...
Momonga watched as the twenty-four people quivered in fear. The odd diversity in which they were adorned raised an eyebrow of confusion.
"Sebas, you may rise."
The Butler of Nazarick nodded his head and joined the Pleiades in line; all of whom looked at the group with various desires. Food, toys, and torture were all leaking out of the Pleiades Battle Maids' minds as they hoped to get a piece for themselves. But only one maid stood resolute.
Narberal Gamma.
Her face held nothing but disgust for the beings before her master.
Utter disgust.
"Hello people, welcome to my home. You are all probably wondering why I have invited you here. Frankly, it's to ask you questions."
Momonga's voice was deep, resonating with nobility, and he made sure to treat his guests properly.
So why do they look like frozen chickens?
The cowering folks nodded in understanding, but no one stepped forth to speak.
"Umu, is there a representative who speaks on your behalf? Someone whom I could converse?"
All the eyes shot to one person - Davernoch.
It was no longer the sight of hope; that he could save them from Death's incarnate.
Rather it was the hope for an escape - a scapegoat.
Davernoch's hands trembled beneath his cloak as if he were to shake off the shackles of Death. For the first time in decades - last since he was human - he felt a foreign swelling in his chest. Emotions surged into his mind, crashing into the entirety of his being.
However, those waves would recede, back into the ocean of abyss- only to panic once more as they suddenly returned. They would build up, and fade out from his emotional suppression. But the span of time in between was too sudden for him to process the anomaly he'd undergone. Fear would rebuild itself; giving him a mental state constantly fluctuating.
Thus making him the first Elder Lich to have a seizure.
"Y-yes… I-I am… … D-Davernoch. Th-the leader… of this g-group… "
Finally able to speak, his voice resembled the cries of a chalkboard and nails for all to hear.
"Good, good. Can you tell me about yourself? Where do you come from? What it's like?"
Momonga watched as the Elder Lich didn't cease shaking or stuttering, often finding himself asking, Is this secretly Mare? It took much more time than anticipated to gather the information he wanted to get. Such that if it weren't for his emotional suppressor, Momonga would have burned them all in his impatience.
Although, he did learn many things about the New World.
First was the Countries.
The group brought to him were from the Re-Estize Kingdom. A country located to the far Northwest of where they are right now, ruled by a King and courted with Nobles, who owned portions of the land. Specifically, he learned the group belonged to an organization within the Re-Estize Kingdom: Eight Fingers.
Eight Fingers was an Underground Crime Syndicate divided into eight departments, each representing one finger of the God of Theft: Assassination, Banking, Drug Trade, Gambling, Larceny, Security, Slave Trafficking, and Smuggling.
Although they were based in Re-Estize, their influence reached across the entire continent. Making them the largest criminal influence.
The next country mentioned was the Baharuth Empire. The Empire, located East of North from the Tomb, was affected by the crime syndicate, but not as much as Re-Estize. Ever since the new Emperor took the throne, he ruled with an iron fist and through the notion, Keep your friends close, and enemies closer.
His first move purged most of the nobility, earning him the title, Bloody Emperor. Through the many reforms, the common folks' life began to prosper; which made Eight Fingers' activity dwindle, but that didn't soothe the conflict between the two countries. In fact, the Bloody Emperor's annual war only intensified the hatred for the Empire, while also providing a cause for Patriotism in the already-divided Kingdom.
The third Country he learned of was the Draconic Kingdom, located to the South of West. Due to a rise in intensity with their ongoing conflict with the beastmen, multiple families began fleeing with their wealth, and Eight Fingers didn't let this opportunity slide; taking every man available to amass stock.
The second thing he learned of was the Currency.
All the countries followed the same rules of economics, making transactions between each gold from Yggdrasil wasn't known to them; instead, they used metals and ores of varying rarities: Copper, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
Although when he appraised the coins, he learned they weren't pure. Most of the coins used were composed of a mix of ores, with the specific metal as the majority. In other words, the gold from Yggdrasil was valued more than the Gold coins of this world.
Each coin was verified by the Merchant's Guild and officialized with the symbol of the Guild on one side, while the other had the God of Fortune.
This makes things complicated…
Without the proper preparations, if Momonga went into a country and started using Yggdrasil coins, he would scream, Foreigner!
...something he wanted to avoid.
Lucky for him, the group had a decent amount of money on them, which would prove useful for the time being. It would be enough to venture out for a while, but nothing substantial.
The last thing he learned of were the occupations.
Though Eight Fingers made up the security details, a portion of them were Workers who took on jobs from the organization. Workers were people who were similar to Adventurers.
Whereas Adventurers were people who would register and take on tasks within an International Organization - the Adventurer's Guild; Workers were the people who broke, or didn't want to follow, the rules imposed by the Guild.
Through the Guild, people can request tasks to be done, and the Guild will do a background check to confirm the details. Afterwards, Adventurers could accept quests befitting their rank.
However, as it was an International Organization, Adventurers were prohibited from imposing or collaborating within political schemes; something Workers could do.
Momonga remained silent as he contemplated all the information dumped onto him. His head rested in his hand, and the burning sockets died out.
When he sorted everything out, he looked back at the audience.
"...This is… a lot to take in…"
In his mind, he was trying to figure out the best possible way to lead Nazarick. His home and the denizens of it were his top priority. Momonga pushed his desire to explore onto the back burner, and put all his energy into ensuring the legacy of his friends would everlast.
For now, we should remain hidden. There were many players the Guild displeased, and if any of them came to this world too, would they be friendly? Or would they aim for revenge? Not to mention, we don't know the depths of the New World's strength. Even if these people are relatively weak, if this Eight Fingers is as massive as it is, I doubt they wouldn't have the power to impose their plans.
He sighed once more -
"...This really… is a lot…"
- and looked over the group.
He had made his verdict.
"I do thank you for your cooperation, and in return, I would like to accommodate you for it…"
The faces of the people didn't shift much, except for the faint trace of hope that said, Please don't kill us, that's all we wish for.
"...However, if I let you go, I'm sure spreading this encounter would bring more harm than good…"
At this point, Davernoch's face was no longer twisting with just the remnants of skin; it was twisting with despair.
"...please understand, forfeiting your lives isn't personal."
As Momonga was about to order their demise, the cries for mercy rang through the halls with each person's plea; but a stern voice cut through them all.
"Momonga-sama, forgive my interruption but I have a suggestion."
He was shocked to hear the voice. From their zealous loyalty in him, he figured they wouldn't dare question him; much less, add a suggestion.
But he wasn't disappointed.
In fact, he was quite pleased. Hearing a second opinion was something he would always allow. After all, it was how he ran the Guild as its Guildmaster.
"No, no, there is no reason to apologize, Sebas. Rather, I'm pleased with hearing your opinion on this matter."
"Thank you, Momonga-sama. I would like to suggest we spare the women here. I believe that since they were abducted by these men, and you have saved them from such heinies fates, they would be grateful to you, and would serve greater as a loyal asset to Nazarick, than dying."
"...Indeed, that is reasonable," shifting his gaze to the girls, he said, "So girls, would you like to serve me and Nazarick?"
"Y-yes!"
"O-of course, Mighty Being!"
"Okay."
His offer was instantly taken up on, as each one of them agreed to his kindness.
However, they were not the only ones to push their luck.
"O' great one! If you spare us too, we would be of use to you too!"
The bowing figure of Sebas turned his head, with a deadly stare, he locked onto Davernoch.
"...There is one more thing you should know, Momonga-sama…"
"Hoh? Do you think these men would be useful too?"
"...No, it's quite the contrary. The one before you has titled himself something blasphemous to all of Nazarick… something I dare not say…"
"Sebas, how would I know what he said if you don't tell me?"
"Very well, he called himself the Undead King."
The throne room shot silent.
The humans were so because they thought the Overlord took offense to it, and so they urinated in their pants out of fear.
The Pleiades were so because they were fuming with anger towards his arrogance.
But Momonga?
"HAhahAHAHA! GOOD JOKE BUDDY!"
He found it ironic how a level 30 Skeleton Mage called himself that when he didn't even reach the level to be promoted to an Elder Lich. In his eyes, it was like a child who just learned to run, now believing themself to be an Olympics track runner.
Trying to play it off, Davernoch laughed with Momonga.
"Haha… ...hahah… yeah, it was totally a joke… ha!"
But as soon as he joined in, Momonga's emotional suppression activated, leaving a lonely Davernoch laughing. It seemed like the dude was mocking Momonga, which caused the seven NPCs to fume with more anger.
"Momonga-sama, allow me to dispose of this pest."
"Okay Narberal, just make sure not to get the carpet bloody… nevermind, Undead don't have blood."
With his permission granted, Narberal pointed a finger at Davernoch.
"[Lightning]"
A stream of electricity shot from her finger in a straight line towards the Skeleton Mage. It only hit his leg, but her accuracy was perfect. The Skeleton Mage's leg faltered and he let out a sound of pain as he fell to the carpet below.
But nobody cared.
Narberal proceeded to tear apart Davernoch with simple [Lightning] spells, limb by limb; killing him very slowly.
Everyone watched in silence, as the pitiful Undead King faded into dust.
When she was finished, a genuine smile formed on her lips.
"Even mealworms smell nice when roasted."
The humans who watched the display didn't think their fear could get any larger, but they were wrong. Seeing the fate Davernoch had made them think about biting their tongues off to die quickly.
Even the girls who knew they were spared of death couldn't help but ask, Did we make the right choice?
"Alright, we wasted enough time now. If there is nothing more to be said, Pleiades Battle Maids, if you may, please dispose of the designated guests."
""Yes, Momonga-sama!""
All of the Maids answered in unison ang began their feast.
Yuri decided to give quick deaths, punching the target's heads off; Lupusregina skinned her target alive, as she ripped their limbs off one by one; Solution made sure to slowly burn their bodies in acid; Shizu shot magical bullets through their hearts; Entoma ate away at the men's meat; and Narberal continued killing them how she did Davernoch prior.
Once all of the people except the girls were killed, Momonga cursed himself, I forgot humans have blood.
"Sebas, take our remaining guests to their quarters."
"Would the guest suites be fine?"
"Mm, yes that's fine. Also, have someone clean up this mess."
"I understand."
Momonga watched Sebas take the horrified girls away, and turned to the Pleiades who seemed to cower.
"Is something wrong?"
"Momonga-sama, if you wanted this mess cleaned up, you could have ordered us to do so."
"Okay, you can clean up after your mess."
The Pleiades Maids bloomed with his words and began cleaning up the Throne Room. It was their pride to carry out his orders, so they all felt joy when they got to do more and complete a task usually assigned to a regular Homunculus Maid.
Somewhere in the corner of Nazarick, Fifth was crying.
" … Sniff… Did I do something wrong… ? … Am I unworthy of serving the last Supreme Being… ?"
She was happy to hear Momonga ordered her to clean up the Throne Room, as it was her day to do so too...
… but when she arrived, Momonga said, "I had the Pleiades Maids clean it up instead. Sorry, I wasted your time having you come all this way."
...