Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight.

After the meeting, Ainz did not leave immediately.

He stood in the shadows of the corridor, watching Igfargi and his group emerge from the room. The three men's faces were filled with resentment and hostility, and they deliberately bumped into his shoulder as they passed by.

"Get out of the way, you're from abroad."

Ainz didn't move. He just stood there, his gaze beneath his helmet calmly fixed on the departing figure.

"Lord Ainz," Narberal's voice came from behind, tinged with suppressed anger, "Please allow me..."

"No need."

Ainz raised his hand to stop her. His tone was calm to the point of indifference, as if the bump had merely been a gust of wind blowing past his clothes.

He was thinking about something else.

The words that Chairman Burton had just said were still lingering in his mind.

"Silver hair and a large mouth," "She used magic to create the undead," "The adventurer repelled her with the potion you gave him."

Without a doubt, that was Shalltear.

If Shalltear had truly betrayed Nazarick, she wouldn't have stayed in a place where she could be found at any moment.

If she was being controlled, those controlling her should have moved her to a safer place instead of leaving her there to be attacked.

A day has passed since the adventurers discovered her. Whether Shalltear has betrayed them or is being controlled, she has no reason to remain in that place.

Ainz suddenly relaxed.

The tension, the readiness to deal with the worst-case scenario, receded from him like a tide.

Ainz even found it somewhat laughable. Just moments ago in the conference room, he was worried that more people would see Shalltear's appearance, wondering whether he should erase the adventurers' memories, or simply...

Looking back now, all those worries were unnecessary.

Shalltear couldn't possibly be there.

Even if he took this group there, they would only find an empty cave. No one would see Shalltear, and nothing would happen.

That being the case.

Ainz turned and looked towards the end of the corridor. Igfargi and his teammates were packing their gear, preparing to depart. Their faces wore different expressions: some nervous, some excited, and some impatient.

"Naberal".

"exist."

"Go and inform them that we are leaving immediately."

Naberal was taken aback.

"Lord Ainz, didn't you say..."

"I've changed my mind." Ainz said calmly. "Since I've already agreed, there's no danger involved anyway."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, we might be able to learn some information that I don't know about from these adventurers."

"Yes, ma'am."

Naberal bowed and turned to walk towards the group of people.

Igfargi and the others were unaware that, through the chain reaction of the shifting world lines, they had changed their inevitable fate of death.

The team set off in the afternoon sun.

Ainz rode on Kurusuke's back, Narberal rode the warhorse summoned by the item, and Igfargi and his teammates rode their own horses. The group, along with a hamster, traveled along the dirt road outside the north gate towards the forest.

"Hey, Feifei."

Igfargi's voice came from behind him, still with that barbed tone.

"Have you really seen that vampire?"

Ainz did not turn around.

"I've seen it."

"Where?"

"A very far place."

"Hmph." Igfargi sneered, "Could it be a dream?"

Ainz did not answer.

He didn't care about this person's mockery, or rather, he wasn't in the mood to pay attention.

However, one of Igfargi's companions spoke up to smooth things over.

"Captain, say less."

Igfargi snorted and said nothing more.

The procession continued onward.

As the forest drew closer, the fields along the roadside were gradually replaced by shrubs and weeds. The air was filled with the scent of earth and decaying leaves, and occasionally a bird would be startled from the treetops, fluttering its wings and taking flight into the sky.

"This is it."

The adventurer at the front reined in his horse and pointed to a path deep in the forest.

"The place where the vampire was found is inside; it's about an hour's walk away."

Ainz flipped over and jumped off Kurasuke, patting its fluffy fur.

"Let's go. Let's walk in."

The forest was denser than Ainz had anticipated.

The air was damp and stuffy, filled with the smells of decaying wood and moss.

Ainz walked at the front, his steps steady, his armor gleaming with a dull metallic sheen in the dim light. Narberal followed closely behind, her eyes warily scanning the shadows of the trees around them.

"arrive."

The adventurer in front stopped and pointed ahead.

It was a clearing surrounded by trees, roughly half the size of a sports field. The grass on the ground had been trampled beyond recognition, revealing the dark brown soil beneath. A few stones and broken branches were scattered around the edge of the clearing.

"This is it." The adventurer's voice was a little tense. "This is where we encountered that vampire last night."

Ainz looked around.

On the north side of the clearing, a path, hidden by bushes, leads deeper into the forest. Freshly broken branches line the trees on either side of the path, as if something had passed through.

"What's that place over there?" Ainz pointed to the path.

Igfargi's teammates looked at each other, but no one answered.

"I don't know," the young adventurer finally spoke. "Nobody's ever gone that way. It's too deep; you'd get lost."

Ainz nodded.

"Let's go take a look over there."

"Hey!" Igfargi's voice rang out again, "Our mission is to investigate that cave, not—"

"There's nothing in the cave," Ainz interrupted him, his tone as flat as stating a fact. "That vampire is gone. If you want to go into the cave to see, I won't stop you. But I'm going over there."

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the path.

Naberal followed without hesitation.

Kurasuke also took his four short legs and clumsily followed behind them.

Igfargi stood there, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

"Captain..." the young adventurer looked at him cautiously, "What do we do?"

Igfargi gritted his teeth.

"...Follow them."

The path was longer than expected.

They walked through the bushes and tree roots for nearly half an hour, the path under their feet becoming increasingly difficult, and occasionally they had to climb over places where fallen trees blocked their way.

Then, the atmosphere changed.

It's as if some powerful being once unleashed its full power here.

"What...what is this...?"

No one answered him.

The ground looked as if it had been turned over by a giant iron plow; the soil was rolled up, the turf was broken, revealing the dark brown soil underneath, and several large trees were broken off at the roots.

This is the mark left by the collision between the clean-firing gun and some other equally powerful force.