Ten days had passed since Momon's meeting with Ainzach.
Lying on the soft bed of the Golden Pavilion Inn, she lifted a small Orichalcum adventurer plate toward the chandelier light, letting its metallic surface catch and scatter the glow.
…A lot had happened since then.
Everything surrounding Momon had changed so dramatically it might as well be called a complete upheaval.
When Ainzach returned from inspecting the corpse of Zy'tl Q'ae, he had rushed straight to Momon with a look so transformed from when she last saw him that he felt like a completely different man.
In his eyes burned unmistakable awe.
He showered her with praise — millions of words' worth, it felt like — and on the spot, issued her an Orichalcum plate along with a massive amount of reward money.
Orichalcum.
Second only to Adamantite.
And since E-Rantel had no Adamantite-ranked adventurers, this meant Momon — who had come out of nowhere — instantly became:
The single highest-ranked adventurer in the entire city.
Ainzach had even admitted, with an overly eager smile and hands rubbing together in a somewhat unsettling manner, that he actually wanted to jump her straight from Copper to Adamantite…
but politics made it impossible.
"As Momon-dono, you'll be promoted in no time!"
he had chirped.
Even she had recoiled a little at that one.
Despite concerns that such unprecedented rank-skipping would trigger backlash, nothing of the sort happened.
The group that visited the battlefield consisted of:
• Ainzach
• Fang Wolf (Mithril-ranked)
• Rainbow (Mithril-ranked)
• Clargra (Mithril-ranked)
The highest-ranked adventurers E-Rantel had to offer.
And once they saw the remains of the magical tree with their own eyes, even those prideful Mithril teams — who had been suspicious of this "sudden newcomer" — had no choice but to accept reality.
They couldn't argue.
Not a single word.
They could only acknowledge:
Momon's strength was real.
Rumors like
"Maybe the magical tree wasn't actually that strong?"
were completely crushed by the testimony of elite adventurers who wielded true influence.
With that, the Swords of Darkness' heroic retelling of Momon's deeds spread seamlessly through E-Rantel — not as legends, but as verified truth.
And so, Adventurer Momon became widely known as the living legendary hero of E-Rantel.
In recent days, puppet shows and picture-scrolls depicting her battle had become common in the city squares.
At taverns, the Swords of Darkness acted as storytellers, passionately recounting the tale to cheering crowds.
So naturally, whenever Momon walked through the streets, she was constantly approached, greeted, praised.
Whenever she entered the Guild, countless eyes filled with awe pinned themselves onto her.
To put it plainly — the "Great Hero" title was far too much for her.
And it undeniably made life… harder.
(Being known as a human hero is good, but…
with this many people watching me, someday someone might realize I'm actually a demon…)
She let out a shallow sigh.
She had never wanted fame.
She didn't seek to leverage her power to earn enormous wealth or status.
Just a simple identification card and some travel money — that's all she ever wanted.
But now that she had an Orichalcum plate, her lifestyle had become…
…well, basically an eat-sleep-repeat routine.
Not that she was being lazy all day.
She wandered the streets, browsed through interesting items, sampled good food —
as far as sightseeing went, she was actually living quite richly.
But the reward from defeating Zy'tl Q'ae had simply been too massive.
She'd received a bounty from the Guild,
a reward from the Kingdom,
and later, though delayed, even the Baharuth Empire — whose borders touched the Great Forest of Tob — sent a representative with an imperial commendation and reward money.
From penniless to "millionaire-in-the-making."
With her Orichalcum plate and massive funds, she honestly saw no reason to work for the time being.
Her savings would probably dry up after a month or two if she remained at the rather expensive Golden Pavilion Inn…
but still.
When she first received the money, she considered buying a small house outside E-Rantel or renting a modest inn.
But once she tried staying in one?
…She encountered a "miniature horror" crawling across her chest to say hello in the middle of the night.
She fled immediately back to the Golden Pavilion Inn.
It hadn't happened in Carne Village because the villagers had probably scrubbed every inch of the place for her sake.
Thus — the Golden Pavilion Inn remained her base.
Even when traveling to other cities, she'd choose high-grade inns.
She had learned her lesson.
(Teleporting to the Tob Forest every night and staying in the Green Secret House is safest…
but if the city's top-ranked adventurer disappeared every night with no way to contact her during emergencies… that's bad.
And if someone saw me teleporting one night… even worse.)
Fame came with chains.
She had no intention of rooting herself in E-Rantel, but while she stayed here, she wanted to at least meet the expectations of those who saw her as a hero.
If danger struck E-Rantel — she would act.
But the small, tedious adventurer requests?
She just couldn't bring herself to care.
She'd already told Ainzach:
"Contact me only for Orichalcum-grade jobs."
Yet requests addressed specifically to her came in absurd numbers.
According to Ishpen, dozens per day.
Almost all were to be filtered and rejected as:
"Momon is busy with other work."
Why?
Because the vast majority were shallow escort jobs from nobles and wealthy merchants.
All because of the rumor:
"Momon's face beneath her helmet is beyond comparison — a peerless beauty."
Everyone wanted to throw money around to stand beside her, to see her face, to bask in her presence.
But these offers were purely driven by greed,
and the tasks were things even Silver-ranked adventurers could do.
Momon had absolutely no reason to accept.
Ordinarily, this would have given her a terrible reputation —
a "snobbish adventurer who picks her jobs."
But the city's opinion had flipped the other way entirely.
Refusing noble bribes,
working only for the safety of the people —
her actions were seen as those of a true hero.
Commoner admiration soared.
Her gentle, polite behavior when wandering the city only amplified this image.
Simply by relaxing in high-class inns and strolling about, Momon's reputation skyrocketed.
She barely understood how it happened.
Today, then —
let us observe Momon's quiet and ordinary day.
"…Oh? It's time."
She had been lying in bed flipping through old Ainz Ooal Gown photos when she heard the noon bell.
She sat up.
She shrugged off the Golden Pavilion Inn's nightwear and changed into:
• a sleeveless white blouse
• a black flared skirt
• short boots
She only owned dresses and armor originally, so she'd gone to a tailor and had these made.
Wearing a dress or armor for everyday errands was simply impossible.
"Mm."
She checked her reflection in the standing mirror and nodded, satisfied.
Simple and elegant —
perfectly suiting the body of Albedo that she now inhabited.
She had cut a small opening in the back for her wings.
Despite lacking sewing experience, the body's settings — "skilled at sewing" — helped her produce surprisingly good results.
Once dressed, Momon tossed her essentials into the Infinite Haversack.
She had an errand — a newly formed routine — to attend to.
"Greater Teleportation."
With that whispered spell, Momon vanished soundlessly from the Golden Pavilion Inn.