Ren Kuroda's plan to temporarily leave the Great Tomb of Nazarick soon became known to the other guardians.
While the guardians couldn't openly oppose Ren's decision, they were strongly against the idea of him acting alone.
It was simply too dangerous.
As Ren himself had already said, they had arrived in a completely unknown world. They knew nothing about its powers, geography, or inhabitants.
And Ren was one of the two remaining Supreme Beings of Nazarick.
What if he encountered danger out there?
If he absolutely insisted on leaving, then at the very least he should bring along a guardian—and maintain constant communication with Nazarick. Only then could everyone feel at ease.
After hearing Albedo and the others voice their concerns, Ren felt speechless.
Originally, he had assumed that with Momonga remaining in Nazarick, he would be able to leave and move around freely on his own.
But he hadn't expected the guardians to react this strongly once they learned of his intentions.
"A guardian as an escort would be overkill," Ren replied with a tired sigh.
"You all have your own responsibilities as well."
"If someone absolutely needs to accompany me as a liaison, then we'll choose someone from the Pleiades. I'm planning an infiltration mission—bringing too many people would attract unnecessary attention."
Among the Pleiades Battle Maids, the one most likely to accompany Ren should have been Aureole Omega.
After all, she had been created by Ren himself and was also the only Level 100 combat maid among the seven sisters.
However, because Aureole was assigned to guard a special area within Nazarick, Ren had no choice but to select from the other six Pleiades sisters.
Naturally, every one of the battle maids hoped they would be chosen.
To them, being able to accompany a Supreme Being on a mission was an honor beyond compare.
"In that case," Ren said after a moment's thought, "I'll have Yuri Alpha accompany me. She'll also maintain communication with Nazarick."
Upon hearing Ren's final decision, Yuri Alpha immediately stepped forward and knelt on one knee in acknowledgment.
"Yes, Lord Ren."
After accepting the order, she turned to briefly instruct her sisters on a few matters before departing.
Anyone who had watched the story of the Sorcerer King probably remembered Narberal Gamma, the so-called "entomologist," quite vividly.
But in truth, as members of the Pleiades, all seven sisters were remarkably beautiful.
Yuri Alpha might not have been as high-level as Narberal, but she was the eldest sister of the Pleiades and effectively the coordinator of the battle maid unit.
Her personality was disciplined and responsible—much like a dependable senior.
In fact, she often found herself suffering headaches because of the troublesome personalities of her younger sisters.
There was also another reason Ren chose Yuri.
Among all the residents of Nazarick, Yuri possessed an extremely rare alignment value:
Justice +150.
That's right.
Not negative.
A positive value, and a fairly high one at that.
Since Ren planned to become an adventurer, interacting with humans was unavoidable.
If his companion had a severely negative alignment, they might end up trying to slaughter people at the slightest provocation.
And frankly, Ren didn't want to deal with that kind of headache.
Just as Ren and Yuri were preparing to leave Nazarick—
Another figure entered the hall.
"Lord Momonga, Lord Ren—I have returned from surveying the surrounding area."
It was Sebas Tian, the butler of Nazarick.
"As you predicted, the Great Tomb of Nazarick has indeed arrived in an unfamiliar place."
"The swamp and graveyard that once surrounded Nazarick are gone. The area is now a vast forest mixed with barren wilderness."
"Following Lord Ren's instructions, I also investigated whether any nearby settlements existed."
"I discovered a human village called Carne Village."
"At the moment, however, it appears to be under attack by a military force."
"So I returned immediately to report to the two Supreme Beings and ask how we should proceed."
The timing couldn't have been more coincidental.
The lands surrounding Nazarick now contained only one settlement: Carne Village.
It was a small and remote village belonging to a nearby kingdom.
At this very moment, it was under assault by knights from the Baharuth Empire.
Their true goal wasn't the village itself.
They intended to lure out the kingdom's strongest warrior—Gazef Stronoff.
As someone with one of the highest Justice values in Nazarick, Sebas had been deeply disturbed when he saw the villagers being slaughtered.
He had desperately wanted to intervene.
His character settings made that almost unavoidable.
Just like his creator Takemikazuchi, Sebas was the kind of person who couldn't ignore those in need of help.
Yet despite his powerful urge to act, Sebas had forced himself to hold back.
If the attackers had merely been bandits or criminals, he would have stepped in without hesitation.
But judging from their equipment and formation, the attackers were clearly a trained army.
And if they were soldiers, that meant they represented some political faction.
Nazarick had only just arrived in this unfamiliar world.
Sebas did not want his personal actions to accidentally provoke a powerful enemy for Nazarick.
However, because of both his personality settings and his extremely high Justice value, he couldn't simply pretend he hadn't seen anything.
So he rushed back to Nazarick at top speed to report the situation.
At the same time, motivated by a bit of personal hope, he pointed out that Carne Village was the only human settlement nearby.
If Nazarick wanted useful information about this world, its inhabitants would be extremely valuable sources.
Ren nodded thoughtfully.
"You're right."
"If we save them, the villagers will likely be grateful and willing to share information with us."
He turned to Momonga.
"And besides, Momonga… we've only just arrived in this world."
"We still need to confirm whether the magic and items from YGGDRASIL function normally here."
Hearing Ren say that, a red glow suddenly flared inside Momonga's hollow eye sockets.
Ren had struck directly at the heart of the matter.
Yes.
Both of them were currently max-level players.
But if the items and skills from YGGDRASIL didn't work in this world—
Then their strength would drop dramatically.
Warrior classes would at least still have their physical bodies to rely on.
But Momonga?
He was a pure magic caster.
If he couldn't use magic, he'd be about as useful as a salted fish lying on a plate.
"Albedo," Momonga declared decisively.
"Prepare yourself in full combat gear and come with me."
"Sebas, lead us to this Carne Village."
"We'll use those imperial knights to test the functionality of YGGDRASIL's skills."
Ren waved casually.
"In that case, I'll take my leave as well."
"If possible, try to keep Carne Village intact."
"Even if only as a convenient smokescreen to conceal Nazarick's presence, it could still prove useful."
Sebas watched Ren depart with clear gratitude in his eyes as Ren left together with Yuri.
Momonga, worried about unexpected complications, had actually brought along Albedo, Nazarick's strongest defensive guardian, as well as Sebas himself.
Judging by the serious look on Momonga's skeletal face, he clearly believed this mission required extreme caution.
However…
Before long, the Sorcerer King would discover something.
The power level of this world was nowhere near as high as he had imagined.
In fact—
Their entire operation right now was basically like strategizing intensely against thin air.