The Bloody Valkyrie

The inside of Shalltear’s head instantly turned white. The previous blood thirst that thrashed violently within her body was nowhere to be found.

She blankly stared at the source of the pain; the hand that blocked the bottle. From where the liquid had touched her, a strong smell leaked out, along with a faint smoke.

Shalltear shifted her gaze down to the ground. The bottle was laid on the ground with its cap open, releasing an aromatic fragrance. It was a smell that she knew well.

It was a potion bottle commonly used in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The actual liquid itself was most likely a Minor Healing Potion. Undead are damaged by restoration items. It was the reason why Shalltear’s skin was slightly melted.

“Impossible!!”

An angry voice that seemed to shake the very air.

“Bring that woman to me alive!”

In response to her command, the vampire brides that had been standing aside until now moved. While Shalltear was lost in her thoughts, the woman had used the opportunity to turn and flee. The two vampire brides quickly closed the distance and grabbed her arms from both sides.

Although the woman struggled violently, the difference in strength between a human and a vampire was too different. Too easily, she was dragged in front of Shalltear.

“Look into my eyes!”

Shalltear grabbed the woman’s chin and forcibly brought her eyes to bear on her own. Needless to say, she kept her strength in check, otherwise she would’ve accidently ripped her chin off and ended up in an embarrassing situation. Although Shalltear knew how to use faith magic, as an undead, she couldn’t use the normal healing spells.

Forced to look, the woman’s eyes soon clouded over, and the terrified look on her face was replaced with a friendly expression. It was the charming effect of the 「Demon Eyes of Attraction」. Sensing that she was well under her spell, Shalltear released the female warrior from her grip.

She had several questions to ask her.

But there was only one that needed to be asked before anything else.

Shalltear picked up the potion bottle that fell to the ground and held it in front of the female warrior.

“Where did you get this potion? From who, where!”

“At a tavern, a man in black armor gave it to me.”

Hearing the words that were spoken as if they weren’t that important, Shalltear’s whole body froze solid.

“….Wait…. No, that’s impossible... but… which… which city was it?”

“It was a tavern in Re-Lantier.”

Shalltear was shocked, as if the world was shaking. The man in black armor; it was because she had a feeling that she knew who the female warrior was talking about.

If that was the case, the bigger problem was, for what reason was this woman in possession of the potion. It was difficult to imagine that he would give it to her without reason.

“No way…”

Did he also give this woman some unknown instructions? Or perhaps he gave her the potion to form a connection, or maybe to strengthen their friendship.

The dignified appearance of Ainz Ooal Gown, the absolute ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, appeared in her mind. The possibility that she had ruined some kind of plan that he had devised burned at her heart.

“Why did you come here?! What’s your objective!”

She no longer had the luxury of feigning delicacy with her words. Now that learning as much information as possible became the first priority, Shalltear glared at the woman with bloodshot eyes, with an entirely different feeling from before.

TL Note: Shalltear usually speaks like a geisha that doesn’t come off in English. She drops it here.

“Yes. Our main task was to patrol the roads. But when we heard information that a bandit hideout was somewhere nearby, we came to investigate. It looked as if something happened, so we split into two teams and came here on a reconnaissance mission.”

“You split your team in two?”

“Yes. Since we didn’t know how many bandits there were, our job was to gather their attention and lure them to a trap that was being prepared by the others.”

“So there’s another team.”

Thinking that another annoyance had popped up, Shalltear clicked her tongue.

“So, how many of you are there in total?”

“With me included, those that came here number seven, and—.“

“What? Wait, seven? Not six?”

Shalltear’s gaze moved towards the corpses on the ground. Three warriors, one bishop, one magic caster— and this woman; the numbers didn’t add up.

Against the eyes filled to the brim with questions, the female warrior responded nonchalantly.

“Yes. In case of an emergency, we had a ranger who would travel to Re-Lantier for reinforcements.”

“What…?”

The magic caster’s voice from before was oddly loud. That’s right, loud enough so — the whole basin could hear.

“Kuh!”