In fact, it wasn't just Kael who was stunned; the other adventurers in the Adventurers' Guild hall also unconsciously turned their attention to the two figures who had just entered the room. There was something captivating about them.
Walking in the forefront was a warrior with a tall and sturdy posture. His entire body was tightly covered by jet-black armor adorned with intricate patterns of purple and gold, giving off an impression that was both luxurious and intimidating. On his back, beneath a dark red cloak that fluttered gently, were two large swords that looked deadly. His face was completely hidden behind the narrow slit of his full-face helmet, further adding to his mysterious and imposing aura.
Following closely behind the warrior was a woman of striking beauty. Her slanted eyes shone sharply like polished obsidian, radiating intelligence and determination. Her thick, glossy black hair was neatly tied into a high ponytail behind her head, accentuating her slender neck. Coupled with her firm and cold expression, she was truly the type of captivating ice beauty whose allure felt strong and difficult for men to ignore.
How could they have arrived in E-Rantel? Kael thought for a moment, slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of the two. However, he immediately resumed his steps, which had momentarily halted, and at the same time, shifted his gaze away from the two conspicuous figures, walking past them calmly as if nothing had happened.
A black-armored warrior and a beautiful woman with a cold expression – this duo combination wasn't particularly unique among adventurers. However, the fact that they were both equipped with clearly high-quality armor and swords, yet wore no nameplates signifying adventurer identities, indicated that they were not ordinary people to be overlooked.
For Kael, who possessed a deep understanding of the various classes and auras in this world, he could tell at a glance that the two people in front of him were the disguised Momonga and Narberal Gamma, members of the legendary Battle Maids Corps from the Great Tomb of Nazarick. This wasn't just a guess. In Kael's career list, there was a special career called 'Holy Purifier'. This career not only granted him special skills for attacks that were extremely effective against the undead and increased his attributes every time he successfully killed an undead, but also gave him an extremely keen sense of perception towards the presence and aura of the undead. Although Momonga was wearing warrior armor designed to block magic and conceal his identity, Kael could still clearly feel the strong and cold aura exclusively possessed by undead creatures faintly emanating from within the armor. In the eyes of a 'Holy Purifier' like Kael, no undead could perfectly disguise themselves.
But even though he recognized Momonga and Narberal, Kael had no intention of taking any action at the moment. It wasn't because he felt afraid or incapable of facing them, but more because he felt it was unnecessary and not the right time for a confrontation.
Momonga's combat power with his primary necromancer class structure was indeed not to be underestimated. However, Kael's faith-based magic caster class structure with its special holy attributes was no less powerful. On the contrary, due to the natural attribute restraint between holy magic and the undead, Kael even had a slight advantage in basic power comparison. Even considering the bonuses from the various equipment items he possessed, Kael felt he was not at a disadvantage at all, especially with the six world items that were always with him. Although Ainz Ooal Gown possessed eleven extremely powerful world items, it was impossible for Momonga to bring them all with him in this disguise. Most likely, the majority of those world items were safely left in the treasury of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, gathering dust and waiting to be used at a more critical time.
"According to my calculations, this should be a bit later than their estimated arrival time. Could this be due to the unpredictable plot recovery ability of the world?" Kael left the Adventurers' Guild and walked down the bustling street, silently pondering in his mind, trying to understand the changes that were occurring.
In the original storyline, Momonga managed to obtain valuable basic information about this new world because he interacted with Gazef Stronoff and the villagers during the tragic incident in Carne Village and successfully captured several members of the Slane Theocracy's Sunlight Scripture. Based on this initial information, he then came to E-Rantel to register as an adventurer under the name Momon, and secretly sent some of his subordinate NPCs to the royal capital to continue gathering more in-depth intelligence about the new world through these two methods. Now, because the contact with Carne Village had been severed by Kael's own actions, it was somewhat unexpected for Kael that Momonga, with his extremely cautious and paranoid nature, could come to E-Rantel so quickly without sufficient information.
But in the end, it wasn't too important for Kael's long-term plans. Without the firsthand experience of the Carne Village incident and without sufficient initial intelligence, Kael felt confident that Momonga wouldn't immediately carry out intelligence gathering work simultaneously while sending his NPCs to various places as he did in the original storyline. A more likely scenario was that Momonga would first be cautious and allow the powerful NPCs from the Great Tomb to move into the outside world only after he had obtained a sufficient amount of basic information about the new world in and around E-Rantel. By that time, Kael might have already finished dealing with his various affairs in E-Rantel and moved his base of operations, so he wouldn't need to worry too much that Momonga's actions would affect his plans to conquer this world.
Putting the matter of Momonga and Narberal behind his mind for the time being, Kael looked for a dark alley that seemed hidden and entered it. If he planned to stay in the city overnight, he needed to find a decent inn. He knew very well that the accommodation conditions in cheap inns would definitely be very poor and uncomfortable, while the conditions in good inns would definitely be very expensive and drain his wallet. Although he wasn't short of money at the moment, he still tried to save as much as possible for future needs.
After making sure that no one around could see him, he took off his shimmering silver armor, then calmly cast a high-level teleportation spell and returned directly to Carne Village in an instant. The spatial coordinates of E-Rantel had already been successfully recorded. We can lead the villagers to teleport here safely and efficiently tomorrow morning. This won't require much effort, Kael thought with satisfaction.
About ten minutes later, after Kael had disappeared from view, Momonga and Narberal finally exited the Adventurers' Guild. On their way to the inn recommended by the guild receptionist, Momonga mentally reviewed his experiences today and the information he had managed to gather.
Before coming to E-Rantel, he had ordered Aura Bella Fiora, who possessed excellent tracking abilities, to conduct a carpet search centered around Carne Village, the place where he and Narberal had first appeared in this new world. After successfully finding another human village nearby, he approached the villagers disguised as a traveler and managed to obtain some basic common sense about this new world as well as initial information about the city of E-Rantel from them. However, the information from the villagers in the border area was very limited and scarce. They knew almost nothing about the powerful individuals and large organizations of the new world that Momonga most wanted to know about. That was why he decided to bring Narberal with him and come to a large city like E-Rantel.
Setting aside the objections of some loyal NPCs like Albedo to his decision, which was considered too risky, after arriving in this city, Momonga and Narberal wandered through the bustling streets and eventually learned about a special profession called adventurers. Initially, Momonga had hoped that this profession was similar to the players of Yggdrasil, free agents whose main goal was to explore the vast and mysterious world, which would allow him to regain a bit of familiarity with the lost world. However, unexpectedly, after learning more about it through information from the guild, he found that the content of an adventurer's job was actually much more boring and mundane than he had imagined.
"Instead of being true adventurers who explore the unknown, they look more like mercenaries who accept various requests to fight monsters or complete simple tasks," Momonga muttered to himself in a slightly disappointed tone. "But as long as you manage to level up and increase your reputation, you will have the opportunity to come into contact with high-status people in society, which may be a relatively suitable profession for gathering more in-depth intelligence about this world."
Momonga shook his head silently, trying not to be too disappointed with the reality, and finally stopped in front of a simple yet bustling shop. Because according to the recommendation from the female receptionist at the Adventurers' Guild, the shop in front of them with a signboard featuring a burning torch motif was one of the city's inns that specifically provided decent and safe accommodation for adventurers.
…
The next morning, in one of the bustling commercial streets of E-Rantel city. The air here felt different, as if tinged with a certain unique aroma, mixed with the scent of unknown potions and the fragrance of crushed herbs. This aroma couldn't be said to be unpleasant, but for some unaccustomed people, it could cause a slight sense of discomfort. The area with such a symbolic aroma was naturally the potion production and sales area of E-Rantel. A large number of potion shops lined this street, and the most famous and legendary among them was undoubtedly the potion workshop opened and managed by the wise and knowledgeable old woman, Lizzie Barreare, known throughout the city and perhaps even beyond as the "strongest apothecary" due to her unparalleled skills.
Tap, tap, tap! Two different sets of footsteps, one sounding deeper and steadier, while the other sounded lighter and quicker, stopped right in front of the largest and most bustling potion shop on the street. Kael carefully compared the building with the information he had gathered earlier and confirmed without a doubt that this potion workshop was the largest and most prominent building on the entire street. He smiled faintly and said to Enri Emmot, who was standing respectfully beside him, "It seems this is the place."
"Yes, Lord Kael," Enri replied with a polite nod, her eyes showing respect and a hint of nervousness.
The two of them then together pushed the shop door open, and the small hanging bell attached above the door rang out loudly, reminding the shop owner who might be busy inside that new customers had just arrived.
Want to continue reading? Head over to my Patreon for the latest chapters! 👉 patreon.com/Rzzzy