Chapter 2, Part 4

The next day the human army marched against the beastmen once again. Three battles back to back was pushing it, but Darkness and the men from Theocracy were doing most of the fighting. Chasing the beastmen who had their fighting spirit broken and were only trying to escape wasn’t as hard. Momon managed to talk the others into it. He claimed that they should strike while the initiative was on their side, though his true goal was to capture the minotaur.

Ainz felt that there was something off about the beastmen invasion. He had felt it ever since he had learned of the situation in the Draconic Kingdom. But even after capturing the beastmen general, who was in charge of this wing of the army, Ainz was no closer to the truth than when he started.

The only ones who could shed light on this issue were the minotaur brothers. And Ainz wanted to capture one of them while he had a chance.

The human army advanced on the enemy camp Momon had selected the previous day. However, he had no interest in this attack. That morning, just before they were set to march, one of the Hanzos returned. Apparently, the minotaur warrior had left the camp, and retreated further away from the humans’ offensive.

Momon couldn’t retract this attack, and it would take time for the other Hanzos to notify him of the new whereabouts of the minotaur. And so they marched on this beastmen encampment.

Once they arrived, Momon got to unleash some of his frustration on the beastmen, cutting through them like a tornado. Nabe and the men from the Slane Theocracy further crushed any resistance the defenders tried to pose. With their morale in shambles, the beastmen couldn’t hold against the humans whose morale was sky high.

The camp had been routed, and cheers rose into the blue sky as the humans chanted Momon’s name. It was undeniable that their recent success had been solely thanks to this warrior. In just one week, tales of his exploits spread from the army to the freed captives, to regular citizens. Momon, the Dark Hero, had become a symbol of hope for the Draconic Kingdom.

Although the Minister found this slightly disturbing, a rescuer becoming the target of worship was expected. At least it was Momon and not the undead king, like in the Holy Kingdom.

After the camp fell, the Queen held another meeting, to discuss future plans.

“We had advanced this far, but we can’t continue without supplies. Although we have routed the beastmen at our back, it will still take several days for the provisions to be delivered from the capital,” the Minister announced.

Ainz was annoyed, but there wasn’t anything he could do.

“I believe we should press the attack once the supplies are taken care of. We have the momentum on our side, and the soldiers’ morale is high. We must not allow the beastmen to regain composure and use a different strategy,” Kraus said.

“What strategy could they use?” Nabe asked in a dismissive tone.

“If they were to split their army into smaller groups and attack in a wide arc, we’d be hard-pressed to deal with that,” Kraus answered.

“Yes, we must try to force the beastmen to keep their army together, crushing them in one swift attack,” Momon said as he was struck with inspiration.

“Because of that, I believe we should attack one of the nearby camps. We don’t need the whole army, just a few hundred fighters,” he continued.

“And what would it accomplish?” The Queen asked.

“If we can crush one or two camps with a small group, it would send a clear message and force the beastmen to abandon the smaller camps in favor of a large well-defended position. Then we can get them all in one fell swoop,” Momon explained.

“An interesting proposal, I agree. We have to clear the smaller camps, as we can’t allow them to sabotage our supply lines. But crushing them would slow down our advance,” Kraus pointed out.

“Forcing the beastmen into a single position would be good, it also means they won’t get three days of rest,” the Minister nodded.

“Then, where will you attack?” The Queen asked.

“I need more time to select a target but we’ll strike tomorrow,” Momon replied.

“But shouldn’t we know what our target is, so we prepare to attack it?” A commander of the Draconic Kingdom asked.

“You’ll know it when you need to know,” Momon replied looking at the man suspiciously.

That evening inside Momon’s tent

Ainz was speaking with the Hanzo which had returned with the whereabouts of the minotaur.

“So, he retreated all the way here?” Momon pointed at a spot on the map near the city of Krozno.

“Yes, Momon-sama. There is a medium-sized camp here, and it’s pretty close to the city that reinforcements could arrive quickly,” the Hanzo replied.

“Show me the locations of the other camps,” Momon commanded.

The ninja obliged, and Ainz noted the locations and sizes of the other camps in the vicinity. After he was satisfied with his understanding of the surroundings he spoke again.

“You and another Hanzo should go back if the minotaur moves again, the two Hanzos currently with him will not be enough to both keep track of his movement and keep me informed. I am sorry for imposing such a harsh work schedule on you,” Momon apologized.

“Please don’t say that! Serving you is our purpose. And with this we can conduct surveillance without the need to worry about food, water or sleep,” the ninja showed a Ring of Sustenance.

Ainz nodded to the ninja, who disappeared into the shadows.

“Now, then [Message Albedo],” Ainz cast a spell.

“Yes, Ainz-sama?” He heard the Guardian Overseer’s excited voice.

“Albedo, I want Nigredo to cast anti-surveillance spells on my location, to augment my own anti-surveillance measures.”

“Are you being spied upon?” Albedo asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“It’s almost certain, but I want to test something.”

“I understand. Please be careful Ainz-sama. If something were to happen to you, we could never forgive ourselves for being so careless. I will remind Shalltear to be prepared to move out at a moment’s notice.”

“Thank you Albedo, I will not do anything careless,” Ainz smiled as he ended the [Message]. Even though they were programmed this way, it still warmed his heart to know how much the inhabitants of Nazarick cared for him.

“Now we’ll be able to find out how this minotaur keeps dodging us,” Ainz was satisfied with his new plan.

“Ainz-sama?” Nabe asked.

“Ahem, I had ordered Nigredo to use anti-surveillance spells on our location,” he explained. However, Nabe’s puzzled face clearly indicated she didn’t understand.

“It’s pretty obvious the minotaur is moving in response to our attacks. Once or twice could be an accident, but three times? No way.”

Nabe nodded and Ainz continued.

“Now, there are three possibilities here, the most likely one is we are being spied upon via scrying magic. The other possibility is that we are physically being spied on.”

“Wouldn’t the Hanzos have noticed such a spy? Especially if the spy had to get close enough to hear our plans?” Nabe asked.

“Indeed, which leads us to the third possibility – someone present at the meetings is acting as a spy for the minotaurs, feeding them information of our plans.”

“Ah, I understand now, as expected of Ainz-sama,” Nabe praised.

“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Ainz said.

The next day at dawn

The three hundred soldiers select for this attack were in the final stages of preparation, while a strategy meeting to pick their target was taking place. There were only three people gathered in the command tent: Momon, Kraus, and the Queen. Momon insisted that only the three of them be present. They surrounded a table upon which laid a map of the Draconic Kingdom.

“I would like to scout around here, if there is a beastmen camp here, we can destroy it,” Momon pointed at a location on the map.

“Isn’t it too far into enemy territory?” Kraus asked looking at the map.

“Yes, it’s also close to the city of Krozno. If there is a camp there and we destroy it, it will send a message to the beastmen that they aren’t safe, even behind the front lines.”

“Sowing unease in their hearts would be good. It would likely cause the other beastmen to abandon their camps and retreat to Krozno,” Kraus agreed. “But isn’t it too risky? What if we encounter a camp before arriving at our destination?” He continued.

“We are moving with a pretty small force and should be able to move around undetected. But if we can maneuver around an encampment then we’ll quickly destroy it and continue to our destination,” Momon replied.

“You may have the strength to do that, but soldiers from my kingdom won’t keep up,” the Queen sighed.

“That’s fine, Darkness and the men of the Slane Theocracy should be enough. We just need the numbers if we want to prevent any beastmen from fleeing when we attack,” Momon assured her.

She looked at Kraus, the old magic caster looked a bit skeptical but did not voice any objections.

“Then I will put my faith in you,” the Queen smiled and took his hand into her small hands, blushing as she gazed at the dark warrior.

Is she trying to flirt with me? But her child-like form… why would she think I am a lolicon? Ainz wondered at the queen’s strange behavior. Could it be because despite having Nabe as my partner we are not a couple?

He brushed this distracting thought away.

“Then let us depart immediately,” he declared.

***

A group of several hundred humans quietly advanced toward the enemy encampment. Although Ainz could have led them straight to the camp with the minotaur, avoiding all of the other camps would look very suspicious, so he had run into this group of beastmen on purpose. After they approached the camp, a group went around to flank it, while several members of the Theocracy group, who were proficient at sneaking, had gone ahead to take out the sentries.

A while later the flanking group had sent a [Message] that they were in position. Momon along with the rest of the humans advanced on the camp. With their sentries dead the beastmen didn’t notice the attack until it was too late.

Darkness and the Theocracy’s group in the lead, the beastmen were powerless to stop them. And when they fled, they discovered that more humans awaited behind them. In the end, none escaped.

The humans cheered, invigorated by the victory. Their worshiping glances made Suzuki Satoru slightly uncomfortable. Just like in the Holy Kingdom, the people of the Draconic Kingdom began to resemble the fever of the NPCs in their attitude to him.

Ainz pushed these thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. He led the group towards the real goal – the camp where the minotaur was located. Three hours later they had arrived at their destination.

They executed the same plan, only this time the reinforcing group was larger – Ainz was tired of chasing the ever-elusive minotaur and wanted to make sure he couldn’t escape this time. The sentries were taken out by Theocracy’s assassins allowing the main force to approach undetected.

Momon led the human forces into an attack, while Nabe used [Fly] to get a good view of the camp and the fighting below to help Momon track down his target.

Momon tore through the beastmen. He was eager to get his hands on the minotaur, and wouldn’t let anyone stay in his way. The men from the Slane Theocracy followed suit. Under such overpowering offensive, the beastmen could only retreat.

Momon killed his way to the commander’s tent. He had yet to receive a signal from Nabe, which indicated she still hadn’t found the minotaur. He had a bad feeling about this, but there was nothing he could do. He entered the commander’s tent, but it was empty.

Ainz cursed silently. This damned minotaur had escaped once again, the implications of this fact were even worse. Momon exited the tent, he would’ve liked to stay inside and get a report from the Hanzos, but if he stayed for too long inside an empty tent the men from Theocracy would become suspicious.

He wanted to capture some beastmen and question them, but they had to leave quickly. Taking captured beastmen with them was out of the question, and while they could be interrogated on the spot this camp had little importance, besides its location. If he insisted on questioning the captives about the camp’s leadership, it would be highly suspicious. Besides, the Hanzos would deliver their report soon enough.

The beastmen were quickly dispatched, in his anger Momon did not hold back, earning admiring stares from the rest of the group. Afterward, they retreated back to where the main army was stationed.

The scouts they send ahead had told of their success and upon their arrival the group was met by thunderous cheers. The soldiers who participated in this offensive held their heads high as they proudly walked inside the encampment. Momon and Kraus made their way to the command tent and were met outside by the Queen, who congratulated them on a successful mission.

Inside the tent, the three once again gathered around a map.

“With today’s excursion, the beastmen occupying the smaller camps should retreat to Krozno. In turn, we will attack the city in two days, once the army had been resupplied,” Momon tried to focus on the map.

“You don’t want to do more attacks tomorrow?” Kraus asked.

“There is no need, we have sent a clear message today. Let them gather in Krozno and we can crush them all at once.”

“Given your powerful display today, I don’t doubt it for a moment,” Kraus bowed slightly.

“Oh? I’d like to hear about your heroic exploits, Momon-dono,” the Queen said in a cheerful voice.

Momon stared at her, unsure if she was just curious or if his earlier guess that the queen was trying to flirt with him was correct.

“Ahem, there is something I need to discuss with Nabe,” he excused himself in the end.

The queen made a pouty face but did not say anything.

Momon sat patiently in his tent, analyzing the events of the day. The minotaur had escaped once again. This implied that it knew of their attack, but how? His anti-scrying protection had been activated as were Nigredo’s capability. It was impossible that someone could spy on them via magic.

Not impossible, there are talents in this world. But highly improbable, Momon corrected himself.

Even if that was the case, he couldn’t do anything about it. That meant he had to test the other two possibilities: someone spied on them physically or one of the participants was a traitor working with the beastmen.

But, the only ones who knew of his true target for today’s attack were the Queen and Kraus. The later was a fighter of the Theocracy, Ainz had a hard time imagining him working with the beastmen. The queen working with the beastmen to undermine her own kingdom was even less believable. That only left one option.

Ainz noticed some movement in a nearby shadow. Normally he would use some scrolls to make sure they weren’t being spied on, but there was no need to do it now that Nigredo had used her anti-surveillance spells.

“Report,” Ainz ordered.

“Yes, Ainz-sama,” the Hanzo who emerged from the shadow bowed. “The minotaur we observed had left the camp just after noon. He then retreated to Krozno and was staying there when I left to deliver my report.”

Noon, that would be about two hours after we hit the first camp, Ainz mused. So, they didn’t know what our true target was, but once we got closer to it, the minotaur had moved just in case.

Ainz rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

“I want you to go back and recall the other Hanzos. I have a new mission for you. It appears we are being spied upon physically. I want you to spend the next two days searching the surroundings for possible spies.”

 

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