Overlord (LN)

If the Six Gods were still hiding in the Slaine Theocracy, and if they had begun powerleveling others using the power of the Six Gods — i.e. helping them with the abilities of powerful players in order to gain experience faster than normal — from six hundred years ago, it might well be possible that there were people in excess of level one hundred.

If that were the case, the reason why the Theocracy had not yet taken over the world might be because there were other beings of the same calibre lying in wait. It might even be the case that being level one hundred meant nothing.

As he thought about that, Ainz’s nonexistent gut began cramping up again.

If the Six Gods really were players, then he had to try and get on their good side while he lacked information about this world. According to the members of the Sunlight Scripture, the Imperial knights attacking this village were imposters from the Theocracy, which meant that saving this village was making an enemy of them.

“Was helping them a mistake...”

As he had surmised, gathering more information was a top priority.

Just as Ainz was absentmindedly pondering these matters, he noticed a teenager running over to him. The hair which normally obscured his eyes swayed from side to side, and he could see a pair of eyes fixed intently on himself.

Ainz immediately had a bad feeling about Nfirea. It looked like the same panic the village chief had from earlier.

“Why the rush? Did an emergency crop up again? This village is really...”

Nfirea reached the mumbling Ainz.

He was panting heavily and his forehead was slick with sweat. His hair, stuck to his skin by his perspiration, revealed a serious expression which was directed at Ainz and Narberal.

Nfirea seemed a little hesitant and unsure of whether to speak. In the end, he gathered up his determination and asked Ainz:

“Momon-san, are you Ainz Ooal Gown-san?”

The sudden question left Ainz dumbfounded. He should have denied it immediately.

But could he do that? It was a name made together with his friends. Now that he had used it as his own, could he deny it so easily?

This brief hesitation was an unspoken admission, and Nfirea continued:

“So it was you, Gown-san. Thank you for saving this village, as well as saving Enri.”

As Ainz looked on the bowing Nfirea, he quietly replied, “No... I...”

After hearing the words Ainz managed to squeeze out, Nfirea nodded in understanding.

“Yes. I understand why you might want to go by a different name, but still, I have to thank you for saving this village — for saving Enri, the girl whom I like.”

Ainz did not reply to the deeply bowing Nfirea. While part of him, the middle-aged uncle part, was musing that the words “the girl whom I like” were really a youthful thing, another part of him was reminiscing nostalgically about things past, and at the same time he thought about other, more important things.

“Ah... that’s enough... raise your head.”

This answer was a tacit admission that he was in fact Ainz Ooal Gown, but no matter how he tried to get out of this, there was no way he could deny Nfirea’s conclusion. This was a complete defeat for Ainz.

“Yes, Gown-san. The truth is... I’ve been hiding something from you.”

“...Come with me. Nabe, stay here and wait for instructions.”

After giving Narberal her orders, Ainz brought Nfirea to a place some distance away. This was to keep Narberal from overreacting if she heard something odd.

Once they had gone far enough away from Narberal, Ainz turned to face Nfirea.

“Actually...”

Nfirea swallowed nervously, but the look on his face was full of determination.

“Gown-san, the potion which you gave that lady in the inn cannot be made by normal methods and is extremely rare. I wanted to know what sort of person would have such a potion and what kind of methods would produce such a potion, which was why I requested this job. I am very sorry about that.”

“Ah, so that’s what it was.”

As he thought, it had been a mistake.

Ainz had given the healing potion to Enri in this village, and to someone else in E-Rantel. Because of that, his identity had been exposed. In addition—

...Maybe I should have taken back that potion. If I’d gotten that woman adventurer’s name as well it would have been fine... although, there’s no point regretting it now.

At the time, Ainz felt that giving her that potion was the best course of action.