Gazef brought his subordinates to Kain Village.
From the current state of the village, one could see what a tragic event had just occurred here; the bodies of some villagers hadn't even been buried yet. The villagers were very wary of their arrival. Gazef understood their feelings, stood at the village entrance, and said loudly: "I am Gazef Stronoff. By His Majesty's order, I have come to subjugate the rampaging Imperial Knights. Can someone explain to me what happened in this village?"
Hearing his name, the villagers looked at Gazef in surprise, not expecting it to be the rumored Warrior Chief. Although the Kingdom's royal tournament years ago had been disrupted by the Imperial Sword Saint, the Kingdom's subsequent propaganda basically focused on two things: the Sword Saint's power and the fact that Gazef's talent had been recognized by the Sword Saint.
By exaggerating the Sword Saint's strength, they made the Sword Saint's victory in the championship seem like a matter of course. Then they praised Gazef for defeating genius swordsmen to take second place, and for being able to exchange blows with the Sword Saint and receive his recognition. Coupled with the illustrious military achievements Gazef had made on the battlefield against the Empire over the years, he was also crowned with the title of the strongest Warrior Chief. Some even said that if the Sword Saint of back then and Gazef were to fight again now, the winner would definitely be this Warrior Chief.
Clearly, the King held great expectations for Gazef. However, unfortunately, the more the King favored Gazef, the more the nobles found Gazef an eyesore.
This was the current state of the Kingdom.
Not only was there the Empire eyeing them from the outside...
Inside, the Royal Faction and the Noble Faction were still fighting.
However, the villagers of Kain Village were unaware of these matters. Their knowledge and learning were not enough to let them understand such things. For them, whether the Kingdom held out or the Empire won, it was just a change in the person they needed to worship.
They only knew that the Kingdom's Warrior Chief was a very powerful figure. At this moment, some people could not help but compare Gazef with Ainz Ooal Gown and Tsukasa. Since Tsukasa, as the Empire's Sword Saint, was as powerful as Ainz Ooal Gown, then the Warrior Chief, who was as famous as the Sword Saint, should not be much weaker. Moreover, the Warrior Chief appeared much older than the Sword Saint; perhaps this Warrior Chief might even be a bit stronger than the Sword Saint.
"Let me explain it to you."
At that moment, a voice familiar to Gazef came from behind the villagers. After a momentary lapse, he looked with utmost seriousness at that one young girl walking out from Kain Village. — Sword Saint Astrea! Although he knew Astrea was following their unit, he had not expected her to arrive at Kain Village before them. And looking at the current situation, could it be that the Sword Saint saved...
...the villagers of Kain Village?
But according to the information they received, it was clearly knights who attacked Kain Village, and their purpose was likely to deal with him. Could the Sword Saint's character be so noble that she would go against the Blood Emperor's orders to sabotage that one plan and save the innocent Kain Village?
However, the Sword Saint's next words made him feel cold all over, because for the first time, she drew her sword against him, saying as she did: "According to my investigation, the Imperial knights who attacked this place earlier were likely Kingdom soldiers in disguise. It seems your situation in the Kingdom is not very good. But this has nothing to do with me; the Kingdom should give our Empire an explanation. How do you think I should deal with you, the Warrior Chief of the Kingdom, and these Kingdom soldiers behind you? And if I remember correctly, it is because of you, the Warrior Chief, that the Empire has been unable to defeat the Kingdom for a long time. Although the Astrea family never participates in internal human conflicts, as the Empire's Sword Saint, I cannot just ignore this situation."
She had arrived at just the right time. Although she did not know if that group of Imperial soldiers was really Kingdom soldiers in disguise, in short, she would just splash the dirty water on the other side. Since she was acting as the Empire's Sword Saint now, she had to play the role well.
Ainz Ooal Gown must be secretly observing them from behind right now. Though it seemed there would be no problem even if she did not play that one role.
But to be safe, it was better to maintain the Sword Saint persona here. Even if it might be useless, at least it offered a bit of protection.
The Sword Saint's aura as she drew her sword was terrifying. Gazef's eyes widened, and the subordinates behind him all looked completely awestruck. The sword in the Sword Saint's hand turned into light; that was the effect of the martial art [Focused Battle Qi]. Its power was worlds apart from the martial arts Gazef mastered. The Sword Saint merely concentrated her battle qi on the blade, and the surrounding space distorted under the power of the martial art. Without needing confirmation, just from what he saw now, Gazef knew this strike from the Sword Saint possessed earth-shattering power that he absolutely could not block.
Albedo followed behind, and seeing this strike from the Sword Saint, her expression was also full of wariness. If the Sword Saint had used this skill enhancement and used Spatial Slash on her before, it probably would not have ended with just a light injury. Momonga-sama was right; though she was loath to admit it, this human Sword Saint possessed strength equal to the Supreme Being! She just did not know how deep the strength of that one Warrior Chief who was as famous as the Sword Saint was. Although that one human's current performance was very pathetic and did not look like he had strength comparable to the Sword Saint.
She reported these matters to Momonga-sama.
That is, Ainz Ooal Gown.
Ainz only told her to continue observing.
Although he trusted Albedo's judgment, there were effect items that could hide one's level. Perhaps that Warrior Chief possessed such an item. Even if this world was not the world of "Yggdrasill," since their "Yggdrasill" skills could be used here, and the Sword Saint also possessed skills from the "Yggdrasill" world, it was certain that this world was related to "Yggdrasill." It was just that such high-level information could not be found in that one starter village like Kain Village.
"Please wait a moment, Sword Saint. I believe your judgment. But we should not arbitrarily conclude that this matter was a self-directed play by our Kingdom. This is also the border of the Slane Theocracy; perhaps those Imperial knights were the Slane Theocracy in disguise, wanting to cause conflict between our two nations," Gazef advised tensely. Facing the Sword Saint's threat, no one could remain calm, and he was no exception.
Moreover, his life was still useful. If he died like this without achieving anything, he truly could not accept it.
And he had some confidence in his explanation. Although the Kingdom's nobles were blindly foolish, they should not have gone this far. And the Slane Theocracy's attitude toward the Kingdom was also very hostile, so this matter might really be the work of the Slane Theocracy.
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