Inside the dimly lit tavern, a bald, burly man looked at the man he was blocking with a mocking smile. The scorpion tattoo on his head made his already gloomy face look even more ferocious. The bald man's two companions beside him also watched everything with similar mocking smiles, as they were already used to such things.
“Yare yare.”
The mysterious man, shrouded in black armor, looked at everything before him and sighed helplessly. He never thought he would encounter such idiotic cannon fodder behavior that he had only seen in novels or on TV, and it was such a textbook example.
The next second, the mysterious man in black armor walked straight forward, easily knocking aside the burly man blocking his path, then stopped and looked at the man.
“Hey, hey, you hurt me. How are you going to compensate me? Hey?”
Sure enough, as he expected, the cannon fodder man brazenly blocked his way, hands on his hips, a malicious grin on his face, uttering typical cannon fodder lines.
“Oh yeah! I'll just have that little chick serve me well!”
As he spoke, the cannon fodder man leaned his head close to the black-haired, single-ponytail girl beside the armored man, looking at her delicate face and indifferent expression, subconsciously licking his lips. He had already begun to imagine pinning the girl under him, her indifferent expression turning to anger and fear.
“Hmph... Hahaha!”
Just then, a low laugh suddenly rang out. The cannon fodder man, annoyed upon hearing the laughter, raised his head to look at the mysterious armored man he was blocking. He was still laughing at this time? Was this guy looking down on him?
“Sorry, sorry, please excuse me. Such standard small fry lines are making me unable to suppress my laughter.”
The mysterious armored man, or rather, Ainz Ooal Gown of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, disguised as an ordinary adventurer, lowered his head slightly, a hint of a smile on the skull face hidden inside his helmet. Honestly, he didn't feel angry at all at the man's provocation; he even felt a sense of novelty.
For an ordinary person, if an ant bared its fangs and brandished its claws in front of them, that ordinary person would only find it amusing, not be angry. After all, the two sides were completely different existences in terms of identity, status, power, and even level of life.
“Huh?”
The cannon fodder man, clearly feeling looked down upon and even mocked, could no longer bear it. He was obviously just a bronze-rank adventurer, yet he dared to look down on him. He subconsciously wanted to step forward and teach this guy a lesson, and then, while he was at it, grab that black-haired girl and take her away, selling her to a brothel after he was done playing with her.
However, the moment the cannon fodder man stepped forward, Ainz Ooal Gown, disguised as an ordinary adventurer, grabbed him by the collar like a chicken, and then, under the astonished gazes of everyone in the tavern, threw him out violently.
“What should we do next? It would be too foolish to waste time. How about you guys…?”
“??? Ah, ah, ah, my potion!”
After casually tossing away the small fry who provoked him, Ainz Ooal Gown lowered his head and looked at the remaining two small fry companions, opening his mouth, just about to suggest that they could all come at him together, when suddenly a loud scream came from the side, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
“Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! What did you do? It's all your fault, my potion is broken!”
Under everyone's astonished gaze, a female adventurer with freckles on her face and red hair walked over angrily. For some reason, some of the adventurers who had recently arrived in E-Rantel subconsciously stood up and moved away from here.
At the same time, Ainz Ooal Gown was curiously looking at the red-haired girl grabbing his cloak. A rare look of solemnity appeared on the skull face hidden under the steel helmet. He saw that the girl, who was tightly grabbing his cloak, was now visibly surrounded by a purplish-black aura, and the skin on her face was wriggling randomly as if it had come to life, as if countless pupils were hidden beneath the skin.
Her entire person was filled with a strange, twisted aura. At the same time, the adventurers who had recently arrived in E-Rantel faintly heard a murmuring sound in their minds, and their expressions began to distort little by little.
“Cough, cough!”
Just then, a coughing sound suddenly came from the counter, and instantly the room, which had been filled with a strange, twisted aura just a second ago, returned to normal again. The red-haired girl, who was tightly grabbing Ainz Ooal Gown's cloak, was stunned for a moment, and the purplish-black aura surrounding her body and the twisted, wriggling skin also disappeared, as if everything before had been an illusion.
“Huh?”
“What do you mean, 'huh'? Hurry up and compensate me! That was… that was the money I saved by not eating or drinking, being frugal and thrifty! I just bought that potion today, and you guys broke it!”
“Potion?”
Ainz Ooal Gown, who had not yet recovered from the red-haired girl's sudden change, subconsciously looked in the direction the girl was pointing, only to see a blue potion spilled on the ground beside the table that had been smashed by the small fry he had thrown.
‘What exactly is going on?’
After looking at the potion spilled on the ground, Ainz Ooal Gown looked at the red-haired girl in front of him who was asking for compensation. He still remembered her previous appearance clearly, but now he couldn't see any trace of it.
If Ainz Ooal Gown wasn't absolutely certain that his defensive magic hadn't been activated, he would have suspected that everything just now was just his illusion.
“Hey, hey! Hurry up and answer me! It's a total of one gold coin and ten silver coins. Since you're wearing such imposing armor, you should have healing potions, right?”
Just then, the red-haired girl's voice interrupted Ainz Ooal Gown's thoughts. When he raised his head, he saw the red-haired girl holding out her hand in front of him, looking like she wanted him to compensate her quickly. Seeing this, just as Ainz Ooal Gown was about to ask something else.
He suddenly noticed that Narberal behind the red-haired girl was already at the limit of her patience, her hand already on the hilt of her sword, her eyes fixed on the red-haired girl's neck, looking like she wanted to kill her.
“Wait! I understand!”
Seeing this, Ainz Ooal Gown quickly took out a bottle of his own healing potion from his pocket and handed it to the girl. After all, he still remembered the previous appearance of this red-haired girl vividly, and Ainz Ooal Gown didn't know what would happen if Narberal attacked.
“Red potion?”
“Is that okay now?”
Looking at the red-haired girl in front of him who was examining the healing potion in her hand, Ainz Ooal Gown asked with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
“Yeah, for now.”
Hearing Ainz Ooal Gown's words, the red-haired girl raised her head and looked at him, then looked at the red potion she had never seen before in her hand, turned around, and walked out of the tavern.
Seeing this, Ainz Ooal Gown gave Narberal a look, and went straight to the second floor of the tavern, arriving at the room they had booked. As the wooden door opened, a room that could barely be considered clean appeared.
“To make the Supreme Beings live in such a place…”
Just after closing the door, Narberal, after surveying the room, turned to Ainz Ooal Gown and spoke. In her opinion, such a low-class room was completely unsuitable for Ainz Ooal Gown's status. Living in such a place was simply an insult to the Supreme Being.
Whoosh!
Across from her, Ainz Ooal Gown, who had been silent since entering the room, suddenly turned around. With a gentle wave of his hand, several layers of magical barriers enveloped the entire room. Then, his helmet transformed into a burst of light and dissipated, revealing Ainz Ooal Gown's skull head within the room.
"Don't say that, Narberal. Speaking of which, are those adventurers?"
Ainz Ooal Gown glanced at Narberal before him, then walked to the window, looking at the red-haired girl walking down the street towards a certain place. Two scarlet lights lit up in his empty eye sockets. Originally, he thought that so-called adventurers were just some people managed by the Adventurers Guild, whose job was only to eliminate monsters, accept quests, and were devoid of dreams.
However, after just seeing the appearance of that red-haired girl, his impression of adventurers changed slightly.
"What should we do with that annoying woman?"
At this moment, Narberal, standing at the door, looked at Ainz Ooal Gown expressionlessly, asking the question, but in reality, the killing intent in her eyes had already revealed all her thoughts.
"Narberal, don't act rashly. You may not be her opponent. That kind of power..."
Noticing the killing intent in Narberal's eyes, Ainz Ooal Gown quickly stopped her. The appearance of that red-haired girl just now gave him a familiar feeling, as if he had seen similar power somewhere before.
"Could it be you, Lu Minghao?"
In the next second, Ainz Ooal Gown thought of the player named Lu Minghao who had suddenly appeared before him when he first came to this world. He had said that he was in this kingdom, and coupled with that power and aura, he had vaguely sensed a bit of it on Lu Minghao's body.
"Narberal, notify Sebas and Solution. Be careful when operating in the royal capital. Also, have them pay attention to another player, Lu Minghao."
"Yes!"
Although she didn't understand why Ainz Ooal Gown wanted to do this, Narberal nodded and walked to the side, taking out a magic scroll from her pocket and began to contact Sebas and Solution, who were far away in the royal capital, and relayed Ainz Ooal Gown's orders to them.
"Is this a warning from you, or just a greeting?"
Looking at Narberal, who was contacting Sebas and the others, Ainz Ooal Gown looked towards the royal capital and muttered to himself. He didn't think that the sudden change in that red-haired female adventurer before was a normal thing.
After all, judging from the strange expressions of those adventurers on the side, it was the first time they had encountered such a thing.
On the other side, the girl who had received the red healing potion from Ainz Ooal Gown came to an apothecary shop. She skillfully opened the door and walked in. Inside, an old woman with white hair and a blonde boy whose hair was so long that it covered his eyes looked up.
Under the sunlight, the three of them simultaneously revealed eerie smiles. Viscous liquid dripped down the corners of their mouths, corroding the ground with sizzling sounds. And the potion held in the red-haired girl's hand was directly devoured as the skin of the girl's palm constantly writhed.
A few seconds later, the red-haired girl turned and left the apothecary shop, with an excited and cautious expression on her face, clutching the pocket at her waist tightly, and blended into the crowd. Seeing this, several adventurers who had recently come to E-Rantel exchanged cold smiles and followed her.
A few minutes later, a shrill scream echoed in a corner of a street. The residents passing by turned their heads to look after hearing the scream. The clothes on their bodies began to bulge constantly, and they could vaguely see something slippery wriggling inside.
In the next second, all the residents returned to normal, and the streets became bustling again. The sounds of hawking, talking, and laughter rose and fell. At the same time, in the street corner, the red-haired girl touched the back of her head, looking around with a puzzled expression, not understanding how she had ended up here.
"Forget it, it's not important."
In the next second, the red-haired girl casually shook her head, with an indifferent look on her face, and walked towards home. However, the girl didn't notice that her leather armor was stained with drops of bright red blood. The moment the red-haired girl walked out of the shadows and was illuminated by the sunlight, fleshy buds protruded from the leather armor, licking all the blood clean.
On the other side, the blonde boy was sitting at the counter in the apothecary shop, looking at the potions he had made, but those empty eyes proved that the boy hadn't paid any attention here at all.
"Enfi, what are you thinking about?"
At this time, an old but full-bodied voice sounded in the blonde boy's ear. The white-haired apothecary named Lizzie walked to her genius apothecary grandson with a kind smile on her face, stroking his hair and laughing.
"Grandma, that potion..."
"It's a precious item that cannot be created through normal means."
Before Enfirea could finish speaking, his grandmother interrupted him, saying with excitement on her old face. That red healing potion was a perfect potion that had never appeared before, and it was simply full of attraction for apothecaries like them.
"Yeah, so Grandma, I want to hire that adventurer."
"Go do what you want to do."
Facing her grandson's thoughts, Lizzie didn't feel the slightest surprise. After all, she had this idea too. By hiring that adventurer, she could learn the method of making that potion from his mouth during the mission.
......
The next day, the Adventurers Guild.
In the early morning, a large number of adventurers were gathering here, picking out today's work. However, compared to the usual Adventurers Guild, today all the adventurers were curiously looking at the two figures in front of the notice board.
"Such a grand full body armor."
"How much would that cost?"
"Just a copper plate!"
"He must be a young master from some family."
"A gift from his father?"
One by one, the adventurers looked at the man wearing black armor, with undisguised envy and jealousy in their eyes, constantly mocking him in their mouths. After all, the nameplate on that man's chest was just a copper plate, but the armor and weapons on his body were things they couldn't even dream of.
'.... I can't read it, and Narberal doesn't know how to read!'
At this time, Ainz Ooal Gown, who was looking at the various missions on the notice board, completely ignored the taunts of those small fries behind him. After all, compared to those small fries, he couldn't recognize a single word of the missions on the notice board in front of him, which made him even more troubled.
'Never mind!'
"Um.... would you like to help us with our mission?"
In the next second, just as Ainz Ooal Gown was planning to take on a random mission, a tentative question suddenly came from behind him. When he turned his head, he realized that an adventurer team had appeared there at some point.
