The Men of the Kingdom Part I

by Kugane Maruyama

“You mean Tsuare, right…? I’m thinking we’ll decide what to do tomorrow.”

  “You know her name…?” She made no further comment on the subject but, pulling herself together, said, “I apologize for being presumptuous, but I believe there is a good chance that human will be a hindrance. We should dispose of her as soon as possible.”

  What does she mean by “dispose”?

  Hearing her brutal choice of words, Sebas couldn’t help but suppose that this was the most correct way for those who belong to Nazarick to think about those outsiders. The way Sebas treated Tsuare was truly unusual.

  “You’re right. We need to immediately deal with anything that prevents us from following Lord Ainz’s orders.”

  Solution looked mildly puzzled. Her expression said, If you understand that, why are you…?

  “She might be of use to us. I picked her up, so I shouldn’t discard her so easily, but try to think of a way to use her to our advantage.”

  “…Master Sebas. I don’t know where or for what purpose you picked her up, but those types of injuries indicate a certain kind of environment. The people who did those things to her probably won’t be pleased she’s alive.”

  “That’s no problem.”

  “…You mean you already disposed of them?”

  “No. But if a problem does arise, I’ll deal with it in one way or another. So I’d like you to just keep an eye on her. Okay, Solution?”

  “…Understood.”

  Solution swallowed the slight irritation welling up in her as she watched Sebas leave.

  Even if she was extremely dissatisfied by his answers, he was her direct superior, so she couldn’t say anything. And if no issues came up, giving her tacit approval was probably fine.

  Still…

  “Using Nazarick’s assets on the likes of humans is…”

  The riches of Nazarick all belonged to Ainz Ooal Gown and the other Supreme Beings. Would they be forgiven for using them without permission?

  No matter how much she mulled it over, she couldn’t reach a satisfactory answer.

  3 Late Fire Moon (September) 9:48 AM

  Sebas opened the door to the house. Today he’d gone again to the Adventurers Guild first thing in the morning and recorded notes on the postings before the adventurers started taking the jobs.

  He wrote down and sent to Nazarick all the information he gathered in the capital, even tidbits no bigger than local rumors. Analyzing the data was extremely difficult so he left that up to the clever ones at the Tomb.

  He went through the door and entered the building. A few days ago, Solution would have met him there. But—

  “Wel…come…ba…ck.”

  —now that role belonged to the quietly mumbling woman dressed in a maid uniform with a floor-length skirt.

  The day after he’d found Tsuare, they’d discussed things and decided she would work inside the mansion.

  He would have been fine letting her stay as a guest, but Tsuare wouldn’t accept that.

  She didn’t want to be treated like a guest on top of having been saved. She didn’t imagine it would be a proper thank-you, but she at least wanted to do some work.

  Sebas figured that anxiety probably lay behind that desire.

  In other words, aware of her unstable position as a seed of trouble for this household, she decided to make what efforts she could to keep from being abandoned.

  Of course, Sebas had been telling her he wouldn’t forsake her. If he was going to toss out a person with absolutely no place to go, he wouldn’t have bothered picking her up in the first place. But it was true that his powers of persuasion weren’t enough to soothe the wounds in her mind.

  “I’m home, Tsuare. Is your work proceeding smoothly?”

  She bobbed her head. Unlike when he’d met her, her hair was now tidily trimmed, and a white headpiece placed on top dipped with the movement.

  “There…no problems.”

  “No? That’s good.”

  Her mood was decidedly dark, and her expression almost never changed, but by living a human life, it seemed like her voice had gotten louder—perhaps because the things tormenting her had lessened a little.

  Her remaining uneasiness is because of… Sebas started walking, and Tsuare accompanied him at his side.

  Usually, for a maid, walking alongside the butler—her superior—would be improper. But Tsuare had never trained as a maid, so she didn’t know the etiquette, and Sebas had no mind to drum the rules into her head.

  “What’s for dinner today?”

  “Stew…wi…pota…oes.”

  “I see. That’s something to look forward to; your cooking is delicious.”

  Receiving a smile along with the compliment, Tsuare blushed, and she looked down and squeezed her maid’s apron with both hands.

  “Th-that’s no…true.”

  “No, no, it is. I can’t cook at all, so it really helps me out. Do you have all the ingredients you need? If you’re running low on anything or there’s anything you want me to go buy, please tell me.”

  “Okay. I…check…later…ask…ou.”

  Inside the mansion and in front of Sebas, Tsuare could function normally, but she still rejected the outside world. Since they couldn’t have her do anything outside, procuring ingredients was Sebas’s job.

  Tsuare’s culinary creations were nothing extravagant. They were humble home cooking.

  Because of that, none of the ingredients were expensive, and Sebas could find everything she needed at the market. By familiarizing himself with various foods at the market, Sebas was able to gather information about this world’s diet, so he considered it killing two birds with one stone.

  Suddenly he had an idea.

  “…Shall we go shopping together later?”

  A shocked expression appeared on Tsuare’s face. Frightened, she shook her head, instantly paled, and broke out in a nervous sweat.

  “No, th…you.”

  Sebas didn’t let his thoughts show. So she still can’t…

  Since she had started working, she’d never made an attempt to do anything that involved leaving the house.

  She could keep her fear under control because she saw this building’s walls as absolute protection. In other words, she could function because she’d drawn a line between the outside world—the world that hurt her—and this dissimilar place.

  But she would never be able to go outside like that. And Sebas couldn’t shelter her forever.

  Given her mental state, Sebas knew that it would be cruel to order her out after only a few days. It would be safer to take some time and acclimate her slowly, but that was assuming they had time.

  Sebas had no intention of settling down or spending the rest of his life here. He was just a foreigner who had snuck in on an intelligence-gathering mission. If the order to pull out came from his master…

  To prepare for that time, he felt he should give her as many opportunities as possible. Sebas stopped walking and faced Tsuare head-on. Blushing, she looked down, but he took her cheeks between his hands and brought her head up.

  “Tsuare, I understand your fear. But please trust me. I’ll protect you. I’ll thwart whatever danger approaches and keep you perfectly safe.”

  “…”

  “Tsuare. Try to take this step. If you’re scared, you can close your eyes.”

  “…”

  He squeezed her hand as she hesitated. Then he said something he felt was unfair. “You don’t believe me, Tsuare?”

  A veil of silence fell over the hallway, and time passed slowly. With slightly damp eyes, Tsuare parted her lips, to which the color had returned. Her pearly front teeth peeked out.

  “N…o fair…Mas…Sebas. If…say that…then I can’t…not…”

  “Don’t worry. I may not look it, but I’m strong enough… Hmm, yes. There are only forty-one people stronger than me… Well, perhaps a few more.”

  “Is…that…a lot?” Tsuare smiled, figuring that he’d said such a random number as a
joke to put her at ease.

  Sebas simply smiled and didn’t offer any response.

  He set off walking again. He knew Tsuare, next to him, was glancing at his profile now and then, but he didn’t say anything.

  He knew that she had some complicated feelings for him that were not quite a faint crush. He supposed that was something like a conditioned response after being rescued from hell, a dependency on a reliable figure.

  Also, Sebas was old, so it was even possible that she was confounding familial affection for the love between a man and a woman.

  Even if she really was in love with him, Sebas had no intention of returning her feelings. Not when he was hiding so much and their positions were so imbalanced.

  “Okay, I have a few things to talk to the young lady about, and then I’ll come and fetch you.”

  “Lady…Solut…ion?” Her face grew a little dark.

  Sebas knew why, but he didn’t say anything.

  Solution had never interacted with Tsuare, and when they did happen to meet, she would just cast a glance at her and withdraw without a word. That level of disregard would make anyone uneasy, and given Tsuare’s position, she must have been quite frightened.

  “It’s all right. She’s like that with everybody. She’s not singling you out… Between you and me, she has a pretty difficult personality…” His joking tone and smile lightened Tsuare’s mood a little. “Whenever she sees a cute girl, she sulks.”

  “Bu…I’m…not… She’s…so…” Flustered, she waved off his compliment.

  Tsuare certainly had a nice face, but she couldn’t compete with Solution. Still, beauty was always at least somewhat in the eye of the beholder.

  “I prefer you to Solution.”

  “Wh… How?”

  He watched her, his heart warm, as she blushed and looked down, but then furrowed his brow at a sudden change in her expression.

  “But…I’m…dirty…”

  Her face darkened dramatically, and Sebas sighed in his mind. Then he spoke, facing straight ahead. “Jewels are like that. Clean ones with no scratches are worth more and called beautiful.”

  Hearing that, Tsuare’s face grew even gloomier.

  “But humans aren’t jewels.”

  He sensed her head raise suddenly.

  “You said you’re dirty, but what makes humans clean? For jewels, there are standards of appraisal. But what are the standards to decide a human’s purity or beauty? The average? The ordinary? Then does that mean the opinions of the nonconforming minority don’t matter?” Sebas took a breath and continued. “Just like aesthetics vary from person to person, if we say human beauty lies beyond appearance, then I believe it resides not in someone’s past but within them. It’s not as if I know your entire history, but judging from what I’ve seen of you these past few days together, you’re not the least bit dirty in my opinion.”

  Sebas closed his mouth, and suddenly the only sound in the world was their footsteps echoing in the hall. Then Tsuare spoke, as if she’d made up her mind.

  “If you…think…so…then…hold m—”

  Sebas embraced her before she could finish. “You’re clean and beautiful,” he said tenderly, and she didn’t make a sound as the tears spilled from her eyes. He patted her back a few times to soothe her and then slowly withdrew his hands.

  “Tsuare, I’m sorry, but the young lady is calling.”

  “I—I understand…”

  Sebas parted with Tsuare, who curtsied a bit sadly with red eyes, and knocked on the door. He didn’t hear an answer but opened it. As he slowly closed it, he smiled back at her as she watched him intently.

  Partly because they were renting the house, but there was barely any furniture despite the many rooms. In this room, however, there was enough furniture not to embarrass them if a guest visited. But the more one examined them, the easier it was to tell that none of the pieces had a history. The room was a facade.

  “I’ve returned, Lady Solution.”

  “…Thank you, Sebas.”

  The fake lady of the house, Solution, retaining her bored expression, was seated on a sofa in the middle of the room. In truth, the expression was just an act. Since Tsuare, an outsider, was in the building, she was wearing the foolish-looking mask of a conceited rich girl.

  Solution’s eyes moved away from Sebas to the door. “…She’s gone now.”

  “It appears so.”

  They observed each other’s expressions, and Solution spoke first.

  “When are you throwing her out?”

  In response to the question she asked every time they met, Sebas gave his usual answer. “When the time comes.”

  Normally the conversation would end there. Solution would heave a conspicuous sigh, and it would be over. But today she didn’t seem to want to end it there. “…May I ask that you clarify when this ‘time’ is that you’re planning for? There’s no guarantee that sheltering that human won’t make trouble for us. Doesn’t that count as going against Lord Ainz’s will?”

  “There aren’t any problems right now. I don’t believe fearing and panicking over the type of problems a mere human could cause is a reaction befitting a servant of Lord Ainz.”

  Silence fell between them and Sebas exhaled lightly.

  This is extremely awkward.

  There was no emotion in Solution’s expression, but he could tell she was irritated with him. This mansion was their temporary base, but Solution thought of it as a branch of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and the fact that they had a human there without their lord’s consent was intolerable to her.

  She hadn’t harmed Tsuare yet because Sebas was firmly restraining her, but eventually he wouldn’t be able to hold her back.

  I don’t have much time. Sebas felt it keenly.

  “…Master Sebas, if she interferes with Lord Ainz’s orders—”

  “—I’ll dispose of her,” Sebas declared, not letting her say any more.

  Solution said nothing, gazed at Sebas with unreadable emotions, and bowed her head. “Then I have nothing else to say. Master Sebas, please don’t forget what you have just told me.”

  “I certainly won’t, Solution.”

  “Still…” The intense emotion in her whispered voice was powerful enough to stop Sebas in his tracks. “…Still, Master Sebas, don’t you think we should report to Lord Ainz? About Tsuare?”

  Sebas was silent for several seconds and then responded. “It shouldn’t be a problem. I would feel bad taking up his time to discuss a human.”

  “…I’m fairly certain you’re contacting Entoma via Message at a scheduled time every day. Couldn’t you report it then in just a few words? …Are you hiding it on purpose?”

  “No, of course not. I would never do something like—”

  “Then…you’re not acting out of self-interest, right?”

  A nervous thrill ran through the atmosphere.

  Sebas sensed Solution bracing herself slightly and realized how dangerous his position was.

  Everyone in Nazarick was required to devote themselves entirely to Ainz Ooal Gown, to the Supreme Beings. From the guardians on down, it was probably safe to say everyone thought that way. Even the assistant butler constantly scheming to take over the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Éclair, had loyalty and respect for the Forty-One Supreme Beings.

  Of course, Sebas also belonged to Nazarick.

  Still, he didn’t think that was any reason to desert someone in a miserable situation based only on what-ifs. He understood, though, that most members of Nazarick would not share that view.

  No, he had thought he understood. Solution’s actions a moment ago showed him just how naive his understanding had been.

  Solution was serious. She was ready to take on the butler—Sebas, who had some of the highest combat ability of any of the members of Nazarick’s administration—depending on his answer. He had no idea she would be willing to go that far to eliminate the problem.

  He smiled.

  When she saw that, some doub
t appeared in her eyes.

  “…Of course not. I have no self-interest in not reporting to Ainz.”

  “Then could you tell me why you’re keeping her?”

  “I have a very high opinion of her cooking skills.”

  “C…cooking?” It was like a question mark had appeared over her head.

  “Yes. And don’t you imagine people might think we’re strange, living in this huge mansion, just the two of us?”

  “…Maybe.”

  Solution could sincerely agree there. With such a large house and apparent wealth, the lack of servants would seem strange.

  “I think it’s only right that we maintain a minimum number of people. Wouldn’t it be trouble if someone should visit and we couldn’t serve even a single dish?”

  “…So you’re using the human as part of our disguise?”

  “That’s right.”

  “But is that one really so useful…?”

  “Tsuare feels indebted to me, so even if she senses something is off, she wouldn’t say anything to an outsider. Am I wrong?”

  Solution thought for a little while and then said, “No, that makes sense.”

  “So that’s why. We shouldn’t need Lord Ainz’s permission for something related to our disguise. On the contrary, I think he’d get angry and tell us to think for ourselves,” Sebas explained to the silent Solution. “Are you convinced?”

  “…Yes.”

  “Then for now, let’s leave it at—” He cut off abruptly at the sound of a hard object colliding with another.

  It was very quiet—someone without Sebas’s ears probably would have missed it. Someone was undoubtedly causing the arrhythmic noise.

  Sebas opened the door and focused his attention down the hallway.

  When they realized it was coming from the knocker on the front door, they both froze. No one had knocked on this house’s door since they’d arrived in the capital. When they did business, they always went out and never invited anyone to call on them at their residence. It was an extreme measure to not rouse any suspicion for living in such a big house alone.

  But today, they had a visitor. That alone was enough to signal trouble.

  Sebas left Solution behind, went into the entryway, and lifted the cover of the peephole. Through the hole, he saw a stout man flanked by kingdom soldiers.