A/N: Baby, we're back! Usual A/N at the end, and thank you for reading! Betas for this chapter were the fantastic dynamic duo of hakon2feb and Ulbert. Thank you so much guys.

The Baharuth Empire

Imperial Capital of Arwintar

Imperial Palace

The Bloody Emperor. Over the years of his short reign, Jircniv Rune Farelord El Nix would feel many things over the events that lead to the creation of his moniker. Amusement was not usually one of them.

It was the word 'blood', he'd decided one day. It meant nothing. To be specific, during his reign he'd painstakingly enforced the idea that in the Empire, blood meant nothing to him. Raw talent. Ingenuity. Ability. Intelligence. Adaptability. Competence. Hell, even being spineless had its uses and more than one head had rolled because the owner lacked that particular trait. Pedigree was really only useful for race horses, not for an empire. Not in his Empire. Not if it valued strength.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, few were able to see through this basic truth. Loose ends were not tolerated. The Baharuth Empire quickly had gotten the message ever since he'd ascended the imperial throne at the age of 12 and swifted ordered the executions of disloyal nobles… even by then, his own family had already been taken care of. The city streets ran red for months.

Moments like this, he decided as he stood over a balcony overlooking the capital city, somehow made it all quite worth it: Surrounded by his trusted aides in the shadow of the city his family had ruled over for six generations. In only a decade under his rule, Arwintar was in the middle of the largest explosion of development in its entire recorded history. With that success and the overall support of his people, it also attracted talent. Most of it gathered in the room at his back.

Deciding he'd had enough fresh air for one day, Jircniv returned to the meeting of his trusted aides, taking stock of the surrounding group of people. There was of course, his personal guard, the Four Imperial Knights.

Baziwood Peshmel, the 'Lightning Bolt' as he was called, was the acting leader of the Imperial knights. A large, scruffy-looking blonde that was as blunt as anyone Jircniv had ever known. He was charismatic in his own way though, and Jircniv had to concede the man was extraordinarily gifted with women and had Jircniv's trust the most out of anyone else in the room, barring one exception.

Nimble Arc Dale Anoch, known as the 'Fierce Gale', was the only member of the Four Imperial Knights that was actually still a member of nobility. His father was a baron from one of the outlying cities within the Empire that had caught Jircniv's eye when he was young. Both he and Jircniv shared many similarities and Jircniv more than once thought they might be distantly related.

The other two Imperial knights: Nazami 'The Unassailable' Enec and Leinas 'Heavy Explosion' Rockbruise were both replacements for two previous knights that had perished in the last engagement with the Kingdom. Nazami was a giant of a man with a disposition that was both silent and serious.

Leinas's natural beauty as a woman, the only one in the Four knights, was marred by a wound on her right eye that was the result of a curse from a monster she slew that would never close. She'd made it clear to Jircniv multiple times that she only took the position he offered her because it was the best she could get at the time, and if something better came along she would drop her ties with him in a heartbeat. At the very least, Jircniv would say she was honest and had the most concern for her own safety over that of his.

"Recovered now, my liege?" a voice said off to the side. Jircniv looked over at the figure and gave a shadow of a smile in response as he plopped down carelessly onto a nearby couch.

Loune Vermillion had been Jircniv's personal aide since his ascension to the imperial throne a decade ago. The man was a dedicated servant with a strong conviction and sense of duty, though the stress of his position seemed to show on his figure as the man was quite thin and was starting to lose some of his hair even at his age which was only a few years older than Jircniv himself.

"Yes, sorry for the delay. Where were we?" Jircniv asked as he glanced around the room at the others surrounding him nearby, who were mostly standing. Only one other figure within the room was also seated and incidentally was the person who Jircniv most admired and respected, if not due to his persona and grandfatherly appearance, then by sheer time spent loyal to the Empire.

Fluder Paradyne was by far, in Jircniv's own words, the oldest codger of a man in the entire Empire. His exploits throughout the years had been the subject of as many pieces of literature as Jircniv himself and more than once the old man had been able to avert catastrophe within the Empire throughout his long life. Fluder had served the royal family of the Empire in some capacity for nearly two centuries with a history as long as his beard: whether as a court wizard, magic researcher, all the way through to his current position as Headmaster of the Imperial Magic Academy. Fluder had tutored Jircniv in the academics during his childhood but his real passion lay within the depths of magic. It was through Fluder's research and gifts of the arcane that magic scrolls and items were more readily and cheaply available throughout the Empire than the rest of the known human nations.

Jircniv could tell by the way Fluder seemed to gaze at nothing in particular that he was quite bored. Fluder was an academic to the extreme and his interest in politics and social skills that weren't part of a spell were practically nonexistent. It was not often that Jircniv called him for meetings such as these, but neither was it a rare occasion.

"I believe we've wrapped up the internal affairs, that leaves-" Loune started.

"War." Baziwood grinned.

"-... Foreign affairs." Loune corrected as he moved to place a detailed map of the valley that most of humanity had decided to settle in over the coffee table and placed several scrolls next to it from his bag as well as some polished pieces of marble that were traditionally used to notate troop movements and numbers. Baziwood waved off the correction.

Jircniv leaned to the side in a bored manner as he spoke, "Though the meeting at the Katze Plains isn't for another few months, we have a few developments that I called everyone here to discuss." Jircniv waved a hand toward Loune as the man unfurled one of the scrolls he had placed upon the table.

"Several days ago," Loune said. "We received a message from Gazef Stronoff. He claimed that a third party has been attacking and burning villages belonging to the Re-Estize Kingdom along the border, in the hope of what seemed to be straining the relations between the Kingdom and the Empire, if not full-out war. Gazef placed the blame on the Theocracy as behind the attacks."

Leinas seemed surprised. "Stronoff? Wait, isn't that who's responsible for me being here in the first place? Didn't he kill two of the previous Four Imperial Knights?" she asked the room. "Why would we trust the words of our enemy?"

"Stronoff is a hell of a fighter, but the man wouldn't try to sell a lie like that. That's just not the kind of man he is." Baziwood said. "But yeah, you're correct."

Loune looked up from his scroll. "I should say that with the message came a suit of armor identical to the kind the Empire arms its soldiers with. Additionally, we were able to confirm there have been villages that have been burned down along the border. At least four, that is."

Jircniv closed his eyes in thought. "Ramposa wouldn't be the type of man to sacrifice his own people like that, and Stronoff would have no reason to lie either. So, it wasn't Re-Estize and neither was it the Empire. That would leave a third party as well as the Theocracy as likely suspects." he said. "Neither option particularly concerns me as Ramposa seems content to try to solve things diplomatically. He hasn't retaliated for years, a simple border dispute gives him a casus belli that he's never going to use. Anyway, this is simply the backdrop for the real reason I've called this meeting today." Jircniv said as he nodded to Loune.

His secretary continued. "From our spies within Re-Estize as well as Gazef's message, we've been able to piece together the events of what happened near the border. The people burning down villages were not just simple soldiers. There were also a substantial number of magic casters… enough for a full troop, possibly a company by Empire standards if you counted their angel summons. It's suspected they were a special forces unit from the Theocracy, though we're obviously unable to confirm that... and Stronoff himself was their intended target."

That certainly got Fluder's attention as Jircniv saw the old man swivel his head towards his assistant as he raised his eyebrows. "Angels, you say?" he said as he stroked his beard. "That's quite a lot of magic casters of at least the third tier…"

Baziwood let out a low whistle. "A scripture? If that's true, the only one with that many casters that we know of would be Nigun's group. What's a demi-human extermination squad doing destroying human villages? Nevermind that, what's the rabbit look like that Gazef pulled out of his ass to get out of that mess?"

"That's the thing." Lounge started. "Stronoff was nearly killed, but a magic caster who happened to be passing through the village rescued him and his soldiers, as well as completely eliminating his attackers... unscathed."

Fluder froze as his eyes widened. "Against that many opponents? Simultaneously?"

Loune eyed Jircniv for a moment with uncertainty. "We're not sure about the specifics yet. Eye-witness accounts are sparse."

"That's why I called you here today, Fluder." Jircniv said as he stared at his mentor. "Because since then: Ramposa has not only managed to get this masked magic caster's allegiance, but also created a position within the Kingdom similar to yours, a head wizard who can apparently also use 6th tier magic."

Fluder sunk into his seat a bit with a hum and Nazami, who had been silent this whole time, suddenly spoke up, "This caster have a name?" Nazami asked as everyone else looked to Loune.

"He calls himself Ainz Ooal Gown."

"There's also another problem." Jircniv said, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. Well, other than yet again, Ramposa's luck nets him another talented individual that is potentially as problematic as Stronoff, he thought. He motioned for Loune to open another of the scrolls that the secretary had set on the table.

"This Ainz Ooal Gown seems to be much more… politically active than Stronoff." Loune said. "He seems to have allied himself with Princess Renner and together they are slowly pushing through reforms similar to systems the Empire is using."

"If the Kingdom is starting to change their government to run as efficiently as the Empire," Nimble said as he looked over the scroll containing the report, "Then this might be the last yearly skirmish that will be effective..."

"Theoretically, we essentially have three options." Jircniv said as he began to arrange the marble pieces on the map and the knights began to gather around the table. "Option one is basically continuing as we have been doing for the past several years." he said as he placed roughly half of the total marble pieces onto the map centered around Re-Estize. "Four of the eight Imperial Legions meet at the Katze Plains, which allows us flexibility in dealing with the Kingdom's forces as well as the other demi-human threats on the other end on the Empire's borders."

"There's a few problems with this though, but I'll get to that later. Option two is we call off the skirmish all-together." Jircniv said as he completely removed the black marble pieces from E-Rantel. "The losses the Kingdom has taken from losing E-Rantel to the undead means they will be scrambling to recover the damage to the city. A significant portion of their farmland and workforce has been thrown into question, as much of it is centered around E-Rantel and no other city on the Kingdom's borders has the capacity to store the amount of food required for any significantly-sized army for very long. Personally, under normal circumstances I find this the most attractive option..."

Jircniv sighed before he continued. "However, the main drawback for both option one and two is simply the Kingdom itself… or rather, the corruption within it."

Loune pulled some notes from his bag. "In the past years there has been a massive increase in the amount of illegal drugs that have been crossing the border into the Empire. The latest of these is called Laira Powder or more commonly known as Black Dust, it's a particularly cheap and powerful euphoric drug. It's already affecting our efficiency on some of the outlying cities and villages, and has recently spread into Arwintar itself despite our attempts otherwise."

"The Kingdom is like a cancer." Jircniv said. "Like an infection, it festers and grows while weakening its host. They don't seem too concerned about cracking down on their crime problem and it's slowly spreading to the Empire through proxy. I'd rather not have to deal with the same headache as they are, so that makes both option one and two problematic if we want to deal with it in a timely manner." Jircniv said as he began arranging the marble pieces on the map once more.

"Oh ho ho… what's this?" Baziwood said after some moments as Jircniv placed far more pieces centered around E-Rantel than he had before.

"Option three: We take out the host, along with the infection. The Empire declares all-out war on the Kingdom." Jircniv said. "Seven of the eight Imperial legions engage the Kingdom's army at the Katze Plains, with the final legion held in reserve in Arwintar for other threats the Empire faces. Additionally: We bring in the Imperial Magic Corps as well as the Air Guard, along with Fluder himself."

Fluder's eyebrows rose in surprise and for good reason. Jircniv had never before allowed him to take part in the yearly battles at the Katze plains, stating that he was needed in Arwintar to discourage other threats from rearing their heads while the Empire was dealing with the Kingdom's forces.

Jircniv turned to him. "For now, Fluder, consider your other projects, along with that monster you're keeping locked up, secondary for the time being. I need you to focus on finding information about our mysterious magic caster. Most of those who have seen his face says he resembles people from the South, so start with that. He's also covered with horrible burn scars, so someone like that should be easy to identify." Jircniv said before he pinched the bridge of his nose again.

"No one like that just appears out of nowhere."

The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick

Lord Ainz's Office

There are a certain amount of reservations about certain things you might have throughout your life as an individual. More than once in Satoru Suzuki's life, things made him uneasy. Being late for work or forgetting a friend's birthday, for example. Uncertainty was, in essence, a very human emotion and completely natural feeling. Funnily enough, that feeling multiplies when you pretend you are something you are not.

Satoru was able to draw much from his previous life as a simple office worker. Basic mathematics. Consistency. Impartial social skills needed to push a sale. The one thing that Satoru was able to draw the most from to help his experience in the New World though, was simply being a cog in a well-oiled machine. Satoru knew what it felt like to be at the bottom in an organization's hierarchy.

It should come as no surprise then, that he also did not know how to act as a CEO.

Many times at his job at the office he would catch himself wishing he'd had his boss's job as the man made it look like he practically did nothing. To say being transported into another world, one where he was at the top of organizational structure instead of the bottom, was eye-opening would be an understatement.

It was the stress.

Satoru learned quickly that he could not do everything himself, and more importantly, it was actually detrimental to do so as those under him would begin to lose faith in themselves if he began to nitpick every detail. Once he learned of the surrounding nations, he'd taken to spying on the neighboring rulers to increase his knowledge on how to manage things.

By far, his favorite source of knowledge so far was Emperor Jircniv. The man was uncommonly bright and seemed to have taken leadership like a fish to water. While Ainz's administration skills were nowhere near Jircniv's, or even King Ramposa's level, he did have one special trait that he could use to its fullest: his memory.

Satoru's memory was one of the things he was known for among the guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown. While a normal level 100 player in Yggdrasil normally capped out on spells at about 300, Suzuki's current cap of 718 spells was a staggering amount to memorize. By no means the best PvPer, Momonga's sheer versatility afforded to him through so many spells kept him in the top-half of the rankings among PvPers skill-wise.

Memorizing how to sit in a regal manner or move with the grace befitting a ruler was not something Satoru would have thought he would need to learn. With Albedo's skill at management Ainz did not actually have to do much, to his chagrin, and so he was afforded much time to research his own interests, including how to act like a king in between meetings.

...Speaking of Albedo…

From the time since his first day arriving to the New World, Albedo's constant presence was both a source of comfort and also stress. Though he'd done the right thing and admitted his fault in the source of her fabricated feelings towards him, he could not deny that he felt responsibility within himself to see to her happiness. It was quite difficult to be hard on himself when he saw how happy she was though. There was rarely a day that went by that she wasn't making something for him.

Ainz would find out fairly quickly that Albedo possessed several skills (and not the Yggdrasil kind) that men would stereotypically want to find in a housewife. She preferred cooking and doing laundry… hell even her administration abilities, Ainz realised, were a traditional Japanese desired trait of wives handling the finances of the household. Most of all though, Albedo had a hobby of sewing, and Ainz would admit she was damn good at it. She'd already made him three sets of pajamas and he didn't even need to sleep!

This is so cute it's almost painful… even if it's me, he thought as he gently squeezed the plushie of himself she'd given him that morning.

Ainz remembered some of his bosses during his time as an office worker had personalized their offices with family photos and little trinkets, and so on impulse he'd done the same, though he kept it light for now. Currently he'd only placed a copy of the photo he'd given to Shalltear and now the plushie Albedo had given him on the corner of his desk. He fiddled with its placement as someone knocked on the door to his office and the maid assigned went to check who it was. A few moments later the maid called out.

"Lord Ainz? Cocytus is here to see you."

"Send him in."

The maid nodded and stepped to the side, letting the large floor guardian into the room.

"Cocytus," Ainz nodded. "It's good to see you. What can I do for you?"

"The. Pleasure. Is. Mine. Lord. Ainz. Thank. You. For. Seeing. Me." Cocytus said as he bowed. "I. Don't. Wish. To. Take. Up. More. Of. Your. Time. Than. Necessary. I'm. Sure. You. Are. Busy. So. I. Will. Be. Quick." he said as he straightened stiffly.

"Not at all, I always have time for my hardworking guardians." Ainz said agreeably, channeling his inner office-working boss.

"It. Is. Embarrassing. To. Admit. But. I. Am. Growing. Restless. Is. There. Anything. Else. Within. Nazarick. That. I. Can. Do?" Cocytus said hesitantly.

"Hmm… You're guarding the first, second, third, and fifth floors, correct?" Ainz asked. At Cocytus's nod, he continued. "I'm afraid I owe you an apology Cocytus, but there isn't a whole lot of tasks I can give you outside of Nazarick…"

It was true, Cocytus would not walk around the outside world without drawing a lot of attention due to his form. With no attackers to the tomb, Ainz would have to admit even he would get restless. "Do you have any hobbies? Something to help pass the time?" he asked. There was another knock on the door to Ainz's office as the maid went to check.

"I. Already. Train. And. Focus. My. Skills. In. Combat. During. My. Downtime. But. My. Body. Needs. Time. To. Rest. I. Was. Hoping. You. Might. Have. Some. Suggestions…" Cocytus started and then trailed off for a moment, shaking his head and correcting himself. "No. You. Could. Say. That. I. Am. Selfishly. Seeking. The. Wisdom. Of. A. Supreme. Being."

While Cocytus's skills as a warrior were beyond reproach, Ainz had toyed with the idea briefly of teaching him other skills related to battle such as leadership, something that wasn't translated well among the other NPC's. With a little nudge from Ainz perhaps Cocytus might start learning on his own. Ainz knew just the thing, as he grabbed a slip of paper nearby and started writing.

"Cocytus, I might have a suggestion that could help you out, while also allowing your body to get the rest it needs. You can train your mind." Ainz said as he passed the slip of paper to another maid, who delivered it to Cocytus. "Give this to Titus in Ashurbanipal on the 10th floor, he should be able to recommend something for you. Also, I'll grant you access to Cherry Blossom Sanctuary on the 8th floor for supplementary information on Nazarick's Defense system. With Demiurge being absent from Nazarick more often, it wouldn't hurt to have another guardian knowledgeable on its defense. I'll let Aureole Omega know you might be coming."

"The. Library?" Cocytus said. "I. Confess. I. Did. Not. Think. Of. This. Thank. You. For. Your. Wisdom. Lord. Ainz." he said as he took the note he had been given and bowed.

The knock at the door earlier turned out to be Albedo, who entered the room carrying a folder and a small black metal box with a slit wide enough to slip a paper through on the top. She brought it over to Ainz but paused as Cocytus was still replying and she noticed the plushie Ainz had personalized his desk with.

Her eyes sparkled with affection as she got over her obvious surprise and Ainz resisted the urge of looking away in embarrassment as she gave him one of the largest smiles he had ever seen as she placed the black box she was carrying next to him.

"A-ah… Albedo, thank you." Ainz said. "Cocytus, hold on a moment." Ainz said as Cocytus started to get up, no doubt to leave. Ainz opened the black box with a key and began to reach inside. "Cocytus, you know about the suggestion box, right?" he said.

"Oh? Yes. Lord. Ainz. If. Someone. Has. A. Suggestion. Of. How. Nazarick. Should. Run. They. Should. Submit. It. To. This. Box. Correct?" Cocytus asked.

It was another idea Ainz had stolen from his time as a simple officer worker. Most companies had a similar system, and in general it was beneficial to both employees and companies themselves. Many after-work programs and scholarships had been created through this method as well as programs that increase company profits and advertising such as recycling.

Wait… there's two? Ainz confirmed with his hand. Yup, there were two slips of paper within the box. This was surprising to Ainz.

Surprising, because Ainz was only expecting one. No one had used the suggestion box for the week it had been available, and so Ainz had put a suggestion in himself… under several invisibility spells, to be sure he wasn't seen. That meant someone else had used it, like he'd hoped. He silently congratulated himself as he withdrew the slips of paper.

"That's right," Ainz said to Cocytus. "I want to make sure everyone in Nazarick has a voice, no matter how big or small. I want everyone to feel like they all have something to offer. It might not always be something we're able to implement, but giving everyone the option to be heard is important."

Ainz took the first slip of paper and began to open it.

Oh… this one's mine he thought as he cleared his throat.

"It would really be nice if everyone in Nazarick got a day off working." Ainz said, reading from the paper.

"Tch-" Ainz looked up from his desk to see Albedo squirming with rage and even Cocytus had balled his numerous fists up and was shaking.

"Is. This. A. Joke?" Cocytus ground out.

"L-Lord Ainz-!" Albedo said in a grimace and her brows so tight they might as well have been glued together as she leaned onto the table. "I humbly request permission to investigate whoever submitted this! I assure you, their head will be on your table within the hour for this heresy!"

Frankly, Ainz was a bit terrified that Albedo might find out who really put in the suggestion as he raised his hands frantically trying to placate her. "Everyone, just c-calm down!"

Ainz coughed into his hand as both Albedo and Cocytus relaxed a bit at his words. "We can't do that Albedo."

"But-"

"Albedo, I said it's fine. If we retaliate against someone for their opinions, that we specifically asked for, that would go completely against what we're trying to accomplish with the suggestion box. What I'm trying to accomplish, wouldn't it?" Ainz said. He let some moments pass before he added, "...besides, I think maybe the idea has some merit."

Both Albedo and Cocytus seemed to disagree still, but Albedo finally said, "... if that's your will, Lord Ainz…" she said doubtingly.

"Why don't you take the next one, Albedo?" Ainz said as he pushed the other suggestion that had not been opened to her. "Read it for me and tell me your opinion on it. You too Cocytus, I would like to hear them." he said as he leaned back in his seat.

Nazarick's first real suggestion… I wonder what it'll be? He wondered as he heard Albedo open the slip of paper. A few moments passed before he heard her speak.

"Well, finally someone with some sense." Albedo said as she read the suggestion slip. Ainz looked over at her, feeling a knot begin to form in his stomach.

"Oh? What does it say?"

Albedo cleared her throat and said, as casually as one might discuss the weather. "It would really be nice if Lord Ainz had a harem."

Several moments passed.

...W...What kind of suggestion is that?! Sorry Cocytus, someone is playing a joke after all.

"...I'm sorry Albedo, I think I heard something strange just now. Could you repeat that for me?" Ainz trailed off.

I can't even demand to know who wrote that because of what I said before! Hopefully Albedo will let me refute it in private before she murders me, Ainz thought, already imagining such a scenario.

"Certainly. It would really be nice if Lord Ainz had a harem." Albedo smiled as she reread it again. "I for one agree whole-heartedly." She squirmed beside herself with joy and grabbed the mini-Ainz plushie and rubbed her cheeks against it. "It would be weird if such a strong man didn't have multiple wives to give him a strong line, isn't that right, Lord Plush~?"

Oh god, oh god, oh god, Ainz thought as he looked at Albedo like she'd grown a second head. Why isn't she freaking out?... She loves me, why the hell would she want me to have a harem? …. It's a trick. Yes, it has to be.

Ainz numbly turned slowly to Cocytus. "I-Interesting. What do you think about that, C-Cocytus?"

There were several moments of silence as Cocytus seemed to give it some thought, before he spoke, "Well…" Cocytus said doubtfully. "I. Don't. Think. That. Is. Really. Necess-!" Cocytus grunted but was cut off by a peculiar sound.

CRACK!

Ainz, from his position behind his desk, could not see that Albedo had just stepped on Cocytus's tail and left a crater under it with the force she used to do so.

"-Necess-… Necess-… Necess-arily. A. Bad. Thing! In. Fact. I. Think. It. Would. Be. The. Best! Thing! Ever!" Cocytus said as he breathed out a mist.

Ainz could only cradle his head in his hands as he heard Albedo's reply.

"Well," she chirped. "The idea has merit." she said smugly, parroting his own words back at him.

The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick

9th Floor

...some time later…

Footsteps upon the stone floor echoed throughout the hallway. A normal person would judge them as not hurried by their slow, constant rhythm. Tap, tap, tap. Indeed, the figure making the sounds, with their pure white dress, seemed to give their destination no thought as they perused a tan folder while travelling down the corridors of Nazarick.

'-ven the state of the subject. Further tests explored this possibility and my conclusions are as follows.

The type of magic used to heal a subject appears to have different variations depending upon not only the intent of the caster, but also upon the type of magic used, as well as the intent of the recipient.

For example: Divine magic makes use of the will and energies of the caster themselves, not the deity specifically. Divine magic appears to rely upon the faith or belief of the caster; it is not related directly to the power, only the intent of the caster upon the recipient. Further testing is required, but it is my hypothesis that it is for this reason that Divine Magic's power is mostly equal between all the races, and that this is why humans tend to rely upon it more than other fields. Humans are able to channel Divine Magic more easily than other types of magic such as Arcane - which relies upon a fundamental understanding and manipulation of energies, and Druidic - which relies upon a connection and mutual respect between the caster and the life energy of the planet itself.

This is why Divine and Druidic magic require some type of symbol for the caster to power their spells, though their methods are slightly different. Where Druidic magic requires the symbol as a way to connect to the energies of the planet, Divine magic requires a focus for their belief and thoughts to properly channel it outside of their psyche as a way to transfer their energies to the outside world. Arcane magic, by comparison, requires only the energies, materials, and knowledge of how they can be used to complete the spell.

Healing magic works slightly differently in all of the different fields of magic. My brief findings so far are that the state of the recipient plays a key role - Although I am currently unsure if it is because of the intent of the caster, the magic, or the recipient itself that is the cause of this.

Closing a wound is simple enough, as is replacing a limb that has been chopped off. Even if a limb is chopped off and fed to the subject, it will break apart in the stomach when healing is done and the new appendage will rapidly reform to replace it. However, if a limb is chopped off and ground into a paste, THEN fed to the subject, healing magic cast after this point will only restore the lost limb; the matter within the subject's stomach will remain.

Currently, we are still testing if this is due to the matter taking a different form, the magic being unable to correlate the new form with the old, or if it is because the subject no longer fundamentally recognises that the 'ground' limb is still a part of its being and believes it to be something else entirely.-

Albedo stopped halfway through Demiurge's report when she heard a voice coming from one of the rooms off to the side that she was approaching. Mentally reviewing the cleaning schedule for this floor, she moved closer to the open door as she could make out several voices inside the room.

"-call this clean?! I can't even see the sparkle!" a male voice said exasperatingly.

"Sorry, sir!"

"No, sir!"

"We'll work harder, sir!"

Albedo was close enough to the door to make out the words 'Men's Restroom' labelled upon it before she put away the report that she was reading before she knocked upon the door as she entered the room.

There, within the room were four man-servants doing all manner of things. The man-servants of Nazarick all wore identical uniforms of a black butler's suit, not unlike Sebas' own outfit, with a sack or mask that covered the head with only the mouth and eyes visible and a pair of white gloves.

One was cleaning the mirrors within the bathroom, another was running up and down the room with a wet rag on the floor and Albedo could pick up the tart smell of vinegar as the man-servant passed her with a grunt of "Oooooooh!". He was swiftly followed by another man-servant that had a soft, clean towel wiping the floor with an identical "Ooooooh!" as he too passed Albedo.

"You wouldn't happen to have seen the Assistant Butler around here, have you?" Albedo asked him. The man-servant swiftly stopped, stood up, and fired off a salute to the Overseer.

"Yes!" he shouted. "He is down there." the man-servant said as he pointed towards several enclosed stalls further down the room. Albedo nodded her thanks as she turned to the direction he was pointed towards. Behind her, she heard the servant get back to work with an "Oooooh!".

As she approached, Albedo noticed another man-servant standing as stiff as a board outside a stall holding a cleaning bucket. A small figure suddenly hopped out of the stall and spoke to the man-servant.

"Now, that is clean-" The petite penguin said as he clapped his flippers together. "-or as the french would say, nettoyer!... Hm?" he said as he appeared to notice the lithe demon. "Ahh, Lady Albedo! What can I do for you?"

Albedo never was one to waste time. With so many projects and tasks, time management was a crucial skill. She'd meticulously rearranged as much of her schedule as she could to get more time with Lord Ainz, so she'd decided to get straight to the point. "I'm here to pass along some information to you." Albedo said as she handed Eclair a small stack of papers.

"To summarize: With Sebas outside of Nazarick for the foreseeable future, I will be temporarily taking over as your supervisor. This is, ofcourse, just a formality. Moving on, what I just gave you is the result of the latest efforts of Lord Ainz restructuring Nazarick's organization, both within and outside the Great Tomb."

Eclair looked down in thought at the papers for a moment. Specifically, he'd kept reading and re-reading the same paragraph. At first he'd hoped it was simply just a mistake, a proof-reading error or something. But no, Albedo was much too professional to let something as simple as a spelling error be present upon a document that had the seal of Nazarick stamped upon it. Yet there it was.

By the decree of Nazarick's One True Master, Ainz Ooal Gown, every being affiliated with the Great Tomb of Nazarick must have a minimum of one full day and night (i.e. 24 continuous hours) off per month. During this scheduled 'time off' they are not permitted to do activities within Nazarick that consist of their normal duties.

The rest of the document mainly described the limitations. Residents could trade days among others in their departments as long as they still received their full day off by the end of the month. They could not 'stockpile' the days to be used later. Eclair had thought immediately about doing that himself... only that would have beenindefinitely later - endlessly accruing days he had no intention of ever taking off.

"As expected of Lord Ainz." Eclair said after some time.

Albedo quirked an eyebrow. "'As expected of Lord Ainz'?" she questioned.

"Of course, Lady Albedo." Eclair smugly said as he puffed up his chest. "The only reason Lord Ainz would possibly want to enforce giving everyone in Nazarick a day off is because of me." the penguin said as he smoothed out the blond patch of hair on his chest. He suddenly held out his flipper in a practised gesture, toward the man-servant standing next to him.

Albedo could not possibly see where this line of thinking could come from. She'd almost wished it were true, as then that would mean that Eclair was responsible for the suggestion and she could wring the life out of him properly… but sadly, not even the assistant butler would want a day off of his precious cleaning, so it most likely was not him. "... and why is that?" she asked.

The nearby manservant swiftly pulled out a comb, which he quickly put into the extended flipper of the Assistant Butler. Eclair spun the tool expertly as he dramatically brought it up to the small patches of curled blond hair upon the sides of his balding head.

"It's because Lord Ainz is feeling threatened by my skills. Truly, even a Supreme Being such as him can see that if I continue at my current pace, I will become the leader of Nazarick in no time." Eclair said as he finished combing his hair to a satisfactory level and spun the comb back to the man-servant. "Commanding me to take a day off from cleaning is nothing more than a poor attempt to slow me down and extend his own rule. Imagine his surprise when my pace doesn't slow at all since I will work twice as hard to make up for the lost time!"

...You… Albedo could feel the rage within her building as she clenched Demiurge's report and her carefully sculpted mask began to crack ...You ungrateful little... No Supreme One cleans, that is what servants like you are created for, you stupid twit!…

"Alas, I feel I must apologise to you, Lady Albedo." the rockhopper penguin said, taking the Overseers silence as agreement. "You and the rest of Nazarick have gotten caught up in the schemes of a tyrant because of me. When I am the ruler of Nazarick, I will make it up to you." Eclair said reassuringly.

When you are…!

Albedo was actually more annoyed with herself. If someone, only recently under her supervision, turned up dead then it would be a very bad blemish on her career. It was only the fact that he was created to act like this that stopped most of Nazarick from hating his presence, choosing to merely dislike him instead. Unfortunately for Eclair, the Overseer was not like most residents of Nazarick.

"Surely you aren't suggesting that anyone unhappy with Lord Ainz's orders should do something as loathsome as…" Albedo had to grind out the next word, "...rebel… are you?" she finished sweetly. "That would be a very… unwise... decision, assistant butler. Why, even simply suggesting such a thing might imply that the soap within these bathrooms are not the only source of scum within these rooms, you know?"

Eclair visibly panicked for a moment. "N-no, Lady Albedo! I would never dream of such a thing!"

Albedo sneered. "See that it stays that way, servant."

"T-Thank you for informing me of this, Lady Albedo." he said as he hurriedly bowed. "If you'll excuse me, I need to inform the rest of my subordinates of this news." he said as he instructed the man-servant to pick him up and carry him. Anywhere away from the Overseer was preferable.

The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick

10th Floor

Ashurbanipal

The Great Library of Nazarick, Ashurbanipal, was one of the few placed within Nazarick that was in a constant state of evolution. At the time of its creation, most of the books that lined the shelves were blanks or duplicates of other books that had been stored there. Over time however, that slowly changed. Members of Ainz Ooal Gown began to amass the wealth of the guild in this particular area. Though the treasury stored the liquid assets of the guild in the form of currency and various items, one could argue Nazarick's true wealth lay within the library as several things here could be found nowhere else in Nazarick.

Monster Data. Magic Items. Data Crystals. Event Items. Cosmetics. The list went on and on. Even items that the developers added to improve immersion, like books and stories based on Yggdrasil lore, were stored here. Sometimes players even wrote their own fiction and fanfiction to distribute them within Yggdrasil, even works of fiction whose copyright had worn out that players re-created within the game, such was the scope of Yggdrasil's freedom to characters.

Albedo wandered to the front desk of Nazarick's Great Library and was greeted by one of the liches in attendance. "Yes, I requested some books earlier and was told they were ready." the Overseer said.

"Ahh yes… one moment." the undead scholar said as he floated away. Several moments passed as the lich returned with a large stack of books nearly half as tall as Albedo. The librarian set them onto the counter. "There you go." he said.

Albedo began looking through the titles, seemingly satisfied as she browsed through a few of them, her eyes scanning the pages quickly. Part-ways through the pile, however, her brows drew together in confusion. "...Ahh… wait a second. I think there's been a mistake. I didn't ask for this type of thing. This is a… game?"

The undead creature blankly stared at her for a moment before sighing and pulling out a large ledger. He flipped through it for a moment before pointing out the latest entry. "Requested by Lady Albedo: All entries written by one of the 41 Supreme Beings. No limitations." he read off. He looked over the ledger at Albedo. "There is no mistake. That is what you asked for."

Albedo pursed her lips, still reading through the mistaken book. "Hmm…actually, I think I will take this. I might be able to use it after all."

Perhaps Lord Ainz might be able to explain what 'Dungeons and Dragons: Tenth Edition' is?

A/N: So! Another long break for me and one I didn't intend on taking. I think everyone can agree 2020 is possibly the worst year in history and we'll leave it at that, lol. Rest easy though, this story is not dead (thankfully, neither am I) and I've gotten inspiration for quite a few more scenes as well. Also, I plan on correcting a lot of errors and inconsistencies in my formatting and grammar for previous chapters since I have some reliable betas offering to help, so be on the lookout for easier reading because of that. (yay! \o/ )

Many thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I try to reply to everyone with questions, but FFdotnet's message system is terrrrrrible Dx

Reviewers for the last chapter, at the time of this writing, were as follows:

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You all rock.