The Two Leaders

by Kugane Maruyama

  “He told me they—the demons—are sacrificing themselves to avoid ill will between the races. What an impressive spirit of self-sacrifice! I can’t even see for the tears!” Pulcinella wiped his mask where his eyes were. Of course, he wasn’t crying, and not only that, he was talking in his normal cheerful voice and didn’t seem the least bit sad.

  “…How could people be upset at them?”

  “I don’t understand it, either. Why would they hate kind Master Demiurge? But he told me himself. Oh, oh, listen to this. Master Demiurge is so kind! The other day he said it was a pity the livestock were starving, so he had them swap their little ones, roasted them whole, and served them up. A cruel person would serve them without swapping them first, right?”

  “I-is that so?”

  “Yes, it is! Then, in order that the parents might bid their children farewell, he called them to the opposite table. I don’t believe there is anyone—outside of the Supreme Beings—kind enough to provide an opportunity to part with one’s family with a smile besides Master Demiurge.”

  Mare responded to Pulcinella’s entranced remarks with a half-hearted sigh.

  He didn’t really care what happened to anyone who wasn’t from Nazarick. Two or three seconds later, he felt nothing about the livestock Demiurge was keeping.

  “And when you’re starving, even if your brain wants it, you can’t stomach food, so he thought ahead far enough to warn them and make them eat well. He is truly so kind—”

  Mare had the feeling this story would never end, so he quickly interrupted. “Uh, wh-what happened to C-Crimson? I would have thought he’d be the one to make deliveries. Where is he? What is he doing?”

  “…He? Or she? He probably doesn’t have a sex, but when I saw him the other day, he was lurking near the teleportation gate on the seventh level while Master Demiurge is gone.”

  “I—I see.”

  Mare pictured Crimson.

  Crimson, the huge domain guardian who waited submersed in flowing lava and pulled in unsuspecting opponents to fight in an environment that gave him the advantage… He was level 90, but since his specs were optimized for fighting, he was one of the strongest in Nazarick in terms of pure combat power, to the point where he could even match up against some of the floor guardians. For that reason, he was an appropriate choice to guard the seventh level while Demiurge was away.

  “Oops, it seems I’ve stayed chatting too long. I’ve given you the circular, so I need to head off to bring smiles to many faces.”

  “Th-thank you.”

  Pulcinella responded gently to Mare’s bow. “No need to thank me, Master Mare. Seeing your smile is most satisfying of all.” The clown comically shrugged. “All right. Until we meet again,” he said with a wave and disappeared into the gate to the seventh level.

  After seeing him off, Mare opened the folder. With mixed feelings about not being able to show his sister—superiority but also guilt and immorality—he scanned the document from top to bottom and blinked a few times when he reached the end.

  This is…less like a notice and more like a message to the guardians from Lord Ainz.

  It was addressed to all the male guardians and included gratitude and praise for their continued labor. The gist of the message was an invitation: “Why don’t we all go recharge in the baths?”

  The participants’ names were listed from the top as Ainz, Demiurge, Mare, Cocytus, and out of the “going” and “not going” options, “going” was circled for the first two. Normally Sebas’s name would be here, too, but he was currently out in a human city gathering intelligence with Solution.

  Let’s see, what day…?

  The date wasn’t set yet, and the document said it would be decided based on what worked for all the participants, so there was no reason for him to hesitate circling “going.” The message said it was fine to decline, but Mare definitely couldn’t turn down an invitation from his kind, generous master. Who in Nazarick could?

  He took the pencil from the folder and circled the “going” next to his name.

  “Eh-heh-heh-heh.” He smiled at the “going” circle, but then his mood suddenly darkened. “Oh, but… How will I give this to Cocytus?”

  Mare could detect their master’s wish that this remain a secret among the men from the way he mentioned multiple times that it wasn’t necessary to inform any of the women, so it was probably best to take it himself.

  It would be bad to keep it a secret from Aura…yeah. I mean…I have to get her to guard the level by herself while I’m…what’s that called again? Receiving affection?

  Regardless of what happened when they were leaving on orders, if they were going to visit another guardian, the dark elf siblings always told each other where they were headed. The Supreme Beings had ordered both of them to guard the floor, so it was only natural.

  Mare grabbed the magic item hanging around his neck.

  “S-sis? Can you hear me?”

  The reply was immediate.

  “I can hear you. What is it, Mare?”

  “Oh, good. U-uh, I need to go see Cocytus about something, so I’m heading out.”

  “To Cocytus’s place?”

  “Yeah, I need to hurry.”

  “What happened?”

  Mare jumped. His voice threatened to crack, but he managed to squeeze out a normal tone. “N-nothing. It’s nothing, but I just have the feeling I gotta go.”

  “Hmm…”

  She sounded completely unconvinced, and Mare’s hands got drenched in sweat.

  But yeah. I can’t help it. This is what Lord Ainz ordered me to do.

  Apart from the words of their creator, Lady BubblingTeapot, those of Lord Ainz were the most important out of all the Supreme Beings’. Prioritizing them was only natural.

  “Well, it’s fine. Go ahead. But the fifth level is cold, so don’t forget to take precaution against chi— Oh yeah, it’s not a problem for you, huh, Mare?”

  “R-right. I’ll be fine with magic. So I’ll be back later.”

  If he chatted any longer, he felt like he might say something weird, so he hurriedly let go of the magic item. It sounded like she was about to say something, but unfortunately—or perhaps luckily—he couldn’t hear what it was.

  “O-okay! Gotta hurry!”

  Mare activated the power of the ultra-fancy ring he’d received from his master.

  Right after he teleported, clusters of pure white swarmed him, sticking to his face. They were snowflakes swirling through the sky.

  The white breath he exhaled was swiftly blown behind him—due to the air, frigid from lapping at the snow, gusting by.

  The ice and snow whirled around by the storm wind caused a raging whiteout. The accumulating snow covered up his tracks.

  The weather was meant to waylay invaders, but during peaceful times, it often wasn’t this fierce. Usually a light dusting of snowflakes fell from the dark clouds; even if it was a gloomy world, one’s view wasn’t obstructed.

  “Umm…” Mare darted his eyes around. He’d used his Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport, so he had to be in the vicinity of his destination.

  Finding his way, Mare proceeded with nimble movements. He didn’t leave footsteps on the snow. He didn’t sink—it was almost as if he were walking on solid land.

  The deserted white world was so quiet he could hear the sound of the scattering, falling snowflakes. Of course, with his continuously active supersensory magic, he knew he wasn’t alone. It was only because the ones lurking out of sight knew that he was the guardian of the sixth level that they didn’t show themselves.

  Mare reached his destination in that silence.

  Before him was an enormous white ball the shape of an upside-down hornet nest.

  Surrounding it were six giant crystals with their sharp points thrusting toward the sky. Inside them, humanlike figures were visible.

  When Mare stepped forward, his foot made a worrying, creaking noise he didn’t like. Looking down, he saw that instead of the ground
covered in snow like up until now, there was slick ice. It seemed fairly thick, but it was awfully dark underneath, so he understood that the ice was covering a huge hole.

  He stepped onto the ice. He strode forward unhesitatingly, as if he couldn’t even imagine it breaking.

  With scary creaking and squeaking noises, he crossed the ice with no problems and arrived at the white sphere.

  “U-uh, Cocytus… Are you here?” He wasn’t calling to the gigantic white ball but to the immense crystals.

  In response, monsters that resembled human women came out. There were the same number of women as crystals, and they were dressed completely in white. Their skin was deathly pale, and their long hair was black.

  These frost virgins—level-82 ice monsters—were basically Cocytus’s personal guards for his residence, Snowball Earth.

  “Welcome, Master Mare.”

  “U-umm, uh, is Cocytus here?”

  “Master Cocytus is currently outside the Great Tomb of Nazarick at the new lizardman village.”

  “I-is that so?”

  The frost virgin nodded that it was. “If you have a message for him, we can take it.”

  Mare wasn’t sure what to do.

  He had come this far, so he figured if he put the clipboard in Cocytus’s room and left a message with the frost virgin, that should be no problem. But given the content, it seemed more likely that his master would want him to hand it over directly.

  So how can I get to Cocytus if he’s outside?

  Leaving Nazarick wasn’t forbidden, but there were conditions that had to be met, and their master strictly prohibited operating independently outside.

  From the intelligence they had gathered and analyzed so far, the level-100 floor guardians were unimaginably powerful in this world, comparable to walking disasters. So it wouldn’t be dangerous for Mare, a guardian himself, to operate on his own. On the contrary, everyone in the outside world should tremble in fear. But that was reckless thinking considering one key event in recent memory.

  There existed an unknown enemy who had brainwashed Shalltear, which meant they probably possessed a World Item. There were also signs of other players here and there.

  Those forces were operating at an uncertain scale, so Ainz was being cautious.

  “H-hmm. What should I do?”

  To go outside required an escort of at least five level-75 or above minions. Mare had two dragons under him, but taking them would be a bit too conspicuous. Asking his sister would be fastest, but when he remembered the grilling he had gotten just to come here, he knew he couldn’t do that.

  Then he got a flash of inspiration.

  Their number and level were just right.

  “Uh, umm… Would you come with me?”

  “A-apologies, but we have orders from Master Cocytus to guard this place. We cannot disobey Master Cocytus unless word comes from Lord Ainz… Please forgive us!”

  “Uh, er, no. That’s fine.”

  There was nothing he could do about that, and when he stopped to think about it, it made sense. His next best idea was to borrow evil lords from the seventh level, but if he simply asked them, he would probably get turned down in the same way as just now. Still, it was true that Demiurge was his only hope.

  In the first place, he wanted to avoid asking anyone who wasn’t listed on the clipboard for help. Secondly, most of the minions in the Great Tomb of Nazarick over level 80 worked directly under one of the floor guardians; there were very few free agents.

  Under those two circumstances, if he wanted to borrow evil lords, the first thing he needed to do was get in touch with Demiurge.

  But how can I contact him?

  The only options for reaching Demiurge outside were dispatching minions or using magic.

  Other than that… Mare recalled the book he had been reading. I wonder if he has subordinates level 75 or over… But he’s not a guardian…hrm. But he’s a guy, so maybe it’s okay. If I just have him keep quiet about it…

  “Th-thank you. I guess I’ll take care of it myself.”

  “Oh? Understood.”

  Mare activated his ring. His destination was the huge library on the tenth level, Ashurbanipal.

  9:54 AM Nazarick Time

  Mare’s field of vision changed instantaneously from the snowy expanse to a spacious room.

  The sophisticated space, done mainly in ebony brown, was dimly illuminated by orange light. The ceiling curved gently into a dome, and across from where Mare stood was a pair of giant double doors.

  On either side of those doors, which were as large as the ones that led to the Throne Room, towered ten-foot golems. They were outfitted as samurai and had been fashioned out of rare metals by one of the Supreme Beings, which made them far stronger than normal.

  “Umm, please open the doors.”

  In response, both golems put a hand on a door and slowly pushed. A heavy sound echoed, and Mare proceeded through the opening big enough for multiple people to walk abreast.

  The scene before him was less like a library and more like something else—yes, it was more like an art museum. The floor and bookshelves were all heavily ornamented, and the books lining the shelves seemed to have been placed there as decorations.

  Not a speck of dust sullied the polished floor, which featured a beautiful parquet design. The ceiling was double high, a balcony jutted out from the second floor, and numerous bookshelves surrounded the space as if peering in. The ceiling’s dome was crowded with gorgeous embellishments complementing a magnificent fresco.

  Here and there were glass-covered display tables with several books lined up inside. There were any number of light sources, but none of them was very bright. It was dark enough that a human would have to squint.

  One glance wasn’t enough to take in the whole room. Bookshelves obstructed the view.

  In the silence befitting a library, the doors slowly closed behind Mare. With the light from the entrance gone, the room felt even darker. Combined with the quiet that could nearly be heard as a sound, that gave the room an ominous atmosphere.

  Of course, with his eyes that could see in the dark of night, it looked no different from midday to Mare, so it didn’t seem ominous to him at all.

  He walked toward the back at a somewhat quickened pace.

  The room he was currently in was the Room of Reason. The library was split into the Room of Knowledge, the Room of Reason, and the Room of Evil, plus small rooms for other uses, such as the private quarters of the staff. Thinking of it that way made his destination seem a bit far off.

  On either side of the hallway stood rows upon rows of bookshelves, packed with countless books.

  The books of Yggdrasil could be split broadly into five categories.

  First, there was the data on monsters used to summon them as mercenaries.

  Nazarick had three types of monsters. First were the NPCs, created just like the players. Then there were monsters level 30 and below that spawned automatically. Finally, there were monsters that were summoned as mercenaries. These mercenary monsters could be summoned with a ritual using the book plus an appropriate amount of gold for the desired level. In other words, they needed the books in order to call upon those monsters.

  The second type of book consisted of magic items.

  Certain data crystals dwelled only within things that took on the form of books. Items shaped like books were generally single-cast items. They were different from scrolls in that while a scroll required the user to be a class capable of casting the spell it contained, anyone could use a book.

  The third type of book was made up of event items. It was common for the items required for class changes to take the form of books. When Ainz changed from skeleton mage to elder lich, he needed a Book of the Dead. There were many others, such as the Martial Arts Study Guide and Strange Rumors of the Four Great Elementals. Besides class changes, some books allowed the user to learn new spells.

  The fourth type was graphical data.

  Those
were books containing the graphical data of swords, shields, armor, and so on. If someone with the right blacksmith skills used one on the appropriate resources, the corresponding appearance could be created.

  The fifth type was novels passed around in the form of books.

  Most of them were old, out-of-copyright works from the outside world. The next largest number were background stories handed out by the admins. Finally, there were also original stories written by Yggdrasil players. There was also fan fiction set in Yggdrasil, as well as strategy guides based on journals.

  Most of the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s innumerable books were of the first type, collected in order to summon mercenary monsters. Of course, there was no reason to have collected so many of them.

  In reality, even if they invested all the guild’s assets, they wouldn’t be able to summon even a tenth of these monsters. Despite that, the reason they had so many was that since the books themselves were cheap, a guild member went a little overboard on a copying spree. The excess books were also used to hide more valuable items.

  Mare gazed sidelong at the books as he walked past.

  Then all of a sudden, a ghostlike figure appeared from between some bookcases to block his path.

  It wore a hooded raven-black robe that melted into the library’s gloom. On the belt around its waist, which was threaded with multiple gems, was a jewel-tipped wand.

  Beneath the hood was a whitish face that seemed to have already turned to grave wax. Its hands were all skin and bone. With every move it made, the darkness surrounding it wavered slightly.

  It was one of the most famous undead casters, an elder lich.

  In Yggdrasil, this type was known colloquially as the white faux millionaire. It was level 30, which made it the second-least-powerful elder lich. It had close palette-swapped relatives, the red faux millionaire and the black faux millionaire.

  What made it different from an ordinary elder lich was the band around its left upper arm.

  It said, “LIBRARIAN J.”

  “Welcome, Master Mare.” The elder lich greeted him in a hoarse, difficult-to-understand voice and bowed slowly but deeply. It was a proper bow in which he placed one hand on his chest.