Countdown to Extinction

In the capital city of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, in the Valencia Palace.

One of the rooms had a kind of heat typical of the number of people gathered inside. Though that number was not high by any means, the room wasn't spacious either. The point was, the people in that room were so serious and occupied with their tasks that they had begun to raise the temperature of the room bit by bit.

In the center of the room sat a rectangular meeting table and situated on the most important seat in the room was Rampossa III. Sat to his right was the second prince, Zanac, and the rest of the seats had been filled by the Kingdom's courtiers and ministers. Due to the fact that they were all advanced in years, if you were to take a look around the room, all you would see were white hair on white heads and shiny bald heads.

If this was a normal situation, everyone except the king would have stood up to pay their respects and then properly initiate the meeting — this was the protocol after all — but that was not what had happened. Each one of them had a cup filled with tea in front of them, signifying the potential length of this meeting.

After confirming that everybody had received the materials they had prepared, Zanac said loudly,

"Let's start the court meeting then. The topic of this meeting will be the declaration of war we have received from the Sorcerous Kingdom." He had used a term as intense as 'declaration of war' in hopes that everyone would treat this meeting with the gravity it deserves.

The truth was, the white-haired interior minister, who was around the age of his father, had the most displeased expression out of them all. It seemed that he was deeply anxious about the emergency.

Zanac took a stealthy glance at the side of his father's face. He was worried the most about his father's judgment. Was his father still capable of fully understanding how dangerous this situation could be and take appropriate actions against it?

{He probably has some convictions against the Sorcerer King who had killed 'that guy'...}

He had heard that after his father received news of the Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff's death, he was shaken to his core and couldn't think straight. After it was explained to him how resurrection was not possible, he flew into a rage that had never been seen before. Zanac bore witness to it all as he was there with his father when it occurred.

Since then, his father appeared to have aged quite significantly. He had lost all motivation and was as lifeless as a mannequin constructed out of flesh and bone.

Would his father, who had been traumatized this much, be able to make a calm judgment against his sworn enemy, the Sorcerous Kingdom?

{It'll be up to me then—}

Zanac felt uneasy so he took a peek at the ministers.

The topic of this meeting was something that was delivered to them days ago by an envoy from the Sorcerous Kingdom, an official document that bore the royal seal of the Sorcerous Kingdom. The content of the document reads, "A grain convoy meant to serve as humanitarian aid from the Sorcerous Kingdom to the Holy Kingdom had been taken by force by a citizen of the Kingdom. We deem it a hostile action against the Sorcerous Kingdom and hereby declare war on your country."

The document also bore the seals of other countries that approved of the Sorcerous Kingdom's actions.

As of now, the envoy was staying within the capital, waiting to deliver the Kingdom's response letter back. Given that this was an official communication between countries through documents, it would not have been unusual to give the other side a week or two to respond. Even then, for them to reach consensus on a response, finish their preparations, complete investigations, et cetera would probably take them more time than they have on hand, even if they were to rush through every process.

"I'm terribly sorry, because we have had to investigate two of the six seals on the document from the envoy, it took us quite a bit of time."

The one who had lowered his head was the minister of foreign affairs, who was also the minister of seals and was in charge of the investigation over the seals approving of the Sorcerous Kingdom's decision.

"The ones we were certain of before were the four from the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Empire, the Draconic Kingdom, and the Holy Kingdom, correct?"

The minister of foreign affairs nodded in response to the minister of finance's question.

"That is correct. Of the two remaining — one was from the Dwarven Nation. Though we had identified the design as Dwarven, the seal still had some variations compared to the ones on the documents we've had from them from two centuries ago. After we received the assistance from Re-Blumrusher with the investigation, we found a similar seal, so we judged that it was probably a remake of the original after a certain era. The other seal, the one that was next to the Holy Kingdom's, appeared to be the seal of the one they call the 'Faceless One'."

"They placed an individual's stamp alongside the seals of state?"

The minister of military affairs was in total disbelief.

He was the youngest of the ministers. Both him and Zanac lowered the average age of the room by quite a lot. With that said, he was already over 40.

His appearance did not do his rank of the minister of military affairs justice; he was skinny, weak, and had a face that suggested he was neurotic. He seemed more of a financial personnel than a military one.

His relationship with Gazef had not been great - or rather, he had deliberately flaunted his dislike of him - so he was not heavily relied upon by Rampossa and had been absent from court meetings quite frequently. The lack of contact between them made Zanac unaware of his capabilities.

However, since Marquis Raeven had praised his abilities to Zanac, he should be someone who could earn his keep at the very least. No matter what he was like as a person, he should at least be competent, right? No, if he wasn't at least competent he wouldn't have made it as a minister.

"It appears as though the minister of military affairs is not too familiar with this matter. Usually, when the Holy Kingdom applies their national seal on a document, their high priestess would also stamp on the seal of their temple. This must be something similar to that."

"...so they're trying to send the message that the 'Faceless One' had already overtaken the authority of their religious institutions, or that she has authority above that of their current religious institutions?"

"Your servant believes that to be the case, your Majesty. The document we received for the current Holy King's coronation still had the seal of their temple, so it appears that she had begun rapidly consolidating power right after that event. So even though we had never seen the stamp of this 'Faceless One' and could not confirm its validity, since it was stamped next to the national seal of the Holy Kingdom, we could only assume that to be the case."

"Other than the Council State and the Theocracy, most countries have approved of and joined the Sorcerous Kingdom's condemnation of the Kingdom. This wasn't subterfuge by the Sorcerous Kingdom, but the truth."

"Yes, your Majesty."

His father let out a tired sigh.

"Has the Draconic Kingdom also bent their knees to the Sorcerous Kingdom?"

"We can't be certain, your Majesty, because we have yet to receive intel on what had happened in the Draconic Kingdom. Perhaps they had fallen prey to some honeyed words or perhaps they simply felt that there was more to gain by siding with the Sorcerous Kingdom than siding with us."

The Dragonic Kingdom was probably only endorsing the Sorcerous Kingdom's actions and was not participating in the war itself.

"Is that so? I understand, minister of foreign affairs. Thank you for your hard work. Now then...interior minister, how many of those within the Kingdom believe in the contents of this document?

"Yes. Though we're not too sure about the entirety of the Kingdom, about seven-tenths of those within the court believe this to be a ploy of the Sorcerous Kingdom. About a tenth of us believe that it was done by highwaymen — that part of the peasantry that would be boorish and foolish enough to do such a thing. The remaining two-tenths believe that this could be the plot of a third nation."

"Hmm, if it was a plot, their goal would most likely be to weaken the Kingdom and the Sorcerous Kingdom or to simply disrupt the peace between the Sorcerous Kingdom and the Kingdom. If that was the case, it has to be the Council State and the Theocracy."

"Your Majesty, I believe that conclusion to be too rash. There's also the possibility that the Empire is plotting to overturn its status as a vassal state. After all, if it was the knights of the Empire, they could probably easily charge and overwhelm a convoy."

"—that would not be possible. The incident happened on Kingdom soil. Did our investigations not reveal that there were tens of men? Even if it was the Empire or the Council State and the Theocracy, there would be no way they could bring so many soldiers onto our soil behind our backs. Or maybe, they had help from within. Perhaps they had hired bandits within the Kingdom, mercenaries would also be an option — the specifics does not matter, what matters is that we as a nation had committed a mistake."

The minister of military affairs asserted that it was impossible for this to have been a plot that had been executed by soldiers foreign to the Kingdom.

Everyone knew how hard he had worked to maintain the public order which had almost collapsed within the Kingdom after that battle. He had proven his aptitude through the debacle, perhaps that was why he was so confident in his own judgment.

"It would have been hard with bandits, but I still hope that we could absorb some mercenaries into our ranks, but we simply do not have the capital to do so."

"Are you saying that our finances are not in order?"

"I did not say that at all."

"But you implied it—"

"Minister of finance, minister of military affairs, please stop arguing. We do not have time for that."

The two lowered their heads upon hearing the king speak.

The minister of military affairs continued to speak to a now silent room.

"But, I have no doubt that this is some sort of a plot by someone. I have testimony from the guards at the gates that the caravan was flying the Sorcerous Kingdom's flag and had a pretty impressive security detail when they left the capital."

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Most of the Kingdom's people knew of the massacre the Sorcerous Kingdom had committed on the Katze plains, so no one within the Kingdom would dare to provoke such a terrifying country.

If they had to deduce who was behind all of this, there was only one country that checked all the boxes.

—The Sorcerous Kingdom.

Everything made sense once they considered it as a self-orchestrated, self-performed plot.

They probably had ordered the caravan to burn or dispose of its cargo — or maybe they plainly did not load those wagons up in the first place — and made up the excuse that they were attacked by some non-existent entity. It was hard to imagine a more plausible explanation.

"Zanac, though not much time has passed, how much progress have you made on your investigations?"

"Actually...your son I had already found out who had started this incident."

The courtiers all had shocked expressions.

"...It's just that, that was what made it difficult. We had doubts about it being a conspiracy precisely because it was so easy to find the culprit. Would you be so kind as to give me a bit more time?"

"Of course, we have to investigate the exact details of this incident, but given the situation any amount of intel would be helpful. Can you report on what you have figured out — what you are absolutely certain of?"

"As you wish, my king. What we are certain of, is that the criminals in question include the one known as Baron Philip Dayton L'Eyre Montserrat and his serfs."

The courtiers began to speak, "Montserrat?" "Have you heard of that name?" "A baron and his serfs attacked the convoy?" "Were they trying to avenge someone who died in the battle?" "Perhaps he's one of those that does not put much thought into their actions?" "Emotions could lead one to go on unexpected rampages, couldn't they?"

In the midst of this, the one to speak up was the minister of justice who appeared to be pretty miffed,

"Your Majesty, this...this has to be a scheme of the Sorcerous Kingdom, correct? Your servant could not fathom why a noble of the Kingdom would mastermind something like this.

"I concur. Is the Sorcerous Kingdom not a country that would nonchalantly use [Charm Person] in their courts? It is entirely possible that they couldn't care less about using equally sleazy methods on a national level. For example — was that baron being controlled using [Charm Person]?"

The phrase "I see" could be heard throughout the room. Zanac couldn't help but feel regret for leaking that information after hearing the accusations the minister made in the second half of rhetoric.

"If that's the case, we need to offer protection to that baron as soon as possible. Though I'm not too versed on the matter, I have heard that the spell called [Charm Person] leaves the victim with the memory of what happened when the spell was cast on them. Therefore he would not remain silent."

Zanac wasn't as knowledgeable in magic as the minister, so he had made a rookie mistake.

"Summon that baron. Investigate what had happened. At the same time, protect him."

"—my king," Zanac did not want to say so, but after steeling himself he said, "after we find out what had happened, could we offer the head of that baron as an apology to the Sorcerous Kingdom?"

"What are you talking about?"

His father's gaze was sharp enough that it felt as though it was piercing right through him. Even when he was reduced to a skinny old man, the man who had borne the title of king for the longest time still had an aura that was worthy of praise.

{I doubt I have the same level of majesty, but, I won't back down so easily.}

Even if this was a scheme by the Sorcerous Kingdom, was it really worth fighting a battle on the battlefield the enemy had specially prepared for themselves? He was terrified of the prospect that they would be continually arguing back and forth about whether 'it's a scheme' or 'it's not a scheme' up to the point when they will be engaged in a full-scale war.

Rather than wait for things to get to that point, it would be better to just give up the head of the noble who had started it all sooner than later and hope that it would de-escalate the situation.

It would be absolutely foolish to fight an opponent who had already demonstrated their superior powers in their previous battle. If a war was to occur, it was hard for him to imagine that the nobles who knew about that tragedy would still send their levies.

Even if they were willing to send their own soldiers, they would just be endangering themselves.

"My king, I believe that we should avoid a war with the Sorcerous Kingdom."

"And so you would be willing to offer an innocent noble as a sacrifice? Is that something the heir to the throne should say? My son, think before you speak."

Zanac licked his lips and replied,

"My answer remains the same regardless of what the others may say. I believe that it's imperative for us to avoid a large loss of life with a small sacrifice."

"If we were to do that, should we just hand over the head of another loyal servant every time the Sorcerous Kingdom comes knocking on our door? Do you understand that simple logic?"

"I understand...but father should have seen the tragedy of the Katze plains which I had not. Would you still risk conflict with the Sorcerous Kingdom with that in mind?"

His father let out a sigh and curled his lips into a straight line. Zanac pressed home his advantage by following up with, "I am against the idea. Allow me to repeat myself, I believe that a war with that kind of country should be avoided at all costs, even if we have to sacrifice an innocent noble."

His speech was hardly fit for the heir to the throne. He might get called weak behind his back and lose the loyalty of a few courtiers because of this, but Zanac believed that this was the only path through which the Kingdom would survive.

"...Your Majesty. Your servant supports his Highness' proposal too."

The one to agree with him was the minister of internal affairs, but he was about to add on to Zanac's proposal,

"Your Majesty, your servant understands your desire to protect all citizens. So how about we just — become a vassal state of the Sorcerous Kingdom?"

The courtiers began shouting "What are you talking about!?", "Have you lost your sense of honor!?", and so one upon hearing what the minister of internal affairs had to say. The minister ignored them all with his gaze affixed towards Zanac's father.

Faced with a suggestion that had branded the suggester a traitor, his father gradually let out a smile.

"That, I especially cannot do. That would be akin to betraying the loyalty of generations of people who had served this Kingdom. How will we be able to face them then? I apologize to you, earl. Thank you for your suggestion."

"Your servant did not deserve that apology."

Zanac saw that they were communicating on the deeper level through their gazes.

Would he be able to have courtiers who were this loyal?

His father was a merciful man, but nothing more. No — perhaps it was because of this that talented people were willing to serve him. His father was exceptionally talented in recruiting people more talented than him, like the Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff.

Zanac felt that it was better for him to become king than his brother, who was more likely to become a puppet of the Eight Fingers or the Noble Faction and doom the country than not. That was why he had worked together with Marquis Raeven to become king or a powerful grand duke to prepare for the future.

But now — Zanac couldn't help but feel inadequate compared to his sister's genius and his father's charisma. Even if he became the king, it wasn't likely that he would have made the Kingdom a better place.

The only thing he could do was to improve himself, but it wasn't such an easy task given his age and personality, plus he never wanted to self-improve anyways. He would probably keep his personality until death.

"—minister of military affairs, I want to propose a hypothetical. What could we do to win a war against the Sorcerous Kingdom?"

"Could we form an alliance with another country before then? Are we to face them alone?"

Zanac, Rampossa III, and the minister of foreign affairs exchanged gazes. Zanac, as their representative, answered with,

"We have not been successful in forging an alliance with the Council State. We had begun negotiations with them way back — just after that battle had ended. We were not able to form an agreeable alliance back then. If they knew our relationship with the Sorcerous Kingdom has worsened, the chance of rejection would only go up."

"Is that so...then your Majesty, though this question may be out of line. What would you consider as the victory condition of this war? Do we have to drive the enemy off in battle? Or do we have to kill — or rather, destroy the Sorcerer King? If it's the latter, I do not believe that we have any chance at a victory at all."

"...minister of military affairs, that would not be the case. What if we only had to force the enemy to withdraw their forces?"

"Let me think about it..." the minister of the military tilted his head as he contemplated. He came up with the answer, "luck would have to be on our side, but if we were to march an army the long way around and occupy E-Rantel while their troops are still marching from E-Rantel towards the capital, we might have a chance to turn the tide of battle."

"We would have to break through their three layers of fortifications?"

"Yes, your Majesty. It would be something that could only be accomplished if we were able to sneak an army that is as large we can possibly muster past their defenses — which was why I said that luck had to be on our side. Of course, if the Sorcerous King, the one who was capable of casting that terrifying spell without breaking a sweat, was to stay in E-Rantel then this plan would undoubtedly fail."

Another way to put this was that if luck was not on their side, they had no chance of victory at all. Zanac wasn't sure if his father understood the full implications of the minister's words.

"If that was the case, then if the Sorcerous Kingdom had invaded us without a formal declaration of war, everything would have been over. A surprise attack would have rendered us unable to gather enough troops in time, in which case we wouldn't even be able to carry out the plan."

It was the tradition for formal declarations of war to be passed between nations, a sort of gentleman's agreement or etiquette.

To send a formal declaration of war was to send the message that 'our country respects etiquette' to the other nations. If they did not do so, they would have been viewed as a barbaric nation, which would have had a seriously negative impact on their diplomatic efforts.

Between nations of different races, this tradition was not often observed. However, even when nations of different races were involved, it depended on the age, history, diplomatic relations with their neighbouring countries, and so on.

So given this context, how would a nation ruled by the undead, which hates the living, conduct itself? Would they provide a formal declaration of war?

"—My king. As I had expected, we would only have the slimmest chance of victory if we were to go to war. If that is the case, should we not try our best to avoid that outcome, by sacrificing a little?"

"Sacrificing a little...?"

"Yes, my king. We should summon that baron at once and put him on trial. Afterwards, we will have him take responsibility for his actions regardless of the outcome, and off with his head."

"...We can't do that, Zanac. To summon that baron and put him on trial would be fine, but if he was innocent or if we could declare his innocence, I will not do such a thing. I have a better plan in mind."

"A better plan...? What is it?"

His father fell silent and shook his head.

After witnessing that, Zanac concluded that his father was probably lying. If there really was a better plan then he should say it out loud. If there wasn't, he was probably lying to cover for the fact that he had not thought of a good reason on why they should spare that nobleman.

Zanac felt disappointed by his father and contemplated what he should do next.

{No matter how I look at it, the future of the Kingdom seems grim...Looks like I will have to do it by force.}

First of all, it was a necessity for them to pin all responsibilities on that baron.

Though the probability is slim, that baron may have been the source of all of their troubles anyways. In any case, if they could make that the truth, then their problems would be solved.

However, Zanac couldn't think of a way to pin all responsibilities on him. What if he was to kill the baron on his way to the capital and then pin the responsibilities on him? His father wouldn't be able to say otherwise if that was the case.

Even if his father objects to the plan, as long as he could pull it off on his own, everything would be fine. He had considered whether things would turn out this way the moment he had heard of the incident. He had already arrived at a conclusion back then.

The grave crime of usurping the throne.

He was so close to inheriting the throne, he didn't even have to do anything but wait. The number of disadvantages of doing what he was about to do was too many to count. The only advantage of this plan was that it solved the problem at hand.

If that was to be the case then usurpation might be a stupid idea on paper, but if he was to allow the status quo to remain as is, there would not be a Kingdom to speak of soon.

Zanac had hoped that he could at the very least receive approval from the courtiers present. There was also a need for him to request the services of that man from his sister. Brain Unglaus was an indispensable part of his plan. If Brain was there, they would definitely have the upper hand in terms of strength.

{—ah—how frustrating! Why do I have to plan this out in the first place! If only the Sorcerous Kingdom did not exist! If only that freakishly powerful undead being did not exist!}

If not for the Sorcerous Kingdom, if not for its intervention with their annual battle with the Empire, though his brother may have become king already, the Kingdom would still not be forced into the corner as it had been now.

Zanac cursed in his heart.

And then, the sound of door knocks could be heard.

Zanac had a premonition.

To interrupt a meeting this important, it must be an emergency. To be honest, the way they were knocking on the door was quite violent too.

Issues of such importance were usually — no, they were definitely bad news. That was Zanac's premonition.

Zanac, as their representative, gave his approval to let them in. A knight panickedly entered the room, just as he had expected.

"A forerunner from the Sorcerous Kingdom has just notified us that their Prime Minister, Albedo, will arrive at the capital in less than two hours!"

In their previous communications, the title of Guardian Overseer did not make much sense to them so they had apparently switched her title to that of the easily understandable Prime Minister. Did the arrival of a person of such calibre confirm his apprehension?

—-no, wait.

His premonition was off the mark. This wasn't bad news — but the worst news.

{So — for what purpose has she come for?}

The envoy who had brought the official document was not inside this palace. Though he had wanted it to linger within the capital, they did not have the courage to let an undead creature stay with them. This was why it was currently staying within a mansion in the nobility's portion of the city.

They had stationed guards around the mansion under the guise of protection, the perimeter was so tightly guarded that not even a slime could make it out without them noticing, but the envoy had apparently yet to contact the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Could they have been communicating through magical means? Or did they plan to visit the Kingdom even if the envoy had not returned?

Also, they had not sent the forerunner before they had departed, but rather this late into their journey. What for?

{With that said — it doesn't seem as though they're here to declare war.}

If they were here to declare war, they would not be sending their second-most powerful official into territories where they were uncertain of what could happen.

As an envoy from a foreign nation, the Kingdom would not dare harm her — though she might have that naive idea. However, from Zanac's perspective, she did not appear to be the kind of person to wander into territories she knew would be dangerous to her.

"Grant her an audience. Prepare the throne room for an appropriate reception immediately."

"Yes, your Majesty!"

The knight left the room upon hearing his father's orders.

Usually, even if a foreign dignitary was to come to the capital, it wasn't as though they would be granted an audience with the King on the same day. But, given their current situation, they couldn't just tell the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom things like, "you will be granted an audience in a few days."

"Everyone, I apologize but can you all switch to more formal attire and gather in the throne room?"

Upon hearing their king's request, the courtiers including Zanac, lowered their heads.

-x-X-x-

The throne room used for audiences with envoys (there were multiple throne rooms each for separate purposes) wasn't too large, but to prepare it so that it was adequate enough for dignitaries was still a sizable time commitment. However, since the guide they had sent was quite slow — this wasn't a deliberate move by them to buy them more time — they had just enough time to prepare the room and gather the courtiers who were now clothed in ceremonious attire before the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo, arrived.

The smell of the freshly cut flowers began to permeate the room.

To Zanac, it all just smelled grassy, but Renner would probably put it as, "Onii-sama probably just has a stuffy nose." or something similar.

He felt that fresh flowers were unnecessary given that everybody was wearing some sort of perfume, but he understood that there was a certain beauty to the sight of blooming flowers. If that was the case though, why couldn't they just use fake flowers? Well, since there was no precedent for that, the use of fake flowers could give envoys the wrong impression that they weren't welcomed there, that would be troublesome.

Every race had comparable acts of etiquette, yet the same action could be interpreted differently by different races. So how did the Council State, which was home to various non-human races, manage this issue?

The reason why this thought came across his mind out of nowhere was because of the horns and wings on the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo, who had just walked in.

As the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the seductive beauty had a dark air of allure about her, unchanged from the last time he had seen her. Her beauty was such that it could almost make them forget that she was a high ranking official of the despicable Sorcerous Kingdom. He wasn't sure if she had been spoken for, but she was bewitching enough that countries would go to war over her.

That was the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo.

The sound of men who had become instantly love-stricken could be heard throughout the room, the sound they made as they sighed, "ooooh." The nobles who had made those sounds were also obvious in their enraptured ogles.

The beauty who was able to instantly hold them captive gradually let out a smile that was like that of a loving mother's. Perhaps no one else in this world could produce such a charming smile.

Though Zanac's sister was also considered a beauty, he thought Albedo's beauty could even outshine hers.

The only odd aspect about her was her gown.

If they were at a ball, nothing would be more appropriate than that light-peach coloured gown, but given their current situation, it wasn't proper at all.

She couldn't have worn it by mistake. It had to be on purpose. What is the hidden meaning behind all of this?

Zanac had no ideas regarding the implications of the different types of gowns worn by women. Perhaps his sister would be able to figure it out, but she wasn't exactly normal compared to the other women of the aristocracy. With that said, her decision to not spend too much on herself out of disinterest in sprucing herself up had earned Zanac's respect.

Zanac stole a glance at his sister.

She wasn't wearing her usual gown, but the one she had worn for ceremonies. She couldn't be wearing the same clothes as she had the last time they welcomed Albedo, right?

Though he wanted to tell Renner not to wear that outfit as people would look down on her, her gown wasn't too out of the ordinary compared to what Albedo wore.

A few of the courtiers had also noticed that Renner was wearing the same gown she had the last time and had on them bothered expressions, but those expressions only surfaced for a mere moment before subsiding.

"Long time no see, Albedo-kakka."

Upon hearing Rampossa's voice, the nobles who had been enthralled by Albedo's beauty finally snapped back to reality.

"Not at all, it's my fault for not visiting Your Majesty in such a long time."

Albedo replied with a strikingly appealing voice that matched her appearance. Her back remained straight and the vertical position of her head remained unchanged, just like she had done the last time around. This was in direct contrast to her gentle demeanour, it made clear her belief that humans were too insignificant for her to bow down to.

"You do not appear to have changed much, that is a relief."

"The same to you, Your majesty."

The way the two smiled and looked at each other could lead one to believe that it was just a warm gathering of friends, and nothing more.

"You appear to be busy, so I will be direct, why have you come here today?"

"Indeed. I'm here regarding our previous affair — that being how my country's grain caravan, which was intended to be humanitarian aid to the Holy Kingdom, had been robbed by one of your own."

Though this was no laughing matter, Albedo's smile remained steadfast from before.

In contrast, his father had stood up from his throne to say,

"I see, you are here for that. Then allow me to firstly, apologize for my citizen's actions."

His father lowered his head and bowed deeply. The king of a kingdom was accepting the words of the other party at face value. In diplomacy, that was something that should not have been done for any reason. In the world of diplomacy, where not even the shrewd were safe from deceit (TL's note: 生き馬の目を抜く), to confirm the faults of one's country was a major blunder.

Nevermind the fact that it was unwise for the head of state to directly apologize for something, because that would be akin to the entire country admitting guilt.

To have done so would be to damn their country to the Sorcerous Kingdom's every whim and fancy. No—

{Considering that we are trying to avoid an all-out war, this might not have been the worst idea. But if the Sorcerous Kingdom was to demand the head of that noble now, aren't they bound to do so?}

He couldn't imagine that things would turn out this way given what his father had said earlier. If he intended to refuse the Sorcerous Kingdom's demands at this point, the one to have apologized should have been someone like Zanac instead of him. After all, the difference in the weight of a head of state's words and his son's was worlds apart.

But just as Zanac's train of thought reached that point, his father's subsequent words put him at a loss for words.

"Now then...would the offering of my own head allow for the Kingdom to receive forgiveness from the Sorcerous Kingdom?"

The moment those words came out of his father's mouth, it felt as though the entire room had frozen over.

After his shock had waned, Zanac couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself from the bottom of his heart.

This was undoubtedly, his father's trump card.

Though the scale of an incident would affect the response, if the gift of repentance was the head of the head of state, the other party had to accept it no matter who they were, right? No, if they were to make further requests beyond what was offered, their lack of magnanimity would surely draw condemnations from everyone.

His father did not consider himself unfortunate to have to offer up his life, not because he wanted to die, but because to sacrifice oneself for one's own Kingdom was for a king to insist on.

His father was a true king.

Though it was a fact that his father's weakness was in how he had dealt with matters, it appears as though Zanac had been underestimating his father for a long time.

"Of course, the Kingdom will take responsibility for the Sorcerous Kingdom's grain loss, we could even reimburse twice the amount of grain should you desire it. That is in addition to the offer of my head. What is your opinion on this offer? Albedo-kakka."

"Hmph..."

Albedo's facial expression grew heavy. Though she was still a smiling beauty, it was oddly terrifying.

"...Hehehe, looks like you've made a slightly wrong prediction, Rampossa the third?"

Albedo shifted her gaze, apparently to his sister.

"Was it because you lost that man? Or was it because of something else? Did you find out about the brilliance—" Albedo then looked at Zanac, "—of your child, and so decided to have a change of heart?"

"I do not believe that I have had a change of heart..."

"Oh, but you did. If this was the past you, you would not have made that decision...perhaps it was a combination of a multitude of factors that had influenced you, but your basis as a person had not changed much? Whatever, that doesn't matter. In any case, we will not change our policies towards this matter."

Due to how sudden and peculiar Albedo's shift in aura had occurred, no one noticed it at first. She had completely forgone the etiquette expected of an envoy during an audience with a head of state. Even if she was a foreigner, this was not an acceptable attitude to display towards a king who was actively leading his nation. Surprisingly, this attitude of hers felt more natural to Zanac, perhaps because the difference in power between the Kingdom's King and the Sorcerous Kingdom's Prime Minister was warped to begin with.

Human and fiend.

From that perspective, her attitude felt the most natural.

Perhaps that was why. There was an invisible pressure emanating from Albedo that stopped everyone from voicing their displeasure.

That was only temporary, as the fiend quickly put back on her sheep's clothing, the Sorcerous Kingdom's envoy.

Albedo surveyed the courtiers who were standing on opposite sides of the aisle and proclaimed loudly,

"This is a formal declaration of war from the Sorcerous Kingdom. We will deploy our troops a month from this day at noon! However, if you were to march troops towards E-Rantel — to cross into the Sorcerous Kingdom's borders, then we will no longer follow that timeline."

"Please wait!"

"I have no intention of tarrying any longer. Alright, with that my work here is done. The last thing I was meant to convey from His Majesty was—"

"—You planned for things to turn out this way all along, didn't you?!"

Said a rage-filled courtier. Albedo squinted her eyes at him. The message conveyed through those eyes was probably menace.

"You dare interrupt His Majesty the Sorcerer King's message—human. Can you not wait to die a month from now?"

The colors instantly drained from the courtier who had spoken out even though Albedo hadn't raised her voice by much and hadn't done anything unusual. Still, the expressions of the courtier, who had been threatened by some feudal lord with soldiers before, changed dramatically due to a stare from a beauty.

"...Hmph. Now then, allow me to convey His Majesty the Sorcerer King's message. 'I have no intention of using grand magic as I had last time, let us enjoy the process. That's all.'" After saying so, Albedo had a confused expression on her for the first time ever. "Even if you say that this was a scheme that we had planned out, to be completely honest, what had occurred was completely out of our expectations. We also wanted to find out how things had turned out this way."

Albedo appeared to be telling the truth judging from her expression and voice, one wouldn't believe that she was lying. Of course, the possibility that this was all an act was also incredibly high.

"If you wish to treat this incident as our nation's scheme, that is fine by me. History is written by the victors. All of your false accusations will soon be erased."

Zanac understood the stance the Sorcerous Kingdom had adopted for this incident.

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The idea that they could avoid a war was futile.

The Sorcerous Kingdom had not been seeking to expand its territories through conquest, but rather the complete destruction of the Kingdom. It was safe to say that war was inevitable. In a month, the Sorcerous Kingdom's undead will surely be marching into the Kingdom's borders.

"There's no need to escort me, I do not wish to take up any more of your precious, limited time."

After Albedo exhibited the attitude that told them that she had said all that she had wanted to, she turned her back on the rest of them and walked out the door.

Was it truly advantageous for the Kingdom to let her go without laying their hands on her at all?

If they killed this woman who held the office of a Prime Minister, would it plunge the politics of the Sorcerous Kingdom into chaos temporarily and make them unable to start a war?

However, one look upon the back of her dignified figure made him hesitate.

As Zanac pondered the possibilities, no one dared to stop Albedo from leaving the room.

The giant doors were shut just as Albedo's silhouette disappeared over the side of the doorframe. Zanac said to his father,

"What should we do? If we chase her..."

"Do not do anything of that sort. If we were to do something like kill the envoy of another nation, the blame for this entire situation will fall on our shoulders. Then no other nations would ever come to our aid."

His father replied with a feeble voice as he placed his hand onto his forehead, as if he's having a headache. Zanac felt as though his father had just rapidly aged somewhat compared to just a few moments ago.

"Your Majesty. Your servant wishes to spread the news that you had offered your head as a gift of repentance to every nation."

"...Yea, I will leave that to you, Minister of Foreign Affairs. If you did that...in the worst-case scenario..."

"Please, do not speak of the worst-case scenario. Will we not be fine as long as we manage to defeat the Sorcerer King's army?"

"Yea, yea. You are correct."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs' words restored some color to his father's face, but the smile he had was still one filled with grief.

"Zanac, Renner. I have something to tell you. Could you come to my room later? Now then, I do apologize to everyone gathered here, but we will have to convene in another hour to discuss what will happen in a month."

The courtiers all lowered their heads and bowed.

After the chief of the guards escorted his father out of the room, Zanac and Renner left together.

Though Climb and Brain waited outside the room as Renner's guards, Renner told them to wait in her room so they just watched as Zanac and Renner left.

The two walked shoulder to shoulder through the corridors.

"So, sister. Do you know why father has summoned us?"

"Yes, I believe it's for the same reason as the one onii-sama has in mind right now."

"Is that so? Is father about to show us the delicious desserts that Albedo-kakka had brought over?"

"Yes! As expected of onii-sama, I believe that to be the case too!"

Zanac stared at Renner with his eyes wide open for a second, to which Renner responded with a smile as if nothing had just happened. This woman's such a pain to deal with.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Um—"

Renner placed her index finger below her chin and tilted her head towards the side. Zanac saw what she was doing and intentionally sighed heavily.

"What do you get out of acting cute in front of your own brother? Go act for Climb instead, he's the one who's gullible."

"Onii-sama, that was really rude of you. I'll try this with Climb next — though I did not plan to do so. Isn't onii-sama's the one who should be asked about what he's planning to do?"

"Me, I want to run away. But, that wouldn't be possible. The Sorcerous Kingdom would surely hunt us down."

"I was thinking the same thing you know?"

For a woman who wished to marry a man whose social status was far from hers and had intentionally partnered up with Zanac, that reply was too straight. Zanac had thought that Renner would be the type to value her survival more and would have planned to leave the palace by tomorrow or something. Perhaps she too understood how impossible it was for them to escape from the grasps of the Sorcerous Kingdom, and thus snuffed her desires to do so.

Zanac stole a glance at Renner but could not tell her feelings on that matter through her expressions alone.

After the both of them had entered the room, the first words from their father's mouth was just as he had expected.

"Zanac, Renner. Leave this place at once. You are only just the prince and princess of this country, there is no need for the two of you to die alongside it."

The two of them looked at each other and answered in unison that—

They did not intend to do so.

The expression on their father's face was bittersweet.

"Is that so...but, there is still time. If you two change your minds, tell me immediately."

Though he did not believe that his intentions would change, a man's mind was most prone to falter.

Zanac gently nodded his head towards his father.

Renner, who was beside him, did the same.

-x-X-x-

The children, upon seeing that Brain had returned, ran towards him.

"Os-san, you're back!"

"Os-san, os-san!"

(TL's note: an informal form of oji-san, a weird middle ground between 'old man', 'sir', 'uncle', etc. so there is no direct English analogue)

The ten children surrounded Brain, nine boys and a girl. They were all orphans. Brain had taken those who he had believed to have some sort of potential, allowed them to live with him, and were training them in the art of swordsmanship.

Because they grew up in a rough environment, they fully understood the importance of violent force and were able to keep up with his harsh training regimen. Having said that, they were still just children so Brain was still unsure if they could meet his expectations. Surely if they continued to train like this, they would be able to, at the very least, reach Climb's level.

The children stunk of sweat but it wasn't offensive to Brain. After all, he would be the same after training, this was proof that the children had been working hard.

"Oy oy, you guys. Are you done with practice?"

"Break—"

"I've practiced so much—"

"My hand—"

Because they all responded at once, it was hard to fully understand what they were trying to say, but they had completed their practice, that much he did understand.

"Now then, go take a break. Remember, I told you guys that breaks are part of training too, right?"

The children agreed in a cacophony of noises.

"I'll practice with you guys after a while, do not tell me that you're too tired to practice by then, do you understand?"

The children, once again, agreed in a cacophony of noises.

"Good! Remember to also fill up on water. Also, don't forget to fill up on salt just because you have been sweating so much!"

A few of the children said "We get it already" or "Os-san's so naggy" but the majority of them replied that they understood.

"Good, now go. Oh, right. Before you go, where are those two?"

The oldest of the bunch, their representative, told him, "in the backyard."

Brain responded with an "oh", bid goodbye to the children, and walked towards the backyard.

The children returned to the house to dine on the food and drinks they had received from the elderly couple who had been expecting them and to probably take a nap afterwards.

Good exercise, good diet, and good sleep. That was how excellent muscles were built.

Brain nodded his head in satisfaction.

"You made me wait for so long."

A woman's voice called out as Brain entered the backyard.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I had to prepare in advance to accompany Her Highness the Princess on her meetings with the nobility, merchants, and so on, so I was a bit late."

There was a man and a woman there, who had been instructing the children before he arrived.

The woman who was speaking to Brain curled up her hair into the shape of a bun, apparently a hairstyle that was called 'Magay' in the South.

(TL's note: incomplete pronunciation of 'Marumage')

Her appearance, rather than being what one would usually consider beautiful, gave off the impression that she was icy and acute. She wasn't too tall, perhaps a bit shorter than most women her age.

The other person there, the man, remained silent.

Though he had an indifferent attitude which could make one think that he was unhappy, that was not the case. He raised a hand as his form of greeting to Brain.

He was just not apt at expressing himself. Brain had actually heard him talk quite a few times in the past, but his voice was as quiet as an ant's.

The man wasn't too tall either. He had short legs but was otherwise physically fit, but if a rumour was to spread that he had dwarven heritage, he wouldn't have much in the way of a proof against it.

The two were both counted in the Six Great Disciples of the dojo of the swordsman known as Vesture Croff di Leoghain.

Brain had his reservations on how they taught, in his mind, his practical swordsmanship training was more useful than their performative swordsmanship practice.

Compared to waving air around for a few hundred times, training with a real sword — even if it was a mock sword — was much more effective. Brain believed that his method would allow one to gain more muscle memory than simply exercising one's body.

However, this was a good way to allow them to learn the techniques first and build up a foundation solid enough that they would be less likely to die in actual combat.

It was hard to say definitively which side was right or wrong.

Though they all had gained strength, they had completely different ways of living.

It would be troublesome for Brain if the children die in combat before they even had the chance to fully realise their talents. That was why he opted to have the children train with the two, while passing down his own experiences; as a result, the children's training regimen had become harsher.

"Were their accommodations finalized?"

"Yup, they were finally finalized. They're scheduled to travel northwest — with a group of merchants operating in a city close to Council State."

The woman frowned a little.

"It's been two weeks since the Sorcerous Kingdom declared war on us, but there hasn't been news of either country's armies mobilizing. According to some rumours I've heard, the Sorcerous Kingdom only wants to force the Kingdom to back down in some negotiation and does not actually want to fight a full-on war? If that was true, wouldn't that render Mr. Unglaus' efforts in vain?"

"Would that Sorcerer King really do such a thing?"

If Brain had not met the Sorcerer King in person, he would have believed that this was just a negotiation tactic too. But as a witness to that tragic battle, it was hard for him not to doubt that the Sorcerer King was plotting something. Perhaps he was preparing to cast that spell again.

Had Brain's uneasiness spread to her? The woman spoke in a hushed tone,

"...Mr. Unglaus had met with that Sorcerer King?"

"Not only have I met him, I bore witness to his duel with Gazef...hmmm, I still don't know what happened to Gazef till this day."

Her gaze shifted towards Brain's waist.

Sheathed by his side was one of the treasures of the Kingdom, the Razor Edge.

This was something that was granted to him when the war was declared, even though he had turned it down on numerous occasions. To Brain, this sword was too heavy of a burden for him to bear so he treated it as something that was entrusted to him for safekeeping only. He did not intend to unsheathe the sword.

Though this sword was like a hot potato that he would rather pass on to someone else, if that person could not match Gazef Stronoff's abilities, he did not intend to just give it away so easily.

"A duel with Mr. Stronoff? I..."

She stopped herself before she could complete that sentence.

Perhaps she wanted to say something along the lines of, "I wish I was there to witness it too." Brain did not think too much of it, after all she was a warrior too. To wish to bear witness to Gazef's duel was natural for them.

No, it was more appropriate to say that he wanted her to witness it too. He had just said that he still could not figure out what had happened during that duel, so if someone else could explain it to him that would be best.

"I think the Sorcerer King is plotting something, but I'm not sure what exactly he is plotting, I don't have a basis for that thought after all. My instincts are blaring alarms right now, and I tend to trust my instincts without question."

"If it's the warrior instincts of someone like Mr. Unglaus, then it just might be true..."

"I'm not too sure on the specifics...anyways, we have to get these brats out of this place as soon as possible. Even if I die, they could still make a living for themselves with the swordsmanship I've taught them — even if it's not that significant of a skill."

"...actually, our sensei had told us the same thing as Mr. Unglaus, that the Sorcerous Kingdom is plotting something in the dark. So when the children are to be sent away—" the woman looked towards the silent man next to her, "—could you request that he go along with them?"

"What? Would he do that?"

He glanced at the man who gave him a silent nod. He appeared to be annoyed, but that was probably not the case.

It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that this man was patient with children.

Though all of the Six Great Disciples had been here at some point, the one the children liked the most out of them all was him.

"Yes, sensei appeared to have given it some consideration already. As long as he lives, our swordsmanship could continue being passed down through the generations."

In other words, they had the same thought as Brain.

If that was the case, he had no reason to reject their request.

"I do not mind as long as your end is fine with it. Having said that, I am grateful for you all. I'll go speak to the merchants who will be taking them away."

Brain heard the man say something in his tiny voice, probably something like, "please take good care of him" or something.

Brain raised his hand as a response, to which the man responded in kind by deeply nodding his head.

"Now then, after the brats have rested up it'll be my turn to train them. Sorry to have troubled the both of you to train them while I was away."

Gratitude was the only thing that flowed out of his mouth. Even though he hadn't paid them much, they still took the time to teach the children.

Their sensei Vesture had probably considered the fact that Brain was one who wielded outstanding swordsmanship and so wanted to introduce his Six Great Disciples to him, perhaps making Brain owe him a favour in the process, so Brain's gratitude was not that great. The Six Great Disciples were different on the other hand, perhaps they had their interests piqued at the prospect of being able to train children that someone who could beat them handily, Brain, had judged had potential, or perhaps they were just interested in passing down skills to the children that they could use to survive? In any case, they were motivated to help the children without any ulterior motives from the start.

Because he had been acting as the personal bodyguard of the princess, he had to come into contact with those annoying nobles. This was why people as straightforward as the Six Great Disciples shone even brighter in his eyes.

"...I do have to say that I was quite impressed by how magnanimous Mr. Unglaus really was. To have adopted these children and teach them skills so that they could survive..."

Brain's expression darkened.

He hadn't done any charity that was worthy of such praise.

"Stop flattering me. I'm not that nice of a guy. While it's true that I picked these children up from the slums, it was for a purpose. There were ones that were on the verge of death yet I still walked past them without lifting a finger to help. If you want to praise someone for their charity, do it to someone who actually deserves it — like the princess for example."

He could see that the woman had a perplexed expression, but he wasn't sure what had caused it.

"Are you talking about Princess Renner-sama? About how she had funded her orphanage? It's true that the princess had done something extraordinary, but I believe that Mr. Brain had also accomplished what no other person could. Aren't you both equally worthy of praise?"

"Doesn't look like I could get through to you. Think whatever you want to, but don't do it in front of me. I'd have heartaches from the guilt alone."

"Then I do apologize."

"...No, don't think too much about it, it was a joke. I'm not innocent enough to feel guilt from something so small."

Brain shifted his gaze away from the shocked expression on her face and looked towards Gazef Stronoff's, now Brain's, residence.

His thoughts were of the children who had just had their fill and were probably sleeping right now.

-x-X-x-

In a room on the ninth floor of Nazarick, approximately a month after the war was declared.

In one of the rooms that was reserved for potential new guild members were Ainz and the Floor Guardians. They sat around a C-shaped desk, reading through the documents prepared for this meeting.

As a side note, it wasn't just the Floor Guardians who were there, behind each of them stood an equal number of Ordinary Maids and behind Ainz stood Pestonia. They were there to take care of the occasional odd job and thus stood silently behind them all.

Ainz could not grasp the reasoning behind why they were silent, apparently it was to symbolize that they were tools, ready to be used. For that reason, Ainz paid them no attention at all to satisfy their wishes.

"Umu..."

Ainz read the documents in earnest but felt as though his focus was being sapped away by Pestonia's presence behind him. Still, he tried to focus his attention on the task as best as he could.

Since they had to exchange their opinions on the subject matter later on, it was natural for Ainz to have anxious thoughts such as, {how embarrassing it would be if I were to say something crazy later on.}

In any case, this was different from the documents that Albedo usually sent from Nazarick regarding topics such as politics, economics, and law; this was something that even someone like Ainz could understand.

Even with the utmost amount of kindness, Ainz's intelligence could only be judged as average at best. To ask someone to find the qualities within him that would qualify him to rule over a country would be to impose unto them the impossible. That was not to say that he was lazy, in fact he was the diligent type to try his best at everything that was thrown at him. This was further exacerbated by the misunderstandings held by the NPCs of Nazarick, whose intelligence was incomparably higher than his. In order to meet their expectations, Ainz could not afford to be lazy.

At first, he was doing so out of his desire to keep the NPCs loyal, but now it was more out of his desire as a father figure to not disappoint his children.

It had come to a point where he was reading books on self-development and business. He had also been trying his best to improve himself in combat tactics, one of the only subjects he could claim expertise in.

Though it was safe to leave everything up to Albedo and the rest, there were still a lot of things that they found to be necessary to consult with Ainz. If he were to say anything stupid when that time comes and they were to respond with, "As Ainz-sama wills, it shall be done," and take immediate action, it could cause serious collateral damage. To avoid that outcome, Ainz's personal growth was imperative.

Because of this, Ainz had taken a particular interest in this document and was even more focused on it than he would have usually been.

Ainz, upon finishing most of it and confirming that the appointed time had come, said,

"Now then. Has everybody finished reading?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama."

As their representative, Albedo took a glance at everybody and replied.

"Excellent. Now — wait, before that. Though it has been a month since we declared war against the Kingdom, they have not noticed our invasion at all. They must still think that our forces are still holed up in E-Rantel. Demiurge, good job. Your ability to deftly manage everything so that not a single piece of intel was leaked was seriously impressive."

"I'm grateful to receive my master's compliments."

"On the same note, to have threatened a portion of the Kingdom's nobility into rebelling was also a splendid accomplishment, Albedo."

"Thank you very much, Ainz-sama."

Albedo, like Demiurge, lowered her head.

"—Umu. This current matter is of greater importance, so report to me in detail about what you have done after this."

Ainz knocked on one of the pages in the document with the back of his finger and confirmed that the both of them had understood what he had meant. He nodded in a fashion that suited his status as overlord and scanned the guardians before him. Though the maids who were within his sightline were looking towards him with serious eyes, he resisted the urge to pay attention to them.

"Very well then, let us exchange our opinions on this matter. First of all, the fact that we were able to conquer cities even when this tactic was employed pleases me greatly. Cocytus, you've done well."

"I. Am. Grateful. For. My. Master's. Praise. But. This. Was. Only. Possible. Because. Of. The. Undead. Army. Ainz. Sama. Had. Lent. Me. That. Is. To. Say. That. This. Was. Ainz. Sama's. Accomplishment. It. Would. Not. Be. Incorrect. To. Say. That. I. Did. Nothing."

"It is just as Cocytus has said—"

Ainz extended out his hand to stop Albedo before she could finish her sentence.

"—there is no need to flatter me. Cocytus, just candidly accept my appreciation. I have said as much, you've done a great job this time."

"Yes! Thank. You. Very. Much!"

"Excellent. Now then, we have been able to subjugate the Kingdom's cities without any trouble at all."

At the onset of the war between the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown and the Kingdom, they had adopted the tactic to attack the eastern part first and then march towards the north. The western side of the Kingdom — where the capital resides — was not marched upon at all.

The main purpose of this tactic was to prevent reinforcements from other nations from interfering with the war, and to encircle the Kingdom by gaining control over the border with the Council State and others.

This was Cocytus' strategy, a move that Ainz himself also considered to be exceptional.

"I have found this result to be more than satisfactory — Now then, Demiurge and Albedo, regarding the information lockdown, the report indicates that it is highly likely that that plan will succeed. My question is, under what condition will it fail? Demiurge, answer me as their representative."

"Yes! We have fully established surveillance on every street, we have also sent shadow demons to scout out the neighbouring cities. But, if there are hermits or druids, people who live outside of civilization, we would not be able to keep an eye out for them. If information were to leak, it would be from them."

"Then discuss the matter with Albedo, strengthen the surveillance net until those you have mentioned can also be found."

"Yes!"

"Now then, next is—" Ainz switched documents and continued flipping, "umu...a few cities have perished already, huh?"

Within these pages were exhaustive documentations on who used what strategy to completely destroy which city. The most recent entry was about a city that was destroyed by Cocytus.

"...To fearlessly attack a city with a small force, flawlessly destroy the city, and butcher all of its inhabitants. Just like Cocytus had done, the rest of you have also thought up various kinds of ways to conquer city after city and village after village. I am truly impressed."

The Sorcerous Kingdom had initiated a brutal war in which their policy was to completely destroy every city and village in their way and massacre all of its inhabitants. All that was left behind after the Sorcerous Kingdom army's unanticipated attack was lifeless piles of ash and rubble.

Speaking of which, Ainz had suddenly become more conscious of someone's gaze, which should have been fixated on him.

He wasn't doing these horrendous and ruthless acts because he wanted to, there was a purpose behind them. {Hopefully she could come to understand it,} Ainz thought to himself.

"Thank you very much, Ainz-sama." Albedo lowered her head, prompting the other Floor Guardians to follow suit. "To meet Ainz-sama's expectations from this day forward, we will devote ourselves wholeheartedly to making improvements."

"—Ah, umu. I gratefully accept every Floor Guardians' determination and loyalty. Next is—"

{That's about it, right?}

Ainz faked a cough and continued,

"—but, I am concerned that none of you have failed."

Before the guardians could react with their baffled expressions, Ainz added,

"Cocytus, you tasted defeat during the battle with the lizardmen. I assume that you learnt a lot from that experience?"

"It. Is. Just. As. Ainz. Sama. Has. Surmised. I. Learnt. A. Lot. From. That. Experience."

"That was what I was talking about, you learn more from your failures. No, I'd argue that there are some lessons that could only be learnt from failures."

This was true back in Yggdrasil, one would only think of how they could improve if they were to lose.

Job resets, different equipment, and new tactics. If one were to always win, they would become complacent, numb and careless. They would have lost their drive to self-improve.

{Though there were exceptions to this rule like Touch Me-san.}

He had not experienced defeat all that often yet continually strived to become stronger. A man who sought out the best job synergies to min-max his performance to the point of obsession, should be considered an outlier when thinking of the average player.

Putting those exceptions aside, Ainz believed that there existed some things that you could only learn through defeat.

That was why he was hoping for some failures in their city-conquering efforts.

This was a part of the plan where failures would not have mattered much, they could retry as many times as they wanted. They had to be prepared for a future battle that was bound to happen, one in which if they were to lose, it would amount to a complete defeat. They had to fail now to build up enough experience in order to avoid failing when that time comes.

Since they were incurring a massive loss of life, it had to result in Nazarick gaining some form of a benefit. That's right, the lives lost should be used in the most beneficial way possible.

There was one other thing — Ainz decided that he should make preparations for this after he had heard the wishes of those two.

{Let's go, this next thing will determine whether I've won or lost.}

"Those who are wise—" He couldn't think of what to say after that, he had forgotten the script he had prepared. "Forget about that. Those who are stupid, learn through their experiences. Now I'm not saying that you all are stupid, but I am pointing out the fact that even idiots could understand the necessity of collecting experiences."

Ainz was disappointed in himself.

Why did he forget what he wanted to say during this crucial moment? Why was he this useless?

-x-X-x-

Why were those who were well-spoken also smart? How were they able to spew out the words and phrases they had learnt nonstop? Usually, even if someone were to forget what they were about to say, they wouldn't stop {there}, would they?

There was only one probable conclusion, their brains were built differently.

"...Haaah...No matter if we were to destroy the Kingdom's cities or massacre its citizens, it is not too much of a hassle given the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick's power. But, our focus should be on cumulating experience. If we were to face a much more difficult situation, the lessons you have learnt from this war could be of help."

Ainz had experience launching attacks on enemy bases and sieging cities during past guild wars and other similar events. However, that was back in Yggdrasil. The knowledge that he had gained from the game must be implemented in reality properly.

In that context, the experience they had gained from the different methods they had employed to destroy different types of cities will undoubtedly be of use in the future.

The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick had to strengthen itself. The belief that Ainz Ooal Gown and the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick were the only guild and guild base in this world was a naive one. Ainz exists in this world, therefore there must be other players and guilds in this world too, perhaps due to arrive in the future.

To prepare for that future, it was a necessity for this organization to bolster its own strength.

Indeed, it was imperative for all of them to have personal experiences in these matters.

Ainz continued on to the guardians who were intently listening to him,

"Speaking of our current situation, I could feel that the burden of responsibility has been growing ever so heavier on every Floor Guardian. At the same time, the number of people like you who I could entrust these jobs to are far and few between."

The Floor Guardians — excluding Victim — were all strong level 100 beings that could give Ainz a run for his money. The Area Guardians were weaker than the Floor Guardians so Ainz felt uneasy at the suggestion of bringing them outside, where there could be strong enemies. This was why the number of tasks given to the Floor Guardians had been increasing.

"However, if we were to keep up the status quo, multiple issues will begin to surface. When the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown has come to subjugate a vast enough territory, the Area Guardians will take up responsibility for a wide range of tasks. Perhaps a day will come when even the management of warfare will have to be delegated to someone."

"—that is to say that our master wishes those who are without experience to have a personal history of their own, correct?"

Demiurge started spouting unintelligible things again. But, what he said about forming a history of their own more or less hit the mark. It sounded pretty cool too.

"—That's correct. It is just as you have surmised, Demiurge."

Though he did not feel as though it could be conveyed properly, Ainz still smiled while using his practised 'What a No-Nonsense Ruler Would Sound Like!' voice.

Speaking of which, normally if he were to hear himself using that voice through a recording he would not be able to stand the amount of cringe he felt, but he didn't really think too much about it now. After all, he felt that his emotions would get suppressed quickly if he had imagined the voice that he was using.

Anyways, Demiurge's 'history' idea was a good one.

They had gained the knowledge of various types of methods to siege cities during this invasion against the Kingdom, and they should record all of it down in a book or something. With the Area Guardians as their focus, the denizens of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick should be able to gain some knowledge through these shared experiences, right?

Of course, as the saying goes, 'a picture is worth a thousand words', those who had experienced something first hand could learn more from it than those who had only heard about it afterwards. However, he felt that they would not be able to have many more opportunities like this one.

"Now then Floor Guardians, from this day onwards, try to come up with as many unique strategies to siege cities. Demiurge and Albedo, both of you are far too brilliant for this, so just listen and note down the others' proposals. From my perspective, up till now Shalltear has been the most creative in her strategies."

"I-is Ainz-sama talking about how I used the frost dragons to drop soldiers in from the sky-arinsu?"

"That is correct. I believe that it was because I had entrusted Shalltear with all the transportation-related tasks that she was able to come up with that idea. With this tactic as the basis, we could organize - what was it called again? Paratroop? To be able to organize something like that isn't bad at all."

She had not just used dragon breaths for hit-and-run tactics, but to drop soul eaters from 500 meters above into the city. The soul eaters would heal themselves, then rampage through the city killing masses with their aura.

Even if it was soul eaters, to drop them from 500 meters up would inevitably incur some damage. In this world, acceleration due to gravity did not seem to be affected by air resistance so one's free-fall velocity could increase infinitely. That may or may not have been the case, but Ainz did not want to spend the time and effort on that kind of experiment, so he did not have detailed information.

Soul eaters were able to activate an aura that consumed souls to convert them to HP, which meant that this strategy included a way to negate the fall damage taken by the units almost immediately.

"Though that plan was a failure in some aspects — but it was a good lesson to learn from for the future. Long story short, they were smashing through rooftops."

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Aura laughed as she read through the report and Ainz did the same in his mind. Of course, they were not laughing at Shalltear's strategy, it was just something that they had not expected, but was so obvious in hindsight.

Of the soul eaters who were dropped from above, an individual bounced off some pointed rooftops, flew off at an odd angle, and took more damage than they had expected. That was still better compared to the one who smashed through the roof, tried to ram down the doors, and ended up getting stuck.

Of the four that were dropped, only one of them wound up immobilized. The sample size was small, but the rate of failure ended up quite high nonetheless. "It would be best to conduct this experiment a few more times, we may be able to gain valuable data from these dropped troops."

"Yes!"

"I will leave it to you then, choose a few cities to experiment on."

"As Ainz-sama wills it, I will draw up and execute those plans immediately."

The other details that caught Ainz's eye included how 300 elder liches were used to carpet bomb a city by synchronizing their [Fireball] spells and how assassins were sent to assassinate the head of a city, whereupon the invasion would commence whilst the city was plunged into chaos.

These records on the methods they had used to destroy the cities were not just useful to educate the Area Guardians, but they were also useful as a study of what strategies an enemy could employ to invade Nazarick.

Ainz sighed internally.

Perhaps the guardians thought that he was being too paranoid.

If Nazarick was truly invincible, there would be no need to do these things, but that could not be possible.

Absolutely impossible.

"—This is to prepare for our inevitable fight against a guild that is as strong if not stronger than us."

After Ainz had finished speaking, the guardians responded that they would obey in unison.

"Now then — it is about time that we begin our next siege."

Ainz glanced at Albedo — because Ainz did not have eyeballs, most people could not notice that his gaze was on them. He had had to turn his head to face them most of the time but Albedo was perceptive enough to notice without him doing so — Albedo nodded in a manner that seemed to convey the message, "It is just as Ainz-sama has said."

"Speaking. Of. Which, Ainz. Sama. The. Amount. Of. Troops. We. Have. Deployed. For. This. War. Seemed. To. Be. Scant, What. Was. The. Reason. For. That?"

Ainz immediately froze up.

He could not think up an answer to such a logical question. To be honest, he thought he would be able to hold the stage much better than he was right now. Demiurge and Albedo had not been raising any questions, he had hoped that Cocytus and the rest would do the same too—

{—so that's why. Because Cocytus had experienced defeat during the battle with the lizardmen, I had instructed him back then to think for himself.}

No matter how you look at it, the source of his misery was always what he had said in the past. Why? No, what he had said back then was correct. From the perspective of him wanting to strengthen Nazarick, his statements were fine. It was because of what he had said back then that Cocytus could have the growth that he had today.

Why did Ainz arrange for an amount of troops that could not guarantee them victory? The explanation was not that complicated, but it wasn't one that he could just tell the Floor Guardians about.

Why was that? It was because the explanation could bring about Nazarick's downfall.

Ainz gulped down his (nonexistent) saliva.

He had remained silent for too long. He had to say something, something that would seem to make sense.

"Speaking of which, it was the same when we were storming the neighbouring towns and cities. A small portion of the people were allowed to escape, right? What was the reason for that?"

"Cocytus and Aura's questions were to be expected, perhaps there are others amongst you who have had the same questions in mind." Ainz surveyed those in front of him to be met with every Floor Guardian nodding their heads. "...I see. Well, let us observe how our first battle will unfold. Afterwards, I will tell you the reason why."

Ainz was just dragging things out, leaving these bothersome problems for his future self.

-x-X-x-

Situated at the North end of the Kingdom facing the Rhynd sea was the city of E-Naüru.

It was the largest city within Earl Naüa's demesne, a city that was blessed by the sea.

Even though it was the largest city within the domain, if you were to head east across the demesne's border, you would not be too far off from the city famous for its naval port, Re-Urovua. That city had more landmass and ships docked within its ports, the only advantage E-Naüru had over that city was probably that it had better fish hauls. That is to say, E-Naüru was of no strategic purposes whatsoever.

It was safe to say that gourmets were the ones who accentuated the true value of E-Naüru. Earl Naüa's lineage had been researching seafood for generations in order to secure the bragging rights that they had the best seafood in the entire Kingdom. Said research produced a sauce, made by mixing soy sauce and honey, used to glaze over other ingredients. Heat had to be controlled precisely during the grilling process to prevent the sauce from burning. All of this cumulated into the creation of E-Naüru style grilled fish, a story that was quite widespread.

The atmosphere of such a city remained the same regardless of the declaration of war up till a few days ago. Fishermen still sailed out to fish and the markets were still packed with people shopping for fresh fish and shellfish. Other than the decrease in the number of travelling merchants on the streets, life went on as usual in the city.

It was inevitable that no one took any special actions.

They had received the news of the Sorcerous Kingdom declaring war on the Kingdom from a messenger sent from the capital around a month ago, but they did not believe that the Sorcerous Kingdom would attack the northernmost reaches of the Kingdom. By conventional logic, before that happened, the capital would have fallen and ended the war. There were also other major cities neighbouring them that belonged to other demesnes, nevermind the numerous villages within their own demesne. The Sorcerous Kingdom would have to go through them before they got to this city.

If and when the war reached them, they should receive requests for aid from those towns first. That was why they did not attempt to bolster defences, the most they did was make preparations to send their levies.

However — things did not turn out the way they had expected.

The neighbouring Baron, a few of his subordinates, and the rest of his family had hurriedly escaped to E-Naüru.

The Baron's explanation was simple, "some undead suddenly showed up and slaughtered every single civilian in my domain."

The undead could spawn naturally and ones that could destroy entire villages were not unheard of.

But, for such a strong undead to naturally spawn took time. Excluding the Katze plains, numerous weaker undead would have to occupy a place before there was even a chance for stronger undead to show up.

If his domain was well managed, it would be easy to have the undead stifled in their cradle before they could even contend, so to speak.

Which was why strong undead normally did not appear close to human civilization. There were only two exceptions to this rule.

Either there was an evil magic caster who could control the undead close by, or that undead had travelled there from some faraway land.

If that was the case, there was only one person that came to mind.

Ainz Ooal Gown, the Sorcerer King.

They must have also received the intel that the war was declared. If they were to treat that undead as part of the Sorcerous Kingdom's army, everything made sense. Except, questions kept arising one after another.

What about the other neighbouring cities?

How numerous are the enemy's forces? What kind of an undead army is it?

What happened to the capital?

Questions other than those kept on surfacing, but there were more important matters to tend to before they could deduce the answers to those questions.

After they had listened to the Baron's retelling in detail and analyzed the intel they had on hand, they predicted that E-Naüru was on the path that the undead would march through to invade the Kingdom.

They immediately send messengers on fast horses to every village and town within their demesne, ordering them to evacuate.

With the information they had, they could not tell for what purpose was the Sorcerous Kingdom's army marching towards such a remote port. Perhaps it was because the Sorcerous Kingdom was a landlocked nation and wanted to get their hands on a port city immediately so they chose to attack such an unfortified place. Perhaps they were hoping to use E-Naüru as a staging ground for their future war efforts.

Though it was still dangerous for people to evacuate to the city, there weren't many who could outrun the ever-encroaching army of the Sorcerous Kingdom and make it to the other demesnes.

In the end, the vast majority of people chose to stay within the somewhat defended walls of E-Naüru.

Five days after the evacuation of the citizens within the demesne had ended, they sighted the silhouette of the undead from atop the watchtowers of E-Naüru.