17

"Wyverns are not dragons!" сoncluded Ainz once more, more calmly when the suppression of emotions cut off his outrage completely.

"Master!" - despite the fact that Archer obviously wanted to object to Ainz, his tone was more panicked than opposing - "But wyverns are one of the subspecies of dragons!"

With these words, Ainz almost bursted out in fire, but a moment later the suppression of emotions left him calm again, allowing him to carefully reflect on what was said.

"Okay," he finally said, "Okay..."

Dragons were among the - if not the most - powerful adversaries and allies in Yggdrasil, while the wyverns, being a separate type of creature, usually reached no higher than the fortieth level. Of course, there were a few exceptions and high-level lizards, reaching the eightieth level, however, on average, they were opponents who were not worth even a superfluous look from a player of the hundredth level. In addition, the wyverns were not dragons, because special anti-dragon abilities did not work against them, however, it was necessary to recognize that there existed at least some similarity to dragons in appearance, which could be confused by an inexperienced player...

'Wrong' - however, Ainz shook his head, then reminded himself - 'It's a completely different world ...Yggdrasil Wyverns can be very different from wyverns here- perhaps in this world they are one of the subspecies of dragons - and if these wyverns turned out to be other, more powerful creatures than I knew from Yggdrasil, while I keep comparing them with those wyverns that I knew from the game, then I could suffer a lot ...'

"I beg your pardon" - in the end, Ainz came to a definite conclusion and said in a maintained connection - "I reacted too sharply. Please, the next time if the wyvern approaches, warn me in this way, and not with words about a dragon. "

"Okay...," Archer said to that, forcing Ainz to breathe in. Neither his real skeletal body, nor his current fake body demanded such actions from him, however, this was one of the signs that Ainz had once needed to breathe — another sign of his not completely gone humanity — like the emotional explosion that had happened just now.

'Why did I do this?' - Ainz just shook his head at these thoughts. Even if he knew about the approach of a wyvern, he would still need to prepare for a battle with an enemy of an unknown force, and therefore assume the worst. Of course, in this case, the final battle plan would be a bit different, but the changes themselves would be quite minor - and in any case he should not have responded in this way to Archer's words.

'I am really not suited for being a boss …' The memory of a white-haired girl, who at the moment was probably tearing the hair off the head of an unfortunate doctor, made Ainz sigh.

"Being around such people is clearly a bad influence on my qualities as a person and as a boss ..." - the lich shook his head, after which he finally emerged from his thoughts.

The lizard body ceased to twitch a long time ago, and those who were bolder already managed to not only verify the death of the creature, and, just in case, poke it with their spears from a safe distance. Almost all the soldiers looked at the body of the beast with a mixture of interest and horror - however, they did not spare Ainz any of their attention, rewarding him with glances full of admiration, envy, fear and wonder.

Ainz needed only to take a couple steps to invoke fear around him. The soldiers around him jerked, as if nervously trying to escape from under his gaze. The only one who, it would seem, ignored such a pattern was the commander of the fortress, who, after observing the creature's death, instantly rushed to the mage.

"Little bit of magic, haha!" - the commandant, who rushed to Ainz, smiled at his fullest, but Ainz himself was not sure whether his smile was real or forced, - "Well, you sure broke some legs, of course!"

"Thank you," - not having come to a definite decision, Ainz thought it was for the best to accept what was said as praise, - "However, I suppose my wife remained in the tower... Would you allow me…"

"Oh yes, of course!" - after these words, the commander instantly took a step to the side, letting Ainz through, and then looked at his fellow travelers with a somewhat cautious look, "And ... your friends…"

"M ..." Ainz thought about that for a second. If he had said now that they had the same power — or, more truthfully, they were capable of more than something he had now demonstrated, then surely the soldiers would have been cautious to approach the two companions of Ainz, which would guarantee him the ability to easily leave the fortress and some degree of immunity inside it. But…

"No, I'm the only one who can do this," Ainz nodded to himself. Perhaps it would be best if a possible adversary underestimated Ainz's actions. In any case, in order to achieve a certain piety from the commandants there was enough glory of one Ainz, while the rest of the Servants had already shown that they were strong enough so that, at least, ordinary opponents would not be a threat to them. So, perhaps, to hide their real power was more profitable at the moment.

"Of course, Mr. Merchant," the man said Ainz's fake occupation with a smile, "If there were many people in the world who could kill a dragon with one spell, then in such a world it would be too scary to live!"

"It was not a dragon..." Ainz began, but after a little thought he nodded, "Absolutely. Hardly anyone except me could kill the dragon in one spell."

"Of course, Mr. Merchant!" - the commandant smiled at him even more broadly, so that Ainz noticed several sweat beads on his forehead, - "By the way, did your wife wait you there?.."

Jeanne met Ainz in a rather cheerful mood, but in the same closet in which Ainz left her.

"My husband," as the mage approached, Serenity bowed low, and then looked at her prisoner, "Everything is done according to your orders."

"Thank you, Serenity," - Ainz sighed at that, after which he patted the girl on the head in a parental way, forcing her to close her eyes and stretch her lips in a smile, muttering something like "Te-hehe" under her breath. Jeanne several times coughed and look away, showing off her glowing cheeks. Unfortunately, the confusion brought in by Archer did not give him the opportunity to finally come to a conclusion about how he needed to deal with the called Servant who called herself Jeanne.

"So, Jeanne," having patted Serenity's hair for a couple more seconds, Ainz looked at the girl and lowered his hand, making Serenity a little sad following the decision of her Master, "To be honest, I'm still not completely sure what we should do at the moment, so I would like to know - what are you planning to do now, after you find yourself... Here?"

"Hmm?" - at this the girl looked at Ainz a little uncomprehendingly, "My goal is to meet with the resurrected Jeanne d'Arc and make her answer for her atrocities. With the current call, I lost my opportunity to find the Servant, but the Grail provided me with the knowledge that Orleans was the new fortress of Jeanne - so I suppose I will immediately go to Orleans and fight her."

From this wording, Ainz choked on air, then coughed — and this happened even though Ainz did not need to breathe at all!

It is unlikely that the fortress of Jeanne - Orleans - was unprotected and empty, had neither shelter nor soldiers, but even if there was only one opponent in the whole fortress, Jeanne herself, this plan was still insane! In the current conditions, when the strength of Jeanne and her abilities, as well as her connection with the current Singularity and possible Grail, were unknown, but Jeanne herself... Hmm, the Jeanne that was before Ainz himself lost many of her abilities and skills, one of her Noble Phantasm and received a minus for all her parameters for the rank - to attack another, revived Jeanne and her fortress in Orleans was suicidal.

Of course, looking at the resolve and firm gaze of the girl who was sitting in front of Ainz now, someone could call her brave or strong-willed, but Ainz, looking into the girl's face, did not see anything but stupidity and almost the desire to die in the most useless way.

The suppression of emotions was activated once again, cutting off any emotional coloring, allowing Ainz to look at the girl more closely.

"Jeanne," he turned to her, "I understand exactly what you want to achieve, but now it is suicide to attack Orleans. Jeanne... The revived one in her fortress probably surrounded herself with considerable forces, you have no idea about her abilities in the current conditions…"

Ainz hoped that when she hears this, Jeanne would suddenly see his light and was preparing to take a look at how her mouth opened in horror and her pupils dilated, but instead he saw only a calm response nod.

"Yes," the girls answered him calmly, "I understand."

"Huh?" - in response, Ainz spoke loudly, after which he looked at the girl with a completely blank look.

"I understand that in the current conditions the chance of my victory is miniscule... But I'm still going to act," the girl looked at Ainz with conviction, after which, it would seem from the very fact that now she was looking with such a challenge in the man's face much older than her, became a little embarrassed and looked away, - "I can not allow this Jeanne to continue to dominate France, and she must answer for her sins... Whatever minimal possibility of my victory would be."

At this, Ainz looked with some misunderstanding, as if a child, who had just been told that Santa Claus does not exist. Of course, if he were a normal man, he would certainly have admired the girl's willingness to act in the name of a good cause and her willingness to die for the fulfillment of what she considers right - but after becoming a Servant, Ainz was deprived of all sense of empathy for the human race and therefore looking at the girl, the only thing he could say is...

"But you will die," Ainz blinked a couple of times uncomprehendingly, and then turned his eyes to Serenity standing nearby, as if seeking support from her, "You will die and you will not achieve anything, your death will be a waste."

"Most likely," however, Jeanne instead patted her neck, as if embarrassed by what was said. Not by the fact that she dies, but by the fact that her death will be useless - "But I can't just sit and watch what she does with France. Even more - she is, after all, in a sense, me... And therefore I feel myself responsible for all the actions that she has already done - or she will still do."

Ainz blinked at it several times, then opened his mouth to protest the girl, but opened and closed his mouth several times and stopped talking. All his arguments were somehow connected with the fact that Jeanne would die in battle without achieving any result, so if she was not disturbed by these two important points, then Ainz could not object to her on the merits.

"Ah, ahem ..." the guy coughed, not understanding what exactly he should have said in that case, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," but this time Jeanne just shook her head, "I have to do it. Even if the probability of victory is negligible - I still have to do it."

Ainz stared at the girl at that, then blinked several times. Was she like Touch Me in her quest? Of course, in a sense, yes, but ...

Touch Me was a man with a broad soul. If he saw the weak — he would help, if he saw someone who got into difficulties — he would help, if he saw injustice - he would help. If he had seen a gang of five attack a defenseless girl, he would stand up for her. Even if it was a gang of ten, even twenty people! He was trained, full of implants and improvements, had a weapon and a certain reputation - he could beat three, five, even ten - to frighten the rest - if the chance of this event was low - he would help anyone in the need. However, looking at a man who is falling into the abyss - he would not jump after him, hoping that he would suddenly grow wings behind his back. He would not commit suicide in an attempt to do the impossible. What Jeanne herself planned to do at the moment.

"Khm ..." Ainz fell silent on this for a couple of seconds, to which Serenity looked at her Master with doubt and question, "I see."

Ainz was completely at a loss- he didn't know neither how he should have responded to these words and plans of the girl, nor how he should have acted at the moment.

"Clear," the mage said again, as if trying to convince himself that the incident was normal, "In that case, the actions are clear."

Ainz sighed, then turned his eyes to the girl.

"In any case, meeting with the resurrected Jeanne is necessary not only for you, but also for us," Ainz nodded. Perhaps he was better informed about the reason why he was here at all and how he was involved in this situation at the moment, but seeing that Jeanne did not show interest in the actions of Ainz - he decided not to inform the girl of excessive information - "Therefore, in this matter, we are allies. However, a direct attack on Orleans is suicide - we need to prepare, conduct reconnaissance, gather information and more allies before we can challenge the Dragon Witch. Therefore, I propose an alliance on the condition that we are not going to Orleans at the moment, but will spend time searching for allies and intelligence."

After listening to the proposal Ainz, she slowly nodded. Of course, Ainz himself was not fully convinced that the Singularity had called for other Servants besides Jeanne, but even if they could find nothing other than ten ordinary people and use them for reconnaissance, that was good enough for Ainz.

"Okay," the girl smiled at Ainz. "In that case, we are allies."

"Of course," Ainz nodded, and then extended his hand to the girl, "Contract?"

"Huh?" - however, instead of the expected agreement, the girl hesitated for a second, - "I, hm…"

Jeanne cast her gaze somewhere, but Ainz, following in his wake, found only Serenity, who was staring intently at Jeanne.

'Hm, does she still execute my order?' - Ainz shook his head - 'Such diligence deserves praise.'

Probably the right way to praise in the current conditions would be money or rest, but the young Serenity reminded Ainz too much of child or a kitten, because of that he practically stretched out his hand and patted the back of the girl's head, making her smile with her eyes only. At first, he ran his hand through the girl's hair once, after that a second, and a third time, and only a minute later did he notice himself continuing to stroke the girl like a cat and was able to exert a little effort to break away from his occupation. As for Serenity, she only needed to feel how Ainz raised his hand from her head to instantly stretch after it, and when the mage still stopped stroking the girl, she looked at him with a look of a child ready to cry, from whom the most delicious candy was taken away from right under her nose.

"Khm," only this cough made Ainz remember that Jeanne was in the room with them at the same time and look at her, "You are extremely close to each other!"

At that, Ainz blinked and looked at Serenity. "This is natural. I'm still her Master. It may be strange, but sometimes I just have the urge to stroke Serenity, you know, like a pet…"

"SPARE ME THE DETAILS!" - on this, reddened Jeanne just covered her ears with her hands, forcing Ainz to shrug. Strange creatures, these Servants.

Arthuria observed how Mashu appeared first from the gates of the fortress, then Cu Chulainn and only after that her Master - Ainz himself. However, although she was warned about the appearance of a new ally in the form of Jeanne d'Arc, the fourth figure did not follow the three people who appeared.

However, this feature, although it was noticed by Arthuria was left without her attention, therefore, having waited until Ainz moved to the required distance from the fort, the girl approached according to the orders of the Master without any reaction.

However, as soon as she approached, Ainz broke the spell, allowing the invisibility to slip from Jeanne, giving Arthuria a close look at Jeanne.

"Huh?" - the first reaction of the Holy One on the appearance of Arthuria herself, however, was bewilderment fraught with apprehension - but before Ainz or anyone else had time to intervene - Jeanne herself shook her head slightly, chasing away thoughts from herself, then stretched her hand "Jeanne d'Arc."

Looking at the hand extended to her, Arthuria nodded and confidently pressed her back, - "Arthuria Pendragon."

"Arthuria?" - for a moment, Jeanne thought, after which her face brightened, - "The legendary King Arthur himself! But I thought King Arthur was a man…"

"I thought that Jeanne d'Arc was the savior of France," Jeanne gasped at these words, and then, looking at Arthuria a little intimidated, she laughed awkwardly and hurried away from her eyes.

Jeanne moved away from her somewhere towards the Master, after which Arthuria nodded to herself and turned around...

To instantly swing her blade to the side.

In response to this, she heard only a curse, uttered in Cu Chulainn's voice, after which, turning on the spot, she was saw the body of Caster laying on the ground.

"Are you always so nervous?" - Caster was curious, not rising from the ground, - "Or is it a special occasion today?"

The girl did not deign to reply to these words, simply returned the blade to the sheath and turned it away.

"You're still so unfriendly," said the Celt, after which he began to slowly rise from the ground.

"I felt your approach," the girl finally decided to explain her actions, "And acted instinctively."

"And as I see, you are not used to reflecting on instincts," Cu Chulainn muttered to himself, then scratched his head and sighed, "Honestly, I could say that you are still sulking at your last loss, but even if I knew you only for a week, it seems to me that you are not the kind of person who would be offended by anyone simply because he turned out to be better than you in something."

On this, Arthuria was silent for a second and Cu Chulainn listened attentively - perhaps he still managed to hurt the pride of a knight in a body of a girl? But no, keeping silent for a few moments, the girl shook her head negatively. "What happened then has nothing to do with my current state."

"Maybe," Cu Chulainn shrugged at that. The Servants called by the Throne of Heroes each time were completely new personalities - except for a couple of rare exceptions that even Cu Chulainn himself could not call remember- therefore, it was easy to assume this was the case even in the case of the second meeting of two Servants that fought each other in one of the past Holy Grail Wars. It was especially important that Arthuria died in that War, so for her those memories were no more than a distant dream - while for Cu Chulainn it was a fact that happened to his current self.

Thinking a little, Cu Chulainn asked a new question.

"The Master fits well with the girls," in confirmation of these words, Caster nodded in the direction of Ainz, who at the moment conversing Jeanne, explaining something to her at the same time as Mashu, and at the same time occasionally kept up with the discussion on ruffling Serenity .

"Perhaps," the girl answered laconically, then she looked at Cu Chulainn, "Is that all?"

"What! Are you still angry!" - to this, Cu Chulainn only laughed, - "We are now all friends and allies, doing one thing, fighting on the same side! You can chat with a man!"

"I can," the girl answered laconically, after which she looked the guy from head to toe, "But I don't want to."

"Meanie," concluded Cu Chulainn and stretched on the spot, "Have you always been so unsmiling?"

Such behavior of Cu Chulainn only annoyed Arthuria more, forcing her to take a close look at the mage.

"I don't think we've ever met," Arthuria shook her head, "But somehow I'm sure you don't have to say so much. Child of light, you are the owner of a magic spear and the famous killer of monsters, in your legend there are no feats associated with persuasion. So why are you talking so much?"

"This is the biggest phrase that you said to anyone for the whole week and all of it is about me!" - On this, Cu Chulainn broke into a smile, however, having noticed how the irritated Arthuria turned away from him, he hurried to correct himself, - "Honestly, I am really not so sociable... In normal conditions. However, my current body is not exactly me."

If Arthuria was interested in such words, then the girl didn't show anything, so Cu Chulainn, after a pause, was forced to continue, - "Cu Chulainn as a mythological hero knew how to cast spells- and very well, don't misunderstand me! But still his legend tells of him as a Lancer, not a Caster - so instead of the real Cu Chulainn I am a team hero of Celtic Druidism, created at the heart with the real Cu Chulainn. In other words, in me there are not only the features of the present Cu Chulainn, but also the features prescribed by the people of the Celts and the Druids - wisdom, talkativeness, desire to have fun, desire for feats and craziness…"

"Although the last three may have something in common with my real personality," the guy patted his neck, and then smiled at woman. She, however, didn't turn around to him, continuing to observe Ainz who was nearby.

"Oh, okay," finally he was forced to admit his defeat -at least to himself-, after which he turned around, - "I'll go see the Master."

However, as soon as he took a few steps away from the girl, he suddenly heard a quiet voice behind him.

"Two for one, this is an unfair battle," Arthuria spoke softly and Cu Chulainn was sure that at that moment she had not even changed her facial expression, "In any one-on-one battle I would not lose."

For a moment, Caster, having heard this, stopped, then grinned.

"Then we are somehow going to see if you are as good as you say," grunted the guy under his breath and whistling, then he headed away.

The explanations to Jeanne of the current situation in which she found herself, as well as the explanation to the Servants of their future plan, did not take long and literally ten minutes later Medusa moved after the main group of Servants. Of course, perhaps under normal conditions, the girl should not have moved far from the Master, whom she had to protect, or at least she would conduct reconnaissance, as one of the fastest Servants present — however, Archer coped well with the role of reconnaissance, tracking the perimeter around — especially now, after he was enlightened, in particular, to the names of his opponents - and her Master was clearly not so weak that the twenty meters distance between Medusa and Ainz meant something to him. Moreover, thanks to the movement through the use of "Mass Fly", the spell Ainz had cast, they moved too quickly for Medusa to be needed in the current conditions for anything.

Therefore, the Witch from the Formless Island only quietly watched the total mass of Servants moving forward. Well, watch in her own sense.

Although, perhaps, sometimes it was somewhat difficult to do without her own vision - it was not as scary as it might seem at first glance - she was still a Servant and her capabilities had excellent possibilities in terms of observing the people around her. Perhaps even someone could say that the girl had seen even more than other people. In a sense, it was so - however, most likely, it was connected not with the peculiarities of her perception, but with her attentive attitude towards the people around her.

The girl herself was not particularly concerned about the goals of her call, or her orders - at least for the time being. She was also not concerned about the battles awaiting her, her allies, or her opponents, and in general, she was very calm in her surroundings — she simply moved forward according to the instructions of her Master, implicitly noting the details surrounding her. Not in the volume of a fully-fledged collection of information, but rather at the level of a common understanding. Cu Chulainn is frivolous and loud. Arthuria - extremely collected. Serenity - devoted to the level of madness. Ainz...

Incomprehensible.

The girl continued to move forward — she didn't have a particular need to meet with Ainz or communicate with him — as there was no need to communicate with anyone at all. She just did what she was called for.

The more unexpected for her was the voice that rang in her head - "Medusa? Are you okay?"

At first, she was not even able to understand who exactly turned to her - however, referring to her connection, the girl found out with some surprise that she was in contact at the moment with none other than her Master.

"Fully," the girl replied calmly to Ainz. "Did I give cause for concern?"

"Mmm," the mage hesitated a bit, "Not really. It just seemed strange to me that you are so distanced from the other Servants. "

"Did I accidentally lag behind the group? "- the girl immediately rushed to check herself, but did not find what she was looking for, turned to Ainz -" It seems not, I still maintain the same distance as before. "

"This is not what I meant" - Ainz objected to the girl, after which, after a moment of silence, he collected his thoughts and said, "You do not communicate with any of the Servants and keep yourself apart. Is everything good?"

'Hah?' - the girl stopped for a second - 'Does he... worry about the fact that I have problems? That I can't fight?'

"Everything is goodl" - the girl hurried to object to him - "This will not affect my battles."

"Oh, hm, this is good" - Ainz hurried to convince the girl, after which, after a little more silence, he turned to her - "But this is not exactly what I meant. That is... can you communicate with the Servants? Have you had any conflicts? I hope no one bothered you?"

Medusa even stopped for a few seconds after such reflection, waiting for the thought to continue, before realizing what Ainza was worrying about.

'That is, he is talking …' - the girl tried to gather in her head a solid thought - 'If I'm ... Shy? Or had a fight with someone?'

Such a thought was stupid in its essence, but the girl could not interpret the word of Ainz in any other way.

"I ..." - the girl stopped, not knowing how exactly she should have answered - "I'm fine. I'm just not a very sociable person. "

Medusa felt even a little stupid, uttering such words, as if she were a schoolgirl who was asked by the teacher about why she does not communicate with her classmates.

"Yes?" - Ainz seemed to take an interest again - "Well, maybe ... just if you have problems, then..."

From these words, Medusa for a second stopped thinking. For some reason, a comparison came to her mind, as if a big adult was comforting her, a little girl, and said that if she suddenly had problems at school, he would definitely solve them. It was a stupid idea for Medusa, but at the same time - some kind of extremely sweet, because of that, instead of laughing at the thought, the girl felt a kind of an inner smile.

"Everything is fine, Master," the girl finally said in the end, "I am an adult woman and I can deal with similar problems if they arise. At the moment, I just don't really want to chat."

"O" - the Master was surprised at this thought, after which the girl literally could see how he awkwardly rubs the back of his head, as if an adult to whom the child, whom he used to see as a first-grader, suddenly said that he was finally promoted to join her friends list - "Hmm ... Yes, I beg your pardon. It's just ... I sometimes forget - you all look so young ... Hm, I apologize, again, I'm not talking about that! "

"It's okay, Master" - the girl finally sighed, and then felt the connection with the Master fade. Young, hmm ... Although, perhaps, for Ainz, even someone like her, the Witch, who had lived far more than a few hundred years, was young.

Frankly, Medusa still could not make up her mind about Ainz. Strong, scary, evil necromancer, not hesitating for even a second before killing someone. And at the same time, the dialogue that just took place with the girl was more like a father when trying to see his daughter join the company of new friends. Medusa simply could not understand who Ainz really was - a cruel and heartless necromancer, anxious about his Servants, or a troubled father who gained strength to match the magi of the Age Of Gods.

The girl shook her head several times, after which she remembered the list of brief characteristics made up by the people around her, after which she changed the definition which stood next to Ainz's name in her mind - now it says "absolutely incomprehensible".

"Your spell is really something!" - Jeanne already had time to rejoice for the umpteenth time. Under normal conditions, she was immune to magic — at least in her own words — but being called up now, when her protection against magic decreased simultaneously with her parameters, the girl received not only all the associated disadvantages, but also pluses — one of which was the ability to use the "Mass Flight", - "We will be able to arrive in Charite before sunset! It will be possible to spend the night in the "Three Goslings" - I once spent the night there! After Orleans is the best place in all of France!"

"Well, well," Ainz only nodded to the girl and then smiled at her in response.

"You are annoyed by this no less than me - aren't you?" - for a moment Mashu was startled when the voice of Serenity rang out over her ear, but she still managed to take control of herself.

"Serenity?" - Mashu looked over her shoulder at the Assassin, and then asked again, - "What are you talking about?"

"Jeanne," Serenity replied to this in a bit more of detail, "Her relationship with the Master. So familiar and close …"

"Hmm?" - Mashu didn't think about it at all until that moment, so she looked closer at Jeanne a little more attentively, but, not finding what Serenity had apparently expected she would find, she looked at the Servant in reply, - "I don't see anything special in her behavior around Master."

Serenity looked at Mashu perplexedly at these words, then blinked several times and, as if understanding something, she then closed her eyes and nodded several times affirmatively, "Ah, yes, it seems that only I can see the Master's actions through and through."

"Hmm?" - Mashu once again interestedly looked at Serenity, - "What are you talking about?"

"You have experienced it yourself, haven't you?" - A question to the question was the only answer from Serenity, - "When the Master speaks. When he moves. Even when he is just silent - in posture, in movements - there is something that makes you look at him - isn't it?"

Mashu just wanted to brush aside these words, but suddenly she could not. At the moment when she already wanted to refute the words of Serenity, something suddenly made her slow down a bit and recall the few moments when Mashu was left alone with Ainz.

The first meeting... The moment of transfer to the first Singularity, the Singularity F... Meeting in the training hall.

Masha remembered each of these meetings, after which she tried to remember what she felt during these meetings - and suddenly realized that in all these meetings, in some strange way, Ainz could - even if he spoke quite a little bit - charm her, touch something in the depths of her soul...

"Well, well," in the end, Mashu still tried to answer, "Senpai is really good at speaking and it is always nice to talk with him..."

With these words, Serenity, without changing her expression, looked at Mashu with such a suspicious look that she had to give in even more, "Well, he knows very well how to talk and is very pleasant to talk with... But even if it is, then what? Not that I was against senpai talking to people."

Serenity looked at Mashu again - but she did not correct anything that was said, forcing herself to look away.

"Exactly," she said to herself, "I'm the only person who sees the situation as it is."

"Mashu, you like Master," Serenity looked at Mashu after these words, when she saw how her cheeks were beginning to fill with a blush and her colleague opened her mouth in shock, decided to soften the blow a little bit, "Like a Master. Of course, as a person, like a senpai, a Master and a man you can talk with."

"Huh..." the girl suddenly stopped halfway to denial and embarrassment and, after thinking a little, nodded uncertainly, "Of course, yes. As a friend and senpai…"

"Yes, yes," Serenity hurried to reassure her, and then she turned her gaze to Ainz and Jeanne, who continued to tweet something in his ear, "In any case, you would not hate it if the Master stopped paying attention to you?"

"Huh?" - Mashu saw that somewhere in this matter there was a clear trick, but she nodded slowly, - "Yes."

"In this case, you understand that if the Master starts paying attention to other girls, like this Jeanne, then he will spend less time on you - and me?" - Serenity glanced at Mashu and, before she could argue with her, put out the whole idea, - "It will be worse for everyone if the Master starts paying attention to other girls - especially considering what monstrous power he has in any conversation…"

"Hm?" - the girl looked at Serenity in response, after which she looked at Ainz...

"No," - in the end, Mashu nevertheless decided to refuse Serenity's offer - "Senpai is just talking with Jeanne - and he has every right to talk with her... As a friend, yes."

"Hm," Serenity just glanced back at Mashu, then sighed, "Well, Mashu, but know that once you realize everything yourself — and when you will understand what I was offering now — and what you missed, the chance will be irretrievably lost."

In response to these words, Mashu only looked suspiciously at Serenity, but she had already moved away from the girl, leaving her alone with her shield in her hands. Having taken another glimpse at Ainz, the girl felt how her cheeks were reddening.

No, she, of course, liked senpai - but only in a friendly sense! As a senpai and a Master, he, too, was beyond all praise... And he also saved her in the past ...

The girl tightened her grip on her shield, then she felt the blush slowly rising up her cheeks.

She liked him, but not in the romantic way! Of course not!

A blush treacherously grabbed his cheeks and climbed over the ears.

In general, this situation was quite difficult...

"I already see the towers spiers!" - Jeanne smiled happily at the moment when she could see the far peaks of Charité on the horizon, but unlike Jeanne, as he approached the castle, Ainz only became more and more gloomy. As if to confirm Ainz's thoughts and feelings of gloom that were rising with each meter passed, Archer said "There are no soldiers on the walls and no flags are hanging."

As they approached, each of those present could see more and more clearly that the walls were damaged - burnt and torn to pieces. In many places, there were holes and bodies thrown here and there.

"What?" - but Jeanne, only seeing the signs of the battle, turned to the Servants accompanying her, - "Siege? British?!"

"No," Ainz himself shook his head at that, then pointed to a huge carcass that was sprinkled with foliage, which was lying next to the gate. Jeanne, having looked narrowly herself, gasped.

In the moat, torn and already partially rotted, lay a wyvern — somewhat bigger than the one killed by Ainz at the fort a little earlier this afternoon.

"The Dragon Witch," Archer stated, after which he glanced at Jeanne.

It was sad to see Jeanne - shock and disbelief simultaneously mixed on her face at the moment when she saw the city, destroyed by the attack of the forces of another, revived Jeanne.

"But... Really..." Jeanne glanced at her body in horror, "Did I really do it all..."

Of course, the Grail put the information that her revived Alter-Ego was rampant in the territory of France - but knowing was one thing, and seeing with her own eyes was completely different.

"The city!" - after this realization, unexpectedly, something inside Jeanne made her twitch, - "There must be survivors in the city!"

"Hold on!" -Ainz barely managed to shout - however, Jeanne, not listening to him at all, rushed forward - to behind the broken gate, where Ainz had sensed earlier what was waiting for her.

Charite was not the largest city, but when the forces of the Dragon Witch attacked the city - half of the French army died defending it.

Seventy thousand undead turned their attention to Jeanne.

Charisma - is one of the very common personal skills that are primarily responsible for the ability to lead people. High Charisma does not mean the ability to command, rule or fight, but is solely responsible for the strength and attractiveness of the personality of the Servant, as well as defining the Servant as a person. Charisma does not have to signify the attractiveness of only a positive character - on the contrary, the most powerful and dangerous dictators often possessed outstanding personal charisma - it only means "the ability or skill of the Servant to present himself as a leader, that should be followed by people."