The alliance between Belzerg and Melromarc caused an uproar across the entire continent.
Neither country individually could be considered a first-class power.
The Belzerg Kingdom was content with its corner of the world, barely deterring its neighbors with its 12-year-old Princess Iris.
Melromarc had spent years as a battlefield sandwiched between major powers, and its royal family had even been wiped out once.
But these two countries suddenly joining forces changed the situation entirely.
Even more confusing was the fact that the original king of Belzerg and Queen Mirellia had both abdicated.
The image of two young girls... one blonde, one blue-haired, whose ages together probably didn't exceed twenty-five... standing side by side in front of the castle signing the alliance agreement spread to every corner of the continent through various channels.
And the name that attracted the most attention was, of course—
Nishikawa Makoto.
Just days ago, he had been the number one wanted criminal on Melromarc's wanted posters. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into the regent of two countries.
The contrast was too great.
In the border city of E-Rantel in the Re-Estize Kingdom, one of the hubs of the Adventurer's Guild, large numbers of adventurers traveling between the kingdom and the empire gathered year-round.
The door was pushed open, and two people walked in.
The man wore an exaggerated suit of black armor, covering him from head to toe. Two great swords were strapped crosswise to his back. The metal ornaments on the scabbards shimmered with a dull luster in the sunlight.
Even an amateur could tell at a glance that the armor was no ordinary piece.
The woman's attire was relatively simple. A cloak covered her from head to toe, leaving only her face exposed.
That face was cold and exquisitely beautiful. Her brows carried a chill that repelled people from a thousand miles away, making her hard to look at directly, yet impossible not to steal another glance.
Momon and Nabe.
To be precise, the real name of the former was Ainz, acting under the alias 'Momon', and the latter was Narberal, who partnered with him.
She also used an alias, now going by 'Nabe'.
The two sat down at a long table in the guild hall.
Several adventurers at the next table, already drunk, staggered over.
One of them stared at Narberal's face, a greasy smile spreading across his lips.
"Beautiful, what future is there following a spoiled brat like that?"
He tilted his head toward Momon and sneered, "Once danger hits, a guy like that couldn't protect you. Why don't you come with me? At least I've earned my stripes through real bloodshed."
The others chimed in with their encouragement. The sound of mugs thudding against the table rose and fell.
In their eyes, this 'Momon' in full-body armor was at most some rich kid who had come out of nowhere, spent a fortune on a high-end set of armor, and come to a border city to gild his resume.
After all, if he had obtained such high-level equipment through his own ability, they would have certainly heard of him.
Narberal's brow furrowed.
Her fingers curled slightly beneath her cloak. She raised her hand, wanting to unleash a fifth-tier spell and burn these insects to ash.
"Nabe."
Ainz glanced at her in reminder.
'This was not the time to cause trouble.'
Just then, someone at the next table spoke up.
"Wasn't Nishikawa Makoto also an unknown not long ago?"
Everyone's expressions changed. They instinctively turned to look at the speaker.
"Is that... Kuroba Kaito of The Avengers?"
"The Mithril-rank one?"
"I heard they recently obtained divine weapons. They might be due for another promotion."
Ainz glanced sideways.
He had been in this world for some time and had a fairly good understanding of the major powers' situations.
The Avengers... a Mithril-rank adventurer team that had been active in the Re-Estize Kingdom for less than a year. Their rank had risen at an alarmingly fast pace. Many saw them as a strong contender to become the kingdom's third Adamantite-rank team.
His gaze fell on that person.
Thin frame, hedgehog hair, handsome features. He wore a dark blue short coat, and a short sword hung at his waist.
It was clear that Ainz, or rather Suzuki Satoru, came from a Isekai World Japan where he had never heard the title [Savior of the Japanese Police].
Although in his Japan, the police were just as useless.
Kaito gestured to Narberal and Ainz, flashing a friendly smile. "Sorry, these guys just have foul mouths. They don't mean any harm."
Those adventurers weren't happy. "Kuroba, who are you calling foul-mouthed?"
Kaito rolled his eyes, 'I just saved your lives, you know?'
'If I hadn't stepped in, you'd be ashes by now.'
The door was pushed open again.
Several people filed in.
If Makoto's group saw these people, they would definitely say 'holy shit'.
At the front was Hattori Heiji, dark-skinned, wearing his signature baseball cap, with a long sword hanging at his waist.
That was the Sword of the Four Divine Weapons of the Kingdom of Melromarc.
Like Kazuma's bow, it had originally belonged to [Sword Hero] Amaki Ren, who had been summoned to Melromarc. After Ren was killed by Beam, the sword lost its master.
Heiji happened to be doing an adventurer quest in Melromarc and stumbled upon it.
Shuichi followed behind him. His black knit cap was pulled down low, nearly covering his eyes.
At his waist hung another divine weapon... the Spear, originally belonging to Motoyasu.
Hakuba Saguru walked third. He didn't carry any special weapons, mainly because his combat ability was inferior to the other two.
Several unfamiliar faces followed behind the three.
James Black walked in the middle of the group. His hair was graying, his face square and upright.
In the real world, he was a senior FBI agent, Shuichi's superior.
Jodie Starling walked to his right. She had short blonde hair, wore round glasses, and carried a tin staff... suggesting her profession was likely a healer or mage.
Andre Camel walked at the back. He was large and sturdy, wearing thick plate armor.
The hall erupted again.
"The Avengers' main force is all back."
"What rank is that? Orichalcum?!"
"They've reached Orichalcum? It's only been..."
Kaito waved to them. "Yo, you're back? How did it go?"
His gaze fell on the new badge hanging around Heiji's neck. The metal surface shimmered with a dull luster in the sunlight... Orichalcum rank.
Heiji walked over, took the badge off his neck, and tossed it casually on the table. "It went fine. But on the way back, we heard some not-so-good news."
Shuichi and the others had similar expressions.
Kaito could roughly guess what they had heard from their demeanor. He waved to the waiter. "Seven beers."
Heiji downed his glass in one gulp and slammed the empty mug on the table with a dull thud.
Most of them hadn't drunk alcohol before, but now, living this life of surviving by the edge of a blade, if they didn't numb themselves with alcohol, they would eventually go crazy.
"Feel better?" Kuroba Kaito asked, though he knew the answer.
"What do you think?"
Heiji was almost laughing from anger.
When he first saw that Makoto had become a wanted criminal, he had hoped that the countries of this world might be able to cause that guy some trouble.
But now, he had directly become regent.
The few of them fell silent.
Kaito didn't have the same strong obsessions as the others. As a phantom thief, he didn't have all that unexplainable sense of justice.
Being able to live again was already a win. His only two regrets were:
One, he hadn't found out how his father died.
Two, he didn't know if Nakamori Aoko had also been reincarnated into this world.