This is an elegantly decorated room.
Sunlight streamed in through large, floor-to-ceiling windows. A coffee table and sofa were neatly arranged near the door, forming a comfortable reception area. Past that area, a red carpet stretched out, guiding the eye toward the magical chandelier that cast a soft glow from the ceiling.
Beneath the heraldic banner displayed on the wall, a plush chair stood firm, and there sat a bald old man of about fifty. His body was quite corpulent, his chin folded in fleshy layers, making him resemble a stout bulldog. This was Panasole Gruzer del Redingmeyer, Mayor of the Fortress City of E-Rantel and a noble member of the Re-Estize Kingdom.
The person sitting across the table currently was none other than the Captain of the Royal Warriors—Gazef Stronoff.
"Captain Warrior, do you know anything more about that Undead?" Panasole gently stroked his short white beard. His gaze, usually masked with carelessness, was now sharp and serious, as keen as a ferocious wild boar. As soon as he heard from Gazef that a very powerful Undead had infiltrated the city disguised as an adventurer, he immediately realized the gravity of the situation. E-Rantel was the eastern gate of the Re-Estize Kingdom. The area behind the city was mostly flat with no natural defensive routes. If this place were destroyed or occupied by Undead, it would certainly be a disaster for the kingdom.
Gazef shook his head, his face clouded. "Unfortunately, apart from his name and his incredible power, I know nothing about him."
"That's very bad." Panasole sighed deeply, a sad expression appearing on his plump face. The highest-level adventurers in E-Rantel were only of Orichalcum rank, and Gazef's power was even higher than an Orichalcum-level adventurer. Yet, Gazef himself frankly admitted that he had no chance of winning against the Undead named Ainz Ooal Gown. Then, what hope was left for this city? They couldn't rely on the city's defense guards, who were sloppy in their daily training and not even as good as Iron-ranked adventurers, could they?
"Can we request an Adamantite-ranked adventurer to come and help? If it's him, perhaps we can win."
"..." Gazef was silent. He knew that the Adamantite-ranked adventurer Panasole mentioned was the legendary adventurer team Blue Rose active in the royal capital, Re-Estize. The woman who was very close to the Golden Princess, the captain of Blue Rose—Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, was a genius whose power was even greater than his own. But according to his estimation, even if the entire Blue Rose team united, it would be very difficult to confront that terrifying Undead.
After a moment of hesitation, Gazef couldn't help but voice his thoughts, "Mayor, since we know that lord is capable of fighting Undead, why not ask for his help? And he has a girl under his command who can use sixth-tier magic. He's clearly stronger than Blue Rose. Wouldn't he be a better option?"
Panasole couldn't help but frown. In truth, he knew what Gazef said was right, but considering the mysterious man's unknown origins, he couldn't simply trust him. After all, no one could prove that the man had nothing to do with the Undead who had just appeared, could they? Such extraordinary beings had never appeared in E-Rantel before, and now two of them had suddenly shown up. If they were indeed accomplices, wouldn't it be like throwing themselves into the tiger's mouth to entrust one of them to deal with the other?
After a long silence, Panasole sighed. "Alright. But I had a slight disagreement with that person before, so I'd like to ask the Captain Warrior to go to the city hall on our behalf and find out what he has to say."
"Alright," Gazef nodded. "I will thank the Lord and learn more about the Undead."
"Very well, then I will wait here for good news from the Captain Warrior," Panasole smiled faintly.
Gazef then stood up and left the room. When the door closed, Panasole's expression became serious again. After thinking for a moment, he grabbed his staff and left the room, ready to go to the Magic Guild. It was unwise to place all hope on a suspicious person. He also needed to prepare for a contingency.
"It's certainly troublesome to use magic to contact the capital, but the situation is urgent, and we don't care."
Journey to Kael's Residence
The carriage from the city hall drove through the streets of E-Rantel, entered the residential area not far from Potion Commercial Street, and finally stopped in front of an old house. Gazef alighted from the carriage and saw people entering and exiting through the open door from time to time, a sight that made him slightly uneasy. He had been here yesterday. To be precise, he had stayed here all night yesterday and only woken up this morning.
The men, women, old, and young who kept entering and exiting the house were all residents of E-Rantel City, and most of them were from the slums. Since this house changed owners, there was a new venture: helping patients heal their illnesses, at prices much cheaper than large temples. How cheap? Even residents in the slums could easily afford it, so you can imagine the impact.
Although this involved issues such as city taxation and the interests of large churches, and chaos would eventually arise, the kingdom's people were the ones benefiting now. Gazef personally hoped this could be maintained. Shaking his head and pushing aside his scattered thoughts, Gazef walked towards the door.
The middle-aged man guarding the door glanced at him, clearly recognizing him, but didn't speak.
"Please inform him that Gazef Stronoff wishes to meet the man. I hope he will grant me the opportunity to meet him," Gazef politely said to the guard.
The guard frowned, as if he was somewhat displeased. "This is not something I can do. I can only inform Lady Enri of the news."
Gazef nodded, indicating that he understood the guards' difficulties, and thanked them, "Thank you very much." Seeing his not-bad attitude, the guard's expression softened slightly, then he placed his finger on his temple.
It's excessive if they really used a magic caster to guard the gate. Gazef couldn't help but sigh inwardly when he saw the guard's action, but when he thought about what kind of person Kael was, he felt it wasn't surprising.
About a minute later, the guard gave Gazef a reply, "Come in. Go straight down the corridor. It's the third room."
"Thank you very much," Gazef thanked the other party again, then followed the instructions and walked into the courtyard, and soon arrived at his destination. The room was likely a temporarily repurposed reception room, and its door was wide open.
After Gazef entered, he was surprised. Besides the person he wanted to meet, there was a group of other people in the room.
Like this story? Early access is available at p@treon/Rzzzy