The group continued wandering around, and Barrett wanted to buy a map, so they asked for directions to the nearest bookstore and headed there together.
The bookstore was built unusually tall, with an enormous door—clearly designed to accommodate races with gigantic builds.
As soon as they stepped inside, right in the most eye-catching spot, a neat stack of books with red covers and gold lettering caught their attention. The title read The Quotations of the Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown.
EeDechi frowned, because judging by the color, this was the exact same book she'd seen in those propaganda posters earlier, clutched to the chest of every creature.
The bookstore was nearly empty. A gnoll in leather shorts stood there, holding a copy of The Quotations of the Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown, reading it with intense focus.
He nodded as he read, muttering nonstop under his breath, "Worthy of the great Supreme Overlord, this is so spot-on! So damn profound!"
Out of curiosity, EeDechi grabbed a copy of The Quotations of the Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown herself, eager to see what kind of golden nuggets of wisdom could inspire such praise.
She flipped to the first page and nearly burst out laughing.
"The weather's pretty nice today. — The Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown"
Luckily, EeDechi didn't actually laugh. She tightened her face muscles, choking the grin back down.
Next to the book pile stood a human attendant wearing white gloves and a formal suit, his eyes fixed on the readers. If EeDechi had let that laugh slip, she'd probably have been ratted out to the authorities on the spot.
The gnoll next to her kept gushing as he read, "This line is pure genius! I couldn't come up with something this deep in a million years!"
EeDechi flipped to the next page and caught another of Ainz's quotes: "What does a chocolate strawberry cake taste like?"
"Supreme Overlord Ainz's one sentence is worth ten thousand of ours!" the gnoll declared, hoisting The Quotations of the Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown high above his head, beaming with pride at everyone around.
He marched excitedly toward the bookstore counter, book in hand, and told the owner, "I'm buying this! Every damn line in here is packed with mind-blowing wisdom! I'm gonna study it hard, soak up every bit of Supreme Overlord's teachings!"
The bookstore owner, a dwarf perched on a tall stool, gave him a thumbs-up. "You've got good taste, pal. This one's been flying off the shelves lately!"
The gnoll dug some coins out of his leather shorts, paid up, then cradled the book like it was some priceless treasure, slowing his steps and easing his way out the door.
"Hey, buddy," EeDechi called out to him. She flipped open her copy of The Quotations of the Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown, pointed at one of the lines, and asked the gnoll, "Mind breaking down the philosophy in this one for me? I'm kinda slow on the uptake and can't figure out the deep meaning."
EeDechi was genuinely curious—what the hell was this gnoll getting out of Ainz's quotes that made him worship the guy so much?
She held up the page, showing him the line she'd pointed to.
The line was: "Finally, I don't have to read the room anymore—feels so good! — The Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown"
The gnoll leaned in, squinting his yellow eyes at the words on the page, his brow furrowing as he thought hard. After a moment, he scratched his head and said sheepishly, "I can't read."
You can't read?! EeDechi nearly keeled over. If you can't read, how the hell were you studying it so intently, so seriously? And spouting all those big reactions?
The gnoll went on, "Even though I can't read, I can feel the spirit and ideas the Supreme Overlord is putting out there. It really speaks to me. Plus, once I buy it and take it back, the tribe's shaman can read it to me. The Supreme Overlord's so great and powerful—his words have to make sense. If I don't get it, that's on me."
After the gnoll walked off, EeDechi put The Quotations of the Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown back where it belonged, though she didn't bother lining it up neatly.
The white-gloved attendant nearby whipped out a ruler, shifted the book back into place, and lined it up perfectly with the others, measuring it to the millimeter.
Barrett had already snagged his map a while back, but he'd been keeping an eye on EeDechi, making sure she didn't stir up trouble—like letting out a savage laugh at Ainz's expense. Luckily, nothing happened, and all was quiet.
The group left the bookstore and kept exploring.
Barrett leaned in close to Vaelynn, dropping his voice to a whisper, "Is there a black market in E-Rantel?"
The black market—or underground trade—was a hot spot for every adventurer. Dirty cash got cleaned up there, shady goods changed hands, and you could find sellers and buyers for everything: dark magic potions, witchcraft books, cursed forbidden relics, the works.
"A black market? Hell yeah, there's one," Vaelynn said after a brief pause. "Thing is, the 'black market' is officially run by the Sorcerer Kingdom. It's over in the West District—you should check it out. Most of the polymorph potions come straight from the Sorcerer Kingdom's potion shops, along with dragon scales, dragon bones, alchemy ingredients…"
E-Rantel's streets were paved with top-notch granite, wide as hell—about three times broader than your average human city.
A public coach pulled by a drake dragon rumbled down the road, its massive claws thumping against the ground. The reins were as thick as an arm, and the driver was a hyena-eared demi-human.
A giant burlap sack hung under the drake dragon's ass, catching its shit—probably the only reason the streets weren't covered in crap from these beasts with their crazy-fast metabolisms.
Vaelynn flagged down the coach. She was headed to book rooms at the Harbor at Sunset inn. According to her, it had the fewest non-humans around, and she recommended the three adventurers crash there too.
"Try not to throw around magic or start swinging fists. Keep it chill—you don't wanna end up dead over some dumb shit," Vaelynn warned as her slim figure hopped onto the coach.
EeDechi and the others weren't exactly in E-Rantel for a sightseeing vacation. Barrett followed the map's directions, leading them toward the central teleportation hub.
The three adventurers were aiming to take the teleportation array from E-Rantel to the Slane Theocracy, then cut through there to reach the Eight Greed Kings' desert.
On their way to the hub, they passed a kindergarten where a female elf teacher was leading a group of kids from different races in song.
These kids weren't just humans—there were lizardfolk, dragonborn, dwarves, and even a goblin toddler in the mix.
The elf teacher lined them up and taught them to sing together:
"My heart's light and free, as the accordion plays wilder, Sound spiraling up, growing louder and higher. In harmony we thrive, every race finds its place, Our homeland stands proud, the best damn space.
"Our daddy's Supreme Overlord Ainz, leading our cherished kingdom, In his mighty embrace, the Sorcerer Kingdom finds its freedom. Brothers all are we, raising our nation's flame, Together building the future, in Ainz's mighty name.
"Unbeatable our strength, no storm can make us waver, Carrying on Nazarick's spirit, in every endeavor. Invincible in our land, where all dreams come to fruition, Here we stand united, fulfilling our grand mission…"
EeDechi watched these wide-eyed, innocent kids belting out the song and couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"This ain't your problem right now," Barrett said, yanking her away.
…
E-Rantel's teleportation hub sprawled across a wide-open patch of land. Up front stood a pyramid-shaped stone building—the teleport dispatch hall and passenger waiting area. In the center were several massive teleportation arrays, split into grids by long pathways of copper pillars and stone bricks.
A deep, drawn-out dragon roar ripped through the sky, laced with furious draconic power and a faint, bitter weakness. It sounded like some dragon was kicking around on the other end of the central hub.
There weren't many travelers milling around the hub—teleportation arrays were the priciest way to get around the continent, way out of reach for most folks.
EeDechi stopped dead in her tracks, glancing around suspiciously. She suddenly got the feeling someone was scoping her out.
Back when the elf ranger Vaelynn was still with them, EeDechi figured those eyes on her were Vaelynn's. But Vaelynn was long gone now, and that creeping sense of being watched still came and went, sticking around like a bad smell.
"What's up?" Barrett asked, thrown off by her vibe.
"I've got a tail," EeDechi muttered, her eyes scanning every direction like a hawk.
Barrett tensed up, his hand gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist, sneaking glances around. But he didn't spot anything or anyone shady.
Franco slipped his wand out from his sleeve and said, "The only magic vibes I'm picking up are from the teleportation hub. No weird surges, no whispers of incantations—nobody's casting shit."
"Let's move. We need to hop that teleportation array and get out of here," Barrett muttered, head down. The three of them hustled into the pyramid-shaped building.
…
The dispatch officer handling teleportation passengers was a sharp-looking half-elf. He eyed the three jittery adventurers and said, all polite-like, "Sorry, folks, you're still tagged as tourists right now. According to the Teleportation Law Pact, you need official Sorcerer Kingdom approval to ride an array to another country. Head over to the inspection hall, register, and grab your permit papers. Then you can board the array to the Slane Theocracy."
EeDechi and the crew had no choice but to trudge over to this so-called inspection hall. Inside, a bunch of stone-faced enforcers were grilling every single person—hats off, scarves unwrapped, running them through disguise-detection gadgets, even making them chug a harmless potion to undo any polymorph effects.
"Now what?" EeDechi propped her chin in her hand, thinking hard. She'd never pass this check, and Franco's mind-muddle spells weren't exactly an easy play here either.
The three of them huddled up for a quick powwow and decided to bail for now, figure out another plan. Worst case, they'd hoof it to the Slane Theocracy on foot. But that was a shitty option—long as hell and way too easy to stumble into the Sorcerer Kingdom's surveillance web.
"Still feel like someone's creeping on you?" Barrett whispered to EeDechi as they stepped out of the waiting hall.
"Not right now," EeDechi said, cautiously scanning the area while tugging the brim of her wide felt hat lower. "What if the Sorcerer Kingdom's goons have already clocked me?"
"If they knew it was you, they'd come at us swinging," Barrett mused. "If they're not totally sure, they'd just roll up and search all three of us. This is Sorcerer Kingdom turf—they don't need to play coy."
"What if they're calling in backup right now?" Franco said, clutching his wand with sweaty, nervous hands.
"Let's take the long way around, see if we can shake whoever's on our ass."
The three adventurers cut toward the back of the central teleportation hub. A long, pained dragon roar echoed out, and from a distance, they could see a dozen massive dragons standing on the ground. But the dragons weren't moving an inch—frozen stiff like they'd been turned to stone.
Up close, they spotted a huge golden plaque engraved with the same words in Common, Elvish, Dwarvish, and Draconic: Dragon Zoo.
These jagged, wing-flapping, badass dragons were just specimens pinned to the ground. They'd been dead for ages, their bodies preserved by magic to keep the rot at bay, propped up here as a damn exhibit.
Next to each dragon was a signboard, laying out their origins, their past glory, and their raw power in detail.
During the Sorcerer Kingdom's campaign against the Argland Council State, they'd slaughtered a ton of dragons—full-grown ones, ancient wyrms that'd slept for millennia, even a few True Dragon Lords.
The Sorcerer Kingdom gathered up the dead dragons, turned the ones with intact bodies into specimens, and set them up as this Dragon Zoo right by the teleportation hub to flex their battle cred.
Every traveler popping into E-Rantel via the array got an eyeful of these dragons, posed like puppets. It was enough to rattle their souls and make them bow to the Sorcerer Kingdom's might.
Red dragons, black dragons, silver dragons, green dragons, blue dragons… the Sorcerer Kingdom had even bagged the full set of "chromatic dragons." One red dragon specimen stood out—its left eye was gouged out, a long, nasty scar running across the socket.
The copper signboard was etched with the dragon's life story, and EeDechi couldn't help but stop to read it for a minute:
"Young red dragon, name unknown, nicknamed the One-Eyed Monarch of Flame. Left eye gouged out by a human dragonslayer, commanded nearly a thousand dragonblood lizardfolk. Tried to rally a fearless army to defy the great Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown, but got smoked by a kill squad…"
Another dragon roar rang out. The three adventurers slipped past the giant dragon specimens and spotted the only living one—a black dragon—smack in the center of the clearing.
This black dragon was massive, its body like a freaking mountain. The sign next to it said she was a female True Dragon Lord. She kept clawing at the stone floor with razor-sharp talons, her huge wings flapping hard, but it was all for nothing.
Heavy magical chains bound her neck and limbs, anchored to a magic circle. She was like a butterfly caught in a spiderweb—no chance of breaking free.
The black dragon locked eyes with the three adventurers staring at her with pity, then opened her fang-filled maw and unleashed a blast of searing dragon breath. The flames slammed into a transparent magical barrier and fizzled out.
The ground around her was carved with intricate runes, dotted with colorful magic crystals sparkling like stars, locking down her Wild Magic power. Looked like the Sorcerer Kingdom had set up some damn solid safety measures for the "audience."
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, SMALL HUMANS!" the black dragon roared in Common, her draconic aura hitting them like a gust of wind. That kind of dragon lord presence would've sent weaker creatures into a panic, but the three adventurers just stood there, cool as a breeze.
The black dragon was pissed and restless, pacing back and forth, her golden slit eyes blazing with raw fury.
"This black dragon's really a female?" EeDechi asked, pointing at the sign's description.
"Yeah, it's female," Franco said with confidence. "I've banged a silver dragon and a red dragon before, so I've got plenty of experience figuring out dragon genders."
Seeing EeDechi and Barrett staring at him in shock, Franco quickly added, "It was after they turned into human form that we fucked, though the red dragon suddenly switched back to her giant dragon shape halfway through. I still powered through and finished the job."
Looking at Franco's smug grin, EeDechi couldn't help but cover her face and sigh, wondering what kind of teammate she'd dragged into this team.