10

"… and therefore, given all that, I have little doubt that this woman is capable of fifth tier magic. Sadly, that is all I have been able to gleam on the matter at this time."

Fluder had spent the better part of a day and a half examining the cursed corpse brought to him. As he had suspected, the man died of a curse; his blood rapidly transmuted into a bile like poison that spread through his body. The whole process reminded Fluder of hydra venom dissolving its victim from the inside out. The mage could only imagine the pain the man was under before the curse finally allowed him to die.

Under normal circumstances involving such a death via magical means, Fluder would have had to send his students out to comb the city to find some sort of magical trail to follow. As luck would have it, this was not required. Gazing out over the city with his talent, the mage immediately noticed a concentration of magical energy gathering in one of the residential areas that had seemingly appeared overnight. After some investigation, his students found that the energies are emanating from a manor in the Emerald District; a well-off neighborhood occupied by young noble houses and old knightly families.

Formerly, he supposed given how decimated their ranks were from Jircniv's purges. Almost half the families in these areas were stripped of their titles for one reason or another, and without the privileges that came from these titles they could no longer afford to live in such luxurious residences. So, most of the manors and villas there are vacant at the moment.

But this fact was neither here nor there. The mysterious black magic user, who he is certain is the same person saw near the Academy that day, has occupied one of the manors there. In a matter of days, they've turned their new residence into a venerable bastion of magical energy. While the glow he sees with his all-seeing eyes makes the area illuminate like a great bonfire, his students say feeling is even more intense up close.

Naturally, given the nature of the situation, Fluder sought an audience with Jircniv to alert the young man to the potentially problematic situation at hand. After all, one didn't simply let a powerful magic caster walk about without keeping an eye on their actions.

Fluder's report was short and concise, serval copies of it had been transcribed by his students and shared amongst the members of Jircniv's court. While the Emperor sat and carefully listened to his tale, eyes never straying from Fluder, his courtiers were less then receptive. Most shared looks of disbelief between themselves at his assertions that the woman he was reporting on was most likely a fifth-tier magic caster. They flipped through pages and made disapproving sounds under their breath as he explained the situation.

At least they had the decency to hold their tongues while he spoke.

"Isn't all this talk of fifth tier magic a little extreme," Jircniv's scribe was the first to speak up. The young man cleared his throat before continuing. "I'm not denying your analysis of this situation, Master Paradyne, but surely there are other magical means to curse a man? Means that are more mundane than fantastical talk of fifth tier magic casters?"

"Are you implying that I am mistaken?" Fluder felt his eye twitch at the insinuation that he was wrong.

"Never, Master Paradyne," the man held up his hands. "But…"

"You're saying a child is almost as powerful as you are," another courtier commented.

"I also doubt that someone as young as this woman is said to be would have such power," a third one interjected, looking to Jircniv, the young man still in deep thought. "It took Master Paradyne centuries to reach his level of understanding, how could a girl, barely past the cusp of adulthood, be so powerful?"

"Draudillon Oriculus uses magic to hide her true visage," someone quipped. "Is it so impossible to believe a fifth-tier magic caster is not capable of something similar?"

"So, another hag in disguise?" joked another, no doubt hoping to leverage the young Emperor's distaste of the Dragon Queen to curry favor.

"Wait, couldn't she just be an elf?" Baziwood Peshmel, the sole common born of the Emperor's Four Imperial Knights added his voice to the growing choir of discussion. "I mean, an elf could be as old as Paradyne and still look younger than any of my wives. All she'd need is a little magic to smooth out her pointy ears and she'd blend right into the crowds."

"Pardon, but do we even know if she paid for that manor," one near-sighted courtier interjected changing the subject entirely. "I live in the Emerald District, and I haven't heard anything of a home being bought."

"So she's a squatter?"

"Or has illegally appropriated it."

'What was with all this babbling?' Fluder shook his head as the conversation devolved into questions about age, race, and other trivialities. While he did approve of the concept of Jircnivs 'dynamic court' where courtiers were free to speak their minds and not fear discipline for speaking their mind, it did have its disadvantages. Such as conversations getting easily derailed into unimportant topics.

Didn't they see the bigger picture or comprehend the situation? While not as powerful as his own magic, fifth tier magic still has the capacity to destroy this city district by district so long as the caster has mana to cast spells. Gods forbid if the water supply was contaminated with something as vile as what he saw used.

Not that he thought the caster would do such a thing. From all the information he and his students have gathered, the girl (or woman) seemed to be quite passive. Skittish in fact, if her quick departure from the Academy grounds at his approach was any indication. This whole issue with the corpse seemed like a simple case of self-defense. Even if it wasn't…

Fluder looked across the talking courtiers to Jircniv, still in deep though, carefully reading the report he prepared. The mage could be as she appears, a young girl, or she could be an elf, or even a old witch using magic to appear as she does, he could tell Jircniv was interested in the potential of such a powerful magic caster joining the Empire's ranks.

"So," the Emperor's low voice caused the room to quiet down to hear his words, the young man finally looking up from Fluder's report. "What you're saying, Gramps, is that there's a powerful magic caster within my city and we have no idea of who she is, where she came from, or why she's here."

"In simple terms, yes your Majesty," Paradyne replied. "As my report notes, while I have no idea as to her origins, I assume she is here to seek an audience with myself given her appearance at the Academy. I even made arrangements for any supplicants matching her description asking for an audience to be brought to me immediately."

"But she hasn't shown herself," Jircniv concluded.

"Correct," the elderly wizard nodded. "I know she is still in Arwintar, but until the issue with the Eight Fingers, I had not heard anything on her."

"And you didn't approach her yourself?"

"I didn't see the need to, your Majesty" Fluder shrugged. "No matter how interesting a chat with such a powerful individual would be, I still had my research to conduct. Had I noticed she left the city, I might have sought her out at a later date."

The Emperor hummed at his court wizard's words. "A part of me wishes she would have shown herself again. Your apparent interest in this person has peaked mine as well."

"Your Majesty," Nazami Enec, leader of the Four Imperial Knights, stepped forward. "Should you wish it, I shall personally deliver a summons for her to present herself to you."

"Isn't such a task beneath your station as the leader of the Four Knights," the quite Lenias Rockbruise commented. She stood beside the Emperor, twirling a stray lock of her long golden hair that hid her disfigured face between her fingers. "I would be more than willing to go."

'Of course, you would,' Fluder rolled his eyes at the cursed knight's unsubtle intent. If one is good at using curses, logic holds they might be good at removing them. Lady Rockbruise has never been circumspect about what she wanted after all, or how transactional her affiliation with the Emperor was. Not that he had any room to take a moral high ground, but at least he wasn't so brazen about it…

Still, the fact he was unable to remove her pustule curse still irked him to no end.

"Let's not be too hasty," Jircniv raised his hand to cut off any further talk of summons. "I'd like to get a better understanding of the situation before I decide to meet with her."

"Meet with her?" his scribe questioned.

"Even beyond my own peaked interest, and our resident court wizard's, I can hardly allow someone this powerful to walk about my own city without knowing who they are," the young Emperor shrugged.

"Then…what are your orders, your Majesty?"

"Loune," Jircniv addressed the scribe, "write up an official summons for our mysterious mage to present herself to explain her illegal seizure of property but refrain from sending it right now. In the meantime, I want you to find someone to get deed to that property and have it ready to be transferred to her."

"Your just…giving her the manor?" the elderly courtier questioned.

"If someone important enough truly cared about that property, the matter would have already reached court by now given the people who live there," the Emperor explained. "If all it takes is one merely home to ingratiate myself with a potential ally, then I say that's quite the bargain."

"Heh, quite the welcome present," Ser Baziwood joked. "Don't go telling my wives that entire homes are on the table."

"Don't worry, I won't tell if you don't," Jircniv joked, eliciting a few soft chuckles from the courtiers. "In the meantime, Baziwood, I want you to go out there and find out everything you can on our mysterious mage. Who has she met, why is she here, where does she hail from, why did the Eight Fingers attack her, anything and everything you can. Talk to Gramp's students if you need to find a place to start."

"I'll get right on that," Baziwood replied with a curt nod.

"Good," the Emperor nodded. "If possible, I'd like to have something on her by the end of the month

'So that's what he's planning,' Fluder finally realized what the boy was planning, silently watching on as the young man finished giving out further orders regarding the mysterious mage before moving onto other matters of state.

Jircniv was summoning her under the auspices of discussing the property seizure, thus showing his authority over her, only to freely give the manor to her as a token of good will. A simple power play, but an effective one. And with the Annual War only a few months away, perhaps he hopes to enlist her aid for the Empire's cause? Jircniv is no doubt aware of a few ways fifth tier magic could be used to devastating effect against Re-Estize's peasant levies.

Personally, Fluder would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in the effects such spells would have as well; though for reasons that differed from Jircniv's.

How did I end up in this situation?

"… so when I didn't know what to do, I consulted the wisdom left behind by Lord Peroroncino and…well, you know what happened."

What was it that I promised myself? In and out in in an hour or so?

"… transfixed by your beauty that I wanted to speed up our progress! I know. It was both stupid and presumptuous of me to go against my Lord's carefully laid out guide. In the end, it only made things worse."

Rush out and be back in normal 'society' for as long as I could to get away from this madhouse.

"… was absolutely devastated when Lord Ainz told me exactly what I had done wrong, and I felt awful! Just awful!"

I did not intent to be cornered by the Tomb's resident sadomasochist vampire loli, dragged by said vampire into some random lounge area to…apologize. I'm guessing since this is Shalltear and she's been saying a lot of stuff that I really don't understand.

"…knowing all of that, I hope that we can start over. Go through all the steps, from the beginning. No more skipping or jumping around. We can follow the plan Lord Peroroncino laid out and make a relationship work."

I had no idea what the hell she was talking about. 'Relationship'? Is she referring to all the times she acted like a creepy stalker or the time she molested me in the shower? If there was any confusion about what Shalltear thought a relationship was, all one has to do is look at her 'brides'; a harem of abused sex slaves.

Yes, I know she didn't technically enslave or mind break anyone into being her sex slave. Each of her brides is in fact a POP, a type of NPC spawned by the Tomb itself. As opposed to "Custom NPCs" like Shalltear or the other guardians, POPs are the "trash mob" of NPCs. In a dungeon, they are the chaff a party must cut through to reach the dungeon's "bosses". In technical terms, they have a copy and paste stat sheet with minor deviations in appearance. If they die, they'll just respawn after a period of time.

Still, even if the brides were programed to be Shalltear's 'harem', that didn't mean the short vampire doesn't brutalize them. The way each bride seems to shift and squirm uncomfortably under Shalltear's annoyed gaze is enough cement that fact. I have no doubt that Shalltear is far from a gentle sort of 'lover'.

"…so now that all that stuff is settled, we can build a relationship properly," the vampire nodded at her own logic. "The question remains though; shall we have dinner in my quarters this evening or your own? I don't really have a preference myself, but I do have something special I would love to show you."

I felt my mind grind to a halt as a blush appeared on her cheeks.

…

…

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

I am not dealing with this.

Absolutely not!

I have no desire to be anywhere near her!

"Shalltear…" I try to think of the right words to say that wont end with me getting murderized against the wall by the sociopathic vampire before me.

"Yes…"

Come on brain, THINK! What can I say that would-

Wait! That's it!

"Shalltear," I begin, "before you go any further, I want to ask you something."

"Okay, what is it?" Shalltear smiles at my words.

Ughh.

"I want to ask…" please dear God let this work, "why?"

"I'm sorry?" Shalltear tilted her head, wondering if she heard right.

"You claim that you want to be my… wife," It looked almost as if the word left a bad taste in her mouth, "but what do you know about me? Why do you think you want to be my…wife" Citrinitas clarified her question, her golden eyes burrowing into Shalltear's crimson orbs.

"It's not a 'claim'," Shalltear countered.

"Then, I repeat my previous question, what do you know about me then?" the homunculus pressed.

While Shalltear was a tad upset at the insinuation of not knowing anything about the woman of her dreams, she supposed it was inventible that such a question would come up. After her previous displays of affection went awry, it was only natural Citrinitas would want Shalltear to provide a reason more than "your beautiful figure" as justification for her affection. Shalltear knows that even had Citrinitas been the plainest of girls, her charm and personality would have won the vampire's heart eventually.

Not that Citrinitas being beautiful wasn't a boon in Shalltear's eyes.

"I know you are the most beautiful woman in the Tomb," the vampire started by listing off the obvious before going onto the 'meat' of the matter. "Beyond Lord Ainz, you're hands down the smartest in the Tomb; more than Demiurge or even your guerrilla of a sister. You're witty, charming-"

"No," Citrinitas cut her off.

"No?"

"No," she repeated, "you're describing what I am, not who I am."

"Then answer me this Shalltear, what is my favorite color?"

The question threw the vampire off balance, "what?"

"You heard me, 'what is my favorite color'", Citrinitas repeated her question. "You claim you know me and its why you want to be my…wife. So, if you truly know me, this should be a simple question for you."

What kind of question was that? Of course, she knew Citrinitas's favorite color!

What kind of silly question is this? She'd hardly be a good wife if she didn't know her beloved's favorite color. It was even written on page one of her Lord's most wise guide: "presenting your lover's favorite colored flower will grant constant amounts of affection".

Obviously, she knew what it was: Citrinitas's favorite color was….

Her favorite color was…

…

Obviously, it was…

…

It was…

…

Was being put on the spot like this making her draw a blank on something so simple? Shalltear knows she knows it! It was on the tip of her tongue.

"It's something…dark," Shalltear answered after eyeing Citrinitas's wonderful black dress.

"No," the reply was blunt, she looked unamused. "And 'dark' isn't a color, it's a shade."

"Then black!" Shalltear followed up after a few moments of thought. Obviously dark was a shade! And Citrinitas wore dark clothing, Mysterious, umbral, and so cool! Shalltear was sure that-

"No," the homunculus's reply felt like a gut punch. "See what I mean, you-"

"White!" The vampire interrupted. It was obvious now: white! The color of purity and cleanliness! Naturally, a person who works with potions and the like would-

"No," Citrinitas again swatted away Shalltear's answer, a small frown becoming visible on her face. "You're proving my-"

"Red!" Now it was obvious to Shalltear! The passionate color of confidence and courage! What better color for Citrinitas to hold dear then-"

"No," the pale blonde sighed. "You cant just keep reaching for random colors in the hope that eventually you'll hit the right one-"

"Yellow-"

"Just stop it already!" Citrinitas's sharp tone caused the vampire to flinch. "The point of my question for you to realize you don't really know me, not for you to guess every color under the rainbow until you guessed the right one!"

"But I-"

"Everything you've told me is just listing off superficial things or trying to guess at my personal tastes. I …believe… you find me physically attractive; you've made that point abundantly clear. What I doubt, is you're instance that this affection of yours is genuine."

"It is!" this time, it was Shalltear's turn to raise her voice. "I've been in love with you since the first time we met!"

"And when was that?" Citrinitas rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Years ago, when the Supreme Beings were celebrating some great events and brought all of us with them," her voice grew softer, a small smile crept its way onto her face, as she remembers that fateful day. She noticed Citrinitas looking interested now.

"To be honest, I actually forgot what they were celebrating," Shalltear admitted. "Despite how awful I should feel to not remember the reasons why our Creators were celebrating; all I remember feeling is awe. Because on that day, I was entranced by the most beautiful woman I had ever seen."

Shalltear paused to find the right words to express just how she felt that day, heat building up in her cheeks in a mix of attraction and embarrassment.

"She was the center of attention," she continued, closing her eyes to visualize the scene in her mind. "Lords Belldriver, Temperance, and Garnet had included her and her own Lord, Tabula Smaragdina, in some conversation. I don't know what they were talking about, because for the first time I can remember all my confidence vanished. So, I just stood by Lord Peroroncino's side like a blushing virgin. Me! The Bloody Valkyrie, the Defiler of Virgins, the Bane of the Chaste, with my own Lord and Master silently urging me on, and yet all I could think of was how I could screw everything up. Would she think I was too pushy? Or would I come across as too needy? What if I acted too aloof to compensate and she took it as a sign of disinterest? In the end, I did nothing."

Shalltear opened her eyes and took in Citrinitas's expression. The homunculus seemed to shift through a dozen separate emotions. Surprise, shock, disbelief, and many more that seemed to blend into each other. About what she expected, Shalltear doubted any in the Tomb would suspect her of being so indecisive given her usual personality. But love has a way of bringing out different aspects of people.

"I-…I…But…a-are you kidding me?" Citrinitas mumbled to herself.

More importantly, Shalltear's keen eye took note of a small blush on the homunculus's pale face. Lord Ainz was right! She never doubted his advice of course, merely her ability to effectively carry it out given her mishap with her own Lord's guidelines.

"That beautiful woman was you, Citrinitas," Shalltear put on her best smile. "I have been in love with you since that day. Every time I've seen you since, I was too paralyzed by indecisiveness to introduce myself properly. Even as the Lords left the Tomb, I-…" her mind trailed off.

"T- That might be, but you still-"

"I know my reputation," Shalltear stated bluntly. Oh boy did she know. She tempted and corrupt entire convents of impressionable, nubile, priestesses into her sexual playthings. She tempts human woman from their marriages with false affection and soft touches, whispering sweet nothings into their ears while showing them the soft touches only another woman can give for sport. She causes families to betray one another and defiles the survivors in the most satisfying manner afterwards. There was even that one time she made that one angel fall by convincing her Shalltear wished to 'repent' for her actions, only to brutalize and rape her at her most vulnerable and give the angel's broken form to demons to have their way with once Shalltear grew bored.

Oh yes, Shalltear knew everything she had done. Feels like a lifetime ago to the vampire. Strangely, she can't seem to remember the delightful events as clearly as she ought to…

Ugh, that's not the point! The point is that she knows she's told MANY lovely women in the past that she's "loved" and "treasured" them only to take joy from the look of betrayal on their tear-stricken faces as she indulged herself with their flesh. So many in fact that Shalltear has honestly lost count of her conquests. They were lesser beings. It is only right for her to enjoy them to her heart's content.

But Citrinitas was different.

Shalltear reached out and took Citrinitas's hand in hers, the sudden contact momentarily shocking the homunculus.

"I swear to you, on the honor of Ainz Ooal Gown and the Great Tomb of Nazarick, on the hallowed names of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, Lord Peroroncino, Lord Tabula Smaragdina, and every other Supreme One, that my affection for you is genuine."

"I love you, Citrinitas." And maybe for the first time in her life, she truly meant it.

While she gave no immediate reply, Shalltear could hear Citrinitas muttering under her breath. "So that's why…Birdman actually…. wrote that in her….was he thinking?...Degenerate feather brained…." The words didn't mean anything to Shalltear, but it must have made some deal of sense to the Homunculus. Or at least, it seemed she was putting the pieces of something together in her mind.

But as the lack of a proper reply dragged on, Shalltear couldn't help but feel nervous. What if she screwed up again? What if Citrinitas thought she was a looser? Or what if it she did everything right and-

"Shalltear," Citrinitas finally spoke up.

"Yes?"

"I think I understand the…situation… with you now," she parsed out.

"You do," the vampire's eyes lit up, she could feel nervous energy build up in her belly.

"…Yes.." Citrinitas pulled her hand out of Shalltear's soft grasp. "I…I didn't… I didn't realize that….I didn't know you felt so…strongly about me in that way. But…"

"But…" Shalltear felt her hopes come crashing-

"I barely know you," Citrinitas continued. "By your own admission, we've barely interacted with one another. I…understand your feelings on the matter… so instead of jumping into to…that kind of stuff, how about we just…get to know…each other first," she kept trailing off as she carefully worded her sentence.

"Like a date!" Shalltear could barely contain her excitement.

Oh yes! A wonderful outing! Not only is it a wonderful idea, but it's also what Lord Peroroncino guide says can help build a relationship. But what to do? A serene walk-through Lord Blue Planet's tranquil creation on the Sixth Floor? Perhaps a lovely meal under the starry night sky! Maybe a dip in the cool waters of the lake?

If they decided to swim in the lake Shalltear's swimsuit might even suffer a 'malfunction' (or work exactly as intended~) and she would be 'forced' to swim nude. Water dripping down her divinely crafted form; a beautiful display, for the most beautiful woman she knows. Perhaps the sight of it would fan the flames of lust in-

"Um…Shalltear?" Citrinitas's voice broke Shalltear from her thoughts.

The vampire blinked, "what?"

"You kind of zoned out there for a moment," she explained.

"I was just imagining-" WAIT. Don't say it aloud. Remember the steps! "I mean, I was just thinking about how wonderful a date would be between us."

"Yeah…see, the thing is," Citrinitas scratched the back of her head. "I'm on a… a very delicate mission right now in human civilization from Lord Ainz himself. So delicate that I'm basically going to be spending much of the immediate future out of the Tomb. So, I don't really have any free time to speak of…and…"

"And our Lord's work must come first," Shalltear finished the sentence. She didn't feel any malice or annoyance by it. The work of a Supreme One ALWAYS took priority over one's personal wants and desires. It was a privilege to serve one so magnanimous and powerful as Lord Ainz.

"Yes… that," the homunculus nodded in agreement.

Shallter giggled, "and here I thought I was going to have to be the one who disappointed you."

"Wait…disappoint me?" Citrinitas cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Yes," Shalltear began. "I thought I was going to have to tell you our date would have to be postponed until after my mission. Seeing as how we're both going to be out and about, I suppose it's not an issue after all."

"But I never said I…wait, you have a mission?"

"From Lord Ainz himself," the vampire practically beamed with pride. "Sebas, Solution, and I have been tasked with finding something called a 'martial arts' user."

"A martial arts user?" The look on Citrinitas's face seemed to indicate she registered the term.

"Lord Ainz called it the "Magic of Warriors"," she explained. "They sound more like Skills then magic to me, but the difference is irrelevant. We've been tasked with finding a strong one out in the wild and bringing them back to Nazarick for study."

"…and you'll be going to the west?" Citrinitas questioned, her brow furrowing in deep thought.

"Yeah! How'd you know?" the answer seemed obvious when Shalltear actually thought about it. Citrinitas established a base of operations in the east. If Lord Ainz wanted one of these Martial Art users from the east, he would have just commanded Citrinitas. And given the southern human land is off limits (for now), and the north has no human settlements to speak of, east was the only option!

"Lucky guess," the homunculus mumbled. Then, out of nowhere, she chuckled under her breath. "Say, Shalltear, when are you leaving for that mission?"

"Tomorrow, at crack of dawn," she answered. "We got to take one of the Tomb's carriages to a nearby human settlement then switch to one of the human ones from there." Why Lord Ainz decreed this mission be done covertly she could only guess. Any lesser creature should be honored beyond measure that a Supreme One is giving them even the briefest of moments of his attention. All they should have to do is announce to the world Lord Ainz's command, and these martial art users should folk to the Tomb in short order to serve him.

No doubt Lord Ainz has other plans in mind that are simply too far beyond any of the Guardians comprehension.

"Well then…I wish you the best of luck on your mission," Citrinitas smile brighter as she mumbled something too low for even Shalltear to hear.

"So, what is it?"

"What?"

"What got you so happy all of a sudden?" Shalltear clarified.

"I just realized something is all," she replied.

"Something good?" the Vampire questioned.

"For me it is," the homunculus answered. "Bit of a longshot, but it's more then I had a day ago. Thanks, Shalltear."

Shalltear felt her heart swell as Citrinitas's praise fell on her. She might not know what she did that could have possibly helped someone as smart as Citrinitas, but she is happy to have assisted all the same.

From my position on a grassy hill overlooking the Tomb, wind blowing through my hair and the sun almost blinding me with its glare, I watched as the carriage left at the break of dawn; just as Shalltear said it would.

I admit, I felt off watching the wheelhouse trot along. Outside of Sebas, every single person in that thing was an unrepentant monster who looks down on everything that was not created by Skellyman and Co. The maid, the slime one whose name escapes me still, Shalltear and her 'brides', none of them are innocent. None of them care if thousands die in cruel agony, they might get off on it in fact (I know for a fact Shalltear does…).

Sebas is the deviant of the group, since he gives a shit about the downtrodden. A personality trait formed from a mixing of his creator's personality and his bio I believe. Yet even he would kill innocents if commanded by Ainz.

Maybe rationalizing it like this makes doing this a little easier.

But back to the matter at hand, I wasn't lying to Shalltear when I told her she helped me realize something. Her words jostled my memory of the mind control incident that occurs during her ill-fated mission to find a martial arts user. What occurs to Shalltear doesn't interest me. She either lives or dies and gets resurrected in Nazarick. No, what interests me is the World Item used to try and mind control her. To the best of my knowledge, the mind control fails because Shalltear mortally wounds the user before the effects took hold completely.

This is important because I realized something recently, I can't kill Ainz. Not merely in the 'I am too weak' way, but in the 'I have no idea what the NPCs will do if he dies'. Will they just 'shut down'? Keep doing the last task he gave them forever? I remember in one side story, where Ainz wasn't in the Tomb when it appeared in the New World, and three kingdoms were wiped out. So, I'm leaning towards 'going berserk' if Ainz were to up and die.

Would fit in with a theory I have that the so called "Evil Deities" of this world were berserk NPCs whose Players died.

That being said, Ainz and the NPCs is a complicated relationship. While he doesn't endorse his NPCs worst excesses and does try to help them grow as people, he won't 'yank the leash' beyond reining in the worst excesses that he is aware of; aware of being the most important part of that. Add in his lack reduced emotional compass and his inability to relate to the masses of this world, and this becomes a very dangerous combination.

A being who is unkillable in almost every way, with an army of fanatic followers who can't even comprehend betrayal, and all of whom view (except maybe one or two) the inhabitants of this world like wild animals and insects. These are not the signs for gentle change.

So, the thought occurred to me, after Shalltear's off hand mention of her mission as I scrambled to find anyway to stay away from the NPC who was hardcoded to stalk me: Why not make some…corrections to Nazarick by my own hand?

"Wraith."

At my command, several spectral figures appear beside me. Cloaked in ashy mist, the shadowy forms leaned forward in the imitation of a bow; as well as something incorporeal can bow. Unlike the level twenty shades I learned to summon the other day, these wraiths were a far beefer level thirty. It might be a bit overkill given that the upper limit achievable to most in this world is in the lower to mid-level thirties, but I'm not taking chances.

"What is your will, Master" one asks in a dry whisper.

Regarding them for a moment, steeling myself for what must be done, I point at the carriage just diapering in the distance as I fish out the scrolls from my item box. "Did you see the people who entered that carriage?"

"Yes, Master," it replied, "just as you instructed."

"Follow the most powerful vampire in it. Discretely." I command. "Do not interfere in any altercations she, or the others involve themselves in. If the vampire encounters of group of humans that include an elderly human woman, who uses some form of powerful magic to cause the vampire to cease her aggression against them, you are to follow said humans and inform me of their location immediately."

"Yes, Master."

I know he has that phylactery looking thing in his chest that negates the effects of World Items on him, but it would still be foolish to waste an opportunity like this when it's just within reach. Acquiring the World Item also takes it out of the hands of the Theocracy, a polity I cannot in good conscience trust with such a powerful item due to their supremacist agenda.

And if it turns out this is all for naught, that there is no fishable way to separate Ainz and that red gem in his chest? There are still other uses for a World Item; like immunity to the effects of other World Items. I would be a fool to let this opportunity slip through my fingers without even trying to get my hands on it!

"Use these to contact me," I hold out several message scrolls for the wraiths to take. "If the vampire does not encounter said group of humans, you are to simply continue passive observation. Do you understand your orders?"

"Yes, Master," each wraith takes two scrolls. Without their own item box's, they have to hold them in their hands.

"I want to hear you say them," I needed to make sure they knew what I wanted them to do.

"Follow the vampire until she encounters an elderly human. Follow human if she uses powerful magic. Inform you immediately."

"Good, now go."

"By your leave, Master," With one final bow, the wraiths flew off towards the carriage; ducking and weaving into every shadow and dark corner they could find.

Left on the hillside all by my lonesome, I could feel my heart flutter as they raced off to carry out my will. Loath as I am to admit it, there is something just so…intoxicating about commanding absolute obedience from others.