Chapter 316: 316 "Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insect
The night in Yggdrasil wasn’t as bright as having lights all around, but it also wasn’t like Kain Village, where the village operated from sunrise to sunset.
On the main roads here, a type of magic known as "Eternal Light" was applied to provide white light illumination, preventing the fortress city from being completely enveloped in darkness under the night sky.
However, humans are creatures affected by the night. Unlike other races with the ability to see in the dark, people of this world possess an instinctive fear of the night. Other than special occupations like adventurers, ordinary people rarely engaged in nocturnal activities.
Therefore, after nightfall, the number of pedestrians on the streets of Yggdrasil decreased significantly, and one could hardly see any young women or children. Only men who seemed to have just finished a day’s work and were heading home could be seen walking on the street. Some laughter from groups of men drinking in taverns could be heard along the streets; other than that, the place was tranquil.
In Yggdrasil, there were a few hostels specifically catering to adventurers. Adventurers who were constant residents in Yggdrasil usually stayed there.
There, they could meet like-minded colleagues and come and go together. If they became acquainted, they might even form small teams and embark on quests together.
However, Reiger didn’t stay there and instead resided in the highest-end inn in Yggdrasil—the "Golden Shining Pavilion."
It wasn’t that Reiger was particularly picky about where he lived.
In the hostels provided for adventurers, there were also ones frequently used by high-ranked adventurers, which were actually quite decent.
But after spending a few days in Yggdrasil, Reiger chose the Golden Shining Pavilion as his place of residence.
The reason was simple: the food there was very delicious.
As the most high-end inn in Yggdrasil, the Golden Shining Pavilion offered dishes prepared with ingredients kept fresh by "Preservation" magic. The chefs in charge were first-class professionals, highly regarded in the industry.
Here, one could eat soft white bread that ordinary people could never taste, thick red meat dripping with juices, mashed potatoes rich with cream and sweet corn, salads made from fresh vegetables and tempting honey wine. Sometimes, there were even edible monster meats and rare fruits brought back by adventurers from outside the city, delicacies unavailable in other inns.
Many high-society individuals were drawn to the inn by these delicious dishes and often dined there.
It could be said that this place was like the Akasha Continent’s honey wine restaurants, frequented only by nobles and wealthy merchants—a gathering place of the elite.
Reiger didn’t have very strict requirements for his accommodations; he just needed them not to be too dirty or messy. But who could refuse three hearty and delicious meals a day?
Apart from special circumstances like expeditions to the underground city, Reiger’s living conditions were usually quite good. He was either among one of the strongest families in Orario, the Loki Familia, or staying with the noble Franzel family, or even in the Demon Slayer World, where he received grand hospitality from the Ubuyashiki family and the Demon Slayer Corps. In such environments, it was hard for Reiger’s living conditions to deteriorate.
Therefore, unless necessary, Reiger preferred not to settle for unappetizing food, especially in this medieval world lacking a developed culinary culture.
All things considered, Reiger ultimately chose the Golden Shining Pavilion as his place to stay and settled down there.
Of course, in Yggdrasil’s most upscale inn, whether staying for a night or having a meal, the prices were by no means cheap.
At least, the average adventurer, even those of Mithril rank, would hesitate to make it their long-term base for living and dining.
But for Reiger, who could create gold with magic, this wasn’t a matter worth considering.
It must be said, the magic of Akasha Continent was truly unique; its alchemical magic system had matured completely, turning ordinary gold into a cheap metal with almost no value at all.
Gold had become as common as roadside stones in the Akasha Continent, but in other worlds, it still held great value, ensuring that Reiger never had to worry about finances during his travels.
If he wished, he could become the richest person in this world in minutes; there was nothing to hesitate about when just checking into an inn.
Tonight was no different. Reiger enjoyed a scrumptious dinner before returning to his room in the inn.
However, just as he had returned to his room, Reiger felt as if he was being watched.
"Is someone there?"
Startled at first, he then activated "Through World" and looked around.
Before long, Reiger saw some creatures in hidden corners that others couldn’t see.
These were creatures about the size of humans, dressed like ninjas but resembling black spiders.
They possessed eight long legs equipped with sharp blades, which glistened menacingly in the light, sending shivers down one’s spine.
There were about four of these creatures. One was attached to the tree outside the window, one hung upside down at the edge of the window, another was hiding in the corridor outside the room, and one even boldly slipped into Reiger’s room and clung to the ceiling.
They were indeed in these places, but no one else could see these creatures.
They had now become transparent, hiding all signs of their presence. Given their level of concealment, not even the highest-ranked steel adventurers could detect them.
Unfortunately, in Reiger’s "Through World," they could not hide.
Reiger also recognized these creatures.
"Are these... Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insects?"
Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insect.
A species adept in stealth, capable of rendering themselves invisible, true experts in assassination.
They were able to launch eight attacks simultaneously on their prey using their blade-like legs, and if even one of those attacks were not blocked, it resulted in instant death, without a sliver of luck.
In this world, the existence of the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insect was a major threat to all living creatures.
In "YGGDRASIL," these magical creatures were ranked 49th, much stronger than the beings of the Heroic Domain in this world by an unknown margin.
A group of such magical creatures, skilled in stealth and assassination, could not only target high-ranking officials of various countries, but even kings and emperors stood a great chance of being easily killed by them.
Such terrifying magic creatures, now four of them, had appeared here, surrounding Reiger.
"......"
Reiger fell silent.
Without needing to think deeply, Reiger could guess who had sent the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insects to him.
"I did not expect him to take such direct action."
Reiger knew that he must have aroused Ainz’s alertness, or even hostility, which was why Ainz sent the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insects, probably intending to surveil him.
Regarding this, Reiger just thought that Ainz not using intelligence gathering magic to investigate him but sending such creatures directly was perhaps too reckless.
Was he not afraid of drawing attention?
Or did he really have confidence that the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insects could deceive Reiger’s eyes?
"He must think that using intelligence gathering magic could lead to counterattacks, which is why he only sent stealthy magic creatures to surveil me like this," Reiger thought.
Reiger felt he could guess Ainz’s thoughts.
In "YGGDRASIL," there were many intelligence-based spells that could do remarkable things.
For instance, the eighth-tier spell "Remote Viewing" was specifically for detection and reconnaissance, allowing casters to observe scenes from afar.
For example, the ninth-tier spell "God’s Eye" created an invisible ethereal magical eye which could fly to distant places for reconnaissance. It could scout distances farther than "Remote Viewing" and even penetrate walls to inspect the interiors of buildings.
However, there were many ways to counter such intelligence spells in "YGGDRASIL."
Take "God’s Eye," for instance; since the ethereal magical eye it created was only hidden by invisibility, anyone who could use the second-tier spell "See Through" could detect the presence of this eye.
Moreover, intelligence spells for reconnaissance were quite vulnerable to being locked onto by counter-surveillance spells, so the casters who used reconnaissance spells often had a high chance of exposing their own positions, which involved substantial risks.
Furthermore, many players in "YGGDRASIL" had offensive barriers against intelligence spells. If spied upon with an intelligence spell, their offensive barriers would respond to the spell and trace it back to the caster, injuring them. Hence, although intelligence spells were useful, no one dared to use them recklessly.
Given Ainz’s caution and his current suspicions about Reiger, he naturally wouldn’t recklessly use intelligence spells on Reiger, to avoid revealing his presence and possibly being counterattacked by offensive barriers.
So Ainz sent out the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insects to implement on-site surveillance measures.
But...
"I don’t take kindly to being surveilled."
Reiger looked up, making eye contact with the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insect attached to the ceiling.
Then, the corner of Reiger’s mouth slowly curved up, and the pupils of the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insects slowly contracted to the size of a pinhead, signaling the next shift in the situation.
"Won’t you come down for a chat?"
Reiger said.
This alerted the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insects that they had been exposed.
"Whoosh!"
Without any hesitation, the Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insect suddenly transformed into a black shadow and darted out of the window.
"Exposed! Retreat!"
With that sharp cry, the other three Eight-Legged Blade Assassination Insects, without a second thought, all transformed into a dark shadow and sped towards the outside.
They were commanded to surveil Reiger Brillhaut and not to take any action without further instructions, and to retreat immediately if anything unexpected occurred.
However, Reiger wouldn’t allow it.
"Zing!"
The sound of a sword being drawn rang out.
The next moment, lightning flashed.