Overlord Volume 2 Chapter 2 Interlude

Intermission

Demiurge walked through the Ninth Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. The hard soles of his leather shoes clacked loudly against the ground, and the echoes faded away into silence. Many vassals had been set out to maintain security, but they did not impair the mythic atmosphere in this place.

Suddenly, Demiurge looked around, and smiled.

"...Truly magnificent."

The object of his admiration was the entirety of the Ninth Floor. It was a place which complemented the Forty One Supreme Beings, the entities for whom Demiurge would abandon everything and pledge his utmost loyalty. Therefore, Demiurge loved and cherished everything here.

Joy filled Demiurge's heart every time he walked through this place, further reinforcing his devotion to his creators. It was not just Demiurge who felt this way; even the clowns, musicians, and other noisy fellows were awed into silence by this floor, and strove to preserve its quiescence.

Anyone who was not delighted by the sights here, who was not sufficiently loyal to the Forty One Supreme Beings, must surely have "disloyal tendencies."

As these thoughts passed through Demiurge's mind, he turned a corner. His destination was before his eyes, the room of his unquestionable superior, the Supreme Ruler of Nazarick, the last and only one who remained with them, Ainz Ooal Gown.

As he approached the room's door, he saw several people open it and leave.

These people noticed Demiurge, and waited courteously for him to approach.

One of them was dressed like a butler, but he was dressed entirely in black aside from his white gloves. It looked less like a set of butler's clothes than a combat uniform.

He was one of the ten manservants of Nazarick, but not even Demiurge could tell which of the ten he was. This was because they all wore full-face battle masks, like faceless mooks, and only communicated in strange noises.

In addition, there was the being standing before the butler.

The ridiculous mental image of a naked man in a tie appeared in Demiurge's mind.

It was a penguin.

It was the very picture of a penguin, and it wore a black tie.

"It has been a while, Assistant Head Butler-kun."

Upon hearing Demiurge's warm and genial greeting, the penguin responded with a beaming smile (probably):

"Indeed, it has been a while, Demiurge-sama."

He then bowed deeply.

This was not a simple penguin, but the assistant head butler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He was a heteromorphic being known as a birdman, and its name was Eclair Aicler Egglayer.

As a birdman, like Peroroncino of the Forty One Supreme Beings, he should have had a bestial head and wings, and his limbs should have had avian characteristics. Yet for some reason, he looked like a penguin. Still, Demiurge had no doubts about his appearance.

The reason for that was because he was a creation and relic of the Supreme Beings.

"Is Albedo inside?"

"Yes, Albedo-sama is within."

Albedo was in charge of Nazarick while Ainz was out. It was also common knowledge that she did not conduct her business in her own room, but in this room.

All her actions were taken with Ainz's approval, so the only one to voice any objections to this arrangement was Shalltear Bloodfallen, who was herself abroad on business.

Demiurge had once whispered to Albedo, "Shouldn't a good wife wait for her husband at home and mind the house in his absence?" Therefore, he was completely unable to refute her when she replied, "What's wrong with a wife standing watch over her husband's room?"

He nodded to Eclair, and then asked:

"It's rare for you to come here, Eclair-kun. Are you not assigned to the guest rooms?"

"I must work hard in Sebas-sama's place when he is not around. In fact, I was discussing the finer points of my duties with Albedo-sama."

"Indeed. Since he is not around, the Ninth Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick is now your responsibility."

"Exactly. I must work hard now, so I may one day rule the Great Tomb of Nazarick."

The smile on Demiurge's face did not change, despite Eclair's strange statement.

It was widely-known that Eclair hungered after the throne of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He was a creation of the Supreme Beings, so he was beyond question.

Of course, if the order was given, Demiurge would eliminate him without mercy, but until then, he had no objections.

"Indeed. Work hard, then. Speaking of which, what do you intend to take care of first?"

"Cleaning, of course. What other work is there to do? Nobody cleans better than me! One could eat off the toilets I clean."

Demiurge nodded in satisfaction as he heard Eclair's confident reply.

"Excellent. Your work is very important. A stain on this floor is an insult to the Supreme Beings."

The nodding Demiurge then asked another question:

"I know your job is very important, but who will be in charge of this floor while Sebas is out?"

"That would be the head maid Pestonya. Managing this floor is nothing compared to cleaning it."

"I see… so the vassals made by the Supreme Beings have already been assigned their duties… come to think of it, is it not difficult to carry out your duties with these penguin hands of yours?"

"My talent lies in overcoming the clumsiness of these hands and cleaning house," Eclair confidently replied, his chest puffed out. Then, in a somewhat unhappy tone, he continued:

"Come to think of it, this is not something that a being like you — whose wisdom is second only to my own — would say, Demiurge-sama."

Eclair took a comb from the butler behind him, and began preening the golden feathers on the sides of his head.

"I am no mere penguin, but a rockhopper penguin made by Ankoro Mochimochi-sama of the Supreme Beings. Please do not confuse me with such animals. Also, these are not my hands — but wings."

"It seems I have been rude."

After seeing Demiurge lower his head in apology, Eclair signalled that he had not taken it to heart. Then, he ordered the butler behind him:

"Carry me."

"Ngiiiiiih—!"

The manservant tucked Eclair under his arm.

Eclair's usual walking gait was a series of short hops, which was quite slow, in some ways.

Therefore, he was typically carried around by a manservant in this manner.

"Then, I shall take my leave, Demiurge-sama."

"Mm, farewell. Eclair-kun."

After looking briefly at the Assistant Head Butler being held under a manservant's arm like a doll, Demiurge knocked gently on the room's door:

"This is Demiurge. Pardon the intrusion."

He was exceedingly polite, despite the absence of the room's owner. This was because to Demiurge, the room itself was a place to be respected.

Demiurge entered the room, which should have been empty.

He looked around, and did not see Albedo anywhere. Demiurge sighed softly, then opened another set of doors and proceeded deeper within.

The rooms of the Forty One Supreme Beings were modelled after royal suites, and featured a vast bathroom, a bar counter, a living room with a grand piano, a main bedroom, guest rooms, a dedicated kitchen, a dressing room, and so on.

Demiurge advanced to the bedroom without a second's hesitation.

He knocked on the door and entered without waiting for an answer.

There was only a single bed within, but the king-sized bed was adorned with a stylish canopy. There was a large lump, slightly larger than the size of a human, and it was squirming.

"Albedo."

Unable to bear Demiurge calling out to her, a world class beauty revealed her face from under the sheets. Her skin was an uninterrupted stretch of silky smoothness down to her shoulders, so she was probably naked under those sheets. Perhaps it was because she had burrowed into those sheets, but there was a faint blush of arousal on her cheeks.

"...What fell sorcery are you working there?"

"I want Ainz-sama to be enveloped in my fragrance when he returns."

It would seem her wiggling and squirming was to mark her territory.

Demiurge was dumbstruck. All he could do was silently watch the highest ranked NPC created by the Forty One Supreme Beings, the Guardian Overseer of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Then, he tiredly shook his head.

He did not say, "Ainz-sama is undead, he probably will not sleep on a bed," or, "Even if he did sleep on a bed, the sheets would probably be changed right away," or something like that. If she was satisfied with that, then so be it.

"You should probably not take it too far."

"...I don't know what you mean by too far, but I understand. Right, Ainz-sama?"

The person lying in bed beside Albedo suddenly revealed his face.

Demiurge was so shocked that he had no words to say.

For a moment, he thought it was Ainz Ooal Gown himself, but it was not nearly thick or imposing enough.

"That must be… a hug pillow… who made it?"

"I did."

Demiurge's nearly-closed eyes widened slightly as he heard Albedo's prompt reply. He had not expected her to be possessed of such skills.

"Be it cleaning, washing clothes, or sewing, I possess all these skills at a professional level."

Elated by Demiurge's surprise, Albedo continued showing off in a self-satisfied tone:

"I've already made socks and clothes for our future baby, up through the age of five."

Albedo's full-faced smile and her kufufufu laugh left Demiurge feeling a little powerless. He considered simply leaving her here and departing forthwith.

"It doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl… ah! What if the child is a hermaphrodite, or sexless?"

Demiurge could not say anything. All he could do was watch Albedo, who was muttering to herself.

It was true that Albedo excelled in the management of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and in that respect she was far superior to Demiurge. However, she was not as talented in terms of defense and military administration, so she needed Demiurge's help in that field.

All would be well as long as there were no known enemies, like now.

With that in mind, Demiurge tamped down his uneasiness. His master had ordered him to leave the Tomb, and Demiurge could not resist that command.

"Then, in accordance with Ainz-sama's orders, I will be setting out now. That being the case, the only Guardians remaining in Nazarick will be yourself and Cocytus. There is nothing which needs to be said, but I do hope you will take care of yourself."

"So, after Aura, Mare, Sebas, and Shalltear, it's your turn? Mm, leave it to me. I'll have my sisters help me in an emergency. I will also mobilize the Pleiades. They should be enough to hold on until everyone returns."

"...I believe that your little sister cannot be deployed without Ainz-sama's permission, even in an emergency. The same applies to the Pleiades. I believe two of them are already out on missions, so you will not be able to assemble all of them. Perhaps you should move Victim to a higher floor, depending on the circumstances?"

"Still, going that far… preparations have been made in case of such a situation. If something goes awry, please return as soon as possible. Speaking of which, how will you deal with the surviving members of the Sunlight Scripture? Ainz-sama has granted you the right to dispose of them, am I wrong? You could hand that to me as well, but I have no idea what you plan to accomplish with them…"

"Ah, them, you mean? By order of Ainz-sama, they are helping us with experiments."

Demiurge seemed very happy, but Albedo wrinkled her elegantly-shaped eyebrows.

"First are the healing magic tests. When we cut off an arm and heal the wound with magic, the severed hand disappears. Now, if we had them eat the severed arm and then healed the wound, would the nutrients derived from the arm vanish? If we repeated this over and over again, would the people who ate the arms starve to death?"

"Ah — indeed."

"In addition, we allow them to vote on who should become the others' food, and who should be the one to cut off the food's limbs with a blunt axe. We do so by a registered vote."

"Is there a reason for that?"

"But of course. There will be a hierarchy among the prisoners, from those who will become food and have their limbs chopped off, to those who will chop the limbs off, and those who will eat those limbs. This creates hatred, and once they are gripped by that hatred, all we need to do is gently urge on the ones who were used as food. This encourages them to revolt, and the effects are very obvious. Beings that hate everything are truly fearsome."

"...That is quite disturbing. We of Nazarick are beings created by the Supreme Beings, and there is no way we could betray Ainz-sama. But to think these humans would betray their own masters… well, they have hardly any loyalty to speak of."

"That is what makes it interesting. You could enjoy the humans in that way too, could you not, Albedo? All you need to do is treat them as toys."

"I cannot understand your way of thinking."

"What a shame. All right, staying here and chatting will delay the execution of Ainz-sama's orders. If anything happens, let me know and I will return right away."

"Mm. I don't think it'll come to that, but I will inform you depending on the circumstances."

Albedo's alabaster-white hand emerged from under the sheets to wave Demiurge goodbye.

"Then, I will be off. Right… since you wanted to make boy's clothes, you might want to know this. Did you know that the Supreme Beings seem to prefer boys in girl's clothing?"

"...Hm?"