Overlord - Prologue

“…Is that really alright? If a lot of people know about it, then you’ll lose your advantage, Momonga-san. There’s no need to share knowledge with everyone. Only a select few need to know. Knowledge is valuable because it’s rare. When you spread it, it becomes useless.”

“Come to think of it, that’s true.”

“That’s right! Momonga-san is my friend, as well as my Guildmaster. That’s why I’m teaching you.”

“Apart from that, is hiding your dark history because it is too embarrassing the other reason?”

「除此之外是不是還有太羞恥了想把黑歷史隱藏起來這個理由啊？」

“I think it’s usually that way. It’s like how you get into a song and record it for an album or something, and then when you listen to it several years later you want to kill yourself.”

That was a cry of despair. However, Punitto Moe’s face remained unchanged.

This was an inconvenience of Yggdrasil.

It would be more interesting if his expression could change with his words.

As he thought about that, he also realised that it was impossible.

It would not be that difficult for humanoid players, but writing macros to move the faces of demihumans and heteromorphic beings was extremely difficult. In addition, there was Ainz’s bony face to consider. The creaking of bones as they moved would probably be quite gross.

“Ah, my apologies. I opened the door to my cruel past, which should never have been touched. If any doors should have been opened, I’d pick one leading to a warmer season — right, Momonga, what did you want to discuss with me. Does it have anything to do with the NPC mercenaries?”

“Mm. How many can I trust you to command?”

“Yes, I should be able to handle three with no problems.”

“Thank you very much. I might not need to give you that many, depending on the number of door sentries. Then, I’ll be counting on you.”

Momonga left Punitto Moe, and after making the same request of Touch Me, he returned to the center of the room and shouted, “Sorry for repeating myself! Everyone, please listen to me!”

Just like before, Momonga felt the attention of everyone focused on him.

Yet, although expressions did not change in this game, he could pick up their mood, which surprised him. According to Touch Me, when in battle, one could instantly sense an opponent’s intentions, thus evading his attacks. Something similar seemed to be happening here. However, Momonga was not that sensitive. Perhaps only a warrior class could do that.

“I intend to assign the parties. As usual, they’ll be grouped into physical attackers, magical attackers, defenders, healers, and others. I also need to assign the scouts—”

Momonga paused briefly.

“Let’s assign door sentries as well. Does anyone object?”

This was something that he, the Guildmaster, had decided based on the suggestion of a guild member. Mentioning his name did not seem right.

Everyone shook their heads. Although Momonga made eye contact with Punitto Moe for an instant, the latter merely shrugged and smiled bitterly.

“If that’s the case… well, we can carry on as normal.”

“—No objections.”

“—That’s fine.”

Several people approved, and nobody seemed to object.

“Then, we’ll decide the door sentries next… How many will we need?”

“I’ll be happy to stay behind.”

The first person to raise his hand was the alchemist Amanomahitotsu. After that, two more people raised their hands. They were members of crafting classes as well.

The clan had never really focused on dungeon clearing and PKing. There were many people who played the game with the spirit of adventure within them. They were filled with the desire to set foot on unknown lands and discover unknown things. Naturally, even members of crafting classes did not spend all day in their workshops, and took levels in basic combat classes so they could handle any problems, to a certain extent. That said, since their builds contained crafting classes, they felt that they were a burden during dungeon assaults.

Momonga knew fully well why they would rise when faced with this proposal. It was because he knew that he felt bad about it. Still, Momonga lowered his head to the three of them.

“I’m sorry, but can we leave this to you?”

“Don’t be like that, Momonga-san. Please raise your head. We’re the ones chatting idly while everyone else is fighting.”

“I want to try making a new weapon too. I just discovered a rare metal processing technique, so I want to try it out.”

“We’re just bringing our tasks to the dungeon entrance. Don’t worry about it.”

After Amanomahitotsu spoke, the other two rapidly followed suit.

Still, Momonga nodded to them again.

“Then, Nishiki-san, I’d like you to share your map with the rest of us. You don’t mind, right?”

“Naturally. Ah, then, I just finished collecting information on the monsters that appear in the swamp. Nobody’ll mind if I share it, right?”

There was no reason to object.

Nishiki Enrai produced a number of scrolls — one for everyone — out of thin air and began working on it.

A flash of light leapt from the scrolls.

Everyone present reached out a hand to take a scroll. Momonga did the same.