After finishing his second egg pancake, Higashino Makoto patted the crumbs off his hands and leaned back in his chair.
"Certain Death."
"Um?"
What are your plans for the future?
Certain Death's fingers paused for a moment, then he continued eating the omelet.
"Have no idea."
She said it in a flat voice.
"I am the Slane Theocracy's secret weapon, and things will probably continue like this. Maybe I'll travel around sometime. Or perhaps... I'll do nothing at all."
"Doing nothing is also good."
Higashino Makoto said.
"People don't necessarily have to do anything in life."
Certain Death raised his head, his heterochromatic black and white eyes looking at him.
What about you? Where are you going next?
Higashino Makoto thought for a moment.
"I don't know. Maybe he'll go to the Baharuth Empire, maybe to the Dragon Kingdom, maybe back to the Holy Kingdom to see how that girl is doing. Or maybe—"
He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"Going home."
"Home?"
Certain Death tilted his head.
"Didn't you say you were a wandering paladin? Even wanderers have homes?"
Why can't homeless people have a home?
Higashino Makoto countered with a question.
"Home isn't just a place, it's a feeling."
Certain Death fell silent. She lowered her head, looking at the half-eaten pancake in her hand.
"So... what's your home like?"
Higashino Makoto thought for a moment, then looked down at the egg pancake in his hand.
"The feeling of someone waiting for you to come home and eat an egg pancake."
The Certain Death movement stopped.
She looked up at Higashino Makoto, something gleaming in his heterochromatic eyes.
"... You..."
Higashino Makoto stood up, took another egg pancake from the counter, and took a bite.
"Kurumi, let's go."
"Yes, sir."
Kurumi lifted her skirt and walked to his side. The black cat "Zafkiel" jumped down from the counter and landed lightly on her shoulder.
"Ainz, are you coming or not?"
"Walk."
Ainz stood up, picked up the greatsword leaning against the wall, and hung it at his waist.
Nabe.
"Exist."
"They're gone."
"Yes."
Four people and a cat walked out of the egg pancake shop. A night breeze blew by, carrying a slight chill. The streets were deserted, with only the occasional bark of a dog in the distance.
"Higashino."
Certain Death voice came from behind.
Higashino Makoto stopped and turned around.
Certain Death stood at the shop entrance, holding half a pancake in his hand.
Her long, black and white hair fluttered in the night wind, and her silver armor gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
"Will you come again tomorrow...?"
Her voice was so soft that it was almost carried away by the night breeze.
Higashino Makoto looked at her for two seconds, then smiled.
"Here, it's your treat."
Certain Death stared at him for two seconds, then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
"Okay. My treat."
Higashino Makoto turned around and continued walking forward.
In the night breeze, he heard a very soft sound behind him—
"Thanks."
He didn't turn around; he simply raised his hand and waved it lightly in the air.
The moonlight shone on the streets of the Divine Capital, casting long, long shadows of the four people.
The black cat "Zafkiel" perched on Kurumi's shoulder, its golden eyes gleaming eerily in the darkness.
In the distance, the lights on the temple spires still burned, swaying uncertainly in the night wind.
In a corner of the city, a half- Elf Kingdom girl stood at the entrance of an egg pancake shop, holding half an egg pancake in her hand, watching the receding figure.
A faint smile played on her lips.
Someone was waiting for her to come back and have a warm smile on their face.
The carriage moved slowly through the streets of the Divine Capital.
Higashino Makoto leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, the sweet taste of the egg pancake still lingering on his lips.
Ainz sat opposite him, his crimson eyes gleaming through the gaps in his helmet.
"Higashino."
"Um?"
"The 'home' you just mentioned... is it real?"
Higashino Makoto opened his eyes and looked at Ainz.
"You guess."
Ainz fell silent.
I believe it's true.
He finally said.
Higashino Makoto neither denied nor admitted it.
He simply stared at the roof of the car, watching the patterns on it shimmer in the moonlight.
"Ainz."
"Um."
"Have you ever thought that one day, Nazarick will become 'home'—not as a legacy that the Supreme Beings needs to protect, but as a place that Ainz wants to return to?"
Ainz remained silent for a long time.
So long that the carriage had passed three streets, so long that Kurumi had turned two pages of the book, so long that Narberal had changed her stance.
"I have no idea."
He finally said.
But I want to try.
Higashino Makoto's lips curled up slightly.
"Then let's give it a try."
The carriage continued on its way, the sound of its wheels rolling over the stone pavement echoing in the night wind.
Moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, casting streaks of silvery light throughout the carriage.
The four people and one cat quietly made their way towards the hotel in the dead of night in the Divine Capital.
Tomorrow, they're going to eat egg pancakes again.
The day after tomorrow, we may have to go our separate ways.
Divine Capital breaks earlier in the capital than at the border.
Sunlight streamed in from the eastern horizon, first turning the tops of the temple spires gold, then slowly flowing down until it covered the entire city.
The tolling of bells echoed in the air, summoning believers to prayer; the long, lingering sound traveled through the streets and alleys like an invisible river.
Higashino Makoto sat in a corner of the hotel lobby on the first floor, with a cup of hot tea in front of him and a letter in his hand.
The letter was sent back by a monster through Muninn.
To be precise, it was early this morning when a grayish-brown owl crashed open a second-floor window of the hotel, dropped a letter sealed with sealing wax onto Kurumi's pillow, and then flew away.
Kurumi was Zafkiel when she was startled and almost threw the black cat off the windowsill.
"Sir, urgent intelligence."
That's what she said at the time, her tone so calm as if she hadn't been the one who was just frightened.
Higashino Makoto took the letter, removed the sealing wax, and unfolded the letter. The handwriting was very small, densely packed together, like a group of ants crawling on the paper.
That was Novas Etier's internal encrypted text; to outsiders, it would just look like a jumbled mess.
No, even Higashino Makoto would get goosebumps looking at it; he would need a tool with translation magic to interpret it accurately.
He read very slowly, word by word, his brow furrowing slightly.
Ainz descended the stairs, his black full-body armor gleaming coldly in the morning light.
The helmet was tucked under his arm, revealing his skeletal face, his crimson eyes gleaming in the morning light.
"Higashino, so early?"
"I have intelligence."
Higashino Makoto put down the letter, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
"Very interesting information."
Ainz sat down opposite him and placed his helmet on the table. Narberal stood behind him, her hand on her sword hilt, her gaze as wary as ever.
Kurumi brought breakfast from the kitchen: congee, side dishes, several golden-brown fried dough sticks, and a pot of fresh soy milk.
She set out the tableware, then stepped aside, her right eye half-closed, a half-smile playing on her lips.
"What intelligence?"
Ainz asked.
Higashino Makoto didn't answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair, his golden eyes staring at the ceiling, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.
"Ainz, do you know about the 'Dolor Desert'?"
Ainz thought for a moment.
"That desert in the southwestern part of the central continent? There once stood a great Baharuth Empire there, but it perished for reasons unknown. Now it's the Re-Estize Kingdom of the Scorpion People, the 'Wind Demons.' Among the nomads, there's also a religious group whose main deity is the 'Translucent Dragon.'"