(Attendance… plz…)
….
Momon had two ways to handle this already messed-up situation where Nabe had mistakenly blurted out Albedo's name.
The first was to shut Nfirea down right now. He could speak in a strict, professional tone, stating that he didn't appreciate personal questions and enforce a hard boundary.
While that would solve the immediate problem, it wouldn't be very helpful for Momon's overall goals. If he did that, he would place himself in an awkward situation with Nfirea, who was supposedly E-Rantel's best potion maker along with his grandmother. If Momon created a stiff, professional wall, he wouldn't be able to easily ask questions about potions later. Potion making was Nfirea's livelihood, so asking about how they were made could easily be taken as prying into personal or guild secrets. Not to mention, Momon had already made some progress building a friendly rapport earlier.
So that was a no-go if he intended to gather information. Furthermore, telling people not to ask personal questions would essentially zip up any chances of gaining answers from Reinhard and his master Felt about their own origins.
So, Momon decided on the simpler, second way: just answer the question and apologize for Nabe's sudden, unneeded outburst.
Momon coughed lightly to clear his throat. "I apologize for her outburst... she didn't mean anything by that. She is just a little... or more like, a very shy type of person when it comes to relationships, and that's all. And to correct the assumption... me and her aren't lovers or in any relationship of that type. We are just adventurer companions."
Nfirea looked at him. Given the intense way Nabe had reacted, it really felt like he had just stepped on a nerve he shouldn't have. He had been terrified that he would have to start over from scratch with everything he had built with them, or maybe not even have the chance to hire them again.
But it seemed Momon wasn't offended at all. From Nfirea's perspective, Nabe was just a fiercely shy girl and nothing else.
Nfirea gulped down his anxiety. Thinking that he had dodged a bullet and avoided straining their relationship, he let out a breath.
"Ahh, it's nothing. It should be me who should apologize," Nfirea said hastily. "I shouldn't have made a baseless assumption to begin with. It's just that you two were so close and looked together, you know, like a family, so I just assumed that. So once again, I apologize."
Momon nodded slightly to himself. It seemed he too had dodged a bullet there, avoiding the suspicion of being overly secretive.
"It's nothing to apologize for," Momon said calmly. "Just as I mentioned, she is just shy and that's all. And there is nothing to apologize for making a careful observation. While we are not in a lover relationship, as companions I do consider her very much like my family, so you aren't entirely wrong on that part."
Nfirea looked at him, nodded, and smiled in relief. "I see. Thank you." He then looked around at the darkening sky. "Well, it is getting dark. We should eat and then sleep if we wanna get up early in the morning to move, haha."
Then the question came as to who would be watching over the camp while the others slept. It was a common thing among adventurers for someone to be on the lookout for monsters or bandits trying to stage an ambush.
"I can be on the lookout," Reinhard volunteered immediately. "I am not really sleepy to begin with."
Of course, the rotation was only ever going to be between Momon, Nabe, and Reinhard. For Felt, Reinhard wouldn't let her stay up and would insist on doing it for her, so it was easy to just let her be excluded from the watch.
After a brief discussion, it was decided that Reinhard would be the one to take the lookout.
Reinhard, Felt, and Nfirea nodded as they ate their stew. Momon's bowl was still full, so he decided to head to his tent earlier than the rest, stating he would eat his portion a little later. Reinhard scooped another bowl for Nabe. She took it, glancing quickly at Momon, who gave a tiny nod so nobody would notice. Then she followed Momon toward their tent.
After finishing the food and clearing out everything, everyone went to their camps, while Reinhard simply sat on a log near the dying fire, his eyes calmly scanning the dark trees.
….
The next day.
The group set out early at daybreak, traveling on the same dirt path that led to Carne Village, their final destination.
Noticeably, only Nfirea actually knew where the path to that village was among them. Reinhard and Felt didn't know the geography of this world, and Momon decided to place himself in the excluded category, claiming he didn't know the way either. If he had to put it in terms, Momon's official stance was that he hadn't been there before.
After a few hours of traveling on the path, it was now around nine or ten o'clock in the morning.
Nfirea, sitting on his wooden wagon, looked ahead before turning around to the others walking alongside. "We'll be at Carne Village soon."
The others nodded as they continued their journey. Nfirea seemed somewhat over-enthusiastic and excited as they approached their destination.
Momon and Nabe walked just in front of Reinhard and Felt. During the morning march, Momon had casually engaged Nfirea, asking many potion-related questions, though making sure not to ask too many to avoid seeming suspicious.
Nfirea, being happy and somewhat proud to be the provider of those answers to a strong warrior like Momon, didn't hold back his knowledge.
One would expect a somewhat awkward line between them because of the previous night's incident, but Momon's smooth handling and well-versed answers had completely defused the matter.
Internally, Momon certainly wasn't that happy. Albedo's name had come out and was now known to Reinhard, Felt, and Nfirea. But he just thought of it as an equal-type exchange in his mind.
For instance, the night before, he had seriously thought of killing everyone in the camp. Information was his absolute priority; it didn't matter if they were innocent if letting them live could very well put Nazarick at risk. But he decided not to. He even thought of using memory manipulation magic... but he declined that idea too.
The reason being solely Reinhard and Felt. He couldn't even analyze Reinhard's sword with his highest-tier spells, and he didn't know their origin. Doing something hostile could very well expose him and Nazarick to an unknown threat.
Momon was somewhat surprised at himself, thinking of how coldly and without any second thought he had considered killing everyone just because Albedo's name came out, and how he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
So, taking the non-violent route and getting potion information, plus getting acquainted with the supposed Talent Holder of E-Rantel, was very helpful for Nazarick in the long term. It appeased his paranoid mind.
Momon casually asked Nfirea more questions about potions, and Nfirea happily provided the answers. Though Momon kept a certain meaningful gap in those questions so it didn't seem suspicious that he and Nabe were completely ignorant of basic local alchemy.
After an hour or so more on their path, they finally made it to the outskirts of Carne Village.
They could clearly see the village with their own eyes in the distance.
Nfirea cheerfully pulled on the reins. "All right, we are almost at Carne Villag…"
Before completing the sentence, he clammed up immediately.
The others looked at the village before their eyes. It was a rustic hamlet at the edge of the forest. There was nothing strange or unusual about it, so Nfirea suddenly stopping while speaking felt off.
"What's wrong?" Felt spoke up, resting a hand on her hip. "Is something wrong with the village? Because I don't see anything."
Nfirea turned his head to Felt. "Ah, well, it's fine. It's just that I don't recall seeing a sturdy fence around the village like this one before..."
Felt looked somewhat surprised. "Really? That's what you are worried about? I'm surprised it didn't have a fence before when you came here, with the village being so close to a forest where there could be monsters."
Nfirea shook his head. "The last time I came here was like a month and a few days ago, I think. At that time, it didn't have a sturdy fence like this one around the village. And as for monsters, didn't I mention that there is a Wise King in the forest which keeps the monsters away? So they never put up a fence before. But there suddenly being one in just a month is somewhat worrying for me."
"But hasn't there been a case of monsters at all attacking the village?" Felt asked. "While I understand most being afraid of this Wise King, there are always exceptions, like some dumb monsters that just wander in."
Nfirea yet again shook his head. "No. Otherwise, Carne Village would have put up a fence like this way before, not now. And knowing there hasn't been a monster attack before, surely there weren't any foolish enough to do that. Or the ones who did, the Wise King dealt with them so others wouldn't."
Momon stepped forward. "Then that's strange... did something happen recently for them to build it now, if not because of monsters...?"
Before anyone could say anything else, Momon continued. "...Gentlemen, let us handle this." He then turned to Nabe and instructed her. "Nabe, go invisible and scout the village ahead with flying magic."
After acknowledging Ainz's instructions, Narberal turned herself invisible with magic and vanished. Shortly after, they heard the faint sound of flight magic being incanted, and Narberal took to the sky, leaving no tracks behind on the dirt road.
Felt was somewhat surprised but didn't let it show on her face. To become entirely invisible and use flying magic so casually... there were just so many things Felt was learning to be surprised at while staying with Reinhard. She realized that the Nabe girl was quite a big mage, even though Momon had already mentioned it.
Momon observed the others from behind the dark slits of his helmet, gathering visual information on their reactions.
When Nabe used her invisible magic and flying magic to go ahead, Reinhard didn't move his face. However, Momon saw very clearly that Reinhard's eyes kept tracking Nabe's exact position in the sky for a long while, even after she was completely invisible.
Momon's nonexistent heart lurched.
Nabe hadn't used the common invisibility magic, a basic second-tier spell that merely bends light. She had used a fifth or sixth-tier magic, way below [Perfect Unknowable], but high enough to erase her presence completely, silencing her movements and even masking her scent.
This popped a question into Momon's mind: If Reinhard could see past a fifth-to-sixth tier invisibility spell without chanting, without doing anything, and without the help of an artifact... could he see past [Perfect Unknowable] too?
While it would be good intel against a potential enemy, the fact that he could casually see through high-tier stealth magic without any problem was a massive threat. But Momon had already accounted for absurd possibilities back when his [All Appraisal] magic failed on Reinhard's sword and yielded nothing.
He also noted that Felt was genuinely surprised by the magic. To Momon, this meant that invisibility magic wasn't common or easily accessible in the country they came from. But then, how did Reinhard do it? Of course, it was just one of many conflicting thoughts he wrestled with.
Everyone waited on the dirt road where Nabe had left from.
After a short while, Nabe reappeared exactly where she had stood before, dropping the invisibility spell.
"...I went straight to the village immediately to check," Nabe reported smoothly. "There was nothing out of sorts. Everyone was moving normally, and I didn't sense that the villagers were being controlled or ordered around by any outside force. Also, a few other villagers were casually working in the fields on the other side of the village."
Nfirea let out a massive sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping.
"...Huh, is that so. It seems I was just being paranoid."
….
A/N: I know i know it is late and all… and i know i said i will complete this whole wise king arc in this… but it seems i wasn't able to.
Though dont worry next chapter will be out in 2-3 days not a whole month.
I was somewhat immersed in gaming for quite some time
Q: Swearing for author here:-
:-
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