If he made random items with data crystals and held an auction, people would probably go nuts. But that would eat up Nazarick’s assets, and that was before he even considered that any technology developed as a result could come back to bite him.
I guess sprinkling them around like bait wouldn’t be bad? But I’d really prefer to avoid using Nazarick’s resources. I guess that means developing various items with the technology of this world? And things that can travel between nations? Mm…that’s a tall order. I’ll put this line of thinking on hold for now.
“Umm…” Moknach’s somewhat restrained voice brought Ainz back from the depths of his thoughts. “Your Majesty, I wonder… Why did you ask me that? Honestly…” Biting his lip, Moknach continued in a pained voice, “We can’t stand up to a single one of your undead, even in a group. And those undead are protecting the city now. In the Nation of Darkness, adventurers have practically no purpose.”
What could Ainz say? What kind of answer would make a good impression on the adventurer…plus the receptionist lady who was watching them closely along with the other staff members who had appeared at some point?
Would dissembling and saying, There’s no reason I need to tell you, to avoid making a big mistake, be the safer route? But that could make them suspicious. He needed something more…
No, believe in yourself. I’m a man who’s gotten through plenty of sticky spots like this. I’m sure things will work out this time, too—probably!
Ainz was filled with determination.
But if you understand that much, then what are you doing here, Moknach? Is it because it’s your hometown? Do you have a girlfriend or something?
The direction the King of Darkness took the conversation would depend on the answer. “Before I tell you why, answer my first question. Why are you in this city right now?”
“B-because…” Moknach trailed off. Then, though somewhat nervously, yet with a resolute expression, he said, “Because of Sir Momon. If Sir Momon is staying here to protect the city, someone like me—someone who was born here—can’t very well run away. It’d be so lame.”
That instant, Ainz smiled.
Though he was slightly acquainted with the man as Momon, Ainz was surprised that he was so open.
“I see. Then I’ll answer your question as well.” He left a weighty pause and then continued in a dignified manner, “Because of Momon. I wanted to know what adventurers with the potential to become like Momon desire, what they’re after.”
Moknach’s eyes opened wide. Ainz heard a few of the staff members gasp.
“Momon is strong, but more than that, he’s a noble man.” Saying it himself was awkward, but he couldn’t help it, since those were the characters he was playing. “And I see in adventurers the spark I see in Momon.”
Perhaps his regular rehearsals were worth it. When he finished making his powerful remark, it was like a bolt of lightning struck the ground behind Moknach.
“B-but Momon is a Supreme Being—only a chosen few can reach his level. There’s no way we could be like him…”
“Are you saying Momon doesn’t have an eye for potential?”
“What?! D-did Sir Momon say we have that potential?”
“Not in so many words, but…” Ainz performed the laugh he had practiced—a kingly laugh. He made it seem like he thought it was funny even if it wasn’t. “Even if you don’t reach it, what about your child? Or your grandchild? Perhaps from among you, more like Momon will appear. I’m an immortal being, the king of the Nation of Darkness. It’s only natural that I would work toward getting the next Momon to pledge his wholehearted loyalty to me. That is the purpose that I, as a ruler, see in the Nation of Darkness’s adventurers. Well, there is another, but I haven’t quite figured it out for myself yet, so allow me to omit it.”
The area fell deathly silent.
Huh? Did I say something wrong? Doesn’t this guy adore Momon?
Ainz was getting anxious when Moknach bowed deeply.
“Your Majesty, I am grateful for the opportunity to have met with you like this and to have had the chance to hear some of your thoughts.” When Moknach lifted his head, the earlier impressions of anxiety, fear, and suspicion had faded, and he was wearing a cheerful smile. “…You’re a formidable man. The charming charisma you possess is even greater than your immense magical power.”
“I’m glad, too—to have met one of the excellent adventurers I’m hoping to win over in the future.”
Moknach’s face relaxed slightly, in a happy way. “But, Your Majesty, the Adventurers Guild has always been uninvolved in politics. I’m the same way. Do you think you can change our minds?”
“Hmm. That was my goal in coming here. Not that the idea is set in stone yet… You at the desk. Tell the guild master the King of Darkness is here to see him.”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty!”
The receptionist who had been listening intently dashed off.
“Then if you’ll excuse me…”
Moknach, completely changed from when he had first entered, bowed politely and took his leave.
Okay…now what?
There were three important points to Ainz’s half-formed idea of using adventurers to spread word of how wonderful the Nation of Darkness was.
The first was strengthening the Adventurers Guild. Acquiring an organization with only a dozen people in it wouldn’t mean much.
The second was training them. Weaklings wouldn’t be able to travel very far, and if it took too long to share the news about the greatness of the Nation of Darkness, there wouldn’t be as many benefits.
The third was that he needed good-willed cooperation on the previous points. He figured he could probably pull it off with Momon, but having Ainzach’s voluntary commitment would make things easier.
First I should negotiate with Ainzach to solve this third issue. But, man, making a presentation with no data is rough. Ahhh, my stomach hurts.
All he could do was hope the guild master was out, but the first thing the receptionist said when she came back was, “Right this way.”
Ainz looked up at the ceiling before following her.
4
Ainz traveled down the hallway he had walked many times as Momon and was led into not the guild master’s office but a room farther back that was used to receive visitors.
There he met a man in the virile prime of his life with sharp features, Guild Master Pluton Ainzach.
Momon knew the man—and had even been dragged to an adult establishment by him before, but for King Ainz Ooal Gown, this was their first meeting, so he had to keep that in mind and be careful how he acted.
“What a surprise, Your Majesty. I’m overjoyed as a citizen of this country that you would grace our humble guild with your presence. It may be a shabby place, but please take a seat.”
Ainz accepted Ainzach’s offer and sat down.
Fith stood behind Ainz. There were three angels in the room. The rest waited outside.
“Really, I should be the one visiting you, so I thank you for coming.” Ainzach had taken a knee and now bowed his head.
The attitude made Ainz wince.
The tone of the man’s voice was totally different from when he dealt with Momon. It was warm and polite but only that. When Ainz realized it was only business talk, he smiled wryly—not that his face moved, of course.
Ainz shifted his gaze to the other door in the room, the one he hadn’t entered through.
It was the door to the guild master’s office. If he was Momon, they would be talking in there, so the fact that they were in the sitting room made him feel like there was a barrier between them.
“Is something wrong, Your Majesty?”
Ainzach had raised his head and was looking at Ainz. I focused too much on the other room and neglected him. Ainz scoffed at himself for his foolishness.
He was only laughing at himself, but Ainzach’s expression stiffened.
Ainz hated himself for being rude, but the King of Dar
kness couldn’t very well apologize. He decided to try to move the conversation forward and leave things vague.
But what was the proper way to behave with the guild master?
Ainz was only just starting to feel out this role of king, and he had no idea how to interact with the head of the Adventurers Guild. He eventually decided to go with what he thought might work.
“You may have already heard, Ainzach, but I have a proposition for you.”
“My humble apologies, Your Majesty. I’m afraid I haven’t heard, so if you would be so kind as to explain from the beginning…”
From their exchanges when he was Momon, Ainz knew that Ainzach was a shrewd man who could tell a lie with a straight face. It seemed like there was a fairly good chance he actually already knew what was going on. Perhaps that was why he didn’t appear at all surprised to see the angels.
In that case, they could cut to the chase. Ainz spoke frankly.
“I’m absorbing this guild into the Nation of Darkness.”
“…I see. I’m sure no one will stop you.”
“Oh? I heard that adventurer guilds don’t align themselves with any nation. You don’t care?”
“Everything will be as you wish, Your Majesty. We exist under the rules of your country. If you decide to rule the guild, I cannot protest.”
Ainz chuckled to himself. It seemed like Ainzach noticed. The emotions deep in his eyes seemed to waver slightly.
“That’s true, but I imagine your plan is something like this, right? You’ll tell all the adventurers to head to the kingdom or the empire and then hand me an empty shell of an organization.”
As Ainz stared at him, Ainzach shrugged as if to say, So you’ve already thought that far ahead?
“Your Majesty is as brilliant as I expected. Adept at not only ruling and governance, you can even see through our thoughts… Did you use a spell to read my mind?”
“I didn’t use any magic. It’s simply experience.”
“Because you’ve lived a long time? Dear me, what a formidable man you are. What will happen to me, then?”
“Nothing.”
“…I won’t thank you.”
“I don’t need your thanks. I want you to listen to me. The reason the Adventurers Guild didn’t work for the country was because it existed to protect the people. That’s why it never gets involved in fights between people. That’s what I’ve heard—is it correct?”
“Your Majesty, what you say is true. Even when you occupied the city, we didn’t put up a fight.”
“There was that Momon fellow who stood in my way, though, yes…?”
“Urk,” Ainzach groaned.
Well, nothing good would come of forcing him into a corner. Ainz moved the conversation forward, taking care to defend Momon. “Well, we can let that go. Besides, we’re cooperating on one matter—the peaceful rule of the city, that is.”
Ainzach looked like he wanted to say something, but Ainz continued without reacting.
This was the most important part.
He had to convince Ainzach to cooperate on a friendly basis with the Nation of Darkness.
Ainz recalled all the gripes and grievances he’d heard as Momon.
“…All right, I wonder about part of what you said earlier. You agreed that adventurers exist to protect people, but how far does your definition of people extend?”
“What do you mean?” Ainzach’s expression said he didn’t understand what Ainz was getting at.
“Does people mean humanoids? Or just humans? Are elves, half elves, and the other races living alongside humans included?”
“Well, sure, they’re included.”
“That’s strange. In the empire, elves are slaves, right? Does that count as protecting them? They aren’t criminals who broke imperial law, right?”
Ainzach lowered his gaze. Then he looked back up at Ainz.
“…I’m one guild master from the kingdom. I can’t claim to know what their philosophy is in the empire.”
“Trying to escape with a vague answer…?”
Ainzach’s eyes widened. Flames of fear blazed deep within.
“Your Majesty, I was being sarcastic…”
“Sarcastic? So it wasn’t the truth? Then I’ll ask again. Are you trying to get out of this with a vague answer?”
Ainzach looked down. “…It’s as you say.”
“You say you protect elves and half elves, yet you don’t. Why is that?”
Ainzach prefaced his response with the fact that he didn’t know how things worked in the empire. “Even adventurer guilds aren’t completely immune to a country’s influence. Adventurers claim to be free and declare themselves outside of any rule, but they still live under their nations’ laws. We’re armed. That’s why it’s particularly dangerous to use our force against the country. That’s probably what the guild in the empire thinks.”
“Yeah. But if you live under the laws of a country, then you should have no qualms about being absorbed. So why are you so against it?”
“The empire and the kingdom both have their eyes on us. Only adventurers have the power to fight strong monsters, after all. They won’t make any impossible demands as long as that stays the same. But it won’t work the same way with you, Your Majesty. If we were absorbed, it’s conceivable that you would force us to use our might as a military force against the people.”
“So the main reason you don’t want to be absorbed by the country is that you’re scared that your power as adventurers would be turned on the people?”
“That’s correct, Your Majesty. We don’t want to be used for oppression or war; we don’t want to be involved in anything that will result in so much loss of life.”
Got him. Ainz chuckled. He didn’t say that he had known as much already.
“Sit down. I’m going to explain what I want you guys to do.” Ainz ordered Ainzach to sit down facing him again. After the guild master nervously took his seat, Ainz began his explanation. “I’m thinking about having the adventurers perform a completely different job. I want them to discover the unknown and make the world a smaller place.”
Ainz had the feeling Ainzach was looking directly at him for the first time.
“For example, in the south between the Theocracy and the Sacred Kingdom, there is a wasteland, but do you know the details of the terrain and what sorts of monsters live there?”
“No, there are many different subhuman tribes that live on that land, but no kingdom adventurers who went there ever returned, so we have almost no information about the area.”
“Then how about the mountains southwest of here on the border with the Theocracy?”
“We don’t know much about that area, either.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as pathetic? Well, no, considering the adventurers’ jobs, I suppose it can’t be helped. They’re an organization for protecting the people. They don’t need knowledge about places where there are no people, then, do they? Although there could be herbs growing there that might help people…”
Ainzach pursed his lips at the jab.
“Once the Adventurers Guild is under my control, I want to have adventurers fill in those blanks.”
“…Couldn’t you have your men do it, Your Majesty?”
“Don’t be a spoilsport, Ainzach. I heard that you used to be an adventurer yourself, so could you say that again—keeping in mind the definition of adventurer? Do you really exist only to battle monsters? I thought adventurers were people who made the unknown known—at least, until I actually investigated.”
Ainzach bit his lip—so hard that it seemed like it would break and bleed.
“We have to protect the people.”
“No, you don’t. In the Nation of Darkness, I, the ruler, will protect the people. You know it to be true based on the recent decrease in requests, right?”
Ainzach assented with a groan.
“So what will you do now? Leave the Nation of Darkness to protect the people in the kingdom and empire? Then
you’re no more than mercenaries who specialize in monster extermination.”
Ainz paused. Now it was time for the invitation. He had to use his full brainpower when choosing each and every word. “Your suggestion to have my subordinates perform these tasks, it isn’t wrong. While my subordinates are adept at killing enemies, however, in most cases I question whether they would be able to go into the unknown and build amicable relations with the people they find there, embarrassing as that is to admit. That’s why I’d like the adventurers to take on this task, if possible.”
He was extremely curious about Ainzach’s reaction to this, but his presentation wasn’t over yet. “Well, I’d be having them do such dangerous work, so I’d want to back them up in every way possible. In such a case, it would make sense for the guild to be under my umbrella, no?”
“…Couldn’t you put in requests like normal?”
“Ah, I see. You must be very confident in your abilities. I can’t fault you for that kind of courage.”
“Wh-what do you mean, Your Majesty?”
“You’re saying it’s fine for the Nation of Darkness to disavow any adventurers who journey into the unknown and have an unlucky encounter in an area with people who espouse a different culture, right? And you’ll clear up any issues that arise on your own as the guild? If you’re going to exist as an independent organization, that would be only natural. You’ll have to agree to resolve problems in a way such that the Nation of Darkness doesn’t incur any losses.”
Ainzach fell silent.
“That’s what it means to exist independently and not under a nation, right? In other words, if a foreign country took action, you guys would be responsible for handling it… Does what I’m saying seem strange to you?”
“Not at all, Your Majesty.” Ainzach shook his head to emphasize his position. “I agree with every word you’ve said.”
“There you go, then. But if we did that, the number of adventurers—people in such a technical trade—would decrease. In the time it takes to develop capable people, attrition of already outstanding individuals would be a huge loss. That’s why I want the guild under my umbrella. And then rather than issue orders, I’d do my utmost to provide you with support.”
The Ruler of Conspiracy Page 8
