Ch18. Doubts and resolve

Enri couldn't believe what just happened. The two terrifying existences who saved her didn't demand her life. In fact, they even helped her further without asking for any payment. When she heard they decided to help her village... tears started streaming down her cheeks in gratitude.

She couldn't just let them leave without even asking their names!

"U-um!" Enri started, causing the party to stop and turn towards her. She quickly put her hands on the ground and bowed her head, "Thank you very much for saving us!" She said with as much sincerity as she could.

"Thank you very much!" Nemu cutely followed her sister's example.

"Don't worry about it." Momonga seriously replied, yet, Rei secretly sniggered. He could almost see the tsundere skeleton blushing via his newfound observatory abilities.

"Wh-What are your names?" Enri eagerly asked.

"My name..." Momonga mumbled before entering his deep contemplation mode. Rei already knew what was going through his head but he really, but really, couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at the roleplay maniac. "You will do well to remember my name! I am... Ainz Ooal Gown!" The newly christened Ainz struck a dramatic pose bringing awe to his audience while Rei let out a silent sigh.

With that, Ainz disguised himself with the Mask of Envy and the party of four walked away, leaving the two awestruck girls behind.

...

"Was it fine, Rei? Me using the guild's name, I mean." Ainz worriedly asked the sole friend who stuck with him through thick and thin. He had his reasons for using it but still...

Rei just lazily waved his hand, "It's fine. I understand. You still have a hope that our guildmates were also transported here and want to use the name of the guild to attract their attention." He remarked, utterly shocking Ainz with how accurately he pinpointed his intentions. "While I don't think you will get the desired result, I have nothing against you trying. Just don't expect me to change my name too. Unlike you, I used my real name for my character."

"Haaa~, as expected, you saw right through me." Ainz dejectedly noted. "I still think you should have been the guild master. You certainly have more experience in managing things and making decisions than me." He said, causing a visible reaction in both Albedo and Solution.

Solution proudly smiled when she heard Ainz's words. She respected the leader of Nazarick immensely but in her eyes, there was nobody better than Rei-sama.

Albedo was clearly shocked when her Momonga admitted that Rei had a better aptitude to lead Nazarick. She had no clue what kind of 'experience' he had in leading but in this rare instance, she disagreed with Ainz. Sure, her loyalty to Rei was unquestionable. Unless he wanted to hurt her beloved in some way, she would do anything for him. But... that didn't mean she would like to see her Momonga losing his position as a leader. No way!

"You wish..." Rei snorted, "You kept Nazarick going for the past two years, guild master. You can keep it. It's too much work for me anyway." He casually rejected. He had quite a lot of practice doing that as this was not the first time Momong-, ahem, Ainz had one of his self-esteem-dropping episodes and tried to push the leadership role onto him.

Rei long ago decided he won't become the leader of Nazarick no matter what. He had no interest in taking care of NPCs and trying to keep them in line. He also didn't want to worry about unnecessary things like world conquest. He wanted to have fun, not overwork himself by trying to make Nazarick prosperous. That's why he spent so much money and time to acquire convenience items that would allow him to laze around while getting wealthier like the [Well of Ever-increasing Fortune].

Albedo seriously nodded, accepting Rei's word as an ultimate truth while also elevating him in her mind for not trying to usurp her beloved while Solution understood her Master didn't wish to lead Nazarick. She noted that fact in the dark corner of her mind, knowing it would no doubt be something she would have to factor in when making decisions later on.

"Haaa~," Ainz released a sigh but deep down, he was grateful. He felt quite inadequate being the leader when he knew that in the real world, Rei effortlessly led a massive corporation towards success AND still had time to play Yggdrasil most of the day. That wasn't all. Rei's leadership and management capabilities showed quite clearly during the years. Ainz felt he was not the best man for the job but... he wanted to be the leader of the guild. He put so much effort into it... "Thank you." Ainz quietly uttered, causing Rei to smile.

The party of four used Fly to speed up their travel and finally arrived above the village, just in time to witness the Death Knight repeatedly ramming his sword into the gut of a man screaming for somebody to 'sabe 'im' while the few remaining knights watched in utter horror at the scene, not expecting to be the one who was hunted today.

To be honest, Rei couldn't muster any pity for them. He saw clearly the result of their actions. Yes, quite a few villagers were gathered in the village square but the streets were still littered with corpses. Men, women, children, elderly... the knights didn't discriminate. Worse yet... some of the female corpses were clearly 'used'. For a second, Rei regretted having so sharp senses.

'I guess... these are the aspects of the real world an anime wouldn't show. This is a medieval world and knights or not, I shouldn't expect them to be as disciplined as modern troops. After all, who is gonna punish them if they rape a village girl before killing her? There's no military court in this world.' Rei mused in distaste, averting his eyes from a naked corpse of a girl that was at most twelve.

It wasn't that he felt angry because of what he witnessed. Deep down, Rei knew he was unable to feel these kinds of emotions since he became Incubus. He lacked the capacity to care for humans he never met. He would not even begrudge the knights their 'spoils'. After all, they were strong and strong taking things from the weak was how the world worked under all that flowery bullshit that kept the masses happy. That said, witnessing it still made Rei disgusted as he really couldn't comprehend what was the appeal of raping somebody. He simply... couldn't comprehend any reason for such an action.

'I guess... my new mentality and my old morals are making me a bit too introspective.' Rei wryly thought while observing how Momonga ordered the Death Knight to stop its rampage. It was poetic justice. When the knights were strong, most of them relished making the villagers suffer. Now that they were in the position of the weak, they prayed to their Gods to save them. Rei could only shake his head, 'In the end, it doesn't matter. The strong rule the world so I just have to make sure to be strong enough to not have anything taken from me...'