"That was incredibly rude of me… Do you two happen to know the 'War Oni'? I can't believe I just asked you to pay compensation."
"These items are far too valuable—please, take them back. If the boss finds out you're friends of the 'War Oni,' I doubt he'll make things difficult for me."
Hearing the murmurs ripple through the tavern—and the servant's flustered apology—Momonga could only stare blankly. He was completely dumbfounded.
All he'd done was take out a single healing potion… was that really enough to cause this kind of uproar?
"…Actually, there's something I've been meaning to ask ever since we arrived in this city."
Whether it was at the Adventurers' Guild or here in the tavern, he'd been hearing the same name over and over again.
"The 'War Oni'… what kind of people are they? Famous adventurers or something?"
As for information about Yuto and Yuri Alpha, Yuri had only reported the matter of the "Thirteen Heroes" ruins. She hadn't yet had the chance to send the rest of the details back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick before Momonga and the others had already set out to become adventurers themselves.
In fact, even Yuri hadn't expected things to turn out this way. Ever since they had explored the ruins alongside the adamantite-ranked adventurer team Blue Rose, their fame had skyrocketed.
From Yuri's perspective, among the so-called adamantite-class party, only the girl named Evileye was worth noting. The rest of them were, frankly, rather average.
And yet, in reality, they were the strongest adventurer team in the kingdom.
For Yuto and Yuri to act alongside such a party—and to receive high praise from them after completing the mission—was recognition in itself.
Moreover, the ruins explored with Blue Rose were no ordinary ruins. They were the legendary ruins of the "Thirteen Heroes."
At that level, very few adventurers in the present day could even hope to return alive—let alone successfully conquer them.
And so, no adventurer in E-Rantel could forget that day.
The day Blue Rose returned from the ruins and came to the city to rest—bringing with them a haul so astonishing that it made everyone else green with envy.
Originally, Blue Rose could have returned directly to the royal capital. But upon hearing that Yuto and the others needed to go back to E-Rantel to submit their mission report, their leader, Lakyus, readily agreed to accompany them.
As the client, she wished to personally thank the head of the E-Rantel Adventurers' Guild.
After all, if they hadn't found powerful individuals like Yuto and Yuri, the exploration of the ruins would never have gone so smoothly.
At the same time, as the one who commissioned the request, Lakyus also intended to increase Yuto and Yuri's reward—and to deliver her highest praise in person.
Thus, on that very day, the members of Blue Rose arrived in E-Rantel together with Yuto's party.
And it was that day that Yuto and Yuri's adventurer team became famous.
The title "War Oni" was born.
Two mere copper-ranked adventurers had not only joined forces with the highest-ranked adamantite team, Blue Rose, to conquer the ruins of the Thirteen Heroes—but had also earned their recognition and received a share of the spoils.
It would have been stranger if they hadn't attracted attention.
At the same time, after completing their very first mission, Yuto and Yuri's ranks skyrocketed—jumping six or seven tiers in one go, from copper rank straight to mithril rank.
As for the loot they received from the ruins… most of it consisted of low-tier magic items and healing potions.
Yuto had absolutely no interest in such things.
So, taking advantage of the gathered adventurers in E-Rantel—who were all there to watch the spectacle—he used the excuse of being short on money and prepared to sell everything off.
Naturally, Blue Rose immediately stepped in to stop such outrageous "wastefulness."
They insisted that these were treasure-class relics. To exchange them for mere gold would be nothing short of sacrilege.
In the end, however, Yuto—who truly was short on cash—converted all the spoils allocated to himself and Yuri into money… by selling them directly to Blue Rose.
Though the adventurers of E-Rantel felt a pang of regret at not being able to purchase those relics themselves, they had still witnessed something extraordinary.
That alone was enough to satisfy them.
And that was precisely why, when Momonga had taken out a healing potion earlier, everyone had reacted with such shock.
Because among the relics once displayed by the "War Oni," there had been potions just like that—vivid red, like fresh blood.
To prove their effectiveness, Yuto himself had even used one in front of them.
The speed at which it healed injuries… the sheer potency of its restorative effects…
It was practically on par with third-tier healing magic—absurdly powerful beyond belief.
After listening to the explanation at length, Momonga and Naberal finally pieced it together.
The so-called "War Oni"… turned out to be none other than Yuto and Yuri Alpha.
"You don't know the 'War Oni'?" the servant asked in surprise. "Then how did you obtain that potion?"
"It's said those are special elixirs from the Thirteen Heroes' ruins. They're on a completely different level from the ones we use."
Momonga hesitated. Should he admit that he knew Yuto?
In the end, he chose silence.
Without another word, he headed upstairs.
As for the healing potion on the table, he left it behind.
Truth be told, although Momonga's sense of justice—as an undead—had long since fallen below any moral threshold, his bond with his companions was stronger than anyone else's.
At first, being provoked and then asked for compensation had irritated him greatly.
But upon seeing how deeply that servant admired the "War Oni"—his own companion, Yuto—Momonga felt it wasn't worth stooping to their level.
"…As expected of Yuto," Momonga muttered once they returned to their room, removing his helmet with a sigh.
"At the Adventurers' Guild earlier, we learned that adventurers can only accept quests appropriate to their rank. Advancement is supposed to be gradual."
"And yet, somehow, the two of them managed to take on the highest-level commission while still being copper-ranked…"
He frowned, troubled by the question of how to raise his own rank quickly—but no matter how he thought about it, no good solution came to mind.
Naberal, standing beside him, spoke with unwavering conviction.
"Both you, Ainz-sama, and Yuto-sama are Supreme Beings. If Yuto-sama can accomplish such a feat, then I am certain Ainz-sama can do so with ease as well."
Like all the denizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Naberal held absolute, blind faith in Momonga—believing that everything was already part of Ainz-sama's grand design.
Hearing her words only made Momonga feel an immense pressure weighing down on him.
For the first time, he was starting to regret coming out to play the role of an adventurer.
As the nominal supreme ruler of Nazarick, even if he lost to Yuto in terms of performance… he couldn't afford to lose too badly.
What Momonga didn't realize, however, was that when he had taken out that YGGDRASIL healing potion downstairs as compensation…
A female adventurer named Brita had witnessed the entire scene—
And had quietly slipped out to report what she had seen…
...
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