50

Jeanne d'Arc Alter, or as she was now called among the other servants, the Dragon Witch, didn't really like to fight — oh no, she liked fighting enough, she enjoyed the shedding of blood and liked killing her, or more recently her master's, enemies, but sometimes... just for a while, of course, but sometimes... She liked to enjoy her surroundings in a more peaceful setting.

Moreover, she was now not currently stuck in the fields of France, which she once wanted to destroy, but in distant Italy, which she never knew of, so she could afford to say that... She liked the quiet atmosphere.

But only when in between battles, do not confuse her intentions!

At least that was what the Witch told herself.

Flying above the countryside of Italy with a speed that which the Witch herself, unwillingly admit, could hardly develop nevermind do, she leisurely looked at the plains below and the broken bends of the roads, enjoying the calm atmosphere.

"So, someone used some kind of spell against Ainz" - she sighed - "And now we are urgently going to Rome."

As soon as the Witch was woken up, Ainz announced that they urgently needed to go to Rome to look for the aftermath of the magi's counter-spell that rebounded on the possible enemy. On the one hand - the Witch was somewhat annoyed by the urgent departure from the city of the three Emperors - she have not even tried the local breakfast fare yet! On the other hand, she was in a really good mood recently. Partly - due to the absence of the local beauties. But basically from the fact that she managed... To sleep?

It was a little strange, but over the past week the Witch could not get used to this new circumstance. It turns out she could sleep.

No, of course she understood that sleeping was a basic human ability - and more succinctly, a basic human need of any person really. However, a quiet sleep without dreams was an unexpected luxury for the Witch.

She has not remembered the events of her Singularity particularly well - however, some of the memories of the other Jeanne Alter were available to her. Specifically, her dreams.

Nightmares, rather.

Every night she was tormented by a specific nightmare. Each time the other Jeanne slept the same nightmare would be what awaited her.

She would be back in that narrow prison cell. She would again be tortured by the silent assistant of the cardinal, to force out of her a false confession. Two men in black hoods whose faces she cannot see or recognize would then come to her cell. Then finally she would be led to her execution.

An execution where she would be burned alive.

It is unlikely that anyone could call a death from immolation a mild death, but the death that the Witch would dreamt of was much worse. It was as if time itself was manipulated in order to prolong her torment forcing her to survive the burning just that much longer.

Again and again she would scream.

Every now and again she would pray.

She endured. Then she screamed. Then she prayed. And then she would scream again.

And when her screams was finally enough to wake her out of her sleep and break the silence of the night, the nightmare would end and the Witch would have woken up in a cold, sticky puddle of sweat on her swept bed, desperately trying to heal wounds that hurt even through her nightmare.

However, after Ainz summoned her, the dreams... Stopped. Just gone.

Nothing tormented her sleep anymore. When she fell asleep for the first time after her summoning - she was afraid that her nightmare would visit her again, but now... It was just a normal dream.

The new experience was strange, but it turns out that not much is needed for her happiness. Just to sleep without dreams, without pain, without waking up in sweat, and without the overwhelming desire to never fall asleep again.

Perhaps that is why the Witch was in such high spirits. After all, if everything that comes next turns out to be just as quiet, calm, and peaceful... She will no longer see those dreams.

"Enjoying the view?" Cainabel's grating voice pulled the Witch out of her thoughts, causing her to frown. The goddess, the vampire, or who-the-hell-she-is seemed to know how to determine when any of the Servants are feeling at least minimal pleasure from life and intervened in order to ruin their mood again.

"Go fuck yourself"- the Witch answered calmly. Despite the fact that both Servants were currently moving through the air at the speed of a modern jet fighter - their voice was not distorted and drowned out by the sheer speed of the wind - which was probably caused by Cainabel and her magical contraption, "so that this minor problem would not interfere with our conversation "- damn it. Cainabel already managed to spoil Mashu's mood, having thrashed her for her supposed "alcoholism and her bleak future as a lonely drunkard, only the Master would be so magnanimous to have pity on you," or to laugh at Medusa - "I knew that snakes were deaf, but if you weren't so lucky, without the Master you would have lived without sight too," and now, it seems that, her attention have reached the Witch.

"With joy, but for this I would need a certain kind of equipment. Wouldn't you mind if I used you for it then?" Cainabel grinned, her remark causing the Witch to almost spit take in her direction. This bitch always had something to answer back with.

"I'm not in the mood to talk with you," the Witch glared at the vampire for a second, "If you don't want me to put you on a spit and fry it, you better shut your mouth."

"I never thought that you want me to be just like you so much," Cainabel even turned her threat back at the Witch, who is continuing to fly backward with her gaze locked with the vampire. The Witch jerked her face - not only from the mockery that wounded the Witch much more painfully than she would like to admit, but also from the fact that Cainabel easily controlled the flight magic. The Witch herself needed to concentrate in order to move in the right direction, especially at their current speed, while Cainabel could do it calmly and lazily, as if bored. Although the Witch would not admit it calmly nor easily - but Cainabel was still a goddess.

"I will make you a new asshole in your head if you do not leave me alone right now," the Witch turned away from Cainabel.

"Oh, really?" Cainabel grinned, feeling her complete superiority to the Witch. "Well, watching what the Grail did to you, I tend to believe that you are not new to such matters."

The Witch jerked her face again. Each time she tried to insult Cainabel, she answered with something just as insulting, moreover, with a hint of the Witch's own past experiences, which wounded the Witch much more painfully. If the Witch herself knew something about Cainabel's past, perhaps she herself could have managed to come up with a decent insult, but the fact that she did not know anything about Cainabel stymied her efforts. Neither Da Vinci, Jeanne, nor Ainz gave her any information about the vampiric Servant, and although Cainabel probably could have told her something, the Witch doubted that there would be a man or woman so stupid and desperate as to even try to talk to Cainabel by their own volition.

"Go and die somewhere under a bush," the Witch is not able to continue to exchange mockery, so she turned to simple rudeness.

"Two points out of a hundred for the insult," Cainabel twisted her hand in the air with a disappointed expression on her face, "One for being a true Heroic Spirit and the second for being loved by the people during your life. Oh wait…"

The Witch clenched her fists. She wanted to attack the girl, she wanted to thrust her blade straight into Cainabel's eye, but she understood that no matter how much she wanted to do it, it was still just wishful thinking. Even if the Witch was that confident in her own strength, she could tell that she could hardly hold out against Cainabel for even ten seconds, if she fight seriously. Although in a battle between them, Cainabel would hardly stopped playing with her and pepper her with ridicule even for a second, which only infuriated the Witch even more.

"Not even a spirit, a hero, or even a warrior," Cainabel grimaced in contempt. "It is unlikely that there will be anyone other than the Master who will accept you..."

"Eat shit and die," the Witch answered not very eloquently, after which she tried to speed up. Cainabel did not even flinch, as if anticipating the actions of the Witch even before she performed them.

"Oh, oh, running away with your tail tucked in?" - Cainabel sighed, "Didn't you reprimand Jeanne for this recently? What a hypocrisy! I did not expect this from the heroine of France! Oh, wait, again, I was mistaken…"

The Witch could not hold her hate back anymore, grabbing her blade, - "You are already fucking dead."

"If it weren't for my Master, I would have drained all the blood out of you a long time ago," Cainabel grinned, "But the Master protects you even when you are unable to see it. Appreciate it."

The Witch grabbed her blade so tightly her fist was trembling, looking straight at Cainabel. It doesn't matter if she loses! It doesn't matter if she breaks her Master's order! Fuck everything - she just wanted to stuff Cainabel's mouth with iron and burn her remains - just so that she would finally shut up!

"Enough," the voice sounded next to the Witch, forcing her to turn. For a second, it almost seemed to her that Ainz had ordered them to calm down, at least, he was the only one who could order Cainabel around - but the Witch was surprised to find that the one whose voice interfered with the possible fight was from Jeanne.

'Well, why did you suddenly decided to interfere?' - The Witch jerked her cheek - 'Now you will simply be mocked straight to your face and then run away to cry to the side.'

"Oh, and here's the real Jeanne!" - Cainabel feignedly rejoiced, putting great emphasis to the word "real" in order to throw one more mockery at the Witch, - "What is it? Did the heaven on earth, where your saints were regularly tormented and excecuted gave you some kind of strength?"

Jeanne swayed from a mockery as if she was struck, but with a sigh, the girl looked at Cainabel confidently - "Enough with the mockeries."

Cainabel, no matter how she tried to hide it was a little surprised, to the pleasure of the Witch - "Wow, it looks like the blood of your martyrs did gave you a spine! So that means now, you probably have some kind of vampirism. At least that would explain why you had such a bloodbath with your opponents."

Jeanne swayed once more - her confident facade cracked, but once more with a deep breath, she was still able to raise her eyes back at Cainabel, "Please stop. Stop this pointless fight."

"Seriously?" Cainabel grimaced. "Experiencing your stellar intellect, I'm sure that you could have been released from captivity easily. One could just dress a pig up in a dress and hardly anyone would even notice the difference."

Jeanne swayed again - the Witch could swear that behind the whole facade of strength that she was trying to present, she almost broke down, running away to cry again. Cainabel felt this too, so, smiling, prepared to deliver the last blow.

The Witch would not allow this. Not for Jeanne's sake, of course not... but for the sake of depriving Cainabel of another victory.

"How do you think Ainz would react if I tell him of your antics?" The Witch disliked appealing to Ainz as a threat, but this was the only way that she could come up with to shut Cainabel up, for the time available to her anyway.

And suddenly... It worked.

Cainabel suddenly froze, after which she looked at the Witch with a contemptuous look, "Are you running to your daddy to protect and save you? Hmmph, any further argument with you is simply beneath me."

After that, Cainabel just looked at Jeanne, after which she easily turned in the air and went to her next target, apparently this time it was Cu Chulainn's turn.

The Witch exhaled. Perhaps this would not count as her victory - and even so... damn it, Cainabel left with the last word! But still, this was not a complete loss, so the Witch could congratulate herself on this.

"Thank you," - suddenly came the voice of Jeanne. The Witch thought for a second, trying to come up with a reason why she would be thanking her, and then wrinkled her brow.

"That has nothing to do with you," the Witch looked at Cainabel, who had already entered into a conversation with Cu Chulainn, "I just wanted to shut up the little fuck."

"Even so," Jeanne smiled suddenly, looking at the Witch, "Thank you."

The Witch suddenly looked at Jeanne.

Didn't she even understand who she was smiling at? The Witch was her nemesis, her antithesis, the destroyer of France, the Dragon Witch!

Jeanne was not so stupid as not to see it. But still she smiled at the Witch and thanked her.

The Witch suddenly felt something strange.

"Shut up," the Witch quickly turned away from Jeanne, trying to hide the smile on her face.

"Have we arrived yet?" Nero's voice made Ainz sigh.

"No," he replied, as he had done many times before.

Silence reigned for a couple of seconds. But only for a couple of seconds.

"And now?" Nero asked painfully.

"No," Ainz answered with a stoic face.

Ainz's flight should hardly have taken half an hour, but barely ten minutes into the journey Nero began to pester him with inane questions. And she continued to do this for the last fifteen minutes.

"And now?" Nero asked Ainz plaintively, despite the fact that she could see for herself the vista of fields and plains that opened before her and not the cityscape of Rome. She could, if she was not staring at Ainz all the time, without moving her face back forward.

"Yes!" Ainz suddenly replied.

"Umu?!" the girl spun around, trying to see Rome, the approach of which she managed to miss.

"Oh, sorry, we are not," Ainz answered calmly, hiding a small grin.

"Umu!" Nero said accusingly, after which she puffed up her face and turned away from the magician.

"Just like a child," Ainz concluded, looking at the pouting Emperor.

"You are the Empre... Emperor," Ainz sighed, "And you volunteered to be a guide. Shouldn't you know better when we would arrive?"

Nero pouted for a couple of seconds, and then turned to Ainz, "I had never had a chance to fly before. I thought it would be faster!"

Ainz sighed - he was moving to the speed limit of Flight. Of course, he could use "Greater Flight", whose speed was hardly limited at all, as well as teleportation, which would allow him to arrive in Rome in just an instant, but due to the fact that he did not give his Servants a necklace with "Greater Flight" means that they would , obviously, instantly lagged behind him and possibly get lost. Not to mention the fact that he actually doesn't know the area, especially where Rome specifically, using teleportation he could easily have missed Rome by a couple tens of kilometers.

"We are moving at supersonic speed," Ainz sighed, then thought for a moment. "Do you understand what supersonic speed is?"

"Of course!" Nero immediately glanced at him, "I myself am the Fifth Emperor of Rome! There are no such things that I do not know of! In addition, I have the knowledge from my summoning as a Servant…"

"Is that so?" Ainz nodded. Strange, all of the Servants whom he had met with had an understanding of the local world at a very good level. Whether it was Nero, who somehow, know what "supersonic speed" means, or Cainabel, who had learned to fish out facts about the other Servants after her summoning. While Ainz himself, even if he indeed received some basic information about the world around him — magical circuits, the Mages Association, and so on — for some reason also did not have access to some information... Like the fact that he could view the parameters of his Servants, for example. That was weird.

Nevertheless, it's not something that is causing Ainz any worry at the moment. At the moment, he was somewhat concerned about another thing.

'Behind the barrier, then…' - Ainz thought for a moment. The fact that his defensive barrier was activated was a very common occurrence - many magicians wielded at least some kind of spells for collecting information, of course including Ainz himself, not to mention magicians specialized in information warfare. It was strange that someone inside the barrier could survive the counter-spell.

Considering that Ainz was not a specialized magician in this regard, the rank of magic that he could use for a retaliatory attack was very limited. Even so, his standard counter-spell was the Greater Fire Wave, a sixth-rank spell. It was strange for him that he even considered this, but for a Servant without Magical Defense, this would be enough to destroy even a Servant with an Endurance of rank C and below. Given that the spellcaster was clearly a mage, and considering that mages were usually much weaker physically in battle than the warriors. Even some of his Servants with magical abilities, whom he defined as "almost-warriors" by his accounting of their build, had Endurance of this rank and below - it was strange for him to imagine that the magician who cast the spell could survive his counter-spell. Of course, if the enemy possessed Magical Defense, then the situation could be different, Ainz suspected that Magical Defense of rank A and higher could completely neutralize his counter-spell. However, as strange as it may seem, magicians in this world usually did not possess specialized protection from magic, which was contrary to Ainz's ideas of balance. That is, the warriors fought with their body, which means they had to be protected from physical damage. Mages fought with their spells, which means they had to be protected from magical damage.

On the other hand, Ainz also did not see protection from physical damage among the Servants so far, except for Cainabel and the knowledge that he had about himself. This was probably the problem of this whole world.

"We almost arrived ~ umu!" - Nero's voice caught Ainz's attention.

Looking closely, he was able to see the city, stretching into the distance and in breadth. It seemed as if the whole horizon was overtaken by the city. Some information from Punitto Moe that ancient cities were large due to the inability of its houses to accommodate a lot of people and the lack of multi-story buildings penetrated Ainz's mind, but he waved it off.

"Get down ~ umu!" Nero smirked, and then immediately rushed down.

Ainz, hesitating for a second, nevertheless agreed that an unexpected entrance into the city from the sky would hardly have been received positively, passed on his instruction to the Servants and went down after Nero, arriving next to her in a couple of seconds.

"Ah, Rome!" The girl smiled, ceasing to look at the city from a bird's point of view and walked forward, "It has been such a long time that I have visited, that it is as if from a past life!"

"Well, yes, they seem to have kicked you out of it," Cainabel's voice came from nearby, full of mockery.

Nero clearly wanted to reply angrily at the mocking remark, but when she faced Cainabel's mocking look, she sighed and became saddened instead, "I suppose you're right..."

"Cainabel," Ainz sighed, forcing Cainabel to immediately fall on one knee, "Enough. Follow the rules of decency - we are still at someone else's home."

"As my Master commands," Cainabel smiled a soft and meek smile, instantly changing her persona from the usual angry and sarcastic one.

"See, Cainabel," Jeanne's voice came from not far away, so that Ainz could turn and see the smile on the girl's lips, "You do know how to be polite!"

"This is probably somehow connected with the fact that a couple of uneducated peasants did not give birth to me," Cainabel, without changing her meek smile, threw a mockery at Jeanne.

"Cainabel," Ainz sighed. It was difficult to manage her even if you had complete control over her, no matter how strange it may sound - "Refrain also from insulting your allies. In order not to give out information to any possible eavesdropper."

"Of course, my lord," Cainabel bowed respectfully.

"Amazing ~ umu!" Nero made an exaggeratedly shocked expression on her face. "How do you manage to control the girl like that?!"

"Some experience from…" - Ainz thought about the term, - "A previous life, I suppose."

"You obviously had an interesting life then ~ umu," Nero smiled at Ainz.

"Yes, probably," he smiled lightly in response.

"By the way, Nero," Ainz thought, looking at the approaching gates of Rome this time, who is unlike France, is populated with cheerful merchants on their carts and soldiers lazily inspecting the visitors, "Are you sure that you will not have problems going here? Even if you are the Emperor of Rome, in fact, you represent the other side in the war…"

"Umu?" The girl looked at Ainz, then smiled, "Your worry while welcome, is somewhat misplaced. Perhaps we are indeed in a disagreement with Romulus... But we are not enemies. We are just allies that ended up in different camps... Even if we do not agree with him in our views - we respect each other ~ umu."

"Good." Ainz smiled. For example, Akemi, the younger sister of Yamaiko one of his guildmates, she was not a member of the guild and not even a heteromorph, so technically she was an enemy- but they still often talked, meet and then even invited her inside to Nazarick.

So, even for those who would normally be considered to be sworn enemies, there was a path of peaceful coexistence. It was nice to know.

Ainz went through the gate before he was stopped by a hail.

"Halt!" Came a voice, after which, because of the shadows cast by the columns - Ainz was surprised by how many people could be placed at the gate — a man suddenly appeared, "Who are you?!"

"Just a traveler," Ainz smiled at the man who wore the armor of the legionnaire — well, at least what he imagined a legionnaire would wear.

"Are you planning to enter Rome through my post?" The man remarked, frowning. "I see by your attire that you are not even a citizen of Rome! You shall not pass!"

After which the man's gaze suddenly stumbled upon Nero, who before the conflict simply stood silently nearby.

"Oh, My Emperor!" The man instantly retreated, embarrassed, after which he lowered his head somewhat fearfully, "Please forgive me, I did not notice your presence!"

"All is well, Prefect Lansel," the girl smiled, after which she pointed at Ainz and his Servants, "They are my guests. They are allowed the privilege to enter Rome."

"Such is the Emperor's word - such is the word of Rome," the man smiled and stepped back, after which he again embarrassedly hung his head, "I apologize... After all, the new Emperor of Rome is..."

"It's all right," the girl smiled a little strainedly, "You may call me your Emperor. This title belongs to me rightfully."

"Of course," the man nodded right away, after which he looked at Nero, "Do you need an escort? If so, I will send one of the slaves."

"No need to bother," Nero waved the legionnaire off, after which she took a step forward, "We will be able to manage ~ umu."

Ainz, without showing any reaction to the conversation, simply followed after Nero, but he managed to take only a few steps into Rome before a voice reached his ears.

"Slavery…" - Mashu's voice joylessly remarked. On one hand, she probably already knew about this facet of their current location and civilization - but to simply know and to see with her own eyes were very different things.

"I can somewhat understand the point of view of the one who swore to the Celtic gods, especially about revenge against the Romans," Cu Chulainn, moving next to her, made Mashu raise her head to the man, "And this city is full of those."

Although Cu Chulainn kept his usual tone, Ainz could see that he did not particularly like this topic.

That was understandable, his civilization did suffer the predation of the Romans. Ainz did not even have to turn around to know the expression on the face of Jeanne or the Witch, however...

"I see the irritation on your face," the voice of Medusa reminded Ainz of her presence. After last night she didn't talk with anyone else anyway — however, her current tone and behavior was somehow very different from her usual behavior — "Are you really against slavery?"

"I am against human slaves," Cainabel's voice sounded dismissive, "It's better to kill people on sight. Even their slavery still needs to be earned."

Nero, either not having heard the conversation between the Servants or having decided to ignore it, only continued to move forward, periodically waving a hand to passers-by who recognized her.

The inside of Rome was not very remarkable for Ainz, that is of course before he could see what he came to Rome for.

"Hm" - Ainz thought for a moment, looking at the pinkish-purple column rising into the sky - "A magical barrier..."

Despite the fact that judging by its size on the distance, the column itself was of a very decent size - the barrier's color was completely lost against the boundless sky above the city, so it actually did not attract much attention. Looking at it, Ainz continued on. First of all, he should still meet with the local rulers.

The group managed to walk several streets before Ainz could see the palace of Rome. On the one hand, the palace clearly looked majestic, on the other hand, it was not that much superior to the palace of Antium, therefore it did not attract too much attention from Ainz.

On the other hand, another event attracted the group's attention.

"You motherfucker!" The whip sounded loudly, "Bitch's son! Fucker!"

"I apologize!" The man, although rather the boy, who was hardly twenty years old, stubbornly protected himself from the whip, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it!"

"Of course, I would have fuckin killed you if you did it on purpose!" The overweight man wrapped in a toga, however, did not plan to heed the boy's pleading, "Do you have any idea how much it costs?!"

'Teaching his slaves' - Ainz looked at the scene carefully - 'Or punishing him.'

Ainz remembered from the stories from Punitto Moe that the position of slaves in Rome was clearly not the best possible one... Perhaps even worse than working on some black branch of a Megacorporation...

Looking at this, Ainz did not feel any sympathy for the guy, but the scene itself vividly reminded him of his past life.

In the end, he was not a hero and did not want to protect anyone. But he should not have liked watching such a scene. And so he didn't.

"Hey, headless," the most surprising thing was that the first to defend the slave was none other... Than the Witch.

"Headless?" The man turned in the direction of Ainz, after which he instantly found the Witch's glare.

"Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself," the Witch smirked, "What the hell do you think you are you doing here?"

"I'm disciplining my slave!" The man looked at the Witch, then at Ainz, "Hey you! Why are you letting your woman interfere in other people's affairs?!"

"Your woman?" The Witch barked in surprise, staring at Ainz.

'Well, I got involved with it even when I didn't want to' - Ainz sighed. Although it was unpleasant for him to look at the scene of the slave's beating, it didn't mean that he planned to intervene at all in preventing something like that. But, even if he hadn't planned to get involved, he accidentally got into it because of the Witch.

"I'm sorry," Ainz nodded to the man a little, after which he looked around his Servants. It was not too difficult for him to apologize and simply walk past the beaten slave, but looking at the faces of his Servants, Ainz did not find anyone who would agree with his course of action. Mashu and Jeanne looked angry, Medusa and Cu Chulainn looked at the man with wariness, and the Witch was still in shock at the words used by the man and only Cainabel looked joyful. Of course, any reason for her to kill people was a source of joy.

Just in case, Ainz turned to Nero, casting a glance at her, but she retained a complex expression that could not be determined by Ainz.

It seems that if he simply apologizes and leaves, he may not find any support from the Servants in such a decision. Ainz sighed.

"I apologize, but I would like you to stop it," Ainz tried to say it as polite as possible, "I think your slave has already received enough punishment."

"Who cares what you want and what you think?" The man grimaced. "Go about your business... Barbarian."

Most likely, the assumption of barbarism was made because of Ainz's clothes, but he was not offended by this.

"Please stop it," Ainz smiled, trying to maintain a semblance of goodwill.

"Or what?" The man finally completely distracted from the slave, allowing him to rise from the ground.

A second later, a stone pavement broke next to the man. A small cloud of dust arose from the ground, but it could not hide the blade that was stuck into the pavement. What's even stranger is the fact that the blade was still in its sheath.

"Please go away," this time Ainz's request was supported by another voice that he did not expect. Turning around, he managed to see the outstretched arm that had just thrown the blade into the ground. The outstretched arm of Jeanne d'Arc.

"In the name of the Emperor, stop what you are doing and leave now," Nero finally remarked, forcing the man to retreat right there. Seeing the girl, he instantly became more amicable.

"My Emperor," he instantly changed the tone and his expression, "Of course, we will leave now, please forgive me if I interrupted your procession..."

After only a few seconds the man managed to leave the street, leaving only Ainz, and his Servants, who slowly began to cool down, and Nero, who looked after the departing man with an empty look.

"Yes," she finally sighed, "I didn't want to show such a picture of my empire..."

"Next time, hide your dirty laundry better," the comment came from the Witch.

"Yes, I'm sorry," Nero sighed again, "I... I personally did not support slavery, but it is impossible to remove it in Rome. All the greatness of Rome was founded upon it…"

"Fuck this greatness then," the Witch grimaced, and Ainz could see the silent agreement in the eyes of the other Servants. Except for Cainabel, of course, as she was disappointed that she could not start a bloodbath in the middle of the city.

"Wow, we have some advocates of freedom here!" Came a voice from nearby. Ainz did not even notice how the street around him and the others became empty, because of which the male voice sounded quite loud - however, even then the voice remained loud and deep by itself, Ainz would even say that it was a commanding voice.

Turning to the sound, the magician was able to see the source of the voice, it was a man. Although this man was also still quite boyish from Ainz's point of view, he was clearly less than thirty - maybe twenty-five or something years old. However, to call him "just a man" was impossible.

'He's quite brawny,' Ainz said to himself.

The man who appeared opposite of the group was so muscular that even Caligula when compared to him looked at best as an amateur bodybuilder. Literally every muscle, every vein on his body was outlined and hypertrophied, which made the guy seem like one big illustration on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine. This impression was further enhanced by his short red hair, cut so as to create a straight line on his head, with several strands coming down in front of his face. The whole appearance of a man who literally shouted to him "warrior".

'Jeanne?' Ainz turned on his link instantly to determine the identity of the Servant in front of him, but the information was readily supplied by another source.

"Leonidas," Nero greeted the man.

"Nero," he smiled back, "Finally decided to enter Romulus' service? Great. Where, by the way, is Caesar and Caligula?"

"I'm not here for such an occasion," Nero shook her head, after which she nodded toward Ainz, "I am only here as a guide."

"Oh, who is it?" Leonidas smiled, after which he turned toward Ainz and slapped his chest in greeting, "Leonidas I, King of Sparta."

"Ainz," Ainz smiled back. Another king - "Glad to meet you."

"And they are..." Leonidas waved his hand in the direction of the Servants.

"My Servants," Ainz replied calmly.

"Yo!" Leonidas only waved his hand in a greeting not best suited to the legendary king of Sparta, after which he grinned when Ainz failed to introduce his Servants, "And for what reason are you here?"

"For the sake of negotiations," Ainz looked at Leonidas, "About the barrier."

"Ah, about that," - the man waved his hand, - "Then go to the Big one. Well, or to that toothpick man, he deals with such an issue."

'Toothpick man, hmm…' - Ainz thoughtfully looked at Leonidas - 'Compared to him, any person will look like a toothpick…'

"Why don't you lead us to them then?" Ainz replied.

"Hm..." the man thought for a couple of seconds, after which he glanced at Nero, "Well, if Nero is with you, then we have nothing to fear. Come, he is in the palace, sitting on the throne, as usual."

Ainz smiled, after which he cast another glance at the magical barrier.

The city looked peaceful enough for a city filled with heroes from antiquity, a Divine Ancestor, and a huge magical barrier.

Too peaceful for his taste…

There was no security in the palace, just as there was none of those who would meet with them on the threshold of the palace. On the one hand this might have seemed strange, inside the palace reside Romulus, the Divine Ancestor of Rome. A certain level of respect and at least a group of honor guard should clearly have been present close to him - at least as far as Ainz himself understood the ways of a royal court. But on the other hand, it's unlikely even the best warriors of Rome could compete with even the weakest of the Servants. If one is talking about the Divine Ancestor, then this title clearly implied that even among the rest of the Servants, this Servant had a considerable level of strength.

Ainz remembered Cainabel and grimaced. All that was left was to hope that Romulus was not as strong as Cainabel, otherwise the integrity of his puppet body would be forfeit. Ainz could kill her without having to resort to many of his trump cards... But in the current body and with his current restrictions and limitations - no way.

"I never served as a herald before," came the voice of Leonidas, who led them to the very entrance gate to a place that could be called the throne room, after which the man shrugged, "But oh well. Hey there, welcome to the Big Boss!"

With these words, the man, instead of majestically opening the doors, unexpectedly kicked it in, forcing the doors with a desperate creak, almost flying off the hinges, to open, hitting the inner walls of the palace.

"Indeed, no kings were raised in Sparta..." Mashu's voice came to Ainz and Leonidas's ears, but instead of reacting to this, he only unceremoniously jabbed a finger at the distant huge figure sitting on a stone throne, "That's the guy."

The loud sound that came from the impact of the doors on the walls of the palace could attract the attention of many people inside, if inside the throne room it was populated by throngs of people. However, instead, the huge room turned out to be deserted, except on the huge stone throne on a pedestal in the distance.

There was no hint inside the throne room of the possibility of the presence of other people - no stands and senatorial chairs. It really was the palace of the emperor. Deserted - without carpet paths and even without decorative columns, which, as Ainz feared, were placed everywhere in the architecture of this city. Only a throne and the one sitting on it.

The throne itself was made of stone - carved marble and perhaps even comfortable, but not of gold and not full of excesses. A huge marble throne - on which sat...

'I'm sure he has at least one racial level in giant' - Ainz determined instantly.

The man on the throne was a giant. Ainz in his true form was approaching three meters in height, but this man would tower above him even in this form at least good three heads. He was real titan in terms of size. With dark, bronze skin and muscles... Although it's worth admitting that, in comparison with Leonidas, the man was not so muscular and appeared more like Caligula in this regard, but because of his size, his figure seemed to be the peak of the development of what is possible for the human body.

Huge eyes with black sclera and red pupils opened after with a rumble, after which they gazed first at Ainz, then at Leonidas.

'The eyes are like Caligula's,' Ainz noted another resemblance of the two.

"Leonidas," the man's voice sounded extremely deep, almost stern, "I asked you to be somewhat more restrained in my palace."

"Oops, I forgot," Leonidas said, but his smile showed that he clearly did not show any repentance for his action.

"Technically, this is my palace, and not yours," Nero took a step in front of Ainz, then grimaced at the sight of the man sitting on the throne, but still waved to him, "Hail, Ancestor."

"Nero," the man smiled, and although his enormous features were supposed to make him appear threatening, his smile did not come out frightening at all - rather, even polite, "I have not seen you for a long time, my child."

"This sometimes happens after you take the throne of your child," Nero frowned and sighed.

"I am sorry that this had happened, Nero," Romulus sighed, then rose from his seat and stretched out to his full height, seemingly occupying half of the palace by his presence alone - so overwhelming, and not only because of his great height, but also from his aura of strength it seemed.

'Master' - Jeanne's voice was heard inside his head - 'I can't see his parameters.'

Ainz nodded knowingly, after which he turned to the second person that could determine the parameters of a Servant.

'Cainabel, how strong is he?' - 'Cainabel could not clearly determine the abilities of the enemy, but she could still figure out their level of strength at least.

'Weakling' - Cainabel frowned, but after that she expanded on her opinion a little - 'But, when compared with the other Servants... Maybe a little bit stronger than a worm. I think he could smudge the Witch into a bloody paste with one hand - not that that says a lot.'

Ainz nodded. So Romulus still was not an invincible machine... But he was much stronger than just a normal Servant.

"Greetings, Honorable Ancestor," Ainz took a step forward and bowed his head slightly to Romulus, forcing him to turn his eyes to the man.

"I greet you, child," Romulus smiled, after which he looked at Nero and back, "I think I know why you came to me today. You are somehow connected with the explosion behind the barrier, aren't you?"

"Your intelligence has not failed you," Ainz looked at the man. Even if he had a height of an ordinary person, his presence, posture, glance, and voice would still create pressure on his surroundings, because of which, rather than arguing with him, he only wanted to retreat, bowing his head, and listen.

However, Ainz could not afford it.

"I suppose you would like to discuss the details of this event, but I'm afraid that this is not possible at the moment," Romulus sighed and shook his head a little sadly, after which he looked at Nero.

Ainz thought a little and nodded. Although Nero was somewhat allied with him, there are still things that Romulus could not disclose to her.

Nero, who stood nearby, only swirled around, and then sighed, - "Yes, yes, I understand your intention…"

"Nero, my daughter," Romulus smiled, "Please if you would only join me..."

"Ancestor," Nero looked up, full of cold confidence, "We have discussed this before and I will answer you just as I did before. Rome can have only one Emperor - and this title belongs to me."

"I am sorry to hear this, my child, but it seems that the conflict between us is preordained," Romulus sighed, and if Ainz could trust his instinct, this disappointment was not false.

"Yes, indeed, Ancestor," Nero smiled sadly in response.

"Hey, if it is not my favorite auntie - Nero?!" a boyish voice suddenly came from the corner of the throne room.

"Alexander!" Nero smiled, as soon as she saw the boy who just appeared.

The boy was red-haired - with a color slightly lighter than Leonidas's, short-cropped, but tied in a small braid hanging from his back. The features of his face and body were somewhat androgynous, like for all children, but still he was a boy dressed in something like a sleeveless T-shirt, as far as Ainz himself could call it, and something like a skirt.

'Fustanella, the traditional men's skirt of the people of Greece,' Punnito Moe helpfully supplied him from his memory.

The boy who emerged from one of the side aisles took a couple of steps and hugged the girl, receiving a hug in response.

"Alexander, how many times have I told you not to do this," the man who appeared next deservedly earned the nickname... No, perhaps "toothpick" was too insulting. He was a tall, skinny thin man, on whose shoulders lay a red cloak with a golden line of thread, hanging like a loose scarf. It was also not necessary to wonder whether or not this man was a Servant - under his red cloak was a real office suit, with a jacket, trousers and even polished leather shoes. The man's face also sported a black plastic eyeglass frame.

'I had the same…' - Ainz remembered. When he discovered that his vision was gradually starting to deteriorate, he saved a part of his salaries for a long time in order to buy a prescription glasses... Indeed, this new body, full of youth, was beautiful.

"How strange..." Jeanne's voice sounded interested "He has... Two names?"

Ainz noted this fact about the man who just appeared in front of him.

"How many times do I have to say it, I'm not your auntie!" Nero remarked, after which she frowned feignedly, "Call me your older sister!"

"I was born long before you," Alexander immediately pointed a finger at her accusingly, "Rather, you should call me older brother!"

Nero looked expressively at the growth of the "big brother".

"That's why I call you auntie," Alexander said unequivocally.

Despite the fact that they were enemies, in a sense, they still remained friends among themselves...

A second later, the ringing sound of broken glass made Ainz remember why he had originally came here.

Everyone present looked at the crack in the air, after which Ainz sighed.

"I am sorry to interrupt such a reunion," Ainz heard the muffled sound of the explosion coming not so far from him behind the barrier and frowned, "But it seems to me that we still need to discuss a couple of very important subjects."

Higher Being: EX (Case)

A hundreth-level player who completed almost all the quests available in the game, killed all the bosses, completed all the add-ons, visited all the dungeons, studied the entire lore and all game mechanics. Are there a need to explain such a being more?