174

Upon hearing his opponent's rhetoric, Ainz thought, {this dumbass is finally talking}. He was being a silent listener. Some people preferred audience response during their speeches while others did not. From his self-righteous tone Ainz could tell it was best that he kept quiet.

Ainz took mental notes of everything he said.

"The deeds of those who gathered around my loving mother were wrong. They were wrong in the same way that father was. In the end, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is the source of all faults."

Ainz observed Riku in silence, calming his breath as much as he could.

Riku was being impassioned, Ainz should not be as rude to interrupt him.

To be honest, Ainz could not understand what Riku was talking about at all, but at the same time he did not sound like he was just rambling nonsense. He should've at least spoken in a way that a layman like Ainz could understand.

"Although the root of every wrong could be traced back to us, I will not seek forgiveness for that, nor can I allow you to continue on your current path of destruction. That is why — Perish."

"Woosh," the greatsword swung down.

Perhaps he felt guilty for executing the defenceless Ainz, the sword was swung at a much slower speed than before.

{Hold up, hold up, please reveal some more intel while you're in a good mood}, Ainz almost said out loud. His opponent did not intend to speak any more, so there was no need to keep up the act.

—the battle continued.

The Elemental Skull, which he had commanded to be on standby, rushed into the greatsword's trajectory and took the hit.

This was an effective use of a summon, because the Elemental Skull was no longer of use to him. That was why this was the right choice. If say, this was against Shalltear's Spuit Lance, he would not have done that. However, since Riku's weapon did not have lifesteal abilities, he could freely use summons as sacrifices.

"Hiiiiiiii!? So this was all your fault!? Are you not in the wrong then!?"

Ainz let out a pitiful cry. Who was 'them'? 'What' did they do wrong? Ainz could not understand at all, but if he phrased his response this way, perhaps Riku would expose some more intel. It was worth a try.

Perhaps he really was feeling guilty, his movements were much tardier than before. Ainz capitalized on this opportunity to roll backwards.

The Elemental Skull rushed in between them.

"—Block him!"

The Elemental Skull cast its spell while Ainz yelled. Riku ignored the skull and charged for Ainz. The Elemental Skull attempted to stop him, but due to its size and a lack of skills to do so, it failed.

"[Wall of Skeleton]!"

Ainz cast his spell to erect a wall to keep both Riku and the Elemental Skull on the other side.

"How pathetic, Sorcerer King!"

Riku bellowed with anger. Perhaps his fury was because Ainz had left his summon on the other side of the wall so he could escape, but it did not matter to Ainz. If a magic caster was not behind someone but stood alone, it would be no different from suicide. It would be worse than—

He could've easily flown over the wall, but Ainz felt that Riku was attacking both the Elemental Skull and the wall.

Compared to the Elemental Skull, the [Wall of Skeleton] wasn't too durable. It crumbled immediately at Riku's strike.

The Elemental Skull had cast multiple [Vermillion Nova]s to reduce Riku's HP, but to defeat him would be a tall order. It could be because of his job classes, but his magic resistance was abnormally high.

Given that was the case, Ainz cast a spell on Riku.

"[Temporal Stasis]"

This was a ninth-tier single-target spell. Although the spell could prevent the opponent from moving, it also prevented them from taking any damage while the spell lasted. That was why it was usually used when there were multiple hostiles.

However, Ainz found that his spell was not just resisted, but nullified completely. It appeared that Riku had time-stop countermeasures. Of course, that wasn't too unusual given how strong he was.

At the same time the greatsword was swung towards Ainz, the hammer was also swung towards the Elemental Skull.

Ainz tanked the greatsword's damage and as a precaution, cast [Greater Break Item] on the other weapons flying towards him. It was not just resisted, but nullified again.

So it was true that the weapons counted as Riku's body.

As the Elemental Skull took a massive amount of damage, Riku looked into the air in panic.

A figure was rapidly descending.

It was Albedo.

"—!"

Ainz heard Riku let out a sound that couldn't even be defined as a sound. He was absolutely stunned.

As Riku shook, Albedo approached him, her speed was on par with one of Aura's arrows. And then—

"Your bastard, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"

While that terrifying roar was heard, the halberd named 3F was swung down with the intention to split Riku's head open. Riku raised his greatsword and spear in a cross to block her attack.

The impact created by 3F was sizable, as both of Riku's feet were sunk into the ground.

In the next moment, Riku was blown away to the side.

Albedo had stomped her foot onto Riku's chest. The armour let out a pitiful clang.

"You insect! How dare you disrespect Ainz-sama! Unforgivable!!"

Albedo's declaration caused the air around them to quake. She began attacking afterwards.

The distance between the two was closed in an instant as Riku received an attack with enough force to send him into orbit.

The sound of metal clashing together rang out at an ear-piercing volume.

Riku used two of the floating weapons to block this attack.

He flew backwards with all of his strength. Not with a jump, he flew back without his feet touching the ground.

"Albedo, stop! That is enough!"

Ainz halted Albedo, who was about to follow up on her attack.

That was enough, he should not allow Albedo to fight any longer.

"—Understood."

While her glance told him that she was unhappy, Albedo still stopped moving.

It was probably correct to assume that he no longer wished to fight, Riku began ascending to pull some distance between them.

Albedo stood silently by Ainz's side, using her own body as a shield against Riku. She was probably on alert for long-range attacks by the enemy.

"Agneía-danna. I will say it again. Become my subordinate! How about it!? I will give you everything you have ever wanted for!"

His proposal received no reply, yet Ainz continued on.

"How unfortunate! Still, the Sorcerous Kingdom's doors are always open to you. You may come to visit anytime you want!" After he said that, Ainz lowered his voice to say to Albedo, "do you think he still wants to fight?"

"No — I do not think he wants to anymore. But, if he is not retreating, it might be best for us to defeat him right here. If we both attacked at the same time, it should not be too difficult, right?"

While he should not have heard their conversation, Riku disappeared nonetheless. The barrier he had erected also melted away.

Ainz was not sure if he had teleported before taking down the barrier or vice versa, nor could he tell where he ran off to.

Although there were still things that had to be investigated, Ainz felt as though they had successfully completed their mission.

"...Good grief, that takes care of that. Good work.

"I am not worthy of such praise. There still might be people surveilling us. It is best for us to return to Nazarick first."

"Ah, let us do that then."

After recalling the Elemental Skull, Ainz cast [Greater Teleportation] to retreat with Albedo.

-x-X-x-

The armoured man who went by the name of Riku Agneía used [World Teleportation] to get to their predetermined meeting spot. He showed up in front of his collaborator, who had already been waiting for him there.

"Sorry I'm late."

"Nah, don't sweat it. I just arrived too," the respondent was none other than the leader of the Adamantite-ranked adventurer group Red Drop, Azuth. Because he was wearing his familiar Powered Suit, Riku had to look upwards when speaking to him.

He wasn't being honest however, Azuth had been waiting there for five minutes already.

And as to the reason why Riku knew this, he had been observing this place from afar for a while now.

The reason for which should be obvious, he was worried that Azuth was serving as bait.

If the Sorcerer King's subordinates were indeed surveilling Azuth, Riku would abandon him immediately to return to his own country. That was why before he had even started checking if they were being watched, he had been keeping an eye out for his surroundings.

That said, therein laid a different kind of danger, one that would require conversing with Azuth to confirm. Which was why Riku had appeared before Azuth.

"Sorry, Tsa. She got away. I think she was headed towards where you were...did you finish the Sorcerer King off?"

"Unfortunately, no. Even though you lent me your power, I truly am sorry."

The one who had called himself Riku Agneía in front of the Sorcerer King, Tsaindorcus Vaision, lowered his head.

Perhaps the other dragon lords would say that this was beneath the dignity expected of a long-lived dragon lord, one who stood at the top of the world, but Tsa did not care much for that. If him bowing allowed him to curry favour with another party, he would bow any number of times.

"There's no need to apologize. It was my fault that that woman was not delayed for longer. You couldn't defeat him because you didn't have enough time, right?"

Tsa thought long and hard about what kind of response would paint him in the best light and ended up just gently saying to Azuth, "Not at all."

"No, Azuth. While it was unfortunate that the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo, wasn't someone that you could handle, you were still able to hold her up for such a long time. That was honestly a great help. I couldn't vanquish the Sorcerer King simply because he was much stronger than I had anticipated."

In truth, that was indeed the case.

During their previous meetings, Azuth had been assigned the mission to draw Albedo away from the barrier. If he was being honest, he thought that it wouldn't be too surprising if Azuth was slain by Albedo, but had he said this out loud, it was easy for him to imagine that Azuth would no longer offer his help. For that reason, he had not explained the full details of the plan to him.

Given the above, it was truly impressive how Azuth managed to survive a scuffle with Albedo.

To Tsa, his most important duty was to stay vigilant of players who held malicious intent towards this world, which was why he did not want to just blindly expend his strength.

Still, he had a question in mind, or rather something he couldn't figure out.

That was of course, why Azuth had survived. The Powered Suit he wore could indeed raise the wearer's offensive and defensive capabilities while also providing the user with a variety of abilities. It did not, however, raise the wearer's HP or MP at all. It was like a sturdy chitin exoskeleton covering an insect's soft innards.

While his combat interactions with Albedo were short, he still understood one thing — she was much stronger than the Sorcerer King.

That was probably because the Sorcerer King was more adept at handling large armies, so he might not have been able to fight at his full potential in a one-on-one.

In any case, Azuth was definitely not strong enough to survive a fight with Albedo with any ease.

So, how exactly did Azuth survive?

"That demon, Albedo, is there any way we could take her out?"

"No, it's near impossible. I had to use the full arsenal of the suit and created as much distance between us as possible to barely even hang on to dear life."

So that was how it was.

Indeed, Albedo did not use any ranged attacks, nor did she appear to have any ranged weapons.

Everything made sense then. His previous speculations seemed a bit malicious in hindsight.

Tsa felt ashamed for his own thoughts. He had suspected that Azuth had made a deal with Albedo, or perhaps with the Sorcerer King himself, to betray him. With that said, all was fair play in terms of hypotheticals. At the end of the day, Azuth was just a collaborator and not a companion. Moreover, he had no concrete evidence to support the notion that Azuth had not betrayed him.

"Ah, right. I told the Sorcerer King that my name was Riku Agneía, do keep a note of that. If the Sorcerer King were to ask, tell him that it was a fake name."

"Riku Agneía? does that name signify anything?"

"None at all, just a random name I came up with. But, if someone in the world did have that name, it would probably cause them a lot of trouble."

That was only a half-truth.

Indeed, he had not heard of Agneía being used as a surname before, but the name Riku was a real one.

"It would rouse the Sorcerer King's anger towards them, which wouldn't be a minor issue."

"Indeed. Don't forget about the anger of the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo too."

The two laughed softly.

Of course, if someone named Riku Agneía really existed in this world, this wouldn't be something to scoff at, for that guy at least.

Tsa laughed as he recalled.

The demon named Albedo.

The Sorcerer King was not able to break through the barrier, so he wasn't that much of a threat. That demon however, was able to pass through the wild magic spell, [World-Isolating Barrier].

This mid-tier wild magic spell could create a space that was separate from reality. It prevented entry through all conventional means as well as any attempts to teleport out of it. To be able to enter the barrier meant that Albedo was either a wild magic user, or possessed a World Item.

While he had not confirmed if that demon was a player or NPC, from the master-servant relation between the two, it was most likely the latter. But if that was the case, why would Ainz not equip the World Item himself, but give it to Albedo instead? That was a mystery.

{Unless Albedo is the player and the Sorcerer King is the NPC?}

This wouldn't be too ridiculous of an idea. To rank second in this world's hierarchy was probably a safer choice.

{Perhaps the Sorcerer King had a World Item too? But since he couldn't break out of the barrier, the likelihood would be low, right? Or maybe he left his World Item behind?}

That was certainly possible. He had heard from Riku that there were guilds that possessed two WCIs, so it was possible that {they} had two too.

"Tsa, how strong was the Sorcerer King? If he was someone that not even you could defeat, I feel like he would be really strong. If it were me, no, if it were {this}, could it win?"

"Azuth, no offense, but no. He's an opponent that not even I could defeat easily."

"Is that so..."

"But thanks to your assistance, I have a general idea of his baseline capabilities now. Of course, if I were to face the Sorcerer King one-on-one again, I should be able to triumph."

He had said that much, but if he relied on this armour, victory would be hard-fought. Perhaps he should make preparations on where they would fight.

{But...} Tsaindorcus sighed.

If he was of a similar level to the vampire from last time, this armour would probably struggle in serious combat. However, if he were to not use the armour but face the Sorcerer King in person, he could not lose. That would be true even if he was as strong as the vampire. As long as he fought using his real body, there would be no issues at all.

Still, if he gave them too much time to expand their influence, things would get out of hand.

"As expected of you, the strongest Dragon Lord in the world."

"I don't think so myself. There are many out there who are stronger than I am. Hmmm...I can win against the Sorcerer King because I happen to counter him."

Tsa's abilities were more effective against the undead. He had also confirmed in the battle just then that his abilities did work on the Sorcerer King. That was why Tsa had judged the Sorcerer King to be an opponent that did not warrant too much caution.

Compared to the Sorcerer King, the demon named Albedo was much more dangerous.

"Pardon me, Azuth, should another situation like this arise, would you still be willing to assist me?"

"Next time...? Hmm."

Azuth solemnly muttered a single phrase. Tsa understood the meaning behind his words, and did not question him any further.

After some time had passed, Azuth finally spoke.

"Will the Kingdom perish?"

"...It probably will. There is not much I could do to help even if I want to."

"Is that so... So next time I'll also have to buy time with that demoness? I could, but you do know that there's a chance that I won't be able to buy any time at all the next time around, right?"

"Indeed, they might not split up next time. That is why, if that demoness left the Sorcerer King's side for any reason at all, would you be willing to fight the Sorcerer King alongside me?"

If Azuth handled the summons, Tsa could definitely defeat the Sorcerer King.

He had not been assaulted by the Sorcerer King's subordinates during their little conversation here. There was nothing left for him to do here. Tsa shifted his gaze towards the capital far, far away.

Tsa had already witnessed the fall of many nations. This one will soon be facing its own destruction. Tsa felt somewhat lonesome, but compared to that, he was more anxious of the fact that these lands will soon fall under the Sorcerous Kingdom's rule.

Although he had not received any grace from this Kingdom, he will still miss it dearly.

While he had already notified his companions, perhaps there was also a need to call upon the other Dragon Lords too.

"...Almost forgot, I met with the people from the Theocracy and mentioned the name you told me."

"Really? Now they'll know that you have someone backing you up."

If that was the case, Azuth's safely was more or less guaranteed.

Azuth himself held no value at all, but the Powered Suit in his possession was an item of great importance, important enough that the Theocracy might plot against him for it. For that reason, he had to make them think that Azuth had protection to fall back on so that they wouldn't make any moves against him. This also strengthened the relationship he had with Azuth. It was a move that had nothing but upsides.

"I have a question, why not tell them that I heard it from you directly?"

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"Simple, if they had no clue on where the information source was, they would try to investigate it. There is a chance that it could cause some friction among the upper echelons of the Theocracy."

Other than that, there was another reason.

Should an emergency arise, he could kill off Azuth without leaving any loose ends.

"This is no place to talk, let's go back. Your companions must be waiting for you, right?"

"Yes, they're waiting for me. I'll leave it to you then, Tsa."

Just as Tsa was about to cast [World Teleportation], he thought about Azuth.

It was only for a single reason, the question of whether it was still beneficial to assist him or not.

Sure, Azuth's Powered Suit was highly valuable, but without it he was nothing. To put it bluntly, if the Powered Suit were in more capable hands, they would surely be able to utilize it to its full potential.

Plus, Tsa had no confidence that he could reign him in.

Azuth as he stood, was more of an aid to Tsa than a companion.

If he were to go off script like last time, it would most likely lead to catastrophic losses.

Indeed, Tsa was in the wrong that time too.

To give unto Azuth the appropriate level of alertness against the Sorcerer King's invasion, he had discussed the likely outcomes of the invasion with him in detail.

Azuth had requested Tsa's aid in defeating the Sorcerer King to save the Kingdom. He should have predicted back then that he would use the Powered Suit to rescue that city.

If he had not taken independent action back then, surely Tsa would have been able to defeat the Sorcerer King during his siege of the capital.

—Should he just kill Azuth and take the Powered Suit?

This wasn't too bad of an idea to Tsa. If he gave the Powered Suit to someone who was powerful enough to bend it to their will, it would definitely be more useful than letting Azuth keep it. He could also gain a stronger card for his hand then.

Personally, Tsa felt no disdain for Azuth, nor did he want to kill him himself, but of what worth were emotions in this world.

{...Riku}

{What was I reminiscing for now that things have turned out that way?} Tsa laughed at himself internally. These two hands of his were already besmirched with filth. It was better to do it now than later.

Plus, he could blame it on the Sorcerer King if he did it now.

Azuth fought until he lost consciousness with Albedo and later handed the Powered Suit to Tsa. That would be a good cover story.

But — should he really allow history to repeat itself again?

"Oy, what's wrong, Tsa?"

"Huh?"

Tsa finally noticed that he had been deep in his own thoughts.

"What's wrong? Did you notice something suspicious?"

"...Nothing. Azuth, let's go back."

He should put those thoughts aside. Resurrection magic was a thing, death could not guarantee one's silence. If he returned with just the Powered Suit but not Azuth's body, it would rouse suspicion. If one were to act purely on utilitarian principles, it would lead to negative consequences more often than not.

Just so he would have no regrets, it was best for him to return and give it greater consideration before making his judgment on whether or not he should give up on Red Drop.

Tsa prayed that his actions on this day would not lead to fatal errors in the future as he cast [World Teleportation].

The night winds blew through unoccupied space.

----

Ainz returned to Nazarick with [Gate] and took the ring from the usual place. He used its power to advance towards the ninth floor with Albedo.

After some time travelling by foot, they reached the room that was their destination.

"Albedo, do you want to head inside first?"

"No, it is fine. You contributed more this time around so you should be the one to enter first."

Ainz thanked her and opened the giant doors.

He walked to the center of the room, in front of the throne, and took a knee as he bowed. He could feel that Albedo, who was behind him, was making the same movements.

"Good work, Pandora's Actor and Albedo."

"We are not worthy of your praise."

Upon raising his head, he saw his master nodding regally. On his sides were Shalltear and Demiurge, who was holding a Mirror of Remote Viewing.

He must have observed the entirety of his battle with Riku through that item.

Pandora's Actor undid his transformation.

"While we wanted to return the magic items that we had borrowed from Ainz-sama, we found it to be disrespectful to make Ainz-sama wait any longer. Do forgive us for still wearing Ainz-sama's equipment."

He meant the equipment that he was currently wearing, lower-tier backup items that they had been lent from their master. He was intensely apologetic for still still having those items equipped.

"Haha. Pandora's Actor, pay it no mind. It would have been fine for you to do as you wished. This was not such a big deal after all. What was important was your opponent — now then, while we have seen the battle, I still wish to hear from the combatant himself. How was it?"

"Yes. I believe that he is a tank whose level was around 90. That was because magic was generally ineffective against him, which was why I had judged him to be of that level."

"I see. A strong foe. Hmmm...huh? What's wrong, Albedo? Do you have another opinion?"

"Yes, my opinion differs from Pandora's Actor's. I do not believe him to be that strong. Of course, I only landed two strikes on him, so I could not make as accurate of a judgment, but he felt like a tank of around... level 80 or so."

Given that they were sure that he was a tank, then Albedo's opinion as a tank should be much more accurate than his own.

"I see. Although I was of the opinion that Pandora's Actor, who was locked in combat with him for longer, would be able to make the more accurate judgment, Shalltear who had been observing the battle alongside me had estimated a similar range to Albedo's. Around level 85 or so. Given that, it appears that there is a need to call Cocytus and Sebas over."

While Shalltear's combat prowess was high, her build was not focused on pure physical damage output. It was unfortunate that Sebas was on standby in E-Rantel and Cocytus was overseeing the siege of the capital so they could not be summoned over at the current moment.

"If the two, no, if we combined all three of your estimates... So, are the three of you in agreement that the opponent was a tank that specialized in magic resistance?"

The three fell into deep contemplation.

"...Shalltear, why do you seem troubled? If something is wrong, do speak your mind."

"I may have just gotten the wrong impression-arinsu..."

"That is fine too. After all, this entire operation was to expose this foe's abilities and thus have been meticulously planned from the outset. As long as we could gain some sort of insight on our opponent, do feel free to speak your mind."

"If that is the case. Ainz-sama, because I can also summon Doom Lords, perhaps Ainz-sama had already noticed-arinsu. It felt like its combat abilities were weakened significantly, was it because Pandora's Actor was the summoner-arinsu?"

"That would not be the case. While Pandora's Actor's transformations are weaker than the original, his summons would not be any weaker. In addition, he had been instructed to not use any special abilities of mine to strengthen the summons... In any case, shall we both summon Doom Lords for you all to observe after this? Perhaps you could figure out what had been bothering you."

"Understood!"

"Now then, Pandora's Actor, you spoke with him, correct? What did you talk about, what attitude did he adopt, and what emotions could you feel from him? Do tell us in detail. After all, this mirror cannot transmit sound."

"Understood!"

Pandora's Actor began reenacting his conversations with Riku. Their conversations weren't long, so it was pretty easy to act out. He even injected some of his own interpretations mid-dialogue: the emotions he felt through Riku's tone and the respective explanations.

Midway through, Pandora's Actor sensed from behind him, an unpleasant aura emitted by Albedo. She spoke with an annoyed tone.

"Even if you wanted our opponent to lower his guard, to kneel as the Sorcerer King, and by extension as the Absolute Overlord of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz-sama, is just out of line."

Indeed, he had felt that he had gone overboard. If his master was there instead, he would have never done that. {I have to pay for my transgression,} he thought as he raised his head to see that his master was nodding along in a gratified manner.

He must be agreeing with Albedo's opinion.

But just as Pandora's Actor was about to lower his head, his master's voice reached his ears.

"No, that was executed beautifully."

While he sounded somewhat sarcastic, his master did appear to be in a good mood. Pandora's Actor could not tell which side he was on and thus missed his opportunity to bow.

"That kneel was great. If merely kneeling could cause an opponent to falter, I would kneel any number of times. We lost nothing through that kneel yet it made the opponent think that we were nothing to be on guard for. Hehe... He should not have noticed that he had been duped yet."

—How awe-inspiring.

Though he already had an idea of the extent of his creator's drive for victory, chills were still sent down Pandora's Actor's back.

Even against an opponent that could be easily defeated should he be serious, he would still not deign himself too mighty to do such a thing in order to invoke a false sense of security in them.

Could any king, nay — could any Overlord™ really care not for their own reputation to scheme at this level?

Could any being who was only served upon but had never served, resolutely kneel in front of their enemy?

No such being existed, other than his master, the one seated in front of him.

They must have had the same thought, the other guardians in the chamber had expressions that told of the awe invoked within them.

Among them, Demiurge was the one to ask.

"Would it not rouse more suspicion in our opponent if one as great as Ainz-sama knelt down in those circumstances? He must have judged that Ainz-sama was someone who was capable of deducing the best move for every situation."

"No, surely no one's thought process would lead them to that conclusion normally, correct? 'He's not so impressive after all' or 'so that's what you were really like' was probably what was going through his mind, correct? If the situation were flipped... If I were in his shoes, I would probably be as careless as he was, right? No, I would probably kill him right away. What would you do, Albedo?"

"If they were just a regular civilian, I would kill them immediately, but if they were a king I might capture them for intel. Would I get careless...maybe."

"Is that so...? Shalltear, what about you?"

"I would mull it over-arinsu."

"...Mmm. Perhap it would not have an effect at all... It would be best if kneeling was not necessary. It would not be the best situation if you could not dodge the enemy's attacks. Now then — let's change the topic. About that barrier."

Pandora's Actor could not figure out what that barrier was at all. He had thought that it blocked physical and magical access in and out of it, but Albedo could enter unhindered. So, was the mystery solved?

"The two of you might have figured it out already, but I do believe that it was because of World Items. Pandora's Actor, from what you have said, you were not too sure were you?"

Pandora's Actor's eyes widened.

Indeed, if that was the case, everything made sense. Albedo had a WCI on her person back then and he did not. But—

"How did Ainz-sama figure it out?"

"A logical line of questioning... I was using the mirror to observe Pandora's Actor and Riku's battle. Even after that barrier was erected, the mirror was not affected at all. At first I thought that it was just something cosmetic to scare us..." Ainz's gaze fell on Pandora's Actor, "but it did have effects. I switched my train of thought and began investigating the differences between us — more accurately, the differences between me, the user of the mirror, and Pandora's Actor.

Ainz touched the WCI in his abdomen.

"After I took this off, I could no longer see anything through the mirror. Equipping it allowed me to see the scene again. It is highly likely that Riku has an ability that is similar to Aura's World Item."

"...Please wait, Ainz-sama. Riku did mutter the phrase [World-Isolating Barrier] and it did expend his HP. So was it not a special skill that only higher level beings like Ainz-sama could obtain? Like Ainz-sama's trump card?"

"It would be impossible to accomplish what he did through the same system our powers came from. Rather, is it not more likely that he used that term as a bluff? The expenditure of HP could be an activation condition for a World Item. Problem is, I have never heard of such a World Item. While many do have activation costs, merely reducing one's HP would almost be...cute."

"Was his HP constantly drained?"

Pandora's Actor shook his head at Albedo's question.

"It fell only after he activated it. The barrier did not appear to be continuously draining him to maintain itself."

"Exactly. Did you not say that his other abilities also drained his health? Indeed, there are World Items with multiple abilities, for example, this one." His master touched his orb, "but, the rules his abilities were playing by were just too different from ours."

The abilities he used were probably weapon enhancement, armour enhancement, teleportation, and barrier.

"...I talked about ability systems before because if his powers were unique to this world, then everything would be explained. Assuming the worst case scenario, it is some unusual ability that could rival World Items. If that is the case, we cannot even be sure if what brainwashed Shalltear was a World Item or not. We would have to reevaluate that. How annoying!"

"Ainz-sama, as it stands, we do not have enough information."

"Exactly, Demiurge...perhaps there is a need to lose to Riku again."

The two guardians next to the throne had displeased expressions on their faces, it was easy to imagine that the Albedo behind him must have been the same.

Even if it was intentional, nobody present would feel happy that their master was to lose.

"Wipe those expressions off of your faces. I am not losing because I desire to lose, but because it is a necessity to understand our opponent's deck. That is how we guarantee victory, it cannot be helped. If this was a simple training exercise, losing would not mean death, neither would we have to put up such an act. However, this is actual combat."

Everybody, including Pandora's Actor, were quietly listening to their master's every word.

"We have already confirmed that you all and the inhabitants of this world could be resurrected — but what about me? While we do not have solid proof of this, the Six Great Gods and Eight Greed Kings of yore were probably beings similar to what I am. Their legends concluded with their deaths, so it's likely that they could not be resurrected. We have no choice but to assume that to be the truth when carrying out these operations. To put it simply, in order to avoid my death, the worst form of defeat, we have no option but to accept other forms of defeat."

"—Ainz-sama."

"What's wrong, Albedo?"

"Ainz-sama, what you have just said made a lot of sense. So would it not be better for you to stay within the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, rather than leave for excursions?"

A perfectly logical conclusion. If there was a possibility that their master could not be revived, then having him stay where it was safest for him and not step out of that place would be best.

"...Indeed. I have thought of that too, but surely you could understand it too. Especially you all?"

His brain went into overdrive in an attempt to understand what his master was talking about, but nothing came to mind.

What a deplorable thing.

As one of the foremost intellectuals in Nazarick, he still could not immediately grasp his master's thoughts.

Pandora's Actor racked his brains until strange liquid almost began to seep out of it. It was the same for Demiurge and Albedo, one could see it on their faces. Shalltear on the other hand, looked like she wasn't thinking at all.

{Don't think about the others.} Pandora's Actor forced his attention away from them.

Silence fell upon the group for quite a while, only to be broken by their master's disappointed sigh.

Pandora's Actor felt unbearable shame and so did Demiurge. While he could not see Albedo, who was behind him, she was surely the same.

"What's wrong? Raise your heads."

He spoke with such a harsh tone, yet Pandora's Actor could not allow himself to disobey a direct order from his master.

He raised his head.

"...Mmmm, let us move onto the next topic. Who is that person? What connections to platinum could you think of?"

Albedo spoke first.

"...One of the possibilities is just as Pandora's Actor had said, that our opponent was one of the Thirteen Heroes."

His master nodded in agreement.

"The other possibility is that he is one of the councilors of the Council-State, Platinum Dragon Lord. Those are the only beings I could think of with a connection to platinum."

"Given that, let me ask a question. Was he trying to fool us into believing that he was the Platinum Dragon Lord or one of the Thirteen Heroes so that we would go against them or not? The answer might also lie in between those two extremes. So, what do you believe is the correct answer?"

"I am terribly sorry, Ainz-sama. As we do not have enough information to work off of, it is difficult to conclusively judge which is the correct answer."

Demiurge answered so.

Pandora's Actor concurred, but since his master had asked, "what do you believe was the correct answer?" the correct response should have been one of the options. That was probably why he had prefaced his answer with an apology.

"Are there any other opinions...? There appears to be none. I too, agree with Demiurge's opinion that we do not have enough intel. After we are done with the Kingdom, do gather the opinions of the other Floor Guardians on this matter. Perhaps one of them could notice a detail that we had missed. In any case, we are still proceeding with our plan to send envoys to the Council-State. While they greet the heads of state, have them sarcastically scoff at this Platinum Dragon Lord fellow a few times — That should be fine, right? Albedo."

"Understood. How shall I deal with the contents of the missive?"

"I will leave that up to you."

"Understood."

"That should about conclude this meeting, correct? I should return to the capital soon. Pandora's Actor, though it might be embarrassing, I must ask you to stri—"

An "—ahh" sound could be heard. His master turned his head around to the guardian who had made that sound.

"What's wrong, Shalltear? Did you forget something?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama. I do have a question-arinsu. Were you really planning to recruit that Riku person as a subordinate-arinsu?"

"Ahhh, about that. Of course not. If he really came under my wing, I would gather all the information I need — the organization he served, its purpose, et cetera — and he would be killed afterwards."

"Would it not be a waste to kill him?"

He could sense that his master had a wry smile on him upon hearing Albedo's question.

"I am not confident in my abilities to reign him in. If you are asking if we could exploit those unusual abilities of his or his World Item, whichever was the case...Albedo, would you be confident enough to do that? If you are, I will leave it all up to you..."

"It would be difficult to do so before we have collected enough detailed intel. But if it turned out that it was indeed possible for us to do so, there are many places where he could be of use to us."

"Mmmm."

His master's gaze lingered on Albedo.

He was probably contemplating about Albedo's abilities and Riku. If his creator was one to even include what could happen a millennium down the line into his grand scheme, he was probably analysing how Riku could factor into his plans.

The destruction of the Kingdom must be part of those plans as well.

He must have had ulterior motives beyond demonstrating to the world the difference in treatment received by the Kingdom and the Empire due to their actions, that had to be why he would go back on his words in order to invade the Kingdom. This was a common opinion shared by Pandora's Actor, Albedo, and Demiurge.

One would not have to think too hard to connect the undead creation experiments to this.

After all, he was his creator. This was undoubtedly a premonition of something greater to come, something not even he could fathom.

His creator, a Supreme Being whose intellect held such depths, how awesome was he? To be honest, Pandora's Actor felt sorry for the others. It pained him how he had to restrain himself from boasting of his dear creator.

"I see. Indeed, he would be of no use to us dead. I will hear Demiurge's opinion on this too and depending on the situation, Albedo will be placed in charge of this. Of course, that is assuming that Riku would be willing to serve under me. If he is not willing, killing him is permissible."

It was impossible for anyone to object to that. If their master willed it so, it must be correct.

"Good. Now...other opinions...appears to be none. It is about time for me to return to the capital. I still have to close the curtains on that show."

"...such petty theatrics would not require Ainz-sama to personally participate, correct? I believe that I can handle it on my own..."

"No, Albedo. Pay it no mind, I will go. Hehe, though I may not be on the same level as Ulbert-san and the rest, I still have my own standards to enforce against forms of resistance."

"...I see, was that why?" Albedo replied in a manner that implied that she had seen through the hidden meaning behind his words, prompting his master to glance at her. He must have been checking how much of his words she understood.

After some time had passed, his master seemed satisfied as he declared in a manner expected of an esteemed ruler.

"...Exactly, Albedo. It is exactly as you have surmised."

-x-X-x-

Climb, Renner, and Brain were informed by the few remaining knights that there were guests expecting them after they had returned to the palace.

"Blue Rose" had requested an audience.

Under normal circumstances, they would have been brought to this room immediately, but the trio's current outfits were hardly appropriate. Especially Renner, whose clothes said handmaiden more than princess. They were absolutely soaked with sweat. The knights were instructed to bring them in after an hour to give the three enough time to fix their appearances.

The Sorcerous Kingdom's army was in formation outside of the capital and could attack at any time. For the capital and the castle's defence, knights were being moved back and forth. That was why they had to take care of the menial tasks, because none of the maids were there.

Most of the maids who attended to the palace were the daughters of noblemen. They had ran away from the palace to their family's mansion. Whether that was the safer option remained to be seen.

He had heard from his master, Renner, that the atrocities the Sorcerous Kingdom's army had committed along their way towards the capital will most likely be committed here too. That was a logical deduction. Nowhere within the capital was safe now.

So what could one do to guarantee their safety? Renner had responded to this question with the gambit of leaving the capital.

Because of that, Climb and Brain had discussed in secret about arranging a carriage outside of the palace. If Renner decided to run away, it could prove useful.

Of course, he knew that Renner did not intend to run at all, yet he could not definitely say that she would not change her mind. This was just a plan in case she does.

Climb prepared water and a towel for Renner to wipe away her sweat. Normally he would have prepared a bath for her, but they only had an hour so that was off the table.

Since the maids weren't there, Climb had no choice but to help groom Renner. The duty to prepare tea then fell on Brain. The scene of the swordsman flipping through cabinets trying to find tea was honestly hilarious even though he felt sorry for him.

After Renner had wiped off her sweat and applied perfume to herself, while she picked out her gown, the two men took a shower.

Unlike women — unlike the princess — the two men readied themselves through much simpler processes.

They undressed, let water take its course down from the top of their heads, and wiped themselves off. A secondary rinse later and they were all done. Sure, they had to change into clean clothing too, but the entire process took no longer than ten minutes for the two.

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An hour that felt shorter than it should passed by and the three were ready. Renner seemed to have picked up on some unpleasant smells as she sniffed her hair and wrist. Climb could not smell the scent of sweat, but he could faintly smell the scent of the oil and smoke that had been infused into her hair when she cooked. It should not have been as noticeable after it mixed with the scent of her perfume.

The knights not only led Lakyus in.

The entirety of Blue Rose was present. Lakyus was the only one in a gown, the rest of them were in combat gear. It looked like they were the bodyguards of a noblewoman.

Climb was a little shocked.

Indeed, Lakyus did not come over by herself normally, but it was rare to see all of them together. This might have been the first time they came all together.

"You have taken time out of what little you had, yet I still made you wait. I am terribly sorry for that."

"No, it is fine. I did not inform you of my arrival earlier so this was an impromptu visit. I should be the one to thank you for taking the time to meet us— ah, there is no need for tea. We do not have that much time after all."

Just as Renner was about to steep the tea that Brain had procured, Lakyus stopped her.

"Oy, Lakyus. I feel like we should have enough time to drink a cup of tea, right?"

The one who spoke was Evileye. The rest of Blue Rose nodded along in agreement, causing a shocked expression to surface on Lakyus' face.

"Everybody...wants to drink tea?"

Evileye sighed heavily on purpose.

"The princess has been so gracious to welcome guests who had barged in without warning with tea, would our leader be so cruel as to refuse her offer? What an indifferent fellow. Oy, musclehead."

She received no response from Gagaran. Although the gazes of everybody in the room were affixed on Gagaran, she pretended that she had heard and seen nothing at all.

"Oy, you there with the coy expression, woman who'd sink straight to the bottom if she fell into the sea."

She was indeed being completely ignored. Evileye sighed loudly in response to her behaviour.

"Oy, Gagaran."

"Oy? Oh? What? What do you need me for? What's going on, Evileye?"

"...you want to drink something too, right?"

"Ahhh, yes. I feel like gulping down a large amount of liquid. I could probably drink ten liters if I had to."

"What even...Do you know how much time you've wasted just to hear me say that...Mmm, whatever. Regardless of how much there is, boss, can we get some too?"

"Haaaah, of course it's fine...are you drinking too, Evileye?"

Lakyus' eyes widened as she spoke. Indeed, if Evileye were to drink too, Climb would be as surprised as she was. To drink the tea, she would have to take off her mask but as far as Climb knew, this magic caster did not take off her mask under any circumstances.

Evileye did not reply to her question, but only shrugged as if to say no.

"Well then, we shall steep the tea while the boss and princess talk. I guarantee the tea will be richer than you could dream of."

"Eh? You have already poured it into a Warm Bottle, huh?"

Lakyus said with a shocked expression as Tia nodded.

"We might not have enough considering the amount of people here. We'll see."

Tia began pouring the tea, but her movements were so unrefined that most of the tea split onto the saucer. This country's tea culture did not dictate that tea should be drunk from the saucer, which was why Lakyus was furrowing her brows. Just as she had said, the Warm Bottle did not hold nearly enough liquid for the eight occupants of this room.

"No need for me, right?"

"Ah, same here."

Climb refused a cup after Brain did so too. That did not mean that they had enough tea for the rest of them. Even when those two were factored out, the amount of tea they had was still inadequate for six people.

-x-X-x-

"We rarely get to drink this...You guys are seriously being ungrateful."

Could you really consider the offering of tea to be an act of good grace? Something just didn't sit right with that definition.

After pouring five servings of tea, Tia swung the Warm Bottle around as if to emphasize the fact that it was empty.

"Ah — it's empty — what a shame — we don't have nearly enough, especially with this 10-liter drinking gal around—" Tia flashed a glance at Tina, "wouldn't rumours spread that the third princess doesn't even have enough tea to adequately serve her guests?—"

Lakyus rubbed her glabella as Renner laughed, "ufufu."

"Now that is troubling. Although, in times like these, it is probably unwise to maintain the image of a lavish lifestyle. But I do think there is a need to demonstrate that the royal family still has a future. So, should I steep more tea?"

"Give it a rest, Renner."

"Lakyus. There's a limit to how much you could remain beholden to everyone's goodwill you know?"

"Eh?"

Lakyus was incredulous as Renner gave a wry smile.

"Should I spell it out for her? Miss Evileye."

"Mmmm. Looks like she's starting to understand... please do educate our hardheaded leader."

"Very well then... The final moments will be upon us soon after all. Everybody is just trying to buy as much time for the both of us as possible."

"...Ahhh, so that's why."

Climb finally understood now that she had put it that way.

Normally, adventurers could not participate in wars, this was a measure put in place to prevent higher casualty counts than normal.

However, since the enemy this time around was the undead and had committed massacres on a massive scale, the Adventurer's Guild of the Kingdom had accepted the royal request to classify this war as an acceptable quest. Just as the case was during Jaldabaoth's demonic disturbance, the guild had approved the mobilization of its members.

The exact details of how they would operate was entirely left up to the adventurers' discretion.

Some had even chosen to join the ranks of the army that was sent out nearly a week ago, from which none had returned. A few of the other teams had chosen to make their last stand inside of the capital.

There were some high-tier teams that had gone missing in the midst of this, perhaps they had accepted the invitation of the Theocracy or had snuck out and fled from the capital of their own volition.

Lakyus and her team, Blue Rose, were one of the teams that had decided to make their last stand at the capital.

They had just received intel that the Sorcerer King's army had set up camp near the capital, Lakyus and the rest of them should not be squandering away what precious time they had left.

Yet still, Lakyus consciously found time to meet with her friend, Renner. Considering that it was extremely likely— no, they were 100% certain that this was the last time she could meet with Renner.

The truth was, she had already prepared tea for five. Servings for Evileye, Gagaran, Tia, Tina, and of course, the one being handed to Climb. Yet, it seemed that none of them was planning to drink it.

If they had told Lakyus outright that she should allocate time to bid her farewells with her friend, she would have definitely rejected that notion based on her personality alone. If they phrased it as her having a cup of tea with her buddies however, she would probably be much more receptive to the idea. Her companions were just being considerate.

"...So, Brain Unglaus. I want to make tea for the remaining few, who must be terribly parched at this point. Show me the way to where the water is boiled."

"Oh. It's this way."

{That was probably why.} Tina and Tia managed to get the better bodyguard of the two out of the room.

"Should I leave too?"

"Hmmm? Oh, don't mind it. That wasn't why they led him away."

Climb asked Evileye only to receive an answer in the negative.

{Eh?} Climb was a bit confused. So they weren't trying to grant Renner and Lakyus more privacy by getting everyone else out of the room?

Gagaran and Evileye did not seem to want to leave at all. Did she really only want him to lead her to where the water was boiled then?

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"Since everybody has insisted, let us chat a little before the tea is ready. Ah! Before that, I have a question. Where were you just then? If you were busy preparing for what is to come, then I will just leave."

"Do you know of the orphanage that I established? I had just returned from cooking there."

"Huh? Cooking? At times like these?"

Lakyus vocally expressed her shock. Climb was surprised too when Renner had asked him to prepare the carriage so that she could go cook for those children.

However, upon arriving at the location and seeing the state of the place, Climb knew that she had made the right decision.

"Yes. The Sorcerer King's army had surrounded the capital for a few days now, plus the army that was sent out a few days back had also used up a sizable amount of food. Our rations have only been dwindling down day by day. That was why I took some of the food stored here to cook a meal for them."

The orphanage did not have much food left. Moreover, the price of food has risen due to the worsening situation in the capital, so the orphanage could no longer sustain its own operations. It had no choice but to decrease the amount of meals per day as well as the amount of food the children received per meal. That was why she chose to cook for them, since she was already there to secretly supply them with food anyways and plus it was a rare opportunity for her too.

Renner's mutters began to flash through Climb's mind.

Renner, as she cooked for the children with her well-learned culinary skills, had said, "I wanted to distribute grain to everybody, but we don't have much left. I'm such a hypocrite."

Faced with the Sorcerous Kingdom's army which had already defeated the Kingdom's 400,000 men strong army, they had no hope to stand against them. The capital was fated to fall and so was the royalty.

Yet, no matter how hard he tried to convince the gentle Renner to run away, she would not budge at all.

Stuck between his loyalty and his own feelings, Climb felt a suffocating pain in his heart. However, he could not allow the two in front of him to sense that under any circumstances.

Climb forcefully suppressed the pain that felt like it could tear him apart.

"You might be the only royal in history to know how to cook."

"I do not think so. There must have been others, just not recorded in the history books was all... Those children must be enjoying their meals right now, it was worth it."

Originally, Renner's cooking was meant to be everybody's lunch but in order to prevent the children from fighting over the food or the employees choosing to go without for them, she had even cooked side dishes to go along with the entree. Everybody there must be satiating themselves right now.

She had cooked so much that dinner should have also been taken care of for them.

Speaking of which, Renner, who couldn't even peel a potato before, had seamlessly improved her cooking abilities by quite a margin. The thinness of peelings she could achieve nowadays was honestly amazing.

This woman, who glistened in radiant light in his eyes, appeared to be naturally talented for the culinary arts.

Renner seemed to have noticed Climb's revenant gaze, and smiled in response.

It was such a warm and welcoming smile.

Those two's conversation was filled with optimistic topics, perhaps they were subconsciously avoiding the discussion of their inevitable fate. Or rather, was it precisely because they knew what fate awaited them that they avoided talking about it?

Not long later, Tia returned alone with the Warm Bottle.

"Where's Mr. Unglaus and Tina?"

"Hmmm? Those two went looking for desserts to pair with the tea, so I came back first."

"Desserts?" Lakyus half-squinted at Tia, "That would have been appropriate if we were the one to bring some along—"

"—I do not mind so it is fine. I should have baked plenty of pastries back then to serve as backup food. Since I added a lot of sugar in them, they could be used as desserts."

"...See? Even the princess agrees. Oni...crOni boss is just being extra. Also, this is the first time I have tried steeping tea."

(TL's note: Original was 鬼 vs 恶鬼. TLing it into a pun to preserve the nuance.)

The tea that flowed out of the Warm Bottle was excessively thick.

"Hey. Oni boss. It feels nice to down it in one gulp. It's got a clean texture."

"Thank you."

"The taste is honestly excellent, I suppose Your Highness the princess would not need my recommendation. Please have my share too, it cooled down already."

Tia placed her filled cup of tea in front of Renner.

Such a breach of etiquette angered Lakyus somewhat, but Tina kept silent anyways. Climb felt that he should also keep his mouth shut.

Lakyus picked up her cup and breathed in the fragran— smell. Her expression became twisted.

"The taste was too strong..."

"Don't mind it."

"...of course I would mind. This is the first time I've drank such a strong tea. How many leaves did you add...?"

"Hey hey. I know you said this was your first time, but there's no need to quiver with such excitement~"

"So that was why they were looking for desserts, to balance the flavour. Understandable... Renner, you were right to not drink it."

"How rude. Not even the term 'oni' could do you justice, oni boss."

"Haaaah, just try to make something more edible next time."

Lakyus picked up her cup and slipped from the corner of her lips. Her expression twisted into something resembling the character . Just how thick was the tea?

Tia, who stood next to Lakyus stole glances at her and asked in a matter-of-fact tone, "is it tasty?"

"Hah? If I am being honest, it is too bitter. I would not call it good—hugh!"

Lakyus' expression began to contort.

She pushed Tia aside and held on to her stomach. The items on the table shook as she wobbled.

In the midst of the chaos, Climb finally noticed that Lakyus' gown had been stained red. A thin, stick-like object had been thrust through her.

He could not comprehend what had happened. His brain could not accept what he was seeing right now.

Who would have thought that Lakyus would be penetrated by Tia.

Lakyus was also in a confused state, not even casting healing magic on herself. It was as though she was trying her best to understand what was happening.

Gagaran ran to Lakyus' side.

Climb thought that she was rushing over to help, but things turned out for the worse as Gagaran struck Lakyus' stomach with a heavy punch.

Lakyus remained defenseless against that attack, thinking that her companion was rushing over to help her. Gagaran struck her in the stomach with the force of a battering ram.

"Ooooof."

"Let me do it."

Tia impaled Lakyus with a new spike as the air was knocked out of her, rendering her unable to breathe.

His eyes did not deceive him, there was some sort of liquid at the tip of the spike. It must have been some sort of poison.

"Your Highness."

Climb tugged Renner's hand, hid her behind his frame, and moved towards one of the corners. Tia and Gagaran ignored him entirely, choosing to repeatedly attack Lakyus instead.

Lakyus tried her best to dodge their attacks, but faced with the duo's combos she could not even properly defend herself, nevermind dodging. The gearless Lakyus could not put up an effective resistance against the fully geared Tia and Gagaran.

Climb angrily yelled towards the silent spectator, Evileye.

"What in the world is going on!!"

"Don't move. Otherwise I would not only target you with my magic, but the princess as well."

Climb was about to draw his sword but stopped himself when he saw that Evileye had raised a hand in his and Renner's direction. He naturally should be assisting Lakyus, but Renner was more important to him. Protecting Renner took absolute priority.

Climb wanted to lead Renner out of the room, but the moment he moved a crystal shortsword was embedded by his foot.

"Don't move. Do not leave this room. If you disobey me, I'll...hack off one of the princess' legs...? As long as you listen to me, I will not harm you."

-x-X-x-

Climb was powerless in the face of Evileye's threats.

{If I rendezvoused with Brain — if I informed Tina of the current situation...} While Climb pondered, the unusual situation among the members of Blue Rose continued to unfold.

Tia appeared to be muttering something to Lakyus.

"I've been making observations for quite a while now, looking for ways to kill Lakyus...Normal methods would be resisted, so a combination of magic and poison would have to be used. That is the only way to do it. Surely not even you could resist the effect of multiple poisons simultaneously, right? Evileye, it's your turn."

"Alright."

Confused, grovelling, and saddened. Pain was not the only thing conveyed through Lakyus' expression, what stood out amongst them all was her inability to understand what was happening at all. Evileye casted a spell at her.

"I get it. [Resist Weakening]... No use. She resisted it."

(TL's note: would have went with [Resistance Weakening] but the Engrish in the furigana has spoken)

"What even."

Gagaran landed yet another hit on Lakyus' belly, the part of her body that she had minimized her own stature to protect, like a turtle retreating into its shell. Tia took out a new needle and stabbed it into Lakyus without any hesitation.

"[Resist Weakening]...alright. Now then — [Charm Person]. Done. Good job, you two. We did it."

Gagaran and Tia pulled away from Lakyus.

"Lakyus, quick, heal yourself."

"Yes, understood. Tia, could you help me pull these out?"

Lakyus spoke as if nothing had happened. The terror of mind control made Climb tremble with fear.

Just as Tia was about to do it, Evileye raised her voice to stop her in her tracks.

"Don't. If you inflict pain on her now, you'll be treated as a hostile and the magic may be dispelled. Lakyus, sorry but pull them out yourself. Those shouldn't have pierced too deeply."

"Its purpose was only to inject the poison, so the needle itself isn't too thick...it's the type that would be rendered ineffective if you were wearing armour."

"I know, but pulling it out myself will still require a bit of resolve."

Lakyus bit down on her lower lip and pulled the needle out. She then began to cast healing magic on the hole.

"Gagaran. Open the window and let some air in... What should we do about the blood on the floor?"

"Most of it was absorbed by her dress so not much made it onto the floor. No need to worry about it."

Renner replied calmly. Everybody other than him was speaking in such a tranquil manner that Climb felt like what he was witnessing was an illusion. It was as if he had been transported to an unfamiliar world.

"Woah. Completely unshaken. I knew from the start that you had guts."

"I do not think so..." Renner said with a puzzled expression, "I just felt that everyone would not just harm each other for no reason at all...but mind control is really scary though...Climb, what did you think about this?"

"Yes, I had the same thought."

"So...could you tell us why you did this?"

"What if I told you that I won't?"

"Are you not the least bit apologetic that you have soiled this room?"

Evileye appeared to be laughing behind her mask.

"Alright, nothing I could say about that. The reason is simple. Compared to the Kingdom or whatever else, we believe our companions' lives to be far more important. That's about it."

"Defending the capital was oni boss' decision anyways. We were against it deep down from the start."

"But if we told her that, this dumbass would definitely say, 'then I will defend it on my own' or something. So, we decided that our only option was to forcefully take her away, but daylight kidnappings aren't so easy. Neither did we have confidence in our ability to trick her into leaving too, so, though we must apologize to Your Highness the princess for what we've done, we had to exploit this opportunity."

Tia and Gagaran shrugged in agreement. This must have been a collective decision made by Blue Rose barring Lakyus of course. Brain still had not returned yet, so Tina must be keeping him busy.

"But no matter what, this was far too excessive."

"Haaaah, that's what I said as well, but these guys—"

"It would be bad if she got on high alert after rejecting our suggestion...to catch an oni...to catch Lakyus out for sure required her to be completely off her guard. This is me speaking from experience."

"So there is a whole system around this?"

"Aye. We used five types of poison, didn't let her wear her gear, used debuff magic, and yet still had to rely on luck to see if we could charm her. That was why we had to go through all of this trouble, if even one of those elements was missing, we would have failed. Now then—" Evileye clapped her hands together, "after Tina comes back, we'll head back to the inn with [Teleportation], pick up Lakyus' equipment, and teleport out of this city."

Evileye looked towards Climb and Renner.

"...Oy, opportunities like this won't come twice. You know I could take you guys along with me, right? I'll be frank with you, this country is doomed and the fate that awaits the princess of a doomed nation won't be a pretty one. This might be your last chance at escaping."

Climb couldn't help but look towards Renner.

Wasn't this exactly what he had hoped for?

If it was teleportation, they could escape even if the city was surrounded. Plus, what Evileye had said was the truth. Whatever fate awaited Renner would not be kind at all, nor was there any other way he could foresee this situation playing out. After all, their enemy was a nation of undead that trampled over the innocent.

"I wish to ask a question. Where will you be heading to?"

"Well, first things first, we have to leave this country. About that...we'll probably be heading Northeast, I think? If we kept moving in that direction, there is a country that fell into ruin long ago. The capital there — we'll be heading to the ruins cleansed by fire. Since that place is quite a ways away, we will have to teleport multiple times. Mmmm, in any case it's a faraway land, one that none of you have heard of."

"Is that so..."

Renner slightly lowered her head. Was she hesitating? Not long after, she lifted her head as if she had made a resolute decision.

"Thank you, but I cannot go."

"Is that so..."

Evileye did not continue speaking.

Panicked feelings began to arise in Climb's heart. If that was her decision, then Renner's fate was set in stone. That was all he could think of.

True loyalty. Was it not what the members of Blue Rose had demonstrated? Should he take Renner to safety, regardless of whether he had to resort to violence or not?

To escape the frustration welling up within him, he looked towards Renner whose smile told him that she understood him completely. This was the expression that graced Climb every time she was about to lay down the truth.

"Climb. As royalty, I must fulfill my duties even if it costs me my life."

He felt as though he had just been punched.

While Renner's existence as a person was important to him, of equal value was her status as his royal liege.

In these situations, having to attend to one's royal duties wasn't a good thing at all. Yet, Renner, as royalty, as one who cared for her own people, was still willing to stay true to her royal status till the end.

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Compared to him, someone whose thoughts were solely on survival, how magnanimous was she?

Climb made his resolve.

His responsibility in the end, will be to let Renner live for as long as possible, even if only for a second more. He will die at the hands of the Sorcerous Kingdom's army, serving as Renner's shield till the very end.

At the same time Climb steeled himself, he heard Evileye quietly say, "how rowdy." Knocks came ringing from the door as it opened, stood outside were Brain and Tina, holding filled trays.

"We found and brought some desserts over."

"Because the guy next to us had a bone to pick with me, it took a while, were we able to make it— What? What the hell happened here?"

Although the windows were open, Brain was still able to pick up on the faint smell of blood that lingered. He shifted his center of mass downwards as he carefully looked around the room.

"...lady over there. There's blood on your clothes — did someone suspicious show up?"

"No—"

"Don't mind it. Just ask Her Highness about it after we leave."

Gagaran interrupted Lakyus to say. Perhaps he still felt uneasy, Brain shot a glance at Renner. One could sense the question 'is everything alright?' from his eyes alone. If Renner had responded in the negative, he would have probably unsheathed his sword.

"Everything is fine. There is nothing to be on guard for."

Brain's gaze turned to Climb.

Climb replied in the same manner as Renner.

"...is that so? That's good to hear then."

"Ah, right. Brain Unglaus, I have a question for you. Want to get away from this place?"

"...what?"

Upon hearing Evileye's question, Brain began to survey the room once more.

"What are those two planning to do?" Brain answered with his own question as his gaze swung towards Climb and Renner. His lips curved into a smile after Evileye shook her head. "Is that so. If that's the case — no, no matter what, I would not have chosen to run away — there is no point in it anyway... Honestly... I said back then that I'd choose the path of least resistance, now it looks like that was right on the spot."

"...Really? I thought you'd respond this way, guess I was right."

The members of Blue Rose gathered around Evileye and suddenly vanished as if they had already bid farewell. All that was left behind of them was the smell of blood and black tea.

This was supposed to be their final farewell, yet it ended so abruptly. But, considering the pain those two must feel when they have no choice but to separate, perhaps there was no better alternative to this farewell.

However, those were Climb's thoughts, not Renner's.

She must have been dealt a mental blow, so how should he comfort her? Climb stole a glance at Renner and saw that she was listless. The gentle smile that usually hung on her face was nowhere to be seen, it was like she had put on a mask.

It must have had an extreme impact on her.

Climb stood beside Renner.

"Princess, I can imagine the shock you must be going through right now, but..."

He could not finish his sentence. It was more accurate to say that he did not want to finish that sentence. While he wanted to say that he would stay with her till the end, how could he ever compare to that Adamantite-ranked adventurer, who was both a noblewoman and Renner's friend. Still, he had to comfort the princess somehow, so he racked his brain.

Maybe his intentions were conveyed well enough, because Renner's expression suddenly changed. It was back to her normal, gentle smile.

"I'm fine~, Climb...Nevermind that, Brain-san has important matters to attend to does he not?"

"Ahhh... Then, Your Highness, Climb. The timing is about right, it's time for me to say goodbye. I apologize but I will have to leave now."

What was this sudden development?

Climb could not understand what Brain was thinking, so he asked a question.

"Where are you going?"

"Hmmm? I plan to challenge the Sorcerer King in single combat. Mmm, I'd most likely lose, but I should be able at the very least cut down one of his subordinates."

Brain took off the sword he kept by his waist side, threw it towards Climb, and said, "I'm returning this."

"Wha!? What are you talking about!? The only one fit to wield this sword is the one who inherited Stronoff-sama's will! Brain-san!"

"Oy oy, I told you back then didn't I? I am not inheriting his will. First of all, this is one of the national treasures right? It's not befitting someone as lowly as me. Princess-san, sorry, but please do return this to His Majesty."

"I understand."

"Princess-sama!"

"—Climb, Brain-san has already made his decision."

"As expected of princess-san, you're a good woman. That said, I don't really understand women anyway. Mmmm, how do I put this." Brain stood upright. "This is probably my last farewell. Princess, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. Climb— back then, I was lucky to have met you and Sebas-san. It resuscitated me...and I am grateful for that."

Brain turned his back on them and began to march forward.

"You and Gazef, it was my honour to have met the both of you."

As those words fell, Brain's silhouette disappeared behind the other side of the door.

"...How did it end up this way...Sorcerer King...if only you didn't exist..."

Everything around Climb was being destroyed. Everything other than what was most important to him had been taken away and even that might not be long for this world. Her time was running out.

"Climb, I want to hand this sword off to father-sama first."

The depressive mood had gotten a hold on him and those words managed to pull him back. Indeed, until that moment came, he had sworn to give his all to her — to save the woman who had saved him, to serve the person most important to him.

"...say, that, this, umm." The sounds coming out of Renner's mouth did not match the atmosphere of the room just then at all. "Can I hold the sword for a moment?"

"Eh? Okay, yes!"

After he handed over the sword, Renner drew it out.

"It is quite heavy."

Renner handed the sheath to Climb. The blade of the Razor Edge was honed and could cut through armour like paper. Before Climb could say "it's dangerous," Renner began to wave the sword around in the air.

Climb was a little shocked. Indeed, because of the weight, her movements were wobbly, causing the tip of the blade to nick the floorboard. That was purely because she did not have enough strength to wield it, because her training still shone through her stance and movements. He could feel the sharpness of the blade from afar. If a man without experience were to swing this sword around, he would not have been able to make the sword gleam the way it did in her hands.

"Uuugh — Hmmm. I'm not too suited for this."

"N-no, not at all. I believe that if you trained more, you should be able to win against me in a duel."

"You jest. Plus, it is unlikely that I will ever hold a sword again."

Renner sheathed the sword after Climb passed it to her and handed it back to Climb.

"Now then, let us head to father-sama's side, but before then—" Renner looked at herself.

"I need to make some preparations."

----

Brain Unglaus walked through the empty streets of the capital. Usually these streets would be bustling with life, yet today not another soul could be seen. Everyone was hiding in their homes out of fear for the Sorcerer King, but Brain knew that would not bring them salvation.

Brain was around Renner for long enough to know that the Sorcerer King had no reason to not destroy the capital.

However, if someone were to ask him "how can we be saved?" he would not know how to respond.

If everybody coordinated and ran from the capital in all directions, surely some of them would make it out alive. That was the only answer he had.

Brain looked towards the buildings along the street, every door and window was shut tight. They must have been nailed shut from the inside so there was no easy way in.

{Now...behind those doors there must be a few suicides or even entire families dead...}

It was impossible for that to not be the case.

Rumours had already conveyed the terror inflicted by the Sorcerer King's army.

He thought about how this situation could be turned around if God was willing. If every citizen in the capital could rise up for vengeance — though it would be useless, it would probably give the enemy a good scare. But for that to happen, someone had to unite the people under one banner.

If it were the princess, she could probably achieve it, but she did not seem like she wanted to make such a move.

{If it was not me here, but him instead, would things have turned out differently...? Perhaps.}

He knew very well that they did not have any chance at victory in a battle, Brain saw it in his eyes when he led the army of 400,000 away. Yet he could not look past the 0.01% — no, the 0.000001% or even 0.0000000001% chance that they could win.

Zanac may have led them on a suicidal mission, but it wasn't for a pipedream. He had just acted according to their best bet in that scenario

—just like what Brain was about to do.

Brain laughed in his lonesome and felt something.

{Has the air...changed?}

Nothing had changed in actuality, the capital still smelled the way it always did, but there was a noticeable difference. This was something a warrior could come to understand after experiencing multiple near-death battles. It was somewhat different from a pungent smell, it was a sort of psychological smell.

It was the same smell he smelled back when he and Climb looked towards E-Rantel's night sky.

The smell of loss and defeat.

{Has the Sorcerer King's army finally made their move?}

That was the only reason he could think of for such a sudden change.

An opportunity had come.

If Brain were to not use any tricks when approaching the Sorcerer King, the probability that he could make it to his side was really low. No, that was an understatement — it would be correct to say that he did not have a chance at all.

However, there was a chance that he could accomplish his goal in the midst of the chaos of battle. Of course, that depended on the security situation of the enemy's camp. Still, to trample over a city as big as the capital would require breaks in formation and subsequently, lowered guards.

Brain stopped walking to mull over his next moves and saw the buttresses turn white.

It was as though white paint had been poured over it.

Wails could be heard from afar.

This was the start of the siege. The wails had come from the temporary shelters built for refugees from other cities near the buttresses. The enemy's target had to be the castle, so there probably won't be any refugees running towards Brain — towards the castle.

{What should I do? Would it be better to abandon the initial plan once the siege began?}

His initial plan was to get out of the capital first and wait for the moment the enemy's army entered the capital. He was planning to slip past the army in the chaos of the siege to get closer to the Sorcerer King.

However, if the enemy had already made their way into the capital, it would be better for him to hide himself for now, wait for the army to pass over, and then go out of the city walls.

But if he did that, there was a high chance that the Sorcerer King might choose to leave his encampment.He had to first figure out where he was so he wouldn't waste time running towards nothing.

Perhaps he could hide near the castle and wait till the Sorcerer King led his army inward to strike.

Well, in any case—

{All of these plans rely on me hiding myself.}

That said, he would not have to perfectly mask his presence like a rogue or assassin. He should be fine as long as he hid out of the enemy's sight.

While he considered where to best hide himself, the city gates began to crumble. The white shrapnel being splintered off the gates reflected light in such a brilliant and beautiful way that Brain could not help but stop and admire this sight, even in this situation.

{Was that...some kind of skill?} But if he thought about it, he was about to make an enemy out of the Sorcerer King, one who could summon all sorts of deplorable beings. Nothing should be out of the ordinary for him at this point.

A tiny dot stepped over the collapsed gates. It only appeared tiny because it was so far away, adjusted for perspective it must be a giant compared to the average human.

Even though it had stepped over the threshold, no soldiers were rushing over to stop it. There could only be one reason why.

They were already dead.

Brain's entire body began to shudder.

That had to be a super monster or something.

The being's figure slowly began to increase in size, its stride slow and steady.

Brain's expression became contorted.

This was a being with overwhelming physical strength, so its speed should be on par. To advance through an empty street shouldn't take it too much time, so why was it wasting so much time—

{Ahhh, indeed. They had already breached the capital's defences, so the ensuing massacre should be easy for them. They could take as much time as they want!}

It was then not strange for the enemy to be at ease.

However — Brain squinted and looked towards his slowly approaching yet still far away opponent.

This was the street where he was picked up, forcefully pulled along by Gazef.

This was the street he ran down with Climb to raid the Eight Finger's facility, where he met Sebas.

This was the street he led the children destined to become the next warrior captains down.

This road was now being stomped upon carelessly by a monster. The road Brain had walked down with everyone he held dear was being stomped on.

Unforgivable.

Brain changed his mind. He no longer gave a damn about the Sorcerer King. Right here, right now, this monster in front of him—

—he swore to make it pay.

-x-X-x-