb admitted, his right arm spasming minutely. “I might’ve pushed myself too hard.”

“If you really think so, then stop making me tell you that all the time!” Gazef said with a slight chuckle as he walked towards Climb.

Climb gave Gazef a polite bow. “Thanks.”

Gazef could only grin at Climb, knowing that the young man had a drive to get stronger that was incredibly lacking among the majority of the knights and soldiers of Re-Estize. “How about it, Climb? Want to try sparring?”

Climb stiffened just slightly at the offer. ‘Why would he…? Right now in the Kingdom, the Royal Faction and the Noble Faction, each led by three of the six great nobles families, are in a struggle for power. If the King’s right-hand man were to lose, with how unstable the Kingdom is right now, the Noble Faction would use that loss as ammunition to try and discredit the king.’ But that also went for Climb, as he directly served Princess Renner. ‘If I lose, the nobles that dislike my commoner pedigree will claim that I can’t be trusted to protect her. That’s why we’ve never crossed swords before…’

Gazef easily saw that Climb was thinking hard about such a simple offer to spar and closed his eyes with a grin and a slight shake of his head. “Recently… I was shown how green I still am. I’d like to train with someone who’ll pose a bit of a challenge.” That wasn’t even flattery, as Climb was stronger than any standard soldier of the Kingdom, and even a little stronger than most of the loyal warriors in Gazef’s personal squad.

“You…green, sir?” Climb looked at Gazef in disbelief.

“Yeah, if I hadn’t met a charitable Caster…and he hadn’t helped me…then I probably wouldn’t be here today.” Gazef said as he recalled the day that Ainz Ooal Gown had saved him and his men from the Slane Theocracy’s trap.

‘There was a rumor going around among the soldiers that Gazef’s personal squad was heavily injured on a mission to repel knights from the Baharuth Empire that were attacking border villages.’ Climb recalled the whispered words he’d heard a while back. “A charitable Caster?”

“Ainz Ooal Gown…was his name.” Gazef said with respect as he looked at Climb seriously. “I fully believe that he was on the same level as the Empire’s monstrous Caster…or maybe even stronger.”

Climb blinked in surprise, both at the claim, and the clear respect that Gazef had for the Caster. ‘I’ve never heard that name before though…’ Climb nodded to Gazef. “I’ll burn that name into my mind!” However, the offer of sparring still hung in the air. “But is it really alright for you to train me?”

Gazef walked over to one of the racks and picked up a large training sword, the dull metal blade couldn’t cut, but it hurt to get hit by it, which made it perfect for live combat sparring. “I’m not training you. We’re sparring. Whether you learn something from it or not is up to you.” He rested the large training sword on his right shoulder. “You’re one of the best soldiers that this Kingdom’s got, you know? It’ll be a meaningful exercise for me too.”

‘In Adventurer rank terms, I’m Gold… But Lord Stronoff is surely Adamantite, maybe stronger. It’ll be an extremely valuable experience to learn from him.’ Climb considered what he could learn from someone that was at the peak, while he was firmly in the middle of strength. “Okay, then… I’d like to go a round, please.” He moved over to the rack of weapons to get a round shield and strap it to his left arm.

“Have your arms stopped feeling numb?” Gazef asked as he readied his sword.

Climb nodded as he stood across from Gazef. “They’re a little warm, but there’s no problem with my grip.

Gazef nodded once. “In a way, that’s kind of too bad. You’re always protecting the Princess. It wouldn’t be a waste if you practiced things like tactics that can be adapted to the situation and fighting with different weapons.”

“Yes, sir!” Climb acknowledged the advice promptly.

“If you’re ready, let’s begin.” Gazef said while shifting his stance. “For now, come as you are. Know it isn’t my intention for this to be a drill. Come at me like it’s a real battle.”

Climb bowed once, a proper show of respect before a spar, and then put the round shield in front of his body, moving his sword to the side, the tip low and ready to be swung upward into the torso or at the head, or swung low to attack the legs. ‘Lord Stronoff is definitely better than me. If I rush in recklessly, it’ll be easy for him to counter. So, this will be about how well I can use my weapons… I’ll aim for counterattacks.’

Gazef readied his sword when he noticed that Climb wasn’t advancing. “What? Not going to charge? Then I’ll start…” He moved forward swiftly, making Climb’s eyes widen. “Here I come!”

‘Fast!’ Climb blocked the swing of Gazef’s sword, the impact still shaking him. ‘Forget about deflecting…how could I keep up with his speed?!’

With Climb’s shield occupied and the young man clearly struggling to hold his sword back, Gazef brought his leg around and slammed his shin into Climb’s side, kicking him to the ground.

“Gah!” Climb hacked out, his side throbbing in pain from the unexpected kick.

“Don’t focus only on the sword…even if that’s all your opponent is carrying.” Gazef told Climb as he looked down at the other man that was lying on his back as he got his breathing back to normal. “Otherwise, you’ll get kicked like that.” Climb slowly got back to his feet as Gazef spoke. “This time, I aimed for your stomach, but usually your opponents will aim for a less protected area.” He didn’t need to specifically name where either as it was obvious what part of the lower anatomy an enemy would target to stun or incapacitate a man. “Keep an eye on your opponent’s entire form and watch their every move.”

“…yes, sir.” Climb readied himself again. ‘If he had really kicked me, I’d probably have broken ribs… So, this is training after all. Thank you, Lord Stronoff.’ He focused and prepared for the next exchange. ‘I have to fight with intent to kill or I won’t even come close to his level. I know I have no talent… I’ll work hard to get even a little stronger. If I were stronger… I could be of more help to Princess Renner…and I could protect the people… There’s only one thought in my heart.’

“Oh?” Gazef noticed the sharp change in Climb’s expression. ‘He’s got the face of a warrior now. Climb’s swordsmanship is self-taught, his form is loose, but it’s a style that focuses on real combat. He would actually cut down his enemies to protect someone precious to him. However…’ Gazef shifted his stance into a more aggressive one. “Your attitude may have changed, but there’s still a large gap between our skill levels! What will you do about that?” In his mind Gazef knew that Climb had no true talent for martial arts or swordsmanship. ‘But if he continues to pile up experience…’ The image of Brain, soaked in rain, his spirit broken, flashed through Gazef’s mind. ‘Am I doing this to make up for that? That’s not fair to Climb. Still, it’s not like he loses anything from going a round with me.’ Gazef took a step forward, his sword at the ready. “Come on, Climb!”

“Sir!’ Climb was the one to charge in this time, shield raised a bit and ready to block. Gazef swung his sword down and Climb blocked the heavy swing; his charge stalled from the force he was holding back with his shield.

Gazef shifted his stance to kick Climb again. “Too bad. This will end the same as before.” He threw the kick straight towards Climb’s stomach this time.

“[Fortress]!” Climb activated the defensive Martial Art and his body faintly glowed red as Gazef’s boot hit his stomach, but caused no damage.

“You meant for that to happen?” Gazef was honestly surprised that Climb would take the risk of getting the timing right with [Fortress] to tank his kick.

“Yes!” Climb angled his shield so that he could push Gazef’s sword away while the Chief Warrior was off-balance. ‘There!’ He leapt into the air the instant he saw the small opening.

“Create a single move that you can unleash with confidence.”

With the advice of the warrior Gagaran in his mind, Climb took hold of his sword with both hands and brought it down in an overhead slash with all the strength that he could muster.

Clang

Gazef’s larger sword blocked the strike without much difficulty, but their was a small grin on his face at seeing progress from Climb.

The two engaged in far more than one single round of sparring. The aftermath left Climb lying on the floor trying to catch his breath as sweat rolled off of him and his entire body ached from the various hits he’d taken.

“Good work.” Gazef praised Climb as he stood to the side, his training sword held against the floor in a relaxed position. “I tried to swing so that you wouldn’t have any broken bones. But how are you feeling?”

“I think I’m all right.” Climb said as he knew what breaking a bone felt like. “I’m hurting, but it’s only bruises.”

Gazef nodded once and lifted his sword onto his shoulder. “Okay, so you don’t need a potion, huh?”

Climb shook his head once. “No. I won’t get the benefits of strength training if I overuse them.”

“Healing naturally makes you stronger, but magic returns you to your original state. I gotcha.” Gazef said with a light chuckle while rummaging in the pouch at his hip. “Are you off to bodyguard the princess now?”

“Yes.” Climb nodded as he slowly sat up, the aches in his body briefly flaring up.

Gazef sat a blue potion next to Climb. “Then, just in case, use this if you have any problems.”

Climb blinked at the potion, knowing how expensive they were. “Thank you.” He looked up at Gazef and realized something he hadn’t in the middle of their sparring. ‘He’s not even sweating or out of breath. That’s the strongest man in the Kingdom for you.’

“What?” Gazef asked after Climb had been looking up at him for a moment.

“I was just wondering how…” Climb began, but was cut off by Gazef.

“How I got so strong?” Gazef finished the question he’d been asked plenty of times before. When Climb nodded, Gazef couldn’t help but shrug. “I just had a little inborn talent. There aren’t any tricks. The nobles are always screaming about how ‘vulgar’ my kicks are, but I learned them back during my mercenary days. In that sense, it’s a good style for you, Climb. Punching, kicking…a style where you use your limbs.”

Climb looked intrigued at the new advice. “You think so?”

Gazef nodded, knowing that Climb’s self-taught style would mesh well with that of a mercenary or Adventurer. “Yeah. Not being trained as a swordsman or soldier will work in your favor. People tend to focus solely on bladework once they have a sword in their hands. But I don’t think that’s very smart. In a real fight, considering the sword simply another offensive option while also fully utilizing the hands and feet should prove more useful. It can be considered ‘dirty fighting’ but it works for Adventurers and mercenaries.” Gazef glanced out the window to see where the sun was and gauge the time. “All right, I’m gonna get going. I have to be ready for breakfast with the king. Are you good on time?”

“Yes.” Climb nodded s he picked up the blue potion and stood up. “Princess Renner has a visitor this morning.

“A visitor first thing in the morning? Is it one of the nobles?” Gazef asked curiously.

Climb put the potion in the cargo pocket of his pants. “Yes. Aindra.”

Gazef leaned in a little. “Aindra? Which one…blue, right?” There were only two nobles of the Aindra family that could get such an early meeting with the Princess, and only one that actually made sense.

“Yes, Lady Aindra from the Blue Roses.” Climb confirmed with a quick nod.

“Well then, it makes sense that you wouldn’t be with her when her friend is visiting.” Gazef said with a small chuckle.

Climb wisely decided not to tell Gazef that he’d turned down the invitation to have tea with the princess and noblewoman. “Thank you for today, Lord Stronoff.”

Gazef waved off Climb’s thanks as he put his training sword back on the rack. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I had fun too.”

“If you don’t mind…could you train me again sometime?” Climb asked before Gazef could leave the training room.

Gazef looked at Climb for a brief moment before agreeing. “Sure. As long as we can find a time and place where no one is around.”

Climb bowed in thanks immediately. “Thank you!”

“Oh, right! That overhead swing is pretty good.” Gazef complimented as he walked towards the doors of the training room. “But you should think about how to follow it up if your opponent blocks or dodges.”

“Yes, sir!” Climb took the advice to heart, feeling like he’d really gained some good insight this morning.

-Hidden Location ~ Eight Fingers Meeting Hall-

There was a large round table in the center of a dimly lit room with nine high-backed chairs around it at equal distance from each other so that everyone could see the other eight chairs from wherever they were sitting. On the wall behind the chair at the ‘front’ of the large room was a red emblem in the shape of a hand with eight fingers. Everyone at this meeting was a Head of one of the eight divisions of the widespread criminal organization, and the man in the maroon cloak sitting beneath the emblem was the ‘Head’ of organization, responsible for keeping the eight divisions working together instead of every faction splitting off to do their own things. Not that the Eight Fingers didn’t still backstab each other when it was convenient for them.

“Haaa~” A woman yawned, she had long blonde hair, pale skin, wearing a thin white dress that showed off all of her large cleavage and was tight to her shapely figure, her eyes were colored with a purple mascara that matched the purple lipstick on her lips. She had a snake tattoo that started at her shoulder blade and wrapped around her right arm, and in her right hand she held a long kiseru pipe that let off gentle wisps of a purplish smoke. She gave off the air of a high-class prostitute, the type that only wealthy nobles could afford, and she had gotten quite a few secrets to blackmail lustful noblemen with by plying that exact trade. “Could we have done this any earlier…?”

The man in the maroon cloak turned his head to look at the woman directly. “This meeting was called to discuss the recent raid on one of your narcotics plantations, Hilma Cygnaeus. Do you have any idea who might’ve done it?”

“Hell of a mess that.” Hilma said with a lazy little smile on her lips. “Burned the whole place to the ground. It won’t be cheap to replace it and it’ll put a bit of a squeeze on our production and distribution for a while.” She took a small drag from her pipe before exhaling the smoke. “As for who did it, there was no trace left. But that in itself might be a clue.”

The room went silent at that for a moment as everyone took in the situation.

“Hey…” The man that broke the short silence was a large, bald man with half of his face and body covered with stylized tattoos of various beasts. There was a panther on his legs beneath his dark blue pants, a falcon on his back under the matching blue vest with white fur lining along the hems, a rhino on each of his arms, a buffalo on his chest that was visible because his vest was always worn open, and a lion on one side of his head. Truly, everything about him was large and one could even see the outlines of his muscular figure even when he wore more covering clothing. But it was the cold glint in his eyes, the look of a seasoned warrior that had fought many life-and-death battles, that spoke of his willingness and enjoyment of using violence to get his way. “Why don’t you hire us? The small fries you have can’t protect shit.”

Hilma closed her eyes as if the man’s suggestion wasn’t worth her time. “Think I’ll pass, Zero. I can’t have you knowing the location of all my sites now, can I?” Her tone was light, but the subtle accusation of what Zero would do with said information was there.

The ‘Head’ of the meeting was about to speak up to prevent an argument between the Head of the drug dealing faction and the Head of the security faction…but someone else beat him to it.

“In that case, I’d like to take you up on that offer.” A man with a much softer tone of voice than Zero spoke up from across the table. He was a thin man, a five o’ clock shadow on his face, his eyes simmered with lust even when he kept his expression relaxed. His hair was extremely short, nearly buzzed, and he wore a high-collared red shirt and tight, black leather pants.

“You sure about that, Cocco Doll?” Zero asked the Head of Eight Finger’s slave trafficking faction with an smirk. “Last I checked, your purse was light.” He immediately pointed out the lack of funds required to pay for the security faction’s help.

Cocco Doll grinned a little at the jibe. “Don’t worry, Zero, darling. True, the slave trade is hurting, especially after the ‘Golden Princess’ prohibited it, but I have a nest egg in my coop~”

Zero raised one eyebrow at that, a smirk forming on his face. “Ah, so you’ve got something major going down. I’m in.”

“Lovely.” Cocco Doll smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve had a bit of a problem come up with a woman that was scheduled to be disposed of. I’m afraid it’ll take more than my manicured hands to deal with it. I need some excessive force to keep my business up, you understand? I’d prefer someone of Six Arms-class, if possible.”

“Oh? You’re in that much trouble?” Zero’s smirk got bigger. “Well, that’s what the Six Arms does best. We’ll protect your property. And if things get…rough, we’ll handle it with a smile.” The dark smile on Zero’s face would frighten even trained soldiers. “I brought I guy with me; I’ll lend him to you after the meeting so you can get started right away.”

Cocco Doll’s grin was frightening in its own way. “How very professional of you, Zero darling.”

Seeing that the business was done, the man in the maroon cloak moved the meeting along. “As for the next topic, do any of you know, or have hired the services of, the Adamantite Adventurer: ‘Raven Black Hero’ Momon?”

-Valancia Palace-

In the palace of the ‘Golden Princess’ Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself, the third princess of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Climb walked through the hallways in his white mithril plate mail armor, his sword at his hip. This palace was separate from the main castle where the king lived, as where the palaces of the princes, but all were within the castle walls to protect the royal family.

Passing by a guard stationed at the entrance to the hallway that led towards Renner’s chambers, the man bowed slightly to Climb. But as Climb walked down the hallway, he noticed two maids walking towards him. The looks on their faces were common to the ‘common born’ Climb, disdain and annoyance with his presence…even as they gave him short bows as was required of their stations.

“Why should we have to bow to a commoner?” One of the maids whispered to the other once Climb had passed by.

Both of the maids attending to the princess were the daughters of barons of the Kingdom. Low-ranking nobles that hoped to curry favor—and learn some information that wouldn’t normally leave the castle—by sending their daughters to serve the princess directly. It was only normal that they’d look down on Climb and resent having to show courtesy to him, even though he was Princess Renner’s bodyguard and therefore the person stationed closest to her, conferring him a rank close to a knight.

Climb had long grown used to such things by now.

However, seeing two certain people walking down the corridor a minute later nearly made his eyes widened in shock. Instead he straightened his posture and gave a proper bow to both men.

The first man was a bit short and portly, with short and straight blonde hair. He wore elegant black leather shoes, thick white stockings that disappeared into his black pants that stopped just past his knees. His shirt was immaculate white, but almost entirely hidden by his golden vest with black buttons and the blue and gold tail coat that he wore over it. Around his neck was a long white cravat with a single gold line near the hem. While the style of his clothing alone screamed of his station and importance, the sheer quality of the materials that made the garments couldn’t be afforded by any but the wealthiest of nobility. This was the Second Prince of the Re-Estize Kingdom: Zanac Valleon Igana Ryle Vaiself.

The man walking next to the second prince was much taller, with slicked back blonde hair and a somewhat pallid skin tone from not seeing the sun as often as he should. His narrow blue eyes made some compare him to a snake, but it would only take a second to see the wisdom and intelligence behind his gaze. Similar to Prince Zanac, he wore clothing of impeccable quality, including a doublet made from high-quality fur woven with golden threads. There were even intricate patterns and small jewels sewn into his clothes. This was the Head of one of the six great noble houses of Re-Estize: Marquis Elias Brandt Dale Raeven.

“Oh, if it isn’t Climb.” Zanac said with a mocking smirk once the three men got close enough to have a conversation. “Going to pop in on the monster?”

“Your highness.” Climb spoke politely to the prince. “With all due respect, Princess Renner is in no way a monster. As kind-hearted and beautiful as she is, one could say that she’s the Kingdom’s treasure.” After she’d saved him on that cold and rainy night when he most assuredly would’ve died alone and unnoticed in an alleyway as a child, Climb had respected Renner. After she’d abolished slavery within the Kingdom and constantly showed to Climb that she was always thinking of the people, he’d completely solidified his thoughts of the princess and would not be swayed on them. ‘If she isn’t a treasure, then who is?’

Zanac chuckled lightly at Climb’s words. “So, you really can’t see that she’s a monster?’ He shook his head once. “But a ‘treasure’? Have you got any eyes in that head of yours? Or is she just that clever…? It wouldn’t hurt to doubt her a little bit, right?”

Climb’s expression didn’t change at all. “Doubt her? Princess Renner is the Kingdom’s treasure. My conviction on that point will never waver.”

“I see, I see. How amusing.” Zanac looked amused, as if Climb was a bit of a dim person that had said something silly. He leaned forward a little and his amusement disappeared. “Then will you tell the monster something for me? ‘Our elder brother thinks you a tool in his schemes. But if you cooperate with me, I can revoke your succession rights and set you up with a domain on the frontier.’”

“You jest. I can’t believe that you would speak of such a thing here.” Climb said, making sure to control his tone and expression, just as Renner had told him to do any time that he had to speak to one of her elder brothers. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”

With another chuckle, Zanac began to walk again. “That’s too bad. Shall we, then, Marquis Raevan?” The two men walked past Climb, but Zanac stopped a few steps away and turned back to face his sister’s bodyguard again. “Oh. The Marquis agrees that she’s ghastly. Or no, it would be better to say that we’ve formed an alliance because our opinions align on that matter.”

Marquis Raevan looked at Zanac. “Prince…”

“Let me tell him, Marquis Raevan…” Zanac held up one hand to stall the Marquis’s words. “So, Climb, if I thought you were too far gone, I wouldn’t say this, but I have to warn you. She’s a monster.” He said with certainty.

“I beg your pardon, but allow me to inquire. What is it that makes you think Princess Renner is a monster?” Climb asked politely, not letting his frustration show.

Zanac smiled almost calculatingly at Climb for asking the question. “It’s because almost everything she attempts goes nowhere. At first I thought she was just bad at preparing but then, I spoke to Marquis Raevan one day, and it dawned on me…what if it’s all according to plan?” He half-turned away from Climb, clearly about to end the conversation. “Everything starts to make sense if you think of it that way. A woman who’s basically shut up in her palace with no decent contact with the nobles is still somehow manipulating them all. If that’s not monstrous, then what is?”

Climb wouldn’t remain silent, but he would keep his tone and expression respectful. “It’s just a misunderstanding. Princess Renner isn’t that kind of person.”

Both Marquis Raevan and Zanac looked at Climb as if he was truly foolish before turning away and continuing their walk down the corridor.

Once the two men were gone, Climb continued on his way towards Renner’s tea room, speaking his true thoughts quietly to himself. “Princess Renner is the kindest person in the Kingdom. I may be a nobody, but I guarantee it. If the princess ruled the Kingdom, it would be a wonderful country that always kept its people in mind.”

It didn’t take Climb much longer to reach the tea room where Renner and her guest were speaking. Just as his hand was about to touch the door, the conversation within the room reached his ears.

“…what I’m telling you. People generally focus on the immediate benefits that’re right in front of them.” Lakyus’s voice carried through the door.

“I don’t know…” The princess’s soft voice was harder to hear.

Within the room, Lakyus, wearing a dress of fine cotton and silk in a reddish-pink color, smiled at Renner as she worked through the newest idea that her friend had come up with. “Your plan is to rotate different crops and I don’t really think that’ll make them grow better, but…when would we see a result?”

Renner tried to convince her friend of the merit of the idea. “By my rough calculations, it would take about six years. I depends on the crop, but after six years, we should see an increased yield. And if we can get the livestock grazing in a cultivated pasture, that should increase the gains even further.”

“If they were only hearing that last bit, anyone would go for it. But will they accept losses for six years?” Lakyus questioned, making it obvious that no farmer or land holder would accept such long term losses.

“What if the government gave no-interest loans, didn’t ask for collateral, and only asked them to pay it back when they could? That seems like it might work.” Renner suggested a way to get around the losses incurred by switching over to her crop rotation planting method. “And if the yield didn’t go up…they wouldn’t pay it back or something. If the yield did go up, they’d be able to pay it off in four years.”

Lakyus hummed in thought before speaking. “Seems like a hard sell. I’ve been telling you, people focus on the immediate benefits they can see. Most people want stability. Even when told they’ll have an increase in six years, it’s only natural to hesitate.”

“Then what if they didn’t have to pay back what they lost over the six years?” Renner asked her friend, going for a different angle.

“The opposing nobles would love that, since the king would lose some of his power.” Lakyus shot that idea quickly.

Renner tilted her head slightly. “But if after the six years we can really get that boost, the Kingdom’s power should increase…”

Lakyus had to point out that Renner’s plan would have an unintended effect. “But that means the opposition nobles would get stronger too, and the king’s power would lessen. The nobles supporting him would never allow that.”

“In that case, we could appeal to the merchants…” Renner went for a different source of income for her idea.

“You mean the wealthy ones? They have their own considerations. Cooperating too much with the king could mean losing business with the other faction.”

Renner rested her cheek in her palm. “This is hard, Lakyus.”

Lakyus gave Renner a gentle smile, seeing how put out she was. “Your plans always fall through because you’re no good at laying the groundwork. I mean… I understand it’s harder because there are two large, opposing factions…” She thought for a brief moment and came up with an idea. “What about using only the king’s personal lands?”

“My brothers would never let me.” Renner said with a small sigh.

“Ahh… Those idi… I mean, honorable men who left all the wisdom inside your mother for you.” Lakyus corrected her words before they could become slander against the princes.

Renner looked to the side slightly. “Well…we don’t actually share a mother.”

Lakyus rested her chin in her palm with a curious look on her face. “So, it’s from the king, then? But really, it’s so sad if the royal family can’t even agree…” Her eyes glanced toward the door and a little smirk crossed her lips. “Oh. You can come in at any time. It’s okay, right, Renner?” She made sure her voice was loud enough to reach Climb through the door.

‘She noticed me.’ Climb thought to himself, somewhat impressed that he’d been noticed while behind a door and completely silent. He opened the door and stepped inside. “Excuse me.” He bowed slightly to Renner and Lakyus, once more reminded of the noblewoman’s renown. ‘Lady Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra. She’s the leader of one of the Kingdom’s two Adamantite Adventurer teams…the Blue Roses. At the young age of nineteen, she’s performed enough feats to achieve Adamantite rank, and she’s Princess Renner’s best friend.’ Climb approached the table and greeted both young women. “Good morning, Princess, Lady Aindra.”

“Good morning, Climb.” Renner beamed at him happily.

“Morning.” Lakyus gave Climb a little wave.

Renner began to pour a new cup of tea for Climb with a smile. “Climb, no need to stand, sit.” She nodded to the chair next to hers.

Climb shook his head once. “Princess, I’m your bodyguard. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to sit with you and Lady Aindra.”

“I’m fine with it.” Lakyus said with a grin, her green eyes glinting with mirth. “Climb’s special~” She teased Renner with a little smile.

“Grah…” Renner pouted at Lakyus.

“Lady Aindra, no more jokes, please.” Climb requested for Renner’s sake.

Lakyus giggled softly. “Okay, okay, Mr. Straight Laces.” She lightly rested her fingertips against her chin with an amused smile. “Well, Climb is definitely special…but it’s because he’s yours.”

Renner blushed cutely as she glanced away from Climb. “You’re incorrigible…”

Climb had averted his eyes as well…and that’s when he noticed the figure in the shadows of the drapery near the corner. “What the?!” His hand was on his sword instantly, but before he could draw it, Lakyus spoke up.

“See? You surprised Climb because you’re doing that.” Lakyus lightly admonished the figure in the sitting in the shadows with their legs pulled up to their chest and their arms wrapped around their knees.

In a fluid motion, the woman stood up to reveal Tina in her normal adventuring gear. “Got it, boss.”

Climb blinked at seeing the woman, though his eyes widened just slightly as he saw how much skin her outfit revealed when examined for more than a passing glance.

“Oh yeah. You haven’t met her yet, have you, Climb?” Lakyus said as she gave him an apologetic smile. “She’s one of my team members, Tina.”

“So she’s…” Climb bowed once to the Adamantite ranked Adventurer woman. “…please excuse me. How do you do? My name is Climb.”

Tina waved off the overly formal introduction. “It’s no big deal. Thanks for looking after our fiendish boss’s friend.”

Lakyus narrowed her eyes at Tina for the nickname. “Who’s a fiend?” She turned to smile lightly at Climb. “Tia is out gathering information right now…I try not to bring her too often since she likes to try and put strange ideas in Renner’s head.”

Renner smiled at the little back and forth before she spoke up again. “I think we’ve gotten a little off-track.”

“Right, we needed to talk about Eight Fingers.” Lakyus nodded to Renner. “I told you about how we burned down three of their cultivation plantations so far.”

“On that note, I can’t thank you and Blue Rose enough.” Renner said to Lakyus with a small bow of her head. “My brothers and the nobles do nothing but quarrel amongst themselves. If they keep allowing Eight Fingers to do business in the Kingdom’s shadows it will fall into ruin. Our nation will crumble from the inside out.” She looked at Lakyus with apology. “However, I don’t have any influential backing or a military force at my discretion. I’m sorry, it’s just, since Eight Fingers has ties to the Noble and Royal factions, I must put the burden onto Adventurers like Blue Rose.”

Lakyus smiled at Renner and waved off the apology. “No need for apologies, we’re friends after all.” She looked at Tina sitting next to her. “Tina, give her the papers we found.”

Tina reached into the yellow and red scarf around her neck and pulled out two folded pieces of paper and slid them across the table towards Renner.

“We found this is the last plantation village we burned.” Lakyus explained where the paper had come from. “Do you know what it is?”

Renner picked up the two papers and unfolded them. Her blue eyes quickly scanned the contents before she spoke. “It’s a substitution cipher.”

Lakyus nodded once. “That’s what I thought too. But we didn’t find any key to the code anywhere.”

“Interesting. I wonder why they left it out where it could be found?” Renner pondered as she looked over both papers. A trap? Or for some other reason? If it’s supposed to be a trap, why use such a code without also giving the key?” She stood up from the table with a small smile. “Be right back, I need to get a quill. Let’s see, they’re using the Kingdom’s language, so the first character should be…” She was already deciphering the code even as she walked across the room and opened a door that would lead to her study.

“Unbelievable.” Tina said as she watched Renner disappear through the door.

Lakyus smiled at the surprise on Tina’s face. “You got that right. I don’t understand why she thinks she’s powerless to help anyone. Of all the people I know, she’s the only one that I’d call a genius and mean it.”

Renner returned only a couple of minutes later with a smile and a white feather quill in her right hand. Both papers were in her left hand with a single new sheet atop both of them. “Well, neither of these were orders from the higher-ups, sadly. But the shorter one was a report on the village’s production of Black Dust and how much they’d shipped out…it was quite a lot which is worrisome. However, the larger one was a list of locations throughout the Kingdom, seven of which are in the capital.” Renner held her chin as she considered the implications.

“Do you think they’re Black Dust stockpiles? Or other critical production sites?” Lakyus asked as she looked over the various locations on the paper that Renner had written.

“It doesn’t seem likely that they’d leave such critical information at a random plantation. Especially not with a code that could be easily broken.” Renner said as she tried to puzzle out the meaning of the list of locations. “I think…it’s bait.”

Lakyus and Tina spoke at the same time. “They tricked us?”

Renner looked between the two other women. “Not exactly… Eight Fingers is supposed to be made up of eight different divisions, isn’t it?”

“That’s what the rumors say.” Lakyus confirmed with a nod. “There’s smuggling, slave trafficking, gambling, and drug dealing. Supposedly, each division has its own chief.”

“Then I believe these are locations of other division’s bases. They need our attention diverted until they can get things back on track.” Renner posited the idea that the drug division was stabbing the others in the back so that they could recover.

Lakyus didn’t have any positive thoughts about the Eight Fingers before, but this just made them even worse. “They’re using their own partners as bait. I doubted that they were a monolith, but I didn’t expect them to be this ruthless with their own people. I knew we’d have to move fast, if we don’t we’ll have issues.” Her eyes scanned the list of locations again. “I don’t see anything about the hidden brothel. Apparently it’s a truly horrid one where you can do anything.” In her mind, she cursed at those who ran such establishments and those who partook of them. ‘Filthy trash! Garbage that can’t think of anything except in terms of lust should drop dead!’

“Uh.” Climb uttered out, getting all three young women to look at him.

“What is it?” Lakyus asked.

“I’m confused.” Climb admitted as he looked at Lakyus. “I thought that such establishments had been done away with, thanks to the princess.”

Lakyus nodded slightly. “Mostly, abolishing the slave trade did a lot of good. But unfortunately, one Eight Fingers brothel is still active, hidden somewhere here in the capital.. Her green eyes shifted to Renner. “Tell me, Renner, what would you say to Blue Rose raiding the place and putting an end to it once and for all? If it turned up some evidence as a result, it would strike a powerful blow against the nobles that’re in bed with Eight Fingers.”

Renner looked torn as she spoke. “I appreciate your willingness. But I would hate to create trouble for you and the House of Alvein. On the other hand, it would be too much for Climb to handle on his own.”

Climb clenched his fist on top of the table and hung his head slightly. “I’m terribly sorry for my lack of strength, princess.”

“Ah, forgive me, Climb, that was careless!” Renner apologized, laying her hands atop one of his armored ones. “That isn’t what I was implying at all, okay? I rely on you more than anyone, Climb. I couldn’t begin to thank you for how hard you work, even when you don’t think I’m looking. Just, please, don’t do anything too foolhardy. In fact, I order you not to! If anything ever happened to you…”

Seeing both Climb and Renner blushing with their faces so close together, Lakyus coughed into her fist to break their little moment. “Okay. While we can’t ignore the brothel, let’s talk about these other seven locations and how to handle them. And Renner, can I borrow Climb? I want him to go deliver a message to Gagaran and Evileye. It seems like we’ll be making a large move soon.”

-Nazarick ~ Momonga’s Office-

“Thank you for your assistance with these tests, Shizu Delta.” Momonga thanked the Pleiades Battle Maid with a small smile.

The Automaton nodded once as she looked up at Momonga’s face. “Happy to help, Lord Momonga.” Shizu said with her normal flat expression.

Momonga gently held his hand out in front of Shizu’s face. “I’ll be as careful as possible, of course. I’ll start with only a minute of memory alteration. If at any time you wish to stop or you feel like you’ve lost more than a minute of memory, let me know immediately, that’s an order.”

“Yes, Lord Momonga.” Shizu acknowledged the order and waited for Momonga to cast the first spell.

Momonga took a steadying breath as he prepared to cast the first memory alteration spell on Shizu. Even if Tuareninya for some reason didn’t want to forget the horrors that she’d lived through, this would still be valuable practice for any time he may need to alter the memories of someone in the future. Until Nazarick announced itself to the world as its own sovereign nation, they’d still stick to the shadows, so it was very feasible that he’d need to be able to handle these particular spells well.

With his breathing settled, Momonga cast the first memory alteration spell on Shizu Delta.

-End Chapter-

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Momonga has looked over Tuare and notices the family resemblance between her and Celicia. His orders are clear, keep her safe and out of sight, hide her as a maid or servant to the ‘Young Lady’ and her butler.

But that still leaves a few loose ends that he needs to wrap up so that he can reunite the sisters.

Not to mention how fast the various operations and experiments that Momonga has going are burning through their supply of New World money! Momon REALLY needs a lot more lucrative commissions to come in for his services as an Adamantite ranked Adventurer! Kek!

Eight Fingers is moving in the shadows, spreading drugs throughout the Kingdom. But the missing Tuare hasn’t gone unnoticed and the Head of the slave trafficking division, Cocco Doll has hired the ‘Six Arms’ of the security division to help ‘fix’ things for him.

As the good people in the Kingdom come closer and closer to clashing with the ones that’re happily destroying it from the inside out, just what will happen, and who will end up in Nazarick’s crosshairs?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!