Overlord - Of Sin And Sanctity

It took a surprisingly short amount of time to get within sight of the village, and I must say I"m not particularly impressed with what"s in front of me. It"s quite literally just a jumbled mess of houses in close-ish proximity. If you wanted to do anything at all in this place you would have to basically raze it to the ground and start from scratch.

I realized a while ago that we would look odd walking into the village with our appearances, but you know what? I don"t really care. Unless there"s a law against fancy clothing I don"t think it will cause too many problems. We"ve both hidden our wings though.

As we get closer some of the villagers arrive to "welcome" us with wary and distrusting looks on their faces. I wonder what we did to offend them.

Dabilosi: Ho there. My friend and I are lost and need a place to stay, would you mind accommodating us? We can pay, but sadly only in ancient gold coins.

Hehe, that shut them up. They seemed rather stunned that I said that, and now they look torn. One of them comes up and pauses a moment before speaking.

???: We... This is too much of a decision for us to make alone, please follow us to see the chief, and if it wouldn"t be too much trouble could you leave any weapons you have with us.

Dabilosi: Search me, I haven"t got anything on me "cept the coins in my pocket, and he hasn"t even got that.

It"s true, I put everything else in my inventory.

???: Right this way then, I"m Hizol by the way, Hizol Emmot.

Ah so their names aren"t too weird. It helps when creating your own.

Dabilosi: Darnell Salas, and this is Ryker Edwards. We come from the far East.

Hizol: (That doesn"t sound too far-fetched, if you travel directly west from here I don"t remember there being any major towns or cities, but far enough away there are bound to be other civilizations.)

(A.N: Using normal brackets to explain things as well, but it should be obvious which it is because I have Dabilosi"s thoughts separate to his speech and I would normally explain things during his speech.)

As we walk through the village we--- ok we"re already there. Huh. That"s certainly something. But he didn"t actually search me after I told him he should, he just believed that I had nothing on me. I mean sure, the words "search me" lend themselves to trust but we just suddenly appeared out of nowhere! That should give them at least some incentive to search us right? Anyway, the chief, a bulky man with a receding hairline, is right in front of me and looking excited but at the same time slightly fl.u.s.tered. My guess is he"s only just been told about us, in which case I can add disorderly to my list of insults to throw at this dump of a village.

Dabilosi: I take it you"re the chief then?

Well, it was obvious because his back is straight as a ramrod but it"s fun to follow the niceties occasionally.

Chief: Come in.

Rude. The house doesn"t actually look too bad, there"s a well maintained fireplace, a few paintings hanging on the walls and there is a respectable lack of dust within sight, so I sit down at his table and prepare to be interrogated. Xygat stays standing because he"s a little too bulky and it would be uncomfortable. Or at least I hope that"s the reason, because the alternative is he doesn"t want to be disrespectful by sitting at the same table as me, and I think that"s just a bit excessive.

Chief: So, why do you need a place to stay?

Dabilosi: Well, I thought that was obvious, we"ve been walking for far too long and want a rest.

Chief: There are other villages, and even towns and cities in every direction. It"s impossible that you came here by chance, so tell me, why do you need a place to stay?

He"s raising his voice a bit now, I should probably say something slightly more substantial this time.

Dabilosi: Okay we get it, we"re offshoots of a tribe somewhere and our home"s been destroyed, we don"t have anywhere to go, happy now?

Please let something like that exist, please let me have sounded sincere and annoyed enough. Please lord be merciful!

Chief: (The only groups of people in "tribes" would be the Demi-humans in the Abelion Hills. Wait---)Demi-humans?! What"re you doing here? Aren"t your kind at war with the Roble Holy kingdom? And how did you get through the Slane theocracy?

Oh thank goodness. But wait, I need to follow through! On another note - Demihumans, like, partially human, as in, catgirls?

Dabilosi: I"d... Rather not answer that. I"m just looking for a map of the world and some general knowledge so we can survive on our own. You see, we"ve never had contact with anyone except our own kind and most seem to think we only need the knowledge pa.s.sed down through generations.

Bulls*** don"t fail me now!

Chief: That"s... I"m not sure.

Dabilosi: I won"t ask anything intruding, just the most basic things like what the currency is and what jobs people like us could take. Please I don"t even know where the next village is and we"ll get shunned if I ask in big towns...

Chief: Guh, alright. But I"ll only tell you the basic things... Why is your partner not saying anything.

Dabilosi: Thank you kind sir, may blessings rain down upon you! Also, uh...

Xygat: No need.

Laying it on a bit thick, but he seems to be taking it quite well with an amused smile. That"ll make his lips slightly looser when I start asking questions as well.

After I asked him to translate the map he brought out, which made him even less suspicious of me because it would be a bit odd if I could read, I found out that Nazarick has landed in the territory of the Re-Estize kingdom, neighbours of the Agrand council alliance and with mountains separating it from the Baharuth empire, which goes to war with them every year without fail, and the Slane theocracy, a religious state that believes humans are superior. In fact we"re in the only stretch of land that connects the three powers. In other words, if the denizens of this world are stronger than us, we haven"t got a chance at all. A copper piece is the basic standard for money, with a silver being 13 copper, a gold being 100 silver, and a platinum being ten gold. So copper to silver is a really awkward number, silver to gold is a ridiculous leap, and only then at gold to platinum, which apparently barely anyone uses, do we see any normality and sense. Right. Warriors work best in a city as adventurers, taking requests ranging from menial labour to hunting a beast terrorising nearby villages. Obviously there was the obligatory mention that this has never happened here. Time to drop the big one.

Dabilosi: Just out of curiosity would you and I be conscripted in wartime?

Chief: Not normally, because I"m needed to grow crops to keep the soldiers alive. You don"t even exist yet according to them. But with the way things are going we might be at some point.

Huh, I was expecting him to get wary over that one. I guess once he thought he established I wasn"t a spy he didn"t bother to keep his guard up. More importantly, these villagers could become conscripts. That implies that these people are not too far below the rest of the kingdom and the strongest in the kingdom can"t be all that powerful or there would be no need, I mean, even an army of a hundred thousand of these people would just be more cannon fodder if a super-tier magic was cast. Even just a few tier 8 spells might do it. That makes everything much easier. The Baharuth empire shouldn"t be too much more powerful if they go to war with these people every year.

Dabilosi: Thanks, oh and by the way, do you think you could weigh my gold, take a few of the coins as well if you want as payment for all this.

Chief: No, I couldn"t possibly-!

Dabilosi: It"s the least I can do. And the most I can do but still, if you don"t I"ll feel like I"ve taken advantage of you.

Yggdrasil gold coins are twice as regular gold coins, and with the artwork on it, it would be about five times more valuable. So I guess Nazarick just became exceedingly stupidly rich. Nah, we won"t be able to use more than ten or so else we run the risk of becoming suspicious. After a quick meal, I ask him where we"re staying and he leads us over to the guest house. It says on the front that"s what it is. Wait I can read now? I mean, in my character description I said that I learn everything much faster, but even if it did transfer over, much faster shouldn"t mean instant should it?!

Once we"re alone and I"ve put up anti-detection and spying precautions, I start talking.

Dabilosi: So, what do you think of this place?

Xygat: Bad.

Dabilosi: Ok, the chief seemed friendly didn"t he.

Xygat: He is stupid.

Dabilosi: Pff, well, we got a lot of information at the very least.

Xygat: Yes.

Could I please get a little more from you? It"s like I"m talking to a rock.

Dabilosi: I"m going to report back now.

Xygat: Ok.

Dabilosi: [Message - Albedo] Albedo?

Albedo: [Message - Dabiloi] Lord Dabilosi?! What happened? Are you in danger?

Dabilosi: [Message - Albedo] No, of course I"m not, I just wanted to give a report on what I found out about where we are. First off, I saw a map that I can quickly jot down from memory. Second---

And it goes on, and on, and on. Yup.

Albedo: [Message - Dabilosi] This is... A lot of information. Thank you Lord Dabilosi, now we can better prepare.

Dabilosi: [Message - Albedo] I guess this means you won"t mind me staying out here a while longer? I"ll help the villagers and then when they go to the city to deliver their crops, I"ll go with whoever it is and enter the city through legitimate means. It would cause some problems otherwise.

Albedo: [Message - Dabilosi] Very well, I will inform Lord Momonga.

Dabilosi: [Message - Albedo] Bye for now!

Dabilosi: Xygat, do you want to get back to Nazarick?

Xygat: No.

Well, sleep it is then. On these itchy, scratchy, straw beds. I"m getting some monstrous spider silk out. Yes, I am the person who fills their inventory and the guild storage with anything that "could be useful".

Waking up pretty early I throw the silk back in my inventory and rush over to the window immediately. Why? Because generally I sleep in, but I got woken up by someone yelling up at me to come help them carrying water. So I jump out the window.

Hizol: You need to earn your keep, go help my daughter Enri collect the water.

She"s blushed for a moment there. It wasn"t for long, but why was she blus.h.i.+ng, I am actually curious.

Dabilosi: Happily. I was actually wondering what took you so long.

The best thing about my clothes is that they don"t need was.h.i.+ng because Angels don"t sweat and their skin doesn"t produce oils. I don"t know how it works, they just don"t, and their skin is still nice and soft. Uh, yeh, manual labour!

Enri: Follow me!

Dabilosi: Alright, lead on.

When we get there she seems to decide to be "nice". It just sounds patronising though.

Enri: I"ll carry two buckets, you carry two, but if that"s too much then you can just come back for the other one.

I pick up the two buckets with relative ease and she"s blus.h.i.+ng again! This is the second time. Seriously, why? I think I"m actually going to ask. This is ridiculous.

Dabilosi: Why are you blus.h.i.+ng? I just lifted a few buckets.

Ah, now she"s gone bright red. Ah well, maybe she"ll still answer.

Enri: Th, I-... W-Why do you have to look so perfect?!

Eh? Oh. Right that would make sense. I spent 10 hours accentuating everything about my character with sephiroth as the base, so while I look like him, and most people thought he was already beautiful, it"s been multiplied by quite a few fold. Not to mention I have emotions and can display them properly. When I think about it carefully it was kind of obvious.

Dabilosi: Well sorry, not much I can do about that, let"s just get these buckets back to your house, that is, unless you have something else in mind?

Enri: Th-that"s not-! I didn"t-!

Dabilosi: Pfff, hahahaha, oh look at you, acting like that over such a simple thing. Let"s get going before, I don"t know, they think I did something to you.

Boy her pace really picked up at that. I don"t know if it"s the thought that they"d get upset or the thought of me doing something with her. Hmmm.

Well, back at the house and Enri is still a bit red but nothing major.

*Ding!*... *Ding!*. *Ding!*, *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!*... *Ding!*

Oh? Something triggered my alarms, but the sound isn"t too loud so at most it"s a group of level 25s, probably only around level 15-20. I should probably go stop them.

Dabilosi: Enri?

Enri: Yes?

Dabilosi: There are soldiers coming.

Enri: Wh-what?

Dabilosi: There are men headed this way, and they don"t seem friendly, tell your dad, tell the chief, tell everyone. I don"t know how strong they are. But if they"re too strong I"ll hold them off so everyone can run.

I mean, I"m not lying. After I say that I "run" to the house to get Xygat. Who is still asleep. Good job protecting me at all times mate. I can"t be bothered with anything else so I just throw him out the window. It"s been a big help today.

Dabilosi: Now follow me, there are a bunch of idiots about to attack the village.

Xygat: Oh.

It feels a bit awkward to just stand at the front of the village and wait, but I guess it"s the only way I can ensure that the other villagers can get ready and see me win. It"s a bit vain of me, but hey, if I"m going to fight I want to gain something out of it, even if it"s just popularity. Ah, here they come now.

Dabilosi: SO! Who the heck are you and why are you here?

???: I am Captain Belius, and I would prefer it if you die without a fight.

Dabilosi: Ok Belius, would you mind, you know, not killing everyone here.

Belius: I will think about it if you can explain what that abomination of a sword you carry is.

Obviously a lie, sc.u.mbag, but talking about it gives me more time and I have the urge to brag anyway.

Dabilosi: It is called the Masamune, and it isn"t just a sword, it"s my sword. It has been with me through a lot more than you know, and it will be with me for through much more. To call it an abomination is to call me an abomination, and... ask anyone I know... I do not, take, criticism.

About halfway through that the villagers started to come out of the village behind me, so I guess it"s time. [Dominion Aura] [Judgment Aura] [Pinnacle Aura]. Dominion Aura reduces the opponent"s attack stats due to the majestic presence of the user. Judgment aura reduces defences due to the acceptance of punishment by the opponent for reasons only known to said opponent, and Pinnacle Aura makes the targets fear the great power of the user. I got that one alongside the Control Freak cla.s.s. If the aura descriptions in the game, like all other descriptions so far, are real now, this is the perfect combination to make people feel inferior.

As soon as I activate my auras, the vast majority of them fall to the ground, Belius included. However, there is one who stays standing, defiant even, against a power he knows he can do nothing about. I wait a minute or two before speaking.

Dabilosi: You. What is your name?

He looks like he"s struggling a lot, but he"ll get there. I"m very curious as to what kind of man can withstand level 100 pressure at whatever he has reached.

???: L-L... Londes!

Dabilosi: If it"s not too intrusive of a question, why can you stand up still?

Londes: i-I... Pro,mised... Family... I would... Suc, ceed.

Dabilosi: Duty, is it. Hmmm. Such a strong willed character. Alright, if I kill everyone here, except for you, what will you do?

Londes: Report... Then die.

Dabilosi: Ah. I can"t be having that, you"re much too interesting. I also much respect your choice, so here"s what I will do. I"m going to send all of you back, and not interfere with whatever your mission is, as long as you do not attempt to kill any more of the villagers or anyone else I find interesting.

With that I release the auras and they run away as fast as their legs can carry them.

Chief: Why did you let them go, you obviously could have beaten them.

Dabilosi: That man, Londes, will do what he can to honor his end of our deal. It guarantees safety for the rest of you better than killing them, as a group surrounding the village could still have many casualties. Let"s get back to your--- FFS!

There"s another reason, but that one isn"t relevant to these villagers except by proxy.

Chief: What is it?!

Dabilosi: More people coming, stronger, but less of them. Not related, because that first lot would flee directly to whoever they"re with. It"s probably someone sent to deal with this problem. They would"ve been too late though if that is the case. Ryker, could you go greet our new guests and bring them over to the village square?

Xygat: Ok.

Chief: If you wouldn"t mind me saying so, is letting the enemy go with knowledge of your weapon and auras a good idea?

Dabilosi: My friend, they know nothing about me.