Overlord (book 1)

to offer to you right now, nevertheless I still ask you accept my request ...... I beg you. "

"Well this..."

"If you ever visit the King’s capital, I promise that I will gift you whatever you desire. This I swear upon the name Gazef Strolonoff."

Gazef freed his hand with the intent to kneel, but Ainz’s hands stops him:

"... There’s no need to go this far... I understand, I wil protect the vil agers. This I swear upon the name Ainz Ooal Gown."

Gazef became slightly more relieved after hearing Ainz swearing by his name:

"Thank you, Master Gown. Now I can charge forward without worries."

"... Until then, please take this."

Ainz took out an object and gave it to the happy looking Gazef. It was a strange little sculpture

and there didn't seem to be anything special about it. But——

"As long as it is your gift, I will gladly accept it. Well then Master Gown, although it saddens me, I will be going."

"...Shouldn’t we wait until nightfall before moving out?"

"The other side has a sort of "night vision" magic. Attacking in the night would be

disadvantageous for us, but not necessarily for them. Besides... Master Gown needs to be able

to observe the flow of battle."

"I understand, to have such a profound sense of planning, you are worthy of your title as the

Kingdom’s Knight-Captain. I wish you success, Sir Knight-Captain."

"And I wish Master Gown a safe journey home."

Ainz silently watched Gazef’s back gradual y disappear. Albedo felt something change in her

Master but didn’t inquire further.

"...Well ... Upon meeting the humans here, I could only muster enough empathy to treat them as

insects... but after conversing with them, I’m starting to see them as small animals."

"Is that why you vowed to protect them, using your name as guarantee?"

"Maybe... No, it’s probably because he had the resolve to face his own death..."

The Knight-Captain had a different kind of resolve than Ainz had.

Ainz’s mind yearned for such a resolve.

"...Albedo, command the servants around here to knock out anyone who is hiding in ambush."

"Right away… Ainz-sama the vil age chief’s party arrives presently."

Ainz turned towards Albedo and saw the village chief and two other villagers running in his

direction..

They were gasping for breath, panicking, and their anxiety was obvious. The village chief

immediately opened his mouth to speak, as if even breathing was a waste of time.

"Ainz-sama, what are we supposed to do? Why is Sir Knight-Captain leaving the village, leaving

us unprotected?"

The village chief's voice had a lot of fear in it, but there was a hint of anger as well.

"... He is doing the right thing, village chief-sama ... the enemy’s target is Sir Knight-Captain. If he stays here, the vil age will turn into a battlefield. Furthermore it doesn’t look like the other

party is willing to let you escape. He has your best interests in mind."

"So that’s why the Knight-Captain left... then, then should we continue to stay here?"

"That would be a bad idea. After Sir Knight-Captain, they will probably target the village next. As long as we remain inside their net, we won’t have any place to run to. However... our opponents

will likely have to use all their forces to subdue Sir Knight-Captain, presenting us with a great

opportunity to flee. That’s when we should escape."

That was the reason the Knight-Captain made a big fuss about his escape. He wanted to bait

the enemy into using all their forces to attack him.

After understanding the intentions behind Gazef’s actions, which had a very low chance of

surviving, the village chief lowered his face which had turned red. For the sake of creating an

opportunity for the villagers to escape, he was willing to charge onto the battlefield and sacrifice his own life.

Not understanding this, even misunderstanding everything and throwing tantrums. The village

chief was probably ashamed of himself.

"I was just assuming... misunderstanding their good intentions ...... Ainz-sama, what should we do?"

Even the villagers behind the chief were showing their remorse:

"Although we live near the forest, we’re don’t actually have protections against demon attacks.

We were just lucky, but misunderstood and thought it was safe. We didn’t even think of a

method of self-defense; as a result not only did we lose our dear neighbours, but we also

become a burden to outsiders...."

"There is nothing you can do. The other side consists of soldiers trained for combat. If you tried to resist before my arrival here, maybe you would already have been put to the sword."

Ainz tried to solace them, but he felt that his words were spoken in vain. Regardless of who did

the consoling, it wouldn’t change the fact that the vil age found itself in an irredeemable disaster.

One could only pray that time will heal all.

"Vil age chief, we don’t have time. In order to honor the intentions of Sir Knight-Captain, we

must act quickly."

"Th-, then… Ainz-sama, what should we do?"

"... I will keep an eye on the situation, and when I see an opportunity to escape, I will protect everyone while they do so."