CHAPTER 14: Bitter Resolve
WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of rape. You have been warned.
Seasons didn't exist anymore.
Even so, people's lives changed daily. That included her as well.
'Today is a good day,' she thought to herself, humming as she walked towards the bakery, a slight spring in her steps.
The bakery was a small establishment a few blocks away from where she lived. She only knew of the bakery because someone rich had donated bread to orphans so they wouldn't starve.
It was a painstakingly long process for her to convince the chef in the bakery, but finally, finally, she had a proper job!
The first few weeks after she arrived, insults were hurled in her face because she didn't understand anything. How was she supposed to know that to cook bread, she needed yeast?
But she was determined to learn.
She spent most of her time researching baking and cooking in general. She watched hours and hours of videos as well as reading every baking related article she came across online so that she could do her job well.
After all, she had a plan.
Using the salary she was earning, she was going to buy bread, real bread, for the children at the orphanage, and when they ate it, she was going to tell them that it was her who made it.
Their boisterous laughter, wide smiles, and bright innocence were the only things that kept her going in that hell hole.
After a couple of months, the head chef had finally approved of her.
"Good job," were the two simple words he said to her.
As someone who had never been complimented by anyone before, those two words became so much more meaningful to her. They were a sign that the chef finally noticed her hard work, a sign that she was about to make those children smile brighter than ever before.
She was one step closer to her goal.
She was just closing up and cleaning the equipment for tomorrow when suddenly, the chef who usually went home earlier than her went up to her and said, "Don't come to the bakery tomorrow."
When she heard what he said, she dropped the metal bowl into the water-filled sink in shock.
"Are...are you firing me?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought she was doing a good job. So why did the chef suddenly say that she couldn't come to the kitchen tomorrow?
"No, you idiot," he sighed as he pinched his eyebrows between his fingers. "One of our customers invited you to his event. This is also work. So you better do a good job," he hissed towards her.
She exhaled in relief. At least she wasn't being fired. She smiled at the chef; after months of working with him, she knew that although he was an old coot, deep inside he was a kind old man.
He accepted her into the bakery afterall.
"Yes, I won't disappoint you," she said firmly.
Since the bakery usually catered to upscale rich citizens, it was not rare for her to find the chef interacting with his customers. Public relation was important when it came to business such as theirs. Businesses that relied on the people who could afford luxury goods.
"Good. I left his invitation on the table. It's a formal event, so wear something nice."
When tomorrow came, as the chef instructed, she didn't go to the bakery. Instead, she went to the address listed in the invitation. The location was quite far from where she lived, but she managed to find it through a GPS.
The place was beyond anything she could imagine. She thought something like this could only be available in the virtual world, not the real one.
The house stood tall, its shadow overlooking the entire estate. The cream coating of the paint shone brilliantly as the sun beat down on it, causing her to squint. Intricate fences kept the house enclosed. The roof was peaked, slanting down at an angle. The windows had royal purple curtains hanging on the other side of them, and were drawn open so that the sunlight could stream through.
As she stepped onto the pavement, she noticed a marble fountain sitting towards the right side of the expansive lawn. An angel holding a marble gardenia was perched on top, looking up towards the sky. Dark, murky water spurted from its hand, which lay gently out in front if it, as if waiting for someone to take it. The water gently fell towards the seemingly endless pool of water beneath, causing ripples to form and spread out until they were no more.
Bushes were trimmed into all sorts of animals and littered the parts of the lawn that were not taken up by the enormous fountain: tigers, elephants, giraffes, penguins, birds, snakes. All of these animal structures were life-sized.
She touched the leaf on the tiger, and as soon as she laid her fingers on it, she realized that the shrub was made out of plastic.
She walked into the extravagant house, down the little stone path to the black door. She pushed the doorbell, something vintage, she noted. No one in this century used a doorbell anymore. As it ding-donged, a yellow light surrounded the white button.
Moments later, the door was opened by a man wearing a red and black suit.
"Are you perhaps, Hannah?"
"Y-Yes."
"Hello! We've been expecting you."
At that point she didn't know that there was a Hell on the Earth she was currently living in.
She smiled back in response and the man grabbed her by the shoulders, far too close for comfort. She stole a glance around the place.
The black and white marble floor of the entrance glowed, obviously cleaned before she arrived. Stairs lay on both sides of the room, climbing tall towards the ceiling. A doorway was on either side of the room, one was a path to the kitchen, while the other was into the living room. The walls were a dark blue with silver brush swipes crossing over it, creating a shimmering effect.
Loud pounding and heavy music came from upstairs, as two men ran down the winding silver staircase, each of them holding a glass of wine. "Is that the girl from the bakery?" asked one, his blue eyes peeking at her from beneath his elegantly styled hair.
One thing was immediate.
She had felt the entire thing to be completely weird and out of place. And she didn't like the way they were staring at her.
As the man guided her up the staircase, the other served her a drink and she looked at it thinking that the drink wasn't right, that it had an odd bubble line, and that she didn't drink from it anymore.
However, one sip and whatever was inside the drink was enough to sap all the strength from her body.
She recalled how one of them pushed her down onto a sofa in one of the rooms while they hovered over her.
She recalled how weak her arms felt, almost like jelly.
The sensation of utter helplessness as she failed to push them off.
She recalled saying "no" several times.
But it didn't matter.
The next thing she remembered was them on top of her, thrusting and jabbing like animals to the point they knocked her off the bed.
She recalled the soft feeling of the carpet as her limp body fell to the floor.
They took their turns to use her as they pleased. She was certain that she was going to die.
When whatever they put into the drink finally wore off, she murmured incoherently. She was half naked, and she realized what had happened.
But it was too late.
At the young age of nineteen, the chef sold her virginity to his sponsors to keep his business afloat. They continued the activity for days, maybe weeks, but all she recalled was that he had brought all of his friends along when he was done with her.
She just helplessly laid there in the room for what seemed like an eternity. Men, and occasionally even women, came and did what they wanted to. Sometimes she couldn't sleep because of the anguish, sometimes because of the physical pain. Sometimes she woke up to a man already inside her.
At that very moment, she felt like an animal.
One day she woke up in a different room. She cried for hours or maybe days or weeks. She had become accustomed to the familiarity of the room where the only comfort she had was the silent brushing of the fabric against her skin that made her feel like a living being.
She was dirtydirtydirty.
In the new room, with a new man, she was trained to dress up, put on makeup, and dance. She was trained to provide a number of services that the man made her practice with him, on him.
She felt like a robot. She didn't feel anything. She didn't even have the will to stop or rebel. She was just taking orders.
She only survived because one of the man's parents had found her in the bedroom. They were shaking her vigorously and asked for her name. She couldn't comprehend what was happening. She didn't even remember what she was called because all she could recall and all she could feel was painpainpain.
She started crying, and for the first time since she arrived at the mansion, a human came towards her and hugged her. She told her that they were there to save her.
If life was a fairytale, a prince on a white horse would come and save her, bringing her away, far, far, far away from this place.
But this was reality.
This was her deepest, saddest secret.
-BREAKING NEWS-
Police are taking five men into custody for suspected of kidnapping, drugging, and gang raping a woman under the initials of H.A.
It is claimed that the nineteen year old was abducted for twenty-three days and was taken to one of their homes in Tokyo where she was attacked by at least ten people.
She was later moved to a nearby hotel about five miles southwest of the estate.
The parents of the five men were the ones who reported this to the authorities and they have named their sons as the suspects who kidnapped her, according to the Press of Japan news agency.
Japan Times quoted a police official that the parents had found the girl lying on the floor under the influence of drugs after upon returning from their vacation.
The woman was immediately taken to a nearby hospital and is currently recuperating.
This is Japan Times reporting.
(◞‸◟)
"Where have you been?" His voice boomed in the massive Throne Room, and soon after, a green aura flashed over him.
"That doesn't matter. I'm here now aren't I?" she irritatedly replied to Ainz.
"That is true," Ainz relented, knowing from experience that there must be something wrong if she was acting this passive aggressively. "Very well. Look at this."
He pointed to the opened 『Master Source』, an interface that was available only to him as the Guild Leader of Nazarick and Albedo as the Overseer to oversee the state of the denizens of Nazarick and Nazarick itself.
Tiamat walked over to his left side and saw the names of the Floor Guardians written inside the floating translucent window, however, only Shalltear's name was black in color.
"It's black…"
"Yes," Ainz replied.
Amidst the sea of names written in white, only Shalltear Bloodfallen's name was shown in black.
She looked over it repeatedly, staring at the writing until she realized that her eyes were not mistaken. "I-Is she dead? When does this happen?"
Tiamat questioned Albedo. Her heart plummeted inside her. So that was the dread she had been feeling earlier.
"Last night. However, if she were dead, her name would have vanished and left a blank space. In all likelihood, this represents betrayal, My Lady."
"Well…" Ainz hesitated as if he wanted to add something, but he found Albedo's explanation comprehensive enough. "That's right," he said.
"But, there's no way!" Tiamat denied. "How can you two be so casual about this? It's impossible no matter how many times you think about it!"
That's right.
In YGGDRASIL, it was impossible.
Shalltear was an undead. Just like Ainz. This made the two of them immune to mind-affecting status effects, both positive or negative. There was no way Shalltear was mind controlled through some spell.
"I see what you mean, Tia." Ainz turned his head toward Albedo. "Could this be the effect of some being, phenomenon, or special effect that is unique to this world?"
Albedo shook her head. "I apologize Ainz-sama, but there's no way of knowing through『Master Source』."
"What should we do…" Tiamat whispered to no one in particular. Freeing someone from a mind-control spell should be fairly easy if they had a support build with a high enough Karma Rating. However those were skills that both Tiamat and Ainz did not have.
Albedo replied to Tiamat, her voice as stern as steel.
"I propose we assemble a strike force immediately. I wish to nominate myself as the commander of this expedition and, if you permit it, I would like to have Cocytus as my executive officer and include Mare in our forces, Ainz-sama."
The choice Albedo wanted to make was clear. She intended to eliminate Shalltear for her betrayal. The choices were perfect with Cocytus as the main attacker, Albedo as the tanker, and Mare as support.
"No." was Tiamat's immediate reply.
Albedo bowed to Tiamat, "I'm sorry My Lady, but there is nothing else that can be done. At this point, it's better to eliminate the root of the problem entirely." Albedo turned her head to Ainz. "Do you approve?"
"NO!" she roared. Her roar was so loud that the shockwave of her voice caused the flag insignias in the throne room to flap.
How could Albedo decide on that solution so easily? As if she had always been ready to kill Shalltear at a moment's notice. She didn't even explore other possibilities aside from completely eliminating her.
This is Shalltear they are talking about, Peroroncino's very own creation!
"I apologize Lady Tiamat. But as I recall, Ainz-sama is the leader of Ainz Ooal Gown. Therefore this will be decided solely by—"
"Albedo!" Ainz censured the Overseer of Nazarick. "That's enough. You are out of line."
Realizing her blunder, Albedo kneeled down. "Forgive this foolish servant for her error, Ainz-sama! I sincerely apologize."
"It is not me who you should be apologizing to."
"I...I understand. My sincerest apologies Lady Tiamat, I have spoken out of line."
"No. Stand up Albedo," Tiamat ordered the Overseer who immediately complied. "You're right. In Ainz Ooal Gown, I am nothing compared to Ainz."
"Stop it!" Ainz hissed at the Dragoness and sighed. "What is up with you two?"
Tiamat immediately changed the topic, "I'm going to look for Shalltear."
"Don't be rash," Ainz reprimanded her, his red orbs flaring. "Enemies might still be lurking nearby."
"I'm just going to look for her through the 『Mirror of Remote Viewing』, if you two come to a decision, then please tell me immediately," she stepped down from the side of the throne.
Mockingly, she bowed down towards Ainz, just like the Floor Guardians did. "Well then, I'll be going, Ainz-sama…"
"Tiamat, you—!"
But before Ainz could say more she disappeared through『Gate』.
(◞‸◟)
She teleported to her room, and as soon as she made sure that no one was around, tears uncontrollably streamed from her amethyst eyes.
She covered her face in her hands.
'Why...why, Albedo?' was the only thought that ran through her mind.
It hurt.
The instance she had heard the news, she felt nothing. The reality was too shocking to be true.
Then her heart turned into lead and slowly sank inside of her. Like a rock in the furthest depths of the ocean descending into the deep cold bottom, far from reach.
For Tiamat it was as if life had slapped her hard in the face.
She couldn't respond. There was no point in any attempt to overturn the situation. It had happened, and she was helpless.
Her eyes were sore from holding back the tears that were accumulating behind them.
A voice whispered in her head, 'You knew this would happen, didn't you?'
A voice whispered in the darkness, 'You should be prepared for this...shouldn't you?'
But she knew the answer.
She never had the courage to prepare herself for the worst. She was foolish enough to convince herself that the worst couldn't happen.
Murphy's Law. The worst case scenario had jumped out of its hiding place to shatter her naive notions and laugh at her despair as she trembled vulnerably in grief.
This was it. This was the day.
Her dreams, her hopes were sucked away like a poor piece of paper down a drain. Mercilessly ripped apart by the uncaring currents of the universe.
It really hurt. So badly. And there was nothing she could do.
She thought about both of the worlds she had lived in so far. Both were cruel, sadistic realms. The daily suffering and injustice she experienced on Earth and now, even in this reality, her family was being stripped away from her.
'What a hellish world…'
Even when she was granted a new beginning, the moment she began to live a happy life with the people she considered family, her hopes were pulled out from under her feet. She was too weak then, and she was too weak even now.
How do people even go about living their lives? How do they muster the motivation to keep slogging through everything like a sewer rat? How do they feel excited about living in such a grey world?
But that was the way it was, and complaining and crying could never change that.
However, there was a solution...a solution that she had prepared long ago.
It was time for her to make lemon chewies.
(◞‸◟)
As usual, Yuri accompanied her in the kitchen. Lunch time had passed half an hour ago, so there was no one in both the kitchen and the cafeteria. She was all alone with Yuri.
Yuri was supposed to be helping Lady Tiamat, however this time, Lady Tiamat insisted that she has to make this dessert by herself.
Yuri watched as the Dragoness cream together the sugar and coconut oil until fluffy, mixing lemon juice and zest, followed by honey. In a separate bowl, Tiamat whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed sugar mixture and mix until smooth.
She watched the Supreme One rolls the dough into small, uniform balls and roll them in granulated sugar before placing them onto the baking pan and flattened it slightly. After that she immediately baked the dough for ten to twelve minutes, until set and lightly browned.
As the light colored cookie was done, the smell of lemon and honey wafted through the entire kitchen.
However, Yuri noticed something wrong.
Usually Lady Tiamat cooked for large groups of people, but this time it seemed that she only baked about a dozen cookies.
Tiamat looked at her status screen.
『Congratulations,『Lemon Chewies』 have been added to your Recipes!』
With sad eyes, she dismissed the screen and casted『Create Lesser Item』, one of the few utility spells she had, to create a small woven basket. When the chewies cooled down, she lined the basket with a small napkin and neatly stacked the cookies into the basket.
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Tiamat finally called out to Yuri.
"Yuri…"
Immediately, as if she was expecting it, Yuri bowed down towards the Dragoness, "Yes, My Lady?"
"Please deliver this to Albedo. Stay and ask her to take a bite. If she does, then report back to me immediately. If she doesn't, then you and your sisters can eat the cookies."
"Yes, My Lady," Yuri stood up, and was about to leave to look for Albedo. "For future reference, what is the name of this cookie you made, My Lady?"
Although Yuri saw the corners of Tiamt's lips turn upwards into her usual smile, her eyes seemed strained and bitter, "These are called lemon chewies, Yuri. please tell Albedo that as well."
"It will be as you desire."
(◞‸◟)
The Dragoness teleported herself to the Sixth Floor Arena. There, she was immediately swamped by Aura and Mare who had been waiting for her at the entrance.
Mare was the first who noticed her arrival, and saw that the Supreme One's eyes were puffed and red, as if she had been crying.
However, Mare stayed quiet.
"My Lady!" Aura greeted Tiamat, "That was quick, how did it go?"
Tiamat looked down at the dark elf twins whose eyebrows were furrowed in worry. She shook her head internally. Right now, she had to compose herself and relieve the concern of the children in front of her.
'Remember, children are sensitive to fear. Therefore, you must be strong for their sake.' she repeated the phrase over and over inside her head. She had to keep calm and act carefully.
Tiamat put a smile on her face, her regular smile, 'It has to be convincing…' she patted the twins on the head.
"It's alright now Mare, Shalltear will be home soon," she assured the twins.
"W-What did Ainz-sama decide, My Lady?" Mare asked.
"Well, right now we have to locate where Shalltear is first. Then we'll go from there."
Seeing that the twins' eyes were still filled with doubt, she knelt down and hugged both of them tightly, rubbing soothing circles on their back. "Hey, it's alright. Trust me, everything will be fine," she smiled and gave each twin a peck on the cheek before she stood up to approach one of her baby dragons.
It seemed that Pentakrisis was resting somewhere on the floor. Well, no matter, this time it was not Pentakrisis she needed.
Tiamat walked to the baby dragons who were all huddled together, sharing their warmth in the corner of the Arena. Her gentle patting make one open his eyes, and as soon as it gave a happy screech when he saw Tiamat, the rest were wide awake as well.
She smiled and gave them a hug while landed nuzzled and licked all over her face.
Their grunts and chuffs held an obvious meaning to her; they missed her, and she missed them too.
Once they had their fair share of cuddling, Tiamat ordered one of her baby dragons, the fastest one, to fly over the area where Shalltear was last seen while Tiamat was looking at the view from both the baby dragon's eyes and the 『Mirror of Remote Viewing』.
She used an 『Invisibility』 scroll on the baby dragon before it left through a『Gate』towards the starry sky of the arena before disappearing completely.
"Come with me," she said to Aura and Mare, who dutifully complied.
She opened a『Gate』that transported them into her room.
As the twins looked around the room with starry eyes, awed that they were in a Supreme Being's living quarters, Tiamat gently guided them to a plush red sofa.
"『Shared Summon Sight』," Tiamat pulled out her 『Mirror of Remote Viewing』and linked it to the baby dragon she had sent out.
"Aura, Mare. Come here please"
The three watched as the dragonling flew around the forest, passing by countless trees and rivers.
Tiamat mentally asked the dragonling to circle around its surrounding area and to be on the lookout for Shalltear. She carefully watched his peripheral vision just in case he missed anything, while Aura and Mare observed through the mirror.
After almost an hour of circling around the area, her baby dragon had actually found Shalltear from the corner of its eyes.
"Aura, Mare, please look around Shalltear's surroundings. If there's someone lurking nearby, please tell me immediately."
All she could see were trees and more trees; there was no one hiding in plain sight at the very least.
She asked her baby dragon to hover above Shalltear, and anger immediately blazed in her as she saw the state she was in.
Shalltear was dressed in her suit of red-colored full plate armor which looked like it had been drenched in blood. She wore a swan shaped helmet which left only the face exposed. Avian feathers sprouted from either side of the helmet.
She held a huge, strange looking lance in one hand, resembling a pipette one might use in a science class. The Spuit Lance.
Shalltear Bloodfallen was ready for battle.
Immediately she stood up from her sofa and as she was about to activate『Gate』, a female voice echoed through her mind.
[Please forgive the disturbance, Lady Tiamat,] it was Narberal's voice.
She was annoyed at Narberal untimely interruption
[What is it Narberal? I'm—]
I'm busy, is what she wanted to say, but she cut herself off halfway.
A faint sense of regret came over her as soon as she raised her voice against Narberal. Narberal didn't do anything wrong.
[No, it's fine. What is it, Nabe-chan?]
[Yes. Someone from the Adventurers Guild is looking for you My Lady.]
[What? Why?] even though she had finished her two Adamantine ranked quests, she hadn't submitted them to the guild, so there was no way the guild was calling her about that.
[I do not know in detail, however I've heard that the Guild Master is looking for you. It has something to do with a certain Vampire.]
Tiamat opened her eyes in shock and disbelief, 'They found out?' The incident had only happened last night.
[Did they mention anything about the Vampire's appearance? Her hair, her eyes, her dress?]
[No, they didn't My Lady. A runner is currently being dispatched by the Adventurers Guild to look for you. They had hoped that this runner would find you in the Forest of Tob since they said you were completing Adamantine ranked quests inside the forest.]
Tiamat closed her eyes, mulling over the situation.
Shalltear should be a top priority right now. But she also had to stop the Guild in the case they were going to investigate Shalltear.
Finally, she came to a conclusion.
[Thank you Nabe-chan,] and with that she ended the message.
"Aura, Mare," they immediately turned their heads to look at her, "I have to go for a bit, please watch Shalltear for me. Mare, please inform Ainz and Albedo that we've found Shalltear's location, and Aura, please direct the Youngling back towards the Sixth Floor Arena."
The two could only look on helplessly when the Dragoness exited through 『Gate』as they glanced back at Shalltear's still form.
(◞‸◟)
"Hannah-sama, we've been expecting you," the receptionist called out to her as soon as she entered the guild hall.
"Yes, I found the runner looking for me inside the forest. Is there something Pluton-san needs?" she immediately replied.
After she had received Narberal's 『Message』, she activated her 『Scale of Ragnarok』and teleported into the Forest of Tob. She had sent a 『Message』 to Yuri in advance that she would be returning to her Adventurer persona to stop the guild from investigating Shalltear, and to pass the message along to Albedo and Ainz.
The last thing she heard from Yuri was that they were finishing up their business with Nigredo on the Fifth Floor.
"Yes, please follow me…" the receptionist led the way to one of the meeting rooms.
She followed the receptionist and the receptionist opened the door for her.
Behind the door was a well lit room, with a long table that seated eight people. Her eyes immediately landed on the three Mythril Adventurers that she had met the other day in Pluton's office, in addition to one lone man on the other side of the table who was wearing black full-plate armor.
However, this time there was a fat man standing beside Pluton Ainzach. His belly was rounded and flabby and his chins were overflowing with blubber. The excess of fat made him look like a bulldog.
The man was half bald, and his scalp blinded all who looked at it.
"Is this the fabled Silver Priestess?" his voice was heavy, drowned as it was by fat, and everytime he spoke he took a deep breath that sounded more like a pig's snort.
"Yes," Pluton Ainzach answered the fat man, "It is nice meeting you again, Hannah-sama."
"Guild Master," she bowed in greeting to Pluton and the Mythril Adventurers. "Moknach-san, Bellote-san, Igvarge-san."
"Hannah-sama, glad we could meet again," Bellote replied politely. Moknach nodded at her greeting while Igvarge clicked his tongue and turned his head toward Pluton so he didn't have to look at her, or rather, the shining Adamantine plate that rested on her hips.
Moknach smiled at the sight of the Priestess, he had heard that the Priestess was alive and well, and had returned back to Adventuring just one week after the Pandemonium. He also looked at her new Adamantine metal plate and nodded in satisfaction. He agreed that Hannah Annafelowz was one of those who definitely were deserving of the rank.
"Please take a seat Hannah-sama," Bellote offered the empty chair beside the dark armored Adventurer. "Oh, this is Momon-san, a new Mythril adventurer."
As soon as she heard the name, her breath hitched in her throat and two thoughts immediately popped up in her mind.
One was, 'Awkward…' considering the way she had left the throne room just a few hours ago, and the second was 'His name is Momon, pfft~!'
Truly, Ainz was not creative when it came to naming things.
"Momon-san, pleased to meet you. My name is Hannah Annafelowz, an Adamantine Adventurer," she grinned at him. Hannah Annafelowz had never met Momon before, so this was their personas' first time meeting with each other.
"Ah yes, you are the injured adventurer from one week ago," Ainz caught on to her act.
"I heard you gave me your health potion. Thank you very much for helping me."
"Hm, that was nothing. Glad to see you alive and well, Hannah-san."
She sat down on the chair provided for her. "And this is…?" she waved her arm at the person who stood beside Pluton.
"This is the Mayor of E-Rantel, Panasolei Gruuze De Rittenmeier-san."
Tiamat nodded, and Panasoleoi waved slightly in response.
"And this is the leader of the E-Rantel Magician's Guild, Theo Rakesheer," a skinny man who looked as frail as a bamboo pole and seemed at least somewhat anorexic nodded at Tiamat.
"It's nice to finally put a face on the Silver Priestess. As expected of the rumors, you are truly a beauty," the Mayor nodded, appreciating the woman in front of him and Tiamat inwardly sighed; she didn't want to deal with this right now.
She forced a strained smile in reply.
Thankfully, Ainz sensed her discomfort, and changed the topic, "So why is an Adamantine Adventurer here?"
"Before that, shouldn't we show some basic courtesy and remove our helmets?" Igvarge cut in with mocking words. At this, Tiamat became even more annoyed; not a single word that came out from that man's mouth had been good. It was always sneers and disdain.
"It's fine. This time, he has a point. I have been somewhat rude," Ainz replied quickly. "Since I came from another country, I wore my helmet to avoid drawing trouble. Please forgive my lack of manners."
"Tch, so you're a foreigner."
Her stiff smile fell. She was stuck here in this room with the molesting Guild Master, corrupt Mayor, anorexic magician, an annoying Adventurer, and kill-joy Ainz. If they continued this facade, the lower ranked adventurers would get closer and closer to Shalltear's location.
"Shut up, Igva—" but Theodore was cut off by the soft voice of the Silver Priestess.
Her amethyst eyes were cold with disgust as she glared at Igvarge.
"Igvarge-san," she smiled at him sweetly. "If you keep on interrupting the discussion, I'll ask Pentakrisis to eat you. So, stop wasting our time."
All the men in the room flinched at her words, however, this enraged Igvarge even more.
"Well, it's because a certain someone was late that we haven't heard about anything until now."
"Then, please forgive me for being late," Tiamat lowered her head in apology.
Faced with Igvarge's hostility and constant jabs, her sincere apology made her seem much more cordial in comparison. Igvarge scoffed angrily as his scowl deepened, he was well aware that the general opinion of him had fallen even further.
However, most people in the room agreed that Igvarge was disrupting the whole meeting.
Siding with Tiamat to get on her good side, Pluton spoke up, eyes filled with rage. "One more interruption and you can get your ass out of here."
Igvarge inclined his head slightly in apology.
Pluton cleared his throat. "Let's skip the idle chatter and continue. To summarize, about two nights ago, some adventurers who were patrolling the outskirts of E-Rantel encountered a vampire. Five of them were killed by the Vampire. I have gathered all of you here because of that incident."
As both Ainz and Tiamat listened to the description of the Vampire, they both knew that it was Shalltear that they were discussing.
"Then, do any of you have any questions?"
"When you say the outskirts, where exactly do you mean by that?" Moknach raised his hand.
"It's a place about three hours away from the north gate. There is a large clearing there, and the incident took place within the forest."
"What rank were those adventurers?"
"They were iron plates."
The discussion continued while the two of them listened intently.
Ainz was already thinking about altering the memory of the adventurers who saw Shalltear, but Tiamat kept on listening to the conversation.
"Vampires can turn their prey into servants by sucking their blood. It will be a catastrophe if the monster makes it into E-Rantel."
"Could this be related to the communal cemetery case?"
"Oh, the one that Momon-san resolved last night. Was there anything on the bodies of the masterminds that would tie the two events together?"
"From their belongings, we learned the enemy was from Zuranon."
Immediately, the faces of the three Mythril adventurers turned grim.
"That undead-controlling secret society? I guess they really are linked with that vampire."
"So their aim was to trigger incidents within and outside the city to split our forces? Or are both of them decoys, and the real plan about to begin…this is terrible."
"We know that there is a cave near the area the vampire was spotted. We'll send a scouting party there first."
'No!' she screamed inwardly as the discussion was starting to form the most logical solution.
The worst case scenario would be if Shalltear's appearance became public knowledge. It meant she would have to face two sides, the Adventurers, as well as Nazarick.
She desperately tried to think of a way to guide the situation in another direction.
However, Ainz was always one step faster than her.
"You are mistaken," the silent black armored man finally voiced his opinion. "That vampire has nothing to do with Zuranon."
"Why is that Momon-san? Do you know something about this?"
"I know the name of that Vampire because I have been hunting that creature for a long time."
"What?!" was the reply from all the men inside the room as the air shuddered in shock.
"It's an extremely powerful vampire. In truth, the reason I became an Adventurers was to collect information about it."
"Now that you talk about it…" Pluton said, looking at Tiamat, "Hannah-sama had the same reasoning when she first started as an Adventure, is this perhaps the same vampire, Hannah-sama?"
The news was shocking to the people in the room, they had never thought that two of the strongest people would come into their town for the same reason.
Tiamat's brain spun into overdrive.
"Yes," she answered, perhaps they could turn the situation around."The features described are exactly the same as the vampire I have been looking for."
Like a fish, they took the bait.
"Momon-san, do you know the name of this vampire?" she asked Ainz.
Ainz suddenly stopped to stare at her, and people in the room waited in bated breath as he blurted out a name.
"Honyopenyoto…"
"Eh?"
That idiotic-sounding reply had not come from one mouth; just about everyone had exclaimed the same way.
"...Her name is Honyopenyoko."
Tiamat stayed quiet as she looked down, her shoulders trembling, and as soon as Pluton saw the Silver Priestess he understood. The Silver Priestess must have been remembering the loss of her family when she heard that vampire's name.
Not just him, but the rest of the people inside the room aside from Ainz thought the same thing as Pluton.
Her hair was down, covering her face. She raised her hand to her mouth to muffle her cries. But her whimpers and trembling shoulders indicated the great burden this person carried.
They could empathize with her.
The harsh reality of losing your loved ones.
For that to have happened to someone so young, so innocent, broke their hearts.
That was why they waited until the Priestess regained her composure.
In truth, Tiamat was trying her best to hold back her laughter. She let her hair cascade down, covering her face with the palms of her hands, but she couldn't restrain the small shudders of laughter that escaped her body.
'BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HONYOPENYOKO, What kind of name is that Momo-chan!'
She restrained her laughter so hard that tears started escaping from her eyes.
The people inside the meeting room waited for the Silver Priestess.
Her muffled voice sounded like she was holding back her tears. Pluton could understand, it must be hard for her…
After a while, she took a deep breath, raised her face and wiped the tears away from the corners of her eyes.
"I see…her name is Honyopenyoko."
As soon as she said that out loud, she received a 『Message』 from Ainz.
[What? It's a good name, players from YGGDRASIL would know that it was a player who created that name.]
[Sorry, I couldn't resist] with that, she ended the『Message』.
"Is, is that so? That Honyo...ah, forget it! Since we know that female vampire's name, it's about time you told us of your true identity, no? Seeing that the tramp looks like she was from the same country as you are, which country are you—"
Ainz cut him off. He dearly wanted to crush Igvarge into paste for calling his dearest friend such a degrading word. However, he had to redirect the topic first. Afterall, this man would regret it later anyways.
"I apologize, but I cannot tell you right now. Currently I am on a top-secret mission. If you find out, I will have no choice but to leave this land, and then you will have to deal with the vampire yourself. I do not wish for this to become an international incident. You do understand, don't you, Mayor?"
The Mayor nodded slowly.
Finally a wave of realization came over Tiamat as she figured out what Ainz was planning. First and foremost, they have to get rid of the investigating team.
She said confidently, determination brimming in her voice. "I will handle the reconnaissance. Afterall, this is why you have summoned me, right?"
The air filled with a pressure that reminded them of the rumbling of a dragon.
"Then, ah, the other teams will—"
"I will be joining the Silver Priestess in slaying the vampire. Other teams will not needed, they will only slow us down," thus spoke the Warrior of Darkness.
That was smart of Ainz to do. He waved off all opposition to the plan made by the rest of the people in the room. This was their way of basically saying: this is our problem, so don't meddle.
They couldn't believe this extraordinary sight
A tactless declaration made by newly rising adventurers. One who just rose to Adamantine and one to Mythril.
They could sense that the attitudes of these two people were not born of recklessness, narcissism, or pride, but had been coldly, carefully calculated. At the same time, it spoke of their strength to be able to make such a statement.
This could be a new hero team in the making.
The rest choked their words back and took several deep breaths, even the Mayor opened up his collar, his sweat flowing freely.
"Then," Pluton said in a small voice, as if whispering. "What about the payment?"
"Since the Priestess and I come from different ranks, her payment and mine will obviously differ. However, for me, I would like an Orichalcum rank at the very least. That would make it more convenient for me, because it is tiresome to have to keep proving my strength."
Everyone present gaped their mouth at his audacious demands.
Then, the sole woman in the room delivered the final blow, ending the discussion entirely.
"Then my payment would be to abolish this quest," she slid a piece of parchment across the wooden table, an adamantine ranked quest parchment. "I searched far and wide but the Quagoas were not to be found. Therefore proving impossible for me to finish this quest."
A chair screeched, and all eyes went to the source of the sound, Igvarge.
"That's not payment! If you can't finish the quest then just say so! Moreover, you—I can't convince myself to believe in your strength. Be-besides it's not clear if that Vampire is as strong as you say! I'm going with you!"
To the rest of the people in the room, it was clear that Igvarge was simply jealous of the two who rose faster through the ranks than him.
"Igvarge, that tone of yours—"
"It's fine," the Priestess cut off Pluton with a smile.
"With that being said," the Dark Warrior continued, "If you want to come along...you'll definitely die."
Instead of a warning, it sounded more like a premonition. Igavarge shuddered at the tone in which the dark warrior said those words. In fact, everyone present was chilled to the bone by his statement.
"I agree with Momon-san. If you don't mind then please come along." Tiamat shrugged, however, her reply was frosty and sharp.
"Of, of course!"
Igvarge was obviously bluffing, but he couldn't back down or run away.
"It's all well and good to be confident. Moreover, the Silver Priestess will also be going on this quest. If she goes, that means her dragon will also go with her. In that case, we'll be leaving everything to both of you."
Ainz and Tiamat nodded confidently at Pluton's humble submission.
"We should move out as soon as possible. Vampires suffer a penalty of slowed movement under daylight," The Priestess said as she looked at the Dark Warrior.
"Yes, let's meet at E-Rantel's main gate in an hour."
Igvarge protested at their sudden agreement. "One hour is too soon! There's still a long time before sunset."
Ignoring Igvarge, Tiamat gracefully rose from her chair, "Then let's go prepare. Should we plan together, Momon-san?"
Ainz nodded and with scraped the chair across the floor as he stood up and followed the Priestess outside the room.
(◞‸◟)
Releasing herself from her disguise, Tiamat's red hair flowed from her head and waved in the wind.
She slowly walked to a large clearing where a person in a suit of crimson plate armor stood. The person was superbly beautiful, but the stench of rotting blood that clung to her ruined her whole aesthetic.
"Shalltear…" Tiamat said softly to her.
There was no response.
Tiamat looked at the vampire again. Her eyes were open, however they were not gleaming with life.
"Shalltear, can you hear me?" Tiamat's voice started to sound hoarse and small.
The usual Shalltear would have immediately responded to her, twirling her purple parasol while spouting indecent things with her pretty mouth.
But this one said nothing, responded to nothing.
"Shalltear, your boobs are pathetically small. You wanna know why? That's because the designer made your boobs small and Peroroncino let him because he was too lazy to go back to the designer."
Tiamat knew if anyone were to diss her small boobs, Shalltear would screech angrily, as she usually did towards Albedo and Aura.
But there was no response.
"Shalltear, I'll sleep with you," and edge of desperation crept into her voice.
The usual Shalltear would most definitely start huffing out steam as soon as she heard Tiamat's proposal, saying things like how her underwear was wet and how she couldn't wait for it to happen, or all the dirty things she wanted to do to Tiamat
But this Shalltear didn't say anything.
Her eyes remained impassive as she looked down on the ground with those haunting eyes, just like a doll.
She hated this Shalltear.
Tiamat wanted the real Shalltear to return.
"Hey, Shalltear…" Tiamat stopped herself in front of the Valkyrie, "I'll bake you a blood cookie, I don't care if it'll destroy the oven, so let's go back to Nazarick, ne?"
No response.
Tiamat brought her hand up to touch the impassive person in front of her.
"Tiamat!" Ainz's harsh words stopped Tiamat in her tracks as her hand hovered above Shalltear's head. Immediately, the Overlord grabbed her hand, enveloping it in his own skeletal one and dragged her away from Shalltear. "Don't touch her, you idiot!"
She pulled her hand away and in panic she cradled her hands to her chest. "Sorry…" Ainz had never used that tone with her, and her eyes moved downwards to the ground in shame.
"Looking at the way she ignored all of Tiamat's sentences, I am certain that Shalltear is indeed under mind control."
Albedo who stood behind Ainz loyally replied. "Is this due to the reason you mentioned in the Throne Room, Ainz-sama?"
"Some mysterious person attempted to control Shalltear's mind, but something happened before that person could issue any orders. Perhaps they were struck down just as they made their move. But I know one thing for sure. She will probably defend herself against anyone who gets too close or who attacks her. Most evil-aligned NPCs will do just that, so don't get too close."
Ainz looked down at Tiamat, "Do you understand, Tia?"
The Dragoness nodded.
"If that's the case then we cannot bring her back to Nazarick…" she mulled.
"That is accurate. It would have been fine if we were certain that Shalltear's controller is dead. But if that person is alive, then it will be dangerous to wait here," Ainz replied. "That's why I will be using this."
On his forefinger, a plain ring rested; it glowed with a silver light and displayed three meteors on its face. Even if the ring looked plain and undecorated, Tiamat knew this was the mightiest ring Ainz had in his possession.
That was why when he said he would use the ring on Shalltear, she tried to snatch the ring away. Greed bubbled within her when she saw how Ainz was gambling with such a powerful item.
She immediately recognized it to be a side effect of having turned into a dragon heteromorph, and was grateful when she felt the lust subside as she remembered how the lore for her God Beast racial class included the loss of materialistic attachments.
Even so, she still tried to stop Ainz from possibly wasting it before they fully understood the situation.
"Are you an idiot?" she jumped to reach Ainz's ring, but since his avatar was a lot taller than hers, he simply had to raise his arm high so that she couldn't reach it.
『Wish Upon A Star 』, a Super Tier Spell imbued within the ring to randomly generate an option for a wish. The ring itself only had three uses in it.
To obtain this ring, Ainz had spent most of his savings on gacha and only survived on Tiamat's bread for months.
Tiamat finally gave up when she saw his skeletal face appear more grim than usual. It seemed like he was gambling on a cash item, but she could understand. Shalltear was irreplaceable afterall.
But there was only one problem.
"What if it doesn't work?" she said, staring at Shalltear.
"Then," Ainz mulled over his decision, "Then there are two option: one it works, and the other, it doesn't. It's that simple."
"But you only get three uses out of the ring..."
"Shalltear is far more important than any cash item. Don't you worry about that…"
"Don't you wanna know what I think?" she looked at him through the corner of her eyes. Ainz was beside her, staring right at her.
"Then pray tell."
"What if," she halted, "What if it was an effect of a World Item."
World Item, the most powerful class of items in YGGDRASIL. Items that possessed massive power that could potentially threaten the game's balance, thus, earning them the term "Balance Breakers".
The scenarios that they feared the most. A result so bad that it brought lines of displeasure across their features.
"Remember that one time someone almost mind controlled me during a Guild Battle? Only to be stopped by Hygieia's Chalice?"
"I see what you mean, indeed we have faced that World Item before," Ainz sighed and massaged his head as a headache started to form. "If that's the case, then I have to prepare for battle." Ainz finally looked away from his friend to look at Shalltear's form, battle strategies already forming in his head.
Tiamat's eyes flashed dangerously, "You can't."
"Are you doubting my ability?" his orbs flared with unearthly fire as he challenged her.
"No," Tiamat shook her head in disagreement. "It's not your ability."
"Then please rest assured, I will do everything in my power to bring Shalltear back."
As soon as those words were uttered from his mouth, unknown to Ainz, Tiamat's head moved towards where Albedo stood.
She noticed the fear in Albedo's eyes, and as soon as Albedo's eyes met with the Dragoness's, the Succubus nodded in understanding. Her lips were pulled taut, unable to form a smile.
Tiamat nodded in reply.
"Then...hear me, oh ring. I wish to dispel all effects on Shalltear!"
Tiamat saw a beautiful blue magic circle form on the ground. She opened her eyes wide, not expecting the different visual effects the ring provided in the New World.
However, as soon as Ainz said his wish, the magic circle cracked like a broken mirror and the shards raised upwards, defying gravity.
"What—What is this?!"
Tiamat realized that something had changed when she saw Ainz's agitated reaction.
"Oi, Ainz, is everything—"
However, she received no answer from Ainz as fear and anger broke through the emotional suppression that should have kept him calm.
"I should've realized that World Items exist in this world. It was a mistake on my part," Ainz clenched his fist in rage.
"Mine too, I should've at least checked…" she uttered sadly, feeling disappointed in herself for fooling around since they had arrived in the New World.
"Tch, damnit!" Ainz tried to calm himself down. "Albedo, recall all the Guardians from the outside world immediately. We must verify if they have been controlled like Shalltear. After that, we shall proceed to the Treasury."
Albedo bowed, "It will be as you will."
Ainz turned to look at Tiamat, "I need to make preparations for battle. Let's go back now."
When amethyst met blood red, Ainz should've noticed the sullen look in her eyes; eyes filled with ice and plots.
"Please go back first, I want to look at Shalltear one last time…" she looked away from his red orbs to stare at Shalltear.
"Umu, I understand. Please return to Nazarick as soon as you can. I'll meet you in the Throne Room."
Tiamat nodded and Ainz casted a『Gate』 to Nazarick. He entered the portal with haste, but before Albedo could follow, she called out to her.
"Albedo…"
"Yes, My Lady."
"Did you eat the lemon chewies?"
Instantly, every fiber of Albedo's being stiffened, and she stiffly nodded.
"I see…" Tiamat gave Albedo a sad smile.
And with that, Albedo stepped through the purple rift, leaving her all alone in a field with a bloody valkyrie.
Omake
Feoh Berkana—formerly the Royal capital of the Kingdom of Dwarves, built during the golden age of their civilization—was astounding to say the least.
With the Royal Palace standing tall at its center, he could still remember the magnificent view on top of the large Palace that overlooked the entirety of the Capital.
But that place was not for him.
It was the place where the Olasird'arc Haylilyal resided until a week ago, the King of the Frost Dragons and his wives.
Instead, he took the second largest building in the capital. The building had lots of room to work with and it contained many rooms that could be used as meeting halls and temporary vaults to store resources.
The former Merchant's Guild was now the residence of Pe Riyuro, Lord of the Quagoa clans.
Tufts of golden fur could be seen, almost sinking, into a large and soft cushion. His expression, however, was not one of disappointment or sadness, even after Yozu had told him everything he could after a week of investigation.
Riyuro only listened in silence.
"Right now a quest had been submitted to the human adventurer's guild as we are speaking."
"I see," Riyuro nodded. "That is good, how long do we have to wait until the humans supposedly finish what I asked for?"
"To be honest, I have no idea. It could take days or even months."
Riyuro closed his eyes and thought. Days or months were good enough, as long as they were still alive.
He leaned back into the cushion, trying to figure out how the whole mess started.
A week ago, a group of young Quagoas were playing outside Feoh Berkana, but none of them returned home. Their parents expressed their concerns to him, however, it was impossible to investigate where the Quagoas had gone.
To him, this was a normal occurrence even he too could understand.
There was some sort of game running rampant amongst the young Quagoas. To test their bravery, they were being sent off to the human plains, most likely only to the edges of the Forest of Tobs, and bring back a full stick of leaves from the forest.
But it had already been a week and none of them had returned.
Not a single one of them.
He only took it seriously when Olasird'arc Haylilyal, his master, expressed the same concern.
A week ago, three of his younglings disappeared as well, but he couldn't track where they currently were.
Upon the order of his master, he took it upon himself to investigate outside Feoh Berkana. He couldn't let some measly humans handle the matter of his clan.
As soon as Yozu had left his chamber, he waited for a bit to make sure that he was alone, and then sneaked out of his house to look for the Quagoas.
He would do anything in his power to find those younglings.
He was chosen as their leader for a reason, and he promised to never disappoint any of them.
However, that promise was broken today.
When he arrived just before the entrance to Feoh Berkana, he raised his head at the slight smell of blood and char wafting through the air.
A tangy acidic smell, like something rotten, and something that smelled like burnt meat were mixed together in the air.
When he looked at the source of the noxious odor, he saw the missing Quagoas carrying their dead friend in their hands.
The younglings were brought back dead by their friends in such a large amount, the once living, bustling young children was now just lumps of flesh.
Not only him, but the rest of the Quagoas who smelled the rot came towards the entrance, and soon cries of sorrow could echoed throughout the cavern.
Those who were still alive bore shifting colors in their eyes, like melted gold, as if they were hypnotized, but as soon as they entered Feoh Berkana, the golden shade dissipated from their eyes.
The screams of terror from the younglings was heartbreaking when they looked down to see their dead friends, dismangled, rotten, and burned.
The smell lingered in the air, while rats and maggots ate away at the discolored sea green color of the dead meat.
The air tasted like Death itself.
He tried to block the smell with his hands, to no avail, while the parents of the young Quagoas ran towards the children who still lived, cradling them in their arms as the youngling cried in despair from the loss of their friends.
Their screams blended with those of the young ones as the rest mourned in silence.
Riyuro could only watch.
That day was the day where most of the young generation had vanished. Even until today, most of them hadn't relinquished their trauma, and when the younglings who were alive were asked about it, they could only quiver in place while saying:
"Red Demon."
This broke Riyuro's heart, and as their leader, he created a new law stating that no one other than the hunters were allowed to leave Feoh Berkana.
What he didn't know was that in the future, he would suffer more anguish and despair than even this incident.
Hackslashbash: No, this is not going to be some dumb Nazarick-bash fic, just in case you were thinking about that. Tia loves Nazarick lots! Btw we have a discord now! If you join you'll have more input on the direction of the story. Here is the link:
'Tiamat: The Goddess of Dragons' Discord Link: Hector Tries To Pivot Stuff (colon) (slash) (slash) daddy is so craving orange refreshing drink . gg (slash) JUejk8J
A/N: I hope with this story we can be more emphatic about rape victims, for both women and men. It's horrible that shit like this happens in real life. It can be extremely difficult for survivors to come forward and share their story. They may feel ashamed, concerned that they won't be believed, or worried that they'll be blamed. Please listen to their story and support them.
