Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 2, Chapter 1

Winter's Crown: Act 2, Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hmm…this should be about right…

He carefully examined his reflection, clad in black plate, one last time before turning to Narberal.

“Is there anything amiss?” He asked her, “Anything different from Momon’s most recent appearance?”

The battle maid, in the guise of ‘Beautiful Princess’ Nabe, bowed deeply upon being addressed.

“Hah,” she affirmed. “Your appearance is perfect as always, Ainz-sama.”

How can she even tell when she has her head down like that?

His first attempt to go out into the city as Momon had been thwarted by his own doubts, with Albedo’s report on his return raising all sorts of questions over whether he could manage carrying out the role without ruining whatever Pandora’s Actor had going on. When Ainz finally caught up with all of his work, he took the time to approach the Doppelganger to see if he could figure out what he had done.

What stage? What actors? Some day, I hope I can meet this mysterious Ainz Ooal Gown person and ask him what exactly his ‘Great Work’ is…

He couldn’t even try to fish out any details, out of the fear that Pandora’s Actor would ask him questions about this mysterious master plan in return.

In the end, Ainz had resorted to observing Momon as he interacted with the citizenry…except he couldn’t figure anything out from doing so. Momon was well-received wherever he went, interacted with local leaders and commoners alike, and acted as the Hero that everyone looked up to. Nothing seemed amiss or particularly noteworthy – the act was so perfect that he couldn’t tell any of its pieces apart.

“Are you certain?” He asked Narberal, “If Pandora’s Actor has made any adjustments, however slight, the citizens may notice and issues will arise as a result.”

“If anyone takes issue with your appearance, Ainz-sama,” Narberal said, “I will mark them to be incarcerated indefinitely by the authorities.”

“That’s not–!” He cleared his throat, “Nabe, my objective is to seamlessly assume the role of Momon for a few hours. Any strangeness due to my appearance or behaviour will conflict with this goal. Also – you should be addressing me as Momon now.”

“Hah!” She bowed even more deeply before straightening to speak. “Pandora’s Actor has made no alterations to Momon’s appearance, Momon-sa–n.”

So she can say it right…wait, how did she screw it up in the same sentence?

Well, there was no agonizing over it. His various experiments and attempts to streamline the setting-induced behaviour of the NPCs to their new reality had convinced him that, rather than trying to force them into uncharacteristic changes, it was best to find roles that suited their ‘natural’ settings. Cocytus’ progress with the Demihuman tribes of the Great Lake served as the springboard for the concept, and he had followed suit with various assignments along that vein. Albedo’s settings made her an excellent head administrator for the Sorcerous Kingdom, Pandora’s Actor fit in perfectly in his role as Momon, and the NPCs stationed in and around the city promoted various positive aspects that enhanced the reputation of the fledgling nation.

Most recently, Shalltear had proven that this methodology was correct. Due to Cainabel’s portfolio, Shalltear – as a Cleric of that particular deity – had, in turn, demonstrated talent in logistics. If the NPC who was most often perceived as an agent of wanton destruction could be turned to such productive ends and naturally grow as an individual, Ainz wondered what other gems he might be able to find hidden within the mountain of setting information in Nazarick.

“If I may say so, Momon-sa–n,” Narberal added as he started to drift away into the possibilities, “Pandora’s Actor has involved himself heavily with the citizens in performing his various tasks according to your orders. While Momon’s outward appearance has not changed, his degree of involvement with the people has. There are…relationships that have grown over the months, and many new ones that have formed.”

“Of that, I am aware. Out of consideration for his ongoing efforts, I will refrain from doing anything that will interfere with what he has planned.” Ainz chuckled to himself, “I have become something of a Doppelganger myself, don’t you agree? ”

“Hah…”

A dispassionate expression appeared on Narberal’s face with her reply, and Ainz berated himself inwardly. With only a single level in Doppelganger, Narberal did not possess the same range of abilities as the others of her kind in Nazarick. A bystander might say that he was singling her out over something she had no control over. He cleared his throat again in the awkward silence.

“According to my expectations,” Ainz told her, “Darkness has performed according to plan as a bridge between the Sorcerous Kingdom and its citizens. That means you have done an excellent job as well, Nabe.”

Narberal’s expression lifted, and her eyes shone at his words.

“This one is unworthy of such praise,” she lowered her head again. “Thank you very much, Ain–Momon-sa–n!”

And, just like that, a year of corrections over how she addressed him had rewound back to the beginning.

He suppressed a sigh, wondering if he erred somewhere, somehow. Thankfully, as Pandora’s Actor had pointed out, the image that Narberal conveyed as Nabe was not only remarkably popular, but also served as a powerful foil to the more friendly and heroic image of Momon. The perfect casting for the role, by the Doppelganger’s estimation. Ainz could only thank his lucky stars that his selection had worked out spectacularly well in the end. Though Narberal, with her downturned gaze could not see it, he nodded regally out of habit.

“Umu. It’s time to head out into the city: there are several things I wish to witness in person.”

Various subject headers in the endless march of paperwork he had been inundated with recently had caught his attention, and enough time working had passed that he finally felt that he could come up with some excuse to free himself for a few hours.

Foremost among them was checking up on how the newly re-envisioned Adventurer Guild was doing, but that would come last due to their training schedule. He had expressed his curiosity over the new Demihuman Quarter as well, but both Mare and Albedo insisted that they had only just finished with its basic layout and that he should visit when it was closer to completion and more worthy of being graced with his presence. It was a shame, considering that he wanted to see Yuri’s orphanage as well.

Aside from that, he wanted to personally experience the city at its most lively, to compare how things were relative to the time before his last visit to the Empire. For this, he had decided to go as Momon. Though he had walked the streets as the Sorcerer King together with Darkness a few times now, people would make themselves scarce the moment they saw him and he could not see what he wanted to as a result. At least it appeared that the streets were no longer as dreary as they once were.

When’s the last time I even went shopping around the markets?

The answer was too long ago. It wasn’t since he had last taken Momon’s guise, before the annexation of E-Rantel, that he had been free to peruse the strange and sometimes interesting things that could be found in this world. Going out into the markets was like hunting for rare treasure – something that he did not realize he would miss at the time. He had wanted to see the Imperial Ministry of Magic’s exhibition as well, but they were now long gone.

“I haven’t strolled around the markets for months now,” he told Narberal. “Let’s head to the main plaza first, shall we?”

Narberal voiced her affirmative and followed him out of the solar of the former mayor’s residence. The maids attending to the manor opened the doors ahead of them and, eventually, they found themselves before the main entrance.

“By the way,” he said, “what are today’s security arrangements?”

“In addition to the city’s security forces,” Narberal replied, “there are ten Hanzos keeping an eye on our procession from the rooftops nearby. Aura, Mare and Sebas, as well as Pestonya, Nigredo and Yuri Alpha and can be called in at a moment's notice from where they are in the city.”

“What happened to the usual Eight-Edged assassins?”

“The streets have become too busy for them to be able to operate to an acceptable standard,” Narberal replied. “Of course, we will bring them, if that is your command…”

“No, it’s fine Nabe,” he held up a gauntleted hand. “We’ll go with these arrangements.”

Too busy for Eight-Edged assassins? That was a promising sign indeed. He couldn’t wait to see what it felt like for himself.

They made their way through the roads of the central district and Ainz was greeted with the city’s busy streets the moment he came into view of the gatehouse leading to the common area. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic streamed constantly in front of him and it felt only a bit less lively than it was when he had first entered as an unknown stranger and received his copper plate. His illusory face smiled inside his helm at the sight as he joined the throng of people making their way around the city.

For having the vast majority of their trade stem from the Empire, it was not bad. It was great, actually. Once the Dwarves had reestablished themselves and merchants started flowing from the west and south as well, he dared to imagine that E-Rantel would be far busier than before. The fearful faces of the people seemed nothing more than a distant memory, and everywhere he could see people of all ages and vocations going about their business, paying little mind to the Undead maintaining security in the city.

Ainz felt many gazes fall upon him, far more than what he experienced at the height of his brief adventuring career. He nodded to himself – Pandora’s Actor had entrenched Momon’s image even deeper in the eyes of the people, as he had ordered, but he wondered just how the popularity of the Sorcerer King was supposed to increase with all of this happening. It was decidedly strange how, so far, he appeared to be more popular with the Dwarves than he was with most of his own subjects.

At first, he believed that he should slowly acclimate the citizens to his presence and that of the Undead as a whole, but progress was decidedly lopsided. Ainz eyed several children playing in the shadow of a militia post, where an Elder Lich and Death Knight were silently looking on. What would happen if he traded places with one of his summons? Surely the children would run away, or their parents would hurriedly take them to safety.

Brand awareness and market penetration, huh.

It was an easily recognizable issue to anyone that had even a bit of experience in sales. If Death Knights were brand A, Elder Liches were brand B and Ainz Ooal Gown, the Sorcerer King was brand C, brand A and B – who had a visible presence as they served everywhere in large quantities – would gain widespread recognition faster and have more opportunities to make sales than C. He imagined that, if any merchant heading out from the Sorcerous Kingdom were asked to describe an image that they considered ubiquitous to his nation, it would not have Ainz Ooal Gown anywhere upon it – just Death Knights, Soul Eaters and Elder Liches.

But how could he solve this? There was only one Sorcerer King.

Merchandising? No, the last time I tried that, it flopped horribly. Actually no, the goal is not producing financial gains this time…

Maybe this was why, throughout Earth’s history, leaders had statues and portraits of themselves commissioned and their faces stamped on currency. Even so, the statue at the Great Lake made him cringe internally every time his eyes crossed over it, so what would it be like if such monuments were all over the place? He could almost feel Ulbert angrily shaking his fist at him as he mulled over the idea.

As Ainz contemplated the matter, his surroundings widened and he looked up to see that he had entered the main plaza. He took in the crowds that stretched to the ends of the space in both directions, milling through rows of stalls representing a myriad of merchants selling goods from every industry. The explosion of activity that greeted his senses was indeed a stark contrast to the dreary atmosphere from before. He looked left, then right, wondering which way he should go.

Well, it did not take much to decide. To his left, stretching towards the Merchant Guild, were the stalls that presented more mundane wares for daily life and met the demands of the various industries within the city and its surrounding territories. To his right, towards the Magician Guild, Adventurer Guild and Cathedral, the wares displayed were more to his interest. This placement was on purpose, of course, to catch the eye of those traversing from the abovementioned locations: enticing them with magic items, arms and armor, alchemical consumables and the other goods and materials that saw demand by those organizations.

He turned to his right and joined the slowly moving crowd, and people turned to greet the Dark Warrior cheerfully. Fortunately, none seemed to be willing to occupy him at length for the moment, so he could reply vaguely while browsing the merchandise on display.

Gone were the dozens of Adventurers reselling used and salvaged items at makeshift stands, as E-Rantel no longer served as a busy quest hub for the nearby region. In their place were more organized and well-stocked merchants dipping their toes in the vacated market for equipment.

The items were, if he was to be polite about it, the best that the region could produce – and without the advanced resources from Yggdrasil, the best they could produce was equipment that he might consider suitable for low-level players. Ease of customization through data crystals was nonexistent, and magic items required specialized crafters and specific spells which may or may not be available from individual to individual. Durability was also an issue, with the best materials available being Adamantite or its equivalent in wood or textile form.

That being said, he had encountered more than a few interesting articles, though none approaching that of even a mid-tier item in Yggdrasil. There also existed spells in this world that produced effects that did not exist in Yggdrasil, and thus magic items that did not exist in Yggdrasil could also be created. With the fact that new magics could be researched and developed, the possibilities for Enchanting were, in theory, limitless.

And then there was Runecraft. Gondo and the other Runesmiths whom he had acquired for the Sorcerous Kingdom were still moving into Carne Village with their families, but Ainz greatly anticipated what the revival of their art would bring. The bulk of his investment in magical item production was focused on Runecraft, as it could potentially create magic items without the costs associated with Enchanting.

I will have to come up with some way to market Runecraft as well…

All of his thoughts surrounding low level magical items eventually led him to turn to look at the Adventurer Guild nearby. He had met with Ainzach, along with Mare and Pandora’s Actor, several times since its repurposing. Equipment was one of the more pressing issues when it came to the nascent organization – no matter how hard their members trained and advanced in rank, the lack of suitable equipment presented a wall that was impossible to surpass. Beyond a certain point in levels, monsters and other potential adversaries started to manifest special properties that required magical equipment to effectively overcome.

The opening of Dwarven markets would alleviate this need for now, but it didn’t mean that they shouldn’t try to achieve better. Due to the nature of crafting in this world, however, it was an industry that was difficult to establish. The majority of demand for magic items in this world was actually for domestic applications, followed distantly by militaries that jealously guarded their sources. It was unlike Yggdrasil, where item production was mainly focused on supporting the combat-related aspects of the game. There was a veritable mountain of low and mid tier equipment that had somehow collected in the Guild Treasury over the years, but Ainz felt that those items should only be awarded sparingly, rare enticements dangled as valuable prizes at the very top of their new point catalogue.

He spent another hour browsing through the market, speaking casually to various people and taking in the atmosphere of E-Rantel. Finally feeling satisfied with what he had seen, he stepped out to the side of the crowd, looking at the sun directly above.

“Hmm…it’s about that time,” he told Narberal, “we should head over to the Adventurer Guild – no, the Expeditionary Office? There should be a fresh training session starting within the hour.”

He wasn’t sure about calling the place where most of the Adventurer Guild’s administrative functions were relocated to the ‘Expeditionary Office’. In truth, he liked the old terms better and the new vocabulary sounded too aggressive for what he had intended as an intrepid and romantic exploratory organization under the benevolent umbrella of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Narberal opened her mouth to respond, but movement to their side turned her attention away. A woman in a green and white dress was walking straight towards them. For some reason, Narberal turned her head back to him and quickly looked him over.

Her behaviour struck Ainz as strange. Did she know who the approaching woman was? He quickly mulled over several possibilities. A clingy fangirl? A creepy stalker? An assassin? No – she wouldn’t be alive to approach them if it was the latter. Still, something about this woman had put the battle maid on her guard. He turned to give the approaching individual his full attention as she closed the last few metres between them.