The events of a month ago led to a spike of activity within the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, which naturally meant that much of Ainz's free time was eaten up by matters of ruling, if only to rubber-stamp for Albedo and Demiurge. With their plans suddenly accelerated well past their expectations, they naturally turned to Ainz for the next steps in his thousand-year plan, which he was eventually able to turn into a 'lesson' for his subordinates to plan well into the future in case of such unexpected events.
Although this allowed him to successfully avoid the first problem, it prevented him from being able to escape spending the better part of a month in his office. Adding to his frustrations, the culprit behind his sudden workload had spent the same month asleep after falling unconscious for unknown reasons. Initial worry gradually faded with reports of her gradual recovery, though she was either unable or unwilling to explain the cause.
Though it was true that his undead body couldn't get physically tired from the work, it was nonetheless exhausting to continue working with few breaks, made even more difficult to refuse when every single one of his subordinates insisted that they would work around the clock for his sake. Only when things began to calm down for everybody involved did he use visiting her as an excuse to take a much-needed break.
After quickly confirming Tanya's location with Demiurge – the same room on the 7th floor, which she had chosen to remain in even after recovering – Ainz teleported over to find her idle but fully equipped, already standing outside the room, waiting for his arrival.
"Just skip the formalities, we're the only ones here." (Ainz)
He cut her off mid-salute, then walked into the room and started casting a list of anti-divination spells inside. She simply shrugged and followed behind him, closing the door and observed his magic while waiting for him to finish. A minute later, he stopped casting and turned back towards her.
"So, how did you end up bedridden for a month? What was so important that you couldn't trust Demiurge to report to him about it?" (Ainz)
"Skipping straight to business? Well, you're pretty much right, though it's not really an issue of trust… It seems that evil gods take after cockroaches: Even if you crush one, there'll be another one crawling out as soon as you turn around." (Tanya)
Though she spoke of them as if they were pests, her choosing to actually recognize them as 'gods' leaked her discomfort.
Ainz let out a breathless sigh.
"I'll ask just to make sure I heard correctly, but the reason you were in a coma was an attack from another god, like that 'Being X' of yours?" (Ainz)
"No, that's the strange thing. She froze me in place, called herself an evil god named D, told me that she enjoyed watching us kill her subordinate, sent me a strange power as a 'gift', then just left." (Tanya)
"Huh? So he was a subordinate, but you got rewarded for killing him? Why would she do that?" (Ainz)
"I have no clue. She gave a power, which was itself a curse, but also left behind a solution, as if it were all a game. What she's thinking, what she's planning, or how it relates to you, I can't begin to guess at her motivations. All I can say for certain is that D is more than capable of being a threat to you." (Tanya)
"So why would you hide something like that for so long? At least if you told Demiurge and Albedo, they might be able to come up with something…" (Ainz)
"No, I can already see how that'd end. The difference between D and Being X is far wider than between you and an ant. They would never accept the idea that any entity could stand above you, especially now that you've gone and killed one who, if counting by energy alone, could generously be considered a god. I'm not saying that you can't tell them, but they're not going to believe any warnings from me. If they insist that you are some kind of supreme being and this somehow ends with combat, you will get everybody killed." (Tanya)
She paused to let the warning sink in.
"Finally, though I can't say for certain, I believe D to be the one being that school, as well as the one who brought you all to this world." (Tanya)
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the fire in his eyes flickering, trying to get an idea of what he was thinking. Disappointingly, he did not react to this nearly as strongly as she had hoped he would.
"You're much calmer about all this than I thought you would be." (Ainz)
"Huh? Me? I am?" (Tanya)
"You organized an ambush to kill off the first god to summon you somewhere. The time before that, you were threatening a self-proclaimed goddess when you thought she might be the one responsible. I figured you'd try attacking the one who sent you between worlds much the same way." (Ainz)
"Just what kind of impression does everybody here have of me? Any way you look at me, I'm a virtuous, peace-loving Japanese adult." (Tanya)
"… Not one of those adjectives describes you though..." (Ainz)
His muttering earned him an expression of genuine shock from Tanya. He made a show of trying to clear his throat before forcibly changing the topic.
"Well, anyway… What have you been doing these last few days, then?" (Ainz)
She appeared to think for a few seconds, then raised a hand towards Ainz.
"[Heal]." (Tanya)
A soft light washed over Ainz, the holy-element healing magic which targeted a critical weakness of all undead. Jumping back, he immediately began casting buffs on himself to prepare for her next move. Instead, she continued to stand in place, making no effort to follow up on the surprise attack. Confused, he stopped casting and cautiously asked,
"What do you think you're doing?" (Ainz)
"You asked me what I as doing, so I answered. Think about it." (Tanya)
Ainz thought through the spell's effects: the 6th tier spell, [Heal], was best known for its excellent cost-effect ratio. It was weaker than even some lower-tier spells, but it was great for any prolonged battle where the caster couldn't afford to burn MP on repeatedly using stronger healing spells, or when the target was another magic caster whose HP could be healed even without more expensive magic.
Thinking back to the game, he saw it as a good selection of healing magic, but the more fundamental problem stuck out:
"Weren't you supposed to be like an arcane magic caster? How are you able to use divine-type healing magic? Even before that, since when were you able to use YGGDRASIL's magic?" (Ainz)
"Correct. I was able to use D's gift to examine it when Lupusregina came and tried it. Your healing magic is much more effective than the basic medical support formulas I know of, so I spent a week recreating it. The effects are there, but the amount of mana they cost to use is harsh compared to what I'm used to." (Tanya)
"The ability to learn new magic without being restricted by your job or levels, and in only a week… That certainly would be powerful, depending on how you used it. How much do you know about its limitations?" (Ainz)
"Help me figure them out, when we have time. I'm interested to see if it can even recreate that 'Super-tier magic' you used before. You should know a few of them, right? Show them to me." (Tanya)
Ainz's reluctance to reveal his strongest spells and trump cards weighed against his curiosity as a gamer, to see how far his magic could be taken. Having expected this, she continued,
"Demiurge did mention that we should be taking advantage of the goodwill our performance gained before it fades. I think having more versatility in magic would help, like what you showed off before." (Tanya)
"Did you already hear about the plans Demiurge came up with after this?" (Ainz)
"No, but I have a decent guess. With the two warring major powers, the Kingdom and the Empire now united under us, the remaining Theocracy is now isolated. They are definitely plotting against us, but will never make a move openly. So, we use their human-supremacy doctrine as a justification to attack and destroy their government, then leave without taking any territory. Left without any central government, it won't take long for pressure and invasions from the south to force them to seek help from the only remaining power, namely, us." (Tanya)
"The details are lacking, but broadly speaking, you are correct. That does line up with one of Demiurge's proposals." (Ainz)
"Anybody could come up with a plan like that. The heads of the Theocracy themselves are probably already expecting an attack, which is why they are being so cautious not to provoke us. They will have prepared, which is why we need to make it clear that our enemy is only their government, not the people in the country. Ideally, even their army would be left untouched." (Tanya)
"Should I say that you are becoming more like Demiurge by the day?" (Ainz)
"I like to think that he's closer to our Empire's military high command, but I'll take that as a complement. Anyway, if your work is slowing down enough to take time off and come here, could you find time to show off some of your magic?" (Tanya)
"Very well. I'll find some time for that and get back to you later. In the mean time, go learn from Mare and Shalltear instead. They can probably explain the fundamentals better than I can." (Ainz)
"Alright, I will. Then, until another day." (Tanya)
She nodded, and waited for Ainz to teleport back out of the room. Once she was alone again, she formed a joyous smile.
His anti-divination magic, resistance against the system's magic elements, plus permission to study from two other masters in different fields? I hadn't expected this much of a yield just from provoking him a little. Even if I can't find a use for most of those, every spell is another piece of documentation for figuring out how this whole system of magic works.
These gifts are amazing. I was afraid of the side-effects they might have, but it's more like having ten of myself to assign work to, the perfect subordinates (me) working under the perfect manager (me). I didn't lie when I said that it took several days to learn that spell in aggregate, but after splitting up the work and using those thought acceleration abilities the white girl gave, it didn't even take thirty minutes in real time.
I thought he might doubt why I was able to recover so suddenly after she helped me out, but not only did he believe the powers I explained, he even gave me his blessing to go steal his subordinates' secrets? Wonderful. Truly wonderful.
He really is too trusting.
