บท 12: "HALT EVIL DOERS!!!"
A few hours later…
It's been hours and Sebas has not yet arrived. Momon told me to go look for him while he prepared a 'welcome party' for the butler. I do not envy him at all, even Solution pities him somewhat after hearing that.
I walked through the streets of the Royal Palace when I felt it. Sebas's Killing Intent. It was extremely faint, like it was being directed. But I can still feel that it's actually a full force killing intent, not [Despair Aura] potent, but possibly lethal to most people.
After following the bloodlust, I found myself into an alley. I cast the [Boost Magic - Perfect Unknowable] on myself and leisurely walked towards the source. Not even Sebas would be able to notice my presence, only someone who specialize on tracking like Aura can even tell that I'm here.
Finally, I found him. Sebas is standing in the middle of an alleyway. There's Climb standing in front of him, he's sweating bullets like he just ran a marathon. Behind him is a blue haired man, desperately clawing his way towards them. There's also five people hidden, probably assassins. I'm gonna have to ask him what's that all about.
"—Wait! Please wait!" the man said like a beggar begging for water.
Climb turned towards him, shuddering in shock at the sight before him.
Sebas on the other hand, couldn't wait any longer. "First, please let me apologize to the two of you. I simply could not wait any longer."
"...Do you know him, Sebas-sama?"
"No, I do not. I see, so he was not a friend of yours either."
The two of them turned suspicious looks on him, but Brain had already expected as much.
"Please allow this one to state his name. This one's name is Brain Unglaus. Please permit this one to apologize once more to the two of you. I really am very sorry for this."
"So this is Brain Unglaus… [Discern Enemy]," I said, knowing that neither of them can hear it. "Level Forty Three, not bad. Not bad at all." I said while walking closer towards them.
"Then, what brings you here?" Sebas asked.
Brain looked at Climb in awe and disbelief. "How did you do it?"
As he saw the clueless look on the kid's face, Brain asked once more, like he was coughing up blood.
"How… how could you remain standing before that murderous intent?!"
Wait, that Cherry Boy withstands Sebas's killing intent!? Seriously!? And he called himself talentless?! This kid needs to grow up some arrogant spine for himself. Holy hell!
"I just wanted to know. That surge of bloodlust was more than most people could bear. Even I… pardon, even this one could not endure it. Yet you were different. You endured it. You stood against it. How did you do it? How did you accomplish such a feat?!"
Yeah! How the hell did he do that!? Magic? Pure Shonen willpower?
"...I don't know. I don't understand it myself. I have no idea how I could take that storm of bloodlust. Still, maybe… maybe it was because I was thinking of my liege."
"...Your liege?"
"Yes. As long as I think of the great person whom I serve… I have the strength to carry on."
I blinked owlishly after hearing that. "It's freaking Power of Love…" I face palmed a little. "Oh my god, can't you get any cheesier than this?" I groaned, thankfully the ninth tier spell [Perfect Unknowable] made it impossible for my enemy to hear me.
Sebas nodded a little. "In other words, his loyalty was sufficient to overcome his fear, Unglaus-san. People can exert great strength for something they cherish. For instance, a mother can hold up a pillar in a collapsing house to save her children, or a husband could hold up his wife with one hand before she falls. I feel that is the power of mankind. In other words, this young man has tapped on that power. It is also not limited to him. As long as you have something which you will not forsake, you will certainly be able to draw on strength you could never have imagined."
As expected of Touch Me's creation. '[Message]'.
"Yo, Ainz sama!"
"What is it? You found him?"
"Yeah, stuff happened and uhh… This might take all day. Don't worry, Sebas isn't betraying Nazarick. He's just being a goody two shoes."
"Umu, keep an eye on him."
"Got it!"
With that, I looked at their interaction some more. Should I reveal myself? It looks like they're going to do some cool stuff together and the Great Adventurer Lily can definitely get herself some popularity boost with Climb's liege, Princess Renner.
Maybe I'll watch how this next battle plays out for a bit.
Three men slowly revealed themselves. They wore chain shirts and carried sharp daggers in hands protected by heavy leather gloves.
They were not radiating hostility, but full-on murderous intent. Said intent seemed to be directed at Sebas. '[Discern Enemy]', yeah they won't be alive for too long.
"No way! They're still coming even after feeling that bloodlust? Just how strong are these people?!"
"I trust you're aware that I only directed my will at the two of you, right?"
"...Eh?" Brain said stupidly.
"The murderous intent directed at Climb-kun was to train him. In your case, it was because I did not know who you were, and wanted to draw you out. Either that, or sap your will to fight, hostility and so on. But I viewed them as enemies from the start, so I did not direct my killing intent at them. It would be bad to frighten them off."
"I, I see. Then, do you know who they are, Sebas-sama?"
"I can guess. Still, I cannot be sure. Thus, I wish to capture one or two of them for questioning. However—"
Sebas dipped his head in apology.
"It would seem I accidentally involved the two of you in this. May I trouble the two of you to leave this place?"
"Before that, I wish to ask you a question. Are they… criminals?"
"...They feel that way to me. They're obviously the evil-doing sort."
Climb stepped forward and unsheathed his blade. "Perhaps this might be getting in your way, but I wish to fight as well. As a man who protects the public order of the Royal Capital, it falls to me to defend its people as well."
Brain stepped forward and did the same. "Personally, I don't really think you need the help, but… Sebas-sama. Please allow me… er, no, please allow this one to lend you a hand."
I grinned a little and decided to reveal myself. But to avoid suspicion, I ran back to the main street, get rid of my spell. Then I ran back to the dark alley to help Sebas with his little trouble.
Well, not help Sebas, I mean, he's more than enough.
[LINE BREAK]
It's been one hell of a day for Princess Renner's bodyguard. He started off his day training with the Strongest Man in the kingdom, Gazef Stronoff. Then he went to meet Evileye and Gagaran, an adamantite class adventurer. Not only that, he also get to meet Momon the Dark Hero and his genius little sister Lily. Then he met Sebas, an old man whose power surpassed humanity itself. Finally, he had Brain Unglaus praising his power to conquer death.
And this day is just getting started…
Climb looked at the three assassins standing in front of him.
"Poison, is it… Using a double-edged sword like that indicates they ought to have some experience under their belts… are they assassins?" Brain said warily.
"Climb-kun, you'd best be careful. Unless you have a magic item that resists poison, don't let them nick you so much as once," Sebas said.
Then, the unexpected happen. "HALT EVIL DOERS!!!" a childish voice proclaimed from above the sky. Everyone looked up and saw a certain white haired mithril adventurer standing on an invisible platform. "I, The Great and Powerful Adventurer Lily, shall defeat you in the name of JUSTICE!!!" she exclaimed.
Climb watched mutely as the little girl jumped off the platform and raised her staff. "[Widen Boost Magic - Clean]!!!" she exclaimed and Climb felt all the muck and dirt on his clothing disappear. He looked back at the assassins and found them looking at their squeaky clean weapons.
"I see…" Climb muttered, he understand now what makes Lily so dangerous. Not even he would've thought to use [Clean] spell to disarm an opponent's poisonous blade. "Thank you, Lily," he said.
Lily grinned at him. "Hehe, I'm pretty great aren't I?" then she noticed Brain staring at her. "Hi! I'm Lily, nice to meet you," she held out her hand and Brain shook it automatically. "Then we shall deal with these three evil doers!"
Then, Lily and Sebas's eyes met. Climb didn't know what happened in that two seconds. But he swore he saw one thing that he never thought he'll see in someone as strong as Sebas.
It was fear. This little girl did something to make Sebas fear her.
It was gone in an instant and Climb thought he was just imagining things. "Climb kun, Brain kun, help Lily sama take care of the assassin at the front," Sebas said before turning around. "I'll deal with the two in the back."
Sama?
Suddenly one of the assassin threw three knives at them. Both Climb and Brain dodged until they realized to whom they were actually aiming. "SEBAS!" Climb shouted.
When it was only inches away from the old man, the knives clattered away as if hitting invisible wall. Climb looked to his right and saw Lily raising up her staff. "You guys suck at throwing!" she exclaimed before pointing her staff at the assassin.
"[Delay Boost Magic - Temperature Change] [Boost Magic - Create Water]," Climb watched as a torrent of water shot out of Lily's staff. The assassins tried to dodge the water, but they hesitated after realizing that it's just regular water.
"That's it?" Brain asked.
Then, the assassin froze. Literally froze as the water on their body froze in an instant. But then, they broke free, leaving a thin layer of ice around their body.
"Well aren't you guys persistent?" Lily turned towards Climb and Brain. "Finish them off brave knights!" she exclaimed.
Climb engaged with one of the assassin. He's dealing him with relative ease now that they are cold and shivering. However, soon enough, the assassin recovered from the frozen shock and started to overwhelm him.
Climb's usual fighting style was to defend with the shield and simultaneously attack with the sword. Being forced to fight with only his sword was a tortuous experience. Even without the threat of poison, this assassin seems to be much more experienced than he seems.
Fragments of ice trickled down the assassin's blade and body every time their blade met each other. Then the assassin jumped back and put a hand in his pocket. He struggled to take it out and it turns out to be a knife frozen inside a block of ice.
Climb resisted the urge to laugh and instead charged in towards his opponent. He jumped on the air made a powerful downward chop with his blade. It managed to strike his opponent's shoulder and it's only thanks to his armor that it didn't cleave him in two.
Then Climb turned towards Lily and Brain and found them actively toying their opponent. Brain used his katana to lazily block and parry his opponent's strike. Lily just dodged her opponent's every strike and only block it with her staff once in a while.
Sebas, Climb had no doubt that he would win. The two assassin is lying in front of the Iron Butler who didn't look remotely tired after the battle.
"Lily sama, perhaps it's time to wrap this up?" Sebas said.
Brain finished off his opponent with his blade followed with a kick. Lily used her staff to knock his opponent towards a wall and trapped him there with an invisible wall.
"Then, I shall begin the interrogation. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." Sebas said while walking towards the man stuck between the wall and the invisible force. He then grabbed the man by the neck through the invisible wall like there was really nothing there.
Sebas placed his palm on the man's head. He had not used much force but within two seconds the man's head lolled back, then snapped back to its original position like a pendulum.
The man's eyes were now unfocused, like he was drunk.
Sebas began asking questions. The assassin, a man of a traditionally tight-lipped profession, sang like a canary. Faced with this bizarre sight, Climb asked Sebas. "What did you do to him?"
"This is a skill called the [Puppeteer's Palm]… fortunately, it looks like it worked."
Climb had never heard that technique before, but he frowned at what the man was saying.
They were assassins trained by Six Arms, the strongest combatants of Eight Fingers. They had apparently followed Sebas in order to kill him.
"Wow, you're really in a thick of it aren't you Sebas?" Lily asked suddenly.
Climb looked at Lily. It's obvious that Lily and Sebas has some sort of a relationship with each other. Then he thought of how Sebas is calling her Lily sama which implies that this little girl is his superior somehow. If that's the case…
Climb shuddered at the thought of what kind of monster Momon is.
"Forgive me, Lily sama, I will return immediately…" Sebas said.
Lily shook her head. "No, I already messaged Momon sama about your situation," she folded her arms in front of her chest. "He told me to help you clean up your mess," she said.
"Thank you."
"Then, what will you do Sebas sama?" Climb asked.
Sebas nodded and clenched his fist in determination. "I have decided. First, I will destroy that troublesome place. Besides, it would seem that Succulent is there as well, according to this man. It is best to stamp out fires before they can grow."
"Oh and damsels in distress! Don't forget about them," Lily added.
"Then we shall be heading there presently. I apologize, but I am set in my course. Can I trouble the two of you to drag these assassins to the nearest guardpost?"
"Please wait, Sebas-sama! If you don't mind, could you let me… could you let this one lend you a hand? Of course, that is only if you are willing."
"Me too. Protecting the peace of the Royal Capital is my duty as Renner-sama's loyal servant. If the Kingdom's citizens are being oppressed, this sword of mine shall hasten to their aid."
"...I don't think Unglaus-kun will have a problem, but it might be a bit dangerous for you."
"Don't worry Sebas, I'll be taking care of Cherry Boy here."
Lily put an arm around Climb's left arm and the boy blushed nervously.
"Please don't call me that Lily san…"
Sebas nodded a little. "Alright, that being the case, I hope you would lend me your strength.
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