When they were within hours of E-Rantel, a member of Rainbow rode ahead to alert the guards of the pending arrival of something all but unthinkable. It was because of this alert, and the natural gossip of those who heard the word, that the gate was opened all the way and crowds got out of the way in advance, ready to see what had never been seen before.

Lupusregina was true to form not twenty minutes before coming in sight of the gate. “Momon killed two skeletal dragons, all you did was show up late and congratulate him. He should ride in like the hero he is.” Lupusregina’s sharp yellow eyes and her fixed stare on the two members of ‘Rainbow’ along with the truth… that she was right, were effective tools.

And so, two of the orichalcum team members rode in the cart, lending their horse to team Axel, and to add to that, Lupu had a further suggestion, one she gave with the twisted smile that seemed to savor its own warped nature.

So it was that the head of the Wise King was mounted atop the tip of one of Ainz’s great swords and held aloft for all to see, as if it were mounted on a pike.

‘The people of this world are impressed by strange things. At the end of the day, it was just a big hamster. But listen to that…’ Ainz was glad the helmet hid the rolling eyes over their commentary.

“He actually killed that thing?”

“Such power in those eyes, even dead, I’m scared to look it in the face.”

“And look at those bones… so many… zombies, and is that a part of the head?”

The praise and awe came from numberless voices when they wound their way through the streets, all the way to the adventurer’s guild, where a group of adventurers was already standing outside, anticipating something they weren’t sure even the suppression force could handle.

There were two dozen adventurers outside on the grounds when the caravan began to line up. The peasants hopped down with a single spry motion as if they were a military unit and began to unload the bones and lay out the dead for counting.

However, it was the Swords of Darkness that withdrew the heads and bodies of Clementine and Khajiit as proof of their demise in front of the guild leadership and guild members who watched in ever growing disbelief.

The clatter of bones was punctuated by the murmuring of armored men and women, many of whom reflexively clutched at their armaments, swords, spears, hammers, and so on as the bones were laid out end to end in row after row.

“Our contract is complete, Momon.” Nfirea said with a sad bowing of the head. “I have to… to go see about Grandmother. If her body was left at home, it might have been reported by now and taken by the watch. That means I’ll have to arrange for her funeral and everything else. But as soon as I’m done I’ll move back to Carne and set up there. If you’d like to wait in the city for a few days, I’ll put you up in the best hotel.”

“The best, isn’t that costly?” Ainz asked, lowering his sword to let Lupusregina retrieve the head and watched while she approached, all smiles, toward the guild leaders and held it over her own head for all to see.

Nfirea chuckled and shook his head. “Skeletal Dragon bones aren’t very useful to me, but they do have their uses in some other fields, they’re tainted with magic, so a lot of casters will pay a great deal for even one fragment. This though?” He inclined his head toward the rows that were still forming. “This will end up being sold all over Re-Estize and perhaps as far as Baharuth or who knows where else. The story will spread with the fragments, and in months if not weeks, ‘Axel’ and its leader ‘Momon’ will be on the lips of adventurers everywhere.”

Shock went through Ainz so much so that he froze. All he could manage was a simple, “I see. That is good.”

‘Such humility out of such a powerful man, almost anyone else would be boasting, bragging and talking themselves up… but he really doesn’t need to, does he? His power, his character, it all just speaks for itself…’ Nfirea thought with a wave of envy through his body that he despised, and resolved to overcome.

“Two skeletal dragons. Do you see that?” Lupusregina grinned and pointed over and over, at the bones. “Plus the Wise King of the forest, plus Clementine, plus Dale the long headed twit…” She stamped her foot, dropped the head of the Wise King on the ground and set her hands on her hips. “You name me any adventurer who did that much is less than Adamantite.”

“She may be pushy, but she has got a point.” Evileye looked up to Pluton Ainzach and imitated Lupu’s posture, though she tapped her foot on the grass instead. “If they were already Orichalcum, you wouldn’t hesitate to promote them to Adamantite for this one, and we both know it, Pluton.”

A broad faced, hook nosed man with brown hair and narrow eyes was quick to interject. “Abah, ah, well, that may be so! But he’s only had just one adventure! Yes, it is an impressive one but still… one must pay their dues!”

“Sorry, who are you exactly?” Evileye demanded, turning her attention to the adventurer who stood with only a moderate amount of enchanted equipment.

“Igvarge, of Kralgra, a Mithril ranked team.” The largish man snapped his mouth shut, feeling the stare behind the mask.

“Then shut up. If you had your way, one of the thirteen heroes would have to linger below their due rank because they hadn’t been there long enough. One adventure with enough events to fill a hundred adventures is worth more than one hundred adventures where nothing happens at all.” Evileye scolded the man, who sucked in his teeth, clenched his jaw, and went silent.

Sweat sprang to Pluton’s brow, his eyes darted from the other adventurers to the adamantite Blue Rose and over to the increasing body of evidence showing that the little magic caster was right… and then to the uncommonly dangerous cleric and her companion.

‘This isn’t like being caught between a rock and a hard place, this is like being just surrounded by rocks and hard places! I can’t offend Blue Rose, but I also can’t offend every other adventurer here with a rapid promotion… no matter how impressive.’ His eyes continued to dart around until he felt a gentle hand fall on his shoulder.

He swung his head over to find the radiant pale face of Lakyus looking at him, “Hey, now… those are all good points… why don’t we split the difference here?”

“Split the difference… how exactly?” Lupu inquired of the Adamantite ranked swordswoman.

“There’s…” Lakyus glanced quickly over her shoulder and leaned in, “That matter.” She lowered a hand and discretely pointed her forefinger toward Nfirea. Her words became a whisper that the young man couldn’t have heard even if he weren’t in conversation with the dark hero. “His grandmother was brutally murdered to find ‘him’, the fact that Clementine was with Khajiit at the village is no coincidence. Clementine definitely killed the old woman, but why? Why is her grandson so important, it’s his skill.”

“You know something, don’t you?” Lupusregina guessed, her predator senses clawing at her mind. Her nose itched when she smelled the anxiety on the pretty adventurer.

“I have it on good authority that Clementine did not leave for nothing. She took an item with her, something she needed Nfirea to use. There isn’t much like that that would also be of interest to someone like Khajiit or Zuranon in general.” Lakyus kept her eyes steady on Pluton, the middle aged man had gone a bit too fat over the years, but the steel resolve of an adventurer in his youth and long experience was not gone yet. He stared back and narrowed his eyes as he ran through the list of items that might include.

“You’re sure?” Pluton inquired.

Lakyus crossed her arms, “Nothing in this world is a given. But I can’t think of any item more likely than the Crown of Wisdom.”

“So… what’s this crown thing?” Lupu asked, “You’re talking ‘around’ me, and I don’t like it.” The battlemaid clenched her jaw, but far from being dismissive, the blonde who had earlier almost made Lupusregina want to claw her face off, spoke sincerely.

“An item of the old gods, used on certain people, it turns them into living items that can use powerful, seventh tier magic. Almost nobody can use it, but since Nfirea can use anything without any requirements-” Lakyus explained and then stopped short when Lupu facepalmed.

“Of course, yes that makes sense.” Lupu said as if she understood the obvious. ‘Seventh tier is impressive to you people? See, this is why I think of you as just toys!’ The derisive thought was covered by her gesture, and the other adventurers gave slow, sage nods.

“So I’m guessing you want me and Momon to go and sort this out, finish the job, get back the crown thingy and prove we’re worth the cost of materials for new plates? That about it?” Lupu winked at them and stuck out her tongue.

“Ah, er, yes. Well, that would do, but… an observer, we need someone beyond doubt, beyond question to go and who will come back to confirm you are beyond question, Adamantite level.” Pluton’s sweating resumed.

Igvarge promptly spoke up. “I’ll go.”

“You’ll just slow us down, why are you even here? Shoo, shoo little manlet.” Lupu quipped and held her arm out toward him with her palm down, and waved her fingers back and forth.

He immediately turned red with fury. “I’m a Mithril ranked adventurer you snot nosed newb! I’ll not be talked down to by some other newb’s little-” He reached out to snatch her hand, intending to put some pressure on her fingers and remind her of his seniority.

What happened next was not entirely clear to anyone but Evileye, and even through the magic caster’s eyes, she wasn’t sure of what she saw. Igvarge’s hands moved with preposterous slowness as far as the magic caster was concerned, but by comparison? Lupu’s hand moved faster than the sound of speed itself. She had his wrist gripped in her slender palms, and squeezed.

The smiling face was gone as if it were only ever a mask, and raw sadism was naked and plain. “Little what? Little man? Little what?” Lupu demanded.

He was down on his knees, gasping, clawing at her grip and finding all his strength was beyond worthless. He managed finally to squeak out a prideless “No-nothing…”

Only then did Lupu release her hold, and the smiling face was back, she stuck out her tongue at him, then said in a cheery voice, “Oh good, I thought we had a little misunderstanding there, I’m glad we cleared that up. Now, as Mr. Ainzach was saying here, we need an observer, and since Igvarge here is,” she coughed and gave a mocking look to the man struggling to stand on shaking legs and rubbing his pained wrist, “no longer interested in observing, how about Evileye here?”

“Me?” Evileye looked up to the cleric.

“Her?” Lakyus added, she glanced over to the rest of Blue Rose, they seemed more interested in getting stories from the peasants, and she knew them well enough to know they wouldn’t care for an assignment they’d see as ‘babysitting’.

“Sure, you trust her, right? And she’s the strongest of your party, isn’t she?” Lupu asked, “If she says we’re Adamantite, we are, and that’s that, nobody will argue against Blue Rose.”

“No… no I suppose nobody would do that.” Pluton acknowledged, “But this is still a quest, you’re officially going to retrieve a possible great treasure. Eliminate any hostiles along the way… we don’t have an immediate reward for this but…”

“I can personally promise that the King will grant a reward of comparable value later.” Gazef said as he approached the little group. “You’ll just have to trust my word, is that good enough for Axel?”

Lupu pointed to Ainz, “That would be for Momon to decide, but I think he’ll be okay with that.” She flashed a winning smile at the Royal Head Warrior, and he wasted not another moment in going to speak with the onyx clad hero.

“That settles that, now… how about something to eat, eh? Something meaty.” Lupu gave Igvarge a look as he backed away, and licked her lips. He did not linger any further.

‘Dangerous, she is extremely dangerous, and she’s the cleric?!’ Evileye contemplated, the rest of the group were giving her once overs as well, the response to the perceived insult to Mr. Momon had not gone over well at all, and to so easily crush a Mithril ranked warrior to his knees was unthinkable even for someone a rank higher who was also a warrior. For a cleric to do that? What did that make Lupu? It was a question for which the magic caster had no easy answer.

However, the charming brown skinned beauty with the fiery red hair in long braids, was almost impossible not to like as far as Evileye was concerned, and it kept her thoughts on a singularly enjoyable track that she wasn’t about to move away from. ‘Besides, if Momon likes her, and he’s the kind of man he is, there must be a lot to her. And Igvarge was out of line, what would I do if someone insulted Lakyus that way? Looking out for a teammate is just to be expected. Yes, everything will be fine, and who knows? It might even be fun, and I’ll get a chance to be near Momon again, and that… that I think I’ll like very, very much.’