Chapter 4, Part 4

Ainz was laying on his bed, enjoying the mysterious smell the sheets possessed. It seemed so familiar, yet he just couldn’t place it. Normally, not being to remember something like this would annoy him, but not in this case. The act of rolling around the bed helped him relax and clear his mind.

Staring into the ceiling he went over the recent events. It had been a week since Blue Rose arrived at E-Rantel. They stayed in the city for four days and have already left. For a time, Momon accompanied them as they explored the new parts of the town, like the demi-human district. Blue Rose also challenged the Adventurer’s Dungeon, though they weren’t allowed to use tokens for gear.

At first, Ainz didn’t want to allow them to take a crack at the Dungeon. But, some new information about Blue Rose surfaced which he found interesting. And letting them have a go at the adamantite wing was a good way to observe Blue Rose in action. As expected the experienced group of five made it to the last boss but gave up without challenging the obstacle. It was only to be expected. After all, the last room contained a pair of Deaths Knights, Death Warriors, Soul Eaters and a trio of Elder Liches. For a normal adamantite group to defeat such a gathering of monsters was unthinkable.

However, Ainz wasn’t thinking about the time he spent with the female adventurers, but rather the underlying issues of their meeting as well as the future consequences of it. Also, dealing with a love-struck Evileye was annoying, he was quite pleased with the results. There were several incidents where Nabe, who had been dragged along, made some disparaging comments about the masked magician, everyone seemed to take them as natural and didn’t think much of the incidents.

I guess that’s one of the benefits of having Nabe’s reputation of a cold and distant beauty, Ainz thought as he recalled one of the incidents. It was after Blue Rose’s attempt at the Dungeon. Evileye complained that the reason they couldn’t finish it was that Gagaran couldn’t tank the damage from all the monsters in the room. She then clung to Momon and ran her hand over his chest armor, trying to caress it, while claiming that they could totally do it if only Momon was her teammate.

Predictably such words and behavior caused Nabe to snort and comment that not only did Evileye not qualify to be Momon’s teammate, she barely qualified as a cleaning rug for his armor. Evileye didn’t pay her any attention though, caught up in her own world she continued to caress Momon’s chest while giggling. It took Lakyus pulling her by the nape of her robe to drag the crazed girl away from him.

Ainz chuckled as he recalled this incident. He closed his eyes and focused on the future. It would appear Blue Rose will participate in the attack on Nazarick. A little unexpected, but a pretty good outcome. Evileye belongs to Entoma, and while the rest of Blue rose is of little importance, they do make for better prisoners than being free.

Lakyus is a priestess and can use resurrection spells, while Tia and Tina were able to use ninja skills – a job which was accessible only at level sixty. Gagaran was of little interest, but being able to study the first three could produce some useful information.

Ainz mentally nodded at this thought. Knowledge was power, and he would pursue it even if Nazarick’s forces were already beyond compare. Speaking of info, after reading the report of the meeting between Renner, Blue Rose and the agent of the Theocracy, Ainz stumbled on another useful piece – Rigrit.

Apparently, that was a name of a powerful woman, who had some sort of a connection to Evileye. After asking Fluder, Ainz discovered that this Rigrit was a member of the thirteen heroes, which made her over two hundred years old. It was unclear how powerful she was nowadays, but knowing about potential enemies was always good. Since it was likely that Evileye would make contact with this Rigrit, Ainz sent a couple of Hanzos to tail the masked magic caster.

While such a mysterious connection makes killing Evileye potentially problematic, I had already promised her to Entoma. And while I could control her through her love for Momon, there is little I can use her for. After the Theocracy’s attack, all of the human nations will come under Nazarick’s control. So, while comparatively powerful, Blue Rose would be useless to me. Their only use came from being adamantite adventurers, but given the Development of my Adventurer’s Guild, there will be no shortage of such groups in the near future, and unlike Blue Rose, these new groups will be loyal to the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Plus, it seems Renner is pushing Blue Rose to their deaths. I suppose it makes sense, given the conditions required to unlock the item Albedo gave her. Must be also why she insisted on sending that boy, Climb, as well. Ainz shook his head as his thoughts switched. That’s some plan Demiurge and Albedo came up with for the Kingdom. Ah well, it will be over soon. Though I hope they don’t plan to bring Renner to Nazarick. Actually, I should take some steps to make sure they don’t.

Ainz inhaled the sweet aroma of the sheets and started to roll on the bed again. It was a good thing he was alone, such unbecoming behavior would terrify his guardians.

Several weeks later, in the capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom

A group of people sat around a table in a private room of a well-known tavern. There was a bit of a tension in the air, as they conversed over the food and drinks.

“I don’t know, it’s not really our place to fight this battle. Why take the risk?” Lakyus asked.

“Look, I am not asking you to do this. However, I have decided, I will join Momon-sama in this strike, even if I have to do so alone,” Evileye’s determined voice came from beneath the mask.

“There is no reasoning with her,” Tia spread her hands in a gesture that clearly conveyed that she was giving up.

“Even if you join, what’s the point? Given the power of the Sorcerer King’s servants, and the might of the allies the Theocracy is hoping to bring, what will your presence change?” Lakyus wouldn’t give up so easily.

“Even if my strength is insufficient, all I can do is stand by the man I lo… respect,” Evileye said after coughing to cover up her near slip up.

“Isn’t this conversation a bit premature? The Theocracy still needs to fulfill their conditions to secure Momon’s help. It’s entirely feasible that they will fail to do so,” Gagaran chimed in.

“Mm, it is as you say. But would such a turn of events actually be a good thing? The Theocracy would likely still push ahead with their plan, and if the they loses, and the Sorcerer Kingdom decides to retaliate against the Theocracy’s citizens, will Momon be able to stand by? And if not, wouldn’t he be better off by assisting the Theocracy in their attack?” Tia asked.

Everyone fell silent as they thought about Tai’s words. Evileye was the first to speak.

“That is also why I must join him. Whether the attack succeeds or fails, I will be fighting beside Momon-sama.”

“Based on the information Momon has provided, the Theocracy should be able to win the fight with little issue,” Tina said.

“Yes, according to him only Albedo is on his level, several servants are on the level of that insect maid we fought, while the rest are around adamantite adventurer,” Tia nodded. “So long as they can attack first, without having to fight their way through the army of the undead, winning should be possible.”

“Can it be that Momon is mistaken about their true strength?” Brain, who had been silent until this moment, asked. Due to him working for Renner and his friendship with Climb, Brain had become a regular sight at Blue Rose’s table.

“Brain, is there something you can tell us?” Lakyus said as she raised her eyebrow.

Brain was confused by what he heard. According to Momon, Shalltear seemed to be a concubine of Ainz’s, and only had a power rating of 50. Yet, he knew better than anyone that it was not the case.

Could it really be that the one I fought in the cave was Honyopenyoko, and she simply used Shalltear’s name to frame her? When I ran into her in the capital, she clearly didn’t recognize me. At the time, I thought it was just her arrogance like I wasn’t even worth remembering. But, now that I think about it, her behavior seemed genuine.

Brain recalled the events of their second meeting. She didn’t seem interested in fighting me and appeared to be pre-occupied with searching for someone else. Combining that with what we now know of the Sorcerer Kingdom’s relationship to Jaldabaoth, could it be she was sent there by the Sorcerer King to keep an eye out for Jaldabaoth’s appearance? As one of the few human-like servants of the undead, it’s possible that such a job would fall to her.

Then, what about her rating? 50 would put her at about low mythril level. That’s certainly powerful enough to kill most humans, and since I am not an adventurer, it’s not far-fetched to assume the Sorcerer Kingdom knew nothing of me, and so Shalltear thought she could kill me if needed.

But what about my attack? She was able to intercept it, which no mythril ranked adventurer would be able to. Brain replayed their fight in his mind again and again. And as he did so, a stupid smile began to appear on his face. Was I really a fool? I was so convinced that the two vampires were the same, I had clearly interpreted all of her actions in that light.

The [Nail Clipper] I used was beyond a mythril adventurer’s ability to block. But I aimed it right at her body. It’s only natural to bring your hands up to protect yourself when attacked. Could it be that I hit the nail by accident? She seemed surprised at the nail breaking but even more so at my actions. Then there was a sound from the demons and she looked away, while I ran for my life. She also didn’t chase me… Damn it, I don’t know what to think anymore.

“There is a chance that Shalltear is hiding her true power. She could be as strong as Momon as well,” Brain responded to Lakyus’s question, before proceeding to explain his two encounters.

“I suppose this isn’t completely unexpected. Momon had only joined the Sorcerer King’s side recently and naturally would not have a lot of chances to observe the undead’s servants fighting at full power. His information should not be viewed as absolute,” Lakyus said afterward.

“Momon-sama can only share what he knows,” Evileye nodded.

“It’s probably why the Theocracy is searching for allies, rather than carrying out the attack on their own. They are worried about unpleasant surprises such as this,” Gagaran said.

“Then, it’s all the more reasons for me to join Momon-sama,” Evileye said.

The four Blue Rose members all rolled their eyes at her words.

“Climb, you joining the attack, right?” Tia asked the only person who hasn’t said anything so far.

“Princess Renner wants me to go, of course, I will do so. Although, I don’t know how much of a help I will be,” Climb replied.

“Such a battle can be very dangerous, wouldn’t it be a waste if you died a virgin, cherry boy? You should sleep with me, then your mind would be clear and you could die with no regrets,” Gagaran went back to her favorite past time – cherry picking.

“No, I am fine,” Climb refused without skipping a beat.

“Such a shame, then you better not die,” Gagaran sighed.

“What about you, Brain-san? What will you do?” Climb asked.

This question caught Brain by surprise. If it was before he thought about his encounters with Shalltear, he would immediately decline. There was no point in someone like him fighting the likes of her. However, now he was besieged by doubt. His second encounter with the vampire was simply too short, if he looked at it without bias, there was no way to tell how powerful the actual Shalltear was.

Then, what should I do? I had already found a successor for the Warrior Captain position. Gazef knew he was no match for the Sorcerer King but still challenged him to a duel. What about me? Am I destined to be hidden by that man’s shadow? I now have a chance to avenge his death and to face the foe of my life. Will I step up to this challenge or will I shy away, spending the rest of my life trying to avoid another confrontation with Shalltear Bloodfallen?

He was uncertain, but then an image of Gazef flashed through his mind. On the blood-covered battlefield, the terrified screams of the fleeing soldiers mixing with the pitiful cries of the injured, that man stood resolutely. Even the Sorcerer King seemed to admire him. But what exactly did the undead find so fascinating about Gazef? It wasn’t his strength, obviously. No, it was his conviction. Even though he knew the chance of victory was minuscule, he still held onto it.. Even the heartless undead could respect such resolve.

“I will join the fight,” Brain declared. I will show Gazef the strength of my conviction!

Climb nodded. He had spent a good deal of time with Brain since the tragedy at the Katze Planes, and knew how much the actions of the late Warrior Captain influenced Brain. As such, this response was in line with what he expected.

“Then, what will we do?” Gagaran asked while looking at Lakyus expectantly.

“Ah, what am I going to do with you? Evileye has saved our lives many times, how can we abandon her? I suppose we’ll be joining as well, provided the Theocracy comes through and Momon joins,” Lakyus replied with a wry smile.

In the royal castle of Re-Estize

Princess Renner was alone in her bedroom. She sat at the table, on top of which was a certain box. She traced her fingers along its top, and a shiver traveled through her body. Although she couldn’t open it, as the box was protected by four seals, it didn’t dampen her excitement.

“Soon,” she said in a honeyed voice.

Her mind wandered as she thought about Climb. I wonder what kind of look I will see in his eyes after I open it and use the item inside.

A terrifying smile appeared on her face as she thought about the future. This smile would frighten anyone who saw it, as it would make them realize that the innocent Princess was but monster in a human body. Renner sighed and put the box away.

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