It had felt like an eternity since they departed the city. It was probably less than an hour, but her anxiety made time feel strange.
She was trying to sit in a polite way, and not make any sounds.
"Neia Baraja..."
Her breathing stopped as she heard him speak suddenly.
"... is it not strange that we are sitting in silence? Perhaps we should have a conversation, no?"
Of course, she could not refuse a request. Even though it seemed like a suggestion, it was a suggestion made by the Sorcerer King. Although she dreaded speaking to him, it was probably inevitable either way, since they would be together like this for days and days.
"If that is what Your Majesty wishes, I will be glad to converse!" She lowered her head as she said that.
"Hm? Raise your head. That wasn't an order. I just thought it'd be better for both of us if we were to not just sit in silence from dawn to dusk, every single day."
"Of course!"
"... Then what do you wish to talk about? Perhaps it would be better to know a bit about each other first. Can I ask you to tell me about yourself?"
"Of course, Your Majesty."
She accepted, but quickly realized she didn't really know what to say.
"I am a squire, but I was chosen for this mission thanks to my good senses."
What else? She didn't feel like she was interesting, and she was certainly not important. While she was trying desperately to reach for something to say, the Sorcerer King asked a question.
"I see. What exactly do you do? Do you enjoy it?"
"Well, I do certain chores like polishing and cleaning armour, or checking equipment for damage. There are some things that come up like when I've taken horses to the stables of inns. During our travels, I also did scouting and kept watch. I do enjoy most of it, especially since it is for my country."
"I see. It is good that you are able to enjoy your work. I believe there was a saying that went something like 'find a profession you like, and you will never have to work again'."
She had never heard such a saying, but it was obvious the Sorcerer King would have great knowledge of many things. She already knew he was very wise.
"And when will you become a paladin? Or is there something in between you have to be first?"
The conversation was surprisingly casual, and there was something about his tone which made her feel more relaxed.
He didn't talk like he was making a big speech.
He was just talking to her.
Speaking to the Sorcerer King was far less scary than she thought just a moment ago, though that isn't really saying much.
The Sorcerer King asked all sorts of questions about Neia. Surely her life wasn't that interesting, right? It certainly couldn't have been to someone like this undead king. After she answered a question regarding her training and how she was better with a bow rather than a sword, there was a brief silence.
"Ah, but perhaps you want to know about me? I was carelessly asking questions without giving you a chance to ask yours. Please, do feel free to ask if you wish."
In truth, she was very curious about many things regarding the Sorcerer King and his kingdom. But she felt that asking personal things was rude.
"I do not wish to ask you any questions, Your Majesty."
"Huh?" The noise of surprise made Neia fear that she's made a mistake.
"Uhm, is that so? Are you not curious at all about me? Or perhaps you'd like to hear about my kingdom, or other countries like the Empire?"
"I do not wish to ask about anything."
She knew this sounded a bit strange, and there was another pause.
"I see. What is the reason for that, then?"
"Uhm... It feels rude to ask questions about Your Majesty."
What? What the hell is she talking about? It's rude to ask questions?
Suzuki Satoru knew that it would be strange of him to ask a CEO about his wife or something, so he even suggested the topic of his own kingdom, or even other countries. What was the problem with questions?
He thought for a moment and seemed to find the answer.
She just finds him intimidating, because he's both the ruler of a foreign country, and undead.
It was natural that she wouldn't open up and become friendly immediately.
In that case, perhaps it'd be better if he just started talking on his own?
"... the magical beast resembles a large rodent with a snake-like tail. Momon usually doesn't like showing it around, though."
While making sure to listen carefully, Neia thought that perhaps he'd sensed her unease and decided to talk instead. "Ah, he's so considerate!" Her respect for him grew rapidly. Free of doubt, she was now listening to him speak about his kingdom and its inner workings.
Knowing that there was someone kind underneath his scary appearance, she found it very easy to listen to the Sorcerer King speak.
"... the dwarves had informed me that there were frost dragons. I was not very concerned, I must say." He opened his eyes for a moment. The girl was looking at him, of course. Her scary eyes made him close his own again. He found that this was the best way to deal with her. She could not see that his eyes were closed due to his skeletal face, and so it was perfect.
Over the last few days, she's gotten quite a bit more lively. He did not really enjoy the atmosphere of the first or second day, but now she seemed to relax. If she was relaxed, he didn't have to be as careful, so he didn't mind sharing his stories.
"That frost dragon led me to his father. After I killed him easily, his wives gathered all his children to pledge their loyalty..."
He was incredible.
Neia grew to really enjoy the Sorcerer King's stories.
They made her a bit afraid of him sometimes, but even that just made her respect him more.
She leaned back a bit, her back sinking into the cushioning, which was so comfortable her butt never hurt anymore, unlike when riding a horse.
"... and then I had to kill one of those children, because he was refusing to listen. But it wasn't a bad thing at all. The bodies of dragons have many excellent uses, such as..."
It was another cold morning. Neia was eating from a bowl of soup using a somewhat crude wooden spoon. She didn't sleep well for some reason, but that was okay.
Her days were now entirely composed of sitting in a comfy, warm carriage and talking to the Sorcerer King. She was honestly looking forward to it every morning now.
Today, she intended to ask him more about those 40 friends he spoke of before, and the group which they formed. Distracted by her own thoughts, she let a small drop drip down from her spoon, and it made a small splash in the bowl, which in turn released even more, smaller droplets.
She looked down, and panicked. There was a single, tiny drop of soup on her clothes.
With horror, she immediately put down her food and scrambled to find a rag and some water.
She could not possibly appear in front of the Sorcerer King with a stain on her clothes. It would reflect poorly on her country and he would probably be offended.
The idea alone was enough to send her into a spiral of worry.
She probably didn't have time to strip, wash it, and let it dry. She'd have to wipe it with a wet rag and hope that will be enough.
She knocked on the door of the carriage.
"This is squire Neia Baraja!"
"Come in."
As always, the Sorcerer King was already waiting there. She opened the door and bowed before entering. As she sat down across from him, she didn't think he looked at where her stain was before, so he probably didn't notice. This made her sigh with relief.
"Your Majesty. May I ask you about your old friends today?"
The Sorcerer King seemed to have some sort of reaction. His body moved just slightly.
"Hmm? You want to hear about them?"
"Yes, Your Majesty! I would be happy to!"
"Hm. Very well."
...
As the Sorcerer King spoke about them, Neia felt that he was a bit different. Right now, the way in which he spoke made him seem like any other commoner. That sort of kingly way of speaking was mostly gone. He sounded like he could be anyone she knew. He was probably trying to make her feel better by trying to act like that.
She remembered that she was far more tense the first few days, and so he was probably just being very considerate again. The idea that a ruler would go out of his way to act this way towards a lowly squire seemed ridiculous, and yet here was the Sorcerer King.
"... but Ulbert and Touch-me got into another argument... those two always fought..."
Something else caught her attention.
The way His Majesty spoke about his friends was a bit distant. Neia had the feeling that most of these events must have happened in the distant past, or something like that. When he had finished talking, he looked out the window for a bit. It seemed he himself was a bit lost in his old, pleasant memories.
"Your Majesty? May I ask when these things happened? How are your friends doing now?"
The question seemed to stop him in his tracks. He opened his mouth for a moment before closing it again. He didn't need to open it to speak, so this was the first time she'd seen him do that. He slowly turned towards her and looked her in the eyes.
Did she say something?
Did she do something wrong?
She was panicking and even though she did not know what he was going to say, she was preparing herself for a sincere apology.
She truly did not want to upset him.
Did something happen to his friends?
She should have considered that before asking such a question.
But the way he spoke about them, they must have been incredibly powerful, just like him, right?
The silence went on, which made her anxiety rise.
"Your Majesty, I apologize for-"
He raised his hand to stop her, not averting his gaze from the window.
He watched the trees go by in the distance. Though this was what he'd seen for days on end now, it was somehow calming.
The girl's question hit him a bit harder than it should have. Perhaps because he didn't expect it.
Still, now he felt bad. He was being somewhat rude to her by sitting in silence like that.
He was the one who stopped the conversation just now, and he was the one with higher authority. If Suzuki Satoru were stopped from speaking by a CEO, he wouldn't dare speak again until spoken to again, so he knew how the girl felt.
He had to figure out a way to break the ice now. He wanted that sort of casual feeling to continue, and let this awkward situation disappear already.
But he found it hard to think of anything. Maybe looking around will help?
He looked at her clothes. Her simple clothes, which bore the Holy Kingdom's crest... and that didn't make him think of anything at all.
He looked around the interior. It was quite fancy, and the colour was quite nice. She's already told him she liked it, so that probably wasn't a good topic.
Then he looked back out the window, and remembered seeing that the party was eating soup earlier. Maybe he could ask her about her eating habits during such a journey?
"... it seems you've had soup for breakfast, huh?"
It took her a moment to realize what he meant. He looked at her clothes just now. The stain must have still been there, and he had just pointed it out to her.
She felt even worse, now having two things to apologize for. Making mistakes like this, being rude to someone like His Majesty felt just awful. Everything was going so well these past few days, but today she's made two mistakes in a row.
She destroyed everything in just one day.
The shame and guilt she felt at that moment were overpowering.
She did not hesitate, kneeling in front of him immediately.
"My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty!"
Huh?
What?
What happened just now? What was she apologizing for?
"I'm sorry, I thought I'd cleaned it! I apologize! And my words earlier, I'm sorry for being so rude!"
What the hell is happening?
This was very troublesome. This girl was now apologizing to him, and he doesn't even know why.
He could guess that half of what she's said referred to her question about his friends, but what was that other thing? Something about cleaning?
Feeling that he had no chance of figuring out what she was talking about, he thought about his options.
If he were to simply ask her about what she was apologizing for, he might look like a fool. If it was something obvious and he didn't notice, it would make everyone think they can get away with anything near him.
He could also just forgive her without even knowing what he's forgiving, but this could also backfire. If he forgave her for something very disrespectful, he would send the message that he is someone you can be rude to.
He sighed internally, seeing that neither option was very good.
He finally decided to just ask, thinking that perhaps he could phrase it in a sneaky way.
"Hm? Sorry, could you repeat that? You were apologizing for your words earlier, but what was the other thing?"
He felt this wasn't a very convincing performance.
"I apologize for wearing stained clothes in your presence! I thought they had been washed thoroughly enough! Shall I go change right now?"
He was confused again.
Her clothes were stained? He looked at them before just now, and they seemed fine. He couldn't see anything from the current angle either.
And what was that about changing? They were in a moving carriage.
"Well, I accept your apology for both. I also do not think it is necessary to change right now."
"Yes, Your Majesty! You are far too kind!"
She spoke without raising her head.
"This will not happen again!"
"Good. You may go back to your seat now." As she did, he did his best to look her over, and found absolutely no stains.
What was she talking about?
The sun's position in the sky indicated that they would soon be stopping for the day. As he noticed this, Ainz thought back to when he first tried to ask the squire about food earlier today, only for that whole thing to happen.
So, since he was out of ideas for topics anyway, he tried to ask the same question again.
"Ah, I never did get the answer to an earlier question. You seemed to be eating soup for breakfast today. What is the food situation like?"
Ainz saw Neia's eyes focus on him intensely now. He didn't know why, but he didn't like it.
He closed his eyes before continuing.
"Perhaps I should be more specific? What sort of meals do you even eat? Are you satisfied with them?"
Neia then gave a simple list of the foods they regularly ate along the way. Honestly, this reminded him of the reports Demiurge would send, which immediately made him not want to pay attention.
"... and as for how I like it... well, I suppose I haven't thought about it like that for a while. I learned to just eat whatever is available, and appreciate not going hungry."
Ainz no longer felt any hunger, nor could he enjoy food for pleasure due to his undead body. Because of this, he felt like he could understand what she meant.
Or maybe it's not really the same at all? He wasn't sure.
"I see. But what about before? What sort of food did you like before?"
Perhaps Neia never really thought about it, but she could not provide an answer right away.
Still, she didn't want to just leave it at that. And so, she reached far into her past for a satisfactory answer.
She remembered her mother's cooking.
It wasn't good.
Her father was the one to handle that. When she was young, she was also taught about foraging by him. What she could and could not eat in the wild if she ever found herself alone.
Thinking about her parents, alone is exactly how she felt right now.
Tears were starting to appear in her eyes.
He realized that he was a bit careless with his questions. Making her think about her favourite food from before would probably just make her crave it, even though it's not something she can have anytime soon. She'd probably also think about her life before the war.
It's probably best he apologized. As he was about to, she spoke up.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty... I suppose I'd never really thought about it."
He could sense a sadness in her voice as she blinked rapidly and averted her gaze. He sighed deeply and mused to himself. "Haahh... I was right. All that did was make her homesick. I definitely ought to apologize now..."
He then assumed a practiced pose, and did his best to speak in a way that was both befitting the Sorcerer King, but also empathetic.
"I am sorry to have reminded you of your home in such a difficult time. Clearly I had carelessly struck a sore spot..."
What? His Majesty was apologizing to her again?! Clearly he had done nothing wrong!
What should she do next? Should she apologize for making him apologize? Clearly His Majesty was too kind and understanding for his own good...
"Y-Your Majesty! There is no need to apologize to someone like me!"
"Hm? I have wronged you, no? In that case, I should apologize. That is a basic courtesy which should be afforded to all, regardless of status."
"But you haven't wronged me at all! It's not your fault!"
"No, I believe it is. I could have predicted that this line of questioning would lead you to thinking about your homeland."
"Your Majesty..." She wanted to say more, but the situation had confused her, in a way.
She was now arguing with the Sorcerer King about whether or not his apology was warranted. Normally she would never dare argue with him, but now she was doing it anyway. Should she just accept his apology without thinking, because that is what he said, and his word was absolute? If one ordered a subordinate to be disrespectful to their ruler, would it be allowed? Or should the subordinate argue?
In this case, the Sorcerer King was needlessly apologizing to her, which could be said to be disrespecting himself on her behalf. What was she to do?
"You accept my apology, then?"
Oh no, she'd stayed silent for too long, and so the decision seems to have been made for her. What was she supposed to say? "No, I don't"? Clearly, she just had to accept now.
"Y-yes, Your Majesty..."
"Ah, I am glad."
… … …
Ainz was sitting in his office in Nazarick, carefully reading documents he did not understand.
Albedo stood in front of his desk. After closing another one of Demiurge's detailed reports, his thoughts went to what was awaiting him in about an hour.
He would spend another day in a carriage, talking to that girl. That completely plain girl. "Ah, right... I still have to make it up to her. After all, I've not only made her think about delicious food, but also touched on some sort of sore spot... then how about..."
"Albedo. Have the maids prepare a platter with different kinds of foods. Preferably choose foods that taste good even if eaten cold, and will last throughout the day."
"May I ask as to why, Lord Ainz?"
"Ah, it's nothing important. Not at all."
As Neia knocked on the door of His Majesty's carriage like she has been doing every day now, she thought about her last interaction with him.
"Ah... he really apologized to me... what a difficult situation..."
She then thought about all of yesterday, and about the stained clothes... she felt that guilt and shame again.
"Hopefully today will go better..."
She then heard his voice from the carriage.
"Come in."
She opened the door, and bowed to His Majesty before entering.
As she was closing the door behind her, she noticed a platter of delicious-looking food placed next to where she always sits.
At the same time, the various smells originating from it became obvious.
"Your Majesty? This food..." She was utterly confused as to why it was here.
"When I was in my kingdom, I was thinking about the unfortunate incident earlier when I not only stumbled upon a painful topic, but also made you remember luxuries which you currently do not have. So I brought this little gift as an apology."
Neia's head started spinning.
"B-but Your Majesty! There was never a need to apologize! You were never at fault! This is all unnecessary!"
"Is that so? Well, I brought this food, and I can't eat it, so it seems you will have to."
At that moment, it seemed like she fell for some sort of elaborate trap of kindness.
"Is... is that really okay?"
"Yes, it's fine. I brought it for you, after all. It's just some food."
The words "for you" made her feel warm... and... there was something else.
An emotion she wasn't quite sure about.
She sat down and bowed to His Majesty once again. Then she looked at the delicious-smelling food beside her. She wasn't really hungry, but she wasn't full either.
She looked to His Majesty as she slowly moved to grab the platter. The whole time, she was watching him to make sure he wasn't displeased somehow, as she couldn't get rid of the feeling that this whole situation was wrong. Not that it did her much good. Even if he was displeased, he didn't have a face to show that this was the case.
Putting the platter in her lap, Neia looked more closely at everything on it. She did not recognize most of these things, but by smelling them closely she could guess what they might taste like. There were slices of what looked like cake and pie, a brown sort of pastry which smelled like a type of sweet she's never smelled before, pieces of what might be dried fruit, open sandwiches, some sort of light brown candy, transparent semi-solids which smelled sweet, and pieces of different types of cheese.
After some consideration, she grabbed a slice of brown-coloured cake.
She looked to His Majesty one last time to make sure she really could eat it.
After looking for several moments, he just sat there in a regal sort of way, looking at her calmly.
It seemed it was fine, so she slowly and timidly put the food in her mouth.
As soon as the icing touched her tongue, its incredibly sweet flavour made her almost moan a little bit.
It would have been extremely embarrassing if she did so, but that's just how tasty it was. She felt she couldn't really help it after the sorts of meals she'd been eating these past few months.
As she bit into the cake, the sweetness only seemed to increase.
His Majesty suddenly looked away forcefully, which made her confused for a moment.
"Ah!" He cursed himself for being dense, and looked away from the eating girl in front of him. "The way she was glaring at me just now... I was so interested in what she'd think of the food that I completely forgot it was strange to watch someone eat like that... hopefully she'll forgive me..."
It was time to knock on His Majesty's carriage door again. she found that she was looking forward to it very much. Every day after she steps out of this carriage, she just performs other miscellaneous duties, eats and goes to sleep. She doesn't talk to anyone else in the delegation except for being ordered around, or being asked about the Sorcerer King by Gustav.
With her parents now gone, it seemed she had no one left. The one or two childhood friends she had were probably also dead by now.
But when she was with His Majesty, she did not think about such things.
At first, it was mostly because the task of tending to him was constant and so important that her mind was completely focused on it. But that might not be the case anymore. These days, she feels less occupied by her anxiety about representing her country, and more occupied by His Majesty himself. The way he speaks to her...the things he says... his kindness... He was incredibly understanding, and sometimes he even spoke in a manner that made him seem like a commoner! Just to make her feel less anxious! Because he considered her feelings!
"Such an amazing ruler... such an amazing person, truly..."
She felt that unfamiliar emotion again, but it was high time to attend to His Majesty now, so she brushed it aside.
With that, she knocked on the carriage's door.
"Your Majesty, this is Neia Baraja!"
"Enter."
She opened the door and bowed to him.
After coming inside, closing the door and seating herself, she looked at His Majesty intently.
Just the sight of him made her feel at peace.
She thought that to the Neia of only a week or so ago, that idea might've sounded like insanity.
Finding comfort in the sight of an undead?
Of course, His Majesty was no normal undead...
He was special.
He was-
"Hm. That glare... are you disappointed about the lack of food today?"
Her eyes widened. Being asked such a confusing question after losing herself in the moment was a shock.
"Ah! I knew it! The way she was silent after looking around and entering, and the way she's been glaring angrily! I should have made it clearer that I didn't plan for the food to be a daily occurrence!"
Had he made a fatal mistake? Not only has he failed to inform her properly that yesterday was an exception, but this might have gone completely against his original goal. He felt bad about making her think about and crave food she couldn't have, but then he tried to make up for his mistake by giving her that food. Of course, this just made her crave it more again, now that she had a taste of it!
As he cursed himself for his lack of foresight and understanding of her situation, he was trying to figure out how to apologize... again. "But it's so hard when you're glaring at me angrily like that!"
Recovering from her confusion, she thought about what that question even meant. Why would she expect food again?
Of course she wouldn't receive any more food like that. Was His Majesty trying to imply something more with that question?
She finally decided to simply answer as plainly as she could, not wishing to prolong the silence.
"No, Your Majesty! I had not expected to receive any more food from you!"
"Is that so..."
It felt as if His Majesty was suddenly relieved, but she couldn't exactly figure why that could possibly be.