191

The conversation between Medb and Ozymandias would probably last quite long – maybe an hour or an hour and a half? Even then, it was just long enough for Nitocris to say absolutely everything she thought necessary before Sita's first meeting with the Pharaoh of Pharaohs.

Sita even felt a little sense of sympathy for Nitocris, after all, she had been speaking non-stop for the whole time. Her speech overflowed with compliments toward Ozymandias mixed with advice of little practical use, mostly platitudes or her personal observations. Things not related to diplomatic protocol at all – she was really fired up about Sita's idea to appear before Ozymandias at her best that she simply blurted out everything she could. She was really fired up…

The only problem was that Sita, along with Medb, noticing the girl's irrepressible fanaticism and inexperience, wanted to delay the Servant, if even just for a few minutes. All so that Medb could enter the throne room first and start the conversation on her own footing. Their position was already weak enough without giving Ozymandias a fanatic zealot that would speak his praise non-stop on his side.

Now that Medb and Ozymandias were already in a meeting, Nitocris had to remain outside the throne room, so as not to break protocol and cast a shadow over Ozymandias… On the other hand, if Nitocris broke protocol and cast a shadow over Ozymandias, it would play into Medb's hands, and, by extension, into Sita's.

Originally, Sita wanted to delay Nitocris maybe a few minutes at best to allow Medb to play her game. But in the end, it was as if Nitocris wasn't a Pharaoh at all, but just a young girl meeting her favorite movie star, gushing about everything she can about the 'great' Ozymandias.

Sita was sure that in her heated speech, Nitocris had slipped some secret information in error. Or maybe she did not realize that such information must be secret?

But much more than that, a majority in fact, her speech was simply useless information.

"…and he likes the color blue combined with gold, and azure especially!" What was Sita supposed to understand about courtly manners from these words of Nitocris, except that she thought it's important to report on Ozymandias favorite color combination? How did it affect diplomatic protocol, the meeting? Nitocris might have lost the thread of thought entirely and the original question Sita had posed to her by simply jumping into long, lengthy explanations about whatever she knows about Ozymandias himself.

"I saw that he even kept a necklace of azure with gold inlays – not the kind he normally wears, gold with azure, but the opposite!"

Fortunately for Sita, who had slowly begun feeling her mind overflow with knowledge of Ozymandias, the moment Nitocris took a breath to continue speaking, she was distracted by the doors opening. Out of the door came Medb, who had taken a step outside the throne room before Nitocris froze with her mouth still open – horror replacing her previous excited expression.

Of course, Nitocris was supposed to lead Medb and Sita to the meeting – something that she had failed exceptionally. The fact that Medb, whom she was supposed to lead, was now exiting the throne room, clearly did not fit Nitocris's understanding.

Nitocris's back was turned to Sita at that moment, but she could vividly imagine dozens of conflicting emotions flashing across the girl's face at once before she abruptly closed her mouth with a click. Then she sighed, as heavily as if the very weight of heaven had fallen upon her shoulders.

Sita could only sympathize with Nitocris in response. At least, judging by the fact that Nitocris wasn't screaming, she might not have realized that she had been taken advantage of to get one over Ozymandias. Upset that she couldn't do her best work for Ozymandias, who served as something in between a god and a role model for Nitocris.

Thinking about it, Sita felt even more sympathy for the inexperienced Pharaoh.

"We've talked about all that was necessary." Medb, however, not paying much attention to Nitocris, took a step past her as if she were nothing more than a decorative statue obstructing her passage.

"Now, after I'll get the information, we'll probably have to be on our way."

Sita simply nodded as she glanced at Nitocris' still frozen form. Who was flailing her eyes around rapidly, searching for a little dark corner where she could crawl in and die quietly, torn between horror at having completely ruined Ozymandias and Medb's meeting, and shame at how she had disappointed Ozymandias.

Sita shook her head at Nitocris' actions. Albeit inexperienced and not up to the high standards she aspired to – Nitocris evoked some maternal feelings in Sita, causing her hands to reach for the top of her head herself, in a desire to calm down the awkward teenager.

"Ah right, by the way," Medb paused for a moment in front of the front door leading outside before glancing back at Sita and the young Pharaoh.

"Nitocris - you're coming with us."

Ainz gazed into the vague outline of the city in the distance.

Yes, as the white glow piercing the quiet clear blue sky told him, that's what a Holy City should look like. And Camelot, being the stronghold of many paladins, including Arthur himself – is definitely a holy city.

Ainz involuntarily grimaced at the memory of exactly what kind of debuffs the Camelot in YGGDRASIL would have thrown upon him with his nature – doubly so for being undead and possessing extremely evil karma. If not for Mordred disabling that annoying castle defense, the attack on Camelot would have been an impossible test for the entire Ainz Ooal Gown… Seeing that most of the members have extremely evil karma ratings.

But Mordred, thank God, had greatly helped them on that occasion, which made the only serious test for Ainz Ooal Gown was the unexpected fight with King Arthur at the end.

Ainz was suddenly struck with an idea. What was the likelihood that she could now, the Servant back in Chaldea at least, could do the same trick?

Ainz thought about it for a second, though, and only shook his head before exhaling. Even if she could, seeing that he can't exactly summon her into the Singularity, it's a moot point. This is why information gathering is the bedrock of all tactics – the right tool for the job makes all things a lot easier.

So a holy city, and the Assassin sect right smack dab next to it… What a strange combination.

The best thing to do now was probably to use long-range surveillance magic to see what he might be dealing with. Ainz wasn't exactly an expert at that field, of course, but he knew a couple of suitable spells and had a large set of all sorts of artifacts that could function in that role… Not really all that well actually, at least he could block any counter-surveillance measure?

The more he thinks about it, the worse the idea sounds.

If Merlin was in Camelot, it was almost impossible to conduct surveillance unnoticed. Though not specialized in surveillance magic, Merlin was a boss with characteristics far superior to those of an ordinary player. Even if he were somehow weakened as a Servant, that still doesn't mean that does not pose a great danger.

He probably wouldn't surpass Ainz current stats, but even if the Merlin of this world might have been different from the Merlin that Ainz knew, he would still be the same troublesome court mage… Or he might even be worse.

Ainz suddenly imagined Merlin not as his usual appearance in YGGDRASIL – a dry old man with a gorgeous thick gray beard, dressed in a robe richly decorated with magical symbols, but in the form of some young boy… No, in the form of a girl!

Knowing his luck, or his lack of one, that is a very distinct possibility!

Ainz hastily dispelled that scary thought before taking a deep breath – returning his mind to the situation at hand.

What should he expect of this Camelot, then? The Knights of the Round Table presence is to be expected. Ainz knew about some of them – their names at least. Information from YGGDRASIL and from Tabula's story – but that knowledge was… Spotty at best and extremely unreliable if he were to rely on them now.

Based solely on their role in YGGDRASIL, almost all the Knights of the Round Table – with the sole exception of Mordred – were of human races, a mix of humans and elves, with extremely high positive karma.

Indeed, for players of a heteromorphic race, teachers, or even quest-issuing NPCs were a very rare existence, often needing to resort to subterfuge to seek out what, for many players, was itself a hidden quest. A hidden quest in order to get a regular one… Only those shitty devs could think of something like that.

Really, if not for the Heteromorph Races' ability to super-specialize or their extreme build flexibility, no one would be playing as one.

For players of the human races, even the demi-human races to a lesser extent, the situation was the extreme opposite. There were so many quests even if all the Human Players took one each every single day, they purely couldn't physically complete them all.

The Knights of the Round Table's quest line was just one of those things, even though they were a pretty popular choice.

Many of the knights served as teachers and sources of starter quests for many quest lines. King Arthur was probably the best teacher available for Paladins, Merlin for a druid, Tristan for an archer, Gawain for knights and Kay for magical swordsmen – just to name a few. Each and single one of them a high level NPCs in general with Arthur and Merlin full-fledged bosses, and of a high rank at that.

Lancelot had even once nearly beaten Takemikazuchi when he carelessly decided to test his new creation, the MK6 blade, on a new opponent before going up against Touch Me.

In the end, thanks to Mordred, Ainz Ooal Gown had successfully destroyed Camelot – and that achievement wasn't exactly anything special in the big picture of all his adventures.

Still, he did destroy Camelot once before – even if it had happened inside a video game that might not be a game anymore – he wondered how the Knights of Camelot would react if he mentioned it one day?

Ainz shifted his gaze to Arthuria - he wondered how she would react? And to the fact that he had personally killed a version of her from… What was the proper name for YGGDRASIL in relation to this world? A parallel world? That sounds right… Ahem, a version of her from a parallel world.

Ainz shook his head before he felt something touch his mind – one of the Servants was trying to contact him? Did they find something? The connection to Medb formed a moment later.

"Master?" Medb's seductive voice echoed inside his head. "Sita and I have met with Ozymandias and discussed some basic matters with him."

"Ozymandias?" Who is he supposed to be? Is what he wanted to ask but could not – Ainz seemed to have heard the name in the past, but the memory is eluding him right now. Still, he put those thoughts aside as he had something else more important to ask about.

"What exactly…" Before he could finish, a cold sweat broke through Ainz's entire body – that's right! He'd sent Medb ahead, 'to scout' the surroundings as it were, and he had pointed Medb in some random direction while he'd just gotten lost. How did Medb find something just by walking in some random direction!?

He even had completely forgotten about it, lost in his thoughts of Camelot, the Assassins, and the like – he just wanted to get Medb away for some time! He was expecting her to find nothing and would point her in yet another random direction!

The suppression of Emotion allowed Ainz to take control of his voice and answer Medb without any trepidation, as if he unequivocally knew exactly what he was doing. "Hmm, that was even faster than I thought it would take. "

"Really?! Does that mean that I've exceeded your expectations!?" Medb's voice in Ainz's mind suddenly broke into an enthusiastic squeak. "Am I a good girl? I am, of course I certainly am, the best even, hahaha!"

"Yes, yes, of course you are, Medb, I never doubted you." Ainz nodded involuntarily, as if Medb could see him. "In that case, hmm, since you've already dealt with… "

With a start, Ainz suddenly realized that he had forgotten the name of the person Medb just met and had just mentioned before. Of course, he was well versed with lying, so it was no issue.

"With your side – then, um… What do you think the next step should be?"

Ainz almost pumped his fist in celebration, realizing how easily he could get away with making excuses to hide his incompetence – at least with Medb.

"Ah, yes, that's right! Hehehehe, Ainz will definitely reward me for this…" Realizing that she was still communicating mentally, and that Ainz could hear everything even if she tried to 'whisper' them, Medb immediately coughed to hide her embarrassment. Given that it happened during a mental communication in which it was impossible for one to cough – Ainz was absolutely certain that Medb was blushing to the tips of her hair right now.

"Along with Nitocris and Sita, I've already gone to the ruins of Atlas. "

Ainz blinked – the ruins of Atlas? What kind of place would 'Atlas' be?

No, Ainz knew of the titan Atlas, how could he not, he had beaten him multiple times for a ring off him in the past. A ring that served him faithfully for several years that he treasured just as the Shooting Star – but back to the point, was there any place in his memory named Atlas?

Ainz couldn't think of one, but it definitely sounded important, being named after a Titan of all things.

"I can understand why you've chosen for us to go to Ozymandias while you went on to meet the Assassins. Even if he were nothing more than a pale copy of you, he would still be very dangerous to anyone unprepared to meet him. And the decision to leave the Servants to watch over Camelot? I do admit that I could appreciate the genius of it – something that I hadn't even thought of! And the decision to have Scáthach along when meeting with the Crusaders… I think I could see your plan for her…"

'What are you talking about, woman!?' Ainz felt his composure disappear instantly, thankfully before he could answer her reflexively, he managed to rein himself in. Okay, the critical thing right now, was to not forget or mix the information that Medb had provided!

"I think, the right next course of action to do, at least from my position, would be to suggest that we proceed as planned." Medb nodded, not that Ainz could see, as if to confirm her words, causing Ainz to nod back, completely by reflex.

"The Goddess will need at least a few more days, if not weeks, to prepare – she will not begin destroying the world before she has gathered all the worthy. So we have time."

What!? Something really ridiculous seemed to be mixed in the report there!

"Anyway, that's all! Love – kisses!" After a moment and a loud mental air kiss, Medb's connection with Ainz was severed, before he could ask for any clarification.

Somehow, asking for clarification of what he should have done next, only confused him more. Judging from Medb's answers, at least she had a plan? But she acted as if Ainz knew the plan too! No, what if she thought that Ainz had some kind of plan from the beginning, and she was sticking to it?!

Ainz shook his head, beginning to feel his non-existent stomach to cramp before pushing the fatalistic thoughts away.

Medb was supposed to be smart, so as long as Ainz would act according to her plan, everything should be alright! For Camelot, he was supposed to do something with the Servants alongside him? That there's someone in the Assassin sect that was a 'pale copy' of his figure? What's that supposed to mean? At least there's something concrete in sending Scáthach to the crusader state, though what she's supposed to do there remains a mystery…

It's something at least? But then there's something much more important in Medb's 'plan' that he needs to contend with. There's someone in this Singularity that reminds Medb of Ainz, probably the Ainz in YGGDRASIL, someone that reminds Medb of how Ainz acted in the game….

Ainz swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. The Ainz in YGGDRASIL, well Momonga really, might have suffered a terminal case of the chuunibyou, but he still acted as an antagonist, an Evil Lord for heroes to defeat. And so, if his clichéd behavior was to be taken entirely seriously – he would be a powerful and rather creepy man.

Ainz, frankly, didn't want to meet a man like that… At least if they did meet, he would know how best to defeat him? It is someone reminiscent of himself, after all. That still didn't mean that he wanted to meet someone like that, though! What if he started speaking in German!?

Wait… is that the image that Medb has of himself!? It's just more reason why he didn't want to meet this so-called 'pale' copy. He didn't want to diminish his image in front of his subordinates, but he also didn't want to know how Medb thinks he acts!

But, what if Ainz not meeting him would affect Medb's plan…?

Why couldn't she just tell him of her plans normally!?

"Okay, I think I've figured out how we need to proceed…" Ainz nodded slowly and thoughtfully, an expression that Medusa was very unfamiliar with, causing her to frown slightly.

Ainz often acts out his plan with a level of unmatched certainty. His plans perfectly encapsulated their objectives despite any obstacles or anything that can be construed as an obstacle, he didn't even seem to pay attention to how his planned actions caused the world around him to respond!

It was as if he had the whole world at the palm of his hands, and each variable perfectly accounted for factors. Ainz was a master planner that took even the unexpected in stride, for there is nothing he couldn't account for

To see that same Ainz suddenly thoughtful, unsure, as if trying to reassemble his entire plan in his head, was unexpected. Such a strange sight made Medusa unconsciously move closer to Ainz as she began checking their perimeter to see if anything around them had caused the reaction in Ainz. Perhaps an Assassin had stealthily approached them?

Fortunately, Medusa's eyes could easily see through anything, except for the greatest level of Presence Concealment after her acquisition of the Grail. Unless it was a level of stealth considered completely cheat-like even to the Servants, Medusa's eyes could not be waylaid.

Before Medusa could worry more about an unseen danger, Ainz came out of his thoughts and began relaying orders.

"Medusa, Scáthach – the both of you need to get to the State of the Crusaders – it's on the other side of Camelot, not far, so it shouldn't be too much trouble for you, I think."

Medusa reacted only by nodding slowly at Ainz's orders, as she glanced surreptitiously at Scáthach beside her, before frowning.

Medusa of course trusted Ainz completely, both by loyalty and because of his great deeds. Ainz had shown and proven his capability many times, that any, even the most unexpected move on his part, would eventually be revealed as part of some grand plan – but to use the Scáthach in that plan?

Medusa had never even considered such a thing before. If not for the Servant bond restricting her, Scáthach could be more comfortably considered as an enemy whose spear could turn against her master at any perceived opportunity.

Honestly, Medusa had thought that Ainz had taken Scáthach with him for the simple reason that he couldn't leave her unattended – or maybe he hoped that he could convince her of his good nature by personal action?

Finding out that she had a place in his plans was unexpected – but then again, this was Ainz. He always had a plan that included the most improbable moves.

Scáthach herself, however, was clearly not happy with Ainz's orders – even though she had become a Servant of Ainz, she did not trust him one bit and would prefer to keep an eye on him at all times. But at the same time, the destruction of the world and the need to reverse it bound Scáthach hand and foot, putting her in a bad position where she was forced to obey Ainz's orders.

At least until she could find another way to rescue the world.

And, coincidentally, it was by obeying Ainz's orders now and moving away from him toward the other Servants – the Crusaders – that she could find the best way to slip out of Ainz's grasp.

Perhaps not completely the best – Medusa would still accompany her and would curtail any treacherous action on her part. Still, Ainz's orders coincided too well with her plans and aspirations for her to refuse it.

So, humming through her nose, clearly aware that her thoughts were no secret to Medusa and Ainz, she nodded briefly. "Fine."

Come what may, she would overcome them all to return the Undead in front of him back behind the Gate of Skye.

"Good." Confirming Scáthach's agreement to his orders. Ainz nodded several times, then glanced at Medusa, as if to make sure she was in agreement with his plan.

Medusa, in turn, simply replied with a small quirk at the edge of her lips in return – she may not have understood Ainz's plan, but she trusted him, so she wasn't afraid at all. In agreement, she just nodded slightly at him.

"Okay, in that case, Mashu and Arthuria? Keep a watch on Camelot and report any anomaly you see. I'll also need the two of you to stay in the sect's demesne… Ah right, you'll have to negotiate with the Administrator yourself for a place to stay, at least…"

"And me," Ainz then began thinking about something, a strained look appearing on his face as Ainz turned around, frowning his eyebrows slightly, looking at something in the distance.

"I should go to… Someone."

With that ominous last parting remark, Ainz disappeared as space folded around him.

Arthuria looked coldly at the retreating figures of Medusa and Scáthach, which was much harder to do with Ainz, given his teleportation abilities,

Turning her gaze back to Camelot in the distance, a sense of nostalgia struck her. Though her distance to Camelot was considerable – Arthuria would stake everything on the fact that the city she's seeing right now is Camelot. Maybe the walls were of a different color, but everything else, the very location matched the Camelot in her memories – the main gate, the barracks, the firing range…

The royal chambers at the top.

Arthuria was used to sitting in them – even if her recollections were of a time long ago, so long ago that it now seemed no more than a half-forgotten dream, Arthuria had spent years in Camelot.

Who sat on her throne now?

Her Knights? Were the Knights of the Round Table running? And if so, who exactly were they now serving as their King?

Was it Percival? Gawain? Gareth? Or…

Or Arthur.

Arthuria knew that she was not a unique existence – even she herself was only an alter version of herself, there were a multitude of other versions of her. Even the version of herself that was not an 'altered' version was still numerous.

She already had faced one before even, back in London, the Storm King… it certainly made her reunion with Mordred an even messier affair, if such a thing was possible.

What a cruel and strange irony it is, to face herself, with her only single goal being the destruction of the enemy.

Arthuria was not a person keen on poetry, but even she could not help but appreciate the irony of the situation. She, the blackened version of the legendary King Arthur, embodying all the unsightly traits of her rule – the coldness, cruelty, perversion of chivalry, and the heartless wars of the past – was now a Servant, helping to save humanity.

And now, another alternate version herself, the ruler of Camelot, the Holy City, her city, stood in her way.

Once again, Arthuria was about to be responsible for the fall of Camelot.

The irony was so palpable – she could almost choke from it.

"Erm… Arthuria?" Mashu's voice caught Arthuria's attention, causing her to wrench her gaze from Camelot. "I think… We should go back to the Administrator first?"

Arthuria could only nod silently at that, not trusting herself to speak, before moving swiftly backward.

Fortunately, they didn't have to search long for the Administrator. After only a minute, Arthuria could hear, in addition to the rushing steps of Mashu behind her, the voice of the Administrator, who had already finished distributing instructions to the new refugees. Judging by his voice, he was now instructing one of the grunts trying to distribute the small supplies of the village among all the people. The chaos was barely organized as people rushed around trying to patch leaky homes and move bales of hay to the local warehouse.

"What, you're back already?" The Administrator, seemingly unconcerned by the actions of the two Servants, merely brushed them off.

"Yes.," Arthuria nodded, continuing brusquely. "I need information about…"

"I told you already, I have no time for chitchat." The Administrator interrupted Arthuria's words with such ease, as if he saw Servants like her every day, which was quite the likely possibility.

"If you want to chat, go to Spy or Orator or Diplomat – anyone but me, I'm much too busy to entertain questions."

Arthuria paused to think for a moment – she needed to get information from the Administrator about Camelot and the Assassin sect itself. While information about Camelot might be much easier to acquire, she simply needed to find this 'Spy', 'Orator' or 'Diplomat'. Of course, perhaps finding a specific Assassin in a village full of them might not exactly be called 'easy' – her other mission was much harder to accomplish.

Ideally, of course, Arthuria would have been happy to just ask the many Assassins about the information, but it was unlikely that she would be able to do so – especially from one of the leaders of this very Assassin sect. Especially for her, such a task was an impossibility.

Arthuria was aware that she was not the best of diplomats – but without information at all, Arthuria was in a bad situation, perhaps requiring her to go to Camelot herself… Not the most attractive of proposals.

"Maybe there's something we can help you with in return? To lighten your load so that you can have time to answer our questions?" Mashu asked the Administrator a question, clearly trying to find common ground with him, making the Administrator only frown as if from a toothache.

"Well, the first thing that comes to mind is for you to sell your armor at the market and buy food with it. Though that probably wouldn't sell for much, every bit helps." Administrator did not spare Mashu's feelings, as he bluntly told her that her armor looked cheap.

"As you can easily see around you, we're not exactly having an abundance of things to hunt nor plant. And seeing as I don't see you carrying any hammer nor nails, you can't exactly help us to build more houses, and there are no long caravans of supply in your entourage. So you do not have much choice if you want to 'help' me."

Arthuria frowned at the rude remarks before she shook her head. She wasn't the king of these people, there was no point in being offended by them. The Administrator was clearly concerned about other things, far more important than observing diplomatic protocol, so Arthuria was not offended by this behavior. Unlike Mashu, who was momentarily silenced by the Administrator's rude comments.

Cutting to the chase, Arthuria offered something that both Mashu and her have in excessive supply. The capability of great violence.

"What are these people running from?" Arthuria asked, eager to get the farce over with – seeing Camelot again had made her patience run dry.

"From the sacred knights of the sacred ruler of the sacred city, who has had her sacred spear shoved up her sacred ass and now has a sacred itch to destroy anyone who wasn't sacred enough. In a sacred way, of course." The Administrator answered in an irritated scowl, as if he's remembering something foul. Before, he hummed as he shifted his gaze at the two Servants.

"Hmm, actually, I think I know exactly what you can do for the settlement."

Arthuria silently measured the Administrator with a glance – she had been ordered to keep watch over Camelot, so she couldn't easily leave the territory of the Assassin sect. So, for the time being, she had to listen quietly to the Administrator's suggestion.

"We could obviously use guards for the village in case the knights got another itch." The Administrator turned away from Arthuria and Mashu.

"If the knights come, you will deal with them. Do your job well, and I will find some time to babble with you…"

Arthuria once again facing against knights… her knights.

Arthuria could only grin at yet another dark irony of her job before nodding at the Administrator's offer, accepting it. "Deal."

An excerpt from the New Age booklet of the Great Mother sect :

…and how can we hope for the love of the Great Mother if we do not find it in ourselves to give love to our neighbor?! How can we shed each other's blood, but hope that nature will be merciful to us! How can mercy be given to one who gives no mercy?!

We kill her children, but we don't see how she retaliate back at us for it – what mother would love a murderer of her children?! Our history is a succession of senseless murders – Heroes slays monsters, the knights slay dragons, a king triumphs over a defeated army. But what makes the victor better than the loser?!

The Great Mother sees us and her heart is full of pain – for we bring with us not her love, but only bloodthirsty hatred. We are not worthy of her love until we are more capable than just causing suffering!

Stop looking at Perseus and love Medusa! Stop exalting Theseus and worship Asterius! Overthrow in your soul the symbol of Rama's tyranny and glorify Ravanna!

And then the Great Mother, the Mother of All, will bestow upon you her love!

Long live the Great Mother! May the name of Angrboda be glorious!