141

Ainz had just lost his virginity, and for the second time at that.

Although Ainz was not sure if he could actually lose his virginity a second time as a man. A woman had an anatomical indicator, and Ainz had…

Ainz took a step thoughtfully closer to the mirror, looking in the mirror with a scrutiny as if trying to find any marks on his face that would indicate what had just happened. But Ainz did not notice anything special, except for an unshaven chin. Though if it actually does leave a mark, Ainz couldn't really tell with his borrowed body, and the less said about his skeletal one the better.

Right now, Ainz was in his room, almost literally kicked out of Olga's room. Although he did spend the night with Olga, in the morning when she woke up, Olga, as if suddenly remembering everything that happened and with a reddened face pushed Ainz out of her office.

Of course, her excuse of the huge amount of work she had to do was undermined by just how badly she tried to hide her embarrassment over everything that happened that night. Not that Ainz, socially inept as he is, could see.

Ainz was not sure why Olga was behaving that way. But, as has been said many times before, when Ainz encountered oddities in other people's behavior, he usually just took notes for the future rather than trying to figure out what he didn't understand.

Perhaps Olga was just embarrassed by his presence, perhaps she really did have a lot of work to do, or the other dozens of reasons that Ainz understood too poorly to draw definite conclusions.

However, on the other hand...

"Well, I had sex," Ainz mentally breathed out. "Ten years after the last time… "

Ha, considering that there was a ten years gap, perhaps he could really say that he had lost his virginity a second time...

"At least I remembered how it's done." - Ainz breathed out. "I hope I'm not too rusty… I don't want Olga's first time to be… disappointing."

Unfortunately, even if we assume that Ainz could - and Ainz clearly could not - ask Olga a question like 'By the way, please rate on a ten-point scale how I performed in bed. Oh, and if you can also please note all my strengths and weaknesses for the future it would be appreciated'. Ainz know full well that he have a tendency to put his foot in his mouth, bet even so, he doubted that Olga would even be able to listen to the end of Ainz's question before falling into a stupor of embarrassment, then kicking Ainz out of her office… again.

Considering that she could not even look him in the eyes the morning after the night they spent, Ainz doubted that he would be able to get an easy answer. But, on the whole, of course, what happened last night was a positive event, without a doubt. Still, thinking about the adequacy of one's capability in bed was not the only question that occupied Ainz's mind. At the moment anyway.

"What do I do with the rest of the girls now?" Ainz was much more interested in this question, one that, without exaggerating, would decide his very future.

Although, perhaps more slowly than the girls would have liked, he had warmed up to the idea of a relationship with several girls at once. Girls that knew about each other he had to especially note in his head, lest he sounds like a scumbag in his own head. He had even begun to see the advantages in such an arrangement. Still Ainz was still especially troubled by a more practical issue.

How do you make such a relationship work?

Although cheating in an ordinary relationship, between two partners, was a disgusting act. At the very least it was clear what consequences such an act carries with it. If you cheated on your girlfriend, and had sex with someone else, then you can either confess, or hide this information.

But what if you had sex with a girl who is in a relationship with you - if you are also in a relationship with another girl with whom you have not had sex yet? Is that cheating? If so, what is he supposed to do to fix it?

This whole complex system seemed to have caught Ainz in its web, forcing him to think and think and think again without coming up with any meaningful answer.

Ainz looked at himself once more in the mirror, looking at his own reflection.

The ordinary person in the mirror looked at him wearily, forcing Ainz to nod in return. Exactly. A common person, an ordinary person like him doesn't engage in all these reflections.

Therefore… Ainz planned to do the same as he did before. Put the solving of his troubles on the shoulders of other people.

Only this time, of course, not Da Vinci's.

Although, if you think about it, Da Vinci was in a relationship with him too, so she might have a better answer… Or not? Ainz himself did not fully know who was in a relationship with him and who was not… What a nightmare!

Ainz shook his head from side to side before looking at the door leading out of the room and sighing slowly.

You know what!? To hell with thinking about this more! He's just going to tell the girls about his action, so that they themselves decide how they should react.

And that was exactly what Ainz planned to do now, starting with Medusa…

Ainz did not remember Medusa's room well enough to get there directly by teleportation. So, once again Ainz had to traverse the corridors of Chaldea to get to her room.

Ainz, once again finding himself roam blindly along the corridors of Chaldea, was ready for… in fact, everything.

Not that he was complaining, but in a strange way, Ainz had already started to get used to the fact that ridiculous coincidences and completely incredible events keeps happening to him. Whether he was in Chaldea or the Singularities.

Servants unexpectedly appearing out of nowhere, random encounters with people that are instrumental in solving mysteries. And it is perhaps almost an obligatory part of the program for him to get lost among the corridors of Chaldea, only to find himself meeting with some Servant, whose existence Ainz has already forgotten.

Therefore, having reached Medusa's room without any incident, Ainz was surprised. Pleasantly surprised, but still surprised. And very suspicious.

Suddenly wary, expecting a trick, he first knocked on the door, after which, not hearing anything from beyond the door, he pulled it towards himself, taking a step inside the room.

Of course, the first thing that Ainz saw was the room itself, exactly the same as dozens of others like it all over Chaldea, except perhaps marked by Medusa's presence by the books lying on a table. That and the two girls lying on the bed who was reading magazines lazily, until Ainz entered the room. Now? Now they looked like they're about to piss their pants.

Something about this picture made Ainz blink in confusion.

Books? No, Medusa loved to read, so this detail was natural.

Magazines? A strange choice, but there must have been several in the Chaldea library.

The girls looking like they're about to lose control of their bladders… Yes, that one!

Ainz blinked at the girls before his Master's connection with them suggested that he was looking at two Servants, his two Servants. And suddenly his memory jolted, and it reminded him exactly who he was looking at.

Ha! His strange luck never fails to deliver.

Euryale and Stheno, the two Servants who were enjoying their free time a few seconds ago, was frozen, like deer in front of a headlight. Ainz responded in kind, freezing, as he looked at the two Servants that he had completely forgotten about.

For a second, the room was in a silence so absolute and all-consuming that it seemed that one could hear dust slowly settling on the table. The silence didn't last however, as the door opened by Ainz slowly closed behind him with a soft click. A sound which sounded like a gun shot in the absolute silence of the room.

And, almost as expected, the figuratively loud sound was followed by a flurry of activity, by the girls that is. Ainz was not even sure how the two Servants had managed to get out of bed, throw the magazines somewhere to the side in one movement, and then seemingly teleporting to the furthest possible point in the room from Ainz. The two of them stretched out their body out to be as far as possible from him. The serene and somewhat bored expression now exchanged with dismay.

Such an action made even Ainz himself blink in surprise, causing him to take a small step back. This widening of the distance between them, as could be understood by the girls that lost at least some of their nervousness by the action, was appreciated.

Silence settled again in the room. The awkward atmosphere making Ainz wonder for a second if it was better for him to just teleport away.

However, the thought that by suddenly appearing in the room, and then disappearing without words like a ghost, he would only be creating much more tension in the girls, made him second guess his decision.

Though why did the two sister still so wary of him? Yes, he did have some... problems with them in the past. Just how vengeful do they think he is? And, how bad a boss would he be if he couldn't even solve this problem?!

In addition, he once had learned that he could not leave interpersonal problems in the guild alone for too long if he didn't want the problem to get worse. But what to do?

Even that Cainabel, who have a mean streak a mile long, is now getting along with Altera, he thinks… So, if he planned to deal with Euryale and Stheno unwarranted fear of him and perhaps get along better, he is dating their sister after all, right now was the best moment to do this.

"Good afternoon," Ainz tried to start the dialogue politely.

"G-good! Day! Yes! Master!" On a thin line between a choked sob and a panicked exclamation, the discordant response of the two Servants reached Ainz. Each shout mixing with each other, forcing him to slowly exhale.

Well, at least they answered Ainz back at all, which was already a pretty good first step and a stark departure to how they first were with Ainz. When they first arrived in Chaldea, Ainz could not even approach them without provoking great panic and an irrational desire to escape somewhere. In this case, even such a tense response from the girls was small, but still an improvement in the situation.

"You don't have to be so afraid of me," Nevertheless, Ainz tried to improve their relations. "I just came in to…"

'Hmm' A thought suddenly appeared in his mind that Medusa might not appreciate her sisters knowing about their relationship. 'Maybe they shouldn't know specifically why I came here…'

"To see Medusa," Ainz nodded slowly.

"She is not here, Master, sir!" One of the sister immediately replied, Ainz, unfortunately, could not make out who exactly, the two sisters were too similar to each other, "Medusa, Master, sir, in the library, sir!"

Again, the same tone of voice, in the middle between panic and horror, sounded again, but this time clearly. It is as if the speaker wanted to convey this information to Ainz as clearly and quickly as possible, so that he would leave her presence as soon as possible.

This attitude, of course, hurt Ainz's feeling a little. But, it could not be said that he did not understand the reason for their action.

"Okay," Ainz nodded slowly, however, before the two sisters could relax, he continued, "But it's even better that I met you here. I think I need to talk to you…"

"O-Of course not, Master, sir! Medusa, my sister, misses you very much, sir, Master! You need to find her soon! Master!" Again, their voice mixing with each other, the two voices of the two Servants answered Ainz. And this time, their voice was laced with panic and horror.

Still, Ainz could congratulate himself for the fact that he was able to elicit a different reaction from the girls, not just horror. Of course, he was still somewhat offended by the fact that the girl's confidence was only shown when it came to Ainz leaving them. But, nonetheless, it was still somewhat of an improvement over Ainz's past interactions with them.

"I know," Ainz replied calmly, "But I think she will forgive me if I say that I was talking with her sisters…"

At these words, as if Ainz had just uttered some terrible threat, the two sisters exchanged panicked glances between themselves, forcing Ainz to sigh.

"I'm not going to harm you," Ainz said slowly, looking at the two panicking girls, "Indeed, I'm not going to repeat what I… what happened in the past."

To Ainz's referring to the past, and what Ainz did to them specifically, both girls reacted in the same way, grabbing hands and flinching, which made Ainz grimace a little.

'Ha, not the best words to use there, Ainz…' Ainz exhaled before looking at Stheno first, forcing her to squeeze her sister's hand harder, and then at Euryale, who could not look him in the eye, looking away.

"I did what I did, and I can only say that I'm not going to apologize for that," Ainz breathed out again, "I believe Medusa have already forgiven you. I may have also forgiven your actions too… but I do not forget. And I don't think I can ever forget what you two did…"

'Hah' - Ainz breathed out - 'Well, I did want to 'clear' off any misunderstandings…'

Perhaps, indeed, the best action that Ainz can take now is to express everything honestly and openly. So that the sisters at least know what Ainz really thinks and not simply be afraid of even his shadows.

Perhaps as to be expected, reminding them of his anger did not make the sisters react at all positively. If before, they were tense and fearful, now they are resigned as they closed their eyes, as if preparing for their inevitable execution. Such a reaction could only cause Ainz to sigh

"I won't be forgetting your sins anytime soon… But this does not mean that I would renege on my words about your protection."

Realizing that the inevitable execution would most likely not follow, the two Servants opened their eyes, glancing fearfully at Ainz.

Only silence remained for a few seconds. A silence broken when one of the girls gathered her courage and started speaking. "Master, sir, Ainz... did Cainabel... talked to you?"

'Cainabel?' - Ainz wondered about the sudden utterance of her name. 'What about her?'

Ainz thought for a second before comparing all the facts in his head.

'As I know, Cainabel is a tsundere' - Ainz concluded logically - 'And at this meeting, both Stheno and Euryale are waiting for my answer about talking to Cainabel for some reason. Maybe Cainabel should have talked to me about… talking to the sisters? Or even treating them better?'

Ainz allowed this thought to ruminate in his mind for a second before smiling. 'Cainabel is really a softy. But she hides it… that's actually pretty cute'

And so even though knowing that he, in fact, never talked with Cainabel about the sisters, Ainz still nodded slowly. "Yes, she did."

Besides, what's the worse that could possibly happen?

As it turned out, this decision was correct, because after hearing Ainz, the two sisters slowly exhaled and even relaxed a little, allowing Ainz to mentally count this as a victory in the field of diplomacy.

"She told me about how much you two regret the things you did and that you will never even think about doing such a thing again." Ainz doubled-down on his lie, to which the two sisters instantly nodded with such force and enthusiasm that Ainz for a second was scared that their heads would fall off from such rapid movements.

"Of course, Ainz, Master, sir! Absolutely never!" The two sisters immediately rushed to answer him, forcing Ainz to smile in response.

"Okay," Ainz nodded before, after waiting for the silence to reestablish, try again to start at least some semblance of dialogue, "So... How are you? In Chaldea?"

"Fine, Master, sir!" - One of the Sisters immediately answered, interrupting the second sister before she could open her mouth. "Every day in Chaldea is wonderful, and our affairs are fantastic, sir! We are very grateful for your kindness and mercy, sir, and would be absolutely delighted to repay you, Master, sir!"

"We would even start working for Chaldea, Master, sir!" The second Gorgon sister immediately hastened to finish the thought of the sister. "Of course, our fighting capabilities are extremely lacking, Master, sir! We would never think that we could fight side by side with you, Master!"

"Hmm, okay..." Ainz was a little surprised at such a fierce answer before exhaling, "Um... What... What are you doing in Chaldea?"

"We spend our time the best we could, Master, sir!" The two Gorgons immediately rushed to answer, vying with each other to the one to answer Ainz's question. "We read books, sir, Master! We are very grateful for the large library of Chaldea, sir…"

Ainz fell silent after their exclamations, before slowly drawing in air and exhaling, "Am I really scaring you that much?"

"Of course not, Master, sir!" One of the sisters immediately replied, after which she looked at the second, at the second sister, who silently stared at the floor.

"Isn't that so, Stheno?" Euryale, as Ainz was able to identify the one speaking, tried to force her sister to answer.

"No…" - Stheno said quietly, - "You are... Very scary…"

"Stheno!" Immediately shouted at her sister Euryale, glancing at Ainz in panic, trying to form some semblance of a nervous smile on her face, "She just didn't understand the question a little…"

"I'm scared of you!" But instead, Stheno only took a step forward, showing all the remnants of her courage by looking into Ainz's eyes, "Every day, every night! I can still feel every drop of it... Whatever it is! Every second! I wake up at night screaming and cursing your name! I hate you! I hate, I hate, I HATE YOU! And I'm afraid of you!"

After these words, it would seem that all the reserve of Stheno's strength and courage dried up, causing her to go limp like a wet noodle. After which Euryale instantly jumped to her side, hugging her tightly as she looked at Ainz in dread.

"Master, please, her mind is just clouded by… from your power, yes!" Not quite understanding what she was saying, Euryale rushed to say anything, trying her best to protect her sister, "She… She's just not herself! She needs a doctor! Da Vinci knows how to cure her for sure…"

"I understand," interrupting Euryale's excuses, Ainz replied, looking at the almost catatonic Stheno. "I expected something like this… It would be foolish to count on anything else in such conditions. I'm not angry. On the contrary, I am even, in a sense, glad that I received such an answer. It is better to get an honest answer than a false one that you would like to hear."

After these words, the two sisters fell silent - and even Stheno raised her gaze to Ainz, waiting for him to continue.

"I… Hmm…" Ainz exhaled slowly, "I will repeat, once again, that I will not forget what you did, and I will not apologize for my reprisal. Even if I apologized, it would not change anything that happened, therefore, I will say that I do not regret what I did."

At these words, Stheno looked at Ainz with a heated glance, as much as she could even as she trembled like a leaf in the wind, if not defiantly. But Ainz only nodded at her heated glare.

"But I understand your reaction…" - Ainz exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. "Still, I want to hear… why did you betray Medusa, your sister? Killed her even? I never heard this part of the story from you."

At Ainz's question, the two sisters looked at each other before Euryale reluctantly released Stheno and began to speak. "Baal... Our previous Master. He summoned us, and he promised that he would give us the island as our place of life. Me, Stheno and Medusa. Even if Medusa… died, he promised that he would resurrect her at the end. With the Grail… he said that the Grail is capable of it."

Ainz turned his gaze to Euryale, and then to Stheno, who, having lost the last remnants of her courage, just stared at the ground before nodding. "Yes, I heard from Nero… something like that. And you believed him?"

"We had no other choice even if we didn't." Euryale also stared at the floor. "With his Command Spells… If he used a Command Spell with the order 'follow my orders', we don't know what he would force us to do. But, if we obeyed him, then we could to control our actions. With free will, we could choose exactly how we would act… But if he subjugated our mind with command spells, then we…"

In the end, Euryale's voice faded, leaving Ainz to figure out the possible ending of the sentence himself, pondering...

Baal... Ha, the Baal of this world... He really was a bastard. Playing on the family's love for each other, making two sisters kill the third...

But even so, did this relieve Euryale and Stheno of responsibility?

Perhaps not. Ainz, even if he could assume that their action was only due to threats. He simply could not bring himself to accept such an excuse and remove any blame from the two Gorgon sisters. If they were instead mind-controlled to perform such an act, perhaps, in this case… Only then it was possible.

Even so, the threat of such a thing… was not a good enough excuse for Ainz. Even if he was wrong, and Ainz felt that he might be wrong in such a case, even so, his beliefs resisted any attempt to justify such behavior.

"I… I understand," Ainz was able to utter after a long moment of reflection, "I… I still cannot forgive this, but I understand…"

"What do you understand!?" - having regained a little strength, Stheno looked up, - "Do you think we did not ask for forgiveness from Medusa?! Do you think that we were not on our knees, begging her to forgive us?! Do you think that we did not cry when she assured us that it was okay?! Do you think it was easy for us?! Do you think you have the right to judge us?! Or do you think that we have suffered too little?! There were always three of us! We are three sisters! And we killed our little sister! The one we loved so much! The one we have always protected! We! Her own family!"

Stheno cried out the last words, before breaking out in tears. And this time, the tears have nothing to do with Ainz.

Ainz shifted his gaze to see Euryale, who also silently continued to stare at the floor - but even so, Ainz could see the tears slowly dripping from her eyes.

Ainz inhaled slowly and exhaled.

Ha, women's tears… Ainz did not like women's tears. Who would?

Ainz slowly shifted his gaze before exhaling, "I beg your pardon. For the tears. I did not want…"

Euryale took a step towards Stheno, hugging her, after which Stheno fell on her sister's shoulder, continuing to sob slowly, causing Ainz to be silent for a second.

Ha... Probably... He shouldn't have been here and now...

"I'll go," Ainz replied quietly, after which he used teleportation, instantly finding himself in his room.

Unfortunately, he didn't meet Medusa… But, probably, today… for today he did not want to meet with anyone else at all...

Name: Stheno

Race: Heteromorphic

Title: Smiling Assassin

Occupation: Servant of Ainz Ooal Gown

Residence: Chaldea, Medusa's room

Karma: +50 (Neutral ~ Neutral Good)

Racial level: Gorgon (5)

Vampire (1)

Class level: Assassin (10)

Rogue (10)

Bard (5)

Cleric (5)

Living Deity (5)

Others (19)

Total: 6 Racial Levels + 54 Class Levels = 60 Levels

HP: 10

Mana: 100

Physical Attack: 10

Physical Defense: 0

Dexterity: 60

Magical Attack: 0

Magical Defense: 80

Resistance: 100

Special Abilities: 60

Ability: Stheno's Smile

Level: 60

A Charm ability with an unpleasant side effect. Although this ability in itself does not deserve special mention, since it has an average chance of triggering, does not provide direct mind control and does not have the highest strength possible, this ability's additional feature, even if its primary effect does not trigger, temporarily reduces the stats of its target. Something which makes it a good support ability.

Player comments:

- Mana - 100. Magic attack - 0. Seems legit.

- I'm used to the fact that physical defense is a useless stat that no one uses... But HP 10... This... I don't know... I give up. Tell my mom I died from the cringe.

- Once Ernest Hemingway bet that he can make the saddest build in the world...

- Assassin with Mana 100... Cleric without magic attack... Vampire with HP 10... I don't know. I just do not know. I give up. Do what you want. We're all in hell and just suffering for our sins. Life is pain.