Ninya had thought of many scenarios for this little trip with her party.
As the brains of the group, anticipating danger was a basic part of her job, and one she thought she was quite good at doing.
They were low-level adventurers, only barely qualified for the silver rank, so whenever they went into the wild, they needed to be prepared for the possibility of not going back.
When they were attacked by a group of goblins and ogres, she quickly assessed their chances and suggested that they retreat while forcing her voice into a deeper tone, a decision unanimously accepted.
But wanting and actually doing it were two completely different things, and they quickly understood that unless a miracle happened, they would all die in that situation.
Thankfully, a miracle happened in the form of a warrior in black armor who made quick work of their foes.
She didn't know how to feel about Momon dealing so easily with a life-threatening danger to her party. She was grateful for the help, but a part of her still felt bitter about the situation.
I'm still so weak…
It had been 4 years since she embarked on a journey of empowerment, and a little less than a year since she met her companions and created Sword of Darkness, but she was still nowhere near her goal.
Sigh.
She turned her attention to the window, looking at the goblins riding wolves, seriously escorting a carriage filled with humans.
What an impressive sight.
It was her first time seeing something like this.
Maybe in a country made up of many races, such as the Argland Council State, this wouldn't be surprising, but here?
This was a small region of the Re-Estize Kingdom, a human country she profoundly despised for what happened to her family.
This was not a place where it should be possible to see something like this.
She turned her gaze to the girl who made this scene a reality.
She looks like someone my age, but she is capable of taming members of a sentient race… What a powerful profession this girl has.
She didn't know much about the girl, only that she was a Goblin Tamer and that she was called Enri Enmot, a name completely unfamiliar to her.
Judging from this and from her clothes, Ninya was fairly certain Enri was a commoner, which automatically made her more likable in her eyes.
Momon, on the other hand, could very well be a noble by the way he acts, but if there was someone so strong in this region, his name should be pretty famous, so chances are that they are not from around here.
As Ninya continued with her assessment, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"It must be nice to be a Goblin Tamer; you can leave all the work to these goblins and do nothing the whole day. You can basically live like a noble~" Lukrut interjected after looking through the window for a while.
Did he get bored?
Ninya was well aware of her companion's limited tolerance for quiet moments, a bothersome trait that everyone in Sword of Darkness had grown used to.
"How could I do something like that? It's way better for all of us to work together." Enri disagreed, turning her gaze towards Lukrut with impatience.
And there go his chances with her. Over before it even began.
Lukrut was a very horny individual, and one of the main reasons why she kept her gender hidden.
He took a shot with any girl remotely attractive he found, no matter the situation, and in the year they had been together, she could count on one hand the times he had been successful.
Far from being discouraged, Lukrut only grew bolder as time passed, so if for nothing else, she admired his dedication to what he liked.
"Enri, if you don't mind, can you tell me how you got your profession? It's the first time I've heard of a Goblin Tamer." She decided to just ask Enri normally.
Call it an occupational disease, but she always wanted to increase her knowledge about anything she came across. You never know when something might be useful.
After hearing Momon talk about this profession, they had all been skeptical, but after Enri instructed the goblins to perform acrobatics and make embarrassing poses, they were forced to recognize that this girl exerted full authority over these goblins.
Enri then deployed two of her goblins to escort the ones who had attacked her party back to her village.
She had wanted to ask which village she belonged to, but worried it might make her seem rude.
"How I became a Goblin Tamer?" Enri blushed after muttering these words.
She had seen that Enri seemed embarrassed every time the subject of her profession came up, but she didn't know why she felt this way.
"Hum… It was all thanks to Ainz-sama."
Ainz? I think I've heard this name before.
"Who's that?" Dyne asked without hesitation.
As always, they could count on Dyne's no-nonsense approach to whatever he didn't know.
The bearded young druid, who seemed much older than he actually was, had proven time and time again his ability to break through bumps in conversation.
Sword of Darkness was considered a newbie party among adventurers in E-Rantal.
Peter was the leader and the face of their party. He was the one who would talk with clients, using his natural charisma to project confidence in their party.
Lukrut served as a sort of scapegoat whenever they had something to ask, but doing so would break the veneer of politeness Peter needed to maintain.
On these occasions, they could all scold Lukrut in front of the client while gauging the client's reaction.
Annoying as he could be, there wasn't anyone more useful when you wanted someone to ask an inconvenient question.
Dyne, on the other hand, was a profoundly honest man who could admit his ignorance without hesitation.
Having lived in the Great Forest of Tob for a prolonged period of time, he did not care much about social etiquette, asking direct questions when he didn't know something, and apologizing immediately when he made a mistake.
If Lukrut was meant to be hated by the client, Dyne served to give them an honest image. He was hard to hate and, in her opinion, the most dependable among the other 3 members of her party.
"You don't know him? I thought people in the city would have heard of him. Maybe Ainz-sama just doesn't feel the need to be famous." Enri held her chin with a thoughtful expression.
"Well, he is the powerful mage who saved everyone in my village. His full name is Ainz Ooal Gown." A proud smile graced Enri's lips as she said that.
"Ainz Ooal Gown? Isn't that the man in the rumors?" Peter was the first to react.
"What rumors?" Dyne asked.
"It is him." She answered Peter.
"Huh? So you guys know Ainz-sama?"
"We don't know him personally, but there have been quite a few rumors going on about him." Peter spoke before looking at her, a clear cue for her to explain the situation.
"Do you know that the annual war between the Re-estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire ended not long ago?" Ninya looked at Enri.
"I have heard of it. Some of the men in my village were conscripted for it, but no one returned, so I didn't know it had ended."
"That's not surprising. The Kingdom's army was still marching back into the city when we left, so most people still don't know about it." Seeing that she had the attention of everyone on her, Ninya paused before continuing.
"As always, the Kingdom lost the battle, but that is not the important part. The point is, while the nobles were concerned with their war efforts, the number of people deployed to deal with monsters in this region fell drastically."
"Enboldened by this, many monster groups began to attack humans in this region, making the roads unsafe for travel, which was why our party ended up facing so many demihumans before Momon-san saved us." She looked at him once again.
This warrior, fully clad in black armor, showed remarkable strength, to the point that she didn't even know if putting him on the level of an adamantite-rank adventurer would be fair to him. He was simply too powerful.
Feeling her gaze, Momon turned his head in her direction.
"If you know it is so dangerous outside, then why did your party come into this region. Wasn't that simply courting for trouble?" Momon spoke curiously.
"Ha, of course we know that, but what can we do? The guild released an order. If we don't submit proof that our party contributed to the cleaning process, we'll have our plates confiscated." Lukrut interjected.
"When nobles go to war, it's the commoners who suffer." Her words came out with more venom than she intended.
"I see. But what does this have to do with Ainz Ooal Gown?"
"Well, it all started when the Warrior Captain, Gazef Stronoff, came to E-Rantal about a week ago with his troop of warriors."
"The man looked battered, but also in a good mood, and according to rumors, Gazef almost died while trying to protect a village nearby, but was saved by a powerful magician named Ainz Ooal Gown."
"As they stayed the night in the city, some of his men then went to say many things about this mysterious magician. Some said he controlled a powerful undead that bested Gazef in combat, others that the man was so powerful that he could face a whole army just by himself, but one thing they all agreed was that Ainz Ooal Gown had saved them and that remote village. I think the name of the village was Kiarne or something."
"It's Carne. I'm from there." Enri then pointed at herself.
"Ainz-sama really saved us; I can attest to that ."
Enri then began retelling what had happened in her village and how Ainz had appeared out of nowhere to save them.
Through her tale, Enri didn't spare compliments for the man.
Her eyes shone with emotion that bordered on worship.
As Enri spoke, her companions were immersed in the tale, seemingly excited about what Enri was talking.
Well, Peter and Dyne were.
Lukrut seemed bothered as he looked at Enri, and she wondered what the idiot ranger was thinking.
The other occupants of the carriage also showed different reactions as they heard Enri retell the facts.
Lupita looked elated, but Momon sat uncomfortably in his seat.
Before she could consider why they were behaving like this, Enri stopped talking.
"And that was when Ainz-sama asked me to go with Momon and Lupita to E-Rantal." Enri looked out of breath after finishing.
"Wait, you two know Ainz Ooal Gown?" Dyne asked, surprised.
"Wow, so it's true that strong people all know each other." Peter talked excitedly.
Maybe because he was a warrior himself, Peter seemed to be the most impressed by Momon's feats.
She was reminded that Peter was a simple man who only wished to be a great warrior like those depicted in children's stories.
For someone like him, Momon should look like an ideal worth pursuing.
Then again, she was also deeply interested in this magician called Ainz Ooal Gown, so she wasn't very different from him in this aspect.
"Hum. You can say that we're old friends." It may just be her impression, but she felt that Momon seemed embarrassed while saying that.
"That's amazing! Is he as strong as people say? Could he beat the Imperial Wizard?" Dyne asked, and she focused her attention on hearing his answer.
The Imperial Wizard was known as the strongest arcane magic caster in the region, a living legend.
As an arcane magic caster herself, Ninya had heard many tales about his feats as she struggled to learn magic by herself.
The old retired mages who sold sketchy magic books, the powerful mytril adventurers who paraded through the city, and even people of other magic traditions all spoke of the name Fluder Paradyne with respect, so she found Peter's question a bit ignorant.
One that only a martial would make.
But contrary to her assumptions, Lupita sneered at him, while Momon answered without hesitation.
"I don't know what this Imperial Wizard is capable of, but Ainz should still be stronger than him."
Momon's words carried a natural tone full of certainty.
Ninya could see that he was trying to be polite, but still couldn't hide his disdain for the name of the Imperial Wizard.
This, coupled with Lupita's sneer, left her confused.
She couldn't dismiss Momon's statement as easily as she did with Peter's because the man who said that was very powerful.
Someone so strong ought to have a broader perspective than weaklings like them.
At that moment, Ninya felt that she would like to meet this man named Ainz in the future.
"More importantly, Enri-chan," Lukrut's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Are you in love with Ainz Ooal Gown?"