Lord of the Dead in the Land of Lust

CH5 - The City of Ansur

"That is quiet the statement to make. What makes you think of something so, outlandish?" Ainz asked with a chuckle, making his tone sound as calm as possible.

In reality though Ainz was panicking. How did she discern such a thing? Had he messed up somewhere and made a blunder that revealed such a thing? Was it obvious to others? Was he in danger even now?

To his surprise though, Hara's response what not what she expected as it was a simple, "I observed it."

". . . . .oh?" Was all Ainz could manage to say in response. It was so telling, yet told him nothing whatsoever. It was actually rather impressive. "Would you care to explain?"

Hara nodded as she looked around and then sat down on the steps, rubbing her now crippled leg a bit as she spoke. "My family came from the lands to the east where Princess Knight Kaguya comes from. We ran a Silk farm, and because the Silk weavers tended to be ornery, I was taught that observing things was a skill that would always have use. When I was in the magician's guild I learned a lot from watching other people and seeing what did and did not work. After my uh, mistake . . . . after I was forced into knighthood, the only one who ever wanted to even speak to me was Melodie. She tried to teach me but is not a great teacher. She never has been. So I had to learn myself, again by observing what worked for others and using what I could see on my own."

"I see. So you have a history of observing those around you for information and knowledge on a causal and passive basis then. Sounds like I shall need to hear your full history at some point soon," Ainz said before letting out a chuckle. "It is an amusing idea, my not being alive, but one that is incorrect," Ainz said as he turned and looked down at the city. "If we are to leave tomorrow for your village we will need to gather a number of things for such a journey. First is your new clothing,"

"Yes, I am sorry um . . ." Hara stopped speaking as he stood up and looked at Ainz. "What . . . how should I refer to you?"

"Hmm? Ah, you mean in regards to the apprentice and master relationship, correct?"

"Yes. When I was in the Magicians Guild my teacher insisted on being called master, but . . . ."

"I take it that did not feel proper in some way?" Ainz asked earning a simple and slight nod in response. "I have no preference, so you may call me what you feel most comfortable."

Hara looked confounded for a moment before standing up shakily. "Thank you. I'll, try to figure that out," she said with a nod.

"Good, take your time, but for now we should head to a tailor of some sort to get you some proper clothing," Ainz said as he let out a thankful sigh that he had managed to shift the conversation away from his own life, or lack thereof.

"Right. I believe I know a place, but it will take a bit to get there,"

"Then please lead the way. You know the city better than I after all," Ainz said with another chuckle, expecting it to make the conversation lighter.

Instead Hara looked just as sullen as seemed to be her normal. "I know of a few places, but I cannot say I know the city well despite being here for years. I rarely left the military district unless it was for errands for others," Hara explained as the two of them continue down the steps to the city proper.

The city itself was substantially more than Ainz had expected from witnessing the village from days before and the castle itself for the last few days. The streets were made of solid cobblestones that were smoothed flat, while the vast majority of buildings appeared to be made of a combination of mortared stone, brick and wood. Wood seemed to make up the upper levels of the taller buildings if the frames were anything to go by, and the rooftops were covered by either wooden or stone shingles and tiles, with a few outlier buildings having simple layered thatch roofs. Wooden poles lined the middle of the streets with large metal framed lamps hanging to either side of them, and many building has similar lamps on their front porches. The city itself was like a generic fantasy city from many different mediums, but what was truly strange to him was the fact of how clean everything was. The roads were clear of most litter aside from bits of dirt and puddles between the cobbles, and the walls of buildings were clean as well. There was no filth or refuse anywhere that could be seen, and even the people on the streets were exceedingly clean