A different path.

*Inside an encampment on the far outskirts of Re-Estize*

"S-Spare me, please! Ple-GUAH!?!" A man's scream could be heard for a brief moment, only to be silenced.

"I-I swear, whatever the guild's offering you, I can pay triple, t-that's right! Thr-three times-ACK!?!" Another scream, silenced.

"N-No...I'll stop robbing merchants! I-I'll be honest from now on, I swear! GAHHH!?" Yet another life was extinguished.

"M-Monster...W-Who are you?! H-How are you so-AHHHH!?!" The blethering was stopped by the sound of something piercing his throat.

"S-Stop! I surrender! K-Kill all these other good-for-nothings! J-Just please leave me be!!" A man dressed in fancy clothes, clothes that were now soaked in his piss, sweat, and his fellows' blood, was at this time groveling pathetically on the ground as tears streamed down his face.

"Ehhh~? But what about all those innocent people that you and your...posse have killed? The merchants? The minor noble whose clothes you now wear? The farmers who only wanted to provide for their families? Or the adventurers who came before me~?" A mocking female voice retorted back to the cowering scumbag.

"They...They were just...How else are we to survive!?!?!" The man shook, half angry, half terrified as he replied, not even daring to look up at his executioner.

"Dunno...get an actual job instead of being disgusting pieces of shit bandits?" The voice responded. "You know what's worse than those disgusting insects that live in those walls, calling themselves people~? Parasites like you lot, who only know how to steal and live off of others' hard work~ Ah well, conversing with you is rather tiring, so I'll cut it here short. If I waste any more time with you, I won't have time to relax." An annoyed sigh was heard and the man trembled even further, feeling his time coming to pass.

"No...I-I only wanted to-" Whatever he was going to say, it wasn't important enough to be heard.

"Phew...that takes care of another band of bandits~" You sighed as you finished off the leader of the bandit camp. "The rewards on this one are a lot better~! Let's see...I'll set aside half of it as savings...then the rest I'll use on myself~!" You nodded. "Finally~! The time to move onto better fortunes and a better inn is on the horizon, I just have to hang in there a little more~! Now, time to report back to the guild~!" You hummed happily as you walked through the decimated camp where the lives of more than 50 bandits once lived, now left in ash and ruin.

*Within the Re-Estize capital*

"Thanks for clearing the bandit camp, Miss Airi." The receptionist thanked you as he handed you the reward.

"A pleasure to serve, as always~!" You excitedly accepted your compensation and left, cheerfully feeling the weight of the reward. "Ehehe...~" You smiled even more as you could hear more and more people commenting and talking about you in particular. 'That's right~ Talk me up!' You thought to yourself as you walked the streets until something a glint of something moving quickly from one part of the street to the next in the distance caught your eye. Without a second thought and your curiosity bubbling up, you decided to investigate. You quickly followed along, taking careful movements so as not to alert whatever or whoever it is you were trying to stalk. 'Whoever or whatever it is, they move quick...' You thought idly as you silently trailed the figure that you now noticed was also cloaked. You continued to trail the figure for a while as they reached the edge of the city, stopping. You briefly looked around and noticed nobody was nearby, so using this chance, you popped up behind them. "Hello there, a rather interesting venue you've chosen to stand still in."

"What the-?!?!" A feminine shriek emanated from the cloaked figure and the quick draw of a weapon could be heard, followed by a slash towards your direction. Of course, you hopped back almost instantly, avoiding the hit. "How did you...?" Surprise and confusion was the tone being directed towards you.

"Hmm...how should I put this...I guess I'm just lucky?" You shrugged as the figure brought down her hood. "Hm? ...HM?!" You couldn't help but be surprised at who you were facing. In front of you, a woman who looked about her early 20s, her delicate features made her appear cat-like, with short blonde hair, but most importantly was her armor, made from the metal plates of what could only have been gotten from other adventurers, trophies most likely. "...Clementine...?" You furrowed your brows in confusion. 'She wasn't supposed to be in the capital city...she was supposed to be in E-Rantel, where Lord Ainz is...or at least...she was supposed to be on her way to E-Ranted.'

"How do you know me, you bastard...?" The woman named Clementine quickly took a defensive posture, raising her favorite weapons, her enchanted stilettos, up in front of her. "Are you with the Theocracy?!"

"..." You merely looked at her, unsure of what to do at the moment, regardless, you took out your spear and raised it in response as well. You both simply stared at each other. '...I think I may have messed up the order of events...then again...this timeline seems a bit...messed up already.' "...No, I'm just an adventurer making the rounds." You replied to her, to which she narrowed her eyes at you distrustfully.

"Riiiiight, and I'm just a regular, defenseless, little girl. Cut it with the bullshit." She snapped, her posture slowly switching to a more offensive style. "Who are you, because you clearly heard of me, at least."

"Hmm...I'm called Airi~" You decided to play ball for now. 'I could kill her right now...but that would change so many things...people that were supposed to die wouldn't...though they weren't important to begin with...I wonder though...' A new thought sprang to mind and you sent a message to Ainz. [Message] 'Lord Ainz...I have a request...a person of interest has shown up in front of me. I would like permission to capture and...interrogate them for information. They may be related to the Theocracy goons that attacked us earlier in Carne Village.' This was all done in a matter of seconds as another message was returned.

[Message Incoming: From Momonga] 'You have my permission, Albedo. See what you can learn from them and report back. If possible, don't kill them, they may prove useful in the future.'

'Exactly what I was thinking, as well~' You smirked, now aware of the boundaries and goals set before you.

"...What are you smirking for?" Clementine asked you, eyebrows raised, her killing intent clearly showing through.

"The same reason you're grinning like an idiot~" You replied to her as you raised your weapon, itching for the fight to begin. "Let's not keep each other waiting now, shall we~?"

"Hehe...I couldn't agree more~!" Clementine agreed, grinning ear to ear as you and her charged at each other.