Chapter 41: Traveling Together
Before Sebas could open his mouth to decline again, Lucian added something.
"Naturally, I wouldn't ask you to do this for nothing."
He raised his chin slightly, his tone carrying an easy warmth — the manner of someone accustomed to giving without making a show of it.
"Whatever business brings Mr. Sebas to the royal capital, I can help. The Aindra name carries a certain amount of weight there."
Neatly said. He had signaled his knowledge of Sebas's destination while making his own value plain, all in the same breath. A noble with standing in the royal capital was worth knowing, for anyone who had business to conduct there.
In the moonlight, Lucian's expression was open and unhurried.
Then the air changed.
It was difficult to describe precisely — something like the atmosphere condensing, or an invisible weight pressing down from directly above. Lucian felt it clearly, bearing against him from all sides.
The kind of instinct that fires in prey when a higher predator turns its attention to it — something encoded deeper than thought, going off in a frantic, continuous alarm.
His back soaked through beneath his armor. His face showed nothing.
He had expected this.
Lucian ran through his assessment quickly.
Sebas Tian. Nazarick's head butler. Level 100. Dragonoid. Karma of 300. One of the rarest instances of a genuinely good-aligned being in the entire Great Tomb.
Naming Sebas's destination was a real risk. But Lucian needed to break through the distance, and he needed to leave the impression of a capable mind behind.
If this were Demiurge or Albedo, he would never have approached it this way.
But Sebas was different. A dragonoid with a karma of 300 had a natural affinity for goodwill. As long as Lucian's sincerity was genuine, Sebas would not act against him.
Lucian didn't wait for a response. He continued at an easy, unhurried pace, stating things as though they were simply obvious.
"Mr. Sebas doesn't appear to be from the Kingdom."
He raised a hand, one finger indicating the road that curved away through the moonlight toward the northwest.
"This route is an internal Kingdom road. It leads directly toward the royal capital. Very few travelers from outside know to use it. That Mr. Sebas is on it at all suggests business in the capital."
He kept his delivery measured, each word clear — laying out his reasoning and demonstrating his value in the same motion. Someone who could read a destination from a road choice was a useful resource.
Lucian tilted his head slightly, his gaze passing with apparent casualness across the gap in the carriage curtain. There was a comfortable confidence in his manner.
A confidence that came, it had to be said, from already knowing the plot — shooting the arrow first and painting the target after.
"As for your safety — don't concern yourselves with that."
He turned to face Sebas directly. The easy warmth had settled into something quieter and more considered.
"I'll accompany Mr. Sebas personally. On the matter of combat ability, I have some confidence in myself." A brief pause. "Even if those bandits appeared, I can guarantee the safety of yourself and your mistress."
Saying it out loud, Lucian thought: this is actually absurd.
Telling a level-100 dragonoid that he could protect them. It was like an ant informing an elephant that it intended to shield it from the wind.
But he kept the performance sincere.
What he needed Sebas to see was a capable young noble — one who would extend genuine kindness toward people he believed were in a vulnerable position.
Sebas didn't respond immediately.
He stood where he was. The eyes set deep in those lined features rested quietly on Lucian, as though examining something carefully.
Lucian held the gaze without flinching. His heartbeat was even. His breathing was easy.
A moment passed.
The corner of Sebas's mouth moved. By the smallest degree.
A smile. For a younger person. Carrying a trace of genuine appreciation.
Not recognition of ability. Recognition of the goodwill itself.
"In that case," Sebas's voice was calm and unhurried, with the quality of an elder acknowledging a junior's request, "allow me to consult with my mistress."
A small nod. He turned toward the carriage.
The door closed quietly behind him.
He'd managed it.
Lucian let out a slow, careful breath.
Sebas was Solution's superior — Solution wouldn't be making this decision. The "consulting" had two possible meanings.
One: Sebas made the call himself and was simply maintaining the butler-and-mistress appearance. He'd step inside, give it a moment, and come back out.
Two: Sebas sent a [Message] to Ainz Ooal Gown.
Given the Bone King's cautious nature, it wasn't impossible he'd refuse the goodwill of an unknown noble on principle alone.
But.
Lucian had calculated for this. Down to the timing.
The Bone King was occupied right now — rescuing Nfirea, fighting Clementine. In the original work, he hadn't even registered the [Message] that arrived from Antima during this stretch. He certainly wouldn't be attending to one from Sebas.
The only outcome left was the first. Sebas's own call.
And Sebas found it very difficult to refuse a kind person.
More than that — Lucian had given Sebas a reason to accept that even Sebas himself couldn't argue against.
The Aindra family's connections and standing in the royal capital were real, practical assets for Sebas's intelligence-gathering mission. Accepting this offer was, in concrete terms, laying more efficient groundwork for the task the Bone King had sent him to accomplish. Accepting the goodwill was the smarter move.
This was what Lucian had designed — a plan that showed all its cards and still worked. Because it put "accepting a young man's goodwill" and "completing the mission more effectively" on exactly the same spot, at exactly the same time.
The carriage was quiet.
In Lucian's perception that quiet stretched until it felt much longer than it was.
He could hear his own heartbeat. He could hear the night wind moving through the leaves again. He could hear an owl somewhere deeper in the trees.
Then the door opened.
Sebas stepped out. That lined face was as composed as ever. But Lucian noticed that the old man's eyes were a shade softer than they had been.
"My mistress has agreed."
Sebas's voice was not loud, but every word was clear.
Lucian blinked. Then a smile broke across his face — bright in the moonlight, carrying the particular warmth of someone whose genuine offer has been genuinely accepted.
"Excellent."
The pleasure in his voice was real, like someone who was truly glad to have been useful.
He turned and walked back toward the cavalry. After a few steps he glanced back over his shoulder.
"Mr. Sebas, one moment — I need to give my men their instructions."
Sebas gave a small nod.
Lucian walked to where the cavalry waited. Germann was first to come forward, his scarred face a map of disapproval.
"My lord, you're going personally? This is—"
"Germann."
Lucian's voice was quiet. It stopped the big man mid-sentence.
"Take the others and follow at a distance."
"But—"
"That's an order."
Germann's lips moved. In the end he only produced a flat "Yes, sir."
Lucian clapped him on the shoulder. Not lightly, not hard — exactly right.
"Don't worry."
He turned and walked back toward the carriage.
***
40+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces