The Ruler of Conspiracy

by Kugane Maruyama

  Ainz shifted his gaze toward the wall.

  Some of the many death knights he had created were on watch atop it. There were others, like the ones at the gate and the ones on patrol, but probably the weirdest way he was making use of them was having some accompany the slum dwellers he had sent to establish a village.

  The people with a high likelihood of ending up in the slums were the second and third backup sons who didn’t inherit fields. Those sorts of men came to the city with their dreams, convinced they would be able to make it there, but slipped into poverty when those dreams didn’t come true. And that’s why Ainz sent them out with the promise of land.

  They were headed for the villages that had been rebuilt on the grounds of the lands that had been burned in the Theocracy’s conspiracy. Since they were destroyed by external causes, it would be easy to repopulate them once the original threat was removed.

  Those villages had a history of being attacked, so Ainz had death knights and soul eaters go along as guards. He also ordered the undead to help with the field work.

  Maybe they weren’t very good at farming, but when it came to basic physical labor, humans couldn’t compare. The undead were heavy machinery that could run twenty-four hours a day without fuel—perfect for working the land or doing any other hard labor; they would surely contribute much to the coming harvest.

  What Ainz demanded of them was to establish a village and reach minimal self-sufficiency within a year. From the second year, they were supposed to have harvests on par with any normal village.

  Any crops he received as taxes were going straight into the exchange box to be converted into Yggdrasil currency. Albedo and Demiurge were thrilled about this project before he even told them the details, so he was sure it would go well.

  And so he had lent out the undead so that establishing the villages wouldn’t drag on for years.

  Incidentally, the undead were rentals, and the contract stated that in future tax payments, a rental fee would be added on top. He didn’t have to charge, but he put the plan in place because he figured in the future, all sorts of people would be using undead.

  As part of that plan, he dispatched a large number of slum dwellers—prioritizing families—out of the city, but it wasn’t as if that was why foot traffic in the streets had dwindled.

  The reason there weren’t many people out was probably that Ainz was taking a walk. There were too many people whose eyes became saucers when they saw him and either skittered back the way they came or dodged onto a side street.

  It was like walking in an empty wasteland.

  Being feared wasn’t a bad thing. It was ten times better than being slighted.

  But is this lifeless town really my country?

  As long as the Great Tomb of Nazarick and the NPCs who lived there were happy, he didn’t care about the rest. But what would his old friends have said if they saw this? Would they have been drawn in by their nature as undead or monsters and view humans as food? Or would they have retained intense human emotions?

  What the heck do I want to do with this country?

  As Pandora’s Actor said, he needed to decide national policy as well as his goals for ruling the city.

  For example, it could become a country that existed to produce wheat and other food to throw into the exchange box to obtain coins to fortify the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

  It could become a country that bred humans for slaughter and to accumulate experience points in the equipment Avarice and Selflessness.

  It could become a country where undead performed all the labor and the living didn’t have to do any work at all.

  It could…

  From a country filled with love to one filled with resentment—what was Ainz supposed to do with this nation bearing his guild’s name? He couldn’t delegate this to his subordinates; it was his responsibility as Ainz Ooal Gown, King of Darkness.

  “Fith, what do you think about this city? How is this country?”

  “My humble apologies. What kind of answer would be appropriate for ‘how’ it is?”

  Too abstract? Ainz restated his question. “Do you think this country is easy to live in? Tell me what you really think without any flattery.”

  “Yes, I think it’s very easy to live in this country under your rule, Lord Ainz.”

  Ainz looked to the heavens. He should have known this was what an NPC would say.

  “But…”

  “Oh? What is it? Whatever it is, tell me.”

  “Yes, my lord. The ruler of this country is putting his precious body on display, so why has no one come to worship you? They only peek out from indoors… It’s terribly poor manners!”

  Fith was offended. Certainly, there were a lot of people in the shops along the street peeking out at them with bated breath. Some were even scared stiff at the sight of the angels.

  “…Fith, you don’t think humans are worth much, do you?”

  “My lord, it’s as you say. They are poor things who were not created by the Supreme Beings.”

  This was the basic attitude that most in Nazarick shared. A level-1 maid was no exception.

  “Fith, what’s most important to me is you guys.”

  “Thank you!”

  “But I should probably show a little affection to my subjects. They’re the people of the Nation of Darkness, after all.”

  “I humbly agree, my lord.”

  “Let’s make an ideal town for them. A gentle world like a dream dipped in sweet nectar. It’ll be a place that will make them want to be ruled by me forever.”

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

  “If I’m going to conquer the world, my target isn’t only humans. All races shall kneel before me.”

  “As it should be, my lord.”

  The ideal-homeland plan…

  The plan they’d been carrying out on the sixth level of Nazarick had originally been started in order to show any players they encountered that they were a good guild, like, Look at all the races we’ve welcomed to Nazarick!

  Ainz felt that as an experiment, it was a good one.

  “Let’s tell the whole world that under the rule of the King of Darkness is eternal prosperity.”

  “That’s simply the truth, my lord.”

  If that was how it turned out, he might be able to show off the city proudly if he ever found any of his friends, the other guild members.

  The shape of Ainz’s country was surely one where all the races under his rule could coexist. He would take the form of the onetime guild Ainz Ooal Gown from the Great Tomb of Nazarick and reproduce it in this world.

  It would be a place where his friends, who might be out there somewhere, could come and have a pleasant time with people of all sorts of races, even if they were grotesques.

  Ainz’s eyes sparkled even more brightly.

  The Nation of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown should be a country where all sorts of races can coexist. Only the Nation of Darkness can achieve that.

  Even if one genius king established a country, there was no guarantee that his child would be an excellent king as well. And neither was there any guarantee that his grandson or great-grandson would be excellent kings. He had heard the saying somewhere that companies went bad in the second generation and went under in the third.

  But that wouldn’t happen if an ageless, immortal genius king was the ruler. The ideal government was dictatorship by a handful of geniuses. The presence of figures like Albedo and Demiurge made the Nation of Darkness capable—no, uniquely capable of producing an eternal paradise. Just like Ulbert said, “A dictatorship by a superbeing would be amazing!”

  Ainz considered it further.

  The guardians, with Demiurge and Albedo in the lead, were racing toward the goal of world conquest, and Ainz hadn’t been able to completely refuse—because he thought it would help get his name out to his friends.

  But it wouldn’t be bad to spread his name in a way that wasn’t simply ruling with force, right? Promoting the Natio
n of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown as an ideal homeland and conquering people with that sweet nectar was one option.

  It was a matter of carrots versus whips.

  If Demiurge and Albedo were doing the whipping, Ainz could give out carrots.

  This is a terrific plan…

  Ainz made up his mind. This was the shape of world conquest conceived by Ainz and his vestiges of humanity, not the NPCs who looked down on anyone who wasn’t from Nazarick: rule by overwhelming attraction.

  What do I need to do to reach that objective?

  As he began walking again, he worked his brain as hard as he could.

  Methods different from Albedo’s and Demiurge’s… Methods that don’t rely on force…

  Ainz couldn’t imagine the workings of a country. So he pretended he was an employee at a small company.

  It was a tiny company that took up only one floor of the building. The only employee was Ainz.

  Its product was the splendid governance of the Nation of Darkness. And he had to sell it.

  First, he had to think of who would buy his product. He had to get it to the people who needed it. But he didn’t have enough information about who wanted it. Why? It was simple. Because he hadn’t advertised enough.

  But it wasn’t a matter of going to all different cities and handing out flyers at the entrance. That would be a waste of time. Ainz was the sole employee. He needed a different way.

  There was no mass media to be found like there was in his old world. There are networks of traveling merchants and whatnot by trade, so would it make sense to advertise within those systems? Before he realized it, Ainz had arrived in front of the Adventurers Guild.

  He had gone there so often as Momon that it had practically become muscle memory. That’s probably a symptom of workaholism.

  Ainz smiled wryly and opened the door.

  The counter in the back came into view. There was one receptionist lady sitting there. On his left-hand side was a large door, and on the right was the board. Job requests written on sheets of parchment were posted there. And as for adventurers looking them over…there were none.

  The guild was empty. It was impossible to even compare it to the times he had visited as Momon.

  Ignoring the receptionist watching him wide-eyed, Ainz stood before the sheets of parchment.

  He still couldn’t read the writing, but there were a few words he had memorized. Among them were words for time.

  A quick look told him the only jobs available were old ones from about a month ago. In other words, there weren’t many urgent requests; it was mostly recurring tasks.

  “…You at the desk. There aren’t many jobs posted. Aren’t there any new requests?”

  “Eep… N-no. What’s there is all we have, Your Majesty.”

  Were there fewer adventurers around because there were fewer requests?

  If so, that was Ainz’s doing.

  Ainz had the streets patrolled mainly by his military—death knights—to keep the peace. The threat of monsters must have been eliminated as a result.

  If he had the patrols continue, it was possible that the adventurers would completely disappear.

  I need to create requests to get them to— No, there’s no reason I need adventurers here.

  Anything an adventurer could do, his death knights could do. Well, certain things, such as gathering herbs, would be tricky, but the answer was to lend out death knights to escort apothecaries.

  Ainz could currently think of no use for adventurers. For one, hiring them cost money. E-Rantel’s tax revenue had dropped—it couldn’t afford adventurers.

  No one will be troubled if the adventurers leave.

  Having decided that, he was about to leave the guild.

  Besides, that job was so lacking in dreams and aspiration.

  He remembered the first time he had visited this city’s guild with Narberal.

  Adventurers traveled the world in search of the unknown. He used to think it was a job that embodied the correct way of playing Yggdrasil.

  If they’re nothing more than anti-monster bodyguards, then once those are unnecessary, they’ll be unemployed. That’s how it goes with any job. If only it was more like in Yggdrasil, more dreamy… Dreams? Journeying across the land in pursuit of the unknown? Could that be…?

  Something lit up in the back of Ainz’s mind.

  If, hypothetically, the adventurer trade changed from being monster extermination mercenaries to seekers of the unknown like in Yggdrasil, then couldn’t he have them promote the Nation of Darkness in uncharted lands?

  Ainz didn’t want to promote only to humans but to all races. If he wanted to advertise exclusively to people, using merchant connections might have been enough. But if that wasn’t the case, maybe adventurers were the optimal choice.

  Ainz hmmed with a nod.

  The receptionist had a dubious look on her face, but he ignored that—because if he paid attention to her, the idea he had would fly off somewhere.

  The CEO of his own little company, Ainz considered the next steps in his plan.

  But at present, the number of adventurers in the Nation of Darkness is trending downward. If nothing changes, it will continue to dwindle, and in the near future, they’ll be pretty much gone. How can I prevent that from happening?

  Increasing their number would be easy. All he needed to do was the opposite of what he was doing now. In other words, have the Nation of Darkness pay for monster extermination. But that ran contrary to Ainz’s goal of having adventurers pursue the unknown. One option would be to put in requests for promotion, but Ainz didn’t have the money.

  The Great Tomb of Nazarick had mountains of cash, but his personal assets had dried up. The NPCs would surely say that all the money in Nazarick belonged to Ainz, but he was starting this project on his own discretion, so he didn’t really want to dip into their reserves.

  As Ainz was thinking, he heard the door open.

  When he turned to look, he saw a familiar adventurer staring back at him, immobile.

  Hmm? That’s, uh, what’s his name… Yokmoch? No. But it’s something like that.

  It was right there, but he couldn’t quite reach it. In that state of frustration, he dug as deep as he could into his memory.

  “Moknach…” When he managed to unearth the correct answer, he inadvertently said it aloud.

  Shocked to have been suddenly called by name, the adventurer completely froze.

  Crap!

  It was too late to panic. He could tell the guild staffer was looking over at them now to see what was happening, too.

  There was no way the new ruler of E-Rantel, King of Darkness Ainz Ooal Gown, would know the name of a mere mythril-plate adventurer. What possible reason would he have for knowing that? He spun the gears of his brain, but before he could come up with something, Moknach spoke.

  “D-did you hear about me from Sir Momon?”

  “Yes, I did. That’s right.”

  Ainz jumped at that explanation immediately. Two conflicting emotions streaked across Moknach’s face at the same time: anticipation and fear.

  Having recovered from the previous moment’s scare, Ainz cautiously analyzed the situation.

  If he remembered correctly, this man was the leader of the mythril team Rainbow. He first met him during the vampire hullabaloo. After that, he had spoken with him a few times as Momon, but he hadn’t seen him in a while, so he had nearly forgotten him.

  Moknach admired Momon as a hero like all the other adventurers and soldiers did. What did he think of the fact that he had been defeated by the King of Darkness?

  Why would Momon have spoken to the King of Darkness about me? Just shooting the breeze? Or did he sell me out? Those were probably the sorts of ideas going around in his head.

  Ainz looked for a chance to turn this awkward spot to his advantage.

  “When I asked Momon about capable adventurers, he mentioned you—Moknach from Rainbow.”

  Moknach had been mostly keeping h
is eyes on the ground, but his face jerked up when he heard what Ainz had said. “I-is that true?!”

  “You doubt me?”

  “No! I would never…”

  When visiting a client, the first order of business was to praise them. Most humans weren’t averse to being complimented. Buttering up the customer before launching into a sales pitch was biz talk 101 but also the core of the art of negotiation.

  Having successfully driven a wedge into the opening in the man’s startled mental state, Ainz was determined not to let this chance slip by. He launched a question at him. “So why are you in E-Rantel?”

  The best way to learn about adventurers was to ask an adventurer.

  Moknach hesitated a bit, but then seemed to steel his resolve. “The undead, Your Majesty. The Katze Plain is nearby. There is no shortage of opponents to make money off of.”

  Ainz didn’t really get it, but the guy was sweating bullets with a There, I said it rebel smile on his face.

  Ainz intended to take over the Katze Plain before too long. The rumors of the ship that sailed on land were especially interesting to him.

  “I see.”

  “Huh?”

  “Hmm?”

  “No, I mean…”

  This fellow wasn’t very articulate. Ainz endured the urge to sigh and pressed his question. “Is that the only reason?”

  “…Besides that, well, yeah. Until Sir Momon showed up, we mythrils were the highest-ranking adventurers around, so we got lots of well-paying jobs.”

  So it’s about pay. Maybe the best option was to allocate a portion of the nation’s budget to rewarding adventurers.

  “I’m also from around these parts, so I know lots of people. And all sorts of magic items show up in this city, too.”

  “Oh, magic items?”

  “Yes. A single item can save your life, so it’s only natural for an adventurer to choose a place with a good selection on offer as their base.”

  It was true that even in Yggdrasil, he had heard stories about parties being saved from annihilation by a single item, and come to think of it, there were lots of people who seemed to be adventurers at the market in the imperial capital. In other words, if he could sell magic items on a larger scale than the imperial capital, he could lure adventurers to his country.