The Bone King made his moves, Roy's automated guards took action, and tensions began to surface

Yellantir, a city of the Re-Estize Kingdom.

After the giant petrifying lizard incident, the kingdom's troops temporarily withdrew to the city to rest and regroup, purchase large quantities of medicinal supplies, and report their success to the king.

Warrior Captain Gazef even rode the Wise King of the Forest back to the nearby city of Yellantir, receiving thunderous cheers.

Clearly, the dangers of the forest had convinced the Warrior Captain that the operation against the three great magical beasts would not go smoothly.

He therefore chose to publicize Rambasa III's decision.

Develop the Great Tob Forest, recruit adventurers, and reward them according to their achievements, with noble titles as the highest reward.

Many adventurers immediately erupted in excitement.

"We're willing to give up our status as adventurers and follow you, Warrior Captain!"

"Long live His Majesty!"

The kingdom's Adventurers' Guild had, in essence, been founded by the Slane Theocracy two hundred years earlier.

Its original purpose had been to cultivate international citizens and fighting power for humanity.

Thus, adventurers avoided involvement in national affairs whenever possible. If a country was about to fall, they could leave without hesitation, under no obligation to remain loyal to it.

This was the human preservation plan devised by the Slane Theocracy.

High-quality adventurers were humanity's elite, indispensable talents.

Nations could perish, but humanity had to survive.

Three hundred years earlier, the human nation of Gotiburg had fallen.

Two hundred years earlier, a vast human kingdom, Imperia, and the Ainado Racial Alliance had fallen one after another.

Human kingdoms fell at an astonishing rate. Those that survived for more than two hundred years were relatively rare.

The Slane Theocracy was unwilling to unify all human lands through its own strength, not because it lacked the ability, but because it wanted to spread the risk.

In a world where individual might reigned supreme, tales of kingdoms destroyed for offending a single powerful individual were hardly rare.

The Slane Theocracy occupied only a portion of those lands, then supported various Human Nations separately. Its plan had been devised for precisely this reason.

In the original story, when the kingdom was on the verge of destruction, the Slane Theocracy sent the Black Scripture to recruit adventurers and offer them refuge in the theocracy, following this very principle.

Once a kingdom fell, there might be a chance to rebuild it in the future. Once humanity's elite died, however, they were gone for good.

Conversely, if these adventurers devoted themselves too deeply to serving a nation, it meant relinquishing their status as adventurers.

Following the Slane Theocracy's founding principles, the Adventurers' Guild urged them to think carefully.

"Once you give up your adventurer status, you cannot register again."

The Warrior Captain, however, declared with great generosity:

"Developing the Great Tob Forest and exterminating magical beasts has nothing to do with wars between nations."

"Before I came here, His Majesty stated that even those granted noble titles would not be compelled to participate in the kingdom's wars."

"Miss Lakyus of Blue Rose, for example, is both an adventurer and a noble."

"His Majesty will also post commissions at the Adventurers' Guild for this operation to exterminate the magical beasts."

"You won't be shortchanged by so much as a coin."

The adventurers were all moved.

After all, the Adventurers' Guild had been established according to Surshana's will.

There were conflicts between nations and the Adventurers' Guild.

Now, the Warrior Captain's words showed that the royal family was willing to make concessions for adventurers.

For the first time, they pledged their service wholeheartedly:

"We are willing to serve His Majesty!"

Meanwhile, the Warrior Captain had become keenly aware of the Bone King's strength and privately tried to win him over:

"The kingdom is developing the Great Tob Forest to grant noble titles and fiefs."

"If there is any land that catches your eye, Lord Gong, you are more than welcome to join the pioneering expedition."

"I'm certain His Majesty would be generous with both titles and land."

"Whatever catches your eye, Lord Gong, feel free to take it."

There was no denying that this approach won the Warrior Captain a great deal of goodwill from Ainz.

He had indeed been worried that the kingdom's development of the forest would draw prying eyes toward the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

If he could earn merits and a noble title, he could resolve the current problem while avoiding conflict between the two sides.

Ainz had stayed in the kingdom's military camp for several days and obtained much important information from the Warrior Captain. He remembered that kindness.

The Bone King could hardly be called a good person, but he was no madman either.

With the Shalltear incident yet to occur, the Bone King currently leaned toward acting as an adventurer and slowly learning about this world.

He even came up with a plan entirely on his own.

Since the kingdom intended to grant noble titles, claiming everything by himself would draw too much attention.

Then he could have one identity as a magic caster and another as an adventurer.

If both earned merits, wouldn't he receive twice as much land?

From the king's perspective, granting fiefs to two powerful adventurers would be safer than granting them to just one.

Of course, for the master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick to become a noble of the kingdom would be a loss of dignity. Ainz intended to give the credit to others rather than become a kingdom noble himself.

Thus, the Bone King arranged for Pandora, the level-100 NPC he had created, to transform into the adventurer Momon and join the kingdom's pioneering expedition as an adventurer.

Quite a few things happened along the way. The adventurer Momon demonstrated his strength by swiftly thrashing the mithril-class adventurer Igvarge.

Even with the kingdom's increased population, Igvarge had not advanced to orichalcum rank and remained at the same level as in the original story.

In the original story, Igvarge disrespected Momon and insisted on following him to exterminate Shalltear. Mare, a guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, killed him with a single blow of his staff. His body was retrieved by the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and the Bone King used it to summon an [Elder Lich]. Eventually, the lizardmen destroyed him, bringing his miserable life to an end.

This time, he was rather lucky. He merely took a beating and suffered broken bones, leaving him unable to participate in the pioneering expedition. That actually saved his life.

Momon's reputation for effortlessly defeating a mithril-class adventurer immediately made him the brightest star in the Adventurers' Guild.

Even though he was still officially a copper-class adventurer, no one dared look down on him.

It could only be said that Pandora was far more efficient than the Bone King at establishing a reputation.

Now, the Warrior Captain was holding an operational meeting. They planned to establish defensive lines against the Eastern Giant and the Western Demon Serpent.

Something seemed to have stirred among the monsters of the Great Tob Forest.

As for what had caused it, best not to ask.

Just as the Bone King had used the Wise King of the Forest to build his reputation in the original story.

This time, he was merely following the same pattern on a slightly larger scale.

The Bone King had no intention of inflicting heavy losses on the kingdom's troops.

He simply wanted to show his heroic mettle in a moment of crisis.

Everything appeared to be going smoothly.

What Ainz had not anticipated was that rank-and-file soldiers from World City had also disguised themselves as adventurers and infiltrated the pioneering expedition.

Not only were there many of them, but some were unusual individuals.

The most unusual among them was a thief who seemed utterly unconcerned about either the Grand Mage Ainz or the powerful adventurer Momon.

The thief said to the Warrior Captain:

"You won't find a better trap specialist in the entire kingdom."

"Rest assured, Warrior Captain. Leave the defensive lines and trap placement to me. Even hero-class monsters won't escape being killed."

"Since something has gone wrong in the Great Tob Forest and the magical beasts might rampage, our best option is to wait for them while conserving our strength."

"If I successfully kill a hero-class monster, I hope the kingdom will grant me Carne Village as my fief!"

This thief, who spoke with such conviction, was one of the rank-and-file guards from World City.

He was Luke, a level-18 veteran guard.

Before the Warrior Captain, he demonstrated outstanding thief skills and expertise with mechanisms.

He was willing to lay traps for the kingdom to earn merits.

At the same time, his words were provoking Ainz.

Ainz studied the thief closely.

Very weak.

Name: Luke

Race: Human

Class levels:

Thief: LV10

Trap specialist: LV8

Total level: 18.

Picking out a suitable thief like him from World City's six hundred thousand automated troops was hardly difficult.

World City had every kind of talent.

Eve had selected him because he looked ordinary and closely resembled the humans of the New World, making him well suited for infiltration.

Ainz appraised him and immediately knew his strength was poor, but a sense of wariness rose in his heart nonetheless.

After all, Luke was indeed strong compared with ordinary adventurers, especially given his equipment.

Most adventurers could not assemble a complete set of magical equipment.

Even someone as strong as the Warrior Captain wore equipment that would only qualify as low-tier gear, level 11-20, in Yggdrasil.

Under ordinary circumstances, this was already the best the kingdom could provide him.

Only during wars between nations would Rambasa III bestow the national treasures upon him.

Luke, meanwhile, possessed a complete set of lowest-tier equipment.

Lowest-tier items were nothing remarkable, of course.

To the Bone King, this equipment was garbage. Most of it was only level 3-5.

But Luke's advantage lay in having a complete set. Fully equipped at level 18, he could stand up to an ordinary Orichalcum-class adventurer for a short while.

He truly stood head and shoulders above the crowd.

Ainz quietly took note of him. After hearing Luke's plan, the Warrior Captain expressed his approval.

"An excellent approach. We very much need to establish defensive lines near Carne Village."

"What do you think, Lord Gong?"

Ainz, however, smiled and said:

"A reckless undertaking!"

"You!"

Luke showed his anger, but the Warrior Captain stopped him in time.

Ainz continued explaining, unconcerned:

"Our investigation into the giant petrifying lizard's abnormal behavior has produced preliminary results."

"A magical power has appeared in the forest. It strengthens monsters and makes them more bloodthirsty."

"The Eastern Giant and the Western Demon Serpent appear to have formed an alliance. Once they are strengthened, we won't be so lucky next time."

"We must take the initiative and attack."

Aura commanded the entire monster army, more than enough to annihilate the kingdom's troops.

Only a crisis like that would warrant the greatest possible merits.

Ainz was ready to claim victory.

Yet this man had the audacity to claim he could stop Aura's offensive. How laughable.

Aura's magical beast enhancement would be enough to produce large numbers of so-called hero-class monsters among the horde.

The kingdom's troops would crumble at the first blow.

Even with these adventurers added to their ranks, they would still crumble at the first blow.

Luke, however, had already been given false memories and regarded himself merely as a member of the Dragon Worship Cult. He could not help sneering:

"Traps are the most effective way to eliminate an enemy."

"Your claim that something unusual in the forest has strengthened the monsters is nothing more than your own opinion."

"Even if they have grown stronger, how much stronger could they possibly be?"

"Charging into the forest when we know nothing about it would be the truly foolish move."

Ainz could not help laughing aloud:

"There is no point in discussing this with someone who knows nothing about magic."

"You!"

Luke's anger flared again. Naturally, the Warrior Captain could not allow a conflict to break out between them. He restrained Luke with one hand and said quietly:

"Mr. Luke, Lord Gong saved the lives of the kingdom's soldiers. He is an exceptionally powerful magic caster, a rarity in this world."

"Please, you must calm down."

Keeping one hand on Luke, the Warrior Captain turned to the adventurer Momon.

This adventurer felt just like two of Blue Rose's members to him: unfathomable.

Then the adventurer Momon said:

"Both sides make very good points."

"Perhaps we could split into two groups."

"I will investigate the forest, while Ai-Lord Gong remains to protect the city."

"Even if something goes wrong with the traps, we won't have to worry about excessive losses."

"If Mr. Luke's trap tactics succeed, that would naturally be the best outcome."

Momon had almost addressed him as Lord Ainz, since this world's forms of address leaned more toward Western conventions.

That was why the Warrior Captain and the others addressed him as Lord Gong or Master Gong.

Pandora's way of addressing him, by contrast, was somewhat more Japanese.

The Warrior Captain immediately said:

"Wouldn't that be too dangerous? Why don't I accompany you, Mr. Momon..."

Momon swept his hand out:

"It's all right."

"With my strength and my companion's, no matter what turns up in the Great Forest, we'll be able to eliminate it."

The Warrior Captain pondered for a moment, then finally nodded and said:

"Then I'll leave everything in your hands, Mr. Momon."

"Rest assured."

Pandora, disguised as Momon, was just about to strike a pose, but immediately restrained himself under Ainz's gaze.

Meanwhile, Ainz secretly contacted Aura.

"Aura, once that adventurer has finished setting his traps, go all out."

"He's very confident in his traps. If necessary, you can take action yourself and destroy them."

"Yes, Lord Ainz."

The Bone King felt that everything was going smoothly.