Free The Dark Warrior by Kugane Maruyama Page A

skills.”
    “Then that seems fine. And if any monsters show up along the way, we can slay them and get the reward from the city, too. Mr. Baleare’s compensation can be split by head count, right, Peter?”
    “I have no objection if it’s all right with you, Momon.”
    “Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Baleare. If you don’t mind, we’d all like to take on your request.”
    “Oh? That’s fine with me. Then, I’m looking forward to working with all of you. Oh, and you can call me Nfirea.”
    Then, they all introduced themselves to Nfirea, and although Narberal whipped her sharp tongue at Lukrut a couple times, there was no real trouble.
    “So, our plan will be my normal pattern of proceeding to the village of Carne, getting a place to stay, and then heading to the forest. The time we spend gathering herbs will depend on how much we can get, but it’ll be three days at most. The average has been two.”
    “How will we get there?”
    “I have one single-horse cart, but that’s where the bottles for the herbs will go, so there won’t be room to carry everyone.”
    “Can we restock provisions in Carne?”
    “Water is no problem, but food might be difficult. It’s not a very big village.”
    The Swords of Darkness discussed preparations among themselves and peppered Nfirea with questions. Then Ainz spoke up. “Do you mind if I ask some questions?” Nfirea smiled and said to go ahead, so Ainz asked his first question. “Why did you specifically want me? It was only just recently that I boarded a carriage and arrived here, so I have no friends in this city, nobody knows me, and yet you requested me? And you mentioned you have a ‘pattern,’ so doesn’t that mean you’ve been hiring a different adventurer up till now? What happened to that person?”
    Ainz’s eyes were sharp under his helmet. He didn’t recall ever being introduced to this boy. If his true identity had been discovered, he would need to take a different approach with his disguise. He tried to discover the boy’s real motives, but he couldn’t detect changes in his eyes because of the long hair that covered half of his face. As Ainz was wondering if he was overthinking things, Nfirea spoke.
    “The person I used to hire left E-Rantel to go to a different city. That’s why I was looking for someone new. And then…actually, I heard about the incident at the inn from someone who came to my shop.”
    “The incident at the inn?”
    “Yes, how you beat up an adventurer a rank above you in the blink of an eye.”
    “I see.”
    He had shown off his strength there to try to spread his name, and it seemed like it had worked. Ainz was about convinced when Nfirea joked, “Plus, copper-plate adventurers cost less, right? I’d like it if we could work together for some time.”
    “Ha-ha, that’s right.” Ainz could certainly understand the concept of getting in on the ground floor. He felt his caution being dispelled. But there was one thing he feared. If that were the case…
    As Ainz was thinking it over, some other questions were asked and Nfirea answered them. When it seemed like the questions had petered out, Nfirea raised his voice. “Then, let’s get ready and be off!”
5
    In the dead of night, a hooded shadow slipped into E-Rantel’s huge graveyard. The jet-black hooded cape combined with the shadow’s singular way of moving, keeping its shoulders and hips from bouncing, made it look like a ghost. It nimbly avoided all the magical light sources that had been placed around the graveyard, going in deeper and deeper.
    Before long, it came upon a mausoleum. The shadow slowly removed its hood. It was a young human woman. Age-wise she was somewhere around a fresh twenty or so. Her face was attractive but in a vaguely feline way. She had ample charm, but there was also something dangerous about her—like she might reveal her true nature as a carnivorous beast at any moment.
    “This is the place!” she said playfully, smoothing back her