I like traveling the most

The wise king of the forest...

No, it's time to call it Hamsuke.

Since he had to register it with the guild, Ainz also wanted it to be a pet, so he gave it a name.

The registration process took about an hour and a half, the most time-consuming part of which was the Hamsuke portrait required for registration. Although he could draw it quickly using magic, Ainz didn't want to spend more money on magic to end up like this.

It was precisely because they spent a lot of time that they caused some commotion. On the way back, they met Nfilia's grandmother, Liji Bareare, and the three of them and one mouse walked towards the pharmacy together.

Then--

"Please come in."

After arriving at the store, Li Ji, who took out the key, came to the door, lowered her head, reached out and pushed, and found that the door opened gently without any resistance.

"He was too careless."

Lizzy murmured to herself as she walked into the shop, followed closely by Ainz and Narberal.

"Nfilia, Mr. Momo is here!"

Li Ji kept shouting inside the store, but the store was completely silent and no one could be felt.

"What's going on?"

"There's trouble now."

As if answering Liji's question, Ainz's tone was slightly lowered, and then he put his hand on the hilt of the giant sword behind her in confusion. Seeing his movement, Narberal immediately understood what it was and drew her sword out of its sheath.

"Do, what?"

"Stop asking, come with me."

With a brief answer, Ainz walked into the store with the giant sword in his hand, slammed open the door inside, and headed to the right side of the passage. Although it was not his own home, his steps did not pause at all, pointing to the door on the inside and asking:

"What does this do?"

"This, this is the storage room for the herbs, and there is a door that leads to the back door."

Although Liji didn't know what was going on and felt that the atmosphere was not quite right, she was a little worried, but Ainz ignored it and directly reached out to open the door.

The next moment, what my nose smelled was not the scent of herbs, but the more pungent smell of blood.

The people in the front are Peter and Luke Rut, Dyne is a little further away, and the person in the innermost is Nina. The four of them were slumped against the wall, with their legs stretched forward and their hands hanging down weakly. There was a large black mass of thick blood on the floor, as if all the blood on their bodies was flowing out.

"W-what's going on..."

Li Ji was startled and tried to walk in with unsteady steps. Ainz held her shoulders to stop her, and he quickened his pace to enter the house first.

At this moment, Peter, who was lying on the ground, suddenly moved like a puppet, but before he could get up, the flash of the giant sword flashed by without hesitation, and Peter's head rolled to the floor.

Then with a backhand sword, he chopped off the head of Lucroot, who also wanted to stand up.

Just when Li Ji was shocked by the tragedy in front of her, Dyne, who was in the middle, had already stood up. The face he raised no longer looked like a living person. There was no blood on his face, and his eyes were cloudy and he stared at Ainz and Li Ji. There was a hole in his forehead, and it was obvious at a glance that it was a fatal wound.

There is only one reason why the dead can move, and that is because they have become undead.

"-Zombie!"

As Liji shouted, Dyne let out a hostile groan and approached, and Ainz immediately thrust out the giant sword in his hand. His throat was pierced by the giant sword, Dyne shook his head unsteadily and collapsed to the ground.

No one made any other moves.

In the silence, Ainz stared at Nina, who was sitting motionless on the ground.

"Enfilia!"

Lizzy, who finally understood what was happening, rushed out to find her grandson.

Ainz glanced at her and said to Narberal: "Protect her. My permanent skill Immortal Blessing has no response, so there should be no other undead in the house, but there may be living people hiding here."

"As commanded."

Narberal ran after Li Ji.

Then Ainz turned his attention to Nina again, slowly knelt down in front of him, reached out and touched him gently. After confirming that it was not a trap, he raised Nina's face. Of course, he didn't lose consciousness, but died.

Possibly from being beaten with a blunt instrument, his cheeks were swollen like pomegranates. If you didn't know that he was Nina, you wouldn't have known who this man was.

The left eye was ulcerated and the vitreous fluid came out, looking like tears. The bones of the fingers were all broken, and the skin cracked, revealing the red muscles inside, and even the flesh was gone in some places.

When he opened his clothes and took a look, Ainz's eyes widened in surprise.

"It turns out that the body is also..."

Like his cheek, his body also bore scars from a brutal beating. His entire body was the color of internal bleeding, and it was difficult to find the uninjured parts.

A little uncomfortable.

But why didn't she become undead? And where did Lin go?

To put it mildly, he doesn't care even if the people from the [Dark Sword] and Enfilia die, but if Xiaolin also disappears or dies... then he will really be furious!

And when he stood here quietly thinking, there were slight footsteps behind him.

Turning his head slightly, he saw the familiar boy. The silly smile on his face was gone at this time, and he could keenly sense the anger of the other person.

On the contrary, Ainz breathed a sigh of relief. If Xiaolin died and the clues were interrupted, he would be really angry. Then after his anger dissipated and he regained the high ground, Ainz panicked again.

Now in this miserable situation, I am still standing here, Peter, Dyne, and Luke Root have all been cut in two by my big sword, they will definitely be misunderstood!

It’s broken. I’m a substitute? !

It is said that being misunderstood is the fate of the expresser. Wouldn't I be hated by the other party? Don't do that!

"Xiao Lin, listen to me..."

"The murderer is not Mr. Momo, right?"

"... Eh?"

"After all, if Mr. Momo wanted to, he would have taken action on the way back from Kahn Village. Why wait until we get back to the town?"

"No, that's right. It's best if you can understand."

Phew, safe!

Seeing Xiao Lin so reasonable, Ainz breathed a sigh of relief. He was indeed a person he favored, and his liking for him increased.

But he didn't know who the murderer was, and after Peter, Lukrut, and Dyne became undead, he did kill them again.

While Ainz was confused, Xiao Lin quickly came to the front of the [Black Sword] to check their deaths.

Being cut in half was a little miserable, but the more important thing to pay attention to was not there.

"...I see. They were tortured to death, and the murderer desecrated their bodies after killing them, turning them into the undead. Because of this, the living who came here later - Mr. Momo aroused their rejection of the living, and they had no choice but to kill them again."

"Yes, that's right."

In fact, it was not him who reacted, but Narberal. After all, Ainz is a necromancer, strictly speaking, not a living person.

But Xiaolin is really good. He can deduce the process very quickly.

Although the corners of his mouth are raised, it doesn't feel like he is smiling. It's a face that should have a cold expression, giving people an awkward and strange feeling.

"It's not that difficult."

"Huh?"

"Inference. Because the degree of decay of the wounds and the order in which they were caused are different. If they died by beheading, the blood from their necks would splatter everywhere, but now the blood from their bodies is piled under their bodies, plus the degree of corpse spots, it can be inferred that it was not done by Mr. Momo who just arrived here."

As if he noticed Ainz's doubts, Xiaolin explained the reasons to him.

Please forgive Ainz for not being able to keep up with the other party's pace, but since the misunderstanding has been resolved, it is already good. Now the most urgent task is to find the murderer!

"My grandson! Enfilia is missing!"

While the two were talking, Lizzie shouted in a shouting voice, and then she appeared at the door. When she saw Xiaolin, she was slightly stunned.

"He is our companion, and these people on the ground are also our companions."

"Really."

Before Lizzie could raise her guard, she was dispelled by Ainz.

Then Ainz gathered the bodies in one part of the room and replied calmly: "I looked at the items on them and found that they did not show any signs of being searched. So it seems that the other party's purpose should be to kidnap Enfilia."

"Hmm!"

"Please look here."

Ainz and Lizzie were speculating on the enemy's strength and how to rescue Enfilia.

And Xiaolin stood in front of the bodies of [Black Sword] and others, silently looking at them, recalling his brief time with them in his mind, and to be honest, it was not as good as he imagined.

Suddenly, he saw a thin hemp rope bracelet on Nina's wrist. The style was very ordinary, but there was a very small pendant on it. Gently took off the bracelet and looked at it carefully.

Is that why Nina did not become an undead like Peter and others?

Slightly, slightly angry.

Ainz was talking to Lizzie at this time: "We can't act rashly yet, because we don't know who the murderer is, so..."

"The murderer is Clementine."

"...What?"

"The murderer is Clementine, the ninth seat of the former Slane Theocracy's [Black Scripture] [Wind Break]. She betrayed the Theocracy and stole the secret treasure called [Crown of the Wise]. The purpose of kidnapping Enfilia is to use it. It is a secret treasure that can release the seventh-level magic [Army of the Dead], and the only person who can use it is Enfilia."

"In this case, there is indeed a reason to kidnap Enfilia."

Ainz nodded.

Enfilia's innate ability is to be able to use all magic tools, even those with extremely harsh conditions. Even Ainz is eager and vigilant about this.

And almost everyone in the town knows about his innate ability, so it is understandable that he was kidnapped by someone with ulterior motives.

"But how can you be sure it's that..."

"Clementine? If you don't believe me, why not check if Peter and the others still have adventurer nameplates? That guy likes to collect these things to show off."

Kobayashi gestured to Lizzie.

The timid Lizzie certainly didn't dare to go, so she had to turn to the mighty black warrior beside her for help, and Momo nodded: "Actually, I also found out, I wanted to say this just now."

Indirectly prove the truth of Kobayashi's words.

But the next thing is the difficult part. [Black Scripture] is the strongest force among the six-color scriptures of the Silian Theocracy. It is not a joke to be called the last and strongest guardian of mankind. All of its members are strong men who have entered the realm of heroes, and the hope of taking back their grandson from such an enemy is not too slim.

Lizzie has fallen into despair.

But Ainz didn't think so, because he had never heard of the name of [Black Scripture], and also because he was aware of what Kobayashi was about to say next.

"So what does Mr. Kobayashi mean?"

"I have a commission that I want to give to the adventurer Mr. Momo."

Xiao Lin said calmly. His posture was as if he was the client, not a rookie who had just entered the adventurer field.

Xiao Lin also realized that his commission as a rookie adventurer might not be accepted.

So, he combed his black hair back with his right hand, combing his hair straight as if there was hairspray in his hand. At the same time, the originally black hair gradually turned into sky blue. After the adjustment, the expression on his face was no longer innocent and silly, but became luxurious and handsome. At the same time, a blue light emanated from his body, which was a sacred color.

Obviously, the name Xiao Lin was just a disguise of the man in front of him.

"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Lin, Lin Brandt Dale Reiboun."

"Reiboun?!"

The one who screamed was none other than Lizzie. Ainz turned his head, seemingly not understanding why she screamed.

"Lebuon is the greatest noble in the kingdom."

She explained to Ainz casually, then looked at Xiaolin and said uncertainly: "And the name Lin... Could it be that you are the leader of the Axis Church?"

"Yes."

Xiaolin... No, Lin nodded and admitted his identity.

Speaking of the Axis Church, isn't it the strange sect with strange doctrines that Peter and the others talked about when they were chatting on the way to Kahn Village?

Ainz's head was a little dizzy.

It's strange that he didn't remember any of those strange doctrines, and only remembered one doctrine that "Eris's breasts are padded", and he couldn't help but wonder if he was just an old pervert.

"Mr. Momo, how about it? Are you willing to accept my commission?"

"This..."

Originally, Ainz planned to use the rescue of Enfilia to negotiate with Lizzie, but now it seems that Xiaolin's side is better. If he can sell a favor to the other party, he doesn't mind helping, but the pride of the strong cannot be lost.

"It's not impossible to accept the commission..."

"Do you want a generous reward?"

"No, I want to know why you would expose your identity to avenge them?"

"Because my target is Clementine... Of course, this is just the surface."

Kobayashi took Nina's bracelet and put it in front of his chest.

"The Axis Church is extremely protective of its people. Someone treated the Axis believers like this, and as the leader of the church, of course I have to treat them back harshly, so I don't care even if it means exposing my identity!"

The calm tone was a scary statement. It was from this moment that Ainz realized how unwise it was to provoke the Axis Church.