Ch4. And there be chaos
The early rays of the morning sun infiltrated the green crowns above the subdued garden. It was silent like the grave, the time far too young for children to be out and about—playing in the yard.
Creeping closer, the brown-head carefully listened. A soft, almost inaudible lull permeated the area. Gently, he pulled on the branches and leaves, and peaked through the lush currant bush. There, below the crowns of the massive tree which served as the center of the orphanage's courtyard, a young girl dressed in deep purple turned the black pages of a heavy book.
Written onto the pages were ancient and mysterious characters the older child had never seen before, and somehow the white syllables possessed a vibe, a frequency, a voice, which called to him.
Ronald caught himself in the act, and thankfully, just in time to preserve his cover.
Evelyn was a new girl, transported to the orphanage only weeks prior, and although, hesitantly at first, Ronald was pretty sure he was getting closer to her, little by little. What could he say?
This girl was… different. She had a mysterious air about her, the weird antic she momentarily held only added to the mystery, and this, among other things made Ronald more than curious—obsessed.
The older child continued to hide and observe the little girl, unaware of a looming shadow watching his every move, ready to act, if need be, and sever his head from his torso. He stayed there for a little while longer, but ultimately, he had places to be, and so did the little girl.
Evelyn with her thirst sated, packed her book, and headed inside. The others were waking, and breakfast would soon be served. Her stomach grumbled as she pressed the book against it and passed the rooms one by one—tiptoeing all the way—back to the familiar little room, she now called home. Meanwhile a sentient shadow moved in the dark, following the little girl, observing, and guarding the unsuspecting mortal, fulfilling the orders of the Forgotten—he remained ever vigilant.
(…)
Lupus Regina, member of the Pleiades and faithful servant of the Supreme Ones, watched carefully as the girl known as 'Evelyn' disappeared within the halls of the orphanage.
The Werewolf-Queen relaxed and her eyes which shone in a brilliant orange only moments prior lost their luster, and unfocused. She bit down on her nails hard and wrecked her brain on how to alert the Guardian Overseer.
She held back and didn't confront the human child, and while the idea had crossed her mind, for that book in her possession could be nothing else but a relic of the Supreme Ones,—the mana signature made it impossible to miss—she was under strict orders. Their earlier blunder was lucky to be forgiven, she didn't dare risk disappointing Lord Ainz.
He was surprising cool when he heard about the situation, but he made it clear not to be overconfident and always ask for backup and relay every piece of information. While Lupus didn't believe that there was anything or anyone who could be a match for the Supreme One, she heeded his words, nevertheless. And took them to heart even more so after recalling what had happened to Shalltear. A floor guardian, a peerless existence, inferior only to the 41 was defeated and mind controlled, it was a lesson to every denizen of the Great Tomb to never be overconfident.
She didn't waste any time, and cast {Message}.
(…)
Evelyn was snacking happily while the children around her also dove headfirst into the exceptional breakfast. A new food imported from the Sorcerer Kingdom, curtesy of his majesty, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown. The fabulous cereal! Eaten with milk, this starchy and sweet crunchy taste brought joy to the kids who had never tasted anything so mind-meltingly sweet before.
The canteen has devolved into a prison facility, where the inmates madly crossed each other in hopes of scooping up another portion and satisfying their insatiable hunger for this heavenly meal.
"-eey, what are you doing?!"
"-aww, no fair! Give it back!"
"-get out of my way!"
"Hey-yy, st-stop i-t!"
"-haha. It's mine!"
"-no, don't eat that! ewh-"
Meanwhile Ronald stared at Evelyn, entranced, he was too late to react when another kid snatched away his bowl and gulped it down in one giant gulp. "-Mikey I'm gonna beat the shit out of you."
The smaller child burped, and promptly escaped through the side door.
Ronald deflated and stared at his bowl in defeat. The miracle food 'cereal' was no more, and he hadn't eaten more than a couple of spoonsful. This day he would know hunger once again, or so it seemed, until out of nowhere a half-full bowl was placed in front of the brown-head, and he stared dumbly at the girl with raven-black locks.
She stared back with an awkward smile. And then, she departed.
(…)
There was a deathly silence in the air as numerous guardians—easily suppressing the pinnacle of the new world—stared intensely at the pictures relayed by the Mirror of Remote Viewing. The artefact was operated by an Overlord, the highest tier of undead, who also happened to be the last of the Supreme Beings, Lord Ainz himself.
"Hmm." The Lord hummed in deep thought. The guardians waited patiently for their master's bottomless insight and neglected to notice the obvious attempt at delaying the expected answer.
The flaming orbs danced from guardian to the next, and ultimately halted on the archfiend, who fixed his glasses and boasted an unnerving smile.
"Demiurge, you have something to say?" The Overlord inquired.
All eyes turned to the guardian of the 7th floor, and the archfiend in his fashionable suit—envy to all—made grandiose gestures, far too lavish to the occasion as he replied humbly.
"Thank you. I believe I've understood a fraction of your 10 000-year plan!" The archfiend boasted, and the other guardians also erupted in approval and applause.
"AS. EXPECTED. FROM. THE. SUPREME. ONE." A giant insect exhaled through icy breaths.
"As expected of Lord Ainz."
"Oh, Lord Ai-ainz~!" The vampire shuddered, and the succubus also took on a mad expression filled with desire, and l-lust.
They did not notice, or perhaps merely chose to ignore the skeleton who uneasily shifted on his bottom, feeling the praise undeserved, however too pride- and fearful to admit the truth—he remained silent. The image of Ainz Ooal Gown would collapse in their minds should he ever reveal the truth, the terrible truth that most of the time he had absolutely no idea what was going in, and just went with the flow, making up excuses and having Demiurge explain 'his' plan to the others.
"Umu. You may explain so the others can understand m-my plan." The Overlord—now well versed in the tactic—said in a majestic voice, and hastily gathered his wits. It was his chance to glean some insight into the guardian's thought process, and by doing so become aware of the infamous plan.
"As you already know…" The archfiend began, and Ainz could already feel a headache forming.
'How'd you figure THAT?!'
(…)
The guardians in awe of their master's insight left the Overlord to his own devices unaware of his inner turmoil. Meanwhile, Ainz stared at the moving image projected by the Mirror of Remote Viewing. The girl in purple and the item in her possession shot up in Nazarick's agenda, after all seeing an item imbued with so much mana and data intrigued and made the Overlord apprehensive.
'Divine class, no could it be? A World class item?!' A green hue momentarily enveloped the skeleton as he stood in shock—jaw agape. Not to mention its curious ability to erase its presence once the child closed the tome, there was no doubt about it, this item would be a great addition to the tomb.
Perhaps it is worth to be cautious in the new world, ultimately, he can never know what dangers it may hide. And so, Ainz called for his guardians—ordering stricter surveillance and more high-level units adept at stealth to be stationed at the orphanage, while he made plans to visit and see the girl and her item with his own eyes and judge it for himself. Whether she was an ally or a threat.
The crimson lights swayed ominously as the Overlord lifted a skeletal hand next to his non-existent ear and called out {Message}.
{Albedo. Sebas. Get ready, tomorrow we make a visit to unveil and neutralize this variable.}
He thought for a second and added.
{Do not make any threats. Move only to protect me or yourselves if the situation calls for it. Remember, we don't want to antagonize the name; Ainz Ooal Gown.}
A/N: Review! Let me know what you think! Really, it does help.
Next up; ch5. And thus, the pact has been sealed.