“Y-yes, sir! B-by the way, what brings you here, Lord Momonga? D-did I do something wrong?”
“No, Mare, I came to praise you.”
Mare had been looking a little twitchy because he thought he was about to be scolded, but his expression flipped to surprise.
“The work you’re doing is extremely important. We may have a warning network, but it’s entirely possible that regular people in this world are over level 100. If that’s the case, the most important thing we can do is prevent them from discovering us.”
Mare nodded.
“So I want you to know how satisfied I am with your flawless work and how much peace of mind I get by entrusting this to you.”
One of Momonga’s ironclad rules from his days as a working adult: Good bosses praise their subordinates’ work as appropriate.
The guardians had a much higher opinion of Momonga than he warranted. In order to not lose their loyalty, he had to act the part. He’d maintained their golden legacy all this time, but to disappoint and be betrayed by the guardians and other NPCs made by the guild members would brand him as unfit to be guild master. That’s why he had to try to be a great ruler.
“Do you understand, Mare?”
“Yes, Lord Momonga!” He may have been dressed like a girl, but the firm resolve on his face marked him clearly as a boy.
“Okay, then, I’d like to give you a reward for your good work.”
“B-but! It’s only natural that I should do this work!”
“It’s also natural to give a reward for a job well done.”
“N-no, it’s not! We exist to serve the Supreme Beings! It’s a matter of course that we should get things done well!”
They repeated this exchange several times, but their opinions continued to run parallel to one another. Beginning to sense futility, Momonga decided to offer a compromise.
“Then let’s say this. There’s no problem if it also rewards you for continuing your loyal work in the future, right?”
“I-if you’re sure it’s okay…”
Momonga compelled him to be calm and took out the reward. It was a ring.
“L-Lord Momonga, I think you t-took out the wrong…th-thing!”
“It’s no—”
“You’re mistaken, my lord! That’s a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown—a treasure only Supreme Beings may possess! There’s no way I can accept such a gift!”
Momonga was taken aback by how hard Mare was trembling.
It was true that the ring was a one-in-a-hundred item made exclusively for members of Ainz Ooal Gown. Since forty-one of them had been passed out, there were fifty-nine that had no designated user—no, fifty-eight. In that sense, they were quite rare. But part of why he wanted to give it as a reward was how useful it would be.
Mare seemed like he was ready to bolt, so in order to calm him down, Momonga reached out carefully. “Relax, Mare.”
“I-I-I can’t! Y-you just said that a ring of the Supreme Ones was going to be my reward!”
“Mare, just think about it. Transportation by teleportation is prevented within the Great Tomb of Nazarick, but isn’t that inconvenient sometimes?”
Hearing this, it seemed Mare was able to begin to calm down.
“In the event we are attacked, I want each floor guardian to act as commander on their level. If they can’t teleport, if they can’t escape easily, that won’t work very well. That’s why I want you to have the ring.” The ring resting on Momonga’s upheld palm gleamed in the moonlight. “Mare, having your loyalty pleases me greatly. I understand quite well that as our subject you feel you can’t accept a ring that is our sign, but I think you grasp my intentions now—take it as an order.”
“B-but why m-me? Could it be that you’re giving them to all the guardians…?”
“I plan to, but you’re the first because I think highly of your work. If I gave them to people who hadn’t done anything yet, the rings’ significance as a reward would be diminished. Or are you saying I should lower their value?”
“N-n-not at all, my lord!”
“Then take it, Mare. Take it and continue serving Nazarick and myself.”
Trembling, Mare slowly bowed and accepted the ring.
Seeing him like this, Momonga felt a bit guilty. His other aim in giving away the ring was to make it so it wouldn’t be immediately apparent who it was anytime someone teleported.
When Mare slipped the ring on, it changed size to fit his slender finger. He looked at it on his hand a few times and sighed in amazement. Then, he turned directly toward Momonga and bowed deeply. “L-Lord Momonga! Th-thank you so much for giving me such a valuable reward! I’ll do my best to be word—worthy of such a treasure!”
“I’m counting on you, Mare.”
“Yes, my lord!” Mare finished with a boy’s valiance on his face.
Why did BubblingTeapot dress him like this? To be the opposite of Aura? Or was there actually a reason?
As Momonga wondered about this, it ended up being Mare who asked him about his getup.
“U-umm, Lord Momonga… Wh-why are you dressed like that?”
“O-oh, uh…because…”
Because I wanted to run away. There was no way he could say that.
Mare looked up at him full of expectation, eyes sparkling. How do I get out of this? If he messed up here, his performance to date as a great boss would all have been for nothing. There was probably no world where a subordinate would accept a superior who wanted to run away.
If only I were more confused, then I would be leveled out automatically, thought Momonga, who now had a new predicament to escape from—when a helping hand came from behind.
“It’s simple, Mare.”
Upon turning around, Momonga was captivated. Standing in the moonlight was a woman who could have been called beauty incarnate. Illuminated head to toe by the pale light streaming down from the heavens as she was, if she had said she were a goddess, he would have been convinced. She shifted her black wings.
It was Albedo.
Right behind her was Demiurge, but she was so beautiful, it took a moment to notice him.
“The reason Lord Momonga is wearing armor and the reason he was hiding his name until a little while ago was that he didn’t want to disturb our work. If Lord Momonga were to show up, everyone would naturally stop what they were doing and demonstrate their submission to him. But that is not what Lord Momonga wishes. So he created the persona of Dark Warrior, to say that it was unnecessary to stop our work to pay him respect.”
Momonga nodded vigorously to her.
“Right, Lord Momonga?”
“How very like you to perceive my every intention, Albedo.”
“As captain of the floor guardians, it’s only natural. No, I’m confidant that even if I weren’t captain, I would still know your heart, Lord Momonga.”
The less-than-thrilled look on Demiurge’s face after she bobbed her head with a smile made him wonder a bit, but Momonga couldn’t really say anything, since Albedo had gotten him out of a jam.
“I-I see…,” said Mare, seeming impressed.
Momonga looked over at them and saw something that made him do a double take. For one moment, Albedo had opened her eyes so wide it looked like they would fall right out of her head and rolled them, like a chameleon or something might do, to look at Mare’s finger.
Her face returned to normal before Momonga could even think anything of it. She was back to her beautiful self, like her previous expression had been a hallucination.
“…Did you need something?”
“Ah no, nothing. Okay, well then, Mare, sorry to bother you. Take a break and then keep working on the camouflage.”
“I will! Then, if you’ll excuse me, Lord Momonga.”
Momonga nodded gently, and Mare scampered off, stroking his ring.
“And what in the world brings you here, Albedo?”
“I heard from Demiurge that you were here and thought I would come pay my respects. I apologize for appeari
ng before you in such a filthy state.”
She said she was “filthy,” but it didn’t really seem that way to Momonga. Certainly there was some dust on her clothing, but it didn’t mar her beauty.
“You needn’t apologize for that, Albedo. Your radiance could not be dimmed by a little dust. I do feel bad for running around such a flawless beauty like you, but this is an emergency. Sorry, but I’m going to need you to keep bustling about Nazarick a bit longer.”
“For you, Lord Momonga, I would run any distance.”
“I’m grateful for your loyalty… Oh, Albedo. I should give you one of these, too.”
“One of…what? I wonder…” As Momonga took out a ring, she lowered her eyes a bit and tried to keep her features neutral. Of course, it was a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.
“You need one of these, too, since you’re the captain of the floor guardians.”
“…Thank you, my lord.”
After Mare’s reaction, the lukewarm reception was a bit of a letdown, but he soon realized he’d misread her. Albedo’s lips were twitching as if she were desperately trying to hold her expression together. The jerking of her wings was probably also the result of her trying not to flap them. The hand she’d taken the ring with (at some point her fist had opened) was shaking. With all those signs, he’d have to be stupid to not understand how she really felt.
“Strive to be loyal. Demiurge…I’ll have one for you another time.”
“Understood, Lord Momonga. I shall endeavor to be worthy of such a great ring.”
“Ah. Well, I finished what I came to do. I guess I’ll head back to the ninth level before I get scolded.”
Albedo and Demiurge saw him off with a bow as he teleported away with his ring.
He had the feeling that right as the view before his eyes was changing, he heard a woman’s voice shout, “Sweet!” but he figured he had misheard, since Albedo would never use such an inelegant expression.
2
They were nearing the village’s edge.
Behind them, Enri heard the clanking of metal—and at a regular pace, too.
Praying in her mind, she glanced back. As she’d thought—as she’d worried the worst-case scenario might be—a knight was chasing them.
But we’re so close! She wanted to hurl the words in frustration, but she held them back. She didn’t have any energy to waste.
She took ragged breaths one after the other. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode; her legs shook and it felt like she might run out of strength and collapse to the ground at any moment.
If she had been alone, she probably would have despaired and lost the energy to run. Her little sister, whose hand she held, gave her strength. Yes, the wish to save Nemu’s life was the only thing keeping Enri going now.
She threw another glance over her shoulder as they ran. The distance between them had not changed much. Despite the armor, the knight wasn’t slowing down. The difference between a trained knight and a village girl was painfully clear.
She was sweating and her entire body was assailed by a coldness. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to escape with Nemu.
“Let go of her hand…,” she heard a voice say.
“You might be able to make it on your own.
“Do you want to die here?
“It might be safer to split up.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” She ground her teeth and gasped a rebuke at herself.
I’m the worst big sister.
Nemu looks like she’s about to cry, so how come she doesn’t?
It was because she believed in Enri. She believed her big sister would save her.
Clasping the hand that gave her the energy to run and the courage to fight, Enri thought, Who could abandon a sister like this?!
“Agh!” If Enri was severely fatigued, Nemu was completely exhausted. She cried out as she tripped and nearly fell.
The reason she didn’t fall was that the two of them were connected by their tightly held hands. But having to pull her threw Enri off-balance as well.
“Hurry!”
“I-I am!”
But when they tried to run again, Nemu’s leg cramped up and wouldn’t move right. When Enri panicked and went to pick her up, she realized in horror that the knight was right next to them.
The sword the knight held was slick with blood. And that wasn’t all. His armor and helmet had both been splattered.
Enri stared the knight down, shielding Nemu.
“There’s no point in resisting.” There was no tenderness in his words. They were said with more of a sneer. His slimy tone seemed to imply that he could kill them either way.
Enri’s chest burned with rage. What is he talking about?!
The knight slowly raised his sword. Faster than he could cut her down, Enri smashed her fist into his iron helmet as hard as she could. “You think I’m that easy?!”
“Gwah!”
She’d put all her anger, and all of her will to protect her sister, into her fist. She wasn’t scared of hitting metal. It’d been a punch that contained her whole body and soul. She heard the crunch of bone, and the pain shot through her entire body a moment later. The knight staggered from the impact.
“Let’s go!”
“Yeah!”
Bearing the pain, they were just starting to run when Enri felt something red-hot on her back. “Ngh!”
“You little—!!”
The humiliation of having underestimated a village girl must have made the knight angry. What had saved her, in fact, was that he’d lost his composure and swung so carelessly. But now she’d run out of luck. She was injured and the knight was mad. The next blow would surely be fatal.
Enri glared bitterly at the sword raised over her head. She could look at it with the sternest expression in the world, but its ominous sparkle told her two things. One: In a few seconds, she would almost certainly die. Two: As a mere village girl, there was nothing she could do to escape.
There was a bit of her own blood on the tip of his sword. It reminded her of the awful pain spreading out from the wound with each beat of her heart and the hot sensation she’d felt when she’d been cut. She’d never been in this much pain before, and it scared her so much she felt sick.
If I throw up, maybe the burning in my chest will go away, too…
But Enri was trying to find a way to survive. She didn’t have time to vomit.
Although she was nearly discouraged, there was one reason she couldn’t give in to despair: the warmth in her heart for her sister.
I have to at least save Nemu.
That thought didn’t allow giving up as a choice, but the knight in full plate armor blocking their path sneered at her determination.
The sword came down.
Whether achieved by some trick of extreme concentration or her brain being activated by the life-threatening situation, it felt like time had slowed down; Enri flailed for a way to survive—for a way to save Nemu.
But there was nothing. If she had an idea, it was only to use herself as a shield—a last resort where she would take the sword with her flesh and make sure he couldn’t get it out. She’d grab onto him somewhere, or maybe even onto the blade itself as it cut into her—in any case, she’d grab as hard as she could and never let go. Not until the last of her life flickered out.
If that was the only option she had, then she just had to accept it.
The smile of a martyr appeared on her face. This is about all I can do for my little sister now.
It was unclear whether Nemu would be able to escape the hell their village had become on her own. It was entirely possible that there was a lookout making sure no one ran into the forest. But if she could make it through this, she at least had a chance. For that slim chance, Enri would bet her life—no, everything.
Even so, fear of the imminent pain made Enri shut her eyes. She braced herself in the raven-black darkness for the agony that would come…
3
Seated in a
chair, Momonga gazed at the mirror directly in front of him. The image reflected in the mirror, about three feet in diameter, was not Momonga’s. Instead, it reflected a grassy plain from somewhere else, as if it were a television. The grass calmly swayed in the breeze as if to prove that it wasn’t a still image.
Showing the flow of time, the sun that had just started to rise gradually banished the darkness over the plain. The pastoral scene coming into view was a far cry from the hopeless landscape of the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s onetime world, Helheim.
Momonga lifted a hand and slowly moved it to the right. The view reflected in the mirror slid to the right as well.
It was a Mirror of Remote Viewing. Since it would display a specified location, it was an item that PK (player killers) or PKK (PK killers) would find handy, but because players could conceal themselves easily enough with anti-intelligence magic and it was vulnerable to counterattacks from reactive barriers, it was also an item of questionable utility.
But as an item that could display what was happening outside, there were plenty of reasons for Momonga to use it in his current situation. As he watched the grassy plain go by from overhead, he thought it looked like a location from some movie.
“So if I move like this, it’ll scroll the screen. And I can switch the angle like this…” Drawing circles in the air, he kept changing his view. For hours now he’d been using trial and error to search but had yet to find any sentient (and preferably human) beings. He silently focused on the monotonous task, but since all that came up was the same grassy plain, his motivation began to dwindle. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the other person in the room.
“What is it, Lord Momonga? Whatever you require, I am at your service.”
“N-no, it’s nothing, Sebas.” The butler was smiling but everything he said was somehow prickly. He respected Momonga absolutely, but it seemed he was a bit miffed about him going out without an escort—it’d been like this ever since Momonga had returned from the surface and Sebas had caught him to give him “advice.”
“I just can’t get used to this…” Momonga let his inner thoughts slip out.
The Undead King Page 13
