167

"As expected of you to have remembered what I had said. Demiurge, you've made me very happy."

"I-I remember too!"

"I do too, Ainz-sama!"

"Umu. Umu. Shalltear, Aura. I'm thankful for you two too."

He couldn't figure out if they had actually remembered or had not but were simply concurring with Demiurge, just like what he was doing.

Speaking of which, how have they still not figured out the truth that he's incompetent? Was he really that good at acting?

Much time had passed since he came to this world as the overlord of Nazarick.

He had been operating as their overlord this entire time. They should have seen through his "overlord" disguise already, they should have seen through the useless nature of Satoru by now.

The conversation continued on as he agonized over this.

"So, in keeping with Ainz-sama's wishes, we will not be punishing the whole of the Kingdom. However, we can't just let them get away with a light punishment. We will also have to put the plan on pause or abandon it entirely for now. At the very least, it will require major deviations."

Ainz couldn't help but feel a great sense of guilt at the fact that his words held such prominence in their minds.

"…So that was why. But, Demiurge, did the plans really fail this time?"

Demiurge, Albedo, and their assistant in the Kingdom possessed an incomprehensible level of genius in Ainz's perspective. Would the plan that was the culmination of their minds truly fail? If that was the case, he must keep in mind what he says to them from this point onward. It would probably be best if he kept his mouth shut from now on. So, just in case, he asked again,

"Are we really abandoning our plans? The Candy and Whip plan?"

"..."

Demiurge looked towards Ainz with a bewildered expression, he had seen this expression on numerous occasions. It was the expression he had made when he was trying to figure out the true meaning behind his words as if they were all euphemisms said by a being on a completely different level of brilliance.

Wrong. Demiurge. I'm just trying to reaffirm what you've said. There are no hidden layers of meanings. You should chill out by taking a bath first.

These thoughts disappeared right as Ainz was about to give voice to them.

Just as an unpleasant premonition surfaced in his mind, just as Ainz had expected, Demiurge stood aghast as if he had just had a sudden realization.

"…No wait, could it be… Ainz-sama. Could it be that you have had the same intention back when you immaculately brought the Empire under our dominion?"

His premonitions were right on the target.

What is he saying?

Ainz started ranting towards Demiurge in his mind, what kind of a thought process would lead you to that conclusion?!

"No, that's not that case at all" would be the best response, right? But would that response really be appropriate?

"—That's right."

After he vacillated for quite a long time, this was his reply. For some unknown reason, Albedo's eyes were opened as wide as Demiurge's.

It was a bit, no, it was extremely terrifying.

"I see… so that was why Ainz-sama had repeatedly instructed us to do so… please forgive your subordinate for not realizing it immediately, I have disappointed my master."

"No, Demiurge. How could someone like you, no, how could people like us ever hope to be able to fully comprehend Ainz-sama's ingenious plans? To have forgotten that Ainz-sama's every move was made with a multitude of intents may have been our greatest failure."

"—That's right. It's just as you have said. To have applied the Candy and Whip policy on a national level. As expected of our Ainz-sama. As expected of the leader of the Supreme Beings…"

Hmph! Ainz laughed at himself.

He could no longer understand what these two were talking about.

In that moment, a thought flashed across his mind. What if these two had already realized Ainz's incompetence and were just trying to cover for him?

They're both geniuses. The truth is, I can't even comprehend how much smarter they are than me. How long would people like them continue to mistake my stupidity for genius? No, that shouldn't have even been possible!

"Ainz-sama. Is. Truly. The. Greatest. Mind. Of. Nazarick."

"Exactly, you're completely correct, Cocytus. To Ainz-sama, someone who's capable of planning on the scale of millennia and myriad years into the future, something on the scale of a few years is nothing."

"Eh? I-is that true…? As expected of Ainz-sama."

"To be able to plan for millennia ahead, I'm truly in awe… Ainz-sama."

What is Demiurge talking about?

Who? When did they say that? How would someone be able to plan that far ahead into the future? Don't make stuff up on your own! Ainz suppressed his desire to yell out his thoughts. It would be bad if the two naive children took it as the truth.

However, since he had been approving every single one of Demiurge's suggestions, he no longer knew the best way to respond to him now. Plus, if he was to object now, it would most likely create issues for him in the future.

So I still have to act as usual?

If Ainz was capable of facial expressions, he would probably have a dubious smile right now. After racking his brain, he managed to come up with a response that neither confirmed nor denied Demiurge's statement,

"No, that's not the case at all."

"There's no need for our master to be so humble ~arinsu. Oh great Ainzsama!"

"To. Be. Able. To. Think. This. Far. Out. Into. The. Future… No, If. That. Was. Not. The. Case. Then. He. Would. Not. Have. Been. The. Leader. Of. The. Supreme. Beings."

He couldn't handle it any longer, he should just give up the facade.

Ainz made his decision.

"Now then, since we now have Ainz-sama's permission, let's give unto the Kingdom the most miserable of punishments."

"Eh?"

How did the word "miserable" show up in their conversation up to this point?

Ainz was completely baffled.

Albedo clasped her hands together and grinned brightly. The adorable Albedo and Demiurge spoke in unison,

"The Empire, who had surrendered immediately to Ainz-sama, had been given the Candy. The Kingdom, who had not surrendered, will be given the Whip. By doing so, we will be sending a message to everyone else. Candy and Whip, the people of this world must choose between them. Wooo, things are getting a little more interesting aren't they, Ainz-sama?"

"Uh…"

***

Hilma was violently thrown back to where she was taken from. The [Gate] that had transported her back was gone by the time she turned around to look.

She surveyed her surroundings as she nursed the arm that had made impact with the ground when she was thrown out. She was in a well-ventilated, spacious, and familiar room.

This used to be the head of the gambling division, Noah Zweden's mansion.

He had originally purchased this swath of land with the intention to build a casino on top of it, which was illegal. They had successfully built the associated mansion, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the remainder of the plans had to be cancelled.

Because of this, the mansion had included enormous rooms meant for gambling and Hilma was in the largest room of them all.

Hilma finally calmed down and sighed deeply.

Her body quivered as it was overtaken with joy.

"Hilma!"

Her companions rushed over to her. There were three others in the room, including Oskar who rang the handbell on the table.

Their eyes were filled with tears.

Surely their pale expressions were all out of concern for her wellbeing.

"Are you alright?! Is anything wrong?! How's your stomach?"

"We have some fruit wine! Do you want to wet your beak?"

"The rest of them will come here soon!"

"Noah, Endio, and Oskar—" the three quieted down upon hearing Hilma's voice, "—I'm sorry I made you guys worry about me."

"Never mind that! You must have suffered through a lot. You should take a rest immediately."

Noah wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes as he said this. He must have thought that she had experienced "that" or something equally as horrifying.

Hilma had no option but to explain herself.

"I wasn't put through 'that,' they didn't do anything to me."

The atmosphere grew thick as the companions who had been surrounding her had their confused expressions gradually surface as if to say, was that something that was even possible?

"I also met with His Majesty, His Majesty the Sorcerer King."

Hilma's moist eyes were like a broken breakwater as a never-ending stream of tears flowed out.

"His Majesty the Sorcerer King…"

As his title alone commanded an inconceivable amount of fear, Endio made the sign of a god that he didn't even believe in as he spoke while the other two began to frantically look around the room.

Perhaps they were trying to look for any eavesdroppers, even though they had never seen any. It was common knowledge between them that there was always the possibility that someone could be listening in on them.

"You met — no, you were granted an audience with him? Glad you were able to return successfully then."

"Ufufu…"

Hilma, who was still crying, gave a smile as her reply.

Though everybody had been called on by the Sorcerer King, they had bowed the entire time so no one really caught a good look at his face.

However, through the intel they had gathered and second-hand accounts of people who had stolen glances at him, the Eight Fingers, including Hilma, arrived at the unmistakable conclusion that the Sorcerer King was the avatar of evil. No, he was simply a magic caster who would use such cruel methods of torture and could ruthlessly crush the soldiers of the Kingdom.

"His Majesty was… His Majesty was truly a reasonable master. Not only was he tolerant of my failures, but he was also merciful in his ruling."

Suddenly the world around them felt as though time had stopped.

Noah was shocked for a moment, but then he shut his eyes as if to offer his pity.

In truth, if someone else had said this, the Hilma of a few minutes ago would have probably thought the same as they did. So that was what happened, she's completely broken or something similar.

The two behind her spoke with bloodshot eyes, "Hilma… I'm more or less envious of your current situation," "Ahhh, if only I was there with you back there…", and other laments.

"No, hold on a second. Perhaps she has some sort of mind-control spell cast on her, Hilma, is that true?"

Noah wouldn't stop asking. Of course, she herself knew that she wasn't under the influence of any spells but at the same time, she could not prove it definitively to them. Because of that, she just simply ignored his questions and continued to talk. Whether they believe her or not is up to them.

"I didn't think that I would be returning alive too, the reason why I could return without a scratch was because of our master. His Majesty the Sorcerer King — truly someone fit to be called a king. If our master wasn't there…"

Perhaps she would have been forced to take responsibility for what had happened. Perhaps — no, this wasn't a hypothetical, she would have definitely been implicated due to that idiot's actions and suffer a hellish punishment for it. The Prime Minister of the Sorcerer Kingdom, Albedo, would've definitely done that.

If she were in her place, she would have also had someone take the fall for it even if the punishment was not death but simply pain and suffering. So from her perspective, the Sorcerer King's decision was infinitely more merciful than the one she would have given.

"…Hilma. Sorry to interrupt your spiel on His Majesty's mercy, but that was out of his Candy and Whip policy."

"Is that so…? Ummm, perhaps that was the reason why."

Though she had said so, Hilma did not believe that to be the case.

Hilma could tell a person's inner thoughts by the fluctuations in their voice, their expressions, and their partialities.

This wasn't some unusual ability, but just something she had picked up over time with experience. It was accurate to a certain degree and if those feelings were to be trusted, the Sorcerer King and Albedo were not playing the routine of Good Cop/Bad Cop.

The reason why she wasn't completely certain of her own judgment was because it was incredibly difficult to read the Sorcerer King's thoughts given how he had no facial expressions to speak of. So there was a chance that his assumptions were correct.

"That's right. After all, I've done so in the past too so I'm quite familiar with it. But… ahhh, how sweet is the Candy to those who had tasted the pain the Whip could inflict! Perhaps we were lied to, perhaps His Majesty the Sorcerer King is a terrifying being that could not empathize with people and his confidants were there to make sure that he doesn't go overboard. Even so, I would still be inclined to believe him. No… or I wanted to believe him."

Ladies of the night who were easily swindled by men and were subsequently devastated was something Hilma had seen one too many times. She knew that she was no different than those troubled women she had seen in the past. Even so, she couldn't resist the Sorcerer King's ability to draw people closer to him.

"…Hilma. You've bore witness to countless types of men. You're the best out of us all in terms of understanding people, especially men. Tell the truth, what kind of man is His Majesty the Sorcerer King?"

As a high-class prostitute, it was true that she had seen all kinds of men, especially those who were high in status or had great authority over people. She had seen that type of man so often that it had become annoying for her.

If she were to compare and contrast them—

"If I were to describe him with a single phrase, it would be 'a merciful master.' He has the clarity of mind to think and judge but also the flexibility to accommodate his subordinate's constructive suggestions into his own train of thought. He does not seek schadenfreude as a hobby, which would have been par for the course. How should I put this… right, he just didn't give off that kind of an aura, you know? Of course, he would still give out punishments callously if he felt they were necessary."

"That is high praise, coming from you."

The slightest suggestion of a smile broke out on Hilma's tear-stained face as she laughed, "Ufufu."

"That's right. Though our master is of the undead, he embodies justice and mercy. Even when he's being callous, he isn't being cruel. After all, the consequence of failure is punishment. He could have killed me to send a message to you all, but His Majesty did not do so."

She didn't know who had just swallowed audibly, but the sound was reverberating through the spacious room.

"I hope His Majesty the Sorcerer King will remain with us forever. If it was our master, he would have…"

A depressing silence weighed heavily on their hearts.

"Hoooooh…"

Someone breathed out the way a missionary would if they had borne witness to a miracle.

They did not know when that hellish fate would befall them, but as people who had lived in constant fear, this was salvation.

"I see… so you're saying that we must be even more loyal than we already are, right?"

"Yes, Noah. We should do so… now that we know. But the Prime Minister of the Sorcerer Kingdom, Albedo, is still a terrifying master. I can't imagine her saying the same words His Majesty the Sorcerer King had said to me…"

Though she had mumbled that last sentence to herself, her companions who had heard her all had looks of surprise on their faces.

It was difficult to read the thoughts of the demon known as Albedo, but her intuition had told her that something was wrong in that moment.

Perhaps it was because her brain was in overdrive under those extreme conditions.

Her intuition told her:

Even though the Sorcerer King could be considered a compassionate figure,

Albedo was someone who saw people as mere toys. Something like that.

Hilma really wanted to try her best to make it so that she and her companions could become direct subordinates under the Sorcerer King. He would be the type of master to reward someone based on their performance and would not treat his subordinates unreasonably.

"Everyone. Let's work even harder for His Majesty the Sorcerer King."

Hilma said to the three in front of her and shared her thoughts. Afterwards, she began seeking assistance from various sources for the task she had been given by the Sorcerer King.

.