Part 3A few hundred meters away, th

Part 3


A few hundred meters away, there was a large clearing in the direction of the forest.. The goblins felled the trees there to construct the palisade, but the opening looked like the maw of a giant monster.
Ainz's group did their final check here. The young man who made the job request was the first to speak up:

"We will be entering the forest now, I will be relying on everyone to act as escorts. The territory of the Virtuous King of the Forest isn’t far from here, if everything goes well the chance of encountering other monsters will be low. The only problem is that the place where we encountered the ogres yesterday was also inside the Virtuous King of the Forest's area of influence, so something might be happening in the forest. This is a somewhat trivial matter, but nevertheless I hope everybody will keep their guard up."

Enfrea's gaze stopped on Ainz's face momentarily.
The members of the ‘Sword of Darkness’ also looked at Ainz.
"With Momon-san here, it shouldn't be a problem."
"If the Virtuous King of the Forest shows up, we will keep it busy. Please escape in the meanwhile."
Ainz's confident words made everyone swoon. After the battle with the Ogres yesterday, he became the center of attention.

Ainz felt uncomfortable with everyone praising him.. His embarrassment was the result of not having been praised much in his past life. Ainz envied Narberal who accepted all this proudly.
"If there’s a need to run, could I trouble you all to clear the area? The stronger the Virtuous King of the Forest is, the more power I need to use and I don’t want everyone getting caught in the crossfire."

"Understood. We will protect Enfrea-san and escape out of the forest. Please don't push yourself too much either, Momon-san."
"Thank you. I will run if I think it is too dangerous."
"Erm... Momon-san."
Enfrea who was hesitant about speaking up finally made up his mind:
"Could you spare the Virtuous King of the Forest and just chase him away?"

"... Why?"
"Well... Because of the influence of the Virtuous King of the Forest, Carne is able to avoid the attacks of monsters. If you defeat the Virtuous King of the Forest..."
"I see..."
"This is rather tough. Momon-san might be very strong, but the opponent is a legendary monster. If he doesn't use his full power, Momon-san might not be able to protect himself. How could he spare the effort——"

"I understand."
"Huh?!"
Lukeluther yelled in surprise. The other members of the Sword of Darkness didn’t speak up, but they still had a surprised expression on their faces.
"It might be difficult, but I will do my best to hold back and endeavor to drive it away."
Listening to Ainz’s confident words, the group of adventurers felt shivers running down their spines.

"Even though the opponent... is the legendary monster that lived for centuries..."
"This is the attitude of a powerful man..."
"Considering Momon-san's personality, he shouldn’t be boasting..."
Unlike the members of the Sword of Darkness, Enfrea had a rough idea of Ainz’s strength and was showing a relieved expression. Ainz smiled in his heart as he watched this young man.

The young man hoped that no monsters would attack Carne village. If Ainz replaced the Virtuous King of the Forest with another monster to maintain the sphere of influence, Ainz could still grant the young man's wish.
Even if Ainz killed the Virtuous King of the Forest, he could resolve the issue by sending an underling from Nazarick to take over.
"Alright! Let's make haste, the herb I want to harvest looks like this. Please inform me if anyone finds these."

Enfrea took out a dried plant from the pouch on his waist.
"Oh, its Arnica grass!"
To Ainz, this plant was no different from the weed growing nearby, but the druid Dyne could tell the difference and identify it by name.

Reacting to this name, Lukeluther and Ninya nodded in agreement. They probably had some knowledge about plants and found the name familiar.
As Ainz was hesitating if he should pretend to know about it, everyone was looking at him.
"Would you have any problem, Momon-san?"

"Hmmm? Ah, that plant? I got it."
Ainz nodded calmly.
If not for the mental tenacity of the undead, his voice would’ve wavered or changed in pitch. But Ainz's expression was covered by his helmet, so no one would know what he was thinking. Ainz who was covered in layers of metal looked impressive, but he was wavering on the inside.

"Yes, this is the herb that is normally used in the process of making healing potions."
"And it grows near the adventurers guild!"
"Oh, is that so. Then the mystery of why we made the trip to the forest in order to harvest the herb is solved—— I heard that wild herbs are more potent than farmed ones?"
That's correct. All the potions from my place uses natural herbs, that is a selling point to be proud of! But the potency only increases about 10 percent."

"For people with their life on the line, these 10 percent are very important. Selling better potions for the same retail price as others... As expected of the famous Bareal pharmacy."
Listening to the members of the Sword of Darkness discussing potions with Enfrea, Ainz fell into deep thought.
YGGDRASIL's potion were made using skills that were available to specific job classes and enchanting ingredients with spells. Ainz had knowledge about this, but he heard it was created from a specific material and alchemic liquid. He had never heard about using herbs...

This meant that potion creation in this world was different from YGGDRASIL. When Enfrea said 'it couldn't be made through normal means', this was probably the reason.
Ainz believed that if he could harness skills techniques related to the potions of this world, it would strengthen Nazarick. The only question was how.
As he was deep in thought, the topic once again returned to the job at hand and Ainz listened carefully.
"There is an large, open clearing in the forest; I plan to set that area as our target. I already told Lukeluther-san about that place, so please lead the way."

After hearing Lukeluther reply 'Leave it to me', Enfrea returned his gaze to everyone.
"Let's start the harvesting—"
"—— I’d like to make a suggestion."
"Please enlighten us, Momon-san."
"Since Narberal can use a spell similar to the 「Alarm」 spell used back in the camp, could we split up temporarily after reaching the destination?"

Everyone including Enfrea frowned. They felt uneasy about the strongest combatant leaving in the middle of the most dangerous area.. Enfrea composed himself and replied:
"That's fine, but please don't take too long."
"Of course. To avoid getting lost in the forest, I will leave a trail of rope. Just pull it if anything happens."

"Should I come along? I need to watch out to make sure you don’t do anything weird with Nabel-chan."
"Die you lower life form (Aphid). Is there only lust in your brain? Can you even move if that is gone?"
"... Enough Nabel. Lukeluther-san, that won't be necessary. Ninya-san, is there any magic that allows us to locate each other if we get separated in the forest? It would be convenient if there is."

"I have never heard of such a spell. Such a spell would indeed be convenient."
After hearing Ninya's negative reply, Ainz nodded.
Among the magic of the 6th tier, there is a spell that allows you to locate specific objects. Does he lack the knowledge, or does YGGDRASIL have spells that do not exist in this world?

Leaving this question aside, Ainz gestured at Nabel with his chin, signaling her to get ready. Nabel received the order and watched the Sword of Darkness members closely:
"Momon-san and Nabel-san are leaving for a moment; they will start harvesting when they return."
Since the client decided this, no one protested. All the members of the Sword of Darkness agreed and nodded.

After concluding the final check, Enfrea gave the cue to set off in a loud voice.
The ground where the trees were cut down by the villagers had dried up. The woodland was easy to traverse, but the scenery in front of them gradually changed into a green maze.
The forest didn’t have any landmarks, to the point where one was unable to tell which direction they were heading. It created a feeling of helpless anxiety, an uneasiness that stemmed from having nothing to rely on. The trees covering the sky reinforced that effect and normal people would be afraid. But due to the mental strength of an undead, Ainz wouldn't feel any fear apart from his own lingering human emotions, calmly watching the grandiose scene of nature in awe.

In YGGDRASIL, Forests and other natural zones were nothing but the game world's sceneries —— this kind of thought appeared in his heart.
Ainz, who was proud of the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s design felt conflicted; he didn't realise that a natural forest could be so amazing.
I understand why Blue Planet-san likes nature so much...
As he watched the surroundings of the forest for signs of monsters, he noted that it was really quiet. Apart from the cawing of far-away birds, Ainz couldn't sense any living creatures.

He could see the back of the ranger Lukeluther, who used all his senses as he cautiously advanced. Lukeluther seemed to think there weren't any living beings hiding out there.
Actually, someone is hiding behind us.
Ainz was proud of the person approaching them unnoticed from the back.

The group——except for Ainz and Narberal —— were quietly moving in the sunlight while feeling extremely tense. The forest was surprisingly cool, but due to the uneven ground and the psychological pressure, the group was sweating buckets.
They finally reached an open space with a width of fifty meters.
"This will be our base. Let's pick the plants with here as the center."
Upon hearing Enfrea's words and seeing him put down his bags, everyone else followed suit but didn't let down their guard, prepared for any emergency as they watched their surroundings.

This was no longer the world of men.
"Let's move as we planned."
After acknowledg