The bloody valkyrie, p.1
The Bloody Valkyrie, page 1
part #3 of Overlord Series
Copyright
OVERLORD, VOLUME 3
KUGANE MARUYAMA
Translation by Emily Balistrieri
Cover art by so-bin
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
© 2013 KUGANE MARUYAMA
All rights reserved.
First published in Japan in 2013 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION ENTERBRAIN.
English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION ENTERBRAIN, through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.
English translation © 2017 by Yen Press, LLC
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ISBN 978-0-316-36398-3
E3-20161222-JV-PC
Chapter 1 | Herd of Predators
1
“What is wrong with this food?”
A shrill, hysterical voice sounded, followed by the hard clatter of silverware hitting dishes.
Several people in the dining room turned toward the woman making all the racket. Her face was more than the word beautiful could imply. Her looks were perhaps equal to that most gorgeous princess of the kingdom, the one called Golden. Even warped in her rage, she was lovely. And despite the disturbance she was causing, her movements were elegant and even refined. She had to be a noble from somewhere—the daughter of an elite noble, at that. Pushing back her long ringlets in exasperation, she scowled disapprovingly at the food set in front of her.
The table was crammed with dishes. There were several soft white rolls, just baked and steaming faintly, in a basket. A thick slab of red meat, grilled rare and dripping juices, was arranged temptingly on a plate with sweet corn and mashed potatoes made with loads of butter. The salad of fresh vegetables was still crisp, and its dressing gave off a refreshing citrus scent.
The meals at Fortress City E-Rantel’s finest inn, the Golden Glimmer, were prepared with food that had had Preservation cast on it to retain its freshness—by a more than first-rate chef, of course. This dinner was like a work of art, born of the preparation of the finest ingredients by the most renowned cooks. It was a repast that only royalty, nobles, and successful merchants could eat—and this woman was openly expressing dissatisfaction with it.
It was only natural that the people hearing her remarks, in addition to being surprised, would take an interest in the food they’d always eaten without thinking.
“It’s awful!” Her words seemed so out of place that everyone was dumbfounded for a moment.
During this scene, the only one with unwavering posture and an unchanging expression was the elderly butler in attendance behind her. Even when she whirled around, eyes full of intense emotion, his face remained the same, as if he had no other expressions.
“I can’t stand this city! Make preparations to leave immediately!”
“But miss, it’s already ni—”
“Shut up! I said we’re leaving, so we’re leaving! Got it?”
In response to the childish tantrum, the butler broke his posture for the first time and bowed his head. “Understood, miss. I’ll make departure preparations right away.”
“Hmph! If you understand, Sebas, then hop to it!” She flung the fork she’d been holding, and it c-clanged. Then, indignant, she stormed out of the main dining room.
In the relaxed atmosphere left in her wake, like the calm after a cloudburst, a dignified voice spoke. “Everyone, please excuse the disturbance.” After putting back in place the chair that had nearly toppled over when the woman stood up, the butler slowly bowed to the other diners. Upon receiving the fine old man’s perfect apology, some gazed at him with pity.
“Sir—”
“Yes?” A man who had been standing by quietly moved next to the butler.
“Do excuse us. I hardly think it will suffice as an apology for the commotion, but please allow me to pay for everyone’s meal.”
The faces of the few people who heard what he said lit up with delight they couldn’t conceal. The price for a single meal at the city’s finest inn was something else. For such a price, tolerating a little disturbance was no problem.
Meanwhile, the manager was unfazed, and he responded to the butler’s proposal with a bow. The natural flow of the exchange was evidence that this scene had played out several times since the arrival of this master-servant pair.
Sebas’s eyes moved to a seemingly poor man stuffing his face in one corner of the dining room. Realizing this, the fellow hastily stood and trotted over.
He seemed extremely out of place compared to the other diners. For starters, his appearance didn’t have any of the quality or dignity of the others’, which made him stick out severely. His clothing was the only part of him that compared favorably with the other customers, but it was almost as if the clothes were wearing him; it was even comical how much he looked like a clown clad in finery.
“Sebas, sir…”
“What is it, Zach?”
The other diners furrowed their brows upon hearing Zach’s obsequious way of speaking. With that brownnosing tone, it would be no surprise to find him rubbing his hands together greedily.
However, Sebas’s expression didn’t change.
“Though it may be bold of me as a hired hand, I think it might be best to reconsider leaving at this hour.”
“Because it’s difficult to drive the carriage at night?”
“Well, there’s that, and also, I…uh…need a, I mean…must prepare for the journey, sir.” Zach scratched his head. It seemed like he was freshly washed, but even so, he scratched so hard he scattered everywhere around him whatever he was picking off. Several people’s brows furrowed further. Whether he realized it or not, the speed of his scratching increased.
“But I don’t think the young lady will like your suggestion. No, given her disposition, I don’t imagine she will change her mind,” Sebas declared with a steely look. “So we have no choice but to depart.”
“But yeah…” Eyes darting here and there, he tried to come up with an excuse but couldn’t, and he grimaced.
“Of course, we can’t leave immediately. I have to load the young lady’s bags into the carriage, which will take a little while. Please make the necessary preparations during that time.”
The poor-looking man had a crafty glint in his eye as he went to speak again, but Sebas nonchalantly ignored it—because everything was going according to plan. “So then, what time will we leave?”
“Hmm. How about two or three hours from now? That’s probably the latest we can push it. If we wait longer than that, the highway will be pitch-black.”
Another indecent, calculating gleam appeared in the man’s eyes. And Sebas once again made an effort to ignore it. Licking his lips a few times, Zach spoke. “Heh-heh. That’s probably fine.”
“Good. Then will you go now and get ready?”
After watching Zach go, Sebas waved away the air around him—he felt unclean, like some kind of dirt was sticking to him.
Thanks to his stony demeanor, he was able to suppress the urge to sigh. Frankly, he couldn’t get himself to like inferior beings. His colleagues, like Demiurge and Shalltear, were able to find some joy in treating them as toys, but Sebas didn’t even want to be near them.
The collective understanding inside the Great Tomb of Nazarick was “Those not of Nazarick are inferior creatures” and “With very few exceptions, humans and subhumans are weaklings who should be squashed underfoot.” To Sebas, who agreed with his Creator’s idea that “You can’t claim to be strong if you don’t save the weak,” it was a puzzling way to think, but when he had to deal with someone like Zach, he began to think that perhaps Nazarick’s fundamental opinion was right after all.
“Dear me. And humans are supposed to be such wonderful creatures…” Sebas stroked his neatly trimmed beard with one hand and switched gears to consider what he should do next.
The plan was going well, but he did need to check in with the overseer. As he was thinking about what he needed to do from here on out, he noticed a man draw near to him.
“Seems like you’re in a troubling situation if you have to leave right now.” He was probably in his late forties. His hair was neatly cut, and there were many white strands mixed in among the black. Due to his age and eating well, he had collected quite a bit of excess around his midriff. His grooming gave him a sophisticated appearance, and his clothing struck a balance between gau
dy and high class.
“If it isn’t Baldo, sir.” Sebas gave a slight bow.
Baldo generously stopped him. “Ahh, no, no. Please don’t be so formal.”
This man, Baldo Lauffray, was a merchant who was involved in a rather large chunk of the food business in the city and had spoken to Sebas several times. Controlling a commanding share of the food market in the Fortress City E-Rantel, a critical base in wartime, meant that among all the merchants, he was one of the more powerful.
Once the ranks of soldiers grew to tens of thousands, carrying reserve provisions became costly and laborious. For that reason, the kingdom’s general strategy was to march troops to this city carrying only the bare minimum and supply them here. As a result, unlike other cities, food and weapon merchants possessed quite a bit of authority here.
A man who could be counted among the most powerful in E-Rantel wouldn’t talk to someone just because he found himself eating in the same dining room. Therefore, there had to be some reason he was talking to Sebas. But Sebas and the others had been hoping for this as well.
“Sebas, he’s no good, that one.”
“Is that so?” His expression broke for the first time into a faint smile, and he responded politely in a tone that showed he knew exactly which “one” was meant.
“He can’t be trusted. Honestly, I can’t understand why you’d hire someone like that.”
Sebas got his brain’s gears spinning and searched for the most appropriate response. Telling the truth about why he’d taken on Zach was out of the question, but if he said he hired him without knowing the man’s reputation, Baldo would probably think he wasn’t a good judge of character, and his opinion of him would go down.
They had decided to leave this city, but he needed to avoid damaging his relationship with Baldo. There could come a time in the future when he would want to use him.
“That may be, but no one sold themselves as well as he did. His character may leave something to be desired, but his enthusiasm impressed the young lady.”
Baldo smiled awkwardly. His opinion of her must have just dropped another notch. Well, that was why she was along, although Sebas did feel a bit bad about it—forcing her to play the unlikable role, that is.
“I’m overstepping my bounds here, so please disregard what I’m about to say, but don’t you think you should make a complaint to your master?”
“You may be right, but when I think of the debt of gratitude I owe to this young lady’s father, I simply…”
“Well, there is something to be said for loyalty…,” Baldo murmured and then began hedging. “In that case, I could offer to send someone I trust along with you?”
“That won’t be necessary.” He spoke kindly, but it was a definitive refusal.
Baldo must have sensed his determination, and he tried a different angle. “Are you sure? I really think you should have a proper guard. It’s quite a ways to the capital. And unlike in the empire, the roads in the kingdom aren’t safe. I can set you up with a pretty trustworthy mercenary.”
The nobles who lived on the estates the road ran through provided highway security in exchange for tolls. Charging tolls was the nobles’ right. However, in many cases, they were just in it for the money, and the security they provided was often unreliable at best. As a result, travelers were often attacked by mercenaries turned thieves and bandits.
Thanks to the Golden Princess’s effort to address this problem, highway security forces under direct supervision of the king were out patrolling, but there weren’t very many, and it was not possible to gauge their effectiveness. Interference by the nobles, who feared their rights would be infringed upon, didn’t help matters.
The result was that the highways were not very well protected by the state.
For that reason, merchants generally practiced self-defense by enlisting adventurers or a gang of mercenaries they could trust. Someone as powerful as Baldo would surely know a number of extremely skilled, trustworthy mercenary groups. But Sebas couldn’t accept his offer.
“I imagine you can. However, the young lady isn’t fond of keeping a large entourage. I must do what I can to comply with her wishes.”
“Are you sure?” Baldo, seemingly at a loss, twisted his face into an exaggerated grimace, like a grown-up who was done trying to deal with a child’s tantrum.
“My apologies for being unable to accept your kind offer.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Frankly, I’m eager to do you a favor. If that isn’t possible, I’d like to make a bit of an impression, at least.”
The daughter of a rich merchant from a certain city in the empire and her butler escort—that was the guise under which they had come to this inn, and they gave off the impression of having the means that such a wealthy family would have. The one Baldo wanted to make himself known to was the rich merchant father.
Sebas smiled gently at the fish who had bitten his hook. “I’ll be sure to convey your kindness to my master.”
Something sparkled in the back of Baldo’s eyes, but a moment later, he had hidden it. It was a change normal people wouldn’t even notice, like the twinkle of a star, but it was more than enough for Sebas to catch.
“Well then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going now. The young lady is expecting me.” He waited for the exact moment Baldo opened his mouth to forestall him.
Having been humored, Baldo observed Sebas’s expression for a moment before talking through a sigh. “Phew, well, I guess it can’t be helped. Sebas, next time you’re in town, come and visit me. My door’ll be open.”
“Indeed. I look forward to your hospitality.” As Sebas watched Baldo go, he murmured, “So many men, so many minds, huh?”
Baldo’s actions weren’t entirely driven by the ulterior motive of profit. Sebas could tell he was genuinely concerned for the lone woman and her butler. It’s because there are humans like him, because there are humans who try to save the weak, that I can’t dislike them. A refreshing smile he didn’t have to force played across Sebas’s face.
After knocking a few times and excusing himself, Sebas bowed and entered the room.
“Please forgive me, Master Sebas.”
As he closed the door, he was met by a woman bowing deeply. If the people from the dining room saw this scene, they would wonder what in the world was going on. The woman was the spoiled young lady with a temper who had been making such a racket earlier.
Her expression now was so calm, it was as if all the hysterics had been a fit of the imagination. The attitude she assumed was appropriate toward someone who held a higher standing. Her face and clothing were the same, but the woman inside seemed to have changed completely. There was one other odd thing, however: One of her eyes—the left one—was closed, though it hadn’t been in the dining room.
“No need to lower your head, Solution. You were only performing your duty. That is all.”
Sebas looked around the gorgeous, spacious room. Of course, to Sebas, who knew what it was like on the ninth level of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, it was nothing special, but that was perhaps an unfair comparison.
They didn’t have much luggage, and he saw that it had been gathered in one corner of the room. They were already prepared to depart. Sebas hadn’t gotten their things together, and there was only one other person it could have been.
“I would have done that. You did not need to trouble yourself.”
“What are you talking about? I couldn’t possibly force more work on you, Master Sebas.” The woman who had bowed—Solution Epsilon, one of the Pleiades combat maids—shook her head.
“Oh? But I’m supposed to be your butler.” Something youthful and mischievous appeared among the wrinkles on his face.
Seeing his heartfelt smile, Solution couldn’t help but finally break into an awkward grin. “It’s true that you’re my butler, Master Sebas, but I’m also your subordinate.”
“…Yes, that’s right. Then I will take the liberty of giving you an order as your boss. Your work is done. I will handle everything else until we leave, so until then, please relax here.”
“…Okay. Thank you.”
“Mistress Shalltear has most likely grown sick of waiting in the carriage. I will go tell her what time we’re leaving.” Sebas lifted up one of the heaviest-looking pieces of luggage with ease. Then, as if suddenly remembering the question, he asked, “By the way, is he working out?”
