Chapter 143.3: Volume 16: Chapter 4: A life in the Village (3)

Even if there were those who never came back, it was regarded as a necessary sacrifice for violating the directions of the adults and exposing themselves to danger as a result.

If they could teach the other children about the dangerousness of the forest through the death of one child, it wouldn't be thought of as a substantial loss.

On the contrary, the idea of them growing up without knowing the dangers of the forests was more frightening.

In fact, there wasn't a single adult in this village who didn't have a friend in their childhood who became a victim of the forest. For this reason, they were plenty afraid of the forest. Being vigilant, they were able to live out their lives in this village. This was what it meant to live in this forest.

"I know you're thinking 'that girl is a ranger with remarkable skills, so it's safer to go into the forest with her than with the adults.' But, it's too dangerous for us. Take Iris and—" Kunas pointed at the smallest boy. "—me, our physical strength and other stuff is totally different, right? At the very least, you have to be able to climb a tree immediately."

"So what do we do then?"

That was where they had ultimately ended up.

"So I guess we have to ask those two about what they do to have fun in the city."

"I mean, what kinda place is a city? Are there more trees than there are here, you think? Is it so full of wild game that the girl could become an amazing ranger?"

After the children exchanged glances, they naturally stared at Kunas.

With a look of triumph on his face, Kunas answered.

"I heard the whole story from the adults that went hunting with her."

"That's our Ku-chan. You're amazing!"

"You really are amazing, Ku-chan."

"Heh, Heh, Heh...It seems like a city is a place where it's not just Elves or Dark Elves, but also a lot of guys from various other races are there. It sounds like there aren't any trees at all. Instead, they say that a lot of houses are made of bricks, mortar, or some other kinda dirt there."

"From dirt... So it's something like the Garicus do?"

(T/N: The original is 茸蟻人(Furigana: ｸﾞﾘｴｲｸ ), seems to be a reference to Termite Mushroom + "man" so garicus (agaricus) would be my guess for the intended name.)

The name of one of the races that live in this forest came up.

The Garici were also omnivorous, but since they didn't go so far as to eat intelligent life, even if they ran into a Dark Elf in the forest, they would both keep their distance and silently pass by each other. It seemed like their dwellings were shaped like boxes of hardened dirt.

The children imagined a meadow with a lot of those boxes, they tilted their heads in puzzlement because they simply couldn't understand it.

"Whoa. They came from a place that's kinda amazing..."

"I kinda feel like I want to hear more about the city..."

"Look. Even if we asked them about it, it could turn out to be something they've played even in the city, then the number of games we've prepared would just go down, wouldn't they? In other words, we'll have to prepare several games to play, won't we?"

"Argh!"

Once again, the children pondered.

It really was difficult.

"Hold on, what about Playing House?"

The smallest girl murmured.

The three oldest boys looked a little reluctant.

As you would expect, they probably wanted to say that they had already outgrown that kind of game. However—only Kunas looked like he thought it might not be that bad of an idea.

"Certainly, if it was Playing House, it wouldn't be a contest of athletic ability or anything, would it? No, anything but that!"

"But it's not something that can only be played in the forest, is it? It's something you can do anywhere!"

"All we have to do is play a version of House that's unique to the village."

A version of House that was unique to the village...

What kind of House would it be? Excluding Kunas, the speaker, nobody gave an indication that they knew.

"Also, that boy who came later. He doesn't look like he's very good at physical activities, so Playing House might not be a bad idea. At that age they probably still play House, right?"

"I do not!"

One of the boys, who was around the same age as Aura, said. The children around him countered with, "wha?"

"You were Playing House by yourself."

"That wasn't Playing House! I was playing Dark Elf Heroes!"

The children's conversation shifted to a discussion of what the difference between Playing House and playing Dark Elf Heroes was.

♦ ♦ ♦

Accepting Blueberry's guidance, Ainz arrived at an Elf Tree. Of course, Ainz knew where Aura was staying. Therefore, being led here was unnecessary. But, seeing as today was supposed to be the first time Ainz had come here, he couldn't act as if he did.

Since he didn't see them outside, it seemed like they had gone inside the house first.

"Thank you very much for showing me the way here."

Was there something he was curious about? Blueberry, who was acting as if he was examining the Elf Tree, said in a disappointed-sounding voice.

"I am glad that it seems I was able to be of service to you. Should anything else arise, please do tell me. Shall I carry your luggage inside?"

"N-no, I would hate to have you go to all that trouble. Please pay it no mind."

"Is that so? You may ask anything of me, if you wish?"

Ainz didn't know why, but Blueberry was coming closer to him without any hesitation.

Humans had a concept called personal space. Maybe for Dark Elves, that personal space was closer than for ordinary humans?

When he thought about it, living in a dangerous place where monsters could appear in the surrounding areas like this village also meant that you had to cooperate with others to survive. Perhaps that was even being expressed in a situation like this. Be that as it may, there really wasn't a single thing he wanted to ask him to do.

"No, there really is nothing. Just guiding me all the way here was more than enough."

"Is that so...Well then, Fi...P-please give my regards to Aura-san."

...Why only Aura? ...Ah! So that's what it is! Ainz had arrived at the answer. ...Crap. I forgot to introduce Mare, didn't I? Aura called out his name, but that was it.

However, the merits of introducing Mare to the adults weren't that big. Since he just needed to have the children know who Mare was, he could just let Aura take care of that.

"Understood. I shall pass it along to her."

Seeing off Blueberry, who kept looking back at him, Ainz went inside the Elf Tree and, just as he had expected, the two of them were waiting for him there.

"Good wo..." Ainz suddenly hesitated and corrected his form of address. "No, I kept you guys waiting, didn't I?"

"I know this is abrupt, but what shall we be doing from here on—"

"—Wait. Let's quit it with the excessive honorifics. I understand very well that if we have Aura the ranger's ears, then no matter what Dark Elf in this village tried to creep up on us she wouldn't fail to hear their footsteps. In other words, right now, this place is safe, which means there's no problem as to the kind of language we use. However, acting is something where if you're not always on point, the slightest thing could reveal the faults in your performance—While we are in this village, I am Aura's uncle. There's no need for you to use honorifics with me."

"Uu," Aura groaned. When she cast a quick glance at Mare, who was next to her, she dropped her gaze just a little bit. Then, while looking at Ainz with upturned eyes, she asked.

"Err, uncle. What're we gonna do now?"

Mare nodded his head in agreement beside her.

"Good. Attagirl...No, this way of speaking is also awkward for me as Aura's uncle. With the same kind of feeling as just a moment ago...that's fine, Aura. Something like this?"

(T/N: Ainz literally uses the word グッド (good) here)

Aura showed an expression that you could say was either, a forced smile, troubled, or even that she was embarrassed. Confirming that it wasn't an attitude of "no good"—even if she said it was no good, he had intended for them to take on a more affectionate attitude than usual—Ainz announced to the two of them.

"—Now then, no, maybe something like, let's see? For the time being, as we had planned at the start, our plan to stay in this village for a week at the longest, has not changed...hasn't changed, would that be better? Because we don't know how the situation might change—or is changing—I can't say anything with certainty, but I'm planning to take it easy and gather some information for now."

"Oh, uh, well, uncle. When you say information, what kind of information is it?"

"Good, Mare. That's got a nice ring to it!"

Ainz also had a feeling that this wasn't much different from Mare's normal way of talking, but for the time being, he would praise him. After glancing at Mare's bashful expression, he started his explanation. Mare had even asked him about it on the way here, but he said that he would explain everything once Aura was with them to buy himself some time.

Thanks to that, he had time to properly prepare an excuse for why they were staying here.

"It's everything! Everything about this Dark Elf village. Because hereafter, there may come a time when I'll have the two of you act like ordinary Dark Elves, you know? No, that time may never come. However, if that time does come, you would be considered suspicious if you acted without knowing what the customs among the Dark Elves is. Therefore, we'll think about the future while we still can, so I have been thinking, what if we are able to experience the customs of the Dark Elves even just for a little bit in this village?"

Wasn't that a pretty good excuse? And the important part was about to come up.

"There may also come a time when I will need to have you two in particular act like ordinary Dark Elf children. So how about you two try playing with the other children? Of course! This isn't an order or anything like that. I don't mind if you go about it in a better, different way."

From the perspective of the plan to have the two of them make friends, these instructions were probably a little last minute. If he stepped into it a little more, it would have become an order, but if he didn't, there was a good chance that they wouldn't associate with the children.

However, the two of them having curious looks on their faces was something he had not foreseen.

What? Why? ...I thought it would be perfect because I refined my simulations of how they would respond over and over again. Did I leave something out?

"Are you sure it is alright...err...it's okay to not gather information on the Theocracy?"

This time it was Ainz who had a curious look on his face at Aura's question. Be that as it may, not even the slightest movement would show on an illusory face.

Why would they even be talking about information on the Theocracy? Mentally, Ainz was tilting his head in confusion.

It should have been the case that he had told them this was a paid vacation back in Nazarick. He had a memory of saying that this could simultaneously serve as a test of whether or not Nazarick could function without any problems even with three of its top brass—Ainz, Aura, and Mare—missing. However—

I never talked about getting information on the Theocracy, did I? Because unlike Albedo or Demiurge, their karma values aren't that low.

Let's just ignore what the two of them did in the Kingdom, for now.

On the whole, whatever feelings of kinship these two might have might only extend to the Elves and Dark Elves, or they might simply just hate humans.

"Ooh, that's right. If we can obtain information on the Theocracy as well, I'd like you to do that too."

"Yes! Understood!—Huh? Yeah. Gotcha...?"

Smiling at Aura, who didn't appear used to speaking in this manner yet, Ainz loosened the strings on their luggage.

"Okay. We're living here for a week at most. Let's organize the merchandise."

Ainz's group had brought Dwarven-made tableware and various other things with them, they had become quite the burden. These were things that were meant to draw the Dark Elves' interest, same as those souvenirs from just a while ago. It was also for that reason that they had to be arranged in a way that would be overflowing with appeal and not just carelessly placed randomly.

In other words, they were making a showroom.

While Ainz, who had absolutely zero confidence in his aesthetic sense, was collaborating with the twins to decorate the Elf Tree, Aura stopped moving.

"Uncle. The sounds of six sets of footsteps are heading this way in a straight line. There's no indication that they're erasing their presence and they're approaching us. Judging from the lightness of the footsteps, they're children, I guess?"

Oh. Ainz also stopped decorating and turned his gaze toward the entrance. He truly hadn't imagined that they would come today. As Ainz was feeling thankful toward the children, the face of the boy he had given the candy to peeked through the entrance.

Ordinarily, you would call the act of peeking into other people's homes nothing else but rude, but it seemed to be normal in this village.

"Hi there, did you perhaps come to invite Aura and Mare to play, I wonder?"

"Yea, uh, yes. That's right."

Was he a little surprised by the appearance of the room? Ainz gave a broad smile to the boy who answered nervously.

"I see. I see. We've been waiting for you. Alright you two, go on and play with the other children."

"Eh? Uh, umm, un-uncle. It's just, you know. The room's not cleaned up yet..."

"Oh, that's alright, Mare. Your uncle will take care of the rest. Just leave it all to me! Uh-oh, your uncle doesn't have much confidence in his aesthetic sense though. If you say later that it should be arranged another way, we'll go with that! Ha-ha-ha."

Aura and Mare looked shocked at the laughing Ainz.

Certainly, if it had been the usual Ainz, he wouldn't have laughed with a "ha-ha-ha" or even at all, so it wasn't as if he didn't understand their feelings. Although he thought his persona as an uncle was a little unnatural, if he were questioned about it later, he would insist he was just acting.

"—If that is what uncle says... I got it! I'm coming, just gimme a sec. Well then, let's go Mare."

"Y- yeah."

The twins went out, and a smile of satisfaction that came from the bottom of his heart showed on Ainz's face.

This makes me want to give even more candy to the children who came to invite Aura and Mare to play with them as a token of my gratitude! No, wait a minute...? How would those two react if they found out the children had come to invite them out of their desire for candy? They might be shocked.

Honestly, he didn't think those two were that delicate, but—

It's because I'm not Chagama-san. It's not as if I know everything about those two. That being the case, I should probably act based on the assumption they will be shocked, after all. If this became some kind of trauma and they said they couldn't make any friends, I would never be able to face Chagama-san. That said, I wonder what kind of game they're going to play?

Ainz narrowed his eyes and yearned for the old days.

Suzuki Satoru's glory days. He remembered the figures of those forty people—and one more person—who gathered together in a game called YGGDRASIL.

The friends gathered together there—each lived in their own different worlds.

Those who lived in Mega Corp arcologies, those who lived in the inferior Dome Cities, those like Satoru who lived in a harsh environment, and those who endured even more deteriorated environments.

The same game united those total strangers that would have had no contact with one another otherwise.

"...Games can overcome borders. It does overcome borders. No, I wonder if it's correct to say that only through games can one overcome them? And finally...you can become friends even if you live in different worlds, just like I...just like we did..."

The overwhelmingly powerful Guardians and the frail children. When they leave his place their connection would probably also be lost. And yet—

"—I would be overjoyed if they learned that the existence of friends was this wonderful thing."

It was only natural, but the figures of those two weren't at the end of his line of sight.

And yet, it was as if he could see the figures of the twins.

If they played with the children and found out they couldn't get along, then it couldn't be helped.

It was the same for Ainz too. He didn't know exactly how many Players he had interacted with in YGGDRASIL, but it was probably a considerable amount. And yet, there existed only forty-one people who he could call friends.

It wasn't as if he could build a friendship with every person he encountered.

All the two of them needed was the chance to meet a person they thought they could be friends with. If they learned that making friends wasn't so bad after all, then he would consider everything that happened here to be a success.

Ainz dropped his gaze toward the ring finger of his right hand, where he wore no ring, and smiled just a bit—

I've also thought about this before, but shouldn't I be striving so that Demiurge, Albedo, or even Shalltear could make friends? ...Well, maybe not.

He decided not to think about that matter too much, because just thinking about it a little bit had ruined his good mood.

At any rate, why hasn't anybody come by to see me? From what I picked up when I was eavesdropping with [Perfect Unknowable], they should be holding the welcome party any time now, right? Are they coming to get me when it's time? Don't tell me they're planning to make it a surprise?

He also had his own circumstances, so being suddenly invited would be troublesome.

Above all was the fact that Ainz couldn't eat food. He didn't know what kind of party they were holding, but if it was the usual, then even among a gathering of powerful and influential people of the village, food would also be laid out in front of him. In a situation where he absolutely could not touch that food, how would the other parties react?

There was no doubt they wouldn't think well of him.

If they were totally different races, they would probably think that this kind of thing was normal and a host who provided food that wasn't palatable to their guest should be reproached. However, Ainz had transformed into a Dark Elf with illusion magic. So while there might be some foods that he could say he couldn't eat due to allergies, he couldn't just say he couldn't eat any of the food. That would be impossible to gloss over with his usual excuses.

For this reason, it was necessary for him to take the initiative and prepare a reason ahead of time.

Or are they being thoughtful, thinking that I'm probably tired, so they don't intend to come and get me right away? In that case, I wouldn't mind if they postponed the party itself, but it would still be a problem even if they came to get me after they've finished the preparations...Should I go see them? Ainz pondered for a bit, then shook his head from side to side. No, let's give up on that idea. Then...if somebody does come, should I ask that Dark Elf if they would deliver a message for me?

Ainz recalled the sights he had seen when he was lurking in the village in his [Perfect Unknowable] state.

Morning and evening meals were usually brought together, but time-wise it should be any time now, right? Then how about I try asking the person who will bring the food? Or maybe regardless of whether I'm a traveler or not, food is distributed based on one's contribution to the village? If that's the case, then they won't bring food to us, who don't work? No, that shouldn't be the case, Aura has been working hard and I brought many souvenirs. They'll probably feed us for a week even if we don't work.

Of course, even Ainz had no intention of not working. He had called himself an arcane-type magic caster. If it were limited up to the Fourth Tier, he even intended to use magic should a time come when it was necessary. He was even ready to go hunting in place of Aura.

Since he didn't know how their relationship would progress from now on, he had no intention of accepting any charity.

It might still be just a little early time-wise. If they come, I'll just tell them. If they don't come, then I can just go to them. Moreover...there's also information I want to go and get.

♦ ♦ ♦

After she had been sent out by her master, Aura had been at her wit's end the whole time.

Her master's proposal was to "play with the children in order to learn the Dark Elves' customs." However, doubts about that proposal had emerged in her mind.

It wasn't as if children didn't know what the customs were, or that they were a people that lacked customs, she had a feeling that it would be absurd to think that she could grasp the customs of the Dark Elves from the things she could learn from the children. Wouldn't the things she learned from the adults be the customs of the Dark Elves living in this Sea of Trees? She felt that it was dangerous to learn from children, even though they didn't know what the correct customs were for a proper comparison.

Harboring a misguided view of customs might itself be typical for children, but I wonder if that was the objective I was sent out for? In that sense, it would be more child-like.

She might just be overthinking it. However, "always use your head," the words she had been told by Albedo prior to their departure, flashed into her head.

Right now, she and Mare were the only ones serving their master. Since that was the case, as a representative of the Guardians she should show no shame and use her head to think about all kinds of things.

She grasped her Golden Acorn Necklace, invoked its power, and addressed Mare. She then received an immediate response.

「—Yeah. I think so too.」

Mare, who answered, wasn't grasping his necklace. That was because when the sender invoked it first—the activation of the item— it was a necessary action, but it wasn't necessary for the receiver to do so, even to continue the conversation.

「 If that's how it is then...there's probably some objective beyond us just playing together to learn their customs after all? Just what on earth do you think it could be? Since Ainz-sama said the word "friendly," when he came to this village, could it be a part of that? Because us playing with the children will become our appeal to the idea that we're friendly? 」

「That might also be part of it, but...hmmm... Oh, maybe we're going to take in the children?」

「What? If that's what it is, wouldn't it be better to win over the adults? I thought they were just a nuisance, but there were guys who looked like they could easily be won over.」

They were starting to understand the meaning behind them playing with the children less and less.

「If that's the case, I wonder then if Ainz-sama is thinking about using the children to do something? 」

Aura said to Mare as she stared at the backs of the six children walking in front of them.

They were weak, fragile beings, and they weren't of high social status either. It was a mystery where their utility value lie.

「What kind of use do they have? Hostages?」

「I can't completely deny that possibility, but I don't really think that's it.」

「Children... Children... Using children to gather information?」

「Hmmm, but I wonder just what information would children know?」

「That's right, isn't it...」

It was a little difficult to imagine that information only the children held would be important. Or could it be that he also wanted the children's information because it had already been analyzed from multiple angles?

「I mean, c'mon, isn't all you've been doing is just shooting down of all my ideas? Don't you have any guesses that would make you go 'this is it!' or something? 」

「Hmmm...」After a short time had passed, Mare's voice once again echoed in her head.「Oh! Could he be thinking of taking these children to E-Rantel?」

「I see... That might be it, but if that's the case wouldn't it be better to take the adults after all?」

「Children who don't really know much about things are easier to win over, or something... Hmmm. Maybe he's thinking of taking not just the children, but everyone in the village?」

「Oooh, is that it? ...But you know, if the target is the all Dark Elves in the village, I don't think he would tell us to play with the children to get closer to them.」

If it were just as Mare had said, they would be working to win over the adults too. It might be different if the opinions of the children carried a lot of weight, but in the three days that Aura had stayed in the village, she hadn't caught sight of any indication of that at all.

However much she thought about it, she couldn't believe that the children had any special value.

「Then, I wonder if it really is just to cultivate friendly relations and gather information from the children after all?」

「I guess that's all it is... But when you think about it, it certainly might be just that. I mean, it's frustrating, but nothing else comes to mind except that...Well, adults might be tight-lipped, but because they're children, they would just let information slip out. Yeah! If I was Ainz-sama, who really valued information, that would be an idea I would have! Then we have to bring up all sorts of subjects don't we?」

「Do your best sis.」

「Good luck to you, too. If it's just the two of us, we can speak normally, so we have to practice, you know.」

「That's only because we're using the necklace...」

The children walking in front of them stopped.

In a corner of the village, there was no playground equipment to be found, nor did it appear that there was anything in particular there at all. Of course, Aura knew that sort of equipment wasn't anywhere in the village from her usual walks around it.

No, Aura recognized that her own ideas were wrong.

It was entirely possible that one of the children here could use magic to produce playground equipment.

In her sensory range as a ranger, she detected that an adult was watching them—one person.

「Oh, it's that guy. He's watching me again.」

「Who is he?」

「Don't look at him. The best ranger in this village is at our 10 o'clock. That guy, ever since I came to this village, he'd be looking at me sometimes, right? But he wouldn't come near me.」

「Like maybe they're feeling suspicious, but because they don't have any concrete evidence, they're keeping you under surveillance. Something like that?」

「Something like that. Be careful not to do anything that would make them suspicious of you too, Mare. We have to inform Ainz-sama about this later.」

Aura tried to ignore the man.

He probably thought that an excellent ranger like himself wouldn't be noticed, or maybe his objective was to let himself be noticed—perhaps he intended to silently keep them in check by letting them know that "I'm keeping my eye on you."

It was annoying, but she couldn't kill him. If she were to kill him, it would be with the permission of her master, and she would have to create a set of circumstances where it looked like he had been killed by the Ankyloursus or some other magical beast. She would then have to come up with a simple alibi.

Well, it could be easily done if you were Aura the Beast Tamer.

"...So what are we doing in a place like this?"

"Okay! Let's Play House!"

The biggest boy said in a loud voice. It was like he was trying to get them to agree through the sheer energy with which he said it.

—Play House?

Of course, Aura knew what kind of game that was.

It's a type of role-playing, right? If I remember correctly... Bukubukuchagama-sama regretted it when Peroroncino-sama said that, "I want to be the baby and have mommy rub my head and tell me everything's going to be okay."...Is that what we're going to do?

Aura pictured herself rubbing Shalltear's head and saying "there, there. You'll be okay."

Ah, so something like that...But will I be doing that, or will I be the one it's being done to?...

It would still be fine if she had to take on the mommy role, but having the role of the baby was embarrassing. Or rather than it being just some role-play, wouldn't it be an insult to Bukubukuchagama-sama if she, who had been created as a Floor Guardian by the Supreme Beings, were to play the role of a baby?

Though Yamaiko-sama and Ankoro Mocchi Mochi-sama did laugh when they heard about Peroroncino-sama's actions...Bukubukuchagama-sama might get angry with me...

It was simple enough to say she didn't want to play that game. However, in order to gather information and to also loosen their lips, it might be necessary for her to agree to it. Everyone was the same in this regard. Say there was someone who accepted your proposal versus someone who rejected it.Who would you like better? Plus, those who played the same games together could usually become friends.

On the other hand, what would happen if she said she didn't want to play that game?

If that were the case, Aura didn't have the confidence that she could make a good suggestion if she were asked what game they were going to play then.

Aura could suggest a few games to play. For example, foot races, tree climbing, "sword fighting", and so on. However, those kinds of games were clearly decided by differences in how good you were at playing them and more. Also, there shouldn't be any child who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Aura and Mare—especially Mare—in terms of pure physical abilities.

If that were the case, they would be boring games that had a foregone conclusion. In order to cheer them up, they could just let themselves barely lose. But, it was common knowledge that Aura was supposed to have—had driven away the Ankyloursus Lord. If a person as strong as that started saying, "oh no, I lost!" in a foot race or something, then even a child should realize that she was losing just to butter them up. If their relationship could be deepened though something like that, then those children would have to be people of great character.

So, if you were to ask her if there was an option of not playing, that would be impossible.

Because her absolute master had told her to "go play."

If that were the case—

"Si-sis... c-could it be..."

Mare had a startled expression on his face. He probably remembered the same things as she did, and arrived at the same conclusion.

Aura used all the strength in her body to give the frightened Mare her best smile.

"So this really has been an 'extremely high-level mission,' Mare!"