Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight.

Looking up, the dark clouds that had covered the entire sky since dawn seemed to finally be unable to hold back and spewed out a light drizzle.

Kingdom Warrior Captain Gödev Stroronov clicked his tongue, abandoning the idea of ​​waiting for the rain to stop inside the royal city. He pulled up the hood of his cloak and stepped into the rain.

Few pedestrians were on the central avenue of the capital, with only a few figures carefully walking on the wet, blackened pavement.

The rain made the cloak heavier and heavier, and the wet, sticky feeling against the skin was uncomfortable.

Gerdoff quickened his pace toward home. The thought of soon being free from this soaking wet confinement filled him with a sigh of relief.

Just then, his gaze was drawn to something.

In the veil of rain, turning right from the main road onto a side street, a man sat on the ground, completely unconcerned about the rain, his body filthy. His head was bowed, his soaking wet hair clinging to his forehead, dripping water droplets.

What made Gerdrey stop was not the man's strange behavior of not wearing rain gear, but an inexplicable sense of incongruity. Especially the weapon tightly gripped in the man's right hand, which seemed completely out of place with his filthy appearance.

It was a weapon called a "knife," produced in a city said to be located in the distant southern desert, and it was extremely rare.

A strange feeling welled up inside him, a sense of incongruity like a button being fastened incorrectly. Gerdov stared at the man's profile, and memories suddenly surged back like a raging torrent.

"You wouldn't happen to be...Anglaus?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized it was impossible. Brian Anglaus, the formidable rival who had fought him fiercely and evenly in the final of the royal tournament.

How could the man who was burning with fierce fighting spirit look like this?

But when the man slowly raised his head, Gerdav gasped.

That gaunt profile, those lifeless eyes, truly belonged to Brian Anglaus. But the man before him had sunken cheeks, deep dark circles under his eyes, and a deathly pallor; he bore no resemblance to his former imposing figure.

Brian stood up unsteadily, his movements clumsy and lazy, not at all like a soldier.

He lowered his gaze, turned and walked away without a word. His figure grew smaller and smaller in the rain.

A premonition welled up in Gerdoff's heart that if they parted now, he would never see this person again.

"Brian Angraus!" he called out as he stepped forward.

A voice, barely audible, drifted back: "...Stronov?"

It lacked any imposing presence. It was completely different from the sound of that sword strike I remembered.

"What happened?" Gerdoff asked in astonishment.

Their eyes met. Brian's expression made Gerald's heart tighten; it was the look of a walking corpse.

"It's ruined," Brian said. "I'm asking you, were we strong?"

Gerdoff couldn't answer; he was reminded of what had happened in Kahn village.

If it weren't for the intervention of that mysterious and powerful magic caster, he and his men would have perished long ago. Even the so-called strongest warrior in the kingdom was no match for him.

Brian laughed self-deprecatingly: "Weak. Humans are weak. Our swordsmanship is nothing but garbage. I've seen true power, a peak that no matter how hard humans try, they can never reach. What I saw was just playing around, not even the tip of the iceberg of that power."

Gerdrey had seen people like this who were emotionally traumatized, and outside help was often ineffective.

But when Brian turned around and said, "Then I can die without regrets," Gerdav could no longer remain silent.

"etc!"

He grabbed Brian's shoulder.

The tug caused Brian to stagger a few steps, but he didn't fall. His waist and leg strength were still intact, and his foundation hadn't been neglected.

Gerdoff felt a little relieved. The strength of their former formidable enemy had not diminished, and perhaps it was still not too late.

"Let's go to my place." Jeff grabbed Brian's arm and started walking forward without saying another word. "Change your clothes, have a meal, and then get a good night's sleep."

Brian did not resist, but simply staggered after him.

That obedient and submissive demeanor stirred an inexplicable displeasure within Gerdav. But he knew he could not stand by and watch his former strongest rival perish.

------------

The rain outside the window had been falling all morning.

The gray sky hung low, casting a somber hue over the once-respectable buildings of the capital. Shallow puddles formed on the stone pavement, raindrops falling into them and creating delicate ripples.

Sebastian stood by the window, looking at the blurred street scene through the rain.

His mood was as low as the weather.

Neither of the two tasks Lord Ainz assigned were progressing smoothly.

His initial task was to gather information on powerful martial arts techniques.

Sebastian went to the Adventurers' Guild almost every day to talk to the adventurers who traveled all over the country, trying to extract valuable information from their experiences.

He heard many stories about how a warrior defeated a powerful enemy with a unique martial art.

But when he pressed for details, those stories were like paper soaked in rain, the writing blurred and crumbling at the slightest touch.

Some say that the most powerful martial arts techniques have long been lost and buried in the grave along with the thirteen heroes.

Each version of the story is different, and none of them can withstand scrutiny.

What frustrated Sebastian the most was that most of the scattered intelligence he had painstakingly gathered in the union was already recorded in the booklet that Mr. Rune had given him.

In fact, Mr. Lu En's compilation was more comprehensive than his newly collected materials. It included the classification of martial arts techniques, the burden they placed on the body, and the coordination and restraint between different techniques.

That booklet contains a systematic overview.

Sebastian opened the booklet, which was already slightly curled at the edges, and his gaze fell on the neat handwriting.

"I still have to thank Mr. Rune," Sebastian thought to himself. "Without this booklet, we would have gathered even less intelligence during this time."

However, the new task made the situation even more complicated.

Information about the dragon.

Lord Ainz's latest assignment is to gather information about dragons.

Sebastian began to pay attention to this kind of information. He listened to the conversations of adventurers in the guild, chatted with merchants in the taverns of the capital, and even read some travelogues and anecdotes that were sold publicly.

But there is very little information about dragons.

When someone mentions it, it's always with vague descriptions, like "Dragons like to collect shiny things," "Dragons are very strong," or "Dragons can fly"...

Sebastian asked those who claimed to have "seen dragons" just how powerful they were and what kinds of powers they could wield.

No one answered.

At most, it would be something like, "I took a peek from afar, and the dragon was bigger than the house," or "In my great-great-grandfather's generation, it is said that a dragon flew over the village."

Sebastian didn't even have the face to report such intelligence to Lord Ainz.

Every time the message connects and Lord Ainz inquires about the progress, Sebastian can only truthfully answer, "Still collecting."

He could sense the brief silence on the other end of the communication. Although Lord Ainz never blamed him, the silence itself was enough to weigh heavily on Sebastian's mind.

The rain is still falling outside the window.

Sebastian closed the booklet and sighed softly.

"really."

He thought to himself.

"We still have to rely on Mr. Rune."

As an old noble family in the kingdom, the history of the Eindora family can be traced back hundreds of years. Perhaps in such a family collection of books, there are truly valuable records about dragons.

Sebastian turned around and straightened his black tuxedo.

He decided to visit Mr. Rune.