The Warrior Captain Hunts the Wise King of the Forest, Ainz's Plan to Integrate into the World

"Brain, a warrior must never underestimate an enemy."

A faint smile appeared on Gazef's resolute face.

"The Wise King of the Forest is undoubtedly a warrior of the hero realm. With a magical beast's racial traits on top of that, this won't be an easy fight."

"Even if my level is higher than the Wise King of the Forest's according to the Slane Theocracy's assessment system, its strength will still surpass mine."

"With you helping me this time, I feel much more at ease."

Brain hurriedly waved his hands.

"Don't say something so nauseating. I'm not here to help you."

"It's just rare to find a worthy opponent."

"Once I kill this Wise King of the Forest, I'll challenge you again."

"With two hero-class warriors taking part, this mission will be a breeze."

Brain brimmed with fighting spirit, without a trace of the dejection he had shown in the original story.

He, too, had entered the hero realm.

Brain had once lost to Gazef in a tournament before the king, which led him to reject the king's offer to recruit him.

But Rambasa III had cleared his throat.

"Brain, do you want to know how the Slane Theocracy trains hero-class warriors?"

"You have every qualification to enter the hero realm."

"Gazef will undergo the training with you."

Those three sentences alone had banished Brain's aches, pains, and dejection. He immediately agreed.

"Yes!"

"I am willing to serve Your Majesty."

The most crucial aspect of Roy's influence on humanity was that he had given the Six Great Gods sufficiently long lives.

This brought enormous changes to the world. Through long years of exploration, including research into how to acquire various classes, the Six Great Gods finally developed a fairly complete system for the natives.

It was crude, but it worked.

Often, it was unfair to condemn the Slane Theocracy for its foolishness, the Re-Estize Kingdom for its corruption, or even their political institutions for their immaturity.

Under the dragons' rule, humans had merely been food for all manner of powerful beings.

There were six great powers in the central continent, three of which fed on humans.

Under such circumstances, humanity had risen in six hundred years from a condition worse than slaves in primitive tribes to a feudal civilization. They truly deserved to be called god's chosen people.

Surshana's final years had been lonely.

He had lived a full three hundred years longer than in the original story, yet remained alone, devoting all that time to the great undertaking of humanity's development.

As a result, humanity's class system was far more mature than in the original story.

There were comprehensive methods for acquiring classes, planning class builds, training to gain levels, and more.

But to prevent demi-humans and beastmen from mastering these secret methods, the Slane Theocracy shared them only with royal families.

The Slane Theocracy was not usually so generous, but a few words from Surshana had settled the matter.

"Are the Re-Estize Kingdom's geniuses not also humanity's geniuses?"

"We divided ourselves into multiple human nations to test different paths of development."

"Humanity cannot put all its eggs in one basket. Otherwise, a single disaster could leave us beyond salvation."

No one dared oppose a living god, whether because of his prestige, achievements, or power.

Even if Surshana ordered the Cardinals to die, they would slit their throats immediately rather than tarnish their loyalty to their god.

Although the Re-Estize Kingdom had been founded only two hundred years earlier, it had inherited the Former Empire's legacy and naturally possessed the corresponding secret methods.

The royal family could use those methods to attract the talent it needed.

Gazef lacked the potential to become an outlier, but had fully realized his hero-class potential, becoming a seasoned hero-class warrior of the Re-Estize Kingdom.

At level 35 without equipment, he was strong enough to join the Black Scripture even in the Slane Theocracy, where hero-class warriors emerged in abundance.

Fully equipped with the Re-Estize Kingdom Treasures, his combat strength could reach the equivalent of level 42.

The pinnacle of human fighting power.

Two years earlier, a conflict had broken out between the Empire and the Re-Estize Kingdom. Wearing the Re-Estize Kingdom Treasures, the Warrior Captain had led his men to rout the Empire Knight Corps.

Although an encirclement by the Empire's renowned Four Imperial Knights had prevented him from inflicting devastating losses on the Empire Knight Corps.

The Warrior Captain's name had nevertheless become famous throughout the human world.

In this version of the world, the Empire's Four Imperial Knights actually numbered eight, each possessing Orichalcum-class combat strength.

Eight Orichalcum-class warriors had failed to defeat the Warrior Captain alone, and two of them had been slain.

That might also have been why the Slane Theocracy had no plans to eliminate the Warrior Captain.

They would need either a godkin to act or the Black Scripture to surround him. They did not dare gamble on the Sunlight Scripture.

The Empire's emperor, Jircniv, had grumbled bitterly.

"Rambasa III really is lucky."

He found a talent like that just by holding a tournament before the throne. Why couldn't I?

After that, Jircniv had feverishly built arenas throughout the country, imitating the Slane Theocracy's training system to thoroughly unearth the Empire's talent.

Likewise, Brain had developed far better than in the original story. He had entered the hero realm a year earlier, following in Gazef's footsteps.

With two hero-class warriors working together, the task seemed well within their reach.

As long as they did not encounter a Legend-class monster, they could put up a fight.

But Gazef shook his head.

"The Wise King of the Forest is manageable, but this forest also holds the Eastern Giant and the Western Demon Serpent. Both are hero-class beings."

The Eastern Giant, the Western Demon Serpent, and the Wise King of the Forest. The little Great Tob Forest actually harbored three hero-class beings.

Brain was startled as well, then said,

"Normally, magical beasts shouldn't join forces."

"Why would the Eastern Giant or the Western Demon Serpent need to help the Wise King of the Forest?"

"Normally, that would indeed be true."

"But what worries me is an abnormal situation."

"There's another legend about this forest: an extraordinarily powerful monster is sealed here."

"The Slane Theocracy named it the Dragon Lord of Destruction. If the seal leaks, or something else changes, there's no telling what might happen."

Brain had devoted himself entirely to training in an attempt to surpass Gazef, leaving him with little knowledge of such information.

He could not help blurting out,

"This is absurd!"

"How can such a dangerous forest be opened up for development? How could His Majesty agree?"

The Warrior Captain sighed softly.

"Because of noble titles. His Majesty intends to create new nobles and redistribute land to expand the royal family's authority."

By routing the Empire Knight Corps two years earlier, the Warrior Captain had more than earned the right to a noble title.

With two hero-class warriors now serving under Rambasa III, his stance toward the nobles had grown firmer.

Though Rambasa III was somewhat mediocre, he still had ambition and determination.

He genuinely wanted to undertake this effort to open up the great forest, even without support from the other nobles.

If he could obtain enough land, he would grant it to new nobles.

Rambasa III could not imitate the Blood Emperor's wholesale slaughter. He preferred gentler methods: supporting new nobles, suppressing the old ones, and completing the transition between them.

The Warrior Captain and Brain's successive advances into the hero realm had given him considerable confidence.

Completing this development mission would give the Re-Estize Kingdom a chance at a fresh start.

The Warrior Captain, Brain, and the Re-Estize Kingdom's outstanding adventurers would all have opportunities.

The Great Tob Forest would become the Re-Estize Kingdom's new hope.

When the Slane Theocracy learned of the plan, its assessment was brief.

"Let him try again."

"If he completes this reform, we can continue the strategy of having the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Empire compete with each other to develop."

As long as there was one successful example of developing new territory, Rambasa III would have enough appeal to draw adventurers to his side.

The first step of the development plan was to subjugate the Wise King of the Forest. Failure was not an option.

If all three great magical beasts were eliminated, humanity's territory could expand further.

"This really is complicated."

Brain scratched his head.

"If the royal family didn't possess the secret methods for reaching hero class, I really shouldn't have gotten involved."

"But that kind of training ground really is something only royalty can afford to build."

Brain was an absolute genius when it came to martial arts, but a complete idiot in everything else.

Otherwise, he would not have joined a band of bandits to hone his swordsmanship in the original story.

What an utterly idiotic plan.

Brain was a pure warrior. He needed an older-brother figure to guide him so he could fully unleash his talent.

The two were both rivals and fellow students, having studied martial arts under Vaishe and trained at the Royal Training Ground.

The Royal Training Ground had been built according to the Slane Theocracy's standard training methods for reaching the hero realm.

It had cost an enormous sum, but the appropriate training genuinely allowed natives to gain experience in the relevant classes.

It was the product of Surshana's centuries of research into every class, through which he had finally compiled the training methods that would raise each class's level most quickly.

How far someone could advance depended on their talent and how diligently they trained.

Both had surpassed their teacher. After Gazef reached the pinnacle of the hero realm, he had become the one guiding Brain.

Gazef smiled, looking more at ease.

"Perhaps it won't be that bad."

"As long as we locate the Catastrophe Dragon Lord's seal beforehand and establish a restricted zone around it, the situation should improve considerably."

"Besides, a dangerous seal like that would be safer with someone inspecting it regularly."

Gazef was responsible for both eliminating the magical beasts and verifying the seal.

One thing Rambasa III appreciated about Gazef was how utterly dependable he was.

The Re-Estize Kingdom's army began to move for this purpose, unaware that a magic caster was quietly watching them.