JasonSanjo
Your Overlord and Jester
Blessings To This Wonderful Overlord!
A Konosuba/Overlord (no, not that one!) SI story
Disclaimer: Konosuba belongs to Natsume Akatsuki; Overlord belongs to Triumph Studios and Codemasters. I’m just borrowing them to tell some (hopefully entertaining) stories.
Chapter Nineteen: In The Dark Of The Night
It was late in the evening, nearing midnight, and Kazuma and his party were making their way through one of the communal cemeteries outside the town walls. There was partial cloud cover, and at the moment there was little light save that provided by the lanterns they carried.
“Kazuma, do you think we’re going to run into some powerful undead?” Darkness asked, looking around with an eager smile on her face.
“I hope not,” Kazuma replied. He gave the woman a half-lidded stare. “And don’t sound so thrilled, Darkness.”
As the party’s resident Crusader started sputtering denials, Kazuma turned to Aqua.
“Hey, you said you can sense undead, didn’t you? Do you sense anything right now?”
Aqua tilted her head and hummed thoughtfully. “No… I don’t sense anything. I don’t think there are any undead nearby.”
Kazuma let out a breath. “Well, that’s a relief.”
“It is not!” Megumin interjected. Striking a pose, she added, “If there is a horde of undead, I will make them regret coming back to life with a powerful Explosion! Oh, I hope we find them soon!”
“I told you, if we blow up the cemetery we don’t get paid,” Kazuma said lamely.
“Then why’d you even bring me, if not to see my Explosion in action?!”
Kazuma blinked and slowed down. “That’s a good question, actually. You’re pretty useless on this kind of quest.”
“U-useless?!” Megumin stammered, taken aback. “How dare you! I’m the genius of the Crimson Magic Clan! I’m not useless!”
“Calm down, Megumin,” Kazuma said soothingly. “If we run into a horde of undead, we’ll lure them outside the cemetery and then you can blow them up with Explosion. How’s that?”
“… That’s fine, but don’t think I’ll just forget your earlier words!”
Kazuma rolled his eyes. “Hey, Aqua, keep on the lookout for undead, okay? If you sense anything, let us know right away.”
“Of course! No undead is gonna get past my divine senses!”
Okay, Jason, keep it cool. This isn’t a date, exactly, but still: don’t fuck up.
I glanced over at Wiz, taking in the shopkeeper’s form. Despite the relative darkness, my dark vision let me see her well enough, although the overall lack of contrast meant I couldn’t really make out the details of her dark robe. Her face, on the other hand, stood out, looking even paler in the dark and allowing me to see her features in great detail.
“Hmm? Is there something on my face?” Wiz asked, meeting my gaze. I started.
“Ah, no, nothing. I was just, uh…” I glanced upward, to the horns adorning the top of Wiz’s hood, “looking at your, uh, horns. Kind of an unusual design choice, yeah?”
Wiz giggled and touched one horn with her hand. The horn was about the length of my index finger, and fit neatly in her hand. “They’re fangs, actually. From a dragon my adventuring companions and I slew years ago. I had never fought a dragon before, and I was so scared because it was so big and scary… Of course, it was only a Dragon Whelp, so looking back on it, I definitely overreacted.”
I quirked an eyebrow at that. “You make it sound like you’ve fought a lot of dragons.”
“Well, not a lot… but we did fight dragons more than once, yes.” Wiz’s gaze became distant as she no doubt lost herself in old memories. “It’s been a long time.”
“Has it?” I asked, genuinely curious. “I mean, no offense, but you don’t look very old. Just how old were you when-”
“I am twenty years old.”
“… You’re what?”
“I am twenty years old,” Wiz repeated, her voice sweet, but with just a hint of steel in it.
“Uh… Okay.” Okay, that’s definitely a lie. If she spent years as an adventurer, then retired to open up a store, and her adventuring days were “years ago”… She has to be at least thirty, right? She doesn’t look more than twenty-five at the most, but heck, that goes for me, too, and I’m thirty-four… Is she embarrassed about her age, or something?
In the end, I decided not to comment on it. “So, tell me about your adventuring days. You had companions, right? What were they like?”
“My companions…” Wiz smiled wistfully. “You know, I haven’t seen them since we disbanded. Isn’t that weird? We stay in touch through letters, but…”
“I’m sorry if I brought up bad memories.”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that at all. I just… miss them, sometimes.”
“I understand,” I said, nodding. We continued on in silence for a few moments, and then I asked, “What are their names?”
“Brad and Rosary.”
“Kazumaaaaaaaa!” Aqua said in a high-pitched voice. “I’m bored!”
“It has been several hours,” Megumin said in agreement. “Shouldn’t we stop and rest?”
“Come on, you guys,” Kazuma said, turning to his companions. “This is the last cemetery on our patrol. We’re almost done! You can keep going for a little longer, right?”
Aqua let out a disgruntled noise, but nodded. “I suppose…”
“I’m fine with continuing,” Darkness piped up. “Be it day or night, my body-”
“Well, we’d better get going,” Kazuma said, hurrying his steps. “Come on, people.”
Darkness huffed. “He ignored me…” Then she hugged herself and shivered. “So cruel…”
Doing his level best to ignore the Crusader, Kazuma turned to Aqua. “You still don’t sense any undead, right?”
The goddess shook her head. “None. Which is weird, ‘cause we’ve passed all those open graves…”
“Perhaps the Necromancer is bringing together an army of undead?” Megumin suggested. “If so, he wouldn’t stick around here. Most likely, he has a hideout somewhere. A place where he’s laying low, waiting for the opportune moment to strike…”
Kazuma shuddered. “Don’t say stuff like that, Megumin. What if he suddenly shows up?”
“There is no way the Necromancer would show up to attack a small party like ours,” Megumin said resolutely, though Kazuma noted she was suddenly looking around intently. “No chance whatsoever that we’d suddenly find ourselves surrounded by an army of the undead…”
Kazuma stabbed an accusing finger at the girl. “Hey, shut up! Stop trying to trigger flags!”
“Oh, come on, Kazuma,” Aqua said. “I don’t sense any undead anywhere near here. What’re the odds of the Necromancer suddenly digging himself out of whatever hole he’s hiding in?”
“Not you, too!”
Beldia groaned as he slowly dug his way out of the pile of rocks he’d been buried under. The birds’ spell had summoned a huge rock from the sky, and the impact had broken it into smaller pieces, effectively burying Beldia under a pile of rubble.
… Not that he’d known until just now. In truth, the Dullahan was surprised just to be alive; his armor was dented and broken, and if not for his regeneration the same could no doubt have been said about his body. Hell, he didn’t doubt for a second that his body had been dented and broken until shortly before he woke up.
Still, the deformation of his armor meant there was a plethora of unpleasant poking going on all over the place, especially whenever he moved, hence why digging his way out took so damn long.
Eventually, though, he did, and was presented with pitch-black darkness all around; it must’ve been well past midnight at this point. Just how long was he out?
Strangely enough, as he surveyed the battlefield, Beldia noted a distinct lack of bodies. Had the goblin-things taken them somewhere? If he could find out where, then maybe he could try raising them agai-
No. There was absolutely no point in coming at the Overlord’s forces with mere skeletons and zombies; Beldia had had that bashed into him beyond all shadow of doubt. If he wanted to take the castle, he needed a much larger, stronger force.
… Or perhaps a much smaller one. Turning to look at the castle, Beldia’s eyes narrowed as surveyed the walls. There were torches here and there, and he could see shapes patrolling the battlements, but overall the walls were unguarded most of the time. A single infiltrator, working under cover of darkness, might be able to get in where an army could not.
Unfortunately, Beldia had no infiltrators.
“I’m coming for you, Overlord,” the Dullahan whispered. “If I can’t beat your army, then I’ll just have to beat you.”
With that, Beldia crept away from the pile of rubble – and the crater it was in – and headed toward the castle. The going was slow, not only because he was trying to keep quiet, but also because he couldn’t move very fast with all the dents in his armor poking into his body.
Damn those birds!
Several hours after we had first set out, Wiz and I had almost completed our circuit of the communal cemeteries outside Axel’s walls. We had stopped here and there to examine the open graves, but beyond residual traces of necromantic magic, neither of us had found any real clues as to the identity or whereabouts of the culprit.
Not that I was complaining. After all, the more time spent alone in the dark the more time spent in conversation. I had probably learned more about Wiz on this night alone than I had in all our earlier-
“Look, there’s someone over there!” Wiz said suddenly, pointing.
“Eh?” I asked and looked at where she was pointing. Sure enough, I could make out movement at the far end of the cemetery, and coming closer. “Oh, hey, you’re right.”
The shopkeeper’s voice was a furtive whisper as she said, “Do you think it’s the Necromancer?”
I moved to rub my chin, only to stop when my hand struck armor. Right, I was wearing a helmet. I shrugged. “Well, it might be, but- Oh, wait.”
Now that they were a bit closer than before, I could make out no less than four figures in the dark… all of them familiar to me.
Wiz gave me a confused look. “What’s the matter?”
I chuckled. “It’s fine, I know those guys,” I said in reply to her question. “I’m gonna prank ‘em. Go hide over there and don’t come out until I call you, okay?”
“Huh? Um, o-okay, but don’t take too long, all right? We still need to find that Necromancer.”
“No worries, this won’t take long. Quickly, hide!”
As Wiz went off to hide behind a tombstone, I rubbed my hands together gleefully.
“This is gonna be sweet!”
“Hey, Kazuma, I feel a chill,” Aqua said, looking around. “I don’t think this is just any old Necromancer…”
“Hey, don’t say stuff like that,” Kazuma admonished his companion. It was late at night, now, and the clouds had parted to allow the moon to cast everything in a silvery glow. “This place is creepy enough as it is, yeah? Besides, none of the other adventurers that have patrolled recently have actually seen anything… What are the odds we’d run into-”
“Who dares disturb my slumber?”
As if on cue, a dark shape rose up from behind a nearby tombstone. It was clad in menacing-looking plate armor, and had an evil, yellow glow emanating from its eyes. Its words were spoken with a ghastly, inhuman drawl.
Kazuma felt a chill run down his spine. “W-what?! Is this the Necromancer?!”
Aqua’s eyes narrowed. “No, that’s not a Necromancer,” she said slowly, “that’s… a Lich! I can sense it! You cannot hide from my divine senses, you evil undead!”
“A… a Lich? Isn’t that the most powerful undead of all?!” Oh, crap! We’re so dead!
Behind him, Megumin and Darkness let out gasps of alarm.
“Don’t worry so much, Kazuma,” Aqua said proudly, stepping forward. “I’ll handle this in a jiffy! Turn Undead!”
The light of Aqua’s spell washed over the armored figure… and quickly died away, having done absolutely nothing.
“You cannot hurt me, Priest,” the Lich said, focusing its glowing eyes on the goddess. “I am beyond your meager strength.”
“W-what? Turn Undead didn’t work?!” Aqua’s eyes were wide. “W-well, then, try this! Exorcism!”
Again, Aqua’s spell washed over the Lich, and just like its predecessor, it had no visible effect whatsoever.
“Foolish mortal. Your puny magics are no match for me.”
“I-I’m not a mortal! I’m a goddess!” Aqua protested, though Kazuma could tell from her voice that she was more than a bit shaken. She turned to him, then, her eyes brimming with tears born of fear. “K-K-K-Kazuma! This is no ordinary Lich! It’s some kind of super Lich!”
“A super Lich…” Darkness breathed. It was clear she was getting excited. “A Lich is known as the ‘No-Life King’… the most powerful of all undead. And this is an even stronger type…”
Before Kazuma could ask what the hell she was doing, the Crusader rushed forward to interpose herself between the Lich and the rest of her party members. As she did, she drew her sword.
“Stand back, everyone! I will face this Lich myself!” Darkness’ voice was proud, but the delighted look in her eyes as she looked back over her shoulder told Kazuma her head was in totally the wrong place. “J-just leave me behind, okay? D-don’t hesitate! Just r-run!”
Kazuma stifled a groan. “Darkness, you-”
At that moment, Darkness let out a shout, nay, a battle cry, and dashed toward the Lich, her greatsword held high above her head. The Lich drew its own sword and prepared to meet her.
“Darkness, look out! You-”
Alas, Kazuma’s warning fell on deaf ears. Darkness swung her sword, and…
“Did… did you just miss?” the Lich asked, dumbfounded, the inhuman drawl in its voice apparently forgotten in the face of the sheer absurdity of the situation presenting itself.
Darkness, for her part, stood to the side and slightly behind the Lich, her arms out, her sword having struck nothing but air. As Kazuma watched, the Crusader’s face went several shades darker, almost certainly from blushing.
“K… Kazuma!” Darkness called out without looking back. “This Lich is indeed far too powerful for me! I… I will sacrifice myself to buy you time! You three should run and not look back!”
As Kazuma debated doing just that, Megumin spoke up.
“Hey, Kazuma, we’re not really gonna leave her behind, are we?” she asked worriedly. “True, it’s a Lich, but if I can just get off my Explosion, then maybe we could-”
“No!” Kazuma barked at the Arch-wizard. “I told you, if you blow up the cemetery, we don’t get paid!”
“But, Kazuma,” Aqua interjected, her voice whiny as she cowered behind a tombstone, “this Lich is something else… Even my divine magic won’t work on him!”
Kazuma grit his teeth. Indeed, it looked like they didn’t stand a chance, so retreat was probably the best option, not that he’d complain about running away in the face of such an adversary. Heck, just looking at the Lich gave him chills! But at the same time, he felt a tugging at his conscience at the thought of leaving their Crusader behind…
“Okay, seriously, did you just miss again?” the Lich asked incredulously as Darkness took another swing, only to miss when the Lich… did absolutely nothing. “Where the hell did you learn how to use a sword? I’ve seen kids with better swings than that!”
Darkness flinched. “Grk! This Lich is not only powerful, but ruthless, as well! Such brutal honesty…!”
“… What’s wrong with you?” the Lich deadpanned… and then, finally, something clicked inside Kazuma’s head. He’d heard that voice before. And, now that he looked closer, that armor looked familiar, as well.
“It’s you!”
Beldia had – with some difficulty – made his way across the moat to scale the wall. He had to pause underneath the parapet as a guard walked past, but then climbed on top of the rampart.
So far, so good. Except…
The glowing goblin-thing that he’d encountered two weeks before was walking along the rampart, right towards him! It was only a matter of seconds before the phosphorescent light would reach him, at which point the alarm would be raised and Beldia’s mission ruined beyond all hope of salvage!
The Dullahan backed up slowly even as he looked around wildly for a hiding place, but found none. He couldn’t drop down from the edge of the rampart without alerting the guards to his presence with the noise, and the only steps leading down that he could see were past the glowing goblin-thing…
… but there was one other path open to him. There were several buildings scattered around the courtyard besides the central keep, and one of them was built right up against the outer wall. If he could make his way onto the roof and hide on the other side of the ridge…
Said and done. Moving as quietly as he could manage while still staying out of the glowing goblin-thing’s circle of illumination, Beldia made his way to the edge of the rampart and slowly – and very cautiously – stepped onto the roof. The wood was old and creaky, but at that moment there was a blast of wind in the night that, thankfully, blew away from the goblin-thing and carried the noise away. Moving quickly, the roof creaking in protest under his feet, Beldia moved across the roof and away from the light.
It worked! He silently thanked the wind for aiding him in his mission as he hid on the other side of the roof’s ridge. Holding his head up in his hands, he peered over the edge. The glowing goblin-thing was going back toward the gatehouse, now, and none of the other guards were anywhere nearby, and the wind was still blowing. Perfect.
Beldia rose. Alas, in the dark he didn’t immediately notice the slightly darker patch of wood and inadvertently stepped on it. The instant he raised his other foot to continue walking, his weight was concentrated on that dark patch… which turned out to be rotten.
The Dullahan let out a rather comical yelp as the roof gave way and he fell into the building below. He smacked into a wooden beam, his body jackknifing from the impact, and slowly slid off it before crashing onto a half-rotten wooden cart filled with hay. The hay softened the impact somewhat, but the force from the drop was still enough to break the old, rotten wood and so the entire thing collapsed into a heap with a loud crash.
Beldia groaned as he dragged himself to his feet, spitting some hay out of his mouth as he did. Even with the wind blowing outside, there was a good chance the guards heard all that. He had to hide! Or, better yet, find a way out before they-
“Kweh.”
Slowly, oh so very slowly, Beldia turned. There, watching him with curious eyes, was one of the thrice-damned fire birds. Why was it here? Why-
“Wark!” he heard then, and the Dullahan turned his head over in his grip to see another fire bird stand up from behind a low wall. It was munching on something green, and pieces of hay fell away from its head as it straightened.
Wait a minute. Hay. Low walls. A wooden cart. Food.
… Was this a stable?
“Woheeho!” yet another bird called out, and it was then that a good dozen of the crimson-feathered monstrosities rose up from behind the many low walls dividing the stalls. One by one, they turned to look at Beldia.
“Um… Nice birdies?”
The fire bird that had first noticed the Dullahan flapped its wings, its curious expression turning into one of anger. “KWEH!”
Beldia screamed.
“Aww, you found me out?” I asked as I looked at Kazuma. I drooped my head in exaggerated defeat and raised my arms over my head. “Fine, fine. It’s me.”
I put my hands on either side of my helmet and removed it, then held it under one arm. In the face of the utterly furious look Kazuma was directing at me, I couldn’t help but grin.
“How you doin’, Kazuma?”
“You asshole!” he all but shouted. “I almost pissed myself! What the hell?!”
Of course, he wasn’t the only one taken aback by my little stunt. Darkness was staring at me, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Megumin’s eyes were shining as she looked at me, probably as furious as Kazuma. And Aqua-
“You! I knew you couldn’t be human! Filthy Lich!”
“No, I’m totally human,” I deadpanned. As far as I know, anyway. “That’s why your spells didn’t work, duh.”
The goddess blinked and lost her haughty attitude in an instant. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an “o” as she popped the bottom of her fist into her palm. “Oh! That explains it!”
I shook my head at the display of delayed clarity and turned back to Kazuma. “So, what are you guys up to?”
My junior’s lips formed a thin line before he spoke. “We-”
“We came here to fight an evil Necromancer!” Megumin declared, striking a pose with one foot on top of a tombstone. The fingers of her left hand – the one not holding her staff – formed a “V” shape as she passed it across her face. “Art thou friend or foe in the face of this our quest, Overlord? Also, that armor is totally cool. Where did you get it? Is it enchanted? Do you have a demon sealed inside your-”
The diminutive Arch-wizard’s words were cut off when Kazuma put a hand over her face. A she began sputtering her outrage at the interruption, the capital-A Adventurer gave me a sour look.
“Yeah, we took a quest to patrol the cemetery in case whoever’s been stealing all these bodies came back. Is that why you’re here?”
I blinked. Somebody put a quest out? Damn! “Kinda, yeah. A friend of mine asked me to look into it, so here I am. I didn’t know there was a quest, though.”
A triumphant look passed over Kazuma’s face. “Ah, so that’s it! Well, then, since we’re here on official business and you’re not, clearly we’re the seniors here.”
I shot him a flat look. “Seriously? The whole junior/senior thing is that important to you?”
Kazuma’s face flushed slightly. “A-anyway, have you seen anything?”
“Nah. You guys are the first ones I’ve run into since coming out here. It’s been pretty dead. Pardon the pun.”
Kazuma sighed. Why did he sound so relieved? “I see. Well, we’re on the last leg of our patrol, so we’re just gonna call it a night.”
“What? But, Kazuma, what about the Lich?!” Aqua exclaimed suddenly.
“Obviously you were just sensing Jason,” Kazuma replied, waving it off. “Or maybe his Gauntlet, I don’t know. Either way, we’re out. I wanna go to bed.”
“Now wait a minute!” Megumin protested. She turned to me. “I have so many questions! Like, why were you- Hey! Let go of my cape!”
Kazuma did not. “Let’s go home.”
“But-!”
I watched as Kazuma dragged the protesting Megumin away, Aqua following close behind them while poking her tongue out at me, a gesture I promptly returned. Chuckling at the taken-aback expression on her face, I turned to the final member of their little group.
“Shouldn’t you go, as well?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at Darkness. “They’re leaving you behind, you know.”
“Eh? Ah! Everyone, please wait for me!” Darkness sheathed her sword and hurried after her party members. Once she caught up to them she looked back over her shoulder at me, a strange look in her eye as her gaze roamed over my armor to linger on my Gauntlet.
What was up with that? Well, whatever. After watching them go, I turned my back and walked over to where I’d left Wiz.
It was then I was treated to a sight that sent me instantly into panic mode.
“Wiz! What happened? Why are you transparent?!”
“H-help…”
Without thinking, I summoned a life force orb and gently pushed it into Wiz’s chest. Immediately, her body solidified, and the glazed-over look in her eyes gave way to the clarity of consciousness. She blinked.
“Eh? What just happened?” she asked. She sat up and looked at me. “What did you just…?”
I smacked my lips. “Ah… I guess I should explain that, huh?” I said slowly. “But more importantly, why were you transparent, just now?”
Wiz averted her gaze, a troubled look on her face. “That’s… a long story.”
I sat down. In a soft voice, I said, “I’ve got time.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she saw my face. She looked away again, her gaze growing distant.
“It all started a few months before I quit adventuring…”
After what felt like an eternity of getting trampled, pecked and set on fire, Beldia crashed through the door leading out of the stable, the old and partially rotten wood offering little resistance to his armored form. Once outside, he looked around wildly before his eyes settled on the castle wall. The alarm had been raised and he could see goblin-things running around all over the place, not to mention he was currently on fire.
He had no choice but to retreat.
Knocking over a single goblin-thing that came running at him, the Dullahan staggered up the stone steps leading up to the top of the rampart. There he was met with three of the goblin-things – the two guards who had given him such trouble over the past few weeks, and the glowing one, as well. Pushing past them, screaming, Beldia ran toward the parapet and leapt.
For a brief moment, he was airborne, falling like a shooting star from the top of the wall into the moat below. The waters, while dangerous in their own right, at least served to put out the flames. If he could just crawl ashore quickly, then-
His foot struck something. Feeling around with his free hand, Beldia’s fingers eventually closed around a familiar shape.
Huh. So this was where his sword went. Apparently the guards hadn’t lied about not having it, after all.
Gripping the hilt, Beldia hefted the sword over his shoulder and slowly walked across the bottom of the moat. Reaching the brick wall marking the edge, he started to climb upward. While the moat wasn’t all that deep, the fact that he was holding not only his head but now also his sword made the climb a difficult one, to say the least. Still, he was eventually able to make his way out of the water.
Beldia seriously considered just lying down and letting his regeneration take care of his fresh injuries, but he knew that the goblin-things were hot on his trail. Hell, if he was unlucky, they would send out those fucking birds after him.
If he never saw another bird in his life, it would still be too soon.
And so, the Dullahan half-staggered, half-ran away from the Overlord’s castle, sword in hand. Behind him, he heard the gate crash open, followed by angry bird calls.
“No… No!” He hurried his steps, but between his injuries and the dents in his armor, moving quickly was all but impossible. And he could feel the ground begin to shake as the birds came closer… “No!”
His knees folded and he fell. Not forward, but backward, landing flat on his back; raising his head, he saw two of the bird riders go past, carrying a rope between them. Had they used it to fell him?
“Well, well, well,” a rider said as he slowed his bird next to the Dullahan. “If it aren’t stupid salesperson general of salesperson army.”
Beldia groaned. Was this it? Was this the end for him? Looking back, he’d had a good run, even if he didn’t get to do all the things he wanted. Hell, he never even got to finish the investigation the Demon King sent him to-
The Demon King!
Beldia groaned. Over the course of his feud with the unseen Overlord, Beldia had completely forgotten about his mission! He was a failure as a Demon King army general! Nay, as a Knight! If only he had his- Wait a second.
I have my sword!
First giggling, then cackling, Beldia stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground and used it as a crutch to stand up. Looking around at the fire bird riders surrounding him, he let out a guffaw.
“Finally, I’ll have my revenge!” the Dullahan bellowed. “First I’ll deal with you, and then your master! Tonight, you will pay for-”
“What’s going on here? Who is this?”
Beldia paused. That voice didn’t belong to any of the goblin-things. Slowly, puzzled, he turned around… and was met with an armored figure, not entirely unlike himself. Well, except for the obvious difference that the figure’s armor wasn’t dented everywhere, and his head was on his shoulders as opposed to carried under his arm.
“He are stupid salesperson we is telling you about, Overlord,” one of the guards called out from the rampart, prompting Beldia to turn around, red flashing before his vision.
“I’m not- Wait, ‘Overlord’?” Beldia turned back to the newcomer. Sure enough, he looked the part of a force of evil, what with the sinister-looking armor, the face obscured by shadows, and the faintly glowing eyes… even if he was a bit short. “Are you really… the Overlord?”
The man nodded. “That’s right.”
“… So we finally meet face to face.”
“Indeed we do,” the Overlord agreed, nodding. “I’ve heard much about you from my Minions.”
“Your Minions,” Beldia ground out, “have put me through hell. For weeks now, I’ve been trying to meet with you, but every time they’ve turned me away. They threw rocks at me! And birds! And a fucking cow!”
The man chuckled good-naturedly. “Yeah, they can get a bit overzealous in following my commands. You saw the sign, didn’t you? But you know what? I’m in a good mood, and your courage and persistence in the face of adversity has impressed me.”
With those words, the Overlord put his hand on Beldia’s shoulder and fixed the Dullahan with an honest, forthright gaze.
“What are you selling?”
End Chapter Nineteen
A Konosuba/Overlord (no, not that one!) SI story
Disclaimer: Konosuba belongs to Natsume Akatsuki; Overlord belongs to Triumph Studios and Codemasters. I’m just borrowing them to tell some (hopefully entertaining) stories.
Chapter Nineteen: In The Dark Of The Night
It was late in the evening, nearing midnight, and Kazuma and his party were making their way through one of the communal cemeteries outside the town walls. There was partial cloud cover, and at the moment there was little light save that provided by the lanterns they carried.
“Kazuma, do you think we’re going to run into some powerful undead?” Darkness asked, looking around with an eager smile on her face.
“I hope not,” Kazuma replied. He gave the woman a half-lidded stare. “And don’t sound so thrilled, Darkness.”
As the party’s resident Crusader started sputtering denials, Kazuma turned to Aqua.
“Hey, you said you can sense undead, didn’t you? Do you sense anything right now?”
Aqua tilted her head and hummed thoughtfully. “No… I don’t sense anything. I don’t think there are any undead nearby.”
Kazuma let out a breath. “Well, that’s a relief.”
“It is not!” Megumin interjected. Striking a pose, she added, “If there is a horde of undead, I will make them regret coming back to life with a powerful Explosion! Oh, I hope we find them soon!”
“I told you, if we blow up the cemetery we don’t get paid,” Kazuma said lamely.
“Then why’d you even bring me, if not to see my Explosion in action?!”
Kazuma blinked and slowed down. “That’s a good question, actually. You’re pretty useless on this kind of quest.”
“U-useless?!” Megumin stammered, taken aback. “How dare you! I’m the genius of the Crimson Magic Clan! I’m not useless!”
“Calm down, Megumin,” Kazuma said soothingly. “If we run into a horde of undead, we’ll lure them outside the cemetery and then you can blow them up with Explosion. How’s that?”
“… That’s fine, but don’t think I’ll just forget your earlier words!”
Kazuma rolled his eyes. “Hey, Aqua, keep on the lookout for undead, okay? If you sense anything, let us know right away.”
“Of course! No undead is gonna get past my divine senses!”
Okay, Jason, keep it cool. This isn’t a date, exactly, but still: don’t fuck up.
I glanced over at Wiz, taking in the shopkeeper’s form. Despite the relative darkness, my dark vision let me see her well enough, although the overall lack of contrast meant I couldn’t really make out the details of her dark robe. Her face, on the other hand, stood out, looking even paler in the dark and allowing me to see her features in great detail.
“Hmm? Is there something on my face?” Wiz asked, meeting my gaze. I started.
“Ah, no, nothing. I was just, uh…” I glanced upward, to the horns adorning the top of Wiz’s hood, “looking at your, uh, horns. Kind of an unusual design choice, yeah?”
Wiz giggled and touched one horn with her hand. The horn was about the length of my index finger, and fit neatly in her hand. “They’re fangs, actually. From a dragon my adventuring companions and I slew years ago. I had never fought a dragon before, and I was so scared because it was so big and scary… Of course, it was only a Dragon Whelp, so looking back on it, I definitely overreacted.”
I quirked an eyebrow at that. “You make it sound like you’ve fought a lot of dragons.”
“Well, not a lot… but we did fight dragons more than once, yes.” Wiz’s gaze became distant as she no doubt lost herself in old memories. “It’s been a long time.”
“Has it?” I asked, genuinely curious. “I mean, no offense, but you don’t look very old. Just how old were you when-”
“I am twenty years old.”
“… You’re what?”
“I am twenty years old,” Wiz repeated, her voice sweet, but with just a hint of steel in it.
“Uh… Okay.” Okay, that’s definitely a lie. If she spent years as an adventurer, then retired to open up a store, and her adventuring days were “years ago”… She has to be at least thirty, right? She doesn’t look more than twenty-five at the most, but heck, that goes for me, too, and I’m thirty-four… Is she embarrassed about her age, or something?
In the end, I decided not to comment on it. “So, tell me about your adventuring days. You had companions, right? What were they like?”
“My companions…” Wiz smiled wistfully. “You know, I haven’t seen them since we disbanded. Isn’t that weird? We stay in touch through letters, but…”
“I’m sorry if I brought up bad memories.”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that at all. I just… miss them, sometimes.”
“I understand,” I said, nodding. We continued on in silence for a few moments, and then I asked, “What are their names?”
“Brad and Rosary.”
“Kazumaaaaaaaa!” Aqua said in a high-pitched voice. “I’m bored!”
“It has been several hours,” Megumin said in agreement. “Shouldn’t we stop and rest?”
“Come on, you guys,” Kazuma said, turning to his companions. “This is the last cemetery on our patrol. We’re almost done! You can keep going for a little longer, right?”
Aqua let out a disgruntled noise, but nodded. “I suppose…”
“I’m fine with continuing,” Darkness piped up. “Be it day or night, my body-”
“Well, we’d better get going,” Kazuma said, hurrying his steps. “Come on, people.”
Darkness huffed. “He ignored me…” Then she hugged herself and shivered. “So cruel…”
Doing his level best to ignore the Crusader, Kazuma turned to Aqua. “You still don’t sense any undead, right?”
The goddess shook her head. “None. Which is weird, ‘cause we’ve passed all those open graves…”
“Perhaps the Necromancer is bringing together an army of undead?” Megumin suggested. “If so, he wouldn’t stick around here. Most likely, he has a hideout somewhere. A place where he’s laying low, waiting for the opportune moment to strike…”
Kazuma shuddered. “Don’t say stuff like that, Megumin. What if he suddenly shows up?”
“There is no way the Necromancer would show up to attack a small party like ours,” Megumin said resolutely, though Kazuma noted she was suddenly looking around intently. “No chance whatsoever that we’d suddenly find ourselves surrounded by an army of the undead…”
Kazuma stabbed an accusing finger at the girl. “Hey, shut up! Stop trying to trigger flags!”
“Oh, come on, Kazuma,” Aqua said. “I don’t sense any undead anywhere near here. What’re the odds of the Necromancer suddenly digging himself out of whatever hole he’s hiding in?”
“Not you, too!”
Beldia groaned as he slowly dug his way out of the pile of rocks he’d been buried under. The birds’ spell had summoned a huge rock from the sky, and the impact had broken it into smaller pieces, effectively burying Beldia under a pile of rubble.
… Not that he’d known until just now. In truth, the Dullahan was surprised just to be alive; his armor was dented and broken, and if not for his regeneration the same could no doubt have been said about his body. Hell, he didn’t doubt for a second that his body had been dented and broken until shortly before he woke up.
Still, the deformation of his armor meant there was a plethora of unpleasant poking going on all over the place, especially whenever he moved, hence why digging his way out took so damn long.
Eventually, though, he did, and was presented with pitch-black darkness all around; it must’ve been well past midnight at this point. Just how long was he out?
Strangely enough, as he surveyed the battlefield, Beldia noted a distinct lack of bodies. Had the goblin-things taken them somewhere? If he could find out where, then maybe he could try raising them agai-
No. There was absolutely no point in coming at the Overlord’s forces with mere skeletons and zombies; Beldia had had that bashed into him beyond all shadow of doubt. If he wanted to take the castle, he needed a much larger, stronger force.
… Or perhaps a much smaller one. Turning to look at the castle, Beldia’s eyes narrowed as surveyed the walls. There were torches here and there, and he could see shapes patrolling the battlements, but overall the walls were unguarded most of the time. A single infiltrator, working under cover of darkness, might be able to get in where an army could not.
Unfortunately, Beldia had no infiltrators.
“I’m coming for you, Overlord,” the Dullahan whispered. “If I can’t beat your army, then I’ll just have to beat you.”
With that, Beldia crept away from the pile of rubble – and the crater it was in – and headed toward the castle. The going was slow, not only because he was trying to keep quiet, but also because he couldn’t move very fast with all the dents in his armor poking into his body.
Damn those birds!
Several hours after we had first set out, Wiz and I had almost completed our circuit of the communal cemeteries outside Axel’s walls. We had stopped here and there to examine the open graves, but beyond residual traces of necromantic magic, neither of us had found any real clues as to the identity or whereabouts of the culprit.
Not that I was complaining. After all, the more time spent alone in the dark the more time spent in conversation. I had probably learned more about Wiz on this night alone than I had in all our earlier-
“Look, there’s someone over there!” Wiz said suddenly, pointing.
“Eh?” I asked and looked at where she was pointing. Sure enough, I could make out movement at the far end of the cemetery, and coming closer. “Oh, hey, you’re right.”
The shopkeeper’s voice was a furtive whisper as she said, “Do you think it’s the Necromancer?”
I moved to rub my chin, only to stop when my hand struck armor. Right, I was wearing a helmet. I shrugged. “Well, it might be, but- Oh, wait.”
Now that they were a bit closer than before, I could make out no less than four figures in the dark… all of them familiar to me.
Wiz gave me a confused look. “What’s the matter?”
I chuckled. “It’s fine, I know those guys,” I said in reply to her question. “I’m gonna prank ‘em. Go hide over there and don’t come out until I call you, okay?”
“Huh? Um, o-okay, but don’t take too long, all right? We still need to find that Necromancer.”
“No worries, this won’t take long. Quickly, hide!”
As Wiz went off to hide behind a tombstone, I rubbed my hands together gleefully.
“This is gonna be sweet!”
“Hey, Kazuma, I feel a chill,” Aqua said, looking around. “I don’t think this is just any old Necromancer…”
“Hey, don’t say stuff like that,” Kazuma admonished his companion. It was late at night, now, and the clouds had parted to allow the moon to cast everything in a silvery glow. “This place is creepy enough as it is, yeah? Besides, none of the other adventurers that have patrolled recently have actually seen anything… What are the odds we’d run into-”
“Who dares disturb my slumber?”
As if on cue, a dark shape rose up from behind a nearby tombstone. It was clad in menacing-looking plate armor, and had an evil, yellow glow emanating from its eyes. Its words were spoken with a ghastly, inhuman drawl.
Kazuma felt a chill run down his spine. “W-what?! Is this the Necromancer?!”
Aqua’s eyes narrowed. “No, that’s not a Necromancer,” she said slowly, “that’s… a Lich! I can sense it! You cannot hide from my divine senses, you evil undead!”
“A… a Lich? Isn’t that the most powerful undead of all?!” Oh, crap! We’re so dead!
Behind him, Megumin and Darkness let out gasps of alarm.
“Don’t worry so much, Kazuma,” Aqua said proudly, stepping forward. “I’ll handle this in a jiffy! Turn Undead!”
The light of Aqua’s spell washed over the armored figure… and quickly died away, having done absolutely nothing.
“You cannot hurt me, Priest,” the Lich said, focusing its glowing eyes on the goddess. “I am beyond your meager strength.”
“W-what? Turn Undead didn’t work?!” Aqua’s eyes were wide. “W-well, then, try this! Exorcism!”
Again, Aqua’s spell washed over the Lich, and just like its predecessor, it had no visible effect whatsoever.
“Foolish mortal. Your puny magics are no match for me.”
“I-I’m not a mortal! I’m a goddess!” Aqua protested, though Kazuma could tell from her voice that she was more than a bit shaken. She turned to him, then, her eyes brimming with tears born of fear. “K-K-K-Kazuma! This is no ordinary Lich! It’s some kind of super Lich!”
“A super Lich…” Darkness breathed. It was clear she was getting excited. “A Lich is known as the ‘No-Life King’… the most powerful of all undead. And this is an even stronger type…”
Before Kazuma could ask what the hell she was doing, the Crusader rushed forward to interpose herself between the Lich and the rest of her party members. As she did, she drew her sword.
“Stand back, everyone! I will face this Lich myself!” Darkness’ voice was proud, but the delighted look in her eyes as she looked back over her shoulder told Kazuma her head was in totally the wrong place. “J-just leave me behind, okay? D-don’t hesitate! Just r-run!”
Kazuma stifled a groan. “Darkness, you-”
At that moment, Darkness let out a shout, nay, a battle cry, and dashed toward the Lich, her greatsword held high above her head. The Lich drew its own sword and prepared to meet her.
“Darkness, look out! You-”
Alas, Kazuma’s warning fell on deaf ears. Darkness swung her sword, and…
“Did… did you just miss?” the Lich asked, dumbfounded, the inhuman drawl in its voice apparently forgotten in the face of the sheer absurdity of the situation presenting itself.
Darkness, for her part, stood to the side and slightly behind the Lich, her arms out, her sword having struck nothing but air. As Kazuma watched, the Crusader’s face went several shades darker, almost certainly from blushing.
“K… Kazuma!” Darkness called out without looking back. “This Lich is indeed far too powerful for me! I… I will sacrifice myself to buy you time! You three should run and not look back!”
As Kazuma debated doing just that, Megumin spoke up.
“Hey, Kazuma, we’re not really gonna leave her behind, are we?” she asked worriedly. “True, it’s a Lich, but if I can just get off my Explosion, then maybe we could-”
“No!” Kazuma barked at the Arch-wizard. “I told you, if you blow up the cemetery, we don’t get paid!”
“But, Kazuma,” Aqua interjected, her voice whiny as she cowered behind a tombstone, “this Lich is something else… Even my divine magic won’t work on him!”
Kazuma grit his teeth. Indeed, it looked like they didn’t stand a chance, so retreat was probably the best option, not that he’d complain about running away in the face of such an adversary. Heck, just looking at the Lich gave him chills! But at the same time, he felt a tugging at his conscience at the thought of leaving their Crusader behind…
“Okay, seriously, did you just miss again?” the Lich asked incredulously as Darkness took another swing, only to miss when the Lich… did absolutely nothing. “Where the hell did you learn how to use a sword? I’ve seen kids with better swings than that!”
Darkness flinched. “Grk! This Lich is not only powerful, but ruthless, as well! Such brutal honesty…!”
“… What’s wrong with you?” the Lich deadpanned… and then, finally, something clicked inside Kazuma’s head. He’d heard that voice before. And, now that he looked closer, that armor looked familiar, as well.
“It’s you!”
Beldia had – with some difficulty – made his way across the moat to scale the wall. He had to pause underneath the parapet as a guard walked past, but then climbed on top of the rampart.
So far, so good. Except…
The glowing goblin-thing that he’d encountered two weeks before was walking along the rampart, right towards him! It was only a matter of seconds before the phosphorescent light would reach him, at which point the alarm would be raised and Beldia’s mission ruined beyond all hope of salvage!
The Dullahan backed up slowly even as he looked around wildly for a hiding place, but found none. He couldn’t drop down from the edge of the rampart without alerting the guards to his presence with the noise, and the only steps leading down that he could see were past the glowing goblin-thing…
… but there was one other path open to him. There were several buildings scattered around the courtyard besides the central keep, and one of them was built right up against the outer wall. If he could make his way onto the roof and hide on the other side of the ridge…
Said and done. Moving as quietly as he could manage while still staying out of the glowing goblin-thing’s circle of illumination, Beldia made his way to the edge of the rampart and slowly – and very cautiously – stepped onto the roof. The wood was old and creaky, but at that moment there was a blast of wind in the night that, thankfully, blew away from the goblin-thing and carried the noise away. Moving quickly, the roof creaking in protest under his feet, Beldia moved across the roof and away from the light.
It worked! He silently thanked the wind for aiding him in his mission as he hid on the other side of the roof’s ridge. Holding his head up in his hands, he peered over the edge. The glowing goblin-thing was going back toward the gatehouse, now, and none of the other guards were anywhere nearby, and the wind was still blowing. Perfect.
Beldia rose. Alas, in the dark he didn’t immediately notice the slightly darker patch of wood and inadvertently stepped on it. The instant he raised his other foot to continue walking, his weight was concentrated on that dark patch… which turned out to be rotten.
The Dullahan let out a rather comical yelp as the roof gave way and he fell into the building below. He smacked into a wooden beam, his body jackknifing from the impact, and slowly slid off it before crashing onto a half-rotten wooden cart filled with hay. The hay softened the impact somewhat, but the force from the drop was still enough to break the old, rotten wood and so the entire thing collapsed into a heap with a loud crash.
Beldia groaned as he dragged himself to his feet, spitting some hay out of his mouth as he did. Even with the wind blowing outside, there was a good chance the guards heard all that. He had to hide! Or, better yet, find a way out before they-
“Kweh.”
Slowly, oh so very slowly, Beldia turned. There, watching him with curious eyes, was one of the thrice-damned fire birds. Why was it here? Why-
“Wark!” he heard then, and the Dullahan turned his head over in his grip to see another fire bird stand up from behind a low wall. It was munching on something green, and pieces of hay fell away from its head as it straightened.
Wait a minute. Hay. Low walls. A wooden cart. Food.
… Was this a stable?
“Woheeho!” yet another bird called out, and it was then that a good dozen of the crimson-feathered monstrosities rose up from behind the many low walls dividing the stalls. One by one, they turned to look at Beldia.
“Um… Nice birdies?”
The fire bird that had first noticed the Dullahan flapped its wings, its curious expression turning into one of anger. “KWEH!”
Beldia screamed.
“Aww, you found me out?” I asked as I looked at Kazuma. I drooped my head in exaggerated defeat and raised my arms over my head. “Fine, fine. It’s me.”
I put my hands on either side of my helmet and removed it, then held it under one arm. In the face of the utterly furious look Kazuma was directing at me, I couldn’t help but grin.
“How you doin’, Kazuma?”
“You asshole!” he all but shouted. “I almost pissed myself! What the hell?!”
Of course, he wasn’t the only one taken aback by my little stunt. Darkness was staring at me, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Megumin’s eyes were shining as she looked at me, probably as furious as Kazuma. And Aqua-
“You! I knew you couldn’t be human! Filthy Lich!”
“No, I’m totally human,” I deadpanned. As far as I know, anyway. “That’s why your spells didn’t work, duh.”
The goddess blinked and lost her haughty attitude in an instant. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an “o” as she popped the bottom of her fist into her palm. “Oh! That explains it!”
I shook my head at the display of delayed clarity and turned back to Kazuma. “So, what are you guys up to?”
My junior’s lips formed a thin line before he spoke. “We-”
“We came here to fight an evil Necromancer!” Megumin declared, striking a pose with one foot on top of a tombstone. The fingers of her left hand – the one not holding her staff – formed a “V” shape as she passed it across her face. “Art thou friend or foe in the face of this our quest, Overlord? Also, that armor is totally cool. Where did you get it? Is it enchanted? Do you have a demon sealed inside your-”
The diminutive Arch-wizard’s words were cut off when Kazuma put a hand over her face. A she began sputtering her outrage at the interruption, the capital-A Adventurer gave me a sour look.
“Yeah, we took a quest to patrol the cemetery in case whoever’s been stealing all these bodies came back. Is that why you’re here?”
I blinked. Somebody put a quest out? Damn! “Kinda, yeah. A friend of mine asked me to look into it, so here I am. I didn’t know there was a quest, though.”
A triumphant look passed over Kazuma’s face. “Ah, so that’s it! Well, then, since we’re here on official business and you’re not, clearly we’re the seniors here.”
I shot him a flat look. “Seriously? The whole junior/senior thing is that important to you?”
Kazuma’s face flushed slightly. “A-anyway, have you seen anything?”
“Nah. You guys are the first ones I’ve run into since coming out here. It’s been pretty dead. Pardon the pun.”
Kazuma sighed. Why did he sound so relieved? “I see. Well, we’re on the last leg of our patrol, so we’re just gonna call it a night.”
“What? But, Kazuma, what about the Lich?!” Aqua exclaimed suddenly.
“Obviously you were just sensing Jason,” Kazuma replied, waving it off. “Or maybe his Gauntlet, I don’t know. Either way, we’re out. I wanna go to bed.”
“Now wait a minute!” Megumin protested. She turned to me. “I have so many questions! Like, why were you- Hey! Let go of my cape!”
Kazuma did not. “Let’s go home.”
“But-!”
I watched as Kazuma dragged the protesting Megumin away, Aqua following close behind them while poking her tongue out at me, a gesture I promptly returned. Chuckling at the taken-aback expression on her face, I turned to the final member of their little group.
“Shouldn’t you go, as well?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at Darkness. “They’re leaving you behind, you know.”
“Eh? Ah! Everyone, please wait for me!” Darkness sheathed her sword and hurried after her party members. Once she caught up to them she looked back over her shoulder at me, a strange look in her eye as her gaze roamed over my armor to linger on my Gauntlet.
What was up with that? Well, whatever. After watching them go, I turned my back and walked over to where I’d left Wiz.
It was then I was treated to a sight that sent me instantly into panic mode.
“Wiz! What happened? Why are you transparent?!”
“H-help…”
Without thinking, I summoned a life force orb and gently pushed it into Wiz’s chest. Immediately, her body solidified, and the glazed-over look in her eyes gave way to the clarity of consciousness. She blinked.
“Eh? What just happened?” she asked. She sat up and looked at me. “What did you just…?”
I smacked my lips. “Ah… I guess I should explain that, huh?” I said slowly. “But more importantly, why were you transparent, just now?”
Wiz averted her gaze, a troubled look on her face. “That’s… a long story.”
I sat down. In a soft voice, I said, “I’ve got time.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she saw my face. She looked away again, her gaze growing distant.
“It all started a few months before I quit adventuring…”
After what felt like an eternity of getting trampled, pecked and set on fire, Beldia crashed through the door leading out of the stable, the old and partially rotten wood offering little resistance to his armored form. Once outside, he looked around wildly before his eyes settled on the castle wall. The alarm had been raised and he could see goblin-things running around all over the place, not to mention he was currently on fire.
He had no choice but to retreat.
Knocking over a single goblin-thing that came running at him, the Dullahan staggered up the stone steps leading up to the top of the rampart. There he was met with three of the goblin-things – the two guards who had given him such trouble over the past few weeks, and the glowing one, as well. Pushing past them, screaming, Beldia ran toward the parapet and leapt.
For a brief moment, he was airborne, falling like a shooting star from the top of the wall into the moat below. The waters, while dangerous in their own right, at least served to put out the flames. If he could just crawl ashore quickly, then-
His foot struck something. Feeling around with his free hand, Beldia’s fingers eventually closed around a familiar shape.
Huh. So this was where his sword went. Apparently the guards hadn’t lied about not having it, after all.
Gripping the hilt, Beldia hefted the sword over his shoulder and slowly walked across the bottom of the moat. Reaching the brick wall marking the edge, he started to climb upward. While the moat wasn’t all that deep, the fact that he was holding not only his head but now also his sword made the climb a difficult one, to say the least. Still, he was eventually able to make his way out of the water.
Beldia seriously considered just lying down and letting his regeneration take care of his fresh injuries, but he knew that the goblin-things were hot on his trail. Hell, if he was unlucky, they would send out those fucking birds after him.
If he never saw another bird in his life, it would still be too soon.
And so, the Dullahan half-staggered, half-ran away from the Overlord’s castle, sword in hand. Behind him, he heard the gate crash open, followed by angry bird calls.
“No… No!” He hurried his steps, but between his injuries and the dents in his armor, moving quickly was all but impossible. And he could feel the ground begin to shake as the birds came closer… “No!”
His knees folded and he fell. Not forward, but backward, landing flat on his back; raising his head, he saw two of the bird riders go past, carrying a rope between them. Had they used it to fell him?
“Well, well, well,” a rider said as he slowed his bird next to the Dullahan. “If it aren’t stupid salesperson general of salesperson army.”
Beldia groaned. Was this it? Was this the end for him? Looking back, he’d had a good run, even if he didn’t get to do all the things he wanted. Hell, he never even got to finish the investigation the Demon King sent him to-
The Demon King!
Beldia groaned. Over the course of his feud with the unseen Overlord, Beldia had completely forgotten about his mission! He was a failure as a Demon King army general! Nay, as a Knight! If only he had his- Wait a second.
I have my sword!
First giggling, then cackling, Beldia stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground and used it as a crutch to stand up. Looking around at the fire bird riders surrounding him, he let out a guffaw.
“Finally, I’ll have my revenge!” the Dullahan bellowed. “First I’ll deal with you, and then your master! Tonight, you will pay for-”
“What’s going on here? Who is this?”
Beldia paused. That voice didn’t belong to any of the goblin-things. Slowly, puzzled, he turned around… and was met with an armored figure, not entirely unlike himself. Well, except for the obvious difference that the figure’s armor wasn’t dented everywhere, and his head was on his shoulders as opposed to carried under his arm.
“He are stupid salesperson we is telling you about, Overlord,” one of the guards called out from the rampart, prompting Beldia to turn around, red flashing before his vision.
“I’m not- Wait, ‘Overlord’?” Beldia turned back to the newcomer. Sure enough, he looked the part of a force of evil, what with the sinister-looking armor, the face obscured by shadows, and the faintly glowing eyes… even if he was a bit short. “Are you really… the Overlord?”
The man nodded. “That’s right.”
“… So we finally meet face to face.”
“Indeed we do,” the Overlord agreed, nodding. “I’ve heard much about you from my Minions.”
“Your Minions,” Beldia ground out, “have put me through hell. For weeks now, I’ve been trying to meet with you, but every time they’ve turned me away. They threw rocks at me! And birds! And a fucking cow!”
The man chuckled good-naturedly. “Yeah, they can get a bit overzealous in following my commands. You saw the sign, didn’t you? But you know what? I’m in a good mood, and your courage and persistence in the face of adversity has impressed me.”
With those words, the Overlord put his hand on Beldia’s shoulder and fixed the Dullahan with an honest, forthright gaze.
“What are you selling?”
End Chapter Nineteen
