Chapter 4, Part 2

Hilma was so anxious that she could not sit still while she waited for a visitor from the Sorcerer Kingdom. After her most recent conversation with Philip, she could no longer pretend to not hear the idiot’s remarks. It was one thing to talk about wanting to marry Albedo, but to speak aloud about wanting to kill Ainz Ooal Gown? If she still didn’t report, she could get implicated too, and that was a fate Hilma wished to avoid with all her being.

Normally she would send a report, but since she decided that it would be better to tell the story in person – so she could adjust things based on the other’s reaction – her message only said that she had some information. As such, the other side did not respond immediately but set the meeting time a few days later.

That was a mistake, I should’ve said my information was important. I’ve been so high-strung waiting for them, I haven’t slept in days, Hilma thought as she went over her actions for an umpteen time. She was full of regret when it came to how she handled Philip. I wonder who it will be? She tried to distract herself with a question.

Although she had never seen Ainz Ooal Gown himself, during her brief period of serving the Sorcerer Kingdom, she had met several of the high-ranking servants of the undead king. However, the question of which of the servants would she rather meet at this time was a difficult one.

There was Mare – a young dark elf boy, who, for some inexplicable reason, wore a girl’s outfit. While he looked innocent and even cute on the surface, Hilma knew different. That was no boy, it was a monster! The physical appearance was the only thing that he had in common with the other dark elves Hilma had met. Hilma still shivered in horror as she recalled how Mare looked at her with his innocent, uncaring eyes as she was dragged off to the Black Cell.

Then, there was his sister Aura – a young, cheerful dark elf girl. Unfortunately, she was even worse than Mare. With a happy smile on her face and in a cheerful tone, she would inform you of the horrible things that awaited you. The incongruity of what she was saying and her cheerful presentation only added to the mental shock experienced by the victim.

Then there was Albedo, an otherworldly beauty with a captivating smile. While she seemed reasonable on the surface, Hilma’s senses screamed at her that it was only an appearance. What lay beneath was a terrifying, unforgiving monster. As such, Hilma tried her best to stay on Albedo’s good side. Sadly, her attempts to do so have led her to the current circumstances.

Lastly, there was the demon Demiurge. On the surface he seemed even more reasonable than Albedo, looking at any situation logically rather than flaunting his power. However, his face creeped Hilma out. Demiurge’s face looked like it was frozen right at the moment when he was about to burst out laughing. As such, she could not shake the feeling that the demon looked at everyone and everything with amusement while trying to hold back his laugh.

After going over the servants she had met, Hilma thoughts about which one she’d rather meet today.

Ah, I guess the elves would be best. They don’t even see me as a bug, but at least they wouldn’t care about my information and would probably leave after I tell them. Albedo would be a huge gamble, she could shrug it off, or could become enraged, taking it out on me. Hopefully, it isn’t her. And Demiurge… I guess he’s preferable to Albedo. Hilma sighed, no matter who came, it would be a nerve-wracking experience for her.

Suddenly, there was movement in her shadow and a Shadow Demon emerged from it. Shadow Demons were adept at stealth and were widely used by Nazarick to spy on low-level targets. The Demon itself looked like a semi-circle of darkness with eyes and a mouth, somewhat similar to a slime.

Seeing a globe of something dark wiggle near her was too much for Hilma. Memories of her baptism surfaced in her mind, as she doubled over and fell to her knees, her slender hand pressed over her mouth, trying her hardest not to retch.

“Demiurge-sama will be here shortly,” the Shadow Demon said in a guttural voice that only added to Hilma’s suffering.

The demon disappeared, allowing Hilma to regain her composure. Which manifested itself by Hilma rushing to the nearest bathroom before dry heaving loudly. After that, she freshened up and tried to calm down.

Demiurge huh? I guess it’s not as bad as Albedo, she tried to console herself. She sat down on a beautiful, white sofa, and tried to meditate until the visitor arrived. Soon, a [Gate] opened into the guest hall of Hilma’s estate and Demiurge emerged from it.

“Demiurge-sama, it’s an honor to welcome you,” Hilma said as she genuflected.

“The message didn’t specify so, what do you have for me?” Demiurge asked after nodding to her in greeting.

“Ah, Demiurge-sama, it’s about Philip…”

“That moron? He’ll be dead soon. Speaking of which, the Eight Fingers will probably be the ones asked to do the assassination. Though it’s still too far to give the exact details,” Demiurge nodded with a satisfied smile.

“He will be killed?” Hilma asked, unsure of how such a news would affect her report.

“He was a card we’ve played, now, it’s time to cash out,” the demon shrugged his shoulders. “So, what is this information you wanted to tell us directly?”

“Ah, um, that…” Hilma stammered as her mind raced.

If Philip is going to get killed anyway, then there is no need to put myself in danger by telling them about his moronic plans. Once Philip is dead, no one will know of his idiotic transgressions. But what should I tell Demiurge instead? And I already said that it was about Philip… gah, I just can’t catch a break.

“It, it was about Philip. He is… unhappy with the current situation,” Hilma quickly decided to reveal part of the truth.

“Oh? And what did he plan to do about it?”

“Demiurge-sama, I am afraid to repeat the words of such a lowly creature,” Hilma replied while trying to come up with an actual answer.

“I don’t mind. The actions of a true moron are quite amusing to observe,” he said as his grin widened.

“I, well, he… um, he wanted to, um,” Hilma cursed at herself for not being able to come up with a realistic answer at the moment.

“Are you hiding something?” Demiurge asked, his smile nearly splitting his face.

“No! No, I would never hide anything from you, I swear! You know how loyal I am, how could I ever do such a thing,” Hilma moaned as she fell to her knees, the feeling of a terrible disaster about to strike her manifesting in her mind.

“It’s obvious you are hiding something. My time is valuable, so, out with it,” Demiurge ordered while enjoying the sight in front of him.

Hilma cursed at herself. She had prepared many ways to spin her report to safeguard herself. However, the news that Philip was going to get killed soon fell outside of her anticipated events. As such, she was unable to take advantage of this situation and had to instead revert back to her original plan.

“Demiurge-sama, it’s not that I am hiding anything, it’s just that moron’s words were too offensive. I was afraid to incur your wrath by repeating such things,” Hilma exclaimed.

“Hahaha, do tell,” Demiurge ordered with a laugh.

“Philip had mentioned to me that he wanted to marry Albedo-sama,” Hilma began. She wanted to gauge the response before unloading the main transgression.

“Ha, that fool. Still, while Albedo’s charm is undeniable, doesn’t he understand that he is less than a bug? Even a total moron’s arrogance should have a limit,” Demiurge chuckled, seemingly amused.

“That is why I did not want to repeat his words. It was just a rumbling of a mad lunatic after all,” Hilma said while nodding her head earnestly.

“So, why did you ask for this meeting? Surely there is more to it than that?”

“Ah, well, I have met Philip recently, and the thing he said that time is the reason I asked for a meeting.”

Hilma was encouraged by Demiurge’s response and decided to tell the whole thing while playing a role of an outraged servant. She waited for the demon to motion to her with his chin, permitting her to continue.

“During our last meeting that cretin began to talk about wanting to marry Albedo-sama. He was also complaining about his current position in the Re-Estize Kingdom and how he hated to deal with the nobles,” Hilma cast a glance at Demiurge, but he seemed to be taking her words in stride, not displaying any anger. Emboldened, she continued. “He then suggested that if he could talk Albedo-sama into killing the Sorcerer King, he could marry her and rule the combined teri…” Hilma explained when a shout interrupted her mid-sentence.

“He what?!”

“He, he…” Hilma’s body began to shake uncontrollably as a wave of killing intent exploded from Demiurge.

The demon walked up to her and leaned forward, placing his face near hers. He then lifted her chin with his finger, forcing Hima to stare into his eyes.

“Philip said he wanted to kill Ainz-sama and marry Albedo afterward,” Demiurge asked in a taut voice?

“Ye… yes,” Hilma stuttered.

“You are sure about this?”

“Ah, yes, yes,” Hilma tried to nod but was unable to since Demiurge still held her chin up with his finger.

Demiurge let her go and straightened up, a dejected expression was plastered on his face. It was the first time Hilma has seen the demon lose his cool, and such a thing did nothing to help her stop her body from trembling. For a few moments, Demiurge stood still, deep in thought, while his fingers played with the edge of his suit. A few moments later he seemed to have come to a decision, with a nod he addressed Hilma.

“Come with me,” he told her.

“I… I, I can’t,” Hilma whizzed.

She wanted to follow the demon’s command, but her body refused. The mere thought of going back to that place, the place where the Black Cell was located, made her shudder uncontrollably. It was already an achievement that she managed not to heave.

“I don’t have time for this. [Follow me],” Demiurge used his domination skill and issued an order.

Despite her body shaking all over, Hilma stood up and followed Demiurge through the [Gate]. After walking through it, she found herself in some unknown place, surrounded by half a dozen undead monsters. She gulped loudly and would have collapsed to the floor if her body wasn’t under Demiurge’s control.

“I have urgent news, please open a [Gate] to the ninth floor,” the demon addressed a girl with long, silver hair who wore an evening dress with a heavy skirt.

Hilma had seen the girl before, it seemed like she was in charge of the portals the Sorcerer King used. However, Hilma has never spoken with her, so she was unclear on what position the girl held. There was no time to think of such things though, as a new portal sprang to life and Demiurge walked through it. Still under his command, Hilma’s body followed the demon into the portal.

Once again she found herself in a new place – this time it was a long corridor. As they walked through it, Hilma could still look around – there was a rich, fluffy rug covering the stone floor, beautifully drawn paintings littered the walls, while gorgeous candelabras with innumerable magic lights shone from above. Hilma began to wonder if they had teleported to a castle of some renowned king. Unfortunately, when this thought crossed her mind, her body began to shake even more.

They came to a door which was guarded by four huge insectoid warriors. They were silver in color, standing on their hind legs, holding a halberd in their front limbs, large mandibles threateningly protruded from their mouths.

“Welcome, Demiurge-sama,” the four guards bowed and made way for the demon.

Demiurge knocked on the door, which opened and a stunningly-beautiful maid emerged from it. She exchanged a few words with Demiurge and disappeared inside. They waited for a few moments and then the door opened again and they walked inside.

“Thank you for meeting me on such a short notice, Ainz-sama,” Demiurge bowed to the owner of the room.

“What are you saying, Demiurge, you know my door is always open to you.”

“Ainz-sama, there is a certain matter which I am unable to decide on my own, as such I wish to defer to your great wisdom,” Demiurge said.

A matter which even Demiurge cannot decide on? What could that possibly be? Ainz wondered as his gaze moved to the woman behind the demon.

Hilma didn’t know about other executives of the Eight Fingers, but she always suspected. After all, on that fateful day when Mare had kidnapped her, she saw a maid eating a human arm. Later, Blue Rose engaged a similar looking maid near Hilma’s hideout, and it was revealed that the maids belonged to Jaldabaoth. However, the faction that captured her was not Jaldabaoth but the Sorcerer King. Granted, the Sorcerer Kingdom released some information regarding Jaldabaoth copying the maids of the Sorcerer Kingdom, but Hilma was highly skeptical.

And now her suspicions were confirmed, in front of her sat a being which could only be described as an avatar of death. He wore a luxurious, black robe, adorned with white, sparkling gemstones, making it look like a night sky filled with stars. On his bony fingers her wore a myriad of rings, a quick glance told Hilma that each ring was a treasure the likes of which she had never seen.

Before her eyes was the Sorcerer King, though the title of King seemed too trivial for such a being, the more accurate epithet would be God. Regardless though, Hilma was overwhelmed by Ainz’s regal aura. Aside from her body shaking wildly, her teeth had begun to rattle loudly, filling her with horror that such a thing would offend the owner of her life. When the red dots of light inside Ainz’s eye sockets swept toward Hilma and focused on her, it proved to be too much and she passed out.

She didn’t fall, however. Even if her consciousness left, her body was still under Demiurge’s control. When she came to she heard the remainder of the conversation between the two monsters.

“And so, unable to decide Philip’s fate, I decided to bring her along so that you can decide his fate and her punishment for not telling us of that fool’s plans,” Demiurge concluded.

Something isn’t right here. Why is Demiurge making such a big deal out of this? Normally he should just kill Philip and just use the next one in the new faction to do the same job. There must be more to this. After coming to this conclusion, Ainz decided to proceed with caution.

“Shouldn’t his fate be obvious?” He asked, trying to force Demiurge to reveal his reason for hesitation.

“Normally anyone who would threaten Ainz-sama would be killed immediately. However, we planned to have him die as one of the steps in our scheme, having him die now would mess things up. There is also the fact that this fool desired Albedo, a woman who belongs to you. As such I feel that a simple death is too light of a punishment for his transgressions,” Demiurge explained.

They planned to kill him and use his death in some way? Damn it, I guess my theory of having him merry Renner was wrong. Ah, Demiurge and his plans. But, forget that, I need to focus on this matter. Hmm, I don’t want to ruin Demiurge’s plans, and death seems like a fitting punishment for some bug daydreaming. But, Demiurge is obviously expecting a stronger reaction from me, there is also that woman here, I can’t let her think that such transgression will be met with a simple death. Ainz thoughts raced through his mind.

“Demiurge, how did you plan for Philip to die?”

“He would get assassinated in his estate,” Demiurge said.

“Hmm, is the one carrying out the assassination working for us?”

“Not necessarily, but that could be arranged,” Demiurge replied with a smile.

“Then, here is my decision. You should carry out your scheme as planned. When the time comes, the assassination should be carried out by someone working for us. Have them kidnap Philip, burn his estate and use another person corpse as a decoy. Once Philip is brought before me, I will decide his fate.”

“As expected of Ainz-sama, you truly are too generous,” Demiurge bowed. “Then, what about her punishment? Also, she reported the death threat right away, she sought to conceal Philip’s desire for Albedo.”

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Ainz asked as he set his sights on Hilma once again.

“I… ugh, I… I… am…” she knew it was bad, really bad, but she couldn’t get a hold of herself.

“[Answer Ainz’s-sama’s questions truthfully],” Demiurge ordered after observing the terrified woman.

“I was afraid that Albedo-sama would get mad, and take her anger out on me,” Hilma said while her face looked surprised.

“Mm, that’s understandable,” Ainz stole a glance at Demiurge, however, the demon looked like he wouldn’t be satisfied with a simple dismissal. “However, you did choose to conceal this information from us. It wasn’t important in this case, but what about the next? Simply dismissing it would set a bad precedent,” Ainz continued.

Demiurge brimmed with delight, while Hilma felt herself fall into a bottomless pit. Ainz didn’t much care for this matter, and after seeing Demiurge’s reaction he posed a question.

“Then, Demiurge, since the Eight Fingers mostly interacted with you and Albedo, what do you think an appropriate punishment for her would be?”

“I was thinking of bringing her over to my Happy Farm,” Hilma didn’t know what this “Happy Farm” was, but Demiurge’s smile terrified her.

“To help with the Abelion sheep? Weren’t your demons doing an adequate job already?”

“Yes, however, there are some tasks that are harder for them to do, like grinding meat. After all, many of my servants are too large to operate the meat grinders,” Demiurge said.

“Hmm, the sheep eat meat too?”

“Oh, yes, they are quite omnivorous. In fact, to save resources, we often cut off their limbs for the meat to be ground, and then feed it back to them. It’s quite wondrous,” Demiurge explained excitedly.

“A never-ending food source,” Ainz mumbled.

Since he couldn’t eat nor did he have any normal bodily functions, he didn’t particularly care about this matter. On the other hand, Hilma was praying to the Gods that she couldn’t heave due to her body being under Demiurge’s control, otherwise she would’ve have soiled everything near her long ago.

I absolutely cannot go to this Happy Farm. Think Hilma, think! There must be a way out! Hilma’s thoughts ran through her mind, as she desperately searched for an out.

“Well, if you say having her will make things easier for you then…” Ainz was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Etoile went to answer it, returning a moment later.

“Ainz-sama, Mare-sama wishes to talk to you,” she announced.

“Let him in,” Ainz said excitedly.

Lately, both Mare and Aura were spending a lot of time in the Elf Kingdom, so Ainz didn’t see the young dark elf too often. Mare walked in and greeted Ainz and Demiurge. His eyes swept over Hilma, but he ignored her presence.

“Then, what brings you to me, Mare? Is everything going well in the Elf Kingdom?”

“Yes, Ainz-sama, the transition has been smooth. However, we are having issues with the former slaves. Even though they had been granted freedom, many of them are having a difficult time adjusting to it and integrating into the rest of the society,” Mare said.

“Hmm, I suppose that is only to be expected, especially for those who had spent many years as a slave. Then, did you come to me in search of a solution,” Ainz asked?

“Ainz-sama can easily see through my intentions,” Mare responded with an innocent smile.

“Come here,” Ainz’s told Mare, and when the boy came closer Ainz rustled his hair, causing Mare to smile happily.

Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, except Hilma. Not only was she dumbfounded by such a behavior of both, the undead monster and the elf boy. But she was nearly sent to Hell and was only saved by Mare’s sudden appearance. This was no time to enjoy the sight of a kindly grandfather figure playing with his grandson.

“As to your issue, what you need is to find councilors – those who are familiar with or have dealt with similar circumstances. These people would have a good understanding of the ex-slaves’ mental issues, and could work with them to resolve them,” Ainz said as he recalled something he read about reintegration of long-term prisoners back into society.

“As expected of the great Ainz-sama,” Demiurge praised.

“Thank you, Ainz’s sama, “Mare smiled happily. “Now, how would I go about finding such people? Ah, more work,” he continued to mumble.

“I… I could do it,” Hilma wheezed in a moment of inspiration.

Everyone turned their sights on Hilma. It was a good thing she was still under Demiurge’s control and couldn’t do anything unsightly.

“You,” Ainz asked?

“Yes, Ai… Ainz-sama. As a former prostitute and someone who worked with others who were forced down that path, I, I am familiar with the mental issues from which they are suffering,” Hilma replied after steeling her resolve.

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense. Then, it’s decided, after Philip dies, Hilma will be transferred to the Elf Kingdom where she will work to help rehabilitate the former slaves.”

“Yes, Ainz-sama,” Mare and Demiurge bowed in unison.

“Tha-thank you, Ainz-sama,” Hilda exclaimed as well.

She was overjoyed. It was a rollercoaster of a ride, but in the end, she managed to escape hell.

 

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