A Theory on Godhood: An Overlord Story

Chapter 46: Stalking Shadow

Alenbonne, One Week Later

Tsuare stood on a ridge right above the village of Alenbonne, a quaint and quiet farming village that sat nestled close to the cliff side. The landscape surrounding the place made for a natural defense against invaders or otherwise foreign interlopers. This area of Re-Estize was somewhat drier, being further away from any natural water sources inside the Forest of Tob and having to rely upon a series of wells that dotted the landscape below.

From her estimate, she believed that the village's population numbered only a few hundred, as was expected. As far as she could tell, most of the housing was simple wood and brick, with thatch roofs to stave off the harsh, cold winters. There was barely a wall surrounding the village that wasn't protected by the cliff she stood upon, appearing more like a picket fence.

These people appear severely under-defended, what with the lack of guards and general security. What made Alenbonne so important to Destrus that he took the time to mark it as he did on his map?

Prior to her visit to this village, she spent a good portion of the last week rifling through Destrus's old paperwork to find any sort of important documents pertaining to the place. She found nearly nothing, not even a love letter from an old spouse or romantic flame.

She could still recall the meeting she called shortly afterwards to share with the other elders her plans to visit the village. She could feel her headache begin to throb from the conversation that went down.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" Shouted the Warhammer Weapons Master, who had survived the initial slaughter of their people but missing a left arm and a part of his lower lip. He would've been healed, if not for the severe lack of proper magic healers left in their ranks.

"We're just barely getting everything set up back here after the last mess, and now our 'chosen leader' wishes to leave already? What a sorry pup you are," he snarled.

The other surviving weapon masters, as well as elders like Mama Juniper and Papa Jacobson, were in attendance. They were the surviving leadership of the old Knights of the Weeping King, around a dozen or so people. There were twice as many before Brain Unglaus's raid on their fortress.

Their current meeting place was a stone hewn war room, a massive, oval table occupying the majority of the space. There were enough chairs to comfortably seat the original two dozen advisors, leaders, and high-ranking officers. Unfortunately, the most comfort they gave were well-worm cushions, which was liable to make most people grit their teeth.

The dagger weapon master tried to place a comforting hand on the warhammer master's shoulder. "There's no reason to get so worked up, you old git. I agree though, Ms. Tsuare, that this desire of yours to scout out the other villages when we just barely got new recruits is rather poorly timed."

"Not to mention fool-hardy," another weapons master grunted, "We can't have you gallivanting off into the wilderness at such a fragile time. At the very least, can't you give us a month or two to recuperate before we go scouting out our next target?"

"A month?! Man, are you daft. I'm not mad that she wants to leave so soon, I'm mad she wants to leave without any of us to back her up," the Warhammer master shouted at his peer, startling him.

Tsuare raised both her hands in a placating manner. "Please, please! I understand your concerns, but what I'm proposing should only take a few days at most to accomplish, and only with one person. We don't all need to go together, and I'd much rather send myself to check out the village than risk the remainder of our leadership!"

The sword master chimed in. "Remember our conversation, girl. We as your advisors are telling you this is a bad idea to do alone, especially considering you're our leader too. You can't just go running off whenever it strikes your fancy, not when there's too much to do here too."