Mass for the Dead Chapter 06



Request of the Golden Princess (黄金の姫の依頼) is the sixth main story chapter in Mass for the Dead. It was released to the public on December 1, 2019.

Episode 1: Audience
The protagonist, Slimeko, Sebas Tian, and Solution Epsilon, having returned to the Great Tomb of Nazarick are kneeling before Momonga. After learning of their success so far outside Nazarick, and their contributions in information gathering by infiltrating E-Rantel wishes to reward his loyal subjects. Though the group politely refuse, as working for a Supreme Being is a reward unto itself, they give in to his persistence. Sebas is first to be asked what he desires, for which the butler asks if he could be given leave to visit E-Rantel for personal reasons such as to see and care for the refugees there. Momonga states that he would allow such visits so long as they do not impede his missions outside Nazarick. For Solution, she requests to be given live humans, especially virgins for her to consume. Knowing that offering humans from the city would be out of the question, Momonga after a quick check with Demiurge consents to give her virgins among the bandits that Nazarick captured. The protagonist who had worked in Ashurbanipal only had the desire to serve his master, and has no needs. However thinking about the many mysteries of the world, like the Cracks, and the cause of Nazarick's collapse, he request additional magical equipment to help them conduct investigations. The NPC is granted his wish and moving on Momonga asks what other item that the protagonist wishes to speak with him on.

The homunuculus states that he received a letter requesting his team's aid by none other than Princess Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself. Offering the letter to the Supreme Being, Demiurge and Albedo note that it is indeed unusual that a princess of a country would send a letter to an adventurer. The protagonist then elaborates that a few days ago his team received the request and letter via a third party, Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra. After the protagonists assistance in the underground sewers, the senior adventurer wanted to thank them for their efforts. In addition, she wanted to pass a request from the princess to them. On for the reason why a member of the royal family would like to meet with them, Lakyus explains that the princess wishes the protagonist's help in solving a problem for an important meeting. The summit of the Tripartite Alliance is soon to take place in E-Rantel to decide on future policy. The talk is top secret so information on it is kept away from the public, hence why the request wasn't sent through the Adventurer's Guild. To learn more of the request, the protagonist would have to speak directly to the third princess. Knowing the full importance of such a meeting, the protagonist asks to be given time to decide.

After finishing his story to Momonga and the others, Albedo believes that this meeting may be an opportunity for them to get more information on the upcoming summit meeting. Still she finds it odd why the princess is interested in the protagonist. Demiurge however states that the latter strategy of infiltrating into the human society is working. Their agents have been showcasing their abilities and are now attracting attention from the people in the three nations. The members of Nazarick congratulate protagonist who had raised his value to be now seen as an asset by the outside world. Demiurge marks Renner as a person of interest noting that she may be a genius among humans given her policies that she proposed to benefit her kingdom in the future. Momonga is still on the fence on whether the protagonist should accept the request leaving it up to them. The protagonist opts to move forward with meeting Renner which Momonga permits. He reminds everyone that though they lend their strength to a single nation, it is only by necessity as they are still in the dark on the origin of Nazarick's near collapse. Albedo suggests that they could use the human nation as a decoy, which Momonga states that its an option. However there is a risk of being constrained by joining hands with a nation. He makes a non-committal comment that it would be better to build a new system of their own. Demiurge praises his master for his wise words as does Albedo who suggest that he appoints a strategic assistance to handle these political decisions. Momonga taking her advice entrusts Demiurge to handle his duties. Momonga then wishes the protagonist the best of luck.

Later outside in the hallway, Demiurge, Slimeko and the protagonist have a private conversation. Demiurge thinking about Momonga's comment of building a new system believes that they now have a clear future plan as directed by their master. Thinking his master meant that using a single nation as cover is not enough in the long run as they will be restricted. However instead they should be pursuing the goal to control all the neighboring nations to give themselves more freedom. Demiurge directs the protagonist his first mission in this great plan for the glory of Nazarick.

Episode 2: Discussion With Renner
At Ro Lente Castle, Lakyus guides the protagonist and his party to a room where they will meet the princess. There they also encounter Gagaran who they previously worked with in the past. Entering the room, the protagonist and company finally have a face to face meeting with the Golden Princess and her escort, Climb. Princess Renner thanks the adventurer and his friends for their cooperation. Seeking a reliable and influential adventurer Renner heard about the protagonist after a recommendation from the mayor of E-Rantel and the members of Blue Roses.

Before talking about her request, the princess discusses the Tripartite Conference for the Tripartite Alliance. It is a crucial summit for the leaders of all three nations. There the leaders will come together and decide on the future of the Alliance. The first meeting was held shortly after the incident that affected the world, and soon a second meeting will take place soon. The protagonist inquires what kind of people will be in attendance, which the princess states that from the Slane Theocracy, a Cardinal of Earth and his assistant will be attending. For the Baharuth Empire, Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix along with the Imperial Court Wizard, Fluder Paradyne, rumored to be the strongest magic caster in the surrounding countries.

Originally a person like Renner would not be able to participate during the conference, however she has been given special permission by her father and brother, due her intelligence. But before the conference can be held, there must be necessary to ensure the safety of E-Rantel. She further explains that after the formation of the Tripartite Alliance, it seems that many of shady organizations that operated in the city were forced to suspend their activities. However it cannot be confirmed that the power of the underworld has completely collapsed. If an incident that could potentially threaten the security of the city occurs before or during the Tripartite Conference, then the Kingdom's voice in the Alliance will surely be weakened and doubt will be cast on its crisis management abilities. This is a situation that must be avoided. Therefore---Renner requests to have the protagonist and his team help carry out the conference safely. The protagonist surprised at the scope of the job, asks about the potential dangers involved. Lakyus is the one who answers this, who tells the adventures that so far nothing has been conclusive but a string of suspicious activity has been occurring in the city. Gagaran reports that according to the city's guard, among the refugees a number have been turning up missing. Soi suggest that maybe they gave into despair and committed suicide. While that could be possible, Lakyus informs them that the missing just abruptly vanished without warning. It cannot be determined if they were murdered as no corpses have been found. And given the number of people missing, it's doubtful to be the work of a single individual, suggesting it could be the work of organized crime. Climbs believes that it could be Eight Fingers, but Lakyus states it to be dangerous to draw conclusions, though the former insists that the criminal organization profited on trafficking people. Unfortunately Gagaran checked on the possibility of Eight Fingers involvement but could not find any connection that the group was active in the city. Bottom line is that the Kingdom is currently in the dark on what is happening in the city, thus Renner pleads to the adventurer to help her make it right.

The protagonist watching the princess change in emotions from a lovable girl to a confused princess, cannot help notice the latter's control over her expressions. As if they are too rehearsed or complete, but in decides to accept the mission from Renner. Upon the protagonist's acceptance, the members of Blue Roses are glad to have them aboard and invite themselves to safeguard them for the time to E-Rantel.

Episode 3: Refugee Residential Area
Having arrived safely to E-Rantel, Lakyus and Gagaran guide their junior peers through the alleys of the refugees residential area to seek out Evileye. Their other two members, Tina and Tia, are busy collecting information about those that have disappeared. As for Evileye she is on her own errand. While searching for the short magic caster, they spot her trying to calm down a crying little girl. When she notices the group she tries to explain that all she wanted was to ask the refugee information on Chaos Beasts, but the girl was too frighten of her. Suddenly a burly man who is the girl's father seeing his crying child demands that they step away from her. Eventually everything is short out when the father realizes who the adventurers are and apologizes for the misunderstanding and thanking them for their hard work.

The two adventurer parties decide to go to the next meeting place to meet up with the last two members of Blue Roses. Surako taking notice of the new buildings is explained by Lakyus it is due to the number of increasing refugees staying in the city. However even with all their efforts, the reality is that the city is not responding as they should to meet demand. On the way to the meeting point, Soi notices that someone is tailing them. The tails are revealed to be Tina and Tia, both impressed with the beautiful adventurer being allow to detect them. Blues Roses and the protagonist's party move to a shabby inn room where the twin ninjas report their findings. They show a list of all those that have vanished, and detailed their targets based on family, occupation, sex, birthplace, etc. Despite this meticulousness they have found no common factors tying them together. Lakyus agrees and sees that there is no bias on the people that have disappeared. Evileye adds that many do not have any families and the last person that vanished is far from the refugee area. With all these factors the protagonist believes the disappeared were merely victims of opportunity ad recommends checking the area for clues.

Several hours later, the adventurers turned up with nothing on the disappearances as they found no clues or witnesses. However that makes the missing persons cases all more unusual as there should be at least clues on their whereabouts. So to catch the culprits, the adventurers decode to increase the number of patrols and create a security hole to lure the perpetrators. Using their invitation strategy, they intend to leave out a tempting target to kidnap. The members of their teams with assassin skills would watch Surako in case she is attacked. Tia learning that she will be working with Soi looks forward to it. The protagonist wishing to have insurance secretly calls Demiurge to request for assistance.

At the start of the operation, seeing that they need a convincing target, Surako is assigned to act as bait whilst the others work in the shadows to monitor for signs of the enemy and trap them. Surako is disguised as a refugee using clothes donated from the father and daughter from earlier. The undercover adventurer proceeds to move through the alleys, under the watch of the assassin. Nothing seems to occur, passing by each assassin, until after she walks past Soi who then detects someone to be chasing Surako. She alerts the others and they and Blue Roses rush to the scene. Surako is soon about to be grabbed by three men in dark robes. They are stopped by several gunshots aimed at their legs from a hidden cloaked figure on the rooftops. Momentarily stunned, Soi arrives and attacked two of the robed men. The rest of Blue Roses and the protagonist soon follow. One of the men uses magic and summons several Skeleton Warriors. The adventurers are distracted by the undead long enough for the robed men to escape. Seeing that they disappeared too quickly, the protagonist surmises there is some kind of hidden passageway in the area. Soi remembering her experience in the sewers of E-Rantel locates the mechanism and finds the secret route much to the shock of Blue Roses as no such organization should have been able to create one without their knowledge.

The robed men escape to a dark alley, exhausted but to their surprise find themselves to be blocked by the adventurers. Faced with an enemy the magic casters summon more undead, but their summons are eventually defeated. Lakyus with Kilineiram in hand demands they surrender, but instead two of the three commit suicide using daggers. The third soon follows and Gagaran and Tia rush to stop him, but will not make it. A needle projectile is thrown and knocks the dagger in the man's hand allowing the others to forcibly restrain him. Blue Roses takes the suspect into custody and thanks the protagonist for their help. Tia asks if Soi was responsible for throwing the needle. Soi confirms it was her, causing Tia to comment on the skill and attempts to flirt with her but is quickly taken away by her leader who promises to keep the others informed of any new developments.

After Blue Roses departs, Surako thanks Soi for intervening to save her from the men, however the undercover maid turns the slime to direct her thanks to Shizu who is now behind them. Soi thanks Shizu for the support in capturing one of the suspects. Surako as well thanks the maid for saving her and was disappointed that they did not meet sooner. It cannot be helped as any more people in the protagonist's party would attract unwanted attention. The maid then departs wishing the group luck.

Somewhere else, a robe magic caster informs his superior that members of their group have failed to return. The other man says it is inconsequential as their plans continue and their victory is assured. The man then speaks to another man who promises him that he will get the job he was paid for done.

Episode 4: Base Search
The next day, Lakyus reveals the results of their interrogation from the prisoner who is a member of Zurrernorn. It is a evil death cult that is involved in outrageous experiments and is viewed as hostile by the neighboring countries. Unfortunately they do not have any information where the secret organization is based in the city. Lakyus explains that at the formation of the Alliance, the city had been busy wiping out criminal organizations, however the adventurers and the guards were unsuccessful in locating the secret society during the purge. It can be assumed that the cult went evaded detection since the incident, however that is about to change as the leader of Blue Roses intends to search the cult out and destroy it. Her companions believe that it may be difficult, given that Zurrernorn has been covering its tracks so well. The protagonist also expresses concern on the cult's influence, given that members have been shown to have created a secret passage in the middle of the streets of E-Rantel indicating they have been operating in the city for an extended amount of time. Lakyus agrees and states they should prioritize protecting that area reserved for the Tripartite Conference. They suspect that Zurrernorn is aiming to disrupt the conference, they should secure the venue that has been planned.

The adventurers are then led by Lakyus to the location of where the venue for the conference in the inner wall of the city with a inconspicuous appearance. In addition to the security, multiple sites have been set up for the representatives, should an attack occur. The adventurers decide to check out each site to make sure that none have been compromised. Strangely all sites are untouched, even the hidden room in sewers which Soi checked. Tina wonders if perhaps that Zurrernorn plot and the date of the conference are unrelated. Gagaran gets frustrated at how hard it is to find a bunch of guys that play with the undead, causing Evileye to realize the cult's aim. She remembers that she heard a rumor that Zurrernorn's goal was to enact a ritual that can create powerful undead. It was called Death Spiral, that uses Negative Energy where undead gather. If such a ritual was to be conducted, untold amount of lives will be lost. However certain conditions must be made for the ritual such as a cadavers, but it is unlikely that the cultist brought corpses would bring that sort of thing into the city as they would have been flagged by the guards. Then they connect the missing people, and soon understand that Zurrernorn has been collecting its own corpses using the refugee population. The adventurers need to find the site of the ritual as it may be complete, leading the protagonist to pinpoint the perfect place where a large number of corpses would be perfectly hidden.

Episode 5: Undead Roaring Cemetery
At the gates to E-Rantel's Cemetery, the adventurers plan to search the area to where they believe that Zurrernorn is hiding. If they are hiding there, the group should see signs of negative energy increasing manifesting in the forms of increasing numbers of undead.

They split into three groups to cover more ground. The protagonist leads his group composed of Soi, and Surako into the graveyard. They complain about the mist making it difficult to see, when a figure comes toward them from behind. It is Shizu who are reunited with them now that they are away from the others. Soi then takes the opportunity to scout ahead and leaves Surako and the protagonist in the care of the Pleiades member. While the group waits for Soi to return, they are attacked by Skeletons. Shizu easily defeats them, but soon Skeleton Warriors soon arrive in greater numbers. The maid eliminates the undead, but due to the increased negative energy in the area from the many undead, it attracts three Gravekeepers. The automaton after killing the undead finds it strange that the undead are appearing in quick succession, proof that the negative energy levels are rising.

Soi returns and states that she found nothing. The group then decides to regroup with Blue Roses to share their information. Using their notes they collected they determine that the undead are moving from the east. It is what Evileye fears, as in that as the number of corpses in an area increases, more undead will appear in response to the increase negative energy. That being said, low-ranking undead will appear without any problems and soon enough strong ones will appear at a certain rate. If they follow where the strong undead originated, the chances that the cultists are there.

Traveling east the group come across several Gravekeepers. The undead are taken care of by Soi, Gagaran, and Evileye. Soi then finds a hidden mechanism in a tombstone, opening the door leading into a mausoleum. While it seems like it leads into a dead end, Soi discovers another trigger which opens into a dark tunnel. Soi, Tia and Gagaran fumble into the passageway trying to figure out where it leads. While the trio are investigating, Lakyus and the others outside the tunnel are soon greeted by an approaching feminine figure.

Episode 6: Mausoleum Guards
Lakyus recognizes the woman along with the four men behind her. Tia seeing their equipment deduces them as the members of the security department of Eight Fingers, Six Arms. Tina also identifies them, "Spacial Slash" Peshurian, "Thousand Kills" Malmvist, "Phantom Devil" Succulent, "Undead King" Davernoch, and "Dancing Scimitar" Edström.

Soi hearing Davernoch's title take offense to it. Gagaran demands to know why the criminals are here in the cemetery. Malmvist acting as their spokesperson tells the adventurers that they are doing their job, which is guarding their cemetery. After the incident with the Cracks, Eight Fingers went under, as all the nobles that supported them lost power. With them gone, the Kingdom's authorities cracked down on all criminal activity, forcing Eight Fingers to disband.

The security department members of the organization then sought new employment as cemetery guards. The mercenaries demand that the adventurers leave as they are trespassing. The protagonist and others don't buy that they are merely just guarding the cemetery, pointing out that they must have used their secret knowledge of Eight Fingers' secret passages in E-Rantel to aid Zurrernorn in their operation.

Seeing as they won't get a confession, the adventurers prepare to battle the mercenaries. They each take on a different member of Six Arms. Lakyus takes on Edström, who attempts to feign surrender by dropping her weapon, and then attacks the leader of Blue Roses with her levitating scimitars, but the adventurer easily knocks them away. Gagaran in her fight against the assassin Malmvist tricks him into attacking her with his poisoned tipped weapon, so she could incapacitate him in close quarters. Tia and Tina fight against Succulent and Peshurian, after seeing through Succulent's illusion make quick two of the two warriors. Lastly Soi and Evileye fight against the elder lich Davernoch who attempts to use [Fireball] and [Lightning] to keep them at bay. Soi overpowers him with her speed, and he is killed without mercy for his affront for the title of "Undead King". The twin assassins taking account of the members of Six Arms realize that the leader, "Battle Demon" Zero is missing. The group decide to hand the criminals to the cemetery guards later as finding Zero and his employers takes priority.

Episode 7: Death Gathering Altar
The adventurers go deeper into the mausoleum, which Evileye reports that the thickness of the negative energy is getting stronger. They see an open cavernous space, and witness a horde of undead numbering the size of a small city. Lakyus order her comrades to stop the ritual. One of the cultists, Khajiit Dale Badantel, seeing them orders his followers and their undead summons to stop them. The members of Zurrernorn swarm to attack the adventurers but take casualties with Khajiit fanning the flames of their fanaticism, urging them to hold them off. While no match for the adventurers, they do impede Blue Roses and the protagonist. Evileye then uses [Fly] to reach the necromancer and his guards. Now alone and surrounded, Khajiit is given the opportunity to surrender, but he refuses and gathers the negative energy into himself.

Despite his efforts his magic and summons are useless, and attempts to run but is stopped by Tia. He refuses to surrender, blaming Blue Roses for his failure, stating that ever since the appearance of the Cracks, the cult saw it as a sign of the boundary to death that plan for their ritual was marked from the start. The magic caster then starts to activate Death Spiral. The adventurers attempt to stop him but will not reach him in time, when suddenly a needle strikes him. Khajiit is disbelief then collapses to the ground coughing his own blood. Blues Roses confused on what happened, until Tia asks if Soi was responsible for the attack. The undercover slime, takes credit for the shot, to cover for Shizu hiding in the shadows. Before they could relax, the magic caster soon rises, having been turned into an undead due to the heavy negative energy in the area. The adventurers then kill the zombie, after which the negative energy exhausted itself in the area preventing the Death Spiral. The group then decide to return to report to Princess Renner.

Princess Renner is happy on the success and that such a plot in E-Rantel was prevented. There is still concern about Zero who has yet to be caught. According from the testimonies of the rest of the captured Six Arm members, they had no idea of the scope of the plot that Zurrernorn. It's speculated that Zero was the only one who was in on the plan, and with him still free Lakyus cannot discount the possibility of another plan in progress. Thus Renner asks Lakyus and her team to hunt the criminal down. Lakyus states that she would be happy to, though worries what about the Kingdom's escorts for the Tripartite Conference. Renner states that will not be an issue as she wishes the protagonist and his friends to act as escorts, much to the surprise of all in the room. The protagonist seeing the implications of being at such an important event and make connections, accepts the request.

At the same time in other locations, from the Great Tomb of Nazarick looks on in anticipation of the summit in E-Rantel. Nigun Grid Luin welcomes Cardinal of Earth Raymond Zarg Lauransan and his assistant to the city. Lastly Fluder Paradyne and Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix have also arrived with plans of their own.