(Note:In the act of kowtowing, an individual kneels and then bends forward to touch their forehead to the ground. This gesture is an expression of deep respect, reverence, or submission. The act involves a deliberate and profound bow that symbolically places the person in a position of lower status relative to the one being honored or obeyed. Kowtowing is often performed repeatedly in a series, emphasizing the gravity and sincerity of the respect being shown.)
EeDechi and her teammate huddled together for a quick chat and decided to find a place to crash first, rest up a bit, and then figure out their next move.
They wandered aimlessly around the city for a while and noticed something weird: every time they passed one of those Ainz Ooal Gown statues lined up along the roads, every creature—didn't matter what race—would drop to their knees and bow their heads to it before moving on, which is essentially kowtowing.
But the statues off the beaten path, like the ones in parks? If just one random passerby walked by, they'd pretend not to see it and speed-walk away. But if two people were near it, both would kneel and knock their heads to the ground like it was some unspoken rule.
Watching this play out, EeDechi let out a sigh. "Ainz…"
Whoosh! In a split second, every beholder around her snapped their gaze toward her, eyeballs bulging like they were about to pop. The death knights, who'd been standing still as statues themselves, suddenly jerked their heads in her direction like they'd caught a whiff of something.
Barrett jumped in quick, waving his hands and throwing out an awkward laugh. "Whoa, hold up! We didn't say the Supreme Overlord's name! That was just some slang from our hometown—sounds kinda similar, sure, but we'd never disrespect the greatest Supreme Overlord in the world. Total accident!"
The beholders and death knights turned away, satisfied.
The trio—plus their cat—hightailed it out of there, picking up the pace to put some distance behind them.
After a long trek, they finally rolled up to the Harbor at Sunset Inn.
The second they stepped inside, they spotted Vaelynn—the elf chick who'd once warned them to keep the peace—laying into some poor traveling merchant.
Down in the inn's first-floor hall, Vaelynn, decked out in tight emerald-green leather pants, slammed her foot into the merchant, flipping him over. Then she planted one long, gorgeous leg right on his face, leaving a deep boot print mashed into his cheek.
Franco leaned over to Barrett and whispered, "If she stomped me like that, I'd lick her boots spotless, no question."
Barrett had nothing to say, just quietly shooting Franco a thumbs-up.
Behind the polished marble counter, an old man lounged in a wooden chair. He wore gold-rimmed glasses with a dangling silver chain, completely ignoring the beatdown happening right in front of him, calmly flipping through an ancient, weathered book.
The traveling merchant was still young, his cotton cloak now caked with dust on the floor. He clawed at Vaelynn's calf with both hands, struggling to get up, but under the stomping of the elf ranger's killer legs, he didn't stand a chance.
Up on the ceiling, a crystal chandelier gleamed, and a pitch-black raven perched there, cawing its head off and flapping its wings every now and then.
Finally, the merchant wrenched his mouth free from the heel of her boot and roared, "You damn pointy-eared bitch! How dare you mess with an unarmed merchant! I'm reporting this to the Sorcerer Kingdom's lawkeepers!"
"Oh, really? You're a merchant?" Vaelynn sneered, holding up a piece of gold-stitched fabric. "This is what I just pulled from your pocket—Windflower Scripture's emblem! You're no merchant, you're a Slane Theocracy spy! Heh, does the Sorcerer Kingdom let foreign military punks waltz into E-Rantel?"
The merchant's forehead veins bulged like they were about to burst, but he had no comeback, just glaring at Vaelynn with pure hate. She pulled her long leg back, and as he scrambled to his feet, half-rolling, half-crawling, she landed a swift kick square on his ass. The guy faceplanted hard, eating dirt.
EeDechi and Barrett stepped aside, watching the battered merchant stumble out of the Harbor at Sunset Inn in a total mess. The raven in the hall flapped its wings and took off after him, chasing him out the door.
Vaelynn flicked the Windflower Scripture-embroidered cloth into the air, yanking her short dagger from her waist in one fluid motion. In a blink, the blade flashed through the air with countless streaks of cold light. The fabric was shredded into dozens of pieces, fluttering down like snowflakes. Still pissed, she stomped the hell out of the scraps on the ground for good measure.
EeDechi couldn't quite figure Vaelynn out. The elf lady was supposed to be neutral about the Sorcerer Kingdom—so why was she so gung-ho about sniffing out a Slane Theocracy spy?
The old man behind the counter glanced at the mess of fabric bits, pulled out a short wooden staff, and tapped the counter twice with a sharp "tap tap." A breeze kicked up, sweeping the scraps off the floor, leaving it spotless again.
Vaelynn leaned against the counter, looking worn out. "You guys probably think it's weird, huh? Why I'd beat the crap out of a Slane Theocracy spy?"
"Elf Country and Slane Theocracy are rivals down south, right? Been fighting on and off for centuries. But hasn't there been peace for, like, 30 years now?" Barrett said.
Vaelynn nodded. "Yeah, but some grudges don't just fade. Sixty-two years ago, I was fourteen. Slane Theocracy stormed Saint Lovia Forest, hauled off tons of my people, and my parents died in the war.
"In that war, Slane Theocracy's so-called Six Scriptures army led the charge. A bunch of psycho assholes committing atrocities while waving the flag of their god!"
Slane Theocracy was famous for its Six Scriptures elite squads: Black Scripture, Sunlight Scripture, Clearwater Scripture, Holocaust Scripture, Windflower Scripture, and Ashendust Scripture.
"So why didn't you drag that merchant to E-Rantel's lawkeepers?" Barrett asked. If Vaelynn had turned the guy—the Windflower Scripture spy—over to the Sorcerer Kingdom, his head would've been a goner for sure.
"It was sixty-two years ago, after all," Vaelynn said with a bitter smile. "That spy's just a kid. Sixty-two years back, his mom probably wasn't even ten yet. I can't take it out on him."
"Maybe you think I'm some bleeding heart?" Vaelynn's eyes flickered with a hint of sadness. "Can't help it—elves are wired this way."
Franco stepped up, his stunning violet eyes locked on Vaelynn. "You're the kindest person I've ever met. Even the angels in fairy tales couldn't hold a candle to your pure heart. Can I… buy you a drink?"
As he spoke, Franco conjured a delicate, crystal-clear goblet out of thin air. He pulled a bottle of red wine from who-knows-where and poured half a glass of pale ruby liquid.
"Thanks…" Vaelynn took the cup, sipping lightly, a faint pink flushing her cheeks.
Unromantically, Barritt posed one last question, "How'd you know the merchant was a spy?"
"The merchant had his familiar—a crow—perched on his shoulder. I'm a forest elf, naturally in tune with animals. I coaxed that crow to fly into my hand," Vaelynn said, cradling her wine glass. "Didn't expect to find a wax-sealed note tied to its leg, written in Windflower Scripture's cipher."
"What'd the letter say?" Barrett asked, leaning in.
"I've studied Slane Theocracy's cipher rules," Vaelynn replied. "It said… they're looking for some prophesied Divine Envoy. Name was something like 'EeDechi.' I think I've seen that name on a bounty board somewhere…"
EeDechi's face twitched. She locked eyes with Barrett, both of them at a loss for words. The Sorcerer Kingdom was hunting her, and now, for some reason, Slane Theocracy was too. Calling her "Divine Envoy"—what the hell did that mean?
Franco stepped back to Barrett's side and whispered, "Miss Vaelynn's heart just got stirred up with painful memories. She's vulnerable right now, and I'm gonna make my move. You two vets mind giving us some alone time?"
EeDechi didn't say yes or no, so Franco took his wine glass and went off to "have a drink" with Vaelynn.
On the hall's wall hung a portrait of Ainz Ooal Gown, and on the counter sat a copy of The Quotations of the Great Leader and Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown. The painting wasn't all that big, though, and the book looked like it'd been tossed there without much thought.
"Boss, we'll take three… no, two rooms." Barrett glanced at the price list on the wall and slid a pile of silver coins across to the old man behind the counter.
The old man snapped his book shut, not bothering to count the coins, and pulled two copper keys from a drawer, handing them to Barrett.
"Boss, how come you're so chill about everything?" Barrett couldn't help but ask. The old guy was obviously a mage, but with humans and elves brawling in his own inn, he acted like it was no big deal, not stepping in or even blinking.
The old man adjusted his glasses and said flatly, "Back when the Re-Estize Kingdom was ruled by Ramposa II, I ran this place. Ramposa III came along, I was still running it. Sorcerer Kingdom conquered E-Rantel, and here I am, still at it. You see enough shit, nothing fazes you anymore."
Conquered. That's the phrase he used. EeDechi thought to herself, an old local like him, seeing his hometown turned into this, must hurt deep down.
She finally asked a question that'd been gnawing at her: "Doesn't it get old, everyone in E-Rantel having to kneel and bow to those statues? I mean, it's gotta slow things down, right? Just a salute or something could show respect without all the hassle."
The old man raised an eyebrow, scanned the room to make sure no one else was around, then let out a sigh. "You don't get it. Kneeling and bowing to the statues isn't some official Sorcerer Kingdom rule, or even the Supreme Overlord's order. Back in the day, people just walked by the statues, no fuss, no nothing. But then this punk named William Scott showed up in E-Rantel and flipped everything upside down."
William Scott! The name hit EeDechi like a lightning bolt, and even Barrett's jaw dropped in shock.
William Scott, the stubborn redheaded kid… Fragments of half-sunk memories bubbled up, and EeDechi's brow furrowed. That was a long damn time ago.
Back then, they were still in the Re-Estize Kingdom, before they'd met that wild-card princess Renner with her flip-flopping value of justice. Sean and Stella were still alive, trembling under her iron grip.
The past was like smoke, drifting away…
William Scott was a broke-ass kid they met in Sheep Horn Village. At the time, their adventuring crew had just run off some bandits and wiped out a goblin nest. The villagers hailed them as unmatched heroes.
William's dad and brother were grunt soldiers in the Re-Estize Kingdom, killed by Ainz Ooal Gown on the battlefield. His mom didn't last long after that—grief and poverty took her out.
In one night, William lost his parents, his family, everything.
For him, it was the kind of blow that could shatter a kid's mind. But to Ainz? He didn't give a rat's ass whose relatives were among the ants he crushed underfoot.
The wildfire of revenge roared in William's heart. He begged to join EeDechi's crew, desperate to learn how to fight, to pick up the skills he'd need to take down Ainz Ooal Gown. But EeDechi shot him down.
Because back then, William didn't know jack. No martial skills, no knack for magic, no combat chops at all.
His one trick? A half-baked innate ability—he could use any magic item, no questions asked.
Truth is, William only found out about that gift when a wandering mage rolled through Sheep Horn Village and, on a whim, let him mess with a magic trinket normal folks couldn't even touch.
But what good was that? What mage would hand over their hard-crafted magic gear to some random kid? Especially a broke nobody like William, stuck in the middle of nowhere with no cash or clout to wield anything fancy.
Back in Sheep Horn Village, the redheaded kid was stubborn as hell. EeDechi felt a twinge of pity and tossed him a hundred gold coins before splitting town.
After that, they lost touch completely. EeDechi shoved the whole thing out of her mind, pretty much forgetting it ever happened.
Until tonight, when William Scott's name popped up again.
The memory was messy and bitter, like a shot of strong coffee that jolts you awake, but for a level-100 badass like EeDechi, it took only a split second to recall.
The old man kept talking. "At first, folks just walked by the statues like they weren't even there. No one dared mess with them, but they didn't do anything special either. Then this William Scott kid showed up. Every time he passed a statue, he'd give it a salute.
"People saw him do it and thought, 'If I don't salute too, does that mean I'm dissing the Supreme Overlord? That could get me killed.' So they started saluting too. Little by little, everyone passing the statues would throw up a salute.
"Then, when everyone was saluting, William stepped it up—he'd bow to the statues. Compared to bowing, a plain salute started feeling like it wasn't respectful enough to the Supreme Overlord. Folks got scared of getting axed, so they copied him and bowed too. Soon, everyone was bowing to the statues.
"After that, William took it further. He'd kneel every time he passed one. People figured just bowing wasn't cutting it anymore—looked too half-assed next to kneeling. Afraid of pissing off the Supreme Overlord, they started kneeling too, just like William."
"Little by little, everyone started kneeling when they passed the statues. But then William took it up a notch—every time he passed one, he'd kneel and kowtow. The folks just kneeling saw him do it and got scared that kneeling alone wasn't respectful enough to the Supreme Overlord. So they started copying him, kneeling and kowtowing too.
"Now, every one of us kneels and kowtows to the statues when we pass by. It's not some rule from the Sorcerer Kingdom or the Supreme Overlord—it's just something we started doing on our own."
When the old man finished, a bitter-as-hell smile crept across his weathered face.
William Scott, what the hell happened to you? EeDechi's heart sank with grief.
She could still picture that redheaded kid's stubborn streak, hear him swearing up and down that he'd avenge his family against Ainz Ooal Gown. And now? He'd turned into some groveling, ass-kissing lackey for the guy!
EeDechi never expected William to actually pull off his revenge, and she sure as shit didn't want him chasing that path. All she'd hoped was that he'd see the insane gap between him and Ainz Ooal Gown, give up the whole vendetta, and just live his damn life.
But William had turned into the kind of guy who disappointed her the most—a spineless coward who'd surrendered and started kissing Ainz Ooal Gown's boots.
Those eyes of his, once burning with rage and resolve, that rock-solid oath he'd made—thinking back on it now, it was like a bad joke.
"Ugh." EeDechi let out a long, heavy sigh.
Just then, some other guests walked into the inn. EeDechi wanted to dig deeper, but the old man shook his head lightly. "No more talk. Loose lips sink ships, and I'd like to live to a hundred."
Barrett felt a pang of sadness over William's drastic turnaround for a minute, but he shrugged it off quick. He'd seen this kind of thing too many times—people were fickle as hell anyway.
He tossed another question at the local old-timer. "Boss, if we don't have an official pass from the Sorcerer Kingdom, how do we hop a teleportation array to another country?"
"Easy enough," the old man said, cracking open his book again. "Head to Dekael Street, hit up the Golden Apple Tavern, and talk to the owner. He's the younger brother of the guy running the central teleport hub. Show him enough 'good faith' to make him happy, and he'll hook you up with the array."
Translation: bribe your way through the back door.
Barrett nodded. Whether it'd work or not, they had to give it a shot.