Saluso let out a big sigh.
He didn't expect to get this type of mission. No way.
He was only skilled at being fast. The compromise includes him being a horrible explorer and warrior. Things like scouting missions were the few things he could excel in.
And now, there's a mission to investigate that "thing" he and his colleagues encountered a few days earlier?
What a headache.
Zerion slapped him in the back.
"No worries, dude. If things go haywire, you got us!"
Fafsu supported. "Yeah. And since you're sooooo fast, you could just run away from the situation, right?"
Saluso shot a death glare at Fafsu. He shuffled back into position.
Other than his speed, Saluso was well-known for his somewhat intimidating looks. Zerion and Fafsu were used to it but would still jump by instinct when he either glared or got angry at them.
He looked behind him. Other than scouting colleagues, Sharyusu added lizardmen to his ranks for the sake of safety. In total, including Zerion and Fafsu there were 14 lizardmen under his command. Sure, he was considered to be a pretty good leader, but all he could do was run away from dire situations.
I hope things don't turn out too bad on the other side.
After a long trek, the group arrived at the portal.
The other lizardmen were shocked and remarked at the thing.
"Ehhhh... so this is the portal you three found?"
"It looks so weird."
"Definitely out of this world."
Groaaannn...
Saluso turned around and raised his spear, gathering everyone's attention.
"Fellow lizardmen! From here we step out of our homeland, the lake, into unknown territory. We do not know what is on the other side or what we may encounter. Heck, we don't know if this is even a portal or not, but remain vigilant! Once we find out!, we shall gloriously report back to the higher-ups to demonstrate our loyalty towards the Sorcerer Kingdom!"
All lizardmen cheered except Zerion and Fafsu, who gave him looks of doubt.
Saluso glared at the two. "What's with those expressions, you two?"
Zerion and Fafsu shrugged.
"Aren't we just investigating whatever this 'portal' is? Or whether it's even a 'portal' to begin with?"
"Yeah, we're not entering it right?"
Saluso took out the wooden tablet Sharyusu gave him.
***
[A few hours ago]
Sharyusu handed Saluso a wooden tablet as he sat in front of him. He skimmed through the words and felt a bit surprised.
"Your next task. It's a direct order from Cocytus-sama. He told me to choose the best candidates for this job."
[Mission Type: Investigation]
Details: Investigate the so-called 'portal' founded in the domain of the Great Lake thoroughly. Penalty: Cutting corners are not tolerated, and punishment shall await those who do so. What type of punishment depends on the severity of the offense.
Approved by: Cocytus
"Um ... I didn't read this incorrectly, right?"
Sharyusu shook his head. "It's exactly as it says. I want you and your fellow colleagues to investigate the 'portal' since you were the ones who encountered it first."
"But—"
"You guys are my best bet, albeit the arguments between you three are ... how should I put it ... unbearable?"
Sharyusu slapped Saluso's back as he gulped hard.
"I'm sure you guys got the know-how to deal with this, yes?"
Saluso glared at the wooden board once again.
... thoroughly ...
He scratched his head. "Well, guess I got no choice then. Refusing would mean insubordination, after all."
Sharyusu clapped gleefully. "Good, good! Oh, and I would also send a few other lizardmen to accompany you. We don't want your three-crew investigation team to die on something like this, right?"
Saluso nodded lightly. " ... I guess you can say so ..."
As they continued to converse, Sharyusu's brother, Zaryusu Shasha, entered the hut.
"Brother, Cocytu-sama wishes to see you."
Sharyusu nodded. "Understood, Zaryusu. I'll be there soon."
Zaryusu turned around and waved.
"Oh, hey Saluso. Good luck out there."
Saluso nodded.
Sharyusu stood up and walked towards the exit, leaving Saluso staring at the wooden tablet he just received.
***
[Present]
Saluso kept glaring at the tablet.
... thoroughly ...
Such a vague term. Does that mean we also have to investigate what's on the other side to check if it's a portal?
... thoroughly ... cutting corners ... not tolerated ...
But that would put danger to me and my colleagues. Or maybe that's why Sharyusu-sama sent me so many reinforcements, considering that he thinks we're his best bet.
... punishment shall await those who do so ...
In the end, Saluso stopped thinking so much. He turned his attention towards Zerion and Fafsu.
"I'm pretty sure we need to enter the portal. It's an investigation mission to verify that it is one, no?
Saluso showed the wooden tablet to the two.
They skimmed the contents and pondered long and hard about it.
"Well, if you think that's what Sharyusu-sama wants us to do, I got no objections."
"Same here."
Saluso put away the tablet in his bag. He then signaled all the lizardmen to look at him.
"Shall we, then?"
Saluso proceeded to enter the portal without hesitation. The others followed suit.
***
Ainz observed the lizardmen observing the portal through the <<Mirror of Remote Viewing>> as he rubbed his temples. Cocytus and Demiurge sat beside him, watching the scenes unfold.
To prevent interrupting everyone's work from the situation, Ainz organized a private meeting with only Demiurge and Cocytus to discuss the current party that was ordered to investigate the portal. He refrained from calling Albedo for now as she was currently handling some diplomatic matters and decided to explain to her the situation once she was finished.
"Cocytus, why'd you approve the three lizardmen that scouted that area as the investigators? I've heard there are better lizardmen more suited for this role."
"Well, Ainz-sama, the leader of the lizardmen decided they would best fit the job since they've seen it once. I also observed the party leader has extraordinarily fast running speeds for a lizardman, which would be useful for reports."
Demiurge nodded. "Indeed, Ainz-sama. We do not know if it's a portal or not, so we must be careful. If the lizardmen ends up meeting a powerful foe there, at least one of them would be able to bail out and report."
"Ho..." Ainz went into deep thinking.
Demiurge is sure scary, learning quickly about taking precautions like these. However, I would like to send more specialized units once we confirm how dangerous this "portal" is.
"By the way, Demiurge, Cocytus. Why didn't you send in other races to assist. I 'did say' that we needed to confirm the threat first, but why just the lizardmen themselves?"
Demiurge spoke first. "Other than the thinning of defensive lines, after Ainz-sama brought destruction upon the Re-Estize kingdom, tensions from other races and nations not related to us seemed to have become a bit more hostile."
"Also, asking races we do rule over to help would take too much time, considering our current situation. So it's the best course of action to send the locals who live there to deal with the situation." Cocytus snorted fulfillingly.
Ainz sighed.
"We have plenty of races in Nazarick that could assist them. I'm curious as to why you two wouldn't use them."
Demiurge pondered a bit. "That is indeed true, Ainz-sama."
Ainz's eyes glowed red.
"You two seem confident in not sending in races to protect the lizardmen. Give me a better reason why the lizardmen are to be used."
I didn't make this plan, after all. They did. This screams red-flag scenarios.
The two subordinates huddered from the immense pressure.
Demiurge was about to switch to Ainz's plans until Cocytus spoke up.
"Ainz-sama, I think the reason the lizardmen being by themselves are suited for this goal other than the fact that our defensive lines are stretched is because if anyone were to come out from the 'portal', the lizardmen would be the first to greet them."
Demiurge's tail wagged, seemingly caught up with what Cocytus was proposing.
"Ainz-sama, I assume Cocytus is trying to say that any other race that we possess that specialize in scouting might overwhelm whoever's on the other side of this 'portal', considering that we just wrecked the entirety of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Anyone would be on edge from such things happening."
That's a fair point, but it's not quite enough.
Whatever, I trust Demiurge and Cocytus on their judgment. I'm sure things will go smoothly. I'll intervene when the time comes.
"I'll incline on your reasonings for now. If things go south, you know what to expect, yes?"
"We understand, Ainz-sama."
"Haa..." Ainz shook his head mentally.
The mirror soon went black.
"Ho? What happened?"
Demiurge pushed in his glasses. "I'm not sure. It seems that something happened to block our field of vision."
Ainz's eyes gleamed as he began to speak.
"Umu ... this is concerning. Can I rely on you two to investigate the problem?"
"Yes, my lord."
The two scurried off two their respective locations.
Weird. Why did the mirror suddenly stop working? I have a bad feeling about this ...
Ainz slumped back in his seat, wondering if he made the right decision to put his trust on Demiurge and Cocytus for the time being..
***
A purple-like mist began to cover the lizardmen group before they were greeted by a blinding white light. They were soon welcomed with an environment that resembled a forest with trees so dense you couldn't see a clear path through.
Saluso observed his surroundings. "Seems like we've entered a forest. This is definitely most odd."
Zerion nodded in agreement. "I mean, the lake had a forest, too, but nothing as lush and dense as this."
Saluso looked back at the "portal". It was still swirling the way it was back on the Great Lake.
"Seems like it is a portal. We should go back right now since we confirmed it ..."
... thoroughly ...
" ... on second thought, we should continue to INVESTIGATE! Stay vigilant, everyone!"
"Yes sir!"
The 15 lizardmen proceeded to slowly through the forest, spears and bows held in a defensive position.
They walked around a bit until they found a road built suspiciously large.
"What ... is this?"
It was probably one of the widest roads they've seen, laid with bricks in an orderly fashion, and spotless in every corner. People and monsters alike walked through the road without worry.
All the lizardmen froze in awe upon seeing the thing.
"Is that ... a road?"
"So clean! How is this even possible?"
"And to be maintained so well? There must be sorcery involved in this!"
Saluso couldn't find words to comprehend what he was seeing.
One of the lizardmen in the group raised their hand.
"Captain, we should go back and inform the Sorcerer Kingdom about this."
"Yes, we should. It seems whatever's in charge of here could pose a threat to us."
Fafsu smirked. "Oh? Captain, are you deciding to run away like you always do?"
"Yeah, and this was getting interesting!" Zerion argued whilst pouting.
"Shut it, you two! Don't you know how this road implies the dangers we could face back in our hometown? Do you guys lack self awareness?"
Zerion and Fafsu immediately became silent.
Saluso sighed. "This should be more than thorough enough to be an investigation. Everyone! Let's head ba—"
Suddenly, one of the lizardmen used hand signals to inform the group that something is coming towards them at considerably high speeds.
"All lizardmen! Battle positions!"
The lizardmen started to huddle in a circular position, with spears pointing outwards and the archers in the middle.
Suddenly one of the trees began to shake. A sharp object flew towards them at an incredible pace.
"E-enemy attack! In the trees!"
The archers began to shoot blindly into the trees, but nothing seems to be hit. The sharp objects just kept coming. From the branches and the leaves, it kept multiplying in numbers as time dragged on. Slowly, one by one, the lizardmen were hit by the objects, screaming in pain and rendering them unable to fight. They were, however, strangely, not killed.
Saluso exclaimed, "We need more lizardmanpower!"
"Captain! You must retreat NOW!"
Saluso picked up his pace to run away from the situation, leaving his comrades behind desperately trying to tackle the situation. He was ordered by Sharyusu (or, by extension, Cocytus-sama) to run back to the portal in case things got dire to report the situation, but he never thought things would turn THIS dire.
"Shit, shit, SHIT! Why did it have to turn out like this?"
As he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, he was met with a figure standing in front of him.
She had black, short hair and mesmerizing, bluish-green eyes, wearing a red garment and an orange scarf around her neck. Net-like ornaments were worn on her wrist and ankle area, and the form of hers were resembling that of a human female.
"Oya? Looks like we have a runaway sheep from the herd."
"Idiot, you think you can kill me that easily?" He lifted up his spear.
He had no confidence in his fighting techniques, but he had to deliver the message, and he would do anything to achieve that goal.
The woman playfully spun a shuriken on her finger. "Resorting to fighting I see? Well, guess I got no choice then."
The two charged towards each other head-on.
Saluso attacked first with a thrust of his spear. But the woman dodged it with ease. He then attempted to do another thrust, but the spearhead was suddenly cut off.
"Wh-what? So fast!"
"My turn now."
With an evil grin, the woman threw shurikens at Saluso. Saluso attempted to dodge, but one hit his leg and two more caught on to his clothing. Saluso screamed in pain as his foot began to bleed.
"Ara? Can't run now can you, fellow lizardman? Well, my job here is done. Master Souei should be proud."
"Fellow ... lizardman? ... Souei?"
Saluso fainted immediately upon saying those words.