Sebas gathered his forces at the outer gates of Nazarick. Before him were six homunculi maids, two assistants, a specter, and Solution Epsilon. Everyone had bags of holding hanging from their sides. The spectator had returned from its scouting mission.
"Spectator," Sebas addressed the wisply skeleton hovering before him. Like rays of light catching dust, the undead was nearly impossible to see. "I hope your reconnaissance was successful."
"It was." The phantom creature struggled to speak. It's voice could have been mistaken for the wind. "The nobility seem. Weak minded. Infiltration should be easy. However."
The spectator spun itself back into shape, struggling to choose its words. Sebas waited patiently, for he sympathized with the creature. He had chosen the spectator specifically for this task, knowing the difficulties that came with it. Spectators weren't truly invisible, nor were they ethereal, but rather were undead made of loose floating dust. While this made them nearly undetectable, they struggled to interact with the world, hence the name spectator. A watcher made of specks of dust.
The spectator finished fishing for words. "However. The city is crowded. There are no building sites. Nowhere we wouldn't be seen."
"Perhaps we could move in?" Solution presented her idea. "Certainly a few scummy noblemen wouldn't be missed. Clean them up, take their places. Spectator, do you have a place in mind?"
"If. Sebas wishes. There is a noble family. They mean nothing. They will not be missed."
Sebas lowered his eyes in thought. 'To make this world a better place. That is why Lord Ainz desires domination.' He sighed, making up his mind. "It can't be helped. We need to move into the city soon. It's only a matter of time until Nazarick is found, we must use this time wisely."
Everyone snapped to attention. This task would have to be carried out swiftly, effectively, there could be no witnesses.
One of the assistants pulled a scroll out of their bag of holding, extending it for the phantom. It reached out a faint tendril towards the paper which burst into blue flame on contact. Out of thin air, a dark rift opened.
Sebas and Solution led the way through the darkness, and straight into a manor interior. Bookshelves obscured walls, a ring of chairs and couches sat in the middle. Along the far wall were a series of windows which overlooked a garden. Behind the portal was the only door.
"Who-who THE DEVIL ARE YOU!?" Cried a nobleman. His wife paled at the sight of the intruders, while he panicked and desperately tried to take control of the situation. "DO you have any idea who I am!"
Sebas walked around the couch, not even a single expression passed his face. "My apologies, I'm afraid I don't know who you are. Would you be so kind as to enlighten me." He couldn't care less about who this shoddy failure of a nobleman was. His spectator knew what he wanted, and if it had picked these people, then they couldn't have been terribly good.
"You just broke into the Furt Estate and you don't know who I am!?" He continued to cry, scrambling out of his chair. His heart pounded in his chest as he backpedaled away from the mysterious butler, only stopping when he stumbled against the wall. There was nowhere to go, Sebas had him in a corner and with every second more people stepped through the rift.
The woman, finally out of the headlights, shot up from her seat. She made a desperate dash for the door. With Mr. Furt occupying the invaders' attention, she may have a chance to escape. She wrapped her hand around the knob, the thought of getting away just within reach. The door began to open.
A hand slammed the door shut from behind her. She spun around, coming face to face with two women in lab coats. Boredom painted their faces, as if her life meant nothing to them.
"HEL-Urk." She was cut off as a syringe was jammed into her neck, its purple fluids coursing through her veins. Her whole world grew distant as her body stretched away from her. She collapsed to the floor, her consciousness sleeping away.
"PLeash, haf murky!" Mr Furt sputtered as he lifted off the ground. His legs flailed in the air, as he clawed at the gloved hands around his neck.
Sebas held the pitiful man by his throat. "If my spy is to be believed, then tell me what value you bring to the world. What is your life worth?"
"I'll pay! I'll pay! Name your prife" His struggling weakened as he tried to extend his life. He pushed at the wall with his feet and fought to breath with his hands.
"Money is not value enough. What, Mr Furt, are you worth in this world?" Sebas's voice never wavered or shifted from his calm nature.
"I Haf family. My duagfer, Arche, she's old enough." He pleaded for his life.
"You'd be willing to sell your daughter's life for your own?" The butler by design was taken aback. 'Would this man be so quick to give up his child to save himself?'
"Yesh!"
Sebas dropped the pitiful creature, it gasped for air as it crawled away. "Here's my offer, your daughter for my mercy."
"Deal." Furt took it in a heartbeat.
"Hmm. Very good. Solution, he's all yours."
The beautiful blonde stepped by, bending down to pick up the creature in a bridal carry. She lifted him with ease, and he didn't dare to fight back.
As they walked out of the library, he was held close to her exposed bosom.
"Go ahead." Solution said with a voice like silk. "Touch them."
He obliged her offer, finding his hand to sink deep into their softness. They continued to sink, then they passed into them. Pain wracked his hands.
"Hahaha. You humans are so predictable."
He squirmed in her grip, desperately fighting to escape. "What! What are you."
"Shhh. It'll be over soon." Her face began to droop a little, like wax from a lit candle. She hoisted him above her, enveloping him into her slimy depths. He kicked and fought the whole way down, all until he disappeared into her. Her form bulged and squirmed as she reorientated him within. She was going to be full for a while.
Back within the library, several discussions were taking place.
Sebas began giving instructions. "Maids, begin clearing this place. We can't allow any witnesses."
"Right away master Sebas." One of them said, before their group ran out in hunt of the other humans.
"And assistants." He called for their attention.
They looked up from the slumbering form of the woman. "Yes sir." They answered in unison.
"While the mansion preparations are underway, I want you two to start gathering all the information you can. And, what do you plan on doing with her?" His voice dropped into a tone of confusion, as the duo were busy with the woman.
"We sent a message to the ones that work under Demiurge. We've realized that we don't have any female specimens." She said while tying her legs together.
The other tightened straps around the sleeping ladies wrists, picking up where the other left off. "Apparently, our first batch of humans contained no female members. We are attempting to rectify that."
'I don't know what they're doing, but with it being so far outside of my control, there's no point in really knowing.' Sebas thought to himself as the assistants opened a portal, handing the lady off to the farm team.
"Ah- Somebody, help us!" A muffled scream came from below, before the sound of flesh tearing cut it off. The maids were hard at work making a mess of the human servants, having surrounded them. Closing escape routes was easy when your team was super coordinated.
"Hmm, very well. Now that you're done with that. Would you mind reading?" He gestured to the walls of bookshelves around them. "We'll bring you whatever else we find. But until this manor is up to Nazarick standards, I think it's best you stay out of the maids' way. I understand you to have a rivalry, yes?"
"Indeed we do. Our uniformity intimidates them." Started one.
"They started it. Thinking their 'individualism' makes them better than us." The other finished.
Sebas hummed to himself as he walked to the door. "Perhaps it would be best to break the ice when they're not busy cleaning blood stains out of carpets. Good luck ladies." And with a bow, he closed the door on them, leaving them alone.
"So…" One began, turning to the vast collection of books. "Where do we even start?"
Two walked over to the right end of the selves, near the door. Eyeing the heavy ledgers and historical texts. "Start on the other end, I'll start over here."
"Meet in the middle?" Half asked One as she started from the left end, near the windows. She ran her thumb across a title, 'This should be interesting.' She thought to herself. In her gloved hands was a sleek green book. On its cover, there was a cloaked figure with a bow, it read The Hunters Call.
"Meet in the middle." One said, sitting down in the spot that Mr. Furt once had. A heavy pile of books were stacked in front of her.
Two took the seat across from her, stiffly shifting into a reading position.
The hours began to pass them by. Their only interruptions being a maid silently bringing in something they found, or when Sebas asked what they wanted for dinner. They had both stated their desire for anything sweet or salty.
'Homunculi need so much food.' Sebas thought to himself, reeling from the numbers bouncing in his head. 'I could feed all the guardians, minus Citrinitas and Gargantua, for three days with this much.'
"Mr, Sebas sir." One of the maids popped up to him. Her hair was a short, bouncy, pale blonde. While she was fairly short for a maid, her bouncy demeanor gave her more of a presence.
"What troubles you Mozza?" Sebas's tone still remained calm and professional, as always.
"We appear to have found two girls, both of which seem very young." There was a hint of worry in her voice.
"Take me to them."
As they went along, Mozza continued to talk. "They're young, but I don't think they're young enough that Pestonya would like them. She might though, you never know. Why does a dog like her enjoy toddlers and babies so much? Must be a dog thing. Well, that's not true, you're a draconic creature yet I've never seen greed out of you." She finally took a breath.
"Are you secretly greedy and have never told us?! Is that why you're so stoic all the time?"
"I assure you Mozza, I am not above greed. However, there are more things to treasure in this life than just money. Such as loyalty or purpose."
"Soo cool! I hope I end up as cool as you one day!" She gushed while playfully punching at the air, skipping along to keep up with him.
"I think you already have me beat." Sebas smiled.
At their door, another of the maids stood guard. She was tall and thin, her amber hair was pulled back into a sleek tail that ran down to her waist. The moment she saw Sebas, she stepped aside from the door.
"They're in here." Said Cheds, bowing as Sebas gently pushed the door open.
It was dark, the curtains had been pulled shut and the lights were out. Two tiny beds sat at either side of the room, dressers beside them. There was only one wardrobe, across the room was a standing mirror. As the door creaked open, Sebas's shadow stretched across the room. Soft whimpering could be heard from under the bed.
Softly and slowly, but without stealth, Sebas walked across the room. He kneeled down, and peered under the bed.
Two little girls stared at him, eyes wide open in fear. They pressed their backs against the wall, refusing to move, betrayed only by their shivering.
Sebas stood up and gently left the room. "Cheds. Tell the maids to set aside plates for the children."
"Uh-uh." She choked on her words. "Sir, you can't be serious. They're human children."
"Lord Ainz's ultimate goal is to make the world a better place. Surely a few children couldn't be too hard to manage?" He replied coolly. 'Many of Nazarick see humanity as either alien or beneath them. How are we to do right if we can't form relationships with humans?'
"I'll go tell the others!" Mozza cheered, jogging off.
"Sir, I fail to see the value in taking in children though?" Cheds pressed.
"If you fail to see the value in it now, then merely carry out my orders till you do." Countered Sebas, using his authority to take control.
Cheds bowed to him, before leaving to carry out the task she was certain Mozza had already failed at.
Sebas stood in the hallway in silence, staring at the door. 'Greed. I can't help it.'
An; Exams man, back to back at this point. Please accept this shoddily made, late chapter. It's also kind of hard to write a long chapter with these characters, as they are so hyper efficient and mostly professional that there isn't a lot of interaction between them. Unless you guys would find a chapter almost entirely revolving around characters saying "yes sir." back and forth to be fun?
I know the Furt family normally is used to elicit anger in the readers, but instead, I used them here as a stepping stool for Sebas to infiltrate with. I also wanted to show a glimpse as to how the assistants were scarily efficient at times as well as how they and the maids are nearly capable of telepathy.
I shall also state that the assistants don't really have names. I merely gave them numbers in the narration to make them easier to keep track of. That sort of thing becomes very important when they're the only ones in a scene.
Review Replies.
Yoyon586 & UrAverageSkeleton; Thank you so much for your praise. It is a pleasure to create.
Lord Searing Simp; Yeah man, college exams can be rough. I'm setting up all the characters so the plot can go into full swing without any hiccups, so you really can see these early chapters as build up. Also, thank you for complimenting Albedo's sass, it's hard to get well. SHe's such a rude character, and I'm not as aggressive as she is, so she's a bit unusual to me.
Anapgod1 & Bluecore & Agonizing Turtle; The waifu wars have officially begun to heat up.
Peroroncino; Glad you like it. Albedo is a creature of jealousy, and it amuses me. In a weird sort of way, because Albedo thirsts over Ainz, Citrinitas can hold an easier conversation with him which would upset her. I find that funny.
CritKhagan; Once again with the PM reviews. I love them, your questions are always thorough and fascinating.
Kierbee; Her combat weakness stems from 2 things. 1, the lifespan of the feature in question. 2, the purpose of the feature. Alchemist would have been a day 1 deal, meaning it has a much longer lifespan, meaning death by power creep. The 2nd, she's not a combatant. She's not built to fight head-on, but to create items that can shift power dynamics.
Andoro; Lot to unpack there. Overlord was based off of DnD, and I did indeed want to run with some of that. At least for monster designs and behaviors. The designs are mostly the same, but the behaviors I've tried to put more effort into.
I've also indeed read a lot of novels, and studied writing tutorials (terrible writing advice, trope talks, these guys are great), as well as having picked through scenes for everything you could learn from them. My skills are B tier, A tier on a good day. Every scene I write, I try to achieve at least 1 thing; introduce an element, interact with an element, or achieve satisfaction in ending something.
