Chapter 9: 2-1: Preparations part 2

"Servants of Nazarick…" I began, raising my voice to echo through the room. "I am afraid that I bring bad news. No Message Spell, Command Window, or Divination Spell can tell me anything about Momonga's current location. If he were anywhere in the universe, even as a corpse, I would be able to tell his location, but unfortunately I have found nothing. As such, that leaves me with two possible conclusions, neither of them pleasant."

I paused for dramatic effect, surveying the faces nearest to the front. Albedo and Shalltear both looked to be anxiously awaiting my verdict, though the Vampire was much better at hiding it beneath an air of indifference. Demiurge was patiently waiting, as was Cocytus. Mare was nervous, and Aura was… excited? Indifferent? Either way, she was staring at me with an odd gleam in her eye. Pandora was likely hiding somewhere away from the crowd of Servants to listen in, and Innocence never left her post. All Servants not present were likely using some form of long-range Scrying Magic to listen in regardless, meaning I had all of Nazarick hanging on my words.

"The first conclusion," I began, "is that he was forcefully returned to the Other Realm by the event that brought us here. If his 'connection' to this place was through the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and he was unable to take hold of it before it happened, he would be automatically bounced back to the origin of his 'connection'. Thus locking and barring the door back here forever."

I held up a hand, forestalling any reactions. "Fortunately, that conclusion is unlikely. If I'm here, chances are he will be as well. But since he wasn't in possession of Nazarick at the time, he was considered a separate entity. Think of it like a giant rubber band between us and him—right now we're sitting here as a placeholder of sorts while his 'connection' struggles to catch up. This is both good news and bad news. The good news is, he isn't lost forever. The bad news is, it's impossible to tell exactly how long it will be before he returns. It could be days, months, years, decades, centuries before he arrives."

Albedo collapsed, falling to her hands and knees. Not sad. Not angry. Just… tired. Empty. Defeated. Shalltear hesitated, visibly faltering. "Ancient One-sama… do you have an estimate?" She asked carefully.

"My best guess is between two and three hundred years." I replied somberly.

Silence fell. I looked around, gauging their reactions. Albedo was the most hurt by the knowledge, but I knew she would be. Shalltear seemed to be taking it remarkably well, seeming almost relieved by my estimate. She was very childlike, though, so chances were she hadn't realized exactly how long that was quite yet. Demiurge merely nodded in acceptance, likely already shifting his plans about to account for the lack of the bony spellcaster. Cocytus drooped slightly at the news, as did Mare.

Aura… continued to stare at me with an odd look in her eye. Utterly unconcerned by the news I had just given.

Huh.

…Moving on, then.

"Now." I crossed my arms, leaning back against a pillar. "I am not planning on taking the throne in Momonga's absence. That is and always will be his position. I do not plan on remaining entirely in the shadows, but Nazarick must remain hidden until the return of our Lord. As such, any actions I take will be taken as an individual and not as the acting ruler of Nazarick. If I am in danger, you will not come to my aid, and if I go to war, you will not follow me. Your priority is to keep Nazarick running until the day Momonga returns to lead it into the light. I do not have that authority, and I never will. Am I understood."

"""Yes, Ancient One-sama."""

"Good. Now. One last thing." My eyes scanned their faces, noting their expressions. "A question for you and everyone else in Nazarick. Immortality is a curse when you have nothing to strive for, and those who cannot stand its crushing weight will not be forced to. Ask yourselves, and those around you, if they are comfortable with the burden they bear. Once you have that answer firmly in mind, keep it there until the next time I speak to you."

My gaze shifted to Demiurge. "Now… chief strategist, I would like to speak with you in private. We have much to discuss."

The Demon nodded, moving to stand by my side. With a flick of my thoughts, our position changed, moving us to my workshop on Floor 7. I glanced around, brushing a pile of junk off a table and pulling out a chair. Demiurge stood politely aside as I cleared another chair, scooting it out slightly in invitation.

"My Lord, what is it that you require of me?"

I sat back in my chair, sighing. "Sit down and stop bowing. I appreciate your respect, but I won't stand on formality. I was born in an age when such mannerisms didn't exist, and I never quite grew used to them."

Demiurge nodded, taking a seat. "I understand, my Lord. I will refrain, then. What do you need my services for?"

I leaned back again, humming. "Well, you see…"

What it all boiled down to was a single problem for the future, one that I had never thought to plan for. Two problems, really, but they fe;l under two categories of the same general issue. 'Albedo' and 'everyone else'. I consider Albedo my main long-term problem when it comes to the survival of my plans, and everyone else is an afterthought.

Honestly, Albedo isn't all that important narratively speaking. She had no driving features, no life philosophies in her programming. All it said was that she was the head of Nazarick security and that she loved Momonga. That was it. She literally lived for those two things. That was why she was so over-the-top obsessed with him in canon—by her own admission, she lived to love him. Hence why we all just nodded along when she did sweet FA for the entire series. Her narrative purpose, her driving character, was to love him.

She casually threatens to rip Shalltear apart? She loves Momonga. She tears down the flag of Ainz Ooal Gown and questions why the other Supreme Beings even matter if they left? She loves Momonga. She literally assaults him in an attempt to rape his dickless form? She loves Momonga.

That's literally her only driving goal—to love Momonga and get him to love her back. That's it. And, in part, that is exactly what makes her so dangerous.

When someone is utterly consumed with only one life purpose, they do some crazy things to fulfil it. Albedo has no morals, no care for consequences, no desire to live beyond reaching her beloved. I never bothered to fix that glaring flaw because I never thought it would be a problem. Hell, from an outsider's perspective it would even be funny. But without anything to make her pause to consider save for perhaps her dedication to her job… what's to stop her from trying something extreme?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Now consider Shalltear. Think for a moment, just off the top of her head, what are her defining features?

Well, she's bisexual. She's into every fetish in the books. She loves Momonga, yes, but that's hardly made into a main plot point. She thoroughly enjoys molesting her Vampire Bridesmaids in a variety of different ways and would be more than happy to ignore the passage of time given a few sex slaves to break.

Shalltear is easy compared to Albedo. She's driven by carnal needs and isn't above spending a night or two with someone as long as the only male in her heart was Momonga. She can be placated, predicted, controlled.

But even so… let's take a step back from all that for a moment and consider just their feelings.

Albedo and Shalltear were in love with Momonga, a love that was quite literally a core aspect of their being. I could no more ask them to ignore it than ask Archer to ignore me. I had experienced firsthand how terrifyingly powerful the love of an NPC could be, felt the weight of it on my shoulders as my Maidens fell asleep in my arms.

It wouldn't be fair to keep them this way. It wouldn't be right. If they didn't go insane from the feeling of loss straining their minds, they would grow to resent me for being present instead of the man they loved.

So. Solutions.

I could use [Control Amnesia] on them, make them forget Momonga for a time. That would give me some extent of control over their settings, but it might not work. Or, worse, it would work but fail to remove the feelings themselves. Too much risk here, not enough reward.

But what if… what if I removed the problem entirely?

If I removed the problem rather than just the symptoms, that would fix the situation entirely. I'm not talking about removing their settings, I'm talking about removing them.

If I simply put Albedo and Shalltear somewhere they wouldn't feel the passage of time, somewhere they could wait until Momonga returned without the mental burden of time passing…

Well.

That would fix everything, wouldn't it? Albedo doesn't really do much except stand in the Throne Room all day anyway, guarding an empty throne that reminds her of what she's lost. Shalltear's position is a bit harder to fix, but all things considered she can simply be brought back to reality if something goes wrong.

All I need to do now is make a way to pull it off.

I finished explaining this all to Demiurge, finally winding down my constant stream of words. I omitted quite a lot, of course,but the general gist remained. "…And as much as I value Albedo and Shalltear, they are too much of an unknown to be kept active for several centuries without some option to escape if they start to feel trapped. Am I correct in this thinking?"

The Demon was silent for a time, mulling over the explanation I had given him. "…You are correct." He finally agreed. "Given the information we have and the personalities of the two you have mentioned, they may be an issue. I would hope that their loyalties would not change with time, but if there's any chance at all, we must remove it."

I nodded. "I thought you would understand. I'll begin construction of my solution immediately. I would appreciate it if you could start asking around, find out what others would like to spend their forever doing. I plan to distribute Peaches of Immortality as soon as I get Noa's permission, so every being in Nazarick will no longer be forced to bear the burden of time save by their own choice."

"As a long-term plan, it's highly efficient." He pushed up his glasses. "I look forward to what your designs are for the, ah, 'suspension chamber', as it were."

I nodded, smiling faintly. "Thank you, Demiurge. And might I ask, what are your plans? If there's anything I might be able to acquire from our surroundings…"

As soon as the question passed my lips, I immediately regretted it.

Demiurge's smile grew wide and sharp, needle-thin teeth below diamond eyes. "Well, my Lord, if you were to procure some humans for experimentation purposes…"

I sighed. Ulbert had never prescribed to my ideal that all NPCs should be indifferent towards humanity, a trait I couldn't bring myself to remove from his greatest creation. As such, Demiurge remained almost identical to the way he had been in canon.

Well. I mean. Aside from a few minor details.

"Aside from that." I grumbled.

"Honestly, my Lord, aside from a steady stream of women, I want for nothing. So long as I have a pretty face or two to experiment with, I don't particularly mind the passage of time."

…Yeah, Ulbert put that in there to make fun of me, and I left it because I thought it was hilarious. So sue me, the idea of Demiurge as a womanizer was pretty funny at the time. Though, I did tamper with him a bit when it came to his preferences. Nothing much, just enough to ensure he didn't go after every woman available.

Oh, don't get me wrong, Ulbert was fully aware of this change. It just showed exactly how twisted the change was that he was willing to accept it.

"I'll see what I can do." I relented. "Non-human women, yes?"

"I would have them no other way." He stated with pride. "Preferably of an age similar to my own."

I nodded once. "Well, in that case I believe I'm far more likely to let you have your pick of them as soon as we find a hint of civilization. As of right now, I'm afraid you'll have to content yourself with others in Nazarick."

His grin didn't so much as flicker. "Oh, don't worry, my Lord, I am more than accustomed to sating myself with the local stock. I simply wished to request that you keep an eye out for any… worthy candidates."

I decided I really didn't want to know what Demiurge got up to with the other Servants. I never looked at his finished code, and Ulbert could be one weird fucker at times. "As long as they remain sane after you're finished with them, I will oblige."

The Demon bowed low. "Thank you my Lord, and I assure you that I never harm any of my lovers. At least," his wide grin returned, "not unless they ask me to."

Nope. Nope. Nope. Done with that conversation. I could wait to learn about the shit Demons got up to in bed for the rest of my life.

Well. Unless Archer…

Hmm.

"Very well, Demiurge. I fear I must bid you farewell for now. Speak with Rubedo if you find yourself lacking in duties, I think she'll be more than happy to lend you some corpses to experiment on."

The last thing I saw before my surroundings shifted was the Demon's delighted face.

"Hmm?" Noa yawned, rubbing her eyes. "My peaches?"

I nodded awkwardly. I really hadn't been sure how this particular conversation would go, all things considered.

"Go ahead." Noa dismissed absently. "I don't use them, and they don't have enough power to grow on their own."

I smiled, reaching out to envelop her in a hug. "Thanks, love."

"Mmm." She nodded, curling quietly into my embrace. "No problem."

A smile tugged at my lips. The adorable kuudere had practically glued herself to my chest, her face silently blissful. "I take it you want to stay like this for a while?"

She nodded wordlessly.

"All right then." I picked her up in my arms, walking slowly over to the couch before sitting down. Her arms wove around my neck, and her head rested lightly against my chest.

Time passed, the gentle Spirit seemingly oblivious to our surroundings. I simply sat back and appreciated the waves of innocent adoration emanating from her, the tiny smile on her face speaking volumes of how content she was. Curled into my arms, snuggled into my chest, the girl couldn't look any more adorable if she tried.

"When are we going to have sex?" Noa asked, voice casual. As if she were asking about the weather.

I took her bluntness in stride, tilting my head in thought. "Why do you ask?"

"I heard you and Archer-nee talking about when you two were going to, but you still haven't talked to me about it." Noa said matter-of-factly.

…Honestly, Noa's bluntness was a tad refreshing. It skipped all the pointless small talk and told me exactly what she wanted in no uncertain terms.

Of course, that didn't mean I couldn't wind her up a bit.

"Is that something you'd want?" I teased, lips twitching into a small smile.

She nodded once. "Yes."

"Are you suuure?"

Her brow crinkled in adorable frustration. "Yes."

"Are you—"

"Yes."

"Really?"

She poked me, cheeks puffed out. "Stop teasing me."

"Fiiine." I smiled softly, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "I'd be more than happy to do it with you, Noa, but I don't really have time. Once everything calms down a bit and Nazarick isn't in imminent danger, we can work something out then."

She frowned, shifting her position until she was sitting on my lap facing me. Her legs were wrapped around my midsection, and her face was only centimeters from mine. "We have time now."

…It was tough. It was really, really tough. But somehow, I resisted the urge to agree with the Spirit and teleport to the bedroom. She was fucking offering, and having some nice pleasure time with a girl perfectly suited to my tastes would do wonders for my stress levels.

But considering I made both of my NPCs heavily predisposed towards becoming sex addicts… getting them hooked while I still needed to be outside of the bedroom wasn't the best idea.

Sorry, my second head, but you'll have to wait a bit longer.

I heaved a heavy sigh, shaking my head. "…I'm tempted. Honestly I really am. But that's a slippery slope. If I have time to do it with you, I have time to do it with Archer. And once she tastes her Race's version of a perfect meal, I doubt I'll be able to do anything for a while."

Frowning, the beautiful Spirit relented. "Fine. Just cuddles, then." Time passed, then she spoke up once more. "So, when you say you won't do anything for a while—?"

"Yes, Noa." I smirked. "I'll be having sex with both of you for as long as you want."

She nodded once, looking distinctly satisfied. "Okay. I'll wait."

A pause.

"…Can you at least massage my breasts?"

My lips curled into a grin. "I mean, if you're offering…"

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