Though he had suggested to Tamara that they should see the supplies to the fortress before parting ways, Vahn had overlooked the fact that all but one of their horses had been massacred in the ambush. The fortress was still more than sixty kilometers away, so after debating their options as a group, it was decided that Juliette would take the remaining horse back to E-Rantel to convey what had transpired and to request support. Everyone else stayed behind to guard the supplies, gathering them into a single pile with the remaining wagons positioned around them as a makeshift barrier with their camp inside.
Since he didn't require sleep, Vahn volunteered to take the first and last watches, permitting everyone else to sleep as best they could, given the circumstances. At the same time, he discussed what had transpired with Grayfia, Venelana, Misla, and many others within his harem to hear what they had to say on the matter. Their reactions did wonders for his mental state, which, due to his reduced number of perspectives, was surprisingly vulnerable to environmental influences.
thump-a-thump-a-thump-a-thump-a-thump
Hearing the familiar but distant reverberation of horses sprinting at full speed, Vahn stood up from where he was seated at the front of one of the coaches and gazed into the distance. He doubted the Baharuth Empire or the Slane Theocracy would have cavalry charging from the direction of E-Rantel, and his intuition was proven accurate as the group racing toward them was attired in grey armor with red and gold accents—colors he had come to associate with the Re-Estize Kingdom.
Reacting to the sound of the horses approaching, the members of Royal Purple awoke startled, followed by Tamara shouting, "Is it the enemy...!?" while reaching for her weapons.
"They're garbed as Knights of the Re-Estize Kingdom," corrected Vahn, his calm response and seemingly unflinching presence helping to ease tensions considerably. Everyone present within the camp had seen what he could do, so even if the approaching Knights turned out to be enemies in disguise, they trusted that he would fight to defend them.
"Hold! Hold...!" shouted a tall, broad-shouldered man with a remarkably angular jawline, swept-back, slightly spiky brown hair, and a chin-strap goatee. At his command, the cavalry slowed their advance and eventually stopped on the road nearest to Vahn and Co's encampment before loudly declaring, "I am Gazef Stronoff, Knight Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom! Come forth and declare yourselves, or we will be compelled to regard you as enemies!"
Stepping forward with his hands raised, Vahn took the lead to answer, "I am Vahn Mason, a Copper-Ranked Adventurer presently attached to the Platinum-Ranked Party, Royal Purple! We were escorting supplies to the eastern fortress of E-Salva when we were ambushed by agents from the Slane Theocracy! We still have seven of them here, captured as prisoners of war!"
Stepping forward with her hands similarly raised, Tamara shouted, "And I'm Tamara, Captain of the Platinum-Ranked Party, Royal Purple! We're based out of E-Asenaru but have traveled southward to assist with preparations for the Baharuth Empire's annual invasion!"
"Their descriptions match the records the Guild provided..." confirmed a fairly handsome Knight with blonde hair, presumably Gazef's second-in-command based on the quality of his equipment.
"Mmn...understood..." responded Gazef, dismounting his horse before taking bold steps toward Vahn, specifically. At 188cm tall, he typically towered over others, but compared to Vahn's 191cm, he came up just a tad short.
"Vahn Mason, was it? From the reports I heard, you basically took out an entire squad of Slane Theocracy special forces on your own. You have my thanks..." expressed Gazef, extending a gauntleted right hand to Vahn. His brown eyes were sharp and tinged with wariness, but there was a degree of sincerity to his words that couldn't be disguised.
"I'm glad I was there to help, but I was ultimately just doing the job that was assigned to me," responded Vahn, accepting Gazef's firm handshake with a casual but confident smile.
"Then, if you're willing, we have another job for you," revealed Gazef, his expression hardening as he explained, "We've received reports of attacks occurring in multiple frontier villages. I've heard tale that you're as skilled with Healing Magic as you are with a spear. You would be a welcome ally on the battlefield, but I am mainly requesting that you help minister aid to the wounded."
"I accept," responded Vahn, nodding. He would have refused if Gazef had tried to conscript him as a combatant, but he had no qualms about acting as a temporary combat medic. He preferred saving lives to taking them, and as Chaplains were basically devout Battle Priests, it would be strange if he refused and his Class later became public knowledge.
"Then you will temporarily be under the command of my Vice-Captain, Sir Andrews," stated Gazef, releasing Vahn's hand and turning his head as the blonde-haired Knight from before approached, appending, "That would be me..." in a sharp tone. Vahn got the distinct impression that Andrews was being assigned to keep tabs on him, but as he wasn't a spy and had more than a few means of escape, it didn't really matter...
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After promising the members of Royal Purple that he would share a drink with them after they all safely returned to E-Rantel, Vahn, riding atop one of the cavalry's spare horses, accompanied them to several villages that had already been raided and burnt to the ground. Eye-witness accounts attributed the raids to the Baharuth Empire, but as they already knew the truth, Gazef had his men log them as subterfuge by the Slane Theocracy. That didn't change the fact that most of the men and boys in the village had been slain, nor the fact that many of their women had been abducted, but it was important to keep accurate records for war reparations.
Unfortunately for Vahn—less so for the people he saved—it became very apparent that his capacities as a healer and magic caster were far beyond the standard. Most Clerics and Priests were only capable of healing three to five people before their Magic Power was exhausted, requiring them to take a half-day's rest. In his case, he could heal as many people as were brought to him, irrespective of the severity of their injuries. Doing so was mentally and physically exhausting, but as long as he took a short break between patients, he could continue indefinitely.
"I would like to apologize for my earlier suspicions," stated Gazef, offering Vahn a metal soup cup filled with a hot mix of chocolate and coffee as he confessed, "I had thought that you might be a plant by the Theocracy to gain our trust, but there's no way they would permit such a capable healer to enter enemy territory without protection. I doubt even the High Priests of the Roble Holy Kingdom could replicate the miracles you've performed throughout this long night."
"It's perfectly understandable that you would be wary of someone you don't know, particularly in times of war," responded Vahn, accepting the cup and drinking its contents without hesitation. There was a chance that it had been poisoned or drugged to make detaining him easier, but he was completely immune to such things.
With Gazef sitting next to him atop the thick log serving as his personal seat around the bonfire they had set up, Vahn waited for the man to ask the question obviously at the forefront of his mind, specifically, "What do you think about joining the Royal Order of Knights? With your talents, you could be designated as Captain of your own brigade and be awarded land and a title in no time at all."
Shaking his head, Vahn calmly replied, "I have no desire for land or titles. I travel to experience the world and help where I can. The only part I will have in any wars, outside of personal defense, will be ministering aid to all who cross my path. That is the path I've chosen..."
"Then forget I asked..." expressed Gazef, nodding approvingly and giving Vahn's shoulder a supportive grasp before getting up and leaving without pressing the matter further. This both surprised and impressed Vahn quite a bit, so while he had no plans to change his mind, he decided to continue accompanying Gazef's unit until they returned to E-Rantel...
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After a six-hour rest that was more for the horses than the Knights, Vahn once again set out with Gazef's unit to continue providing aid to as many villages as they could. He was frankly surprised by how many there were, but since they served as an early warning sign against invasion, it made a twisted kind of sense.
"Alright, men! Our next and final destination is Carne! Let's keep our wits about us until the end...!" shouted Gazef, causing Vahn to perk up atop his horse, one of the few that didn't appear even remotely fatigued despite a full day of ferrying him around.
'To think I would be returning there so soon...' Vahn mused, his expression turning thoughtful. When he previously visited, the most standout feature of Carne was its lack of standout features. Everything from its buildings to its people gave off a simple, rustic feeling. Now that he was returning to it as part of a travel-weary cavalry led by the Kingdom's strongest and most decorated warrior, he got the impression its predestined role was to serve as a battlefield or the location where a famed hero fell...
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Despite Andrews's efforts to convince Gazef to return to E-Rantel or the nearby fortress to let their unit and horses rest, the unit pressed forward at the Knight Captain's command. This was a particularly unwise decision in Vahn's opinion, but as the unit wasn't his to command, he didn't speak out and instead mentally prepared himself for what he anticipated to be a large-scale battle, set against the backdrop of a setting sun.
'Hmmm? This aura...'
As the village of Carne gradually came into view, Vahn felt what he could only describe as the shadow of death hanging over the land. There wasn't any black smoke rising into the sky like the other villages they had visited, but even without his Domain, he could sense two extraordinarily powerful presences. They were only around the level of a C-Rank Ascendee, but as Gazef, the Re-Estize Kingdom's Strongest Warrior, was approximately E to low D-Rank, it was a fairly massive leap in power.
'I'm beginning to think the ceiling of power in this world is strikingly low...' thought Vahn, his eyes narrowing slightly as the cavalry slowed down on approach to the village. Compared to his last visit, several buildings had been reduced to rubble or burnt down, but there were no bodies littering the area. More pertinently, there was a tall, remarkably broad-shouldered, fully robed man with insectoid pauldrons hosting massive, head-sized red orbs present alongside two others. One was none other than the middle-aged, axe-wielding man who had previously barred Vahn's entrance into the village. The other appeared to be a shapely woman in slimming, ebon-black armor, wearing an enclosed, demonic-looking, horned full helm that looked impossible to remove. Unsurprisingly, it was the two conspicuously dressed individuals whom Vahn had sensed.
Stopping sideways in front of the trio atop his horse, Gazef introduced, "I am the Chief Royal Warrior of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff. The King has commanded me to hunt down the disreputable Knights that have been attacking the surrounding villages."
"Thank you, General Gazef. We are very grateful that you have come all this way to aid us..." expressed the middle-aged man, the weary look on his face contradicting his words. It was clear from the state of the village that it had already been raided, so he was understandably dissatisfied at the cavalry's late arrival.
"Are you the Chief of this village? Who is this man next to you...?" asked Gazef, shifting his gaze to the hooded man with the massive pauldrons. Alongside his elaborate robes, he was also wearing a strange red mask with a large, toothy grin and green lining. Everything about him screamed odd, but as it was apparent that the man was responsible for the village's continued existence, Gazef spoke in a reserved tone.
Holding up his left hand to prevent the Chief from speaking, the hooded, masked man took it upon himself to declare, "There's no need to ask him for my name..." before offering a curt nod. Then, in a tone that seemed to resonate from the depths of the earth, he stated, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, General. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, and I'm a simple Magic User who happened to chance across the village while it was being ransacked by the very Knights you're searching for."
With his suspicions confirmed, Gazef immediately dismounted his horse and offered the mysterious Mage his gratitude. His demeanor was still full of caution, but just as he had with Vahn, he chose to give Ainz the benefit of the doubt. This was probably the wisest decision he had made in his entire life, because based on what Vahn was sensing, he imagined it wouldn't take much more than a single spell for Ainz to reduce the cavalry unit to dust...
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