Chapter 2, Part 1

Mare found himself in a pretty large room across from him there was a platform, on which the six Cardinals stood. Behind them was a statue of a winged humanoid, since this was the Cathedral of Light, it was probably Alah Alaf, the God of Light.

Mare cleared his thoughts, this was the most important time. He had been trying to control his voice ever since he met the humans from Theocracy. Sometimes it worked, and at other times it didn’t. But he needed it to work now, in this meeting he could not be perceived as weak.

“It, it’s a pleasure to meet you, your Eminences,” he began and immediately stumbled. It wasn’t easy to go against his nature.
“Then allow me to introduce my fellow Cardinals,” said Dominic, after which he made the introductions. In the end, Mare wasn’t able to keep up, having to learn the names and titles of the other five Cardinals was too much.

It doesn’t matter, I am addressing them as a whole, not individually. Mare thought as he tried to focus on speaking with confidence.

“Then, Mare-dono, may we inquire as to the questions you have for us?” Berenice said with a smile.

“Yes, as I mentioned to Dominic-dono, I am looking for a way to defeat and preferably seal Jaldabaoth. To that end, I would like to learn about the treasures left behind by the Six Great Gods.”

There was a visible commotion among the Cardinals as some of them exchanged glances and even whispers.
“And by the treasures left behind by the Six Great Gods, you mean?” Berenice asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“The most powerful of the many items left behind by the Six Great Gods,” Mare replied calmly.

“Mm, you understand such information is considered a national secret,” Ginedine said.
“In Jaldabaoth’s eyes, everyone is the same. So, shouldn’t we ally against his evil? Instead of trying to joust for power? I understand you may dislike my master for being an undead. But Dominic-dono, did I not answer all of the questions you had regarding the Sorcerer Kingdom?”

“You did, but…” Dominic replied.
“Then on behalf of my nation, I have made the first step to building a cordial relations with the Slane Theocracy,” Mare said.

More whispers from the Cardinals followed as Mare waited for their answer.

“We will certainly consider your words, Mare-dono. But I am afraid at this time we are unable to disclose such information,” Ginedine finally spoke.

“Then, then I would like to know about the, the God-kin of your nation,” Mare spoke, slipping back into his usual speech pattern.
“God-kin?!” The Cardinals seemed even more shocked then when he asked about the Gods’ treasures.

After a few moments with neither side speaking, Mare spread his arms, as if saying “what?”
“Surely, as the nation that houses the descendants of the Six Great Gods, I don’t need to explain to you who God-kin are, do I?” Mare’s voice contained a hint of mockery.

After exchanging glances Raymond spoke.
“I am afraid this information is also regarded as a national secret.”
“For a nation that wants to establish friendly relations with us, you seem to have a lot of secrets,” Mare said, his voice full of innuendo. “Almost like you don’t actually want to have friendly relations.”

“No, no, of course, we want to have a good relationship with such a powerful nation,” Dominic tried to sound diplomatic. “It’s just, we didn’t expect you to be so… direct,” he found the right word.

“Then, does it mean you will answer my questions now?” Mare asked.
“No,” replied Raymond, while Dominic was trying to come up with a satisfactory answer.

“Then we can consider this audience to be over. I will return to the Sorcerer Kingdom and inform Albedo-sama that the Slane Theocracy has no interest in working with us,” Mare said, then he turned around and moved to leave the room.

Dominic ran after him, while the other Cardinals stood there, dumbfounded.

“Mare-dono, please, you must understand, what you are asking for is very sensitive information,” he spoke to the retreating elf.

“If you are unwilling to share any information I am interested in, then there is no point in me being here, is there?” Mare asked as he walked out of the room. “We are leaving,” he told Liel who was waiting outside the audience room, as he continued to walk away.

***

Liel saw, apparently a Cardinal, looking pensive. The man looked at the retreating elf, then at someone in the room he just left then at the elf again. He was just about to speak when someone screamed and there was a commotion ahead.

She wasn’t sure what exactly happened. When Liel turned she saw a blur moving toward the dark elf. As her vision cleared, the blur turned into a young girl, with a weird hair pattern – half of it black, the other white. In her hands, the girl held a scythe which she used to slash at the dark elf.

Surprisingly, Mare wasn’t cut in half, instead, she had extended her hand and grasped the pole of the scythe, stopping the blade a few inches away from her neck. While Liel was still processing what happened, two voices screamed in unison.

“Zesshi, stop!”
“Zesshi, what are you doing?!”

Two people rushed the young girl. The Cardinal from behind, and a young man with long, dark hair from the front.

“You are kind of strong,” the girl said, ignoring both men.
“That was a killing blow, wasn’t it?” Mare asked.

“I am sorry Dominic-sama, I wasn’t able to stop her,” the young man apologized to the Cardinal. The Cardinal opened his mouth, but Mare spoke first.

“First you refuse to answer any of my questions, and now your subordinate tries to kill me? I wonder what Albedo-sama would think of this. Your Eminence , I demand an apology,” Mare said in an indignant tone, looking at the approaching Cardinal.

“Yes, of course, I am very sorry, there must be some special circumstances,” the Cardinal began to apologize.
“Not from you, from her,” the dark elf interrupted.

The young girl snorted and stepped back, pulling her scythe with her.
“You think just because you managed to block that attack, I can’t kill you?” She threatened.
“You think just because I haven’t killed you already, it means I can’t?” Mare retorted.

“Zesshi, stop this nonsense immediately,” the Cardinal demanded, staring daggers at the girl. “Mare-dono, I am truly sorry about this, she can be hard to control. I hope we can work things out without the need for you to report of this incident to the Sorcerer Kingdom.”

“A powerful subordinate you can’t control?” Mare asked with a smile. “Then, I shall give you one last chance to show your sincerity in working with the Sorcerer Kingdom. We will hold another audience with the Cardinals, and this time you will answer my questions regarding the God-kins, and show me the treasures of the Six great Gods. How much time would you need to convince the others?”

Convince the others? She speaks as if I myself am already convinced, such insolence, Dominic thought.

“If you can’t agree to my demands, then I will return to the Sorcerer Kingdom and inform Albedo-sama of what happened here,” Mare continued seeing Dominic hesitate.

“I believe two weeks should be enough,” he replied, his expression betraying none of his real feelings.

“Hmm, two weeks, very well. And in regards to her,” Mare looked at the girl with the scythe, “since she did not apologize, then as her punishment, she will accompany me during this two weeks. It’s only fair that she serves me after what she had done.”

“Looks like I am going to kill you after all,” Zesshi said, moving her scythe in position to take another swing at the elf.

“Zesshi, damn it!” The Cardinal bellowed, moving in front of her and grabbing her by the shoulders.
“Come with me,” he continued, as he pulled the girl away from Mare and into the room where the other Cardinals remained, closing the door behind her.

“Who is she?” Mare asked the young man with the long hair.
“Mm, you’ll have to ask her, I am afraid,” the man replied.
“A God-kin then? And you? Are you a God-kin too?”

The man didn’t answer, but he looked uncertain and a little panicked. He glanced at the door behind which the girl and the Cardinal disappeared. But the sounds of a heated discussion which came from there didn’t do much to reassure him.

While Liel, Mare, and the young man stood like that in silence. Liel was deep in thought. She was certain she had heard about a girl with such appearance, but in connection to what?

Eventually, the door opened and Dominic walked out with the girl in tow. She looked reluctant while the Cardinal looked content.

“Mare-dono, as per your request, she will accompany you while you stay in this city. We’ll hold another audience in two weeks,” Dominic said trying to sound cheerful.

“Thank you, your Eminence,” Mare said. “Then, your name is Zesshi?” He addressed the girl with the scythe. She hummed in response.
“You better not treat me like some servant, or I will kill you.”

“As if you, you have the ability,” Mare responded, his voice once again sounding panicky. “Anyway, let’s go,” he motioned to Liel and Zesshi and the three left the Cathedral.

Shortly after the incident

An emergency meeting had been called, and all of the top brass of the Slane Theocracy was present. It’s a good thing they had wisely chosen to hold this meeting in the nearby room, instead of the one with the statues of the Six Great Gods. Roughly knowing what happened, it was hard to imagine what it would feel like to have to carefully clean that room, instead of holding the meeting right away.

“Was it wise? Zesshi is humanity’s trump card, if something happens to her it will be catastrophic,” Pontifex Maximus expressed everyone’s feelings.

“I can’t believe that girl, attacking just like that. What would we do if she actually killed her?” The Field Marshal bemoaned.
“It was her eyes when Zesshi saw those heterochromatic eyes she was overcome with anger and couldn’t restrain herself,” Dominic explained.

“But why did Mare make such a request? Is she hoping to pry information out of Zesshi? Or something else?” Maximilian asked.

“Who knows? Maybe to keep an eye on a powerful opponent? Anyway, I don’t think Zesshi is in any danger. We are inside our nation after all. And her equipment should protect her from any mind control spells,” Raymond said.

“I can’t believe that damned elf managed to capitalize on the situation like that,” Berenice shook her head.
“I’ve warned you, didn’t I?” Dominic reminded her.
“So, where does this leave us?” Pontifex Maximus asked.

“Mm, it should actually be a benefit to our plan. Instead of innuendo she had now seen clear proof of the dark elf’s power. The fact this wasn’t planned means that it looked completely natural too,” Dominic said.

“Yes, I believe with this turn of events the slave girl will act, if she wasn’t going to before,” Ginedine agreed.
“Will the two weeks be enough for that bastard to respond?” Yvon asked.
“It should be sufficient,” Ginedine said.

“That said, we still have to deal with Mare’s demands,” Dominic said.
“Can we not tell her anything again? Since she won’t make it back to her kingdom,” the Field Marshal asked.

“She might use [Message] to explain what happened here. In which case we would look really suspicious when she disappears,” Dominic retorted.

“You are not suggesting we actually show her the treasures of the Gods, are you?” Maximilian exclaimed.

“Of course not, but we do need to do something, to create an illusion that we are cooperating,” Dominic said.

“We can probably show her of some of the equipment we have. Not the top tier, but the slightly lower stuff,” Ginedine said after pondering for a bit.

“Like the sealing crystals and the items Black Scripture uses,” Raymond said. “It’s probably fine to tell her that Zesshi is a God-kin, according to the Captain, Mare had already guessed as much,” he added.

“Then that’s that. It should give the illusion of us going along with Mare’s request. And when she disappears we’ll blame the elves,” Pontifex Maximus concluded. “Now then, what of the other matters?”

“I will be moving the Clearwater Scripture from the Baharuth Empire to the Re-Estize Kingdom, in order to retrieve that item for the Research Institute,” Raymond said.

“I have set up a meeting with that man, and will be leaving for it shortly,” Maximilian announced.

“No word from the Draconic Kingdom yet?” Yvon asked.

“Momon had arrived, but they wanted to see him in action first, before showing him our cards,” Raymond replied.

Inside the house, Mare was staying at

After returning to their home, Mare looked at the young girl.

Is she a God-kin? She seems pretty powerful, and the scythe looks interesting too. He thought. I want to learn more about her, but she seems reluctant. I wonder what would Ainz-sama do?

Zesshi was feeling annoyed. First, she lost control and attacked the dark elf, then the Cardinals strong-armed her into accompanying this envoy, and now the elf was staring at her.

“Would you like to tell me the reason for your attack?” Mare asked.

She harrumphed loudly and turned her back on the dark elf. Even if the Cardinals talked her into doing this, she wouldn’t play an obedient servant.

“Hmm, those, those are…” she heard Mare’s panicky voice. Then she felt it. Her whole body was jolted, she turned around and stared daggers at the elf.

“You… you… you,” Zesshi was so overwhelmed with rage she couldn’t even speak. The dark elf looked at her with curious eyes, meanwhile, the elf’s hand was caressing Zesshi’s elongated ear.

“Those are, are elven ears…” Mare said thoughtfully.

Zesshi hated the elven parts of her appearance. She was a freak, that’s what everyone thought of her appearance. Of course, given her power, no one would be stupid enough to actually give voice to such a thought. But she knew it from the way people looked at her. In time, a certain balance was developed, people would treat her as if she were a human, and she wouldn’t press them on their true feeling.

Because of this, no one would even dare to look at her long, pointy ears. But this elf, she was actually touching Zesshi’s ear! So enraged, she couldn’t even control her body for a moment. However, Zesshi knew she would kill the dark elf, Cardinals be damned.

“Mm, your ears are, are cute,” the elf girl said.

Cute? Zesshi’s mind became blank. During the nearly two hundred years she had lived no one had ever referred to the most recognizable part of her elven heritage as “cute.”

“Yes, very cute. I like how you look when they aren’t hidden by your hair,” Mare continued.

“Pfftt, what would you know?” Zesshi snorted and moved away from the dark elf. Her killing intent was gone, and she wasn’t sure why.

“So, want to tell me how a half-elf ended up in the Slane Theocracy?” Mare asked.
“No,” her reply was short.
“Oh, don’t be like that, we are going to spend the next two weeks together. If you refuse to talk it would be so boring. Why don’t we become friends instead?”

Friends? Another first, Zesshi thought. In my long life, no one had ever wanted to be my friend. I was someone to be used, hidden, avoided, but never to be befriended. What a strange girl this elf is.

“You like those who are strong, don’t you? Then how about this, if you tell me about yourself, I’ll tell you about my master, Ainz Ooal Gown,” Mare tried another angle.

“Hmm, is he really that strong?” Zesshi’s curiosity was piqued.
“The Supreme One stands above all.”

 

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