Overlord Manga Chapter 70

This is the seventieth chapter of the Overlord Manga.

Summary
At the Imperial Castrum, located in the Katze Plains, Nimble Arc Dale Anoch is courteously welcomed by General Natel Inyem Dale Carvain, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Garrison at his command tent. Since the two have known each other for quite some time, and while Nimble is a direct subordinate to the emperor, Carvain insists they drop the formalities to speak as equals. He tells the Imperial Knight that the preparations for battle are good as he expects the fog to clear up later today. Though Nimble does not find any joy in the upcoming battle as afterwards it will only inflict more tragedy upon the Re-Estize Kingdom. The general hearing that it will be a tragedy asks Nimble what is the Empire's aim for this current war? Until now the aim of the Empire had always been to exhaust the Kingdom's military strength. Now the ultimate goal is to be victorious against the Kingdom and claim the city of E-Rantel. The Imperial Army has been deployed in far greater numbers than ever for this war, despite that the knights in their army are far stronger than the peasant conscripts. What can come out of this war will only be greater casualties.

Before Nimble says anything to his comrade, he asks the two guards in the tent to allow him to speak with Carvain privately. Once they leave the Imperial Knight explains that the upcoming battle with the Kingdom is to build a friendly relationship with Ainz Ooal Gown. The whole thing from shedding blood with their rival nation and conquering E-Rantel is to appease their new ally, who will likely be given the city as a gift. He warns Ii they do not go through with this plan, even with the knights in the Empire, the danger to their nation will increase unless they give something to the Sorcerer King. The general listening to the reason to the war grimly accepts it and complies to obey his majesty's orders. Nimble thanks the general giving him his gratitude. Carvain though does not seek any gratitude though he questions the need for approval from the Sorcerer King. Nimble also adds a request to the general. The Empire requested the Sorcerer King to cast his spell to begin the attack on the Kingdom's forces, so the Empire's army will need to delay their advance until the spell is casted. This request surprised Carvain as he thought that the Empire was trying to buy the Sorcerer King's respect by shedding blood for him. The general is told by Nimble that is the idea, but the emperor also intends to understand the power of the Sorcerer King by having him cast his most powerful magic. The general cautiously asks if the Sorcerer King is really an enemy to the Empire, which Nimble confirms to be so.

By then the general understands the plan to have Ainz Ooal Gown fire his magic at the Kingdom's forces and then have his soldiers charge at the breach in the defenses. He asks Nimble what kind of magic the Sorcerer King will use, but for now it is unknown, though Nimble will investigate it. It is predicted to be an attack spell though more powerful than what Fluder Paradyne can cast. Hearing that Carvain is shocked though it makes sense as to why the emperor want to build a good relationship with Ainz Ooal Gown. Additionally to Carvain it would mean that hundreds of the enemy will be slayed in a single blow, meaning there will be fewer casualties on the Empire's side. Nimble is silent on general's listing the beneficial boons to the Empire with their alliance with Ainz Ooal Gown, as he knows the price is far greater than the gains. He also informs the general that Ainz Ooal Gown will be bringing his own soldiers and asks the general to allow them to participate on the battlefield.

Before the general can ask how many soldiers the Sorcerer King intends to bring, he and Nimble are interrupted when a knight outside the tent reports that a carriage with the Sorcerer King has arrived and is waiting at the front gate of the castrum. Carvain gives the knight permission to allow the carriage into the base. Once the knight leaves Carvain beckons Nimble to come with him to meet this Sorcerer King who has received much favor from the emperor, wondering if he is a man who can rival the great heroes. Nimble is not at all eager to meet the visiting king as he recalls the warnings from his colleague Baziwood Peshmel but accompanies the general regardless.

At the gate a carriage lies waiting in front of an assembly of knights. The first to step out of the carriage is Mare Bello Fiore who is then followed by a masked Ainz Ooal Gown. Nimble formally bows to the Sorcerer King, though is silently dismayed when the knights behind do not respond as they are frozen by fear by his oppressive presence. General Carvain quickly snaps the knights to attention at a command and the lines of soldiers quickly bow to the sovereign. Ainz accepts this salute by the knights and asks them to raise their heads though it takes him to ask twice before it is complied. Nimble responds to the request and asks forgiveness for the delay, citing it as nervousness for being exiting to meeting his excellency. No apology is need for Ainz, instead he offers one to them as it is expected for such warriors to be excited, given that they will be going into battle soon. After a flourish of his cloak, the cold atmosphere surrounding Ainz vanishes to Nimble shock. Nimble then moves forward to introduce himself offering to act as his guide. Carvain does the same, even extending the use of his knights to attend to the Sorcerer King. They are politely declined as Ainz already has a servant present with him and will attend to himself if needed.

Since Ainz knows that he will be starting the upcoming battle with his spell, he asks General Carvain for permission to allow his troops to participate in the battle. Carvain has no problem with it, as it was already discussed with Nimble though he warns that the battle will be taking place in a few days, even tomorrow. Seeing no sign of Ainz's troops in the area, he asks when they might arrive. The king assures them that his forces are close by, though this confuses Nimble as when he came to the area he saw no marching military forces in the vicinity. The general asks how many will the Sorcerer King be deploying. When Ainz answers it to be 500, the general is disappointed at the number but allows troops to join battle as the number is not that large to cause serious disruption to the line-up of the Imperial Army and neither does Nimble want to dissatisfy the Sorcerer King. Through a [Message] he tells someone on the other end to open up a [Gate]. Soon enough a small black orb forms behind Ainz Ooal Gown. It then expands, opening to a wave of Death Knights that come marching, which Ainz introduces to the stunned imperials as his army.

Elsewhere, Crown Prince Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself is seen riding with his escort on the road. The prince is visibly annoyed at being assigned by Marquis Raeven at what he calls a patrol duty, complaining that he should be participating in the battle between the Kingdom and Empire. He wonders as to why of all people he needs to investigate some remote frontier village. His thoughts become paranoid, thinking it to be a conspiracy that his father intends to give the throne to his brother Zanac. Out of concern, Baron Cheneko asks if the prince is feeling alright and offers to fetch a priest. The prince though rejects the offer as he is fine, just lost in thought of how to complete the assignment given to him by his father. Knowing that the baron went to see Momon, the prince asks the noble how the meeting went. Immediately the baron goes on a tirade of how it was an unpleasant experience as he was unable to meet with the famed adventurer, but the the man's companion "Beautiful Nabe" failed to show him proper respect by grabbing his hand and kicking him out of the room. The noble pleads with the prince to correct this injustice, though the prince thinks he to be useless and plans to cut ties with him once he is proclaimed king. After giving the baron a false promise to see to the matter once his is king, Barbro returns to his thoughts, particularly on Marquis Boullope's suggestion to go and investigate Carne Village and considers perhaps his father-in-law has betrayed him for his younger brother. The prince thinks that without him, Boullope will have no chance in becoming the leader of the Six Great Nobles, but there is perhaps the possibility that his support to Zanac is to scheme against Marquis Raeven. Still Barbro finds his ego seriously injured as he was sent away to a backwater place without any achievements to earn in front of the nobles.

The prince then gives an order to one of his knights, telling the man that once they take care of things in Carne Village, they will head directly back to E-Rantel and then to the Katze Plains by tomorrow. However the order is difficult to carry out as the escort force with the prince is 3,500 given to him by Marquis Boullope and with additional 1,500 from various nobles bringing a total of 5,000 troops. For the current mission to be carried out quickly they didn't bring much logistics and only brought about 50 carriages' worth of supplies. The problem is still lost to the prince, and the knight clarifies that only about 500 of their men consists of cavalry. Even if they finish up their business in Carne Village in an hour's time it will still be hard for them to reach E-Rantel by nighttime. The prince does not care and sternly orders the man to follow them, despite the caution that many of the troops will be unable to keep up. To the prince nothing is more important than heading to the Katze Plains if stragglers will appear the prince is fine with leaving them behind. The knight can only bow is head in compliance to the command.

The prince occupies his mind of how to arrive before the battle starts at the Katze Plains and even considers an ambush on the enemy. But then an idea forms in his head on whether the villagers in Carne Village had any value and could be used a negotiation tools against Ainz Ooal Gown. Since Ainz rescued them from destruction, then surely the magic caster would withdraw from the coming battle if they were threatened. In Barbro's mind, if Ainz Ooal Gown pulls out, then the Empire will lose their reason for initiating the war and retreat as well. The end of the war would be hailed due to the Crown Prince's actions and surely then Barbro will be recognized by his father and the throne his. Seeing that his scheme to be the best and infallible the prince cannot help but smile at his seemingly perfect plan.

Major Events

 * Nimble Arc Dale Anoch and General Natel Inyem Dale Carvain discuss the Baharuth Empire's goal in the war against the Re-Estize Kingdom.
 * Mare Bello Fiore and Ainz Ooal Gown arrive at the Imperial Castrum.
 * Ainz receives permission to bring his Death Knights to join the battle.
 * Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself heading to Carne Village schemes a way to raise his fame by using the villagers as hostages.

In Order of Appearance

 * Nimble Arc Dale Anoch
 * Ainz Ooal Gown
 * Baziwood Peshmel (Flashback)
 * Mare Bello Fiore
 * Baron Cheneko
 * Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself
 * Ramposa III (Cameo)
 * Zanac Valleon Igana Ryle Vaiself (Cameo)
 * Marquis Boullope (Cameo)
 * Elias Brandt Dale Raeven (Cameo)
 * Enri Emmot
 * Nfirea Bareare
 * Nemu Emmot
 * Kaijali
 * Unlai
 * Jugem

New Characters

 * Natel Inyem Dale Carvain

Abilities Used

 * Message
 * Gate

Known Locations

 * Katze Plains
 * Imperial Castrum
 * Carne Village (Flashback)

Chapter Notes

 * This chapter first appears in the Monthly Comp Ace May 2022 Issue.
 * The carriage ridden by Ainz and Mare lacks a driver and horses unlike in the Light Novel.