GOD IS AN IDIOT
Chapter 5 – The Boss
Momonga was in a good mood. No, his mood was, in fact, excellent. He was ready to start a new day and would have smiled at the sun already warming Tob's tree canopies to the east. His fingers playfully drummed on the grey pristine fabric of his shoulder bag, as the [Gate]-spell widened the wormhole back to the very door steps of Nazarick.
Nigun did not mind Momonga's nervous habit, just as he had not minded having his hand and feet bound by half a meter of magical rope. On the other hand, the captain had not thanked him for cleaning him up either, which made them even in Momonga's mind.
While he entered the space-time shortcut, he postponed the madness of questioning the implications for free will itself for later. He diverted his fear by wondering if Captain Luin's passing out should enter his moral equations.
True, the man might have already been in a strained mental state… and, maybe, he had overestimated him when he had tried to initiate friendly contact on even terms, eye-to-eye. The idiot had passed out. Since he could not ask him for his opinion, he reasoned he should act in the captain's best interest and took him with him. Momonga still had faith his guest would appreciate the career boost, softening him up for his recruiting. And if the captain could not rationally see the benefit of his aid, Momonga could still conscript. The End had faith in his imagination to hook a prey, still.
The white event horizon crossed his vision and he walked on Nazarick's ground, forwards into the darkness of the central large temple where Albedo waited. She was the reason for his fantastical mood, for she had called just before he tried to speak with Nigun and told him she had finished Nazarick's siphoning for traitors.
Two days ago, he would have scoffed at anyone even hinting at the chance his task could have been finished so thoroughly in barely a day. But here, with characters of his friends' and his imagination coming to life, where he had become a powerful sorcerer, where Nazarick had turned into his reality… he could believe such a deed possible, even probable.
The inside of the building was silent besides the odd drops of water he maybe heard, maybe not. Albedo's alluring voice alone echoed from the dark corners as she half-bowed. "Welcome back, Lord Momonga."
Momonga kept walking till he stopped before Albedo with an offered palm. "Hello, Albedo."
He gave a slight nod to his hand, and she placed hers in it with a smug smile, a fist on her hip and a straight back. He still dwarfed her, but he noted her effort on his behalf while he stripped the [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] from her finger.
Momonga's gaze stayed glued to the ring as it slipped down his bones again. Once it rested, he sensed the inherent magic's shadow spread and envelop him in its fractal ideas. They quickly paled, but never completely so. He wondered about a similarity he recalled from the [Teleportation]-spell when a new voice, also female, but higher and younger than Albedo's, broke his concentration.
"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha... Ha!"
The laughter belonged to the pale girl with the platinum hair, whom walked up the stairs to the second floor without making a sound. Her amusement had ebbed on the last step as she glided in her voluminous dark purple Victorian dress to a respectful distance at Momonga's side, and bowed. "Greetings, Lord Momonga, another mere servant welcomes back the master of Ainz Ooal Gown."
It had been a long time since he saw the Guardian of the first to third floor in person, but Momonga still remembered Shalltear's Yggdrasil profile by heart. When the guild had almost died, the extremely powerful Guardian remained as one of Nazarick's formidable defences, but also as a weak point. Her status as an undead might have normally granted her immunity to mind-altering effects, but he himself knew four ways to circumvent that protection and turn her against her creators. Momonga never forgot the chance another found a fifth.
In his mind, Momonga had played through countless battles over the years – against not only Shalltear, but all of Nazarick's Guardians. The thoughts had been hard to avoid, since it had been one of his own favoured tactics to turn Guardians against their guilds. He felt no guilt for dreaming about various ways of attacking her. Momonga knew well enough how the thought had been inspired and also considered in-between the rage fantasies the real situation at hand. Albedo had told him Nazarick was safe for his return and he should consider the little vampire, appearing no older than fourteen years, no threat.
So why did the girl smirk a bit more each time Albedo's eye had a nervous twitch? The fallen angel looked pale and a bit out of herself, but still attentive of the newcomer. Golden orbs bore into bloody mirrors, an ugly half-smile challenged the arrogant smirk, and Momonga kept comparing the merits of intervening to observing.
He respected Albedo's free will too much to stop her speaking. "Go back to your assigned post, Shalltear."
Short, blunt, but a bit rude in Momonga's opinion. Shalltear held on to her succulent civility and answered, with a charming smile for him. "Please, you can't blame a lady for stealing a sneak peek at the thrilling form of our glorious leader. Just looking at him makes me..."
Shalltear stared wide-eyed at Momonga and left the sentence unfinished. For a brief moment, it was silent again, except for another wet drip to Momonga's irritation.
"The Guardian Overseer can. Get lost, leech," Albedo informed her icily.
She had regained control of her facial muscle, but wore her aversion openly, certainly more theatrical than intended… or so Momonga told himself, as he actively willed his feet to stay in place and not step back. Shalltear, in turn, made no attempt to hide her annoyance at diverting her attention from Momonga to the angel.
"Only when the fat virgin nerd is not busy sucking bananas."
Shalltear had lost her sweet note, and Albedo joined in the vicious cycle.
"While you lick your damp thrall dolls. You are clearly out of options."
"Better than never having been an option."
"Skinny eternal tadpole."
"Stinking ape!"
"Lamprey!"
Momonga saw the shadow of the arcane form over the women, and concluded he should intervene, so he snapped his fingers.
Albedo returned to a stiff and serious stance, while Shalltear faced him. She composed herself with an embarrassed huff and warmly beamed at him again with thin eyes. He felt a shudder in his spine when he watched the vampire's long, but thin tongue moisten her lip while blinking at him. It was high time to change the setting.
Momonga raised his free hand, Saying, "Hi." He turned to Albedo, and asked the baffled woman with a hand on her back. "Your place?"
She said "No, it's your place, but yes. Please."
And they were gone in a flash. They left Shalltear deserted, now with a nervous twitch of her own. She turned for the stairs with a frustrated growl when her high heel slipped in a shallow puddle.
Momonga and Albedo appeared where they had left a day ago, at the portal leading into the heart of Nazarick. His hand let go of her back to trail the outer surface of the door.
On the other side, the granite had been carved into beautiful scenes. Here, his claws scratched over a dark glass, but it was not uniform beneath the surface. Frozen streams, bubbles and colours waited to be discovered by an observant mind. It took not much of his fantasy to dream new meaning into the obscure shapes, and for a moment he felt like cloud-gazing.
But he could play with insanity later. Momonga addressed Albedo, who appeared much calmer and relaxed than just seconds ago. She even wore the same smile again she had when welcoming him back.
"You said you found and confined the traitors in the throne room. Why? Wouldn't the frozen prison on the 5th floor be more suitable?"
"No, my Lord," Albedo informed him, apparently amused at a joke only she got. Ainz stepped out of the way when she reached for the portal's handles, and pushed open the massive stone wings as if they had been made of cardboard. "Had I done so, I would have no traitor left to present you. He could not stand such a cold."
"'He'?" Momonga asked as he followed her in. She threw him a teasing smirk over her shoulder, and kept on walking instead of answering. He was about to ask again when he saw an addition to the room. In front of the throne stood a new pedestal, reaching the height of his waist, and on it waited a golden bird cage.
Albedo took position next to it as Momonga finished the last steps to the captive. It was a Rockhopper penguin, who winked its flipper unconcerned and greeted, "Good day, Lord Momonga. Eclair Ecleir Eicler, at your service."
'Is this a joke?'
He turned to Albedo for a clue to the hidden meaning of the setup, but her proud stance and unperturbed smile offered him nothing. The little birdman in the cage was a creation of his comrade Ankoro Mocchi Mochi, one of the only three female guild members. In contrast to Albedo, Shalltear, and the other Floor Guardians, he was not a max-level character. Eclair Ecleir Eicler was just a Level One NPC, an assistant butler created with an unquenchable thirst to rule the Great Tomb of Nazarick one day.
The penguin was a gag character, and Momonga was uncertain how to treat it. He had been aware of its existence, but due to the NPC's low strength, had never bothered much with it.
'But now... He might be weak, but he got a dangerous new ability in this world. He can talk.'
"Albedo," Momonga asked, "is there no one else you want to show me?"
She shook her head. "No, my Lord. Every other servant of Nazarick has passed my loyalty screening. He is the only traitor I found."
Momonga sceptically looked back at the midget, who had crossed its flippers and faced his skull with steel in his own eyes. The End leaned closer to the cage, but the traitor did not back off, and also moved closer in turn to whisper behind a flipper. "In all honesty, Lord Momonga, I like you. You seem like a talented boy. I might have use for you once I have claimed dominion of Nazarick, as my creator intended. Surrender now, and I might even make you my right hand."
Momonga turned back to Albedo, while the penguin spoke on, "You see… I have you right where I wanted you to be, just as planned."
She still beamed at him and pointed with a hand and a nod back to the still speaking bird.
"Everything will belong to me. From Nazarick's throne, I will shape this world as I desire! The other Guardians will praise me in the same breath as the Supreme Beings, the Pleiades Maids will worship and clean the very ground I tread, and all of Nazarick will bow to my awesome-"
- POW!
In the blink of an eye, Momonga's fist had hammered down on the golden cage and deformed it into a flat sun made of wires, with bits of meat and feathers between it.
Momonga shook off the mess from his hand, while the sprayed blood already flowed off his robes without leaving one stain.
"Next?"
"Next." Albedo moved to guide him out, this time with her hand to his back. "We will meet the loyal servants in the arena on the Sixth Floor. Do not worry, my Lord. The next time you will enter here, the mess will be already cleaned up."
'Must be due to the height difference her hand is resting on my skinny ass, but does her grip have to be so firm? I thought I was gentler. And if everyone is gathered in the arena, who will defend-'
"You also do not have to worry about our safety. I left behind a skeleton crew on the outer levels, including Shalltear, which Demiurge also deemed adequate. Everything is taken care of."
Momonga recalled Demiurge as the Floor Guardian of the hellish Seventh Floor and, going by the limited pieces of background he remembered, the Defense Commander of Nazarick. his creator, Ulbert Alain Odle, had introduced him to the guild as a diabolical mastermind and sadist.
His comrade had been an attention whore in Momonga's mind, but a loyal one. Behind the purposely villainous act, Ulbert had proven to be one of the most reliable guild members, who often enough set back his own interests for the guild. That was also why he often had looked past the chuunibyō's eccentrics, but the devil NPC had him concerned. If he turned out to be a wish fulfilment of Ulbert, a culmination of everything Nazarick's 'Most Evil Member' wanted to play out, then Momonga could have an insidious time bomb right in the middle of his home.
But Albedo looked at ease in her brief look up. He saw no distress or care as she led him out.
Maybe he would turn out to be a pleasant chap…? For all he knew, the End would let things just happen, aware of the futility of panicking when out of intelligence.
"Is there a specific place in the Arena you want me to bring us?" Momonga asked as they returned to the still-open doors.
"The centre of the VIP balcony would be perfect, my Lord."
Momonga did as she had bidden him, and brought them to a large tent of dark luxurious fabric and his personal symbol on every surface. A magical lamp on the ceiling, a stacked desk, and three comfortable-looking stools comprised the room's only furniture.
"Nazarick's guards await outside, my Lord." Albedo pointed to the way out, but he had already moved for the desk. "Do you want to use notes? I can assist, if you would like."
"Oh, don't bother. It's just a small info for our guest," Momonga said before letting the rope, and the man with it, slip from his shoulder. He wrote a short letter and placed it under a little red potion bottle in front of Nigun's face on the ground.
It read:
'Hello, Captain Luin,
This is a healing potion. Drink it.
I will be back shortly. Relax in the meantime. You are safe here.
Your friend.'
He dissolved the bindings on him and looked back to discover a new face peeking through the exit. Apart from the peaked cap, its most noticeable feature was… that it had none. The pale grey head was smooth apart from three identical indentations. Their shadows mimicked eyes and a mouth, yet nothing on it moved as it spoke with a sharp and rapid male voice, "Mein Gebieter, ihr seid hier!" My Lord, you are here!
Momonga's own NPC creation, Pandora's Actor, had found them. Unbidden came the fantasy of the End, sitting opposite a bearded man in white robes. He had a long list of complains in it, and actually feared what P.A. in turn would confront him with.
He winked for the NPC to come in, and P.A. obeyed in two efficient strides through the curtain. He had the standard humanoid appearance of the [Greater-Doppelgänger] race: tall and thin, with long limbs filling a yellow military uniform 200 years out of time. The heavy coat hanging over his shoulders whipped dramatically, as he snapped his heels and saluted for Momonga, "Melde gehorsamst: Alle Truppen wurden versammelt! Das Volk erwartet eure Weisheit, mein Schoepfer!" Reporting obediently: all troops have been assembled! The people await your wisdom, my creator!
'Somehow I can understand what he is saying, just like the humans and trolls, but it sounds so angry and harsh. I have to mind myself. I couldn't know he would come to life and he can't be faulted for me writing into his background he speaks German. Still...'
'What have I been thinking when designing him? I guess Ulbert and I had more in common than I thought.'
"Darf ich noch hinzufuegen welch große Ehre es für mich ist Sie zu sprechen?" Might I add how honored I am by speaking with you?
Momonga raised his hand, and P.A. paused speaking. "Hello, Pandora's Actor, I am also pleased to meet you, but now is just a bad moment. Maybe later?"
He felt bad for flipping off his creation so fast, but for the moment he had to solidify his control over Nazarick. There would be time to talk and indulge P.A.'s curiosity later. That is, if everything worked out as he hoped. The Doppelgänger might have lacked facial expressions, but the sacking shoulders and back were unmistakable. Before Momonga could stop himself, he added, "I'm sure we will find time to get to know each other."
"Na- Natürlich, mein Herr. Ich verstehe." O-of course, my Lord. I understand
P.A. stiffly bowed and remained at attention near the exit. Albedo might have paid attention to the brief exchange, but did not comment as she moved past her master out into the arena and signalled him to follow.
'No turning back now.'
Momonga also walked to the exit. He was about to push the fabric aside when he looked once more at his creation, still waiting with its hands on its back. P.A. did not look back, but Momonga saw him stiffen up under the attention.
Everything which defined the Doppelgänger was because Momonga had willed it. He chose his skills and levels, wrote his background, and designed his appearance. In a way, P.A. was the closest Momonga had to a child, but he had no family experience of his own to draw from.
Suzuki Satoru, Momonga's former existence, had lost both parents when he had yet to learn about the existence of pubic hairs. Throughout most of the youth he remembered, he was not much more than a number in the state orphanage he had been sent to. He never learned how parents should behave or how unconditional love felt, yet now, deep inside, beyond logic and rationality, he felt a compulsion to do something; anything.
…and what? Should he have offered a handshake or hugged him? Momonga did not know what he was supposed to say, what P.A. would have liked to hear. Embarrassed, he released the Guardian from his scrutiny. After a moment of hesitation, he wordlessly patted P.A.'s shoulder and left the tent without feeling better at all.
Momonga's skull broke the heavy curtain, and a wall of murmurs, shouts, and other noises replaced the awkward silence. For a moment, he stared aghast at the lectern and the ranks behind it.
The Arena, the centre of the Sixth Floor's Great Forest and home of the Floor Guardians Aura Bella Fiora and Mare Bello Fiore, waited under an eternal clear night sky. Shaped like an eastern crown lost by a titan, it impressed by sheer size alone.
The memories of how a pack of 80 middle- to max-level players hunted him over the empty ranks two days ago were still vivid. He recalled the fear and stress in him when defending all he held dear for just one more day, how lonely he felt when standing alone in the vast tomb against the hundreds united in hatred, while all his friends had left.
Now he almost wished for the solitude.
The Arena was filled to the brim. Thousands of skeletal and other undead minions awaited him in full gear on the ranks, and, sprinkled between them, hundreds of other exotic-to-nightmarish creatures joined in the drumming of weapons and shields.
- THUMP!
- THUMP!
- THUMP!
- THUMP!
It was the heartbeat of a beast he feared would devour him if it did not like what he said. His metaphorical guts clenched at the prospect of speaking to a larger audience than his office team or the guild members combined – these were thousands of monsters!
"My Lord, Nazarick is waiting for you," Albedo hissed next to the lectern.
Momonga stiffly moved to her side and looked around in a futile bid for more time. Even the seats behind them had no room to spare, and below, on the sand of the arena proper, waited the main reason for his nervousness: The Floor Guardians, spearheaded by the arch-devil Demiurge, and behind them the Pleiades Six Stars under the leadership of Nazarick's head butler, Sebas Tian.
While both were designed with gentlemanly appearances, they embodied opposed ideas. Sebas was a bearded old man in a divine body with features chiselled from granite. He was the creation of the guild's noble duel champion Touch Me. Like him, he was a close-quarter combat specialist, but he fought barehanded. At one point, rumour made the round in the guild his face was in fact modelled after Touch Me's real one. He led the six combat maids of the Pleiades, each a beautiful woman of a different flavour, who were in truth heteromorphic monsters like Sebas, the [Dragonoid].
In a dungeon filled by universally evil monsters, he stood out as one of the few creatures intended to be inherently noble and good.
Demiurge was the dark mirror of the black clad butler.
The devil with the pointed ears and swept back hair wore an orange suit which fitted his slim form perfectly. Ulbert had introduced him to the guild as a subtle and cunning sadist. the End worried what the Guardian was thinking behind his spectacles as he focused on Momonga with a self-assured smirk and a wriggling metallic tail.
"Say something, Lord Momonga," Albedo whispered without looking to him, while P.A. moved to his other flank.
'Say something? What am I supposed to say? Why has she called all of Nazarick here in the first place? Damn it, am I about to screw up my new life on the first day?'
'Okay, the woman has manoeuvred me into this mess, so she can also stir me out again.'
'[Message] "Albedo?"'
'"Yes, Lord?"' She responded at once without showing any outward sign of the conversation.
'"Why did you gather Nazarick here? You said you found only one traitor."'
'"I did."'
'"So what am I supposed to do here? What was your idea?"' Momonga wanted to know.
'"To rally the loyalty of Nazarick's defenders behind you, naturally, Lord Momonga. Please raise your hand."'
He did so, and the noise stopped. All eyes were set on him as the Arena held its breath.
'"Rally their loyalty? How many Guardians exactly declared their ultimate fealty to me?"'
'"Two."'
'Two? TWO!?'
'"Pandora's Actor and me, of course, Lord Momonga."'
He could not help himself but stare slack-jawed at the smiling and winking angel.
'"Lord, your subjects are waiting,"' Albedo urged, but he couldn't bring himself to talk.
'"Please, Lord, you should say something."'
'I can't! I have nothing!'
'"Lord Momonga."'
'I am no leader! I was the guild's moderator, guild master only in name!'
'"My Lord!"'
'I can't even offer them gold. Restoring the tomb and reviving the NPCs bankrupted us!'
"Loyal defenders of Nazarick!" Albedo's voice reached out to the last ranks. "We are stranded in a new world, cast adrift on a foreign sea with no land in sight and only alien stars to guide us. The Great Tomb of Nazarick, our home, has been ripped from Helheim and hurled to a place none of us ever heard from."
She paused and the audience held its breath, until she continued, quieter this time, "Our creators, the Supreme Beings, invested me as your Overseer, and yet I cannot imagine shouldering the responsibility of Nazarick's leadership, when so much is uncertain and still unfathomable.
"But perhaps I do not have to. Maybe there is another among us we can place our trust to lead us in.
What about you, Cocytus? You are Nazarick's greatest swordsman. Can your strength guarantee our safety?"
The largest of the present Floor Guardians, an upright-walking beetle with an ice crystal-tipped tail, crossed its four arms. White plumes drifted with every syllable from his mandibles when he answered, "No. I. would. be. the. wrong. choice. Guardian. Overseer."
"And you, Aura and Mare? Would you take the burden and lead us?"
The two blonde dark elven children, who sat cross-legged at Cocytus feet, looked at each other with mirrored hetero-chromatic eyes of blue and green. They each wore unique white dresses over their dragon scale leather armour – blue for the one wearing a short skirt and knee socks, and red for the one in the pant suit – yet it was a saucy girl's voice which answered, when the latter jumped up. "No way! I don't want that kind of responsibility, and Mare is just plain unsuited."
"Hey!" Her brother protested weakly, but made no other attempt to correct his sister, and Albedo turned to the devil at the front with a sympathetic smile.
"Demiurge, I envy you. At least you will persevere long after us, thanks to your cunning." Momonga saw his previously self-assured smile harden as Albedo spoke on, "With the only mind possibly rivalling the Supreme Beings themselves..."
And the gears finally began to grind in Momonga's head, as the Chief of Defences burst, "STOP! …stop, please." He allowed himself a deep breath, before continuing, "You overestimate me, Albedo, as recent history just established. I am still an infinity away from the wisdom of a Supreme One. Please never suggest such a likening again."
"As you wish." Albedo said without joy and a light bow.
'"Look at me, my Lord."' When it was his turn, she strained to hold his dark stare. Her lips trembled slightly while she rubbed her elbow, before speaking in a whisper he was sure carried even to the last corner, "My Lord, we all have failed, but I beg of you: Please reconsider and stay with us!"
The Arena sighed horrified, while the wet-eyed angel [Message]d him. '"Complain, now!"'
"But I am so tired!" At last, the End shouted, and the audience quieted down again.
Momonga spoke with a lower tone, "I am so terribly tired. I long to follow my comrades. After an eternity of fighting alone… I don't know if I have the strength to continue on. I have no Supreme Being left to trust in, either."
"Please trust us one last time, and we will help you shoulder the burden!" Albedo begged with streaming tears and reached for his hand. '"Evade me."'
Momonga winked her off and pointed at P.A. instead, while looking at the crowd. "How could I trust you too, standing in place of Warrior Takemikazuchi, Bukubukuchagama or Master Touch Me?"
P.A. bubbled into a hellish samurai, a mad nightmare of flesh and teeth, a shining silver knight, and other more monstrous forms. Momonga watched for a moment the imitation of his old friends, and then said, "We had an unshakable trust into death and beyond. We were strong, and made Nazarick stronger because I had their absolute loyalty."
'Far from it. I'm pretty sure Lucifer hated my guts.'
'"You are doing great, Lord Momonga."' Albedo sunk limp to her knees, but her words glowed with conviction and a glimmer of hope. "And if I swore you my eternal loyalty? Even beyond my own creator? Would you then stay?"
He barely looked at her when he scoffed. "You are but one."
"But I would swear such an oath, too!"
It was Demiurge who had dared answering the bait. Momonga looked slowly at the devil, and then scratched his temple in thought. Before he even had to say more, Sebas bowed, and the twins and Cocytus followed.
"I would gladly swear you my loyalty, Lord Momonga."
"We think it's a fat win for us, right Mare?"
"Yeah, ehm, kindah. It sounds very nice, actually."
"I. would. be. honoured. to. offer. my. life. Lord."
The crowed also joined in oaths and pleads, and Momonga let them squirm for minutes, before he finally had mercy. He silenced them with a hand raise and said, "You shame me with your heartfelt devotions. If I can trust in your absolute loyalty-"
"YOU CAN!" The Arena shouted as one.
"-then I could endure countless ages in Nazarick."
Joy and laughter spread through the ranks at hearing those words. Even the skeletal Old Guards playfully poked each other in relief, and Momonga had to calm them down again.
"It is much I am asking of you. So I feel it is only just I offer those who want to hold on to their old bonds an alternative. You may leave with my blessing to search for your creator beyond Nazarick."
Ten meters above the Floor Guardians, opened a wide wormhole to a dark place as Momonga spoke:
"[Gate]!"
And thought:
'[Delayed - Reality Slash], [Delayed- Cry of the Banshee], [Delayed – Fireball], [Persistent – Curse of Years]...'
Momonga gave them ample time to choose as he scanned the ranks, noted how every face which could still express was filled with hope and gratitude. None of them moved a hair's breadth, in the literal sense. They would be his.
He dismissed the [Gate] and the other spells again and helped up Albedo, who took her place at his side with a shy blush. '"Excellently done, my Lord. We should end this."'
Albedo cancelled the [Message]-spell from her side. He had a notion she also meant the act and agreed. Momonga spread his arms to his people, and let them bask him in jubilations.
They clapped hands, stomped feet, clicked claws, crashed weapons, howled, grunted, rattled, joked, cried, sung, prayed, and quieted down for a last time as he slowly lowered his hands.
"We have made a choice for each other… and forever.
I thank you, for you gave me new faith into the Great Tomb of Nazararick.
And now I ask you to return to your posts. I need time to ponder our future."
Albedo moved for the tent's entrance while he waved a last time. He also offered P.A. a handshake he accepted after a moment of surprise. When Momonga felt the unexpected strong grip of the Doppelgänger, he gently pulled him closer to whisper, "Good reaction. I appreciate the attentiveness."
"Danke, Herr." Thank you, Lord
The masses slowly abandoned the ranks, while he led P.A. with a gentle pad into the tent – the only Guardian who didn't break his allegiance.
The curtain vanished behind Doppelgänger and End.
Albedo already sat cross-legged at the table. While they also took seats, she said with a wolfish grin, "You two did great, especially you, Lord Momonga."
'Of course. You bitch set me up and just pushed me out of the nest!'
"I must admit, I had my doubts in the beginning. I am sorry. You really did not need my notes."
'Say what?'
"Notes?"
Albedo rattled in response the few papers on the desk Momonga had just torn off a small piece for the short letter he wrote. He decided feeling stupid for his oversight would be inappropriate after just hijacking the heart of a monster army.
"Oh, those. Right, never mind."
The weak groan coming from their feet spared Momonga from more of Albedo's doubting stare. Nigun had awaken. The three monsters listened for a while to the man's rasp and senseless whispers, until Momonga had enough and rolled him over with shove of his foot.
The captain looked pale and dried-out. The irritated eyes barely opened and the End doubted their unimpeded consciousness. It was uncomfortable, like holding your breath, but he suppressed his aura for the sake of the man, as he picked Nigun and the potion up.
Momonga held the man and fed him the red bottle like an over-sized baby. Meanwhile, Albedo and P.A. moved closer to watch the wrecked human turn healthy and fresh again.
The empty bottle came off with a little 'plop', and Nigun's eyes blinked a few times, before wandering wide open from Momonga to P.A., and finally to Albedo.
"Er mag Sie, meine Liebe. Sehen Sie, wie er mit dem Schwanz wackelt." He must like you, my dear. Look how he's wiggling his tail.