Intermission

Jircniv was sitting down on a couch, enjoying a glass of wine from the northern end of the empire. Ever since the Empire became a vassal nation under the Sorcerous Kingdom, his own workload had greatly decreased. The last few months had given the Empire's people confidence that the Sorcerer King wasn't interested in slaughtering them for no reason, and even the remaining nobility were running out of resistance.

After the first few who had tried to oppose Albedo's suggestions were promptly removed from their posts, the rest gave in. It was a waste of talent, but rooting them out now was necessary to avoid giving the Sorcerer King a reason to complain. Besides, most of those removed where just minor nobles Jircniv hadn't had time to get rid of before, when his attention was drawn to bigger fish. None were irreplaceable, not in the way Fluder Paradyne had been.

But he was gone now. He had long since stopped trying to hide his betrayal, holing himself up in his study and ignoring all but the most important meetings. As soon as Albedo's plan to finish augmenting the Empire's army with the Sorcerous Kingdom's undead, he left without a moment's hesitation.

It was inevitable considering the old magician's personality, but Jircniv couldn't just get over his betrayal so quickly. His Empire might be safe from invasion even without him, but that fact didn't make his departure any less of a loss.

Hating Ainz Ooal Gown for stealing him away wouldn't do any good, so he could only tell himself to move on. The old man was probably crying tears of joy while reading some ancient tome deep in that nightmarish tomb, though that was assuming he was still human. For all Jircniv knew, he might well have been turned into some kind of Lich already.

One was far more willing than the other, but they were subjects of the same ruler. Maybe they would meet again one day, assuming he survived long enough.

Any plans to incite rebellion had long since been abandoned. All Jircniv could do was continue to be as moderately competent as he could, at the exact middle between useless enough to replace and competent enough to purge.

"So, what is it now, Varmilinen? From the look on your face, another report about the Sorcerer King?" (Jircniv)

"Y-yes… but, more precisely, it's…" (Roune)

"Let me guess, did he kill the Platinum Dragon Lord? Found the hidden treasures of the Eight Greed Kings? Taken over the Re-Estize Kingdom over the weekend?" (Jircniv)

Jircniv laughed while sarcastically listing off legends, but Roune's face turned even more pale than usual from the last one.

"Wait, seriously? The Kingdom?" (Jircniv)

"Yes, although we called most of our foreign agents home, they sent word themselves… In an attempt to seize the throne, a group of their nobles summoned the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth, who was thought to have been defeated by His Majesty, the Sorcerer King, but narrowly escaped using an item prepared beforehand.

They activated the item, which allowed Jaldabaoth to return to this world, and tried to control him, but of course, their attempt to bind him failed, and he began to rampage around the capital. The nobles and royalty gathered in the castle were wiped out, however, the damage to the city was relatively minor, as they were saved by the Sorcerous Kingdom's envoy, who has been declared a hero by Princess Renner, the last surviving member of the royal Vaiself family…" (Roune)

Roune trailed off while Jircniv sank back into the couch. He thought he would be prepared to hear anything by this point, but actually hearing the report was still depressing. He didn't need to hear the rest of the report to figure it out.

She was an enigma he couldn't understand, but all this was far too convenient for her to be simple coincidence. He had no idea how much of it had been her planned and how much was opportunism, but none of that changed the fact that she had seized power both legally and through popular support.

If she was calling the Sorcerous Kingdom's envoy – one of the monsters who had been in the throne room when he visited Nazarick – a hero of the people, Jircniv had no doubt that Renner's next action would be becoming their subject. If she pointed at the Empire as an example, she probably wouldn't even have to deal with much resistance.

And unlike the Empire's professional knights who opposed disbanding the army, the Kingdom's conscripted army would be thankful for being spared the forced military service.

"So she used this hero as a symbol to gain support for surrendering and entrusting their Kingdom's safety to the Sorcerous Kingdom they represented?" (Jircniv)

"T-that is correct, Your Majesty." (Roune)

Jircniv sighed.

"So the reason they went for such a primitive plan was because the targets were even stupider? The only ones who had to believe it were the moronic backup nobles in the kingdom, who went and got themselves killed. Meanwhile, letting anybody with half a brain know something is up made them wary of external threats, which turned their attention away from the actions of their own." (Jircniv)

Just as Jircniv had feared, the plan behind the Sorcerer King's supposed death had been flawless, far deeper and more complex than anything he could have imagined. He called it a lame scheme when he first heard of it, but now that he had a better look, it was a perfect conspiracy.

Much like he had hoped to crush the Kingdom by bleeding them of their working population and letting them fight amongst themselves, he had simply left behind the tool and sat back while they destroyed themselves.

Whether Renner was in on it from the beginning, or somebody who believed the shortest route to salvation was being useful to the Sorcerer King, that was inconsequential. She was in power now, and she would continue to rule with his support, until the Re-Estize Kingdom was just another puppet state like the Empire was steadily growing into.

"What do we do now, Your Majesty?" (Roune)

"Now? Nothing, of course. Everything is as the Sorcerer King planned. There is nothing for us to say about it. If you want to do something, pour yourself a drink to our new allies in the Kingdom." (Jircniv)

Jircniv poured another glass of his wine and set it down on the table. Roune continued to watch him nervously, uncertain of whether the comment was a serious invitation or a joke.

"Allies, you say?" (Roune)

"We're fellow vassals under the same overlord. See if we can get some trade routes opened through E-Rantel to the Kingdom. If conquering them is no longer an option, we may as well start to rebuild relations through trade. I'm sure that woman was planning on taking advantage of vassalization as well, so they should be prepared on their end as well." (Jircniv)

"Would the people of the Kingdom accept trade with us so easily after so many years of warring?" (Roune)

"If she can get them to accept the Sorcerer King's rule, she'll have something prepared for us as well. Let them take care of that themselves." (Jircniv)

"Is Princess Renner really such a trustworthy individual?" (Roune)

Jircniv sneered at Roune's question.

"Trust? Trust has nothing to do with it. We're both acting in our own interest, so it's not hard to figure out what she'll do, especially since neither of us has a reason to hide it from each other anymore." (Jircniv)

He didn't like her, but he could make use of her. As long as she viewed him the same way, they could work together. That being the case, reforming the Empire's laws and strengthening its economy would be even easier if they could work with the Re-Estize Kingdom, now that the idiots among their nobility had been wiped out. If the Sorcerer King wished to rule over a prosperous world like Albedo had suggested, that was a goal he could get behind as well.

Thinking about the future of their two countries reminded Jircniv of another point he was curious about.

"Ah, right. Who was that hero the Sorcerer King sent? I can't imagine it was the insect warrior or the toad monster, was it that old man, or perhaps one of the dark elf children who came here before?" (Jircniv)

"N-no, according to the report, it was apparently a gold-haired demon with the appearance of a young girl." (Roune)

Jircniv thought back to everybody he saw in Nazarick, but couldn't think of anybody who matched the description.

"Gold-haired demon…? Was there somebody like that among his aides in the throne room?" (Jircniv)

"No, I inquired further about her physical description from the Kingdom's messenger, but they did not match anybody who was in the Sorcerer King's throne room at that time." (Roune)

Jircniv laughed. He could only laugh.

"So she has enough power to defeat the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth in single combat, but in the Sorcerous Kingdom she's not even important enough to stand in the throne room by his side? This isn't even funny anymore…" (Jircniv)