Chapter 12

Soon, Lambert and his party arrived at the city of Ainzas.

Tall buildings of two or three stories lined up, and the city was bustling with people, quite lively.

There was a sense of unity throughout the city, with beautiful white walls and orange roofs visible no matter which way one looked.

It was as if the entire city was one giant castle.

Lambert tapped the floor, paved with pure white stone, with his feet.

"…This is the city of Ainzas, huh? It's quite a sight, isn't it?"

Lambert's voice was filled with excitement.

His steps naturally became narrower, and he quickened his pace.

(How magnificent our country has become! If His Highness could see this, he would surely shed tears of joy!)

"Among the cities of the Regios Kingdom, this is one of the most highly praised for its streets."

Fiona and the others struggled to keep up with the excitedly walking Lambert.

Lambert would stop frequently, exclaiming "Oh!" and "This is!" in exaggerated surprise.

Fiona, who had fallen behind from Lambert, smiled wryly and whispered to Lily.

"Sir Knight, I thought you were a bit scary, but you have a rather cute side, don't you?"

"C-cute…?"

Lily, looking at the fully armored Lambert from a distance, who was making loud clanking sounds as he walked, spoke with a question mark in her voice.

To Lily, it was just eerie how he had the energy to run around in such a heavy suit of armor.

"Phew… phew… hey, um… what should I call you?"

Lloyd, panting, asked Lambert, who was gazing at a weather vane on the roof of a five-story building.

"Your… like that little girl Fiona, just call me a knight."

"…You don't even know Ainzas. Anyway, you're already drawing attention with that outfit, so stop overreacting! It's embarrassing for me to follow you."

"……"

Lambert slowly turned to Lloyd.

Indeed, he had been a bit too excited, given that it was an unfamiliar era.

His appearance was already drawing attention.

If Lambert were to be suspected, he could be exposed as a monster and hunted down.

His purpose was to observe the present-day Regios Kingdom, so he needed to gather information by entering the city, where he would inevitably attract some strange looks.

However, he should have avoided unnecessary attention.

He had been too careless.

Lambert, one of the Four Demon Generals of the Regios Kingdom, had been completely carried away, especially for an undead.

Lambert fell silent, reprimanding himself.

However, to Lloyd, it looked as if he was furious at what had been said. Or rather, that was the only way it could be interpreted.

"A… no, no, I didn't mean to force you, I just… hoped you would be more careful…"

"Understood. I'll be more careful."

Lambert walked calmly and approached Lloyd.

"Ah!"

Lloyd instinctively put his hands in front of him and closed his eyes tightly.

When he cautiously opened his eyes, Lambert had already passed by him normally.

"…Is he not angry? Right?"

Lloyd desperately asked Lily.

Lily sighed silently and followed after Lambert.

After Lambert's wandering calmed down, Fiona somehow managed to persuade him to head towards the guild.

Lambert, who had been quite talkative at first, had fallen silent at some point.

The atmosphere around Lambert felt somewhat heavy.

"Is he in a bad mood or something?"

"Maybe Lloyd made him angry?"

Lloyd and Lily whispered to each other.

"Don't say such scary things."

"My condolences. Just like those bandits, he might cut you in half with that big sword… I'll place a wreath on your grave."

Lily lightly clapped her hands and bowed her head.

"Stop it! That's not funny! Hey, Fiona… I really don't understand what he's thinking. Maybe we should stop bringing him along…"

"Excuse me, Sir Knight. If you want to explore the city, I can guide you after we meet the guild master…"

"…Well, I didn't really want to see everything, but… it might be inconvenient in the future, so I'll leave it to you."

When Fiona promised to guide him later, the heavy atmosphere around Lambert eased.

Lloyd, watching this, muttered, "How does she know…?"

"Let's go… ahead, there's a two-story building with a sign that says 'Twilight of the Spirits.' Ah, there it is! The one… with the spirit weather vane on the roof…"

Lifting his head at Fiona's words, Lambert saw a decoration resembling a spirit's silhouette attached to the tip of the roof.

"I see, that's the building. Despite your modesty, it's quite an impressive structure."

He had heard that the adventurer guild in Ainzas was the smallest and poorly managed among the guilds in the city, but it was a rather impressive building.

"Ah, no… that's not it. Actually, the second floor is our adventurer guild, 'Twilight of the Spirits.' The first floor is a tavern called 'Spirit's Hearth,' run by the building's owner… We rent the second floor, you could say… We don't have the means to have our own independent building yet… The land prices in this city are much higher than elsewhere…"

"…I see."