Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight

Rune hinted that Silk could go back first.

"Does my elder brother want me to stay?"

Si tilted her head slightly, a mischievous glint appearing in her light green eyes. She was deliberately doing the opposite of what her elder brother wanted.

“When did I say that?” Rune denied it outright.

“My brother’s expression says it all.” She said with a hint of self-assured slyness, “I understand my brother.”

Rune did not refute, but a hint of compromise was in his eyes.

“…Then stay a few more days. Perfect timing. We just finished dealing with the Orc Kingdom, but there are still some details to confirm. You can stay and help out.”

"Does my brother need my help?" Si deliberately feigned a confused expression.

"Yes, we need to." Rune feigned helplessness.

The corners of her mouth curved up even more, as if she had won a small victory.

She nodded slightly.

"Alright, since my elder brother has spoken up."

Rune sighed silently to himself.

Si probably thought she had successfully "stayed" on, but she didn't know that the person who really wanted her to stay was Rune.

Nazarick's actions were becoming increasingly drastic, and he couldn't tell whether those probing attempts would affect Blue Rose. For the time being, keeping Silk by his side was the safest option.

At the warehouse entrance, Tapimy finally stood up. He turned around, his face still flushed.

He walked up to Sebastian and bowed deeply.

"Lord Sebastian, thank you so much."

Sebastian quickly helped the boy, who had bent over, to his feet.

“No need for thanks, Lord Tapimi.” His voice carried a reassuring warmth. “The fact that this child has woken up is better than anything else.”

Chapter 111 Fulfilling the Promise

Sebastian and Tapie's conversation continued.

The old butler bowed slightly, his eyes filled with a kind of almost pious gentleness.

Touchmy stood ramrod straight, his short, golden hair gleaming in the sunlight. He was gesturing and talking about something, probably about how to take care of Leno after he woke up.

Several figures blocked the light at the warehouse entrance.

The soldiers resurrected by Pestonia emerged, supporting each other. Their steps were still unsteady, as if they were slowly waking up after a long sleep.

The soldier rubbed his eyes, leaning against the door frame, and looked around blankly. He clearly needed some time to adjust to being in the sunlight again.

Their blindfolds had been removed, and their eyes were slightly squinted, their pupils not yet adjusted to the transition from darkness to light, but they already had the luster of a living person.

Si's gaze swept over the soldiers one by one, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

When she resurrected the soldiers, she clearly remembered that several of the bodies were severely damaged.

Such injuries were beyond the scope of fifth-tier magic's ability to repair, based on the resurrection cases she had witnessed.

Si suppressed her surprise, turned her head to look at Rune, and decided to ask later.

Rune looked at the soldiers who had stood up again, his face expressionless, but he actually felt a little unexpectedly lucky.

He only left those badly damaged soldiers there on a "let's give it a try" basis, hoping to hitch a ride on Leno's resurrection.

To my surprise, it actually succeeded.

Rune quickly considered the possibilities in his mind.

It's unlikely that Ainz would be so generous as to use a precious mass resurrection item for a human girl. Such items are extremely rare consumables in YGGDRASIL, and even the treasury of Nazarick probably has a limited stock.

A more reasonable explanation is that the NPC sent by Ainz cast a high-level resurrection spell.

Moreover, this NPC's justice value is most likely positive.

That's why he was willing to expend his magic power to cast resurrection spells for a few ordinary soldiers.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that Sebastian's excuse to Ainz was that "it is necessary to revive multiple people."

But in either case, what he has to do now is actually the same.

Rune strode forward and bowed slightly to Sebastian.

"Sebastian, thank you."

Sebastian turned around, a gentle smile appearing on his wrinkled face, and waved his hand.

"Your Excellency Rune, you are too kind. This is my duty, and I am also responsible for the deaths of these soldiers. However, I was not the one who cast the resurrection spell; I had the help of a friend."

Rune nodded. It seemed that Sebastian had little wariness of him and had revealed a lot of information without any precautions.

Please convey my gratitude.

"must."

The soldiers were led by their adjutant toward the row of stone houses on the west side of the camp.

Their bodies were still adjusting after they came back to life and needed to rest and recover. The adjutant walked in front, turning back from time to time to make sure no one had fallen behind.

Tachimi had already returned to the warehouse, presumably to keep Leno company.

Sebastian's gaze followed Tapimi's retreating figure, refusing to look away.

The worry that was almost written all over his face was noticed by Rune, who could only pretend not to see it.

By the time the resurrected soldiers and the girl Leno were fully settled, it was already noon.

The sun was directly overhead, making the stone path of the entire encampment slightly hot, and the air was filled with the dry smell of dust and the aroma of cooking smoke wafting from the distant kitchen.

Rune turned around and looked at Silk.

She was standing a few steps away, the sunlight falling on her golden hair, shimmering dazzlingly. She shielded her eyes with her hand, probably because she found the light a bit too bright.

“Sigh,” Rune suddenly spoke, his expression unusually relaxed, “Let me show you around the city.”

Si lowered her hand from her eyes and tilted her head.

"Isn't Brother busy?" Si hesitated for a moment. "The matter in the Orc Kingdom has just been dealt with, and there must still be a lot of things to do to wrap things up."

Rune looked into her light green eyes and gave her a gentle smile.

"Of course I'm busy. But I always keep my promises to you."

Si blinked.

"Didn't we agree on this back in the capital?"

Rune added, deliberately making his tone very casual.

"Once Blue Rose has resolved the matter of [Eight Fingers], I'll bring you to the Dragon Kingdom next time. Isn't now the perfect time?"

As Rune spoke, he raised his hand and naturally placed it on top of Silk's head.

The golden hair felt soft to the touch, carrying the warmth of being baked by the sun. It was so silky that Rune's palm unconsciously pressed against it gently.

Si first closed her eyes slightly, like a cat being stroked.

She unconsciously tilted her head slightly towards Rune's palm; the tilt was small, but it was real.

But soon, Si opened her eyes and sensed something was wrong.

“Brother,” Si’s voice held a hint of scrutiny, “you seem… very eager to fulfill this promise.”

Rune's hand froze in mid-air.

Si just stared straight at him, her eyes sharp.

Rune remembered that whenever he tried to hide something when he was a child, Si would look at him with the same eyes.

Rune sighed inwardly. How come this kid used up all his intelligence on his older brother?

"You're overthinking it." Rune withdrew his hand, giving him a look that said, "What are you thinking?" "It just so happens that I don't have anything urgent to do today."

She didn't look away.

"Really?" Her voice lowered, and her eyes scrutinized her more closely. "Brother, I feel like something's not right with you."

Rune's expression froze for less than half a second before he suppressed it.

"You're overthinking it..."

“No,” Si said firmly.

Sunlight streamed between the two men, casting two overlapping shadows on the stone pavement.

In the distance, the sound of spatulas clattering came from the kitchen, indicating that lunch was almost ready. A few small birds landed on a rooftop not far away, tilting their heads and peering in this direction.

Silk suddenly took half a step forward, getting closer to Rune.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes flashing with both scrutiny and fear, as if she were both a judge and a prisoner awaiting judgment.

"Brother," Silk finally asked, "are you planning to stay here, marry the Queen of the Dragon Kingdom, and then never return to the territory of Aindora?"

Rune was stunned for a moment.

He was wondering if Si had discovered something amiss, or if Si had actually sensed that a powerful being was lurking in the shadows.

Rune was even considering whether to betray some of Sebastian's information in order to avoid any unfounded thoughts.

This is exactly what Si was worried about.

Rune's lips twitched, followed by a short, somewhat helpless laugh.

He raised his hand, curled his fingers, and gently flicked his forehead.

Where did you hear that from?

The silk was bounced back slightly, and then she raised her hands to cover her forehead, her light green eyes immediately glistening with tears.

Her eyes drooped, her lips turned down, and she shrank back like a wounded little animal.

"Ugh..." she let out a muffled sound, her hand covering her forehead, looking extremely aggrieved.

But through the gaps between her fingers covering her forehead, her eyes were clearly still secretly watching Rune.