88

Climb left the room. He felt the scent of blood had faded away somewhat.

"Thank you very much, Climb. Next..."

After finishing the now-cool tea, Renner stood up. She walked over to a handbell. If she shook it, the bell in the adjacent room would shake as well. As she thought of the face of the maid waiting in the next room, she smiled coldly. How fortunate that she was on duty today.

"My my, what kind of expression should I put on now?"

Renner went up before the mirror and cupped her face with both hands. Then she rubbed up and down. She was only human, and doing so would not change the shape of her face. It was merely a form of self-affirmation.

Renner let go, and smiled.

"No, this is the smile a princess wears for meeting others..."

Renner smiled again. She went through a variety of them before settling on a pure, innocent smile.

"This is best."

After her preparations were complete, Renner shook the bell. Soon, a maid knocked on the door and entered.

"Could you do something for me? Could you help me boil some hot water?"

"At once, Renner-sama."

The maid bowed, and Renner smiled to her.

"What's the matter? You seem quite happy today. Did something good happen?"

Now that her prey had taken the bait, Renner's smile grew ever more joyful.

"Hey, did you know? Climb-kun did really good today! It was amazing!"

She spoke like a child. It was the attitude which fit a foolish princess leaking important information all over the place.

"Well, isn't that lovely."

The maid hated Climb, and she tried her best to hide her displeasure. However, she could not keep her emotions out of her words.

—Die.

—You should die.

—Everyone who dares look down on my Climb should die.

Renner pretended she had not heard the maid's response, because Renner was an innocent little princess. She did not sense others' ill intentions and took their rudeness in stride. She was a naive, innocent — and foolish princess.

"Yup! He was soooo amazing! Climb beat up a whole bunch of bad guys! And then he rescued a lot of people the bad guys locked up! He sent them to... Yeah, I think he sent them to a guard post. Now we can punish the nobles who helped the bad guys do bad things!"

"Really now? Marvellous, that's Renner-sama's Climb-san for you. Then, could I trouble you to tell me of his heroic deeds?"

The maid believed the princess was clueless and would not suspect anything. Thus, Renner began ensnaring that stupid woman in her scheme.

Everything sat within the palm of her hand. All this was in order to gain what she wanted.

-x-X-x-

[ Lower Fire Month (9th Month) 3rd Day 22:10 ]

A strange-looking group blended into the darkness.

They were all outfitted differently, without any sense of regimentation or unity. The closest thing to them would probably be adventurers.

At their head was a stout, muscular man. Behind him was an effete-looking pretty boy and a woman in gauzy silks. Behind him was a robed person, and someone in a suit of full plate armor brought up the rear.

The group were looking at an opened door. The room beyond was pitch-dark, and they sensed that any previous occupants were long gone. A look around did not turn up anyone else.

This was quite a strange situation. Indeed, the brothel should have been stripped bare and taken to a guard post. That said, someone ought to have been posted to stand watch, even if the place was empty. In fact, if one looked along the otherwise empty streets, one would be able to see signal fires where the night watch would have been stationed.

Yet, there was nobody here. That was because this group had used their influence to temporarily get rid of the sentries..

The stone-faced man at their head — Zero — glared fiercely at the gutted brothel and growled:

"This is too big to be a mere joke. I need to apologize to Cocco Doll. I lent him Succulent of Six Arms, but to think this place was taken down so easily, and on the day I sent him over... What a joke."

Sneering laughter came from behind him. Zero turned and fixed the source of that laughter with a razor-sharp gaze.

The woman in silks knew Zero's personality, and she hurriedly said:

"Ah, well.. So boss, what should we do now? Should we kill Succulent, since he got captured? If we're going with that, he ought to be at the guard post. We're all the direct-attack sort, and if it doesn't work it we'll have to borrow assassins from the other departments... what about it?"

"There's no need to go to such lengths. Even a man like him has his uses. I'll just ask the Count to release him... that'll cost a pretty penny, though. Go make a list of what the Count likes."

"How about Cocco Doll?" the delicate pretty boy asked.

"He has his own connections. If he has any requests, we'll handle them through our connections. Count it as a form of apology. How about the guest list? I heard the guards took it, no?"

"Information on that front has not come in yet. Or rather, I hear they have not learned any concrete details"

The voice from under the robe was grim. It was as though someone were speaking out of a grave. The sepulchral voice sent a chill down its listener's spines.

"I'd like to get my hands on it. We can use it for all sorts of blackmail."

"Don't be foolish. If we obtain it, the other divisions will be even more suspicious of us. People are already suspecting that we were behind all of this. If we find the guest list somewhere, give it to Cocco Doll several days later and apologize. Besides, the list ought to be in an unbreakable code, so you won't be able to use it anyway."

The pretty boy shrugged in response to Zero's spiel.

"In any case, we'll investigate this matter later on. My guess is if it exists, it'll be in the hidden vault... still, whoever broke this door down really did a number on it. How did they make this hole? I doubt they used a weapon... was it magic?"

"It was a fist."

All eyes went to Zero's body. Zero repeated himself — that these traces were made by a fist.

"Fists... Well, that's quite something."

"—Don't be foolish. This much is nothing."

Zero took a breath and interrupted the woman's awed gasp, then he chopped at the door with a knife hand. His hand sank into the door like he was tearing through paper. Zero withdrew his hand, leaving a rent which matched the one Sebas had left.

The pretty boy spoke up, somewhat lamely:

"Well, you're not a good comparison, boss... still, our enemy can break down a steel-reinforced door. While Succulent was the weakest of us, that still means he took down a member of Six Arms. Should we take him as a potential enemy, then?"

"That said, if Succulent lost, that does not indicate the foe is very strong, no?"

There was an undercurrent of mockery in the robed person's voice.

"He is far weaker than us once you see through his illusions. He's good against people he outmatches, but he'll go down against any decent opposition. Did you not know that?"

He was answered by several chuckles. This was both a sign of approval, and a sign of mockery for those weaker than themselves.

"We've said everything that needs to be said. I'll ask again — what should we do? Shall we pull back? I don't think clashing with our opponent will be worth the potential losses?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

Zero's words were laced with an anger which he could not completely suppress."

"Our reputation will be damaged if we don't make an example of the person who attacked this place. Screw the losses. Six Arms will move out together and eliminate the attacker. 'Undying King' Davernoc."

The robed man extended a hand. Said hand did not belong on a living creature, and it clutched an orb that radiated a bizarre aura in response to its owner's emotions.

"'Void Cutter' Peysilian."

The hitherto silent man in full plate armor pounded his chest with a resounding clash of metal.

"Dancing Scimitar' Edstrem."

The silk-clad woman dipped her head elegantly, as the bangles on her wrists clattered.

"'Thousand Kills' Malmvist."

The pretty boy clicked his heels together with a resounding report.

"And then myself, 'Battle Demon' Zero!"

The people around him nodded to show their agreement and understanding.

"First, we'll bail out Succulent and question him. After that... find a good torturer. We're going to show that attacker the true meaning of hell. We'll make him regret his foolishness!"

-x-X-x-

[ Lower Fire Month (9th Month) 3rd Day 17:42 ]

It was sunset by the time everything was over and Sebas returned home.

Climb-kun's protecting all the captured people. Succulent, the owner, and everyone else was arrested. That ought to keep them quiet for a while. Hopefully that can buy some time.

Then, what should he do about Tsuare? Sebas felt that the best option would be to bring her somewhere safe, but Sebas knew there was only one truly safe place in all the world.

As Sebas agonized over the matter, his feet brought him back home.

Just as he was about to open the door, his hand froze. Someone was behind the door. He sensed that it was Solution, but Sebas had no idea why she was standing behind it.

Was there an emergency of some sort?

Sebas had a bad feeling about this, but he still opened the door. What he saw next defied his expectations and left him frozen in place.

"Welcome back, Sebas-sama."

Solution was standing there in her maid's uniform.

A chill ran down Sebas' spine.

Solution — who played the role of a merchant heiress — was wearing her maid uniform in the presence of Tsuare, a human who knew nothing about the truth. Was it because she did not need to act any longer, or was there some reason which required her to wear her uniform?

If it was the former, that would mean something had happened to Tsuare. If it was the latter—

"—Sebas-sama. Ainz-sama is waiting for you inside the house."

Solution's calm, even voice made Sebas' heart lurch in his chest.

Sebas, who could remain calm in the face of a mighty foe or a being on the level of the Floor Guardians, was actually anxious and tense when he heard his own master had come to visit.

"Why, why is he..." Sebas stammered. Solution merely watched him in silence.

"Sebas-sama. Ainz-sana is waiting for you."

There was nothing else to be said. All Sebas could do was follow Solution into the house.

His steps were heavy, like a condemned criminal walking to the chopping block.