Overlord - Prologue

Honestly speaking, it was not a betrayal. It was just that the recommendation of a fellow member of the No Cash Item Alliance drew noises of approval from all around him, so it felt like he was being betrayed. Although he was faintly proud that nobody opposed him, this was not the time for that sort of thing.

“No, wait, wait a minute! Ulbert-san! I, I’m not confident that I can lead everyone as outstandingly as Touch-san. Wouldn’t someone else be better for this?”

“Everyone here supports you in that respect. There’s nobody in this clan who won’t help you out, Momonga-san.”

Touch Me kept repeating, “It’s okay, it’s fine.”

Momonga looked around, and everyone he saw was nodding.

This was a level of anxiety Momonga had never felt before in his life.

How could he possibly be a Guildmaster? There were many reasons why not. Besides, how could someone like him substitute for a man like Touch Me?

As Momonga thought about how to refuse this nomination, a new window appeared in the corner of his eye. He had received emails from three people. All communications which did not go through in-game magic were the province of cash items, so it would seem these emails were very important.

His hands moved below the table, and he opened the emails.

Momonga was very surprised to see that there were three different senders, but if he thought calmly about it, it would seem that all three emails had been sent at nearly the same time.

The three senders were Punitto Moe, Tabula Smaragdina and Bellriver.

He quickly scanned through them while the others were excitedly discussing the new Guildmaster. Although they were written in different ways, they all said the same thing.

If someone other than Momonga became the Guildmaster, the guild — in other words, this clan — would surely tear itself apart. Therefore, they wanted to join a different guild with Momonga.

This was the reason why Momonga had to be the Guildmaster.

It was clear that the three of them were certain the guild would break up, but at the same time they had differing opinions. The main difference was in which side they were leaning towards.

If they played the game for pleasure and entertainment, it would only be natural for a guild to break up because they wanted different things. Since it was hard to gather all these diverse members, keeping everyone together so they could all have fun was the right thing to do.

Personally speaking, Momonga wanted the latter outcome.

Since the three people who had sent him the emails were either smart or learned, there was most likely some sort of ulterior motive behind them. However, they had nothing to do with Momonga.

In the end, the choice was up to him.

Momonga searched his soul.

The conclusion was very simple.

This was a game. One of his friends had already left, and the day might come when everyone else would follow suit as well, because the real world was more important than a game. But it would not be this day. Besides, Momonga wanted to keep playing with these people.

Thus, there could only be one answer.

Of course, Momonga was worried, and he wondered, “Is it really okay if it’s me?” He was uneasy about whether he might bring everyone trouble, and afraid that he could not handle the many things which would happen in the future.

Even so — though he was still somewhat hesitant, he had already made his decision.

“I understand. If there is nobody else, then I will take the role.”

Everyone turned their eyes to him. Well, some people did not have faces, so it was more of turning in his direction. Still, Momonga could feel the weight of their gazes on him, and he was suddenly very aware of the saying that there was power in stares.

Crushed by the sudden pressure, Momonga thought of backing out, but the words that came out of his mouth were completely different from those in his brain.

“Of, of course, that is only if everyone is willing to help me.”

Without a single word, the members of the clan had already made up their minds to aid Momonga.

If that was the case — Momonga screwed up his determination and rose from his seat.

“Then… although I’m not too reliable and I might cause trouble for you, I will take the position of Guildmaster. Let’s work together in the future.”

Momonga bowed to thunderous applause.

“Then, as the future Guildmaster, I will get down to business. What about our guild name? Should I come up with one?”

A hubbub filled the air after that last suggestion by Momonga. Was this a sign of their discomfort?

Yggdrasil characters had no facial expressions, but he felt that there were black lines all over everyone’s faces. It weighed heavier on him than their gazes.

“No, there’s no need, don’t worry about that, I think—”

Bukubukuchagama spoke, and her words scoured away the toxic clouds hanging in the air.

It was followed by several voices of approval. Although they tried to cover it up, they all sounded quite panicked.

Momonga could not imagine why they would feel that way, and just at that moment he noticed his friend nervously raising his hand.