Roaring Heroes Battle the Overlord (Ainz)

The young archer and cleric girl from Baharuth walked side by side down the bustling street, occasionally stopping at roadside stalls to browse through small trinkets.

Three days had passed since the final showdown of the Warrior Captain Tournament, but as they reflected on it, both of them still felt a lingering sense of unease.

They hadn't participated in the life-threatening Warrior Captain Tournament themselves; instead, their team leader, EeDeChi, had been the one to compete. After EeDeChi won the final match in an astonishingly bizarre way—by forcing her opponent to surrender—she was summoned by the King of Re-Estize.

Upon realizing that EeDeChi was an unusual and fearsome warrior, the old king took an interest in her teammates. Without any hesitation, EeDeChi dragged both of them, along with Barrett, to meet the king.

What was it like for two Baharuth adventurers to face the King of Re-Estize? It was an experience that could very well cost them their lives!

The two countries had a century-long history of bitter conflict, and during the most intense times of war between Baharuth and Re-Estize, Baharuth had seriously considered how to assassinate the King of Re-Estize in order to cause internal chaos and disrupt the power transfer within Re-Estize.

However, despite their best efforts, Baharuth had never found an effective way to get an assassin close enough to the king. To their shock, the two adventurers achieved this proximity in the most unexpected manner.

They were probably the closest Baharuth citizens to the king in history. Thanks to the king's trust in the Warrior Captain and the unwavering guarantee from the royal Grand Knight, Wade Bolton, they were even allowed to keep their weapons on them without having to disarm.

If Sean had drawn his bow and taken a shot at the old king sitting on the throne, he would have become an everlasting hero in Baharuth's history.

Luckily, Sean was a rational person. Between making a name for himself in history and keeping his life, he chose to survive and preserve his life. He and Stella played deaf and dumb, and with Barrett's help, they barely managed to get through the situation without revealing their nationality.

Sigh, "I think our captain can be a bit unreliable sometimes," Stella sighed.

"Wasn't it just the other day, during the final of the tournament, that you said the captain was 'kind of cute'?" Sean teased.

"Yeah, the captain can be a bit... clueless," the cleric girl said, a troubled expression on her face. "But she never listens to other people's ideas or opinions. She's kind of... authoritarian."

"Exactly," Sean agreed. "If she weren't so ridiculously strong, I really don't know how she's managed to survive this long."

Stella turned around, cautiously checking the street in all directions. She stuck out her tongue and whispered, "Be careful, don't let the captain hear you. She'd definitely flip out."

She lowered her head and walked for a moment, her deerskin boots kicking a small stone as she asked the young archer beside her, "Do you miss home?"

"Of course I do," Sean replied without hesitation. "Even though adventurers are supposed to roam the world, I never thought I'd end up this far from home. I promised my parents I'd come back three times a year, but now it's been almost eight months since I last went back."

Stella looked up at Sean and asked, "So, will you keep being an adventurer? Like our senior, Barrett?"

"I used to think that way," Sean answered, "but then I met you. Now, I plan to save up some money and go back to Baharuth to live a stable life."

"Then what will you do if you stop being an adventurer?" Stella asked, curious.

Sean gazed into her bright, light brown eyes, and his cheeks involuntarily flushed. "I want to build a watermill and become a mill owner."

"Why do you want to be a mill owner?" Stella asked, curious.

Sean seemed a little embarrassed but answered honestly.

"When I was a kid, I used to listen to fairy tales that my parents told me. The mill owners in those stories were always rich, like 'The Miller, His Son, and the Donkey,' 'Puss in Boots,' 'Little Hans and the Miller,' and stories like that. I always thought, when I grow up, I want to be a mill owner."

"But the mill owners in those stories are usually the villains," Stella said with a playful smile, her troubled expression vanishing in an instant.

"I'll definitely be a good mill owner!" Sean said, thumping his chest. "I won't oppress anyone, and I'll use my bow to help the villagers drive away goblins and monsters."

"Everyone will definitely be grateful to you." Stella imagined the young mill owner drawing his bow and shooting, her heart filled with a sense of longing. "Maybe wandering poets will even use you as a model to write a fairy tale where the mill owner is the good guy?"

"Well, I'm not holding my breath for that." Sean smiled, feeling happy to see the cleric girl no longer looking so downcast.

"Look, there's fresh lycium chinense berries for sale." Stella pointed toward a corner of the market.

"Didn't the captain recently say that we're short on lycium chinense to craft those 'health preservation' potions? We could buy some and send them to her," Sean's eyes lit up.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Stella said happily.

Recently, EeDeChi hadn't been making her usual lycium chinense berry tea, and after searching all over the nearby market, they still couldn't find any. She'd been moping around, clearly not in a good mood. lycium chinense berries weren't grown locally and weren't a popular spice, so there weren't many sellers or buyers.

Now that they had finally found someone selling lycium chinense berries, Sean and Stella quickly spent all the money they had on hand and bought as much as they could.

They walked down the street with their packages when, out of nowhere, an old woman carrying a crystal ball jumped out from some hidden corner. She shoved the crystal ball right in front of Sean's nose, spitting as she spoke.

"See the past, measure the future! Reveal your luck, clear the fog! I see in both of your eyes a longing for home, and confusion about the future. The crystal knows your fate! Come, let me tell your fortune!"

Sean and Stella exchanged a glance. The fortune teller's wrinkled face was like a crumpled flower, and her voice was filled with sincerity.

"This beautiful young lady is a cleric of Gaia, right? My crystal ball has been blessed by the high priest of the temple. With Gaia above, I shall guide the eye of the gods and reveal the unknown dawn!"

Stella hesitated for a moment, then Sean looked at her and said, "Let's get a reading."

"Alright," Stella nodded, thinking that getting a fortune told couldn't hurt.

Seeing they had agreed, the old woman was ecstatic. She grabbed them both and dragged them toward a tent by the side of the road.

Inside the tent, the light was dim. Several yellow candles flickered with an eerie blue glow, and a strange incense filled the air. Crystal balls, tarot cards, and parchment scrolls with strange symbols were scattered about, creating an atmosphere of mystery and unease.

The old woman pulled out two porcelain cups and a teapot from who knows where, filled them with tea, and handed them over. "Tea from the elven kingdom. Take a sip, it will clear your mind."

Neither of them wanted to refuse, so they glanced at the clear liquid in the cups and drank it down.

The warm liquid flowed down Sean's throat into his stomach. He set the cup down, but before he could speak, a sudden dizziness hit him. Everything around him blurred, and it felt like double vision. He turned to look at Stella, only to see her collapse to the ground.

He tried to get up and help Stella, but his body refused to obey. His limbs went limp, his eyelids felt heavy, and the world spun around him. His throat felt like it was filled with lead, and no sound could escape.

He collapsed onto his back. In the final moments before he closed his eyes, he saw the rough fabric of the tent ceiling, and the old woman's sinister smile flashed briefly in his vision.