The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

Orthrous — they were a version of Centaurs whose lower bodies were replaced by those of carnivorous beasts. They had better fighting power than Centaurs, but conversely they were less mobile.

Magilos — born with the ability to use spells of up to the fourth tier. The spells they could use apparently appeared on their bodies like tattoos. Their more powerful members were covered in tattoos. Sometimes there were individuals who could develop skills as magic casters, and those were rumored to be able to cast spells of up to the fifth tier. They might be Lord level entities.

Pteropos — a species which lived on cliffsides, they were very adept at long distance gliding. While they could fly, it seemed to require a lot of strength, so they could only fly for a while every day, and after that they could not even glide. If they did not fly, they could rend armor with the wind, so defending against it was very difficult. They were a species which was stronger when they could not fly.

And then, there were the Bafolk.

The remaining six races were not particularly numerous, but each of them was quite powerful.

Ogres.

Buri Uns — an Ogre-like race with the power to control the earth, who could be considered a superior species. They possessed special abilities associated with the earth.

Vah Uns — Similar to Buri Uns, they were water-controlling beings. They had water-linked special abilities.

Nagarajas — they looked like snakes with scaly bodies and arms. They were a completely different species from the similarly-named Nagas, and they did not get along well with the latter. They were born with the ability to cast many spells, and sometimes they would even equip themselves with swords and armor.

Spriggans — a species that could freely change their size from small to large. They were fundamentally a good species and evil Spriggans were very rare. That said, both good and bad Spriggans were unmanageable when they went berserk.

Zoastia — carnivores with the upper bodies of beastmen. They were relatives of Centaurs and Orthrous. They wore plate armor and carried round shields. They had no special abilities, but they were heavy cavalry with the savagery and strength of wild beasts. Just one of them was very powerful, and the Orthrous often relied on them. It was apparently a relationship like the one between Goblins and Hobgoblins. However, due to their lack of special abilities, they were not very strong foes against adventurers who could cast the 「Fly」 spell. Still, in a head to head clash, even orichalcum ranked adventurers would have a hard time.

♦ ♦ ♦

“According to the Sorcerer King, your base might be under surveillance, right? Then if they know how many troops we have, they might not send too many troops over. That works to our advantage. However, there’s a problem.”

“Food.”

“Yes. While the priests can make food, they can only make very little even after exhausting their mana. They also can’t feed like demihumans.”

Remedios and Gustavo had looks of distaste on their faces. All three of them knew that demihumans preyed on humans.

Therefore, even if they tried to starve the invading demihumans, they all knew they would lose in the end. That was because the demihumans’ prison camps could be considered larders for them.

“Go check how long our food can hold—”

“We’re checking already. We’re also looking for any blacksmiths who might be able to modify the demihuman gear for use by humans.”

“I expected nothing less of you, Captain.”

The three of them continued discussing their preparations for the siege. After another hour, they reached a conclusion which all of them could accept, and the three of them smiled.

“All right, then let’s prepare for the siege.”

♦ ♦ ♦

One week later, as their food supplies dwindled and it was about time for them to move, the demihuman army appeared from over the horizon.

However, it was a massive army whose scale far exceeded their expectations.

Part 5

Ainz looked out over the city, which was in a panic over the appearance of the demihuman army, and he slowly collapsed.

This was not a figure of speech.

Ainz’s heart and soul were stretched to their limits by fatigue, and despite his undead nature, he fell to his knees from mental exhaustion and grabbed his face.

What should I do… what should I do after this...

Fundamentally, Ainz had been following Demiurge’s script.

Of course, not every word and action was planned, so he had improvised a fair bit, but even so, Ainz was counting on following the developments of Demiurge’s plan.

Or rather, the problem was that he had improvised too much.

Frankly speaking, the operational directives he had gotten from Demiurge basically said: “Please adapt to the situation,” and other things like that.

This was too much. That was what Ainz had thought when he first looked at the instructions.