Roaring Heroes Battle the Overlord (Ainz) - Part 1 (Chapters 1 to 200)

Chapter 46: The Princess and the Guards

Tepno, a city under Re-Estize's banner, sits on the border with Baharuth, one of the closest cities to Sheep Horn.

Constantly on war footing due to its hostile neighbor, Tepno's heavy taxes and relentless preparations choke its economy. As a result, adventurer gigs here pay less than in other towns.

EeDechi's crew planned to head north next, toward the Sorcerer Kingdom's territory. They figured they'd crash in Tepno for a day, sniffing out any quick adventurer jobs to pick up before moving on.

The Last Defender of the Way, a four-person adventurer squad, rolled into Tepno with four brown horses in tow, alongside Kuuderika and Ureirika, a pair of twin sisters. After coughing up a steep entry tax, they stepped into the city.

At the gate, the twins drew some heat from the local sheriff, who grilled the group, suspecting them of being human traffickers. After all, adventurer teams hauling around two little girls weren't exactly common.

EeDechi, convinced she was in the right, geared up for a long-winded spiel about how she'd saved the two blonde girls from a brothel in Baharuth's capital, dragging them through a grueling trek—climbing mountains, crossing rivers, and slipping over the border into Re-Estize.

Barrett knew what these gate-blocking sheriffs were really after. He slipped two gold coins into their hands, and just like that, they were waved through.

As for Kuuderika and Ureirika, the adorable twin sisters, Barrett's go-to advice was to send them back to their parents' place or, failing that, drop them off at a temple or orphanage.

But the little brats had other ideas. They didn't want to find their parents—they were hell-bent on tracking down their sister, Arche. It was a childish, half-baked plan, but Captain EeDechi, for whatever reason, went along with the kids' whim, set on storming the Great Tomb of Nazarick to rescue their sister, whose fate was anyone's guess.

Barrett couldn't wrap his head around what kind of crazy conviction drove EeDechi to pull off such a stunt. He wanted to mimic her habit of summing things up after a team huddle, but his piss-poor way with words left him grasping for the right term to describe her grit.

Oddly enough, EeDechi barely paid attention to the twins. It was always Stella who looked after them.

Stella, with her bleeding heart, had fallen hard for the blonde twins' sweet and innocent act, practically treating them like her own little sisters. She fussed over them the whole journey, making sure they didn't suffer the slightest hardship.

After settling into a small inn, Stella took Kuuderika and Ureirika to the local church for prayers. Sean, worried that Stella, a Baharuth native, might get hassled in Re-Estize, insisted on tagging along.

EeDechi was about to point out that Sean, also from Baharuth, would face the same prejudice and hostility, so there was no need to escort Stella to the church, but Barrett quickly yanked her back.

...

EeDechi and Barrett strolled through the streets, heading toward the Adventurer's Guild to check for any decent jobs.

As they cut through a filthy alley reeking of sewage, they turned a corner and spotted a crowd of ragged figures gathered on a rundown street ahead.

In the center stood a fat noble-looking bastard, swinging a whip down on what looked like a heap of dirty rags.

With each crack of the whip, the noble's shouts, the snap of leather, and piercing screams filled the air.

As the two got closer, they realized the "rags" were actually a scrawny beggar, skin and bones.